■0 \
,' i;' -1 •. • ■  ''■  ,








\',«.!;i  i"'  '




' •   'i

 
 
VALUABLE   MEDIGAL   BOOKS,
                 PUBLISHED   BY

            GRIGG  &   ELLIOT,
        NO.  9 rcOKTH FOURTH  STREET,

                      PHILADELPHIA,
 AND FOR SALE BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY IN THE UNITED STATES.
EBERLE'S PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.—A Treatise on  the
  Theory and Practice of Medicine, in 2 vols. 8vo. By John Eberle,
  M. D., late Professor of Materia  Medica and Obstetrics  in  the
  Medical Colleges of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lexington,
  Ky., &c, &c, with notes and additions by George McClellan, M. D.,
  and  other distinguished Physicians, embracing all the late  im-
  provements and discoveries in Practice.
  This is one of the most  valuable works on the Practice of Medicine
that has ever issued from the American or English press.
  The distinguished editor of the North American Medical and Surgical
Journal, speaking of this work, says,—" The work of Dr. Eberle is con-
fessedly one of very great merit.  It does much credit to his industry and
learning, while it places in a very favourable point of view his abilities as
a practitioner.  The talents, industry, and variety of research necessary
for the production of a system of Practical Medicine, are possessed by few,
and when we say, as we do with great candour, that the Treatise before us
will bear a very favourable comparison with any modern work of the same
class, while it is far superior,  as well  in regard to  the soundness of its
pathological views, generally speaking, as to the excellence of its therapeutic
precepts, to the more popular of the English systems, we confer upon it
and its author no mean praise."
  THE DISPENSATORY  OF  THE UNITED STATES: con.
sisting of—
1st. A TREATISE ON MATERIA MEDICA, or the Natural,
  Commercial, Chemical and Medical History of the substances em-
  ployed in Medicine.
2d. A  TREATISE ON  PHARMACY: comprising  an  account of
  the preparations  directed by the American and British Pharmaco-
  poeias, and designed especially to illustrate the Pharmacopoeia of the
  United States.  By George B. Wood, M.D., Professor of Materia
  Medica and Pharmacy in  the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy;
  and  Franklin Bache, M. D., Professor of Chemistry in  the College
  of Pharmacy and in the Franklin Institute.
  The above is one of the most valuable works of the kind ever issued from
the American Press.
  One among the most distinguished of the medical faculty, in noticing the
great value of this work to the student and practitioner, says, " We there-
fore hailed with no inconsiderable pleasure the appearance of the Dispen-
satory of the United States, convinced  from our knowledge of its authors 
GRIGG & ELLIOT'S CATALOGUE.
that it would prove a most  valuable addition to our medical literature.
We have not been disappointed  in  these expectations, and feel fully per-
suaded that it will take the first rank among works of this character."
  The editors of the Journal  of Pharmacy observe, as regards the merits of
the work, " We recommend  it most cordially to the Medical fraternity, to
the practical pharmaceutist,  and  especially to  the diligent perusal of  the
student of medicine or pharmacy."
  We cannot refrain from expressing our firm conviction, that,  as a whole,
this Dispensatory is the best  work in the English language, on the subjects
of which it treats; and we  know of no work so well calculated,  in  the
eyes of  our  neighbours of Europe, to raise  the character of American
science.
A TREATISE  ON THE MATERIA  MEDICA  AND THE-
  RAPEUTICS, 2 vols, in one, fourth edition, improved.   By John
  Eberle, M. D., late  Professor of Materia Medica and Obstetrics in
  the Medical Colleges  of  Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Ohio,  and  Lex-
  ington, Ky., and Member of the American Philosophical Society,
  Corresponding Member  of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, &c.
Eberle on Diseases and Physical Education of Children, 1  vol.
  This is a new edition much improved, containing a table exhibiting  the
doses of  medicines, according to the different ages.
Eberle's Notes for Students, new edition.
  These works are among the most popular of this distinguished author's
writings, and we hope will be found in the library of every physician.
  DR. EBERLE'S works are used in many of our Medical  Schools as
Text Books, and are much approved.
   P. S.—All the new  Medical Books  for  sale as soon  as
published.
 RUSCHENBERGER'S   VALUABLE  SERIES,
  GRIGG & ELLIOT have  lately published  the  following very
valuable series of books, by Dr. Wm. S. W. Ruschenber^er:
  1. Elements of Anatomy and Physiology.
  2. Elements of Mammalogy, the Natural History  of Quadrupeds.
  3. Elements of Ornithology, the Natural  History of Birds.
  4. Elements of Herpetology and Ichthyology, the Natural' History
of Reptiles and Fishes.
  5. Elements of Conchology, the Natural History of  Shells  and
Mollusca.
  6. Elements of Entomology, the Natural History of Insects.
  7. Elements of Botany, the Natural History of Plants.
  8. Elements of Geology, the Natural History of the Earth's Struc-
ture.
  « A knowledge of Natural History is not only valuable, but  deeply inte-
resting; and no one's education can, with such facilities as these works afford
be considered complete without it."—National Intelligencer
  "We take this opportunity of calling attention to Dr.  Ruschenbenrer's
excellent series of elementary text-books, designed for the use of Colleges
n d Schools on the subject of Natural History.  Eight volumes have
      & 
GRIGG & ELLIOT'S CATALOGUE.
already appeared, comprising the following divisions; Anatomy and Phy-
siology ; Mammalogy;  Ornithology;  Herpetology and Ichthyology; Con-
chology; Entomology;  Botany andGeology.  This series has been adopted
in several of our Colleges and Public Schools, and with, as we learn, un-
qualified satisfaction.  One admirable feature, among others which cha-
racterize these works,  is their perspicuity and  simplified arrangement,
combining a vast amount of information in the smallest compass—a mode
of imparting instruction quite up to the labour-saving and time-economizing
spirit of the age.  Grigg & Elliot,  of Philadelphia, are  the publishers;
and they are for sale by James Langley, Wiley & Putnam, and the Book-
sellers generally."-^-Democratic Review, April, 1845.
  In addition to numerous flattering notices of  the American Press, the
publishers have received upwards of one hundred recommendations from
the most prominent professors and distinguished teachers of our country,
to the superior claims of these works, and urging their introduction as Class
Books into all the Schools, Academies, &c, throughout the United States.
  As these little books are very cheap,  we hope all parents will pro-
cure a set for their children for home amusement and instruction.
          VALUABLE    WORKS

                              FOR

     PUBLIC   AND   PRIVATE   LIBRARIES,

            PUBLISHED BY GRIGG  &  ELLIOT.

         SPLLWDID  LIBRARY  EDITIONS,
                           &c. &c.

Crabbe, Heber  and Pollok's Poetical Works,  steel portraits, complete in
  one vol. 8vo., bound, library style.
The same work, calf extra, embossed gilt.
Byron's Works, complete in 1 vol. 8vo., including all his suppressed  and
  attributed poems, bound, library style.
The same work, calf extra, embossed gilt.
Cowper  and Thomson's Prose and Poetical Works, complete,  in 1  vol.
  8vo., bound, library style.
The same work, calf extra, embossed gilt.
Rogers, Campbell, Montgomery, Lamb and Kirk White's Poetical Works,
  complete in 1 vol. 8vo., bound, library style.
The same work, calf extra, embossed gilt.
Milton, Young,  Gray, Beattie and Collins's Poetical Works, complete in 1
  vol. 8vo., bound, library style.
The same work, calf extra, embossed gilt.
Mrs.  Hemans's Poetical works,  complete in  1  vol. 8vo., bound, library
  style.
The same work, calf extra, embossed, gilt.
  OCt* This is a new and complete edition, with a splendid engraved likeness of Mrs.
Hemans, on steel, and contains all the Poems in the last London and American edi-
tions. 
GRIGG & ELLIOT'S CATALOGUE.
McMahon's American Gardener, 9th edition, greatly improved, 8vo.
Goldsmith's Animated Nature, beautifully illustrated, 2 vols. 8vo.
Laurence Sterne's Works, with a Life of the Author,  written  by himself,
  8vo.
Burder's Village Sermons.   For Family Reading.
Josephus's Works, 2 vols. Svo., sheep, gilt.
  ££/• The only readable Edition published in this country.
Say's Political Economy, 8vo., new edition.
Mason's Popular System of Farriery, new edition.
Hind's Popular System of Farriery, new edition.
The Stock Raiser's Manual, by W. Youatt, with plateS.
The Importance  of  Family  Religion, by Rev.  S. G.  Winchester, 1 vol.
  12mo.
Seneca's Morals.  "Should be found in  every Library."
Shoberl's  History of Persia, with 12 fine coloured plates, fancy  paper.
Bigland's Natural History of Animals, 12 fine coloured  plates, fancy paper.
Bigland's Natural History of Birds, Fishes, &c, 12 coloured plates, fancy
  paper.
Dictionary of Select  and Popular Quotations, 9th edition.
The American Chesterfield, containing  a complete  Treatise on Carving,
  with  cuts.
The Southern and Western Songster, plate.
The Daughter's Own Book.
Bennett's Letters to Young Ladies.
The Gentlemen and Ladies' Book of Politeness,  and Propriety of Deport-
  ment, by Mrs.  Celnart.
The Life  of General Jackson.
Winchester's Family Prayers, fine edition.
The New Testament, royal 8vo., large type, new edition,  for Family use.
Letters  from  a Father to his Sons in College, by Samuel Miller, D.D.
Bigland's Natural History, with 24 coloured plates, half mor. ex. gt. ed.
Bigland's Natural History, 60 plates.
Shakspeare, 2 vols. 8vo., plates.
Bunyan's complete Works, 2 vols. 8vo.
Weems's  Life of Marion.
  Do.    do.    Washington.
Polyglott  Bible, 18mo., plain sheep, rolled ed.
  Do.    do.    do.   morocco tucks, gt. ed.
  .Do.    do.    do.  . plain Eng. calf,  gilt ed.
  Do.    do.    do.   Eng. calf, super, ex. do.
  Do.    do.    do.   Turkey, mor. gilt ed.
Pearl Pocket Bible, best edition published, plain  sheep.
                                          mor., tucks, gt. ed.
                                          plain Eng.  cf.  gt. ed.
                                          calf, sup. extra gilt.
                                          Tur.  mor. ex.  gt. ed.
  aj= All the above Bibles are in the best Philadelphia binding.

  V Public, private, and social libraries, and all who purchase  to sell again  supplied
on the most reasonable terms with every article in the Book and Stationary line;  inclu
ding new novels, and all new works in every department of literature and science.
  All orders will be thankfully received and promptly attended to.
        4
Do.	do.	do.	do.
Do.	do.	do.	do.
Do.	do.	do.	do.
Do.	do.	do.	do.
 
^HE
DISPENSATORY
>M
OF THE
UNITED STATES  OF  AMERICA
BY
J
           GEORGE B. WOOD, M.D.,
PKOFESSOX OF MATERIA MEDICA AND PHARMACY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,
    ONE OF THE PHYSICIANS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL, &C, &C,

                   AND
            FRANKLIN BACHE, M.D.,
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA, ONE OF THE
     VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, &C, &C.
   SIXTH EDITION,
CAREFULLY REVISED,
         PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY GRIGG AND ELLIOT,
       No. 9 NORTH FOURTH STREET,
              1845. 
1 iHS
     Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845,
         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.
  PHILADELPHIA :
T. K. & P. &. COLLINS,
    PRINTERS. 
                  TO





        JOSEPH  PAKRISH,  M.D.,




                  AND





   THOMAS T. HEWSON, M.D.,




                  AS




          A MARK OF RESPECT




                  FOR




THEIR PRIVATE WORTH AND PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER,



                 AND A3




          AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT




                  OF




      THEIR NUMEROUS KIND  OFFICES,






            THIS WORK




         IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED



                  BY



               THEIR FRIENDS,




            THE AUTHORS. 
 
PREFACE
THE  FIRST  EDITION.
  The objects of a Dispensatory are to present an account of medi-
cinal substances in the state in which they are brought into the shops,
and to teach  the  modes in which  they are prepared for use.   The
importance of these objects, and  the general value and even necessity
of a work of this nature, will not  be disputed.   It may, however,
be a question, how far the wants of the medical and pharmaceutical
community in this country are supplied by the Dispensatories already
in circulation; and whether such a deficiency exists as to justify the
offer of a new one to the public attention.  The great merits of the
works  severally entitled " The Edinburgh New  Dispensatory,"  and
"The London Dispensatory," the former'edited  by the  late Andrew
Duncan,  M. D.,  the  latter by Anthony Todd Thomson, M.D., are
well known wherever the English language is spoken.   Founded, as
they both are, upon the excellent basis laid by Lewis, they are never-
theless entitled, from  the great addition of valuable materials, and the
distinctive character exhibited in the arrangement of  these materials,
to be  considered  as  original  works; while the  style in wdrich they
have been executed speaks strongly in favour of the skill and industry
of their authors.   But they 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 opera-
tions 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
                               1* 
vi                          Preface.

commentary, 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 whatever 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 cha-
racter, that such a work should  be in good faith an American work,
newly prepared in all its  parts,  and not a mere edition of one of the
European Dispensatories, with  here and  there additions and altera-
tions, 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  assump-
tion of a  new and  national title for the book.   Whether in the Dis-
pensatories which  have been published in the United  States, these
requisites have been  satisfactorily fulfilled, it rests with the public  to
determine.  That valuable treatises on Materia Medica and Pharmacy
have been issued  in this country,  no candid person, acquainted with
our medical literature, will be 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 pre-
decessors.  They simply  conceive that the field has not been so fully
occupied as to  exclude all  competition.  The  pharmacy  of conti-
nental 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 separate treatises and periodicals not
generally known and read.  Since the publication of  the last edition
of our National Pharmacopoeia, no general explanation of its pro-
cesses 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 significa-
tion of these names, are  inserted in immediate connexion  with the
titles*to which they severally belong.   Every article which  it desig-
nates  is more or less fully described; and all its processes, after being
literally .copied, are commented on and explained whenever comment 
Preface.
vn
and  explanation  appeared necessary.  Nothing, in fine,  has  been
omitted,  wrhich, 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, uni-
formity both in the  nomenclature and preparation of medicines.  In
one  particular, convenience required that the  plan  of the Pharma-
copoeia  should be  departed from.   The medicines  belonging to  the
department of Materia 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 Phar-
macopoeia is indicated by the  employment of the term Secondary, in
connexion with the name of each of the  medicines included in  the
latter catalogue.
  But, though precedence has thus been given  to the Pharmacopoeia
of the United States, those of Great Britain have not been neglected.
The nomenclature adopted by the different British Colleges, and their
formulas for the preparation  of medicines, have been so extensively
followed throughout the United States, that a work intended to repre-
sent the present state of pharmacy in this country would be imperfect
without them  ; and the fact that  the writings  of British physicians
and  surgeons,  in which their own officinal terms and preparations  are
exclusively employed  and referred to, have an extensive  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, wThen, as often hap-
pens, no corresponding medicine or  preparation is recognised by  our
national standard.   In the latter case, if different names are  applied
by different British Colleges to the same object, that one is generally
preferred which is most in accordance with our own system of nomen-
clature, and the  others are  given as synonymes.  The medicines
directed by the British Colleges are all described, and their processes
either copied at length, or so far explained as to be intelligible  in all
essential particulars.
  Besides the medicinal  substances recognised as  officinal by  the
Pharmacopoeias alluded to, some others have been described, which, 
viii                          Preface.

either from the lingering remains of former reputation, or from recent
reports in their favour, or from their important relation to medicines
in general use, appear to have claims upon the attention of the phy-
sician and apothecary.   Opportunity has, moreover, been taken to
introduce incidentally brief accounts of substances used in  other
countries  or  in  former  times, and occasionally  noticed  in  medical
books; and that the reader may be able to refer to them  when desi-
rous of information, their names have been placed with those of the
standard  remedies in the Index.
   In the  description of  each medicine,  if derived  immediately from
the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, the attention of the authors
has been  directed to its natural history, the place of its growth or pro-
duction, 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 which 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 which it is subjected.   If a chemical
preparation, the mode and principles of its manufacture are indicated
in addition to the  other particulars.  If a poison, and likely to  be
accidentally taken,  or purposely 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 which  it  may be highly important that  he should be
able to recognise the vegetable which yields a particular medicine ;
and the apothecary is constantly liable to imposition from  the collec-
tors 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 the gratification afforded by
the indulgence of a liberal  curiosity in   relation to objects so closely
connected with  our daily pursuits.   The introduction of these botani-
cal 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 
Preface.
IX
with the general design of the work, which is to collect into a con-
venient form for consultation all that is practically important in rela-
tion to medicines.   The authors have endeavoured to preserve a due
proportion between  the  minuteness of the descriptions, and  their
value as means of information to the  student; and, in  pursuance  of
this plan, have generally dwelt more at length upon our native plants,
than upon those of foreign growth:  but, in all  instances in which
they have deemed  any botanical description  necessary,  they  have
taken  care  to  include in  it the essential scientific  character of the
genus  and  species, with a reference to the position of the plant  in
the artificial and natural  systems  of classification ;  so  that a person
acquainted with the elements of botany may be  able  to recognise it
when it comes under his observation.
   In preparing the Dispensatory, the authors have consulted, in 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
French writers, who stand at present at the head of this department
of  medical science.  They have  also  endeavoured to collect  such
detached facts  scattered through  the various scientific, medical, and
pharmaceutical journals, as  they conceived to be important in 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
which they have most largely drawn, and the authorities upon which
they have most relied.  In  relation to our own  commerce in drugs,
and to the operations of our chemical laboratories, they are indebted
for information chiefly to the kindness of gentlemen  engaged in these
branches of business, wrho have always evinced, in answering  their
numerous inquiries,  a promptitude  and politeness which merit  their
warm thanks, and which they 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
  *  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, Litmus, and the Carbonate and  Sulphate of Mag-
nesia. 
X
Preface.
Chemistry under the name of Elements of Pharmacy.   Such a treatise
must necessarily be very meagre and  imperfect;  and, as systems of
chemistry are in the hands of every physician and apothecary, would
uselessly occupy the place of valuable matter of less easy access.
  The authors may perhaps  be permitted to observe, in relation  to
themselves, that they have expended  much time and labour in the
preparation of the work ; have sought diligently for facts from every
readily accessible  source;  have endeavoured, by a  comparison  of
authorities, and a  close scrutiny of evidence,  to ascertain  the truth
whenever practicable ;  and have exerted themselves to the extent of
their abilities to render the Dispensatory worthy of public approbation,
both for the quality and quantity of its contents, and the  general ac-
curacy 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 interested in the
diffusion of sound pharmaceutical knowledge, the communication of
friendly suggestions or criticisms in relation to the objects and execu-
tion of the work.
Philadelphia, January, 1833. 
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH  EDITION.
  In the several editions of this Dispensatory subsequent to the first, such
modifications of the original plan as set forth in the foregoing preface, and
such additions and emendations have been made, as were thought calculated
to increase the usefulness of the work, and to maintain it on a level with the
advancing knowledge of the times.  In the second edition, an Appendix was
introduced  containing notices and descriptions of  numerous drugs, which,
though not in general use, were possessed of some  interest from their former
or existing  relations to Medicine and Pharmacy.  In the third  edition, the
authors adopted the present plan of treating, in the body of the work, of
those medicines and preparations exclusively which are recognised in the
American and British  Pharmacopoeias,  while  all others  deemed worthy
of notice were placed in the Appendix; thus giving a precision to  the
arrangement which was before wanting.   In the preparation of the fourth
edition, many changes were rendered necessary by the  previous publica-
tion of the  revised London  Pharmacopoeia of  1836.   On no  revision of
the Dispensatory did the  authors bestow so  much labour as  on  the  one
preparatory to the fifth edition.   The new editions of the United States
and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias  required comment;  and the recent phar-
macological treatises of Dr.  Pereira and Dr. Christison, containing much
original observation, and the Medical Flora of Dr. Lindley, not to speak
of other valuable works in different departments of Materia Medica and
Pharmacy, afforded a great mass of new material for selection and arrange-
ment.   The periodical press had also  presented much  that  demanded
notice;  and the changes in the commerce in drugs, and the various modi-
fications in  pharmaceutical operations, resulting from increased experience
and the advancement of science, called  for careful personal examination
and inquiry.   It was the aim  of the authors, by pruning redundances
and concentrating  the new  matter within  the  smallest possible space, to
swell the Dispensatory as little as consisted with the great  object of utility:
but, with all their  endeavours, they were compelled to exceed the former
limits by more than one hundred pages.   The short period of  time which
has elapsed since the publication of the fifth edition, has left them compara-
tively little  to add  in the present. They have, however,  endeavoured to
select and condense from the periodical journals every thing of value which
came within the scope of the work; and, in offering it for the sixth time to
the public,  they feel themselves  justified in expressing the hope that it
will be found, not less than formerly, to meet the wishes of the medical and
pharmaceutical community.
Philadelphia, May, 1845. 
ABBREVIATIONS  EMPLOYED IN THE  WORK.
 U. S.—" The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America.   By
  authority of the National Medical Convention, held at Washington, A. D.
  1840."
 Lond.—London  Pharmacopoeia, A.D. 1836.
 Ed.—Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, A. D. 1841.
 Dub.—Dublin Pharmacopoeia, A. D. 1826.
 Off.  Syn.—Officinal Synonymes, 'or the titles employed by the Pharma-
  copoeias with the  accompanying explanations, when these titles are not
  given in chief.
 Sex. Syst.—The Sexual System,  or the  artificial system of 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. Phar-
  macopoeia.
 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., Linn^us.—Juss., Jussieu.—De Cand., De Candolle.__Willd.  Sp.
  Plant., Willdenow's edition of the species  plantarum of Linnaeus.
  —Woodv. Med. Dot., Woodville's Medical Botany, 2d edition.—b'„
  Baume's Hydrometer.
Ft.,  French. —Germ.,  German. —/to/., Italian.—Span., Spanish—
  Arab., Arabic 
THE
DISPENSATORY
                            OF

THE   UNITED   STATES,
PAET  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 re-
stricted signification.   The Pharmacopoeias of the United States and Great
Britain very appropriately arrange  medicines in two distinct divisions, one
including all those which are furnished immediately by  nature, or thrown
into 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 "Preparations and Compositions."   In Dispensa-
tories,  which may be considered as commentaries on the Pharmacopoeias,
the same  arrangement  is usually followed;  and the authors  of the present
work adopt it the more willingly, as, independently of the weight of autho-
rity in its favour, it has the recommendation of being the most convenient.
By this plan, all  the directions which relate to the  practical operations of
the 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 distinction between the original
medicinal substances and  their preparations.  Under the head of Materia
Medica, therefore, in this  Dispensatory, we treat  of medicines in  the  state
only in which they are produced by nature, or come into the hands of the
apothecary.   Of  these  medicines, such as are recognised by our National
Pharmacopoeia are most minutely described; but we consider also all that
are included in the officinal catalogues of the British Colleges.
  Another point  in which we accord  with  the Pharmacopoeias, is the alpha-
betical arrangement of the objects of the Materia Medica.   As a Dispensatory
is intended rather for reference than for regular perusal, it is important that
its contents should be so disposed  as to facilitate  consultation.  Medicines,
in a work of this kind, are considered as independent objects, to be dudties
    2 
2
Materia Medica.
PART I.
separately, and without any reference to community of source, or similarity
of character.   Their scientific  classification belongs to works which treat of
them rather in their relations than their essential properties ;  and different sys-
tems have been adopted  according to the set of relations towards which  the
mind of 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  practi-
tioner of medicine, according  to  their effects upon  the system in a state of
health and  disease.   But none of these classifications is without imperfec-
tions ; and a simple alphabetical arrangement is decidedly preferable in every
case in which  the medicines are  considered  solely in  their individual capa-
city.  Yet, as it  comes within the scope of this work to treat of their phy-
siological 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, some-
times called Incitants, which, while they raise the actions of the system above
the standard of health, exhibit  their influence chiefly upon the heart and arte-
ries ;  2. Narcotics, which especially affect the cerebral functions, and  are
either stimulant  or sedative according as they increase or  diminish action;
3. Antispasmodics,  which, with a  general  stimulant power, exert  a pecu-
liar 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 contraction 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,  pro-
ducing 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  dis-
charge  of the secreted matter;  7.  Emmenagogues, which excite  the men-
 strual secretion ; 8.  Sialagogues, which increase 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. Rube-
 facients, which produce redness and  inflammation  of the skin ; 2. Epis-
 pastics 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 mecha-
 nical agency, consisting of 1. Demulcents, which lubricatethe 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 on  extraneous  matters  con- 
PART I.
Materia Medica.
3
tained 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 excep-
tion of a very few which are so peculiar in their action as scarcely to  admit
of classification,  may be  distributed  without  violence among  the  above
classes.  Some substances, however, in addition  to the properties of the
classes  to  which they  are severally attached,  possess others in common,
which give them practical  value, and authorize  their association  in distinct
groups, not recognised in the system of classification, but constantly referred
to in medical language.  Thus we have Refrigerants, which, when inter-
nally  administered,  diminish  animal  temperature; Alteratives, which
change, in  some inexplicable and insensible manner, certain morbid actions
of the system; and Carminatives, which, by promoting contraction  in the
muscular coat of  the stomach and bowels, cause the expulsion of flatus.   It
is common, moreover, to attach distinct  names to  groups  of remedies, with
reference to certain effects which  are incident to the properties that serve  to
arrange them  in  some  more  comprehensive class.  Thus Narcotics fre-
quently 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 en-
largements  of the  glands or  viscera,  are  called  Deobstruents.   These
terras are occasionally employed in the following pages, and are here ex-
plained, in order that the  sense in which we use them  may be accurately
understood.                                                      W. 
4
Absinthium.
PART I.
              ABSINTHIUM.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.

                            Wormwood.

  " The tops and leaves of Artemisia Absinthium." U. S.   " Artemisia
Absinthium." Lond.   " Herb of Artemisia Absinthium." Ed.
  Off. Syn.  ARTEMISIA  ABSINTHIUM.  Summitates florentes. Dub.
  Absinthe, Fr ; Ucmeincr Wermuth, Germ.; Aseenzio, Hal;  Arternisio Axenjo, Span.
  Artemisia.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia  Superflua.—Nat. Ord.  Compositae
Senecionideae. De Cand. Asteraceae. Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.  Receptacle sub-villous  or  nearly  naked.   Seed-down  none.
Calyx imbricate,  with roundish, converging scales.   Corollas  of  the ray
none. JFilld.                                                     .
  Several species of Artemisia have enjoyed some reputation  as  medicines.
The  leaves of the A.  Mrotanum, or southernwood, have  but  recently been
discharged from  the  Pharmacopoeias.  They have  a  fragrant odour, and a
warm, bitter, nauseous taste ; and were employed as a tonic, deobstruent, and
anthelmintic.   Similar virtues have been ascribed to the A. Santonica.  The
A. pontica  has been  occasionally substituted for common  wormwood, but
is weaker.   The  A.  vidgaris, or mugwort, formerly  enjoyed considerable
reputation as an emnrenagogue, and has recently come into some notice, in
consequence of the recommendation of its root as a remedy in epilepsy by
Dr. Burdach of Germany.  For  this purpose,  it should be  collected  in au-
tumn 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 administered 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.   The 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 the
Artemisia Chinensis, and A. Indica, which are for this reason ranked among
the officinal plants by  the Dublin College. (See Moxa.)  The medicine known
in Europe by the name of wormseed, is probably the product  of different
species  of Artemisia.   (See Artemisia Santonica.)   But the only species
which requires particular description is the A. Absinthium.
  Artemisia Absinthium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii.  1844; Woodv. Med. Dot.
p. 54. t. 22.  Wormwood is a  perennial plant, with branching,  round, and
striated or furrowed stems, which rise two  or  three feet in  height, and  are
panicled  at  their summit.  The lower portion of the stem lives  several
years, and annually sends up herbaceous shoots, which perish in  the winter.
The radical leaves are triply pinnatifid, with lanceolate, obtuse, dentate divi-
sions; those of the stem, doubly or simply pinnatifid, with lanceolate, some-
what acute divisions ; the floral leaves are lanceolate; all are hoary. The flow-
ers 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 moun-
tainous districts of New England.  The leaves and flowering summits  are
the parts employed, the larger parts of the stalk being rejected  They should
be gathered in July or August, when the plant  is in  flower.   They  preserve
their peculiar sensible properties long when dried. 
PART I.
Absinthium.—Acacia.
5
  Wormwood has a strong  odour, and an  intensely bitter, nauseous taste,
which it imparts to water and alcohol. A dark green volatile oil, upon which
the odour depends, is obtained by distillation.  The constituents, according
to Braconnot, are a very bitter, and an almost insipid azotized matter, an ex-
cessively bitter resinous substance, a green volatile oil, chlorophylle, albumen,
starch, saline matters, and lignin.  Among the saline substances, Braconnot
found one consisting of potassa and an acid  which he supposed to be pecu-
liar, and denominated absinthic acid, but which is now asserted to be perfectly
identical with the succinic. This acid may be recognised among the products
of the dry distillation of wormwood. {Annal. der Chem. una 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.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Wormwood was known  to the ancients.
It is highly tonic, and probably enters the  circulation, as it is said to render
the flesh and milk of the animals fed with it bitter.  It formerly enjoyed great
reputation  as a remedy in numerous complaints attended with a  debilitated
condition of the digestive organs, or of the system generally.  Before the
introduction of Peruvian bark,  it was much used in the  treatment of inter-
mittents.   It has also been  supposed to  possess anthelmintic  virtues.  At
present, however, it is little  used in  regular  practice on this side of the At-
lantic.  A  narcotic property  has been ascribed to it by some writers, in con-
sequence of its tendency  to occasion headache, and, when long continued, to
produce disorder of the nervous system.   This property  is supposed to de-
pend on the volatile oil, an,d therefore to be less obvious in the decoction than
in the powder or infusion.   In  large doses, wormwood irritates  the stomach,
and excites the circulation.   The herb is sometimes applied externally, by
way of fomentation, as an antiseptic and discutient.   The dose in substance
is from one to two scruples; of the infusion made by macerating an ounce in
a pint of boiling water, from one to two fluidounces.
   Off. Prep. Extractum  Artemisiae Absinthii. Dub.                 W.


                      ACACIA.   U. S., Lond.

                            Gum  Arabic.

   " The concrete juice of Acacia vera and other species  of Acacia." U. S.
"Acacia vera. Gummi.,J L.ond.
   Off. Syn. GUMMI ACACLE. Gum of various species of Acacia. Ed.
ACACIA ARABICA et  ACACIA VERA.  Gummi.  Dub.
  Gomme Arabique, Fr.; Arabisches Gummi, Germ; Gomma Arabica, Ital; Goma Ara-
biga, Span.; Samngh Arabee, Arab.                                    #  t
   Acacia.   Sex. Syst.  Polygamia  Moncecia. — Nat. Ord.  Leguminosae,
 Trib. Mimoseae.
   This genus is one of those into which the old genus Mimosa of  Linnaeus
was divided by Willdenow.   The name Acacia was employed by the ancient
Greeks to  designate  the  gum-tree of Egypt, and has been appropriately ap-
plied to the new genus in which that plant is included.
   Gen. Ch.  Hermaphrodite.  Calyx  five-toothed.  Corolla  five-cleft, or
formed of five petals. Stamens 4-100. Pistil one. Legume bivalve.  Male.
Calyx five-toothed.   Corolla five-cleft, or formed of five petals.    Stamens
4-100. Willd.
   Several  species of Acacia contribute to furnish the gum Arabic of the shops.
Among the  most important are the A. vera and A. Arabica, confounded
together by Linnaeus under the title of Mimosa Nilolica. 
6                              Acacia.                        part i.
  Acacia vera. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1805; Hnyne, Darstel.und Beschreib.
fyc. 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  sup-
ported upon  very short footstalks. On the common petiole is a gland between
each pair of pinnae.  Both the common and partial petiole are smooth.  Two
sharp spines, from a quarter to half an inch long, of the colour of the smaller
branches, and joined together at their base, are found at the insertion of each
leaf.  The flowers are yellow, inodorous, small,  and  collected in globular
heads 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  the  African continent.   The  Acacia  of the
Cape of Good  Hope, considered by Sparrman and  Thunberg as the Mimosa
Nilotica of Linn., and hence treated by some authors  as identical with the
present species, appears to be distinct, and has received the name of Acacia
Karroo.   It exudes a gum, which  is collected at the Cape.
  A. Arabica.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 1805; Hayne, Darstel.und Beschreib.
x. 32.—Acacia Nilotica, Delil.  111. for. de V Egypt, p. 79.—Acacia vera.
Vesling. Atlgypt. p. 8.   This species, though often little more than a shrub,
attains  in favourable situations  the magnitude of a considerable tree, being
sometimes forty feet high, with a trunk a foot or  more in diameter.   The
leaves are alternate  and  doubly pinnate,  having from four to  six pairs of
pinnae, each  of which is furnished  with from ten to twenty pairs of minute,
smooth, oblong-linear leaflets.   The common petiole has a gland  between
the lowest pair of pinnae,  and often also between the uppermost pair.   Both
the common and partial  petiole, as well as the young branches, are downy.
The thorns  are straight, and  disposed  as in" the former  species.   The
flowers are  also arranged as in the A. vera, and the fruit is of a similar
shape.   The A. Arabica  is perhaps the most widely diffused of the gum-
bearing species. It  grows in Upper and Lower Egypt, Senegal, and other
parts of Africa, flourishes also in Arabia, and is abundant  in Hindostan,
where its gum  is used for food by the natives.
  Besides the  two species above described, the following afford considerable
quantities  of gum:—The A. Senegal, a  small tree, inhabiting the  hottest
regions of Africa, and said to form  vast forests in Senegambia; the A. gum-
mifera, seen by Broussonet in Morocco near Mogador; the A. Ehrenbergi-
ana, a shrub six or eight feet high, named in honour of the German traveller
Ehrenberg, who observed it  in  the deserts of Lybia, Nubia, and Dongola •
the A.  Seyal, growing in the same  countries with the  last-mentioned  spe-
cies, and also  m  Upper  Egypt and Senegambia; the A. Adansonii of the
Ilore de benegumbie, which is  said to contribute a  portion of  the Senegal
gum; and the  A. tortilis, which sometimes attains the height of sixty feet
and inhabits Arabia Felix, Nubia, Dongola, and the Lybian desert   It is
highly probable that gum is obtained  also from other species  not hitherto
described, growing in the hot latitudes  of Africa.  The A.  decurrens and
A. flonbunda, natives of New Holland, yield by exudation a tolerably
pure gum, which has not yet, however, been extensively collected   Other
trees, moreover,  not  belonging to the  genus, afford a similar  product
especially  the Feronia elephantum of Hindostan, the gum of  which  accord' 
part i.                        Acacia.                               7

ing to Ainslie, is used for medical purposes by all the practitioners of Lower
India.
  The  gum-bearing Acacias are all thorny or prickly trees or shrubs, cal-
culated 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 cara-
vans, derive from them their chief sustenance in many parts of those  deso-
late  regions  in which Africa abounds.   In these situations  they  have  a
stunted growth, and present a bare, withered, and uninviting aspect; but in
a favourable  situation, as on the  banks of rivers, they are often luxuriant
and beautiful.
  Their bark and unripe fruit contain tannin and gallic acid,  and are some-
times used for tanning leather.   An extract was formerly obtained from  the
immature pods of the A. Arabica  and A. vera, by expression  and  inspissa-
tion.  It  was known to the ancients by  the name of acacix verse succus,
and was highly lauded by some of the Greek medical writers.   It is at pre-
sent little used, though described in most of the European works on  Phar-
macy.  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  usually substituted for it called acacia nostras, obtained  by expression
and inspissation from the unripe fruit of the Prunus spinosa,  or wild plum
tree.
   The gum of the Acacias exudes spontaneously from the bark of the trunk
and branches, and hardens on exposure; but incisions are sometimes made
in order to facilitate the exudation.  This is supposed by some to  be favoured
by disease;  and  it is  stated by Jackson, that, in Morocco, the greatest pro-
duct is obtained in the driest and hottest weather, and from the  most sickly-
trees.  An elevated temperature appears to be essential; for in cooler cli-
mates,  though the tree may flourish, it yields no gum.  According to Ehren-
berg,  the varieties in the colour  and other characters of the gum  do not
 depend upon difference  in the  species  of the plant.   Thus,  from the same
 tree, the gum will exude frothy or thick, and clear or dark coloured, and will
 assume, upon hardening, different  shapes 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 Indian Gum;  to
 which  may be added the Cape Gum.
   1. Turkey Gum.   Gum Arabic was formerly procured,  chiefly,  if not
 exclusively,  from Egypt and the  neighbouring countries; and much  is still
 obtained from the same  sources.   It is collected  in Upper  Egypt, Nubia,
 Kordofan, and Darfur, whence it is taken down the Nile to Alexandria.   A
 considerable quantity is also brought to  the same port from Arabia.   We
 obtain  it in this country  through Smyrna, Trieste, Marseilles, or some other
 entrepot of the  Mediterranean  commerce.   Two varieties of the gum have
 long been noticed, one more or less coloured, the other white,  which were
 formerly,  and,  on the continent  of  Europe, are  still distinguished by the
 titles of gum gedda, and gum turic, derived from the ports of the Red Sea,
 Jidda and Tor, from which the varieties  were erroneously supposed to  be
 respectively exported.   The  gum from Egypt is  commonly known  to our
 druggists by the name of Turkey  gum, and is the kind with  which the apo-
 thecaries are usually supplied.  Though interspersed with roundish  pieces
 of various sizes, it consists chiefly of  small, irregular fragments, which are
 commonly whitish, or slightly tinged with yellow or reddish-yellow.   It  is,
 on the whole, lighter coloured, more brittle, more readily soluble, and much 
8
Acacia.
part i.
freer from impurities than the other commercial varieties, and contains much
of that form of gum Arabic,  which is characterized by innumerable  minute
fissures pervading its substance, and impairing its transparency.   1 lie oesi
comes in cases.                                          .   , c     n
  2. Barbary Gum.  Much gum Arabic is  at present obtained from liar-
bary ;  and Mogador, a  port of Morocco, is the chief entrepot ol  the trade.
According  to  Jackson,  the  natives call the tree which affords it attaleh
They gather it in the months of July and August, when the weather is hot
and very dry.  Two kinds are brought to Mogador, one from the neighbour-
ing provinces, the  other by caravans from  Timbuctoo.   Tins may account
for the fact that the  Barbary  gum in part resembles the Turkey, in part the
Senegal.  When first deposited in the warehouses, it has a  faint smell, and
makes a crackling noise, occasioned by the spontaneous rupture of the small
masses as they become  more dry.   The Barbary gum is  exported  in  casks,
and reaches the U. States through  the route of English commerce.
  3. Senegal Gum. This  variety was first introduced into Europe by the
Dutch.  The  French afterwards planted  a colony on  the western coast of
Africa, and took  possession of the trade;  but since the last  great European
war, it has been  largely shared by the English.   St. Louis,  at the  mouth of
the Senegal, and Portendic, considerably further north, are the ports in
which  the commerce in gum has  chiefly centred.  Immense forests of the
Acacia  exist at some distance in the interior.  These are composed chiefly
of two different  trees, called by the  natives vereck or nereck, and  nebuel or
nebued, the former of which yields  a white  gum, the  latter a red.   These
are probably distinct species, the  vereck  being,  according to M.  Rain, the
A. vera, and  the nebuel the  A. Senegal.  According  to Adanson,  there are
several other species in the neighbourhood  which yield gum.  In the month
of November  the juice begins to  exude from the trees.  The dry  winds,
which prevail after the rainy season, cause the bark to crack; the juice flows
out, and hardens in  masses, which are  often as large as a pigeon's  egg, and
sometimes, according to M. Rain, as large  as the egg of the  ostrich.   At
this period, the Moors and negroes proceed to the forests in caravans,  collect
the gum in leather  sacks, and convey it to the coast, where they  exchange
it for British goods.  Senegal gum is imported into the United States chiefly
from Bordeaux.  It is usually in roundish  or oval unbroken  pieces,  of vari-
ous sizes, sometimes whitish, but  generally yellowish or reddish, or brown-
ish-red, larger than those of the Turkey gum, less brittle  and pulverizable,
and breaking with a more  conchoidal fracture.  The French give  the name
of Gum Galam  {Gomme de  Galam) to a variety consisting of pieces more
irregular in shape, often angular and broken, and mixed with small fragments,
so as to resemble Turkey gum in appearance. (Guibourt.)
   4. India Gum.   Considerable quantities of gum  are  imported into  this
country from India.  Ainslie states  that it is derived from the A.  Arabica;
and  it is not improbable that much of it is  taken to Calcutta in the Arab
vessels from  the ports of the Red Sea.  It is in  pieces of various size, co-
lour, and quality, some resembling the broken fragments of the Turkey gum,
though much  less chinky;  others large,  roundish,  and  tenacious, like the
Senegal.  Its  taste is sweeter than that of the other varieties.   It is  usually
much  contaminated, containing, beside the  genuine  gum Arabic, portions
of a different kind of gum, having  the characteristic properties of that known
by the name of  Bassora.   This is distinguished by its insolubility in water
with which, however, it unites, swelling up, and forming  a soft viscid mass!
It owes its properties to the  presence of bassorin.  The pieces of this gum*
bear a  considerable  resemblance  to those  of the genuine article  and may 
PART I.
Acacia.
9
easily escape detection.   Their want of solubility, however, is a ready test.
More or less of a similar  substance is found  in  the parcels of gum Arabic
from other sources;  and  we have seen one parcel, said to have come  from
Barbary, chiefly composed of it.  Besides this impurity  in the  India gum,
there are often  others more readily detected.   Among these, we have ob-
served  a yellowish-white resinous substance, which  has the sensible pro-
perties  of the turpentines.  If proper  care be used  in assorting  this com-
mercial variety, it may be employed for all the purposes of good gum Arabic.
The India gum is brought into  this country partly from Calcutta, partly by
way of  England.   It usually comes in large cases.   We have seen a parcel
of gum said to have come directly from the Red Sea,  enclosed in large sacs
made of a kind of matting, and bearing a close resemblance to the gum from
Calcutta, except that it  was more impure, and  contained numerous large,
irregular, very brittle masses, not much less than the fist in size.
   5. Cape Gum.   Pereira mentions  that  gum  has recently been imported
into Great Britain from the Cape of  Good Hope,  where it is collected pro-
bably from the Acacia Karroo,  which grows abundantly on the banks of the
Gariep and in other  parts.  It is of a pale yellow colour, in tears or  frag-
ments,  and is considered  an  inferior variety.   None  of it probably reaches
this country.
   General Properties.   Gum Arabic is in roundish or amorphous pieces,  or
irregular fragments  of various  sizes,  more or less  transparent, hard, brittle,
pulverizable, and  breaking with  a shining  fracture.  It is  usually white,  or
yellowish-white;  but frequently presents various shades of red, and is some-
times of a deep orange or brownish colour.   It is  bleached by exposure  to
the light of  the sun.  In powder it is always  more or less purely  white.   It
is inodorous, has a  very feeble,  slightly sweetish taste, and when pure dis-
solves  wholly away in the mouth.  The specific gravity varies from  1-31  to
 1-48. (Bcrzelius).  Gum Arabic consists essentially of a peculiar proximate
principle of plants usually called  gum, but for which  the name of arabin,*


   *  Much confusion has existed in the use of the word gum, which has been employed to
express  various concrete vegetable juices, and, at the same time, a peculiar proximate
principle of plants.  It is now proposed to restrict the term to the former of these appli-
cations, and to designate the principle alluded to by a  distinct name.  Within a few years
the subject of the gums has been investigated by  M.  Guerin, who has repealed  and cor-
rected the experiments of former chemists, and thrown new light upon the nature of these
substances.  Several of the facts  mentioned  in the text have been derived from his me-
 moir, published in the  Ann. de Chitn. et de Phys., t.  xux,  p. 248.  M. Guerin considers
 as characteristic of gums, the property of affording mucic  acid, when acted on by nitric
 acid.  He recognises in the  different gums three distinct proximate principles; namely,
 ]. arahin, or the pure gum of chemical writers, which is the essential constituent of gum
 Arabic  in all its varieties; 2. bassorin, which enters  largely into the composition of Bas-
 sora gum and  tragacanth; and 3. cerasin,  which constitutes the portion of cherry gum
 insoluble in cold water.  Of arabin sufficient is said in the text.  Bassorin will be treated
 of under the head of Bassora gum. (See Appendix.)  Of cerasin it may be proper to say
 a few words in this place. The gums which exude from the cherry, apricot, peach, and
 plum trees, and which  the French call gomme dn pays, appear to be identical in compo-
 sition, consivting of a  portion soluble in cold water, which  is arabin, and  a portion inso-
 luble, which was formerly thought to be the same with  bassorin, but has been proved  by
 M. Guerin to be different, and is appropriately denominated cerasin.  This principle is
 colourless, semitransparent, tasteless, inodorous, uncry^allizabK insoluble in alcohol,  in-
 soluble  in cold water, in which it softens and swells a little, and convertible by the action
 of boiling water into arabin, with which it appears to be isomeric.   In this last property
 it differs materially from bassorin, which  is not  changed by boiling water.  M. Guerin
 suggests that  the'natural heat of the climate, in tropical  countries, produces the same
 effect upon the exuded gums as artificial heat in colder regions, and that consequently
 the acacia gum consists chiefly of arabin.—Note to third edition. 
10
Acacia.
part i.
originally proposed by Chevreul, has been  adopted by the French chemists.
In describing its chemical relations, therefore, we describe those of the prin-
ciple alluded to.  Water, either cold or hot, dissolves it, and forms a viscid
solution called mucilage, which, when evaporated, yields the gum unchanged.
(See Mucilago Acacise.)  It is insoluble  in alcohol, ether, and the 01 s ; and
alcohol precipitates it from its aqueous solution.   The diluted acids dissolve
it, but  not more freely than water.   The concentrated  acids decompose it.
Triturated with sulphuric acid at ordinary temperatures, it  is converted into
a substance similar to the gummy product which  results from the action of
the same acid  on linen rags and  saw-dust.  Heated with concentrated  sul-
phuric acid, it is decomposed with the evolution of carbon. The diluted acid,
when boiled with it, gives rise  to the formation  of a saccharine substance.
Strong nitric acid converts it into mucic acid, and  at the same time produces
oxalic'and malic acids.  It combines with several of the salifiable bases. With
the alkalies  and earths it forms soluble  compounds.   By the subacetate of
lead it  is precipitated from its solution, in  the form of a white insoluble com-
pound  of gum and protoxide of lead;  and a delicate test of its presence in
any liquid is thus afforded.   It enters into combination with several salts.
A solution of borax coagulates  it.   When added  to a solution of silicate of
potassa, it precipitates a compound of gum, potassa, and silica, while a com-
pound  of gum and potassa remains  dissolved.   Its solution yields a precipi-
tate with nitrate of mercury, and forms a brown, semi-transparent jelly, when
mixed  with a strong solution of sesquichloride of iron.   In  solution it unites
with sugar; and the'liquid, when evaporated, yields a transparent, solid  sub-
stance, which is not susceptible of crystallization.
  Gum Arabic undergoes no change by time when kept in a dry place.   Its
aqueous solution, if strong, remains for a considerable length of time unal-
tered, but ultimately becomes sour in consequence of the production of acetic
acid.   At a temperature between 300° and 400°,  the gum becomes soft, and
may be drawn into threads.  At a red heat it is decomposed, yielding, among
other substances, a  minute proportion of ammonia.  When burnt, it  leaves
about three per cent, of ashes, consisting, according to Guerin, of the  car-
bonates of potassa  and lime, a little phosphate  of lime, chloride of potas-
sium, 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
properly of reddening litmus paper.  Besides pure gum, or arabin, gum Ara-
bic  contains a very small proportion of some azotized body,  which is thought
to occasion a slight opalescence in its solution, several saline substances, and
a considerable  quantity of uncombined water, amounting, according to Gue-
rin, to  16 or 17 per cent.  Pure gum may be obtained  by treating0the com-
pound  of gum and protoxide of lead with sulphuretted  hydrogen!  Its  ulti-
mate constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen ; but the proportions are
stated  somewhat differently by different  chemists.  Thus   its  formula has
been variously given, C12H13Oia; C13H10O10;  and CMHn0lt.
  The properties above described belong to gum Arabic generally.   There
are, however,  pharmaceutic  varieties which present differences deserving
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 Turkey gum and Senegal  gum.   It is characterized by its transpa-
rency, 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, and other French writers.  It is distinguished
by  the whiteness and deficient transparency of the pieces, attributable to the
minute cracks or fissures with which they abound, and which  render them 
part i.                         Acacia.                              11

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 Ehren-
berg.  Though the pieces are somewhat opaque, each of the minute  frag-
ments  into  which they  may  be  broken is  perfectly transparent  and homo-
geneous.   This variety, in consequence 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 por-
tions 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 mamillary appear-
ance on the surface.   Its transparency is less perfect than that of the former
variety;  it is less freely and less completely  dissolved by water, and forms
a more viscid solution.   It melts with difficulty in the mouth ; and adheres
tenaciously to the teeth.  It is found  in all the commercial varieties  of  gum,
but  least  in that  from Egypt.  Its  peculiarities may probably be  ascribed
to variable proportions of bassorin associated with the soluble arabin.  Be-
tween these two varieties of gum there are insensible gradations,  so that
it would be difficult always to classify the specimens which may come under
notice.
   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 substi-
tuted 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
solution of  iodine.   In  consequence of the impurities,  and difference in
quality, gum Arabic should generally be assorted for pharmaceutical  use.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   This gum is  used  in medicine chiefly as
 a demulcent.  By the viscidity of its solution, it serves to cover and sheathe
 inflamed  surfaces; and by blending with and  diluting irritating matters, tends
to blunt their acrimony.  Hence it is advantageously employed  in  catarrhal
 affections  and irritation of the fauces, by being  held  in  the mouth  and  al-
lowed slowly to dissolve.  Internally administered it has been found  espe-
cially useful in  inflammatory affections 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 a doubtful point.   By some  physicians  it is  thought  to possess a posi-
 tively sedative influence over the action of inflamed surfaces to which it is
 applied in  the state of  solution.   As an article  of diet in febrile cases, and
 others requiring an adherence to a very rigid regimen, it is perhaps superior
 to almost any other substance.   If not positively sedative, it is  certainly not
 in the least irritating, while it is sufficiently nourishing to  prevent  the inju-
 rious  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 with propriety constitute the  exclusive drink and
  food of the patient.   It is best prepared by dissolving an ounce of  the gum 
12
Acacia. —Acetosella.
PART I.
in a pint of boiling water, and allowing the solution to cool.  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 Amygdala;, Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Mistura  Amyg-
dala?, U. S. Ed., Dub.; Mistura  Cretae, U. S.; Mucilago Acaciae,  U. S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Pulvis  Cretan Compositus, Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Tra-
gacanthse Compositus, Lond., Ed.;  Trochisci Acacia?, Ed.          W.

                     ACETOSELLA.  Lond.

                             Wood-sorrel.

\   "Oxalis  Acetosella." Lond.
  Oscille de bucheron, Surelle, Fr.; Sauerklee, Germ.;  Alleluja, Ilal; Acederilla, Span.
  Oxalis.   Sex. Syst. Decandria  Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Oxalidaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved.  Petals five, connected by the claws.  Sta-
mens unequal, the five shorter exterior ones connected at the base.   Cap-
sules opening elastically at the  corners, five-angled.    Seeds covered with
an arillus.  Pursh.
  Oxalis Acetosella. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 780.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 563.
t. 201.  The wood-sorrel is a small  perennial, herbaceous, stemless plant,
with numerous radical  leaves, which  are all ternate, and supported  upon
slender hairy petioles.  The leaflets are obcordate, entire, hairy, of a yel-
lowish-green colour, but frequently purplish on their under surface.  The
scape or flower-stalk, which usually exceeds the petioles in length, is fur-
nished with two scaly bractes near  the middle, and  terminates in a  large
white, or flesh-coloured flower,  marked with red streaks.  The styles are
of the same length with the inner stamens.
  This plant is a native both of Europe and N. America.  In this  country
it is found chiefly in the  mountainous regions of the interior.  It selects
shady places, such as woods, groves, and hedges, and flowers in May.  Other
indigenous  species of Oxalis, more widely diffused than the O. Acetosella,
might be substituted  for it  without disadvantage, as they possess similar
properties.   They all  have ternate leaves with  obcordate leaflets, and, with
the single exception of the  O. violacea, bear yellow flowers.   The whole
herbaceous portion may be used.
  Properties.  Wood-sorrel is without smell, and has an agreeable sour taste.
It owes its acidity to  the binoxalate  of potassa, which is sometimes sepa-
rated for use, and sold under the  name of salt of sorrel.  This is  prepared,
in Switzerland and Germany, from  different species  of Oxalis and Rumex,'
by the following process.  The plants, previously bruised, are macerated for
some days  in water, and then submitted to pressure.  The liquid  thus ob-
tained  is mixed with clay and occasionally agitated for  two days.   At the
end of this time, the clear liquor is decanted, and evaporated so that crystals
may form when  it cools.  These are purified by solution  and a new crys-
tallization.   Five hundred  parts of  the plant afford four parts  of the acidu
lous salt.  The same salt  may  be  prepared by exactly neutralizing  with
potassa one part of oxalic acid in solution, then  adding one part more of the
acid, and evaporating the solution so that it may crystallize upon  coolino-
Binoxalate  of potassa is in rhomboidal crystals,  of a sour,  pungent bitterish
taste, soluble in forty parts  of cold and six parts of boiling water (Kane\
and  unalterable  in  the air.  It contains  72 parts  or two equivalents of
oxalic acid, 47-15  parts or one  equivalent of potassa, and  18  parts  or  tw
equivalents of water.  The quadroxalate  of potassa is often substituted 
PART I.
Acetosella—Acetum.
13
for the binoxalate.  It is prepared in the same manner, except that, instead
of one part, three parts of the acid are added to the original portion neutral-
ized by potassa.  Both salts are kept in the shops under the names of salt
of sorrel and essential salt of lemons, and are employed for removing iron
mould and ink stains from linen, and sometimes as a test  for lime.   Both
are  poisonous, though in a less degree than uncombined oxalic acid.
  Medical Properties.    This and other species of  sorrel are refrigerant;
and their infusion, or a whey made by  boiling them in  milk, may be used
as a pleasant drink  in  febrile and inflammatory affections.   A solution  of
the binoxalate of  potassa is used on the  continent of Europe as a substitute
for lemonade.  The  fresh plant, eaten raw, is said to be useful in scorbutic
cases.                                                            W.


                     ACETUM.  U.S., Lond.

                               Vinegar.

  "Impure dilute acetic acid prepared  by fermentation." U.S. "Acetum.
Fermentatione paratum." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  ACETUM BRITANNICUM.  British vinegar.  ACETUM
GALLICUM. French vinegar. Ed.; ACETUM VINI. Dub.
  Vinaigre, Fr.; Essig, Germ ; Aceto, Ital.; Vinagre, Span.
  Vinegar is a sour liquid, the product of the acetous fermentation. Viewed
chemically, it  is a very dilute  solution of acetic acid,  containing foreign
matters.   (See Acidum Aceticum.)
  The acetous fermentation can be induced in  all liquors which have under-
gone or are susceptible of the vinous fermentation.  Thus sugar and water,
saccharine vegetable juices, infusion  of  malt, cider, and wine  may be  con-
verted into vinegar,  if  subjected to the  action of a  ferment, and exposed,
with access of air, to a  temperature between 75° and 90°.
  In different countries,  different liquors are used for conversion  into vine-
gar.  In France  and other wine countries, wine is employed; in Britain,
infusion of  malt; and  in the United States, for the most part, cider.   For
the use of the white lead manufacturer, it has, of later years, been exten-
sively made from potatoes.
  The method pursued in making wine vinegar at Orleans, in France, where
it is manufactured in the greatest perfection, is as follows.   Casks are em-
ployed of about the capacity of 88 wine  gallons, those being preferred which
have been previously used for a  similar  purpose.  They are placed  upright
in three rows, one above another; each cask having an opening  at the top
of about two inches  in  diameter.  In summer, no artificial heat is  used; but
in winter, the temperature of the  manufactory is maintained at about  68°.
The wine  intended to be converted into vinegar is kept in separate casks,
containing beech  shavings, on which the lees are deposited.   Twenty-two
gallons  of good vinegar, boiling hot, are first introduced into each vinegar
cask, and at the  end of eight days, about  two gallons of the wine, drawn
off clear, are added; and the  same quantity is added every eight days, until
the casks are full.  After this, the vinegar takes about fifteen  days to form.
At the end of that time, only half the contents of each  cask is drawn off;
and it is filled up again  by the addition  of two gallons of wine every eight
days as at first.  In  some cases, however, the quantity of wine added, and
the intervals between the successive additions, are greater or less than those
here indicated; the variations in this respect  depending upon the progress
of the fermentation.   To determine this point, the vinegar makers plunge a
     3 
14
Acetum.
PART I.
stave into the cask;  and if, upon withdrawing it, they find it covered with
froth, they judge that  the  fermentation is  going on properly, and, accord-
ingly, add more wine.                                               „,,
   When the infusion of malt is employed,  the process is  as follows,   l ne
infusion, when  properly cooled, is put into large and deep fermenting tuns,
where it is mixed with yeast, and kept in fermentation  for four or five days.
The liquor is now distributed  into smaller vessels, placed  in a room heated
by means of a stove, and kept there for about six weeks, or until  the whole
is  soured.  It is then transferred to  common  barrels, which are  placed in
the open air, the bung-holes being simply covered with a tile to keep out the
rain;  in which  situation they are allowed to remain for several months, or
until perfect vinegar  is formed.  The process  is then completed  in the fol-
lowing manner.   Large tuns are  prepared  with  false bottoms, on which is
put a  quantity of the  refuse of raisins and other fruit, technically called rape.
These tuns are  worked  in pairs, one being completely filled with the vine-
gar from the barrels, and the other only three-fourths filled.   In  the latter,
the fermentation takes place more rapidly; and the process is rendered more
active alternately in one or the other tun, by filling  up each  daily from the
other, until the  process is completed.
   In  the United States, cider is the principal liquid from which  vinegar is
prepared.  When it  is made on a large scale from cider, the liquor is placed
in barrels with  their bung-holes open, which are exposed during the  sum-
mer to the heat of the sun.  The acetification is  completed in  the course of
about two years.   The progress of the fermentation, however, must  be
watched; and as soon as  perfect vinegar is formed, it  should be  racked off
into clean barrels.   Without this precaution, the  acetous fermentation would
run into the putrefactive, and  the whole of the  vinegar  be  spoiled.  The
early  cider is not so good for  conversion into  vinegar as the late, in conse-
quence  of  the abundance of malic acid in the  former;  for it must be recol-
lected that, in  cider,  the malic  acid is not  the subject-matter of the acetous
fermentation, but the alcohol which it contains  as a vinous  liquor.
   Vinegar is now made by the  improved German method, by  which the
time consumed  in its formation is greatly abridged. A mixture  is made of
one part of alcohol  of 80 per cent.,  four to  six parts of  water, and one-
thousandth of honey or extract of malt to act as a ferment.   This mixture
is allowed to trickle through a mass of beech shavings, previously steeped
in vinegar, and  contained in  a deep oaken  tub, called  a vinegar  generator.
The tub is furnished, near the top, with a shelf, 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, first heated to between 75°>and  83°, is placed  on this shelf, 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 shelf, of sufficient length to pro-
ject 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 oxida-
tion of the alcohol.   During  the process  the temperature rises  to 100° or
 104°, and remains nearly stationary while the process is going  on favour
 ably.   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 
PART I.
Acetum.
15
  Vinegar may be clarified, without injuring its aroma, by throwing about a
tumbler full of boiling milk into from fifty to sixty wine gallons of the liquid,
and stirring the mixture.   This operation has the effect, at the same time, of
rendering red vinegar pale.
  The series  of changes which occur during the acetous  fermentation is
called acetification.  During its  progress, there is a disengagement of heat;
the liquor absorbs oxygen, becomes turbid, and filaments form, which are
observed to move in  various directions, until, finally, the fermentation being
completed, 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 1   Liebig supposes that it takes place in consequence of the for-
mation of a new substance, called aldehyd, into which the alcohol is changed
by  the loss of a part of its hydrogen.  The alcohol, consisting of four equiv.
of carbon, six of hydrogen, and two of oxygen, loses two equiv. of hydro-
gen through the influence  of  the  atmosphere, and becomes  aldehyd, com-
posed of four equiv.  of carbon, four of hydrogen, and two of oxygen.  This,
by  the absorption of two equiv. of oxygen, becomes four  equiv. of carbon,
four of hydrogen, and four of oxygen;  that is, hydrated acetic acid.   Thus
the conversion of alcohol into acetic acid consists in, first, the removal of two
equiv. of hydrogen, and afterwards  the  addition of two equiv.  of oxygen.
Aldehyd is a colourless,  very  inflammable, ethereal liquid, having a pungent
taste and smell.   Its density  is 0*79.   It absorbs oxygen with avidity, and
is thus converted into acetic acid, as just stated.  Its name alludes to its rela-
tion to alcohol, a/cohol (/e/tyc/rogenated. Its aqueous solution 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.   Vinegar, when good, is of an agreeable penetrating odour,
and pleasant acid taste.  The better sorts have a grateful aroma, which is
probably  due to the presence of an ethereal substance, perhaps acetic ether.
The colour of vinegar varies  from pale  yellow to deep red.   When long
kept, particularly if exposed to the air, it becomes muddy and ropy, acquires
an  unpleasant smell, putrefies, and loses its acidity.   This result may, in a
good measure, be prevented by  boiling it for a few minutes, so as to coagu-
late and separate the gluten, and immediately transferring it to bottles, which
must be well corked.
   The essential ingredients of vinegar are acetic acid and water;  but  besides
these it contains various  other substances, derived from the particular vinous
liquor from which it may have been  prepared.  Among these may be men-
tioned, colouring matter, gum, starch, gluten,  sugar, a little alcohol, and fre-
quently malic and tartaric acids, with minute portions of alkaline and earthy
salts.  According to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, vinegar should be free from
sulphuric acid, and of such a strength that a fluidounce would be saturated
by about  thirty-five grains of crystallized bicarbonate of potassa.
   In the  last Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia (1841), two kinds of vinegar have
been made  officinal, malt vinegar and wine  vinegar, under  the names of
British vinegar and French  vinegar.   In this  Pharmacopoeia 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.
   Malt vinegar  has a yellowish-red colour.   That of British manufacture
usually contains  sulphuric acid, which the manufacturer is allowed by law
to add in a proportion not exceeding one-thousandth  part.   The  strongest 
16
Acetum.
PART I.
kind, called proof vinegar, contains from 4-6 to 5  per  cent, of, a^c ac'  '
The Edinburgh  College does not recognise this  impurity, altio ugn.-ant
tioned by the  British laws, and, therefore, rejects  the vinegar it it give^evi-
dence of the presence of free sulphuric acid.  On  the contrary, the London
College admits the vinegar if the precipitate of sulphate of baryta, obtainea
on  the  addition  of a solution of chloride of barium, does not exceed i i*
grains to the fluidounce (Imperial measure.)                  .
3 Wine vinegar is nearly one-sixth  stronger than  pure  malt vinegar,  u 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.  Red 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 lrom 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  acid  and certain  acrid substances, introduced by
design,  and  copper and lead derived from improper  vessels used in its manu-
facture.   Muriatic and nitric acids  are but rarely present.   Chloride of
barium  will detect sulphuric acid, by producing a white precipitate in  the
diluted vinegar;  whereas, if it be pure, the test will produce a slight yellow-
ish, flocculent precipitate.   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 its producing a  yellow colour,
when the suspected vinegar is  boiled with indigo.  The acrid substances
usually introduced into vinegar are red pepper, long pepper, pellitory, grains
of paradise, and  mustard seed.  These may be detected  by evaporating so as
to form an extract, which will have  an  acrid, biting taste, if  any one of  the
substances  mentioned be present.   By far the most dangerous impurities in
vinegar are copper and lead.   The former may be detected by a brownish
precipitate on the addition of ferrocyanuret of potassium to the concentrated
vinegar; the latter, by a blackish precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen,  and
a yellow one with iodide of potassium.   Pure vinegar is not discoloured by
sulphuretted hydrogen.
  Medical Properties.  Vinegar acts as a  refrigerant  and diuretic.   With
this view, it is added to diluent drinks in inflammatory fevers.  It is some-
times used  as a  clyster, diluted with  twice or thrice its bulk of water.  It  has
been supposed to be a powerful antidote to the narcotic  poisons, but this  is a
mistake.   In the case of opium the best authorities  unite in considering it
worse than useless, as it rather gives activity to the poison than  neutralizes
it.   Externally  it  is  employed as  a fomentation  or lotion  in bruises  and
sprains.  Diluted  with water, it forms the best means of clearing the  eye
from small  particles of lime.  Its vapour is inhaled in certain states of sore-
throat,  and  is  diffused through sick rooms  under the  impression that it neu-
tralizes pestilential effluvia, though, in fact, it has no other effect than to cover
unpleasant  smells.  The dose is from one to four  fluidrachms;  as a clyster
from one to two fluidounces.                                       y    '
    Off. Prep.  Acetum Destillatum,  U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Cataplasma
 Sinapis, Lond., Dub.; Ceratum Saponis, Lond.;  Emplastrum Ammoniaci
 U. S.; Linimentum iEruginis, Lond.; Syrupus Aceli, Ed.; Tinctura Onii
 Acetata, U. S.                                                     ^ 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
17
          ACIDUM  ARSENIOSUM. U.S., Lond.

                          Arsenious Acid.

  " Sublimed arsenious  acid  in  masses."  U. S.  " Acidum  Arseniosum.
Sublimatione paratum." Lond.
  Off. Syn. ARSENICUM ALBUM. Ed.  ARSENICI  OXYDUM AL-
BUM. Dub.
  White arsenic; Acide arsenieux, Arsenic blanc, Fr.; Arsenichte S&ure, Weisser Ar-
senik, Germ.; Arsenik, Dan., Swed., Polish; Acido  arsenioso, Arsenico, Ital.; Arsenico
bianco, Span.
  The basis of all the arsenical preparations is  a peculiar metal called arse-
nic.   It is brittle and of a steel-gray colour,  and possesses much brilliancy
when recently broken or sublimed.   Exposed to the air, its surface becomes
dull  and blackens.  Its  texture is  granular, and sometimes a little  scaly.
Rubbed on the hands it communicates a peculiar odour, but  it is devoid of
taste.  Its sp. gr. is  5-7  according to Berzelius, 5-9 according to Guibourt.
When heated to about 356° of Fahr.  (Berzelius), it sublimes  without fusing,
giving rise  to vapours having an alliaceous or garlicky odour.   Its equivalent
number is 75-4.   It forms two well characterized combinations with oxygen,
both having acid properties, called arsenious and arsenic acid.
  Preparation, <y-c.   Arsenious acid is  prepared chiefly  in Bohemia and
Saxony, where it is procured on a large scale, as a collateral product, ddring
the smelting of cobalt ores, which  are almost  invariably accompanied  by
arsenic.  These ores are roasted in  reverberatory furnaces, with long hori-
zontal  flues.   The arsenic is converted, by combustion, into arsenious acid,
which  sublimes and condenses on the sides of the flues.  In this  state it is
not pure, and requires a second sublimation, which  is performed in cast iron
vessels, fitted with conical heads of the same material, having an opening at
the summit.   The vessels are placed over a furnace, and  brought to a red
heat, when a portion of the  impure  arsenious acid is thrown in through the
opening, which is immediately stopped.  This portion being sublimed, a new
portion is introduced in a similar manner. Finally, the vessels are allowed to
cool, and the  heads  being removed, 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 frag-
ments of a convenient size, and thrown into commerce.   The arsenious acid
which  reaches this country is generally packed in casks, containing from two
to five hundred pounds, and is shipped principally  from the  ports of Ham-
burg and Bremen.
  Properties.   Arsenious acid, as it occurs in commerce, is in masses exhi-
biting a vitreous fracture.  It is of a  milk-white colour  exteriorly, but inter-
nally, 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.  The nature of this change has not been
well  determined.  According to Guibourt, the sp. gr. of the transparent vari-
ety is 3-73  ; that 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 some-
times adulterated with powdered chalk, or sulphate of lime, a fraud which is
easily detected by exposing the powder to a  heat sufficient to evaporate the
arsenious acid, when these impurities will be left behind.  To guard against
                                  *3 
i
PART I.
18                       Acidum Arseniosum.

the fraudulent  impurities of the powdered acid, it  is directed  in the US
Pharmacopoeia  to be kept in masses.  When pure it is completely ,dis^vea
by boiling water.  It is erroneously stated to have an acrid taste.  Dr. Uftns
tison  asserts that  it possesses hardly any  taste,  inasmuch as;  it producea
merely a faint sweetish  impression on the palate.   In strong hot so ul on,
it  has\n austere  taste,  most nearly resembling that of sulphate  of zmc
(Mitchell and Durand.)   It has no  smell even when in  a state o  vap°ur
The garlicky odour, which is sometimes attributed to it, belongs on ytotrie
vapour of the metal; and,  when apparently arising  from the acid iteeli, «,
in fact, owing to its reduction.  Its  point of sublimation, aceording  to Ber
zelius is at an  incipient red heat;  but, according to Mitchell and Durand, i
is lower instead of higher than  that of  metallic arsenic, being only 425  ot
Fahr.  When slowly sublimed,  it condenses in regular octohedral  crystals,
exhibiting a sparkling lustre.  It consists of one equivalent of arsenic, 75-4,
and threeV oxygen 24=99-4.  Arsenic acid is composed of one equivalent
of arsenic and five of oxygen.                             .
  Arsenious acid is soluble in water.  Guibourt states that its solubility dif-
fers according as it is transparent or opaque.   Thus  1000 parts of water at
69° Fahr. dissolve 9-6 of the  transparent, and  12-5  of the opaque variety;
and the same quantity of boiling water dissolves 97 parts  of the transparent,
retaining 18 when cold, and 115 parts  of the  opaque, retaining 29 on  cool-
ing.   These results show that a boiling saturated solution, when allowed to
cool,  retains more of the  acid  in solution, than can be  dissolved in cold
water without  a preliminary boiling, and  teach the  propriety of employing
a boiling temperature when searching for this mineral.  The solubility of  the
powder of arsenious acid, as prepared for use  in  medicine, corresponds, of
course, with that  of the opaque variety.  Guibourt, however, is said to be
wrong as to the different solubility of the transparent and opaque varieties.
From the experiments of Taylor it would appear, that the two forms do  not
differ in solubility, and  that  the quantity of the same variety which water
will dissolve is very different according  to the mode of effecting the solution;
water in violent ebullition dissolving more than when moderately boiling, and
the duration of the process having a decided influence on the result.  (Lond.
and Ed. Phil.  Mag., Nov. 1837.)
   Medical Properties.   Internally, the  action of the preparations of  arsenic
is alterative and febrifuge; externally, for  the most part, violently irritant.
 They have been considered as peculiarly applicable to  the treatment of dis-
eases of a periodical character.  When commencing  their exhibition,  the
dose should be small, and afterwards gradually increased, the operation being
carefully watched.  When the specific  effects of the medicine are produced,
it must be immediately laid aside.  These are, a general  disposition  to oede-
 ma, especially of the face and  eyelids, a feeling of stiffness in  these parts,
 itching of the  skin, tenderness of the mouth, loss of appetite, and uneasiness
 and  sickness of the stomach.  The peculiar  swelling  produced  is called
 oedema arsenicalis.  Sometimes salivation is produced, and occasionally the
 hair  and nails fall off.  The principal preparations now in use are the arsen-
 ious  acid,  the substance under  consideration, and the solution of arsenite of
 potassa, or Fowler's solution.  The arseniates of potassa and soda,  and the
 sulphuret of arsenic are also occasionally employed.  One grain of the arsen-
 iate of soda, dissolved  in a fluidounce  of  water, forms  the arsenical solu-
 tion of Pearson.
   It may be questioned whether the different arsenical preparations  act pre-
 cisely in the same way, when exhibited internally.   It is supposed by some
 that  the selection need only be regulated by the convenience of exhibition. 
part i.                  Acidum Arseniosum.                       19

The late Dr. Physick, whose  opinion  is entitled to great respect, thought
otherwise ; 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, when given in the  form of Fowler's solution, will be noticed
under the head of Liquor Potassse Arsenitis.  For a complete list of the dis-
eases in which  arsenic has been  tried, the reader is referred to Mr. Hill's
paper in the Edin. Med. Journal, vols. v. and vi.
   Some writers  have  entirely  proscribed the use of the arsenical prepara-
tions in  medicine.  Amongst  these, one of the most authoritative is Mr.
Brande, who considers their introduction into the Pharmacopoeias as a great
evil, on account of the facilities afforded, by legalizing the medicinal use of
the poison, for its  employment for self-destruction and murder.  At the same
time, he believes that more harm than benefit has resulted from its adminis-
tration. (Man. of Pharm., p.  29.)  We  confess, however, that we do not
share these opinions with  Mr. Brande.  Arsenic is a virulent poison, and is
frequently employed for criminal  purposes; but when it is considered  how
extensively it is used  in the arts, it is questionable whether its exclusion
from the Materia Medica would materially lessen the facility of obtaining it.
On the other hand, it  may be  asked, are poisons more  dangerous as medi-
cines than other medicinal substances, if given in  their appropriate doses?
We should think  not; though we admit that dangerous  mistakes  are more
apt  to occur.  If the  views of Mr. Brande were carried out, they would
lead to the discarding of the  corrosive chloride of mercury,  hydrocyanic
acid, strychnia,  and other articles  from  the  Materia  Medica;  but we believe
that no practitioner will be found  willing to strike these sub*stances from the
list of remedies.
   While we wish  to retain  arsenic as a potent remedy in the hands of the
judicious practitioner, we should  be glad to find the sale  of  it subjected to
strict regulations, under heavy  penalties for their infraction.
   Arsenious acid  has  been exhibited in a great variety of diseases, the prin-
cipal of  which are scirrhus and cancer, especially cancer of the lip; anoma-
lous  ulcers; intermittent fever; chronic rheumatism, particularly that form
of it attended  with pains in  the bones;  diseases of the  bones, especially
nodes, and  firm swellings  of the  small joints of the hands;  frontal neural-
gia;  and different painful affections of the head, known under the names of
hemicrania and periodical headache.  Mr. Henry Hunt of Dartmouth, Eng-
land, found it useful in mitigating the pain of ulcerated cancer of the uterus,
and in menorrhagia; also in irritable uterus, attended with  pain and bearing
down in the erect posture.   He gave it in pill,  in the dose of a twentieth of
a grain three times a  day.   In this dose the remedy seldom produces un-
pleasant  feelings,  and  may be continued  for  three  or  four  months, for
which period it must sometimes  be used,  in order to produce the desired
effect on the uterus.   Arsenious acid has been  extolled as a  remedy in cer-
tain 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
to cure.   Its external  application has been  principally restricted  to cancer,
and anomalous  and malignant ulcers,  especially of the kind  denominated
noli me tangere.
   Arsenic is thought highly of by some practitioners  in cases of lupus, and
ill-looking sores of the face, lips,  and tongue, and sometimes effects a cure.
Dupuytren was in the habit of using with advantage a powder  composed of
one part of arsenious acid  and twenty-four parts  of calomel,  as  a topical
 application to herpes exedens, and to the foul ulcers occurring in those who
have undergone repeated courses of mercury. 
20
Acidum Arseniosum.
part i.
  Arsenic is the chief ingredient  in  nearly all the empirical remedies for
the cure of cancer by external application.   Flankers caustic was a remeay
of this kind, of  great celebrity, and consisted of  the Ranunculus acris  and
Ranunculus  Flammula, each  an  ounce, bruised and mixed with a dracnm
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.   1 he
use of the vegetable matter is  to destroy the cuticle; for, unless this is done,
the arsenic will not act.   Mr. Samuel Cooper thinks this caustic was never
of any permanent benefit  in genuine  cancer, but  has effected perfect cures
in some examples of lupus, and malignant ulcers of the lips and roots of the
nails.  In onychia maligna, Mr. Luke, of London, regards  an ointment com-
posed of two grains of arsenious acid  and  an ounce of spermaceti ointment
as almost a specific. (Pereira, Mat. Med., 647.)
  At Paris, an arsenical paste of the  following composition is  used as an
application to malignant ulcers:—Red sulphuret of mercury 70  parts; dra-
gon's blood 22 parts;  arsenious acid 8 parts.   It is applied, made up  into a
paste  with saliva.  The pain  produced by this composition is very severe,
and its application dangerous.  The practice of sprinkling  unmixed arsen-
ious acid on ulcers is now reprobated, as  fraught with the greatest danger.
Mr. S. Cooper characterizes it as a murderous practice.  It 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 one drachm of arsenious acid and twelve  drachms of simple cerate.
The cerate  is  sometimes  formed of half  this strength.   The lotion is in
effect a solution of arsenite of potassa.
  Febure's remedy for cancer consisted of ten grains of arsenious acid dis-
solved in a pint of distilled water, to which were added an ounce of extractum
conii, three  fluidounces of liquor  plumbi  subacetatis, and a fluidrachm of
tinctura opii.  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, which contained about a sixteenth of a grain of the acid, was
given every  night and morning, with half a fluidrachm of the syrup of pop-
pies.   The dose was gradually increased to six tablespoonfuls.
  The average  dose of arsenious acid is the tenth of  a grain, three times a
day, given in the form of pill.   It is sometimes combined with opium, which
enables the stomach to bear the mineral better.  A convenient formula is to
mix one  grain of the acid with ten grains of sugar, and to  beat the mixture
thoroughly with crum of bread,  so as to form a pilular mass, to be divided
into ten  pills.   The Asiatic pills, so  called, consist of  arsenious  acid and
black pepper, in the proportion of 1 part of the former to 80 of the latter.
  Properties of Arsenious Acid as a Poison.  Arsenious acid, in an over-
dose, administered internally, or applied  externally, acts  with very great
energy, and generally destroys life in  a short time.   The symptoms it pro-
duces are an austere taste; fetid state of the mouth; frequent ptyalism; con-
tinual hawking; constriction of the pharynx and  oesophagus;  the sensation
of the teeth being on  edge; hickups; nausea; anxiety; frequent sinkings-
burning  pain at the praecordia;  inflammation of the lips, tongue, palate'
throat, and oesophagus;  irritable stomach, so as not to  be able to'support
the blandest drinks;  vomiting of matters, sometimes brown, at other times
bloody;  black,  horribly fetid  stools; small, frequent, concentrated, and irre-
gular pulse,  but occasionally slow and unequal; palpitations; syncope • insa- 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
21
tiable thirst;  burning heat over the whole body, or a sensation of icy cold-
ness ; difficult respiration ; cold sweats; scanty, red, and bloody urine; change
in the countenance ;  a livid circle round  the eyelids ;  swelling and itching of
the body; livid spots over the surface, and occasionally a miliary eruption ;
prostration of strength; loss of feeling, especially in  the feet and hands ; de-
lirium ;  convulsions,  often accompanied  with insupportable priapism; falling
off of the hair;  detachment of the cuticle, &c.   Sometimes there exist in-
flammation and burning pain in the urino-genital  organs.  It is very rare to
observe all these symptoms in the  same individual.   In some cases, indeed,
they are nearly all wanting,  death taking place without any pain or promi-
nent  symptom.  After  death,  the  morbid  appearances  are  various.   In
some cases,  no vestige  of lesion can  be discovered.   The appearances,
however, in  the generality  of cases, are the following.  The mouth,  sto-
mach, and intestines are inflamed; the stomach and duodenum exhibit spots
resembling eschars,  and  perforations of all their coats;  and the villous  coat
of the former is in a manner destroyed, and reduced to the consistence of a
reddish-brown pulp.
   Dr. Christison divides the  poisonous effects of arsenious acid into three
orders of cases, according to  the  character and violence  of the symptoms.
In the first order, the poison produces symptoms of  irritation and inflamma-
tion  along the course of the alimentary canal, and  commonly kills in from
one to three  days.   In the second, the  signs of inflammation are moderate,
or even altogether wanting, and death occurs in five or six hours, at a period
too early for inflammation to be always fully developed.   In the third order
of cases, two stages occur,  one in which inflammatory symptoms are de-
veloped, as in the first order; the other, marked by symptoms  referable to
nervous irritation, such  as imperfect palsy of the arms  or legs,  epilepsy,
tetanus, hysterical affections,  mania, and coma.   It is a general character of
this poison to  induce  inflammation of  the stomach  in almost all instances,
provided death  does not take place immediately, whatever be the part to
which it is applied.   Thus the  poison,  when applied to a fresh wound, will
give  rise to  the same  morbid appearances in the stomach and intestines, as
when it is swallowed.   In some  cases, observed by Drs. Mall and Bailie,
the rectum was much inflamed, while the colon and small  intestines escaped.
   The precise rank which  should be  assigned, in  the scale of poisons, to
arsenious acid when applied externally, is  still undetermined.  One set of
observers contend  that its  external application is  not  attended with  great
danger; while another party conceives  that it  acts as  a  virulent poison.
Hunter, Sir Everard  Home, Jceger, 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
the poisonous effects of the substance are developed  in a smaller dose, when
 used in this  way, than when  taken into the  stomach.  Nor are there want-
 ing many well-authenticated facts of its deleterious effects on the human
constitution.  Roux reports  the  case of a young woman  under his  care,
 whose death was caused, after agonizing sufferings,  by the application of an
arsenical paste to a  cancerous breast.  A case is related of death from the
application of an arsenical paste to a soft tumour of the temple; the poisonous
 effects on the system at large being the  cause of  the fatal  result.   (Archives
 Generates, ii. 230.)  Sir Astley Cooper, in  his lectures,  bears testimony to
 the dangerous effects of arsenic  externally applied.- On  the  other hand,
 some writers contend for the safety of the external application of this poison.
 Mr.  Blackadder  applied it in large quantities to  sores, and  never  witnessed 
22
Acidum Arseniosum.
part i.
a single instance in which it acted constitutionally.  Dr. Randolph, of this
city, states that Dr. Physick frequently and successfully employed arsenic
by'external application, without its being productive of the injurious conse-
quences which have been  attributed to it.  (North Amer. Med. and Surg
Journ., v. 257.)  In weighing such conflicting testimony, we are constrained
to believe,  that the circumstances of  the different experiments and  observa-
tions must have been different;  and we think that the observations of Black-
adder and Harles show in what this difference consists. It seems to depend
entirely on the circumstances of the  application, as being favourable or un-
favourable  to  absorption.   Blackadder attributes  his  very success to the
large quantities of the arsenic which he employs ;   and which, he contends,
kills the part without being absorbed  ; and this is probably the fact.  Harles's
observations may be explained  on  the  same  principle.  He contended that
the outward application  of  arsenic is  comparatively safe  to ulcers, either
common or malignant; but  is dangerous to parts recently wounded and pour-
ing 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 dilu-
tion caused by the blood, may be an  efficient promoter of absorption, and is
entirely consonant with the experiments of Dr. Campbell, who found that
arsenic acted with more energy, when dissolved in water,  than  in the  solid
state.   The case in which Dr. Randolph  employed  this  mineral, by the
advice of Dr.  Physick, was one of ulcerated scrotum, in which it acted by
producing  the  death of the diseased part, a  state  evidently unfavourable  to
absorption.  The formula employed was one part of  the arsenious acid  to
five of the flowers of sulphur.
   Arsenious acid, when it produces the death of a part, does not act, strictly
speaking,  as an  escharotic.  It  destroys the vitiality of the organized struc-
ture, and its decomposition  is the consequence.   The true escharotic acts
chemically by decomposing the part to which it is applied, and the loss  of
life follows.   This distinction  being borne in  mind, we  can explain why
the operation of arsenious acid is often limited to the destruction of  diseased
formations, which are known  to possess a  feeble vitality; while  the  true
escharotics destroy both the diseased  and  healthy structure.   When the
arsenious  acid succeeds  as  an  external  application to cancers,  which  is  a
very rare occurrence, it acts on  this principle; destroying the vitality of the
whole diseased portion, and causing it to be thrown off as something foreign
to the system.
   Upon  the whole, new facts are wanting  to clear up this difficult subject.
Judging from the lights we possess, the external application of arsenious
acid, in case it is absorbed, is attended with very great  danger;  and the  con-
ditions of a part and of the system at large, favourable or^otherwise to ab-
sorption, 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 ouill
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  eo-o-s
and water, or flour and water,  which serve to  encourage the vomiting ami
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 
part i.                  Acidum Arseniosum.                      23

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.   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 inso-
luble, and therefore inert, subarseniate  of protoxide of  iron (4FeO-f-As05).
The manner  of  preparing the antidote will  be given under another head.
(See Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U. S.)  It should be kept by all apothecaries
ready for use.
   This antidote  for arsenious acid was  discovered by Drs. Bunsen and Ber-
thold of Gottingen, in 1834,  and its efficacy has been abundantly confirmed
by experiments  on  inferior animals, and by its successful application to nu-
merous cases of poisoning in the human subject.  Among others, the reader
is referred  to the following:—1.  The case  of M. Blondel, in which two
drachms of arsenic  had  been swallowed. (Amer.  Journ. of Pharm. new
series, i. 350, from the  Journ. de Chim. Med.)   2. Two cases treated by
Dr. Buzorini, (French Lancet, Nov. 17, 1835.) 3. A case reported by Mr.
John Robson, in which  more than  a drachm and  a half of the poison had
been swallowed, and  the antidote was not administered until two hours after
the poison had been taken.   In the last-mentioned case, about  an hour after
the ingestion of the poison, the stomach-pump was used, but unsuccess-
fully, on account of  the  instrument becoming  choked with the remains  of
food. (Amer. Journ. of the  Med. Sci., xx. 522, from  the Lond. Med. Ga-
zette of Nov. 5, 1836.)   4.  Case related by Dr. Thomas, of Baltimore, in
which  twenty 'grains of the  poison had been swallowed.  (Amer. Med.
Library and Intelligencer, ii. 205.)  5.  Case of Dr. Macdonald in the New
 York Journ. of Medicine and Surgery, ii. 205.   6. Case reported  by Dr.
Gerhard, (Med. Exam., iii.  250.)  7.  Cases  related  by Drs. Smiley and
Wallace of this  city.  A family of eight persons 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
antidotal powers of the  different oxides of iron, and the circumstances which
influence their  efficacy.  The forms  of oxide experimented  with, are the
anhydrous sesquioxide   (colcothar), the  dry  hydrated sesquioxide (rust of
iron and the  subcarbonate of  iron of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which are both
essentially hydrated oxides), the hydrated oxide in the  state of pulp or mag-
ma, and the same oxide  kept under a stratum  of  water.  Orfila has  shown
that colcothar is  without effect, because it does not combine with the arsen-
 ious  acid.  Dr. Von Specz, of  Vienna, has proved that rust of iron acts as
 an antidote to arsenious acid, but, being  much  less powerful than the pulpy
 hydrate, should be used only in  the absence of the latter, and until it  can  be
procured.  Orfila agrees with Von Specz as to the degree of efficacy of the
 rust, and attributes its inferior power to its inability completely to neutralize
 the arsenious acid.   According to the French toxicologist, it forms with the
 acid a subsalt which  is  poisonous, though in a much inferior  degree to the
 free arsenious acid.   Thus it would appear  that Dr. T. R. Beck is  in error
 in stating that the dry hydrated oxide is  inert.  (Amer. Journ. of the Med.
  Sciences, new series, ii. 95.) All the  best  authorities unite in considering
 the hydrated oxide in the state of pulp or magma to be the best form of the
 antidote; but opinions  are divided as to the necessity of its  being freshly 
24
Acidum Arseniosum.
PART I.
prepared as well as moist, and as to the relative advantage  of much or little
water, to maintain it in the moist state.  An able paper published  by Mr.
William Procter, jun., of this  city,  appears  to  have settled these disputed
points.  (Amer. Journ. of Pharmacy, xiv. 29, April,  1842.)  He has proved
by satisfactory experiments, 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.
   It follows from the  above facts and observations, that the forms ot  sesqui-
oxide of iron are  efficacious as  antidotes to arsenic in the following order,
beginning with the one having the least power:—1, dry hydrated oxide; 2,
hydrated oxide, long  kept and  mixed with much water;  3, the  same long
kept, and  in the form of a  thick magma; 4, the same just precipitated and
still pulpy.  The form of antidote which can  be obtained  first must be used
first, although not the  best,  and may be replaced by a better as soon as it can
be procured.  The  apothecary should,  therefore, always  keep the oxide in
the form  of thick magma, and, as Mr. Procter  suggests, be prepared, at a
moment's warning,  to make the antidote.  When applied to for it, he  must
instantly furnish the magma, or, if unprovided with this,  the rust or precipi-
tated subcarbonate, and immediately proceed to prepare the oxide, which may
be done, according  to Mr. Procter, in ten or fifteen minutes, if the proper
solutions are always ready for effecting  the precipitation.
   The solutions necessary are those of the tersulphate of sesquioxide of iron,
and of ammonia.   The preparation of this sulphate in solution forms the first
step in the officinal  formula for obtaining the antidote, and will be explained
under the  head of that substance. (See  Ferri Oxidum Hydratum.)
   The antidote having been faithfully applied, the subsequent treatment con-
sists in the administration of mucilaginous drinks.   Should  the  patient sur-
vive long  enough  for inflammatory symptoms to  arise,  these should  be
combated  on the general principles of treating inflammation.  Accordingly,
venesection and leeches may become necessary; 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, cream1,
rice, and similar bland articles.
   It was  formerly supposed  that bodies poisoned  by arsenious  acid  were
unusually prone to putrefaction ; but so far  from this being true, it exerts a
preservative effect.
   Reagents for detecting Arsenious Acid.  As arsenic is so  frequently em-
ployed for criminal  purposes, it becomes of importance 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
embrace all the liquid reagents, so called; the latter, the different processes
for metallization.
   The  most characteristic reagents, according to Dr. Christison, are sul-
phuretted  hydrogen, ammoniacal nitrate of silver, and ammoniacal  nitrate
of copper.  In the opinion of this 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  and death  it
is best to make assurance  doubly sure, and, therefore, that  the metallization
of the poison ought never  to be omitted.
   In using sulphuretted hydrogen, the solution must be neutral.   An excess 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
25
of alkali may be neutralized with acetic acid; and an excess of nitric or sul-
phuric acid, by potassa.   A  slight excess of acetic  acid  is not,  however,
hurtful; on the contrary,  it rather favours the subsidence of the precipitate,
which is  the  tersulphuret of  arsenic.   According  to Dr.  Christison, this
test is so exceedingly delicate, that it detects the poison, when dissolved  in
one hundred thousand parts of water.   The colour it produces is  lemon  or
sulphur-yellow; but the  presence of vegetable or animal matter commonly
changes it to a whitish or brownish tint.   Some medical jurists recommend
the use of sulphuretted  hydrogen  water; but the  gas is far preferable.  It
can be applied with much convenience by using one of Dr. Hare's self-regu-
lating gas reservoirs.
   Dr. Christison has  shown  that, how delicate  soever the ammoniacal
nitrate of silver may  be in ordinary solutions, it is  not to be depended upon
in dilute solutions of the poison, where animal or vegetable  matter is present;
for the precipitate is either not formed in consequence of the organic  prin-
ciples exerting  a solvent power over it, or, if  formed, is essentially  altered
in colour.
   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.  But a greater
objection to it is,  that its indications fail when animal or vegetable matter is
present, in case the arsenic is not abundant.
   Of the three tests mentioned, perhaps the sulphuretted hydrogen is the
 most delicate; and it has the advantage of yielding a precipitate eligible  for
 subsequent  reduction.   But  they are all liable to  the objection of being
 obscured in their indications, where the  amount of poison is minute, by  the
 presence of organic  principles; a complication which constitutes the most
 difficult problem which  can  be  presented  to  the  attention of the medical
jurist.   As  this case includes all  others of more easy  solution, we shall
 suppose  it presented to the  medical  chemist, and shall  indicate the steps
 which are to be pursued.
   Having obtained general  indications of the  presence  of arsenic, the first
 step will be to separate the  organic matters;  the second to throw down the
 arsenic by means of sulphuretted  hydrogen;  and the third, to  reduce  the
 precipitate obtained.
   The following are the directions given by Dr. Christison for  separating
 the organic principles.  Boil the suspected matter with distilled water  for half
 an hour, and filter, first through gauze to separate  the coarser particles, and
 afterwards through  paper.   To the transparent solution thus obtained, add
 acetic  acid, which will coagulate some  animal  principles.  To ascertain
 whether the solution has been sufficiently freed from animal  matter  by this
 measure, neutralize with ammonia, and  test a  small portion of  it with  the
 ammoniacal nitrate  of silver.  If this gives a characteristic precipitate, the
 solution  is sufficiently deprived of animal  matter;  if not, another measure
 must be  adopted  to separate  it. This consists in first rendering the solution
 neutral or slightly alkaline, next faintly acidulating with  muriatic acid, and
 then adding an excess of nitrate of silver.  This salt precipitates  the animal
 matter in combination with  oxide of silver.  After this step, the excess of
 silver is thrown  down  by a slight excess of chloride  of sodium (common
 salt), and the solution filtered.
    Having in this manner disembarrassed the solution of organic  matter, the
 free nitric acid is neutralized  by potassa in slight excess, and the solution
 acidulated with  acetic  acid.   A stream  of sulphuretted  hydrogen  is then
      4 
26
Acidum Arseniosum.
PART I.
passed through it, which will  throw down the arsenic  as the tersulphuret
If the proportion of arsenic be very small, a yellowishness only will be pro-
duced, owing to the precipitate being soluble in an excess  of the precipitant.
In this caselt is necessary to  boil, to drive off the excess of  sulphuretted
hydroo-en.   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
instrument  called  the  pipette,  employed for  washing  scanty  precipitates.
The filter is then  gently pressed between folds of bibulous paper, and the
precipitate removed with the point of a knife before it dries, and then dried
in little masses  on a  watch-glass.   In  this manner, Dr. Christison states
that it is  easy to collect a portion  of  the  tersulphuret so  small as the
twenty-fifth  part of a grain.   When the precipitate is small and not easily
separated, Devergie recommends to  dissolve it in a small quantity of am-
monia, and then filter and evaporate the solution in a watch-glass, when the
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 the arsenious acid is freshly ignited charcoal.
   A method different, from that of  Dr. Christison has been recommended by
M. Maufrlier for separating organic substances.  It consists in adding to the
liquid, resulting  from the decoction of the suspected matters, a solution of
oxide of zinc in potassa.  The oxide precipitates in union with the organic
substances,  while the potassa  unites with the arsenious  acid  and remains in
solution.  The clear solution, obtained  by decantation or  filtration,  being
then acidulated with  muriatic acid, the arsenic is precipitated by sulphuretted
hydrogen, as recommended by Dr. Christison.  (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 492.)
   The general formula for reduction  is as follows.  The operation is per-
formed 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  occupy, by  means of  a small glass funnel with a slender stem, with-
out soiling the empty part of the tube.   The heat is to  be applied by means
of a spirit lamp, the  upper part of the material being first heated with a small
flame, and  afterwards the lower part with a  larger flame.  A little water,
disengaged  at first, should be  removed with a roll of filtering paper, before
sufficient  heat has been applied to sublime the metal.   When the  dark crust
begins to form, the tube should be held quite steady, and in the same part of
the flame.  This  crust is the metallic arsenic, having  the surface next the
 tube resplendent  and polished, and the interior surface crystallized.  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 glass.  Finally, the crystals may be dissolved
 in a drop or  two of distilled  water, and  the solution will react characteris-
 tically with the liquid tests.
    A new method of testing for arsenic has been proposed  by Mr  Marsh
 (Edvn. New Phil. Journ.for Oct., 1836.)  It consists in taking advantage
 of the power, which nascent  hydrogen possesses, of decomposing the acids
 of arsenic   with  the result  of forming water and  arseniuretted  hydrogen.
  The liquid in the stomach, or  obtained from its  contents by boiling water
 is mixed with  some dilute  sulphuric acid, and  placed  in a self-regulating
 reservoir for hydrogen, in which a piece of zinc is  suspended.  The  mate- 
part i.        Acidum Arseniosum.—Acidum Citricum.            27

rials are here present for the production of hydrogen ; but if the liquid from
the stomach contain  arsenic,  the  nascent  hydrogen  will combine with the
metal, and the  nature of the compound gas formed  may be  ascertained by
burning a jet of it from a fine jet-pipe  connected with the reservoir,  taking
care that the atmospheric  air is first expelled before applying the fire, for
fear of an explosion.   The flame will have a characteristic blue  colour, and
by holding a piece of white porcelain over it, a  thin film of metallic arsenic
will be formed.  Liebig and Mohr  bear  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 apparatus,  as well as of the zinc and sulphuric acid; as these
latter are  liable to contain a minute  portion of arsenic.  The piece of zinc
employed should be  changed in every experiment.
  Lassaigne has proposed to pass  the arseniuretted  hydrogen  through  a
solution of nitrate of oxide of silver.  Arsenious acid is formed, nitric acid
set free, and  metallic  silver deposited in black flocculi.  Muriatic acid  is
cautiously added  to the decanted liquid to decompose the excess of the
nitrate, by throwing down  its silver  in the form  of a chloride.  The filtered
liquor will  contain  nitric  and arsenious  acids, the  latter of which may be
detected by the usual tests.  Or it may be evaporated to dryness,  whereby
the arsenious  becomes arsenic acid, by oxygen derived from the nitric acid
which is decomposed.   The solution of arsenic acid obtained from the dry
residuum  is then tested  by nitrate of silver, which forms with it a brick-red
precipitate of  arseniate of silver.  Lassaigne's mode of proceeding has the
merit of saving the first portions of  the arsenical gas.
   Marsh's test has been objected to by Mr. L. Thompson,, who alleges that
antimony forms a compound with  hydrogen, very similar to  arseniuretted
hydrogen, both in the  colour of its flame, and in the metallic crust which it
deposits  during combustion  on cold surfaces.  Still, according  to Turner,
these two compounds of hydrogen  may  be discriminated.  For further de-
tails, see Turner's Chemistry, where a figure of the apparatus to be employed
is given.
   Professor Reinsch has  proposed  a new  method for detecting arsenic  in
organic liquids, which is  praised by Dr. Christison as being of great delicacy,
and as leaving  none of the metal in the subject of analysis.  It consists in acid-
ulating the suspected liquid with  muriatic acid, and heating a slip of copper
foil in it, on which the arsenic is deposited as a white  alloy, and then sepa-
rating 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 pe-
culiar crystalline appearance  of arsenious acid, mentioned in the last page,  is
conclusive of  its presence.   The merit of this test is not that it gives a cha-
racteristic deposit on the copper, for bismuth, tin, zinc  and antimony give
a similar  deposit; but that it furnishes the arsenic, when present, without
loss,  and  in a  convenient form for applying the liquid and subliming tests
already described.
   Off. Prep. Arsenici  Oxydum Album Sublimatum, Dub.; Liquor Potassae
Arsenitis, U. S., Lond.,  Ed.                                        B.


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

                             Citric Acid.

   Acidum limonis, hat.; Acide citrique, Fr.; Citronens&ure, Germ.; Acido citrico, Ital.,
Span
   Citric acid is the peculiar acid to which limes and lemons owe their sour- 
28
Acidum Citricum.
PART I.
ness, being found in greatest abundance in the former.   It is present also in
the juice of other fruits, though in smaller amount; such as the cranberry,
the red whortleberry, the  berry of the bittersweet, the  red  gooseberry, the
currant, the strawberry, the raspberry, and the tamarind.
  The acid is extracted from  lemon or lime juice by a very simple process,
for  which we  are indebted to Scheele.   The juice is imported into the
United  States from the West Indies, principally from the Island of  Cuba,
for  the  purpose of being converted into  syrup, or  manufactured  into  citric
acid.   To obtain  the acid, the juice is first completely saturated with  carbo-
nate of lime, (ehalk  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 citric acid, being separated, 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.  As the crystals obtained by the first crystallization are gene-
rally brown,  they require to be redissolved  and recrystallized successively
several times, in order to render them pure and white.
  The late Mr. Parkes, in his Chemical  Essays, has given a very interest-
ing account of the manufacture of citric acid, which is made in large quan-
tities in London for the use of the calico-printers.   As  Mr. P. was himself
engaged in this manufacture, the following outline of the process which he
pursued, may be received  with the greater confidence.   The juice is placed
in large square vats, in which it is saturated with clean soft chalk or whit-
ing, gradually  added to prevent excessive effervescence.   The insoluble
citrate of lime is allowed to subside, and the supernatant liquid, containing
mucilage, saccharine  matter, and  a little  malic acid, is drawn off by means
of a syphon.   The citrate is then  passed through a sieve, and washed with
warm water,  until all  remaining mucilage, and other soluble impurities are
removed.  It is then  decomposed, while  yet moist, by means of sulphuric
acid, taken in the proportion of nine pounds and a half of the strong acid
diluted  with seven gallons of water, for  every ten  pounds of chalk used in
the saturation.  Some deduction, however, may be made from  the water of
dilution, in  consideration  of the water  present  in  the  moist citrate.  The
quantity of chalk  expended may be easily ascertained by weighing out more
than is  sufficient for the purpose of  saturation, and weighing the  remainder
after the point  of saturation shall have been attained.   The sulphuric acid
is gradually poured in immediately after  the water  has  been added to it, in
order that the decomposition  may be assisted by the heat  generated by its
dilution; and at  the  same time, the whole is  well stirred with a  strong
wooden spatula, in order to prevent the  citrate from running into lumps and
thus escaping the action of the acid.  As the point of complete decomposi-
tion of  the citrate approaches, the  sulphate of lime precipitates more and
more quickly, and  the  quantity of supernatant  liquid becomes  sensibly
greater. When the decomposition has been completed, the solution of citric
acid is drawn  off, and the sulphate of lime washed repeatedly with cold
water to separate any remains of acid.   The solution of the  acid, together
with the washings, is then concentrated by evaporation in leaden  boilers,
until it  reaches the sp. gr. of  about  1-130;  when the fire is withdrawn, and
the  acid removed to  a smaller leaden vessel, where it  undergoes a further
concentration by means of a water-bath:   When the bulk of the acid liquor
becomes very  much reduced  by evaporation, it requires to be transferred to
a  still smaller  leaden boiler, where it is further evaporated by  the same
means, until  the  liquor acquires the consistence of very thin  molasses.   It 
PART I,
Acidum Citricum.
29
is then watched with the greatest attention for noting the production of a pel-
licle, upon the appearance of which over the whole surface of the liquor, the
acid is to  be deemed sufficiently concentrated, and must be immediately re-
moved from the water-bath, and put aside to cool and crystallize.   If at this
stage of the process the removal of the acid were neglected, the whole would
be in danger of being charred and spoiled.
  The liquor  is allowed to remain at rest four days, that crystals may be
formed, from which the mother waters, presenting a black colour, are  to be
drained.   These are  then diluted with ten or twelve  times  their bulk of
water, saturated anew by means  of  carbonate of lime, and  treated  in all
respects  as if  they consisted of fresh lemon juice.  By this  proceeding, a
new crop of crystals will be obtained.
   Whatever care may be taken in  conducting  the process, the first crop of
crystals will be of a light brownish colour; but if the solution has been burnt
during the evaporation, or the mucilage imperfectly separated, they will be
dark brown or black.   In order to have the crystals perfectly pure and white,
it  is  necessary to  subject them to repeated solutions and crystallizations.
According to Mr. Parkes, a gallon  of good juice, if the process be  well con-
ducted, 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 vari-
able.   The  more recent the juice the  better the  quality.  That which is
stale  will sometimes  be quite  sour,  without  containing any  citric acid, in
consequence of its having undergone the acetous fermentation.
   In decomposing the  citrate of lime by sulphuric acid, it is not prudent to
trust altogether to the  appearance of the liquor, in deciding when the decom-
position is  complete.   A more certain  criterion is to filter  a small portion
of  the liquor, and test it with acetate of lead.  If no sulphuric acid be pre-
sent in excess, the  precipitate will consist of citrate of lead, and be entirely
soluble in nitric acid.   On  the contrary supposition, the  precipitate will be
a mixture of citrate and sulphate  of  lead, the latter of which will  remain
undissolved on the addition of nitric  acid.
   It is desirable to have a slight excess of sulphuric acid ; as it rather favours
than otherwise the crystallization of  the citric acid.   It is found  necessary,
also, to add  occasionally a  small portion of sulphuric acid to  the citric acid
liquor, during the progress of its concentration.
   Citric  acid is manufactured in different cities of the United  States, for use
in the arts and in medicine.   In Philadelphia it is made in the usual manner,
from the juice of limes and lemons.   The imported juice furnishes from four
to six ounces of the pure crystallized acid to the gallon.
   Citric  acid is properly placed in the Materia Medica  of the United States
Pharmacopoeia, as  an  article purchased from the  manufacturing chemist, and
not made by the apothecary.   The British Colleges place it among the pre-
parations.
   The following is an outline  of the  process  of the London Pharmacopoeia
of 1836, for preparing this  acid.   Four ounces and a half of prepared  chalk
are added by  degrees to eighty fluidounces  of heated lemon juice.   The
resulting citrate of lime is carefully  washed  with tepid water, and  decom-
posed, while yet moist, by the addition  of twenty-seven and a half fluid-
ounces of diluted  sulphuric acid, and forty fluidounces  of distilled  water.
The liquor is boiled for a quarter of  an hour, and, after  having been strained
through a cloth with strong compression, is filtered.  The filtered liquor is
then evaporated by a gentle heat, and set aside to crystallize.   The solution
and crystallization are to be repeated several times, in order to get the crys-
 tals pure. 
30
Acidum Citricum.
PART I.
  The process  of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is  substantially the .same
with that of the London.  The principal differences are, that the Edinburgh
College purifies the lemon juice to a  certain extent from mucila^ by bod-
ing rfst, and subsidence, before it is  boiled with a view to the  addition of
the chalk, and indicates  the proportion of the  dduted sulphuric acid to the
chalk expended, without fixing the absolute quantities.  These are improve-
ments;  for the presence of much mucilage interferes with the purification
of the crystals, and the quality of the juice is too variable to allow the quantity
of chalk necessary for saturation to  be fixed.  Dr. Christison states that the
iuice is advantageously clarified by albumen.                      #
   In the process  of the Dublin College, the citrate of lime, which is unne-
cessarily directed to  be dried,  is decomposed by a quantity of diluted  sul-
phuric acid, equal to eight times the weight of the chalk employed.
   Properties.  Citric acid is a white crystallized solid, often in large crystals,
having the form  of rhomboidal prisms with dihedral summits.   It is  perma-
nent in a dry air, but  becomes moist in a damp one.  Its sp. gr. is 1-6.  Its
taste is strongly  acid, and almost caustic.  When heated, it dissolves in its
water of crystallization, and at a higher temperature, undergoes  decomposi-
tion,  becoming  yellow or brown, and forming a very sour syrupy liquid,
which is uncrystallizable.  By destructive distillation, it gives rise to water,
empyreumatic oil, acetic and carbonic acids, carburetted  hydrogen,  and  a
number of pyrogenous 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
decomposition.   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 charac-
terized by its taste, by the shape of its crystals, and by its  forming an inso-
luble salt with lime, and  a deliquescent one  with potassa.  If sulphuric acid
be present,  the precipitate by acetate  of lead will not be entirely soluble in
nitric acid ;  the insoluble portion being sulphate of lead.  Sometimes large
crystals of tartaric acid  are  substituted for or mixed with the citric, a  fraud
which is readily detected by adding a solution of carbonate of potassa to one
of the suspected acid; when, if tartaric acid be  present, a crystalline precipi-
tate of bitartrate of potassa (cream of tartar) will be formed.   Lime or other
fixed impurity is detected by incinerating the acid, either alone or by  the aid
of red oxide of  mercury, when the fixed  matter will be left.
   Composition.  The formula of this acid, considered dry, as it exists in
the citrate of silver,  is C^HgOu.  As crystallized from its solution by cool-
ing, it contains four eqs. of water.
   Medical Properties.   Citric  acid  is principally employed  for making a
substitute for lemonade, and in the  composition of effervescing draughts.
It is used also for preparing  the  neutral mixture, for  which a formula was
introduced  into  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia at  its last revision.   (See  Liquor
Potassx Citratis, U. S.)  When added in the quantity of nine drachms and
a half to  a  pint of distilled water, it forms a solution of the average strength
of lemon juice.   Of this solution, or of lemon juice, a scruple of bicarbo-
nate of potassa saturates three fluidrachms and a half: a scruple of carbo-
nate of potassa, four fluidrachms;  and a scruple of  carbonate  of ammonia
six fluidrachms.   Half a fluidounce of lemon juice, or of an equivalent solu-
tion of  citric acid, when saturated, is  considered a dose.  An agreeable sub-
stitute for lemonade  may be formed  by dissolving from two to four parts of 
PART I.
Acidum Muriaticum.
31
the acid, mixed with a little sugar and oil of lemons, in nine hundred parts of
water; or a scruple of the acid maybe dissolved in  a pint of water, and
sweetened to the taste with sugar which has been rubbed on fresh lemon-peel.
   Off. Prep.  Liquor Potassae Citratis,  U. S.                          B.


           ACIDUM  MURIATICUM.  U.S., Dub.

                           Muriatic Acid.

   "Aqueous  solution of  chlorohydric  acid  gas  of  the  specific gravity
1-16."  U.S.
   Off. Syn.  ACIDUM HYDROCHLORICUM. Lond.  ACIDUM  MU-
RIATICUM  PURUM.  Hydrochloric acid.  ACIDUM MURIATICUM.
Hydrochloric acid of commerce. Ed.
   Spirit of sea-salt, Marine acid, Hydrochloric acid, Chlorohydric acid; Acide hydro-
chlorique, Fr.; Salzs&ure, Kochsalzs&ure, 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  pro-
perly hydrated muriatic acid.   The acid is officinal in its  pure form in the
U.S., London, and  Dublin Pharmacopoeias, and  in its  pure and commer-
cial forms in the Edinburgh.  The sp. gr. of the pure  acid is directed  to be
1-16  in the  U.S., London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias,  and 1-17 in the
Edinburgh.   The three British Colleges give processes for  the preparation
of the  pure  acid; while  in  the  United States Pharmacopoeia, it is placed
exclusively in the list of  the  Materia  Medica, as an article  to be procured
from  the manufacturing chemist.
   Preparation.   Muriatic acid is obtained by the action of sulphuric acid on
chloride of sodium or common salt.   The commercial  acid  is procured, on
a large  scale, by distilling the salt with an equal weight of  sulphuric acid,
somewhat diluted with water, from  iron stills  furnished with earthen heads,
into earthenware receivers containing water.   When thus obtained, it is con-
taminated 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, out of which soda-ash and carbonate of soda are manufactured in
immense quantities.  Indeed the quantity of muriatic acid generated in soda
works is so great, that in many cases, so far  from its being valuable, it is a
difficult problem to devise  means to get rid of it.  When the object is to
obtain sulphate of soda, the  decomposition of the sea salt is performed in
semi-cylindrical vessels, the  curved  part, next the fire, being made of iron,
and the upper or flat surface, of stone.  If the acid be saved, it is conveyed
by a  pipe to a double-necked stoneware receiver, half filled with water, and
connected with a row of similar receivers, likewise containing water.
   The  acid  is generally  prepared in  the  laboratory, when  required  to be
pure, by saturating distilled water with the gas in a Woulfe's apparatus. A
quantity of pure fused* common salt is introduced into a retort or mattrass,
placed  on a  sand-bath.  The vessel is then  furnished with  an S tube, and
connected with a  series of bottles, each two-thirds full of water.  A  quan-
tity of  sulphuric acid  is then gradually added, equal  in weight to the com-
mon  salt employed, and diluted with one-third of its weight of water.   The
materials ought not to occupy more  than half the body of the retort.   When
the extrication of  the gas  slackens, heat is  to be applied, and  gradually

   * According to Thenard, the fusion of the common salt will very much  facilitate the
conducting of the process. 
32
Acidum Muriaticum.
part i.
increased until the water in the bottles refuses to absorb any more, or until,
upon raising the heat, no more gas is found to come over.  As soon as the
process is completed, boiling water is to be  added to the  contents  ot  the
retort,  in order to facilitate the removal of the residue.   During the progress
of the  saturation, the water  in the several bottles increases in temperature,
which  lessens its power of absorption.  It is therefore expedient, in order
to obtain a strong acid, to keep the bottles cool  by means of water or ice.
The connecting tubes need not plunge deeply into the acid.
  The rationale of the process for obtaining this acid is sufficiently simple.
Common  salt is  a  compound of chlorine  and  sodium; muriatic acid, of
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, combine 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  British Colleges to be dissolved and crystallized, in order to form the
officinal sulphate of soda. (See Sodas Sulphas.)
  The following is  a synopsis of the proportions of the ingredients pre-
scribed by the British Colleges for obtaining the pure acid:—London, two
pounds of dried chloride of sodium, twenty ounces  of sulphuric acid, and
twenty-four  fluidounces of distilled water;—Edinburgh, equal  weights of
purified and well dried  salt, pure acid, and water;—Dublin, one hundred
parts of dried salt, eighty-seven of commercial sulphuric acid, and one hun-
dred and twenty-four of water.   The Edinburgh  College  distils  "with  a
gentle  heat  by  means of a  sand-bath or naked  gas-flame,  so long as any
liquid  passes over, preserving the receiver constantly  cool by  snow or  a
stream of cold  water."   The Dublin College distils  the materials to dry-
ness.   One-third of the water prescribed in the Edinburgh formula, and one-
half of that  directed  in the London and Dublin, is mixed with the sulphuric
acid;  the rest being put into the receiver to absorb the gas.
  From the  above view, it is perceived that the British Colleges differ as to
the proportion of acid and salt.  Theory calls for a little less than 82 parts
of the  liquid acid to  100 of the common salt; while  the London College
uses about 83 parts, the Dublin 87, and the Edinburgh  100 parts of  acid to
that quantity of salt.  The  London  proportions are, therefore, nearest  the
theoretical quantities, and would even seem to furnish a slight excess of acid;
but from careful experiments made by Dr. Barker, of Dublin, it appears to
be  demonstrated, that to decompose completely the whole of the salt, 87
parts of strong acid  are necessary; for it is a principle now generally con-
ceded,  and which was contended for  many years ago by the late Dr. Hope
that to produce  the complete decomposition of a salt, it  is sometimes neces-
sary to use more than an equivalent quantity of the decomposing ao-ent.  Ac-
cordingly, Dr. Hope found, that  the Edinburgh proportion of equal weights
of sulphuric acid and salt gave a larger product  of muriatic acid, with less
expense of time and fuel, than when a smaller quantity of the decomposing
acid was employed.                                                    s
  The common salt  is purified by the Edinburgh College by dissolving it in
boiling water, concentrating  the solution, skimming off°the  crystals as" they
form on the surface, draining from them the adhering solution, and subse-
quently washing them slightly with cold water.   Dr. Christison states that
the object of the process is to  separate nitrate of  soda, which is  almost
always present in the common salt of commerce.  It will also separate nitrate
of potassa if it happen to be present.  The same  College directs pure sul- 
part i.                  Acidum Muriaticum.                       33

phuric acid, on the ground that the commercial usually contains nitrous acid.
(See Acidum Sulphuricum Purum.)
   Properties of the Hydrated Acid.  Muriatic acid, when pure, is a transpa-
rent colourless liquid, of a corrosive taste and suffocating odour.  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 medici-
nal acid has the  sp. gr.  of 1-16, and 100 grains of it saturate 132 grains of
crystallized carbonate of soda.   When of this  strength it contains rather
more than  33-9 per  cent, of muriatic  acid gas.  (Phillips.)  Mixed with
nitric acid, it forms nitromuriatic acid, or aqua regia.   (See Acidum Nitro-
muriaticum.)
   As it is desirable to know, on many occasions, in chemical and pharma-
ceutical  operations, the quantity of strong hydrated acid, of acid gas, and of
chlorine, contained in samples of acid of different densities, we subjoin  a
table by Dr. Ure, containing this information, as abridged  by the late  Dr.
Duncan.
 Table of the  Quantity of Hydrated Muriatic Acid of sp. gr. 1-2, of Muria-
   tic Acid  Gas, and of  Chlorine, in 100 parts of Hydrated  Acid of different
   densities.
Sp. Gr.	liyd rated Acid of <p. gr. 1-2	Acid Gas.	Chlorine.	Sp. Gr.	Hydrated Acid of sp. gr. 1-2	Acid Gas.	Chlorine.
1-2000	100	40-777	39-675	1-1102	55	21-822	22-426
H910	95	38-738	37-692	1-1000	50	20-388	19-837
1-1822	90	36-700	35-707	1-0899	45	18-348	17-854
1-1721	85	34-660	33-724	1-0798	40	16-310	15-870
11701	84	34-252	33-328	1-0697	35	14271	13-887
1-1620	80	32-621	31-746	1-0597	30	12233	11-903
1-1599	79	32-213	31-343	1-0497	25	10-194	9-919
1-1515	75	30-582	29-757	1-0397	20	8155	7-935
11410	70	28-544	27-772	1-0298	15	6116	5-951
1-1308	65	26-504	25-789	10200	10	4078	3-968
1-1206	60	24-466	23-805	1-0100	5	2039	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, oxides  and their carbonates, sulphuret of potassium, tartrate of
potassa, tartar emetic, tartarized iron, nitrate of  silver, and solution of sub-
acetate of lead.
  Adulterations.  This acid, when pure, will evaporate without residue in
a platinum  spoon.   If sulphuric  acid  be present, a solution  of chloride of
barium will cause a precipitate of  sulphate  of baryta, in the acid previously
diluted with distilled  water.   Iron may be detected by saturating the dilute
acid with carbonate  of  soda, and  then adding ferrocyanuret  of potassium,
which will  strike a  blue  colour  if that metal be present.  Free  chlorine
may be discovered by the  acid having the power to dissolve gold leaf.  Any
minute portion of the leaf which  may be dissolved, is detected by adding a
solution of  protochloride of tin, which will strike a purplish tint.  The free
chlorine is  derived  from the reaction  of nitric  or  nitrous acid on a small
portion of the muriatic acid, which is thus deprived of its hydrogen.  These
contaminating acids  are derived from nitrates in the common salt, and nitrous
acid in the  commercial  sulphuric  acid, employed in the  preparation of the 
34
Acidum Muriaticum.
part I.
 muriatic acid.   Hence it is that when free chlorine is present, nitrous acid,
 or some other oxide of nitrogen, is also present as an impurity.
   Muriatic Acid of Commerce.  This acid has the general properties of the
 pure hydrated acid.  It has a yellow colour, owing to the presence of sesqui-
 chloride of iron, or of a m inute portion of organic matter, such as cork, wood, &c.
 It usually contains sulphuric acid, and sometimes chlorine and nitrous acid.
 But the most injurious  impurity to those who  consume it  in the arts, is sul-
 phurous acid.   To  detect this, M. Girardin, Prof, of  Chemistry at Rouen,
 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 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 protochlo-
 ride 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 ist 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 peroxide  and protosulphu-
 ret of tin. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm. vii., 222, from the Journ. de Pharm.)
 M. Lembert has proposed the following,  which he considers as a more deli-
 cate test of sulphurous acid.   Saturate the  suspected muriatic  acid with car-
 bonate 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.  (Journ. de  Pharm., Be Ser.,  iii. 207.)
  Another impurity  occasionally present in the commercial acid, as shown
 by  Dupasquier, is  arsenic.  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 from  which it is  manufactured, and  this last
 from pyrites  containing a little of the poisonous metal.  The arsenic, when
 present, is  in the form of a chloride, and from  its volatility in this  state of
 combination,  is transferred to the purified acid, distilled from the commercial
 acid.  This impurity is separated by diluting the acid with an equal  volume
 of water, and passing through  it sulphuretted hydrogen, which throws down
 the arsenic as a sulphuret. (Amer. Journ. of  Pharm., xiii. 348, from the
 Journ. de Chim. Med.)
  Muriatic acid of commerce is officinal only in the  Edinburgh Pharma-
 copoeia, and was made so for the first time in the last  edition  of that work
 Its  density 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 acid is
 stronger than the  pure  acid of the  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and conse-
 quently more fuming.  It is  officinally  defined 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 irritatino- the
 organs of respiration.  It  destroys life and extinguishes flame.   It reddens
litmus powerfully,  and has the other  properties of a strong acid   Its sn or
is 1 -269.   Subjected to a pressure of 40 atmospheres,  at the temperature°of
 50°, it is condensed  into a transparent liquid,  to which only the name of
liquid muriatic  acid  should be applied.  It absorbs  water with the  creates
avidity,  and, according to the temperature and pressure, unites with a neater 
part i.       Acidum Muriaticum.—Acidum JYitricum.            35

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 hydra-
ted acid already described.   With metallic oxides it forms a  chloride of the
metal and water.
   Composition.  Muriatic  acid gas consists of one eq. of chlorine 35-42,
and  one of  hydrogen 1=36-42; or of one volume of chlorine and one of
hydrogen united without condensation.
   Medical Properties.   Muriatic  acid is refrigerant and  antiseptic.  It is
exhibited, largely diluted with water, in  fevers,  some forms of syphilis, and
to counteract phosphatic  deposits in the urine.   Dr. Paris has given it with
success in malignant cases of typhus and scarlatina, administered in a strong
infusion of quassia. The same  writer has found  it one of the most efficacious
remedies for preventing the  generation of worms, after a free evacuation of
the bowels.  It proves also  a good adjunct to gargles in ulcerated sorethroat
and  scarlatina  maligna.   The  dose for internal exhibition  is  from ten to
twenty minims, in a sufficient quantity of some bland fluid,  as barley water
or gruel.   In the composition of gargles, it may be used in the proportion of
from half a fluidrachm to two fluidrachms, to six fluidounces of the vehicle.
The diluted acid is the most convenient form for prescribing.   (See Acidum
Muriaticum Dilutum.)
   Toxicological Properties.  Muriatic acid, when swallowed, is highly irri-
tating and corrosive, but  less so than sulphuric and nitric acids.   It produces
blackness of the lips, fiery redness of the tongue, hickups, violent efforts to
vomit, and agonizing pain in the stomach.  There is much thirst, great rest-
lessness, 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 in-
 flammation supervenes, it must be treated on general principles.
   Muriatic acid  is used as a  pharmaceutical agent by one or more of the
 Pharmacopoeias in the preparation of tartaric acid, tartrate of antimony and
 potassa, oxide  of antimony, tartrate of iron and potassa, muriate of morphia
 (Ed.), sulphate of quinia,  bicarbonate  of soda, strychnia, and precipitated
 sulphur.  In the following list of officinal preparations, we shall assume that
 the  Edinburgh College intended the use of pure muriatic acid in forming the
 diluted acid; although the kind of acid, whether pure or commercial, is not
 indicated in the formula.
   Off. Prep, of Muriatic Acid. Acidum Muriaticum Dilutum,  U. S., Lond.,
 Ed.,  Dub.; Acidum  Nitromuriaticum, U. S., Dub.; Antimonii  Oxydum
 Nitromuriaticum, Dub.; Barii  Chloridum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Calcii
 Chloridum, Lond.;  Calx Chlorinata, Lond.; Ferrum Ammoniatura,  U. S.,
 Lond.;  Liquor Calcii Chloridi,  U. S.;  Morphia? Murias,  U. S., Lond.;
 Tinctura Ferri Chloridi, U. S., Lond.,  Dub.; Zinci Chloridum, U. S.
   Off. Prep, of Muriatic  Acid of Commerce. Calcis Murias, Ed.; Ferri
 Muriatis Tinctura, Ed.                                             B.

          ACIDUM  NITRICUM.  U.S., Lond.,  Dub.

                             Nitric Acid.

   " Nitric acid of the specific gravity 1-5."  U. S.
    Off.  Syn. ACIDUM NITRICUM  PURUM.  Pure nitric acid.  ACI-
 DUM NITRICUM. Nitric acid of commerce. Ed. 
36
Acidum Nitricum.
PART I.
  Spirit of nitre; Aqua fortis; Acide nitrique, Acide azotique, Fr.; Salpetersaure, Germ.,
Zalpeterzuur, Sterkwater, Dutch; Skedwatter, Swed.; Acido nitr.co, Ital, bpan.
  Nitric acid is now officinal in three  forms,—the strong, the commercial,
and the diluted.   The strong and commercial acids will be noticed here; tlie
diluted, under another head. (See Acidum Nitricum Dilutum.)  The strong
acid is officinal in all the Pharmacopoeias, and is directed to have the sp.gr.
1-5 in the U.S., Lond., and Ed. Pharmacopoeias, and  1-49 in  the Dublin.
The commercial acid is a new officinal of the Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia,
and peculiar to it, and is defined by the  College to have a density varying
from 1-38 to 1-39.  In the British Pharmacopoeias, the strong acid is  directed
to be obtained according to a given formula, but it is more properly placed in
the Materia  Medica list of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, as  an article to be pur-
chased from the manufacturing chemist.
  The usual process  adopted in the  laboratory for obtaining this acid is to
add to nitrate of potassa in coarse  powder, contained  in  a  retort, an equal
weight of strong sulphuric acid, poured in by means of a tube or funnel, so
as not to soil the neck.  The materials should not occupy  more than two-
thirds of the capacity of the retort.  A receiver being  adapted, heat is  ap-
plied by  means of a spirit-lamp, the naked  fire, or a sand-bath, moderately
at first, but afterwards more strongly when  the materials begin to get solid,
in order to bring the whole into a state of perfect fusion.  Red vapours will
at first  arise, and afterwards disappear  in  the progress of the  distillation.
Towards its close they will be reproduced, and their reappearance will indi-
cate that the process is completed.
  The rationale of the process, when the ordinary acid of commerce is used,
is as follows.  Nitrate of potassa is a dry salt, consisting of one eq.  of nitric
acid and  one of potassa.   Hydrated sulphuric acid of ordinary strength (sp.
gr. 1.8433,  Phillips), consists of one eq. of dry sulphuric acid, and one and
a quarter eqs. of water ; and hydrated nitric acid, of one eq. of dry  acid, and
one and a half eqs. of water.  The equivalent quantities of  the materials for
mutual decomposition are one eq. of nitrate of potassa, and two eqs. of com-
mercial sulphuric acid, containing two and a half eqs. of water.  Two eqs.
of dry sulphuric acid combine  with one eq. of  potassa, forming one eq. of
bisulphate of potassa, which remains in the retort retaining one eq. of water;
while the remaining one and a  half eqs. of water from the sulphuric acid,
uniting with one eq. of dry nitric acid, form one eq. of hydrated nitric acid,
which distils over.   The nitric acid thus formed is, according to Mr. Phil-
lips, the strongest procurable, and varies in density from 1-5033 to  1-504.
  If,  in the  above process, the decomposition were performed by the strongest
sulphuric acid, the  proportions, in round numbers, would be one eq. of the
salt 102, and  two eqs.  of sulphuric acid 98, containing  two eqs.  of water.
Now this approaches nearly to equal weights;  and when in practice  an equal
weight of the commercial weaker acid is  taken, the increased quantity merely
furnishes the additional portion of water,  necessary to make up two and a
half eqs. of water, which is the amount required for the bisulphate of po-
tassa and the nitric acid formed.
   The British Colleges differ somewhat in the proportion  of the  materials
employed for making this acid.  The following is an outline of their respect-
ive processes.
   The London College takes  equal weights, (two pounds, each,)  of dried
nitrate of potassa and sulphuric acid.   These are mixed in a glass retort  and
the nitric acid is distilled by means of  a sand-bath.  About two hundred' and
seventeen grains of crystallized carbonate of soda are saturated by one  hun-
dred  grains  of this acid.   The Edinburgh College mixes  in a glass retort 
PART I.
Acidum JYitricum.
37
equal weights of purified nitrate of potassa and  of sulphuric acid, and  dis-
tils into a cool receiver, with a moderate heat, from a sand-bath or naked gas-
flame, so long as the fused material continues to give off vapour.   The pa e-
yellovv acid thus  obtained  may be rendered  colourless by heating it gently
in a retort.  The nitrate is purified from the  chlorides of sodium  and potas-
sium  (the usual  impurities) by two or more  crystallizations;  the  absence of
the chlorides being ascertained by the non-action of the nitrate of silver on
a solution of the purified salt.  The Edinburgh College have dismissed their
" Acidum Nitrosum," and substituted the above for their former faulty and
wasteful process for nitric  acid.   The Dublin  College mixes one hundred
parts  of nitrate of potassa  with ninety-seven  parts of commercial sulphuric
acid,  " in a glass retort, and, with an apparatus adapted to collecting the  acid
products, distils until the residuum in the retort concretes, and again becomes
liquid."
   The proportion of equal weights, now adopted by the Edinburgh College,
after  the London, is the best for operations on a small scale in the laboratory.
This proportion  is preferred by Thenard.   In operations on a large scale,
where iron vessels are  employed,  a  strong heat applied, and water placed in
the receivers to condense the acid, less sulphuric  acid  may be advantageously
used.
   Preparation of Nitric  Acid for the Arts.   Two  strengths of this  acid
occur in the arts;—double aquafortis, which is  half the strength of concen-
trated nitric acid, and single aqua fortis, which is half as strong as the double.
Aqua fortis is sometimes obtained by distilling a mixture of nitre and calcined
sulphate of iron.  By an interchange of ingredients, sulphate of potassa and
nitrate of iron are  formed, the latter  of  which, at the  distilling  heat, readily
abandons its nitric acid.  The sulphate of potassa is washed out of the residue,
and the sesquioxide (peroxide) of iron which is  left, is sold, under the name
of -colcothar, to  the polishers  of metals.  The  distillation  is performed in
large cast-iron retorts, lined on the inside with a thick layer of 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 it  is diluted with water before
being thrown into commerce.  The sp. gr. of this acid is about 1-22.
   In France, nitric acid is  manufactured  on the large scale  from nitre and
sulphuric acid in  cast-iron cylinders.   The cylinders are disposed horizon-
tally  across a furnace, and are  strewed internally throughout their whole
length with nitre.  Two circular  cast-iron plates, each pierced with  a hole,
serve to close the  ends.   At one end, the sulphuric  acid is  poured in, and
by means of a stoneware  tube connected with the other, the nitric acid is
conducted to receivers.  The sulphate of potassa is removed after each opera-
tion.    The iron cylinders are acted upon by the acid;  yet, notwithstanding
this disadvantage, the process, when conducted  in such vessels, is  attended
with a great saving of expense.
   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 an
earthen head, connected with  a  series of glass  or stoneware receivers con-
taining water.   The proportion  of sulphuric acid employed by the manu-
facturer, 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.
      5 
38
Acidum JYitricum.
PART I.
Sometimes a cast-iron cylinder is used as in France, and sometimes a thick
cast-iron pot, with an earthenware head.  The pot is set in brick-work over
a fire-place, and the materials having been placed in it, the head is  luted on
with a fat  lute, and made to communicate with two receivers, either of stone-
ware or glass, connected together by means of a tube.   Large demijohns of
glass  answer the  purpose  of receivers very well.   The incondensible pro-
ducts are  made to pass  by means of a tube into a portion of water.   The
quantity of  sulphuric acid employed in different establishments, varies  from
one-half to two-thirds of the weight  of the nitre.   Nitrate of soda,  imported
into  the United  States  from Peru, has been used by some manufacturing
chemists to obtain nitric acid.  One objection to this salt is that it often con-
tains much common salt.   Supposing it pure, it yields  a  larger amount of
acid for a  given weight than nitrate of potassa; but the residuum,  sulphate of
soda,  is less valuable than sulphate  of  potassa.  The latter salt, under the
name of sal enixum, is sold to the alum  makers.
  Properties of Strong Nitric Acid.   Nitric acid, so called from nitre, is a
dense liquid, extremely sour and  corrosive.   It was discovered by Raymond
Lully, in  the 13th  century, and its constituents, by Cavendish,  in  1784.
When perfectly pure, it is colourless;  but as usually obtained, it has a straw
colour, owing to the presence of nitrous acid.  Exposed to the air, it  emits
white fumes, possessing a  disagreeable odour.  By the  action of light, it
undergoes  a slight decomposition and becomes yellow.   It acts  powerfully
on animal matter, producing its  decomposition.  On the living fibre it ope-
rates as a  strong  caustic.  It stains the skin and  most animal substances of
an indelible yellow colour.   On vegetable matter, it acts, when concentrated,
by imparting oxygen, converting the carbon into carbonic acid, and the hydro-
gen into water.    When diluted,  it converts most animal and vegetable sub-
stances 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 con-
sequence 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 sali-
fiable bases and  forms nitrates.  When mixed  with  muriatic acid, mutual
decomposition takes place, and a liquid is formed, capable of dissolving gold,
called nitro-muriatic acid  or aqua regia.   (See Acidum Nitromuriaticum,
U.S., Dub.)  When  of the sp. gr. 1-42, its composition  being one equiva-
lent of dry acid  to four of water,  it  boils at 250°.   When either stronger
or weaker than this, it volatilizes at a lower temperature; and by losing more
acid than  water in the first case, and more  water than acid in the  second  it
constantly approaches to the sp.  gr. of 1-42, when its boiling point becomes
stationary.
   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 standard strength of 1-5
 contained in an  acid of any given specific gravity.  The  following  table'
 drawn up from experiments  by  Dr. Ure, gives information on these "points' 
part i.                    Acidum JYitricum.                         39
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 Densi-
  ties.
1	Hyd.	Dry 1		Hyd.	Dry 1		Hyd. 1 Dry \		1	Hyd.	Dry
Sp.Gr.l	Acid	Acid |	Sp. Gr.	Acid	Acid '	Sp. Gr.	Acid Acid		Sp.Gr.l	Acid	Acid
	in 100	in 100		in 100	in 100		in 100	in 100 39.850		in 100	in 100 19-925
1-500	100	79-700	1-4189	75	59-7751	1-2947	50		1-1403	25	
1-498	99	78-903	1-4147	74	58-978	1-2887	49 j 39-053		1-1345	24	19-128
1-4960	98	78-106	1-4107	73	58-1811	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	56-587 j	12705	46	36-662	1-1168	21	16-737
1-4880	95	75-715	1-3978	70	55-790|	1-2644	45	35865	1-1109	20	15-940
1-4850	94	74-9 If	1-3945	69	54-993 j	12583	44	35-068	1-1051	19	15143
1-4820	93	74121	1-3882	68	54-196	1-2523	43	34-271	10993	18	14-346
1-4790	92	73 32 J	1-3833	67	53-399:	1-2162	42	33-4741	1-0935	17	13-549
1-4760	91	72527	1-3783	66	52-602	1-2402	41 132 677		1-0878	16	12-752
1-4730	96	71-730	1-3732	65	51-805	1 2341	40 31-880		1-0821	15	11-955
1-4700	89	70-933	1-3681	64	51-068	1-2277	39 31-083		1 0761	14	11-158
1-4670	88	70-13P	1-3630	63	50-211	1.2212	38 ,30-286		1-0708	13	10-361
1-4640	87	69-339	1-3579	62	49414	1-2148	37 '29-489		1-0651	12	9564
1-4600	86	68-54-J	1-35-2!	61	48617	1-2084	36	28 692	1-0595	11	8-767
1-4570	85	67-745i; 1-3477		60	47-820	1.2019	35	27 895!	1-0540	10	7-970
1-4530	84	66-948l| 1-3427		59	47023	1-1958	34	27-098	1-0185	9	7-173
1-4500	83	66-1551 1-3376		58	46-226	1-1895	33 ,26-301		1-0430	8	6376
1-4460	82	65 35J! 1-3323		57	45-429	1-1833	32 25 504		1-0375	7	5-579
1-4424	81	64-5571 1-3270		56	44 632	1-1770	31 24-707 '1-032(1			6	4-782
1-4385	80	63-760!: 1-3216		55	43-835	1-1709	30 J23 910		1-02(17	5	3-985
1-4346	79	62-963- 1-3163		51	43038	1-1648	29 23-113		1-0212	4	3-188
1-4306	78	62-16t|! 1-3110		53	42241	1-1587	28 122-316		1-0159	3	2-391
1-4269	77	61.369|. 1-3056		52	41-444 1-1526		27 |21-519		10106	2	1-594
1-4228	76	60-572',: 1-3001		51	40 647 j 1-1465		26 120 722		1-0053	1	0-797
  Nitric acid, when uncombined, is recognised by its dissolving copper with
the production of red vapours, and by its forming nitre when saturated with
potassa.   When in the form of a nitrate, it is detected by its action on gold-
leaf, after the addition of muriatic acid, in  consequence of the evolution of
chlorine;  or it may  be discovered,  according to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, by
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 con-
taining brueia.  To prevent all ambiguity, arising from the accidental pre-
sence*^  nitric acid  in  the sulphuric acid employed, the operator  should
satisfy himself by a separate experiment, that the latter acid has no power to
produce the characteristic colour with  morphia.
  The most common  impurities in nitric acid are sulphuric acid and chlo-
rine ; the former derived from the acid used  in the process, the latter from
common salt, which is  not  an unfrequent impurity in nitre.   They may  be
detected by adding  a few drops of the solution of chloride of barium and of
nitrate of silver to'separate  portions of the nitric  acid, diluted with three or
four parts of distilled water.  If these precipitants should  produce a cloud,
the chloride will indicate sulphuric acid, and the nitrate, chlorine.   These
impurities may be separated by adding nitrate of silver in slight  excess,
which will precipitate them as chloride and sulphate of silver, and then dis-
tilling nearly to dryness in very clean  vessels.  The sulphuric acid may
also be got rid of by distilling from a fresh  portion of nitre.  These impu-
rities, however, do  not in the least affect the medicinal properties of the acid. 
40
Acidum JVitricum.
PART I.
   Properties of the Nitric Acid of Commerce.   This has the general pro-
perties of the strong acid.  The Edinburgh acid of commerce is character-
ized as colourless or nearly so, and, if diluted with distilled water, as  preci-
pitating but slightly, or not at all, with solution of nitrate of baryta, or of
nitrate of silver.  According to  M. Lembert, the nitric acid of commerce
sometimes contains iodine,  probably derived from the native nitrate of soda,
in which he detected iodine.  It may be detected by saturating the suspected
acid with a carbonated  alkali, pouring in a little clear solution of  starch, and
then adding a few  drops  of sulphuric acid.   If iodine be present, the sul-
phuric acid will set it free, and the starch solution will become blue. (Journ.
de Pharm., Avril,  1842.)
   Composition.  The  officinal nitric acid consists of one eq. of dry acid 54,
and one and a half eqs. of water 13-5=67-5.  The dry acid consists of one
eq. of nitrogen 14,  and five eqs.  of 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.   The strongest pos-
sible liquid acid consists, according to Thenard, of one eq. of  dry acid and
one of water, and has the sp. gr.  1-513.
   Incompalibles.  Most of  the substances with which nitric acid is incom-
patible, may be  inferred from what has been already said.  It  is incompati-
ble with the sulphate of protoxide of iron, which it converts into the sulphate
of  the sesquioxide, with salifiable bases,  carbonates, and  sulphurets, and
with the  acetates of lead and potassa.  It is also capable of decomposing
alcohol with which it forms an ether.
   Medical Properties.   Nitric acid is tonic and antiseptic.  Largely diluted
with water it forms a  good acid drink in febrile diseases, especially typhus.
In syphilis, and in the  chronic hepatitis of India, it is highly extolled by Dr.
Scott, formerly of Bombay.   It has occasionally excited ptyalism. It cannot
be  depended upon as a remedy in syphilis, but is often  an excellent adjuvant
in worn-out constitutions, either to  prepare the system for the  use of mer-
cury, or to lessen the  effects of that metal on the constitution.   Externally,
it has been used with advantage as a lotion to ulcers,  of the strength of about
twelve minims to the pint of water.  This  practice originated with Sir Eve-
rard Home, and is particularly applicable to those ulcers which are superficial
and not disposed to cicatrize.  In sloughing phagedasna, strong nitric acid is
one of the best applications, applied by means of a piece of lint, tied round
a small stick.   As nitric acid dissolves both uric acid and the phosphates, it
was 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 fluidounees or  more of water, given three or four times a day.  The
diluted acid is.more convenient for prescription.
   Nitric acid,  in the state of vapour, is considered useful for destroying con-
tagion, and hence is employed in  purifying gaols, hospitals, ships, and°other
infected places.   It is  prepared for use by the extemporaneous decomposi-
tion of nitre by sulphuric acid.  Half an ounce of powdered nitre is put into
a saucer, which  is placed in an earthen dish containing heated sand.  On the
nitre, two drachms  of  sulphuric  acid are then poured, and  the  nitric acid
fumes are  immediately disengaged.   The  quantities  just indicated are con-
sidered to be sufficient  for disinfecting a cubic space often 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 
part i.       Acidum JYitricum.—Acidum Pyroligneum.            41

of five thousand pounds.   It may well be doubted whether the nitric acid, as
a disinfector, is at all comparable to  chlorine;  and since the introduction of
chlorinated lime and solution of chlorinated soda as disinfecting agents, this
gas has been brought into so  manageable a form, that its use may very well
supersede that of every other agent employed with similar intentions.  (See
Calx Chlorinata and Liquor  Sodse Chlorinatx.)
   Properties as a Poison.  Nitric acid, in its  concentrated state, is one of
the mineral  poisons  most frequently taken for  the  purpose of self-destruc-
tion.   Immediately after  swallowing it, there are produced burning heat in
the mouth,  oesophagus,  and  stomach, acute pain,  disengagement  of gas,
abundant eructations, nausea, and hiccup.  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 uniformly
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  ob-
tained, an immediate resort  to a solution of soap in large amount will be
proper.
   Nitric acid is  used to prepare Acidum Phosphoricum  Dilutum, Lond.;
Antimonii et Potassse Tartras, U. S.; Antimonii Oxydum Nitromuriaticum,
Dub.; Calomelas, Ed.;  Ferri Ferrocyanuretum, U. S.;  Ferri Oxidum  Hy-
dratum, U. S.; Ferri Oxidum Nigrum, Ed.; Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum,
U. S., Lond.;  Sublimatus Corrosivus, Ed.; Zinci  Chloridum,  U. S.   In
preparing Ferrugo (Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U. S.), the Edinburgh Col-
lege use their nitric acid  of commerce.
   Off.Prep, of Nitric. Acid.  Acidum  Nitricum Dilutum,  U.S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Acidum Nitromuriaticum, U. S., Dub.; Argenti Nitras, U. S.,
Lond., Ed.; Bismuthi Subnitras,  U. S., Lond.;  Spiritus  iEtheris  Nitrici,
Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Unguentum Acidi Nitrici,  Dub.; Unguentum Hydrar-
gyri Nitratis, U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.
   Off. Prep, of Nitric Acid of Commerce.  Bismuthum Album, Ed.  B.


              ACIDUM   PYROLIGNEUM.  Ed.

                         Pyroligneous Acid.

   "Diluted acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood." Ed.
   Acide pyro-ligneux, Fr.; Brenzliche Holzsaure, Holzsessig, Germ.; Acido pyroligmco,

   Wood,  when charred, yields many volatile  products, among which are
an acid liquor, empvreumatic oil, and 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
collected, and, at the same time, a large amount of charcoal is obtained.
   Carbonization in close vessels,  with a view  to preserve the condensible
volatile products, was first put in practice by Mollerat in France.   The ap-
paratus 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, sufficiently capacious to contain a cord of wood, and furnished with
a sheet-iron cover; 3d, a sheet-iron  tube  proceeding horizontally from  the
                                    5* 
42
Acidum Pyroligneum.
PART I.
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 successively 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 by the same means, to be replaced  by another.   During the  carbo-
nization, the volatile products are received by the tube;  and those which are
condensible, being the pyroligneous acid and tar, are condensed by the water
in the casks, and collect in the lower bends of the tubes, from which they run
into the several recipients ;  while the incondensible products, being inflam-
mable 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 hun-
dred pounds.
  This is the  crude pyroligneous acid, sometimes called pyroligneous vine-
gar.  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 tar
and empyreumatic oil.
  The  Edinburgh officinal  pyroligneous acid is  this  crude  acid  purified.
Its purification is  effected by repeated  distillation, and then neutralizing it
with lime or carbonate of soda.   The acetate formed is decomposed by sul-
phuric acid, and the disengaged acetic acid repeatedly distilled, until it is
obtained nearly colourless.
  Properties.   The pyroligneous acid  of the Edinburgh College  is  a pale
straw-coloured liquid, having a  strong acetic odour, scarcely empyreumatic
if well prepared.   Its density must be at least 1-034.   One hundred minims
of acid of this  density neutralize fifty-three grains of carbonate of soda.  The
acid is often  stronger than this.   The Scotch acid has sometimes the den-
sity  of 1-042, and the English, a specific gravity nearly as high  as  1-050.
(Christison, Ed. Dispensatory.)   As tests of its freedom from copper, lead,
and sulphuric  acid, the Edinburgh College directs that it should  be "unaf-
fected by sulphuretted hydrogen or solution of nitrate of baryta."
  Thus it appears that this new officinal of the Edinburgh College is nothing
but acetic acid, whose density is not to be under 1-034, but may be higher.
This want of precision  in  the specific gravity of the acid  is objectionable.
The name too, given by the College, is  indefensible.   A complex  pro-
duct of distillation, characterized by the  presence  of an acid, may  be  de-
signated by an unchemical name; but the convenience of such a nomencla-
ture is  no reason why the acid, when separated,  should be  called by  the
same name, merely on account of its source.  On the contrary,  the  nature
of the acid and not its source should determine its  appellation.   Dr.  Chris-
tison insists that the acetic acid of the London College is really pyroligneous
acid, because it is prepared  from acetate of soda, which  is usually made
from the acid  obtained from wood by destructive distillation!
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Pyroligneous  acid, as defined by  the
Edinburgh College, is  an acetic  acid  of medium  strength, and,  therefore,
applicable to the general purposes of that acid.  It is accordincdy employed
by  the College in forming several acetates.  Dr. Christison states  that it is
useful for preserving vegetable  specimens,  such as pulpy fruits, bulbs, and
fresh leaves. 
part i.     Acidum Pyroligneum.—Qcidum Sulphuricum.         43

   Uses of the Crude Acid.  The crude acid, in a dilute state, has been used
as an application to gangrene and ill-conditioned ulcers.  It acts on the prin-
ciple  of  an antiseptic  and stimulant, the former  property  being  probably
chiefly due to the presence of creasote.  Several cases in which it was success-
fully employed, are reported in a paper by Dr. T. Y. Simons, of Charleston,
S. C, published in the fifth volume  of the American Journal of Medical
Sciences.
   The crude acid  is advantageously applied to the preservation of animal
food.   Mr. William Ramsay (Edin.  Phil. Journ., iii. 21)  has  made some
interesting experiments on its use for that purpose.   Herrings and other fish,
simply dipped in the acid and afterwards dried  in the shade, were effectually
preserved, and when eaten, were found very  agreeable to the  taste.   Her-
rings slightly cured with salt, by being sprinkled with it for six hours, then
drained,  next immersed in pyroligneous  acid  for  a few seconds, and after-
wards dried in the shade for two months, were found by Mr. Ramsay to be
of fine quality and flavour.   Fresh beef, dipped in the acid in the summer
season for the short space of a minute, was perfectly sweet  in the  following
spring.   Professor Silliman states, that one quart of the acid added to the
common 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.
   Off. Prep. Acetum Cantharidis, Ed.; Extractum Colchici Aceticum, Ed.;
Morphia? Acetas, Ed.; Plumbi Acetas, Ed.; Potassse  Acetas, Ed.;   B.


         ACIDUM  SULPHURICUM.   U. S., Lond.

                          Sulphuric Acid.

   "Sulphuric  Acid of the specific  gravity 1-845."  U.S.   "Acidum  Sul-
phuricum.  Hujus pondus specificum est 1-845." Lond.
   Off.Sijn. ACIDUM SULPHURICUM.   Sulphuric acid of commerce.
Ed.; ACIDUM SULPHURICUM VENALE. Dub.
   Oil of vitriol; Acide sulphurique, Fr.; Vitrioliil, Schwefelsaure, Germ.; Acido solforico,
Ilal; Acido sulfurico, Span.
   Sulphuric acid is placed in the Materia Medica  of all the Pharmacopoeias
noticed in this work, as an article to be obtained from the wholesale manu-
facturer.   Its officinal sp. gr., as prescribed in the U.S.  and London Phar-
macopoeias, is 1-845; in the Edinburgh,  1-840 or near it;  and in  the Dub-
lin, 1-850.
   Preparation.  Sulphuric acid  is obtained by burning sulphur, mixed with
one-eighth of its weight of nitre, over a stratum of water, contained in a cham-
ber 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 decompo-
sition, the requisite additional quantity of oxygen.   To understand the  pro-
cess, it is necessary to bear in mind that nitric acid contains five,  sulphuric
acid  three, sulphurous  acid  two, nitric oxide two, hyponitrous acid  three,
and nitrous acid four equivalents of oxygen, combined with one equiv. of
their  several radicals.   One equiv. of sulphur decomposes one  equiv. of
nitric acid of the nitre, and becomes one equiv. of sulphuric acid, which com-
bines with the potassa of the nitre to form sulphate of potassa.  In the mean
time, the nitric acid, by furnishing three  equiv. of oxygen  to form the sul-
phuric acid, is converted into  one equiv. of nitric oxide, which is evolved.
This gas, by combining with two equiv. of the oxygen of the  air, immedi- 
44
Acidum Sulphuricum.
PART 1.
ately becomes nitrous acid vapour, which diffuses itself throughout the leaden
chamber.   While these changes  are taking place, the remainder of the sul-
phur is undergoing combustion, and filling  the chamber with sulphurous aciu
gas.  One equiv. of nitrous acid  gas, and one equiv. of sulphurous acid gas,
being thus intermingled in  the chamber, react on each other, by the aid  ot
moisture,  so  as to form a crystalline compound, consisting of one equiv. ot
sulphuric acid and one equiv. of  hyponitrous acid,  united with a portion  ot
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, as well as that  reproduced by the nitric oxide uniting with the oxygen
of the atmosphere, again reacts with sulphurous acid and humidity, and gives
rise to a second  portion of  the crystalline  compound, which undergoes the
same changes as the first. In this manner, the nitric oxide  performs the part
of a carrier of oxygen from  the  air of the chamber to the sulphurous acid,
to convert the latter  into sulphuric acid.   The residue of the combustion of
the sulphur and nitre consists of  sulphate of potassa, and is sold to the alum
makers.
  Preparation on the Large Scale.   The leaden chambers vary in size, but
are generally from thirty to thirty-two feet square, and from sixteen to twenty
feet high.   The  floor  is slightly  inclined to facilitate the. drawing off of the
acid, and  covered to the depth  of several inches  with  water.   There are
several modes of burning the  mixture of sulphur and nitre, and otherwise
conducting the process, but  that  pursued in France is as follows.  Near  to
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 exter-
nally, and its chimney having no  communication with the chamber.  On this
tray the mixture  is placed, being  introduced by a square opening which may
be shut by means of a sliding door, and the lower side of which is level with
the surface of the tray.  The door being shut, the fire is gradually raised  in
the furnace, whereby the sulphur  is inflamed, and the products already spoken
of are generated.   When the combustion is over, the door is raised,  and the
sulphate of potassa removed.   A fresh portion of the mixture is then placed
on the tray, and the air of the chamber  is  renewed by opening a door and
valve  situated at its opposite side.  Next, the several openings  are closed,
and the fire is renewed.  These  operations are repeated  with fresh portions
of the mixture, every three or four hours, until the water at  the bottom of the
chamber has  reached the sp. gr. of about 1-5.  It is  then drawn off and trans-
ferred to leaden boilers, where it  is boiled  down until it has attained the sp.
gr. of 1-7.  At this density it begins to act on lead, and, therefore, its 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  appearance of which indicates the
completion of the process.   The acid is allowed to cool, and is then trans-
ferred to large demijohns of green glass, called  carboys, which, for o-reater
security, are  surrounded with  straw or wicker-work, and packed in square
boxes, or  in flour barrels sawed in two.
   The method of manufacturing this acid, as described by Mr. Parkes  is
somewhat different.   The mixture is usually spread on honor leaden plates
resting on stands of lead within  the chamber, placed at some distance from
each other, and a foot or two above the surface of the water.   The sulphur
is then lighted by means of a hot iron, and the doors closed.  If the sulphur 
part I.                 Acidum Sulphuricum.                      45

and nitre be well mixed, the combustion will last for thirty or forty minutes;
and in three hours  from the time of lighting,  the condensation of  the gases
having in that interval been completed, the doors are thrown open for from
fifteen to thirty minutes, to admit fresh atmospheric air, and to allow time for
the residuary nitrogen to escape, preparatory  to the  next burning.  These
operations are repeated  with fresh charges of the mixture, every four hours,
both night and  day, until the water  has attained the  requisite acid impregna-
tion, when it is transferred to leaden boilers, and otherwise treated as just
explained.  The quantity of the charge  for each burning is determined by
the size of the chamber, allowing one pound of the mixture for every three
hundred cubic feet of atmospheric air which it may  contain.
   As, in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, the nitre is the most expensive
material,  many plans have been resorted to, for the purpose  of  obtaining
the  nitrous acid at a cheaper rate.   One  plan  is to procure  it by treating
molasses or starch with common nitric acid.   In this  case, the manufacturer
obtains oxalic acid as a collateral product,  which serves  to  diminish his ex-
penses.
   In some manufactories of sulphuric acid, nitrate of soda is substituted for
nitre.   The advantages of the former salt are its greater  cheapness, and the
circumstance of its containing a larger proportional quantity of nitric acid.
   A new method is  now  practised  by some  manufacturers for making sul-
phuric acid.   It consists in filling the leaden  chamber with sulphurous acid
by the ordinary combustion  of sulphur,  and afterwards admitting into  it
nitrous acid and steam.   The  nitrous acid is generated from a mixture of
sulphuric acid with nitrate of potassa or nitrate of soda, placed in an iron
pan, over the  burning sulphur in  the sulphur furnace, where  the draught
serves to conduct the nitrous acid fumes  into the chamber.   As, under these
circumstances, sulphurous and nitrous acid,  and the vapour of  water are
intermingled in the chamber,  it follows that all the  conditions necessary for
generating the crystalline compound, already alluded to, are  present.  Of
course, the rationale  of this new process is the same as that already given.
The details of this process, and a wood-cut  of the  sulphur-furnace, steam
boiler, and chamber employed, are  given by Dr. Pereira  in  his Materia Me-
dica, Second Edition, p. 465.
   The above explanations relate to the mode  of preparing common sulphu-
ric acid; but there is  another kind known on the continent of Europe  by the
name of the fuming sulphuric acid of Nordhausen, so  called from its pro-
perties,  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 behind in the form of  colco-
thar.
   The process for making sulphuric acid by the combustion of sulphur with
nitre was first  mentioned by  Lemery, and afterwards put in practice by an
English physician of the name of Ward.  As practised by him  the combus-
tion was conducted in  very large glass  vessels.  About the year  1746, the
great improvement of leaden  chambers was introduced by Dr. Roebuck, an
eminent physician of Birmingham, where the  first  apparatus of this kind
was erected.   In consequence  of  this improvement, the acid  immediately
fell to one-fourth of its former price,  and was employed for many purposes
for which previously  it could  not be used on account  of its cost.
   Manufactories of sulphuric acid are in successful operation in most of the
cities of the Union.  These supply the entire demand of the United States.
   Properties.   Sulphuric acid, or,  as it is commonly called, oil  of vitriol, is 
46
Acidum Sulphuricum.
part i.
 a dense, colourless, inodorous liquid, of an oleaginous appearance, and pos-
 sessing strong  corrosive qualities.  On the living fibre, it acts as a powerful
 caustic.   Rubbed in small quantity between the fingers, it has an unctuous
 feel, in consequence of its dissolving the  cuticle.   In the liquid form, it al-
 ways contains water, which is essential to its existence in that form.  When
 pure and as highly concentrated as possible, its sp. gr. is 1-845, a fluidounce
 weighing a small fraction over fourteen  drachms.   When of this  specific
 gravity,  it contains  about 18 per cent,  of water.    Whenever its  density
 exceeds this, the presence of sulphate of  lead, or of some other impurity is
 indicated.   The commercial acid is seldom of full strength.  According to
 Mr. Phillips, it has  generally a sp. gr. of only 1-8433, and contains 22 per
 cent, of water.  The  strong acid boils at 545°, and freezes  at  15° below
 zero.  When diluted, its boiling point is lowered. When of the sp. gr. 1-78,
 it freezes above 32°; and hence it is hazardous for manufacturers to  keep an
 acid of that strength  in glass vessels in  cold weather, as they are liable to
 burst.   With  salifiable bases, it forms a numerous  class of salts called sul-
phates.  It acts powerfully on organic bodies, whether vegetable or animal,
depriving them of the elements of water, developing  charcoal, and turning
them black.  A small piece of cork or wood dropped into the acid,  will, on
this principle, render it of a dark  colour.  When diluted with  pure water, it
ought to remain limpid, and, when heated sufficiently in a platinum spoon,
the fixed residue should not  exceed the four-hundredth part of the  acid em-
ployed.   When present in small quantities in solution, it is detected unerr-
ingly 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  on the iron tray, the latter from  the leaden
boilers in which the  acid is concentrated.  Occasionally nitre  is added to
render dark samples  of acid colourless.  This addition will  give rise to the
impurity of sulphate of potassa.   These impurities often amount to three or
four per cent.   The commercial  acid cannot  be expected to  be absolutely
pure;  but, when  properly manufactured,  it ought not to contain  more than
one-fourth of one per cent, of impurity.   The fixed impurities are discover-
able by evaporating a portion of the suspected acid, when they will  remain.
If  sulphate of lead be present, the acid will become turbid on dilution with
an  equal  bulk  of water.   This  impurity is  not detected by sulphuretted
hydrogen, unless  the sulphuric acid be saturated with an  alkali.   If only a
scanty muddiness arises, the acid  is of good commercial quality.
  Other impurities occur in the  commercial sulphuric acid. * Nitrous acid
is always present in more or less amount.   It may be  detected by gently
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 is
not to be  rejected on account of the indications of this test, unless it shows
the presence of nitrous acid in unusual quantity.  When sulphate of potassa
is fraudulently introduced into the acid to  increase  its density, it may be de-
tected by saturating the acid  with ammonia and heating to redness in a cru-
cible ;  when the sulphate of ammonia will be  expelled, and the sulphate of
potassa left behind.   The dangerous impurity of arsenious acid is  sometimes
present in sulphuric acid.   In consequence of the high price of Sicilian sul-
phur, some of the English manufacturers at one time°employed iron pyrites
for  the purpose of furnishing the necessary sulphurous acid in the manufac-
ture of oil of vitriol.   With this view the pyrites is subjected to combustion
and the sulphurous acid fumes are conducted into the leaden chamber   As
the pyrites  usually contained arsenic, it happened that the sulphurous acid 
PART I.
Acidum Sulphuricum.
47
fumes  were  accompanied  by arsenious  acid, 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.   To  detect this impurity, the acid, previously
diluted with distilled water, must be  examined by Marsh's test, or subjected
to a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen. (See Acidum Arseniosum.)  Accord-
ing to  Dupasquier, tin is  sometimes present in commercial  sulphuric  acid,
derived from the solderings of the leaden chambers.  It may be discovered by
sulphuretted hydrogen which produces a precipitate of sulphuret of tin, con-
vertible by nitric  acid into the white insoluble deutoxide of tin.  If the preci-
pitate  should be the mixed sulphurets of arsenic  and tin, the former is con-
verted by nitric acid into arsenic acid and dissolved, and the latter into deut-
oxide and left.
   As  sulphuric acid  is often under the standard strength, it becomes im-
portant 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 from careful experiments by Dr. Ure, gives this
information.
Table of the Quantify 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.	D>y		Hyd.	Dry		Hyd.	Dry
Sp.Gr	Acid	Acid	Sp. Gr.	Acid	Acid	Sp. Gr.	Acid	Acid	Sp. Gr.	Acid	Acid
1-8485	in 100	<n 100		in 100 75	in 100 61-15	1-3884	in 100	in 100	1-1792	in 100 25	in 100
	100	81-54	1-6520				50	40 77			2038
1-8475	99	80-72	1'6415	74	6034	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	13612	47	3832	1 1549	22	17-94
1-8410	96	78-28	1-6090	71	5789	1-3530	46	37 51	1-1480	21	17-12
1-8376	95	77-46	I 1-5975	70	57-08	T3440	45	3669	1-1410	20	1631
1-8336	94	76-65	! 1-5868	69	5626	T3345	44	35-88	1-1330	19	15-49
1-8290	93	75-83	1 1-5760	68	55-45	13255	43	3506	1 1246	18	1468
1-8233	92	75-02	i 1-5618	67	54-63	13165	42	34-25	1-1165	17	13-86
1-8179	91	74-2U	1-5503	66	53-82	13080	41	33-43	1-1090	16	1305
1-8115	90	73-39	j 1-5390	65	53-00	1-2999	40	32-61	1-1019	15	12-23
1-8043	89	72-57	1-5280	64	5218	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	j 1-5066	62	50-55	1-2740	37	3017	1-0809	12	9-78
1-7774	86	70-12	3-4960	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	4811	1-2490	34	27-72	1-0614	9	7-34
1-7465	83	67.68	1-4660	58	47-2S!	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	10477	7	571
1-7245	81	6605	! 1-4460	56	45-66	1.2260	31	25-28	1-0405	6	4-89
1-7120	80	65-23	j 1-4360	55	44-85	1-2184	30	24-46	1-0336	5	4 08
1-6993	79	64-42	1-4265	54	44-03	1-2108	29	23-65	10268	4	326
1-6870	78	63-60	1-4170	53	43-22	12032	28	2283	1-0206	3	1-636
1-6750	77	62-78	1-4073	52	42-40	1-1956	27	22-01	10140	2	163
1-6630	76	61-97	1-3977	51	41-58	1-1876	26	21-20	1-0074	1	01854
  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 con-
sequence of the danger of the fracture of the retort, from the sudden concus-
sions to which  the  boiling acid  gives  rise.   Dr.  Ure recommends  that  a
retort of the capacity of from two  to four  quarts be used in distilling a pint
of acid.   This is  connected, by means  of a  wide glass  tube  three or four
feet long,  with a receiver surrounded with cold water.  All the vessels must 
48
Acidum Sulphuricum.
PART I.
be perfectly clean,  and no luting is employed.   The retort is  then to be
cautiously heated by a small furnace  of charcoal.   It is  useful to put  into
the retort a few sharp-pointed pieces of  glass, or slips of  platinum foil, with
the view of diminishing the shocks produced by the acid  vapour.   The  dis-
tilled product ought not to be collected until a dense grayish-white vapour is
generated, the appearance of which is  the sign  that  the pure concentrated
acid is coming over.  If this vapour should not immediately appear, itshows
that the acid subjected  to distillation is not of full strength, and the distilled
product, until the point of utmost concentration  is attained, will be an  acid
water.
  The Edinburgh and  Dublin Colleges give formulae for  purifying the com-
mercial acid.  (See Acidum Sulphuricum Purum.)   The strong acid is not
convenient for medicinal use; and hence a formula for a diluted acid is given
in the United  States Pharmacopoeia, following  the example  of  the  British
Colleges.  (See Acidum Sulphuricum  Dilutum.)
  Incompatibles.  Sulphuric acid  is incompatible with  most metals ; with
salifiable bases and their carbonates; with most salts, effecting their decom-
position; with alcohol, which  it converts into  ether; with all organic sub-
stances, which it chars or otherwise decomposes; and with vegetable astrin-
gent solutions.
  Composition.   The  hydrated acid  of the sp. gr. 1-845, consists  of  one
equivalent  of dry acid 40-1, and one  eq. of water 9=49-1 ; and the  dry
acid, of one eq.  of sulphur 16-1, and three eqs. of oxygen 24=40-1.  The
ordinary commercial acid (sp. gr.  1-8433) consists, according to Mr. Phil-
lips, of one eq.  of dry acid, and one  and a quarter eqs. of water; or  four
eqs. of the former to five of the latter.   The hydrated acid of Nordhausen
has a  density as  high as 1-89 or 1-9, and consists of two eqs. of dry acid,
and one eq. of water.   This acid is particularly adapted to  the  purpose  of
dissolving indigo for dyeing the Saxon  blue.  When heated  gently in a re-
tort, connected with a  dry and refrigerated receiver, dry or  anhydrous  sul-
phuric acid distils over, and the common protohydrated acid remains behind.
The anhydrous acid under 64° is in the form of small colourless crystals,
resembling asbestos.  It is tenacious, 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.  It has so  strong an affinity for water, that when
thrown into that liquid, it causes a hissing noise, like that produced by quench-
ing red-hot iron.
  Medical Properties.   Sulphuric acid is tonic, antiseptic, and  refrigerant.
Internally it is always  administered in a dilute state.   For its medical  pro-
perties in  this form, the reader is referred to the title, Acidum  Sulphuricum
Dilutum.   Externally it is sometimes employed  as a caustic ; but, from its
liquid  form, it is very inconvenient for  that purpose.  It is employed  also
as an  ointment  mixed with lard, in swellings of the knee-joint and other
affections,  in the proportion of a drachm to an  ounce.   (See Unguentum
Acidi  Sulphurici, Dub.)  Charpie, corroded by it, forms a good application
to gangrene.
   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 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 
part i.      Acidum Sulphuricum.—Acidum Tartaricum.          49

or white  sloughs.  The  treatment consists  in the administration of large
quantities of magnesia, or, if this be not at hand, of a solution of soap.   The
safety of  the patient depends upon the greatest promptitude in the applica-
tion  of  the  antidotes.  After the poison has  been neutralized, mucilaginous
and other drinks must be taken in large quantities.
   Uses  in the Arts.  Sulphuric acid is more  used in the  arts than any other
acid.  It is  employed to obtain nearly all other acids; to extract soda  from
common salt; to make alum and sulphate of iron, when these salts command
a good price, and the acid is cheap;  to dissolve indigo; to prepare skins for
tanning;  to prepare phosphorus, chlorinated lime or bleaching salt, sulphate
of magnesia, &c.  The arts of bleaching and dyeing cause its principal con-
sumption.
   Sulphuric acid is used as a chemical agent, in one or more of the Pharma-
copoeias commented on in this work, for preparing the following officinals :—
acetic, hydrocyanic, muriatic, and nitric acids ; sulphuric ether and spirit of
nitric ether; carbonic acid water and chlorine water; ferrocyanuret, hydrated
oxide, and black  oxide of iron ; mild  and  corrosive chlorides of mercury  ;
solution of  chlorinated soda; bicarbonates  of potassa and soda; and phos-
phate of soda.
   Off. Prep. Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum, U.S., Ed., Dub.; Acidum
Sulphuricum Dilutum,  U.S., Lond., Ed.;  Acidum Sulphuricum Purum,
Ed., Dub.; Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Hydrargyri Persul-
phas, Dub.; Hydrargyri Sulphas Flavus, U.S.; Magnesias  Sulphas Purum,
Dub.; Oleum iEthereum,  U. S., Lond.; Potassae  Bisulphas, Lond.,  Ed.,
Dub.; Potassae  Sulphas, Lond.; Quiniae Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Ed.;  Un-
guentum Acidi Sulphurici, Dub.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, U. S.;
Zinci Sulphas, U. S., Dub.                                         B.


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

                           Tartaric Acid.

   Acide tartrique, Fr ; Wcinsteinsaure, Germ.; Acido tartarico, Ital,  Span.
   Tartaric  acid is placed among the  preparations by the British Colleges;
but stands more  properly, in  the United States Pharmacopoeia, in the  Ma-
teria Medica, as an article to be purchased from the manufacturing chemist.
It is extracted from tartar, a peculiar substance which concretes on the inside
of wine-casks, being deposited  there during the  fermentation of the wine.
Tartar,  when purified  and reduced  to powder, is the cream of tartar of the
shops, and is found to consist of two equivalents of tartaric  acid and one of
potassa. (See Potassae 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
insoluble  tartrate of lime by sulphuric acid, which precipitates in combination
with the lime, and liberates  the tartaric acid.   The  equivalent quantities are
one eq.  of bitartrate, and one of carbonate of lime.   The process, -when thus
conducted, furnishes the second equivalent or excess of acid only of the bitar-
trate.  The other  equivalent may be  procured by decomposing  the neutral
tartrate  of potassa, remaining in  the  solution after the precipitation of the
tartrate  of lime, by chloride of calcium in excess.  By double decomposition,
chloride  of potassium will be formed in  solution, and  a fresh portion of
tartrate  of lime will precipitate, which may be decomposed by sulphuric acid
in the same manner as the first portion.  The process, when thus conducted,
     6 
50
Acidum Tartaricum.
PART I.
will furnish twice as much tartaric acid  as when the excess of acid only is
saturated and set free.
  Preparation on the Large Scale.  The mode of obtaining this acid on the
large scale is as follows.   Mix intimately, by grinding in a mortar and pass-
ing through a sieve, 100 parts of bitartrate of potassa (cream of tartar)  with
26i parts of pulverized chalk.  Throw the mixture, by spoonfuls,  into 8 or
10 times  its  weight of boiling water, waiting until  the  effervescence  has
ceased, before every fresh addition.  Examine the solution by litmus paper,
and if not neutral, make  it so by the addition of a little chalk.  Wash the
tartrate of lime with abundance of cold  water, and add to it a quantity of sul-
phuric acid equal in weight to the chalk employed,  and diluted  with from 10
to 16 times its weight of water.   Agitate the mixture frequently for 24 hours,
and then test a small portion of the clear solution for sulphuric acid by acetate
of lead.   A precipitate will be formed, which is either tartrate of  lead, or a
mixture of tartrate and sulphate of lead.   If  the former, it will dissolve
entirely in dilute  nitric acid; if the latter, only partially, as the sulphate of
lead is insoluble in that acid.   If a slight excess of sulphuric acid  should be
indicated, it is of no consequence; but  if the  excess be considerable, it must
be removed by a fresh  addition of chalk.   On the other hand, an excess of
tartrate of lime, which interferes very  much  with  the  crystallization of the
tartaric acid, must be  decomposed by  adding "a  small  quantity of sulphuric
acid.   The clear liquor, separated  from the sulphate of lime, is concentrated
by evaporation to the consistence of syrup, and allowed to crystallize.   Re-
peated solutions and crystallizations are necessary to get the crystals white.
The mode of ascertaining the quantity of chalk consumed, is  to weigh out
more than is necessary in the process, and, after the saturation has been com-
pleted, to weigh what is left.  If the neutral  tartrate of potassa be  also con-
verted into tartrate of lime in the  manner already explained, the quantity of
sulphuric acid for decomposition must be doubled.   Sometimes the bitartrate
of potassa is decomposed by lime, in which  case the  whole of the tartaric
acid present is converted into tartrate of lime at one operation ; but the caustic
potassa at the same time liberated, renders this process ineligible, by dissolv-
ing the tartrate of lime formed, and preventing it from precipitating.
  The reader is now prepared to understand  the formulae of the British Col-
leges.  In that of the  London  College, the  Imperial  measure  is  of course
employed.
   "Take of bitartrate of potassa  four pounds; boiling distilled water  two
gallons  and a half;  prepared chalk twenty-five ounces and six  drachms;
diluted sulphuric acid  seven  pints and seventeen fluidounces;  hydrochloric
acid twenty-six  and a half fluidounces, or as  much as may  be  sufficient.
Boil the  bitartrate of potassa with two gallons of the distilled water, and add,
by degrees, the half of the chalk; when the effervescence is  over, add the
remainder of the chalk, previously dissolved in the hydrochloric acid, diluted
with four pints  of the distilled water.   Then  set  aside that the  tartrate of
lime may subside, and, having  poured off the liquor,  wash the tartrate fre-
quently  with  distilled  water until  it is free from taste.  Then  pour on the
diluted sulphuric acid, and boil for a  quarter of an hour.   Having strained
the liquor, evaporate it by a gentle heat,  that crystals  may form.  These, in
order to  be pure, must be dissolved in water two or three times, and the solu-
tion as often strained, evaporated,  and  set aside."  Lond.
   The formula of the  Edinburgh College is substantially the same as that of
the London.
   " Take of bitartrate of potassa, reduced to powder, ten parts ;  prepared
chalk, four parts ; sulphuric acid, seven parts ; water, one hundred and twenty 
part i.                  Acidum Tartaricum.                       51

parts.   Mix  the  bitartrate of potassa with one  hundred parts of hot water,
and  gradually add the prepared  chalk; then, as  soon as the effervescence
shall have  ceased, pour  off the supernatant liquor.   Wash the residual tar-
trate of lime, until it becomes tasteless.   Into the clear decanted liquor, drop
as much of the water of  muriate of lime as may be sufficient  to throw down
the tartrate of lime.   Lefthis  also be  washed with  water, and mixed with
the former deposit.   Then  add the sulphuric acid, diluted with twenty parts
of water, and, employing frequent agitation, digest  the  mixture with a me-
dium heat during three days.   Pour off the supernatant acid fluid, and  wash
out  the  acid from the  sediment.  Let the liquors, including the  first acid
liquor and the washings, evaporate with a gentle heat to  the point of crystal-
lization. Let the crystals, purified by repeated solutions  and crystallizations,
be kept in a  stopped glass vessel." Dub.
   The quantity of chalk directed in the  Dublin formula is excessive, being
two-fifths of the weight  of the bitartrate;  whereas, by theory,  a portion only
one-fourth the weight of the latter is required ;  and  making every allowance
for impurities, one-third  would be amply sufficient.   The  plan of dissolving
the bitratrate in  boiling  water and then adding the chalk, is not an eligible
one.  It is better to mix them together  according to the  plan given by Dr.
Henry,  as described in  the beginning  of  this article, and to throw the mix-
ture by spoonfuls at a time into boiling water.  In this  way less  water is
necessary; and less excess of chalk is  required, as less of it escapes decom-
position.  Instead of prescribing the  quantity of chalk, it would, perhaps,
have been an improvement, if the Colleges had .directed a quantity " suffi-
cient for saturation."  The London and Edinburgh Colleges  have very pro-
perly  followed the example of the Dublin College, in directing the decom-
position of the neutral tartrate of potassa by means  of a  solution of chloride
of calcium.
   Properties. Tartaric acid is  a white  crystallized solid, in the form of irre-
gular six-sided prisms.  Sometimes two opposite  sides of the prism become
very much enlarged, so  as to cause the crystals to present the appearance  of
tables.  As  found in the shops, it is in  the form of a  fine  white powder,
formed by pulverizing the crystals. It is unalterable in the air, and possesses
a strong acid taste,  which  becomes  agreeable  when the acid is sufficiently
diluted with water.   It is soluble in five or six times its  weight of cold, and
twice its weight of boilingr waler.  It is  also  soluble in alcohol.   A  weak
solution undergoes spontaneous decomposition by keeping, becoming covered
with a mouldy pellicle.  In the form of crystals, it always contains combined
water, from  which it cannot be separated  without the substitution of a base.
In uniting with  bases, it has  a remarkable tendency to form double  salts,
several of which constitute  important medicines.  When subjected to heat it
gives rise to three  peculiar acids, described in  systematic chemical  works.
It is distinguished from  all other acids by forming a precipitate, consisting of
bitartrate of  potassa, when  added to  a  neutral  salt of that alkali.  Its most
usual  impurity is sulphuric acid, which may  be detected by the  solution
affording,  with  acetate of lead, a precipitate only partially soluble in  nitric
acid.   When incinerated with red oxide of mercury, it leaves no residuum,
or a mere  trace.
   Tartaric acid  is incompatible with  salifiable bases and their carbonates;
with salts  of potassa, with which it produces a crystalline precipitate of bitar-
trate; and with  the salts of lime and of lead, with which it also forms  preci-
pitates.  It  consists, when dry, of four eqs. of carbon 24, two of  hydrogen
2, and five of oxygen 40=66; and, when crystallized, of one eq. of dry acid
 6Q, and one of water 9—75. 
52
Acidum  Tartaricum.—Aconitum.
part i.
  Medical Properties.   Tartaric acid, being cheaper than citric acid, forms,
when dissolved in water and sweetened, a good substitute for lemonade.  It
is very much used in medicine to form acid refrigerant drinks and efferves-
cing draughts.  It is also employed in making soda powders, a preparation
which has been made officinal in the last Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia, under
the name of Pulveres Effervescentes.  Tartaric  aaid  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 white paper,  and thirty-five grains of tarta-
ric  acid contained in a blue one.  The contents of the white  paper are dis-
solved in about half a pint of water, to which those  of  the blue  paper are
added ; and the whole is taken  in a state of effervescence.   The  excess of
acid renders  the medicine more pleasant, without injuring its aperient qua-
lity.  This acid, dried by a gentle  heat,  and then mixed in due proportion
with bicarbonate of soda, forms a good effervescing powder, a teaspoonful of
which, stirred into a tumbler of water, forms the dose.   The mixture  must
be kept in well-stopped vials.   The neutralizing power of tartaric acid is
about the  same as that of citric acid.
  Off. Prep.  Pulveres Effervescentes, Ed.; Trochisci Acidi Tartarici, Ed.
                                                                  B.


                    ACONITUM.   U.S., Ed.

                              Aconite.

  "The  leaves  of  Aconitum Napellus  and of Aconitum  paniculatum (De
Candolle)."  U. S.  " Leaves of Aconitum Napellus." Ed.
  Off.Syn.   ACONITI  FOLIA.   ACONITI  RADIX.  Aconitum pani-
culatum.  Folia. Radix. Lond.; ACONITUM  PANICULATUM. Folia.
Dub.
  Aconit, Fr.; Eisenhut, Monchskappe, Germ.; Aconito, Napelln, Ital; Aconito, Span.
  Aconitum. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Trigynia.—Nat. Orel. Ranunculaceae.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx  none.  Petals five, the highest arched.  Nectaries two,
peduncled, recurved. Pods three or five. Willd.
  The plants belonging to this genus are herbaceous, with divided leaves,
and violet or  yellow flowers, disposed in spikes, racemes, or panicles.  In
the French Codex three species are recognised as officinal, the A. Anthora,
A.  Cammarum, and A. Napellus  of Linnaeus.   The  Edinburgh College
adopts only the A. Napellus, which was  erroneously supposed  to  be the
plant employed by Stcirck, who introduced the medicine into notice.   The
U.  S. Pharmacopoeia at  present recognises the A. Napellus and A. panicu-
latum of De Candolle, the London  and Dublin Colleges only the latter. De
Candolle, in his Prodromus, divides the  genus Aconitum into four sections
—Anthora,  Lycoctonum, Cammarum, and Napellus. The A.paniculatum
belongs to the third of these divisions;  and the particular plant believed to
have  been used by Sttirck, is a variety of this species, distinguished  in the
Prodromus  as  the Stbrckianum.   De Candolle is probably correct.   The
A.  neomontanum of Willdenow, for which the honour has been  generally
claimed,  is, according to Geiger, possessed of little acrimony, and is  there-
fore very different from  Storck's plant, which is represented as extraordina-
rily acrid.  It is, however, of little consequence which was used by Storck;
as  most of the species  possess  similar virtues, and one is frequently substi-
tuted for another in the  shops.  Geiger  states that he has found none  equal
to  the A. Napellus  in acrimony;  and this may, therefore, perhaps be con- 
part i.                       Aconitum.                            53

sidered as the most efficacious.   Only one species of aconite is indigenous
in this country—the A. uncinatum.  Most of the  others are natives of the
Alpine regions of Europe and Siberia.  Those employed in medicine appear
to be indiscriminately called bj* English writers wolfsbane or monkshood.
   Aconitum  Napellus. Linn.  Flor. Suec. ed. 1755, p.  186.—A neuber-
gense.  De Cand.  Prodrom. i.  62. — A variabile neubergense. Hayne,
Darstel.  und Beschreib.  &c,  xii.  14.   This is a perennial herbaceous
plant, with a turnip-shaped or fusiform root, seldom exceeding at top  the
thickness  of  the  finger, three  or four  inches or more in length, brownish
externally, whitish and fleshy within,  and  sending forth numerous  long,
thick, fleshy  fibres.   When the plant  is in full growth,  there  are usually
two roots joined together, of which the older is dar-k brown and supports
the stem, while the younger is of a light yellowish-brown, and is destined to
furnish the stem of the following year.   The stem is erect, round, smooth,
leafy, usually simple, and from two to  four feet high, though it sometimes
rises even six or eight feet.   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 narrow  at their base,  but
widen in  the form of a wedge towards their summit, and  present  two or
three lobes, which extend  nearly  or quite to the  middle.  The lobes  are
cleft or  toothed, and the laciniae or teeth are  linear or linear-lanceolate  and
pointed.   The flowers are of a dark violet-blue colour, large and 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 podlike capsules.
   The  plant is  abundant in the mountain forests of France, Switzerland,
and Germany.   It is  also cultivated in the gardens  of Europe, and has been
introduced into  this  country as an ornamental flower.   All parts of  it  are
acrid and poisonous.   The leaves are usually employed, and should be col-
lected when  the flowers  begin to appear, or shortly  before.  In the  last
edition of the London Pharmacopoeia, the root also has been adopted as offi-
cinal.  According to Dr. Turnbull, this is by  far the most active part of the
plant.   It should be  gathered in the spring, before  the appearance of  the
leaves.
   Properties.  The fresh leaves have a faint  narcotic odour, which is most
sensible when they are rubbed.  Their taste is at first  bitterish and herba-
ceous, afterwards burning and  acrid, and  attended with  a feeling of numb-
ness and tingling on the inside of the lips, tongue, and fauces, which is very
durable, lasting ""sometimes  many hours.   When long chewed, they inflame
the tongue.   The dried leaves have a similar  taste, but the acrid impression
commences later.  Their  sensible  properties and medicinal  activity  are
impaired by long keeping.   They should be  of a green colour, and  neither
musty nor tasteless.   The root has the same effect  upon  the  mouth  and
fauces.   It shrinks much in drying, and assumes a darker colour.  Those
parcels, whether  of leaves or roots, should  always be  rejected, which  are
                                   6* 
54
Aconitum.
part i.
destitute of acrimony.   Other species of aconite are often substituted, and,
if possessed of the same sensible properties, without inconvenience.  I he
analysis of aconite, though attempted by several chemists, has not been satis-
factorily accomplished.   Bucholz  obtained  from the fresh herb  of the  A.
neomontanum,  resin, wax,  gum,  albumen, extractive, lignin, malate and
citrate of lime and other saline  matters, besides 8333 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 the researches of Geiger  and Hesse,  that there are two
active principles in aconite, one easily destructible, upon which the acrimony
depends, the  other less  acrid, having alkaline properties, and capable of ex-
erting a powerful narcotic influence over the  system.  For the latter the
name of aconitin has been  proposed; which, however, if the claim of the
principle to the rank of an alkali be admitted, should be changed to aconitia.
Hesse obtained it from the dried leaves by a process  similar to that employed
in procuring atropia.  (See Belladonna.)  The London College has adopted
it as  officinal, and given a  process for  its preparation under the name of
aconitina.  (See Aconitina, in the second part of this work.)  Peschier dis-
covered a peculiar acid in aconite, which he  called aconitic acid.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Aconite was well known to the  ancients
as a powerful poison, but was first employed as a medicine by Baron Storck
of Vienna, whose experiments with it were  published in the year 1762.  In
moderate doses it is said to excite the circulation, and occasionally to  increase
the perspiratory and urinary discharge, while it exercises considerable influ-
ence over the nervous system.   Recent writers, however,  deny that it pos-
sesses any decided diaphoretic or diuretic properties.  Among its  effects,
when it is pretty freely given, are, according to Turnbull,  headache,  nausea,
weakness of the joints and muscles, slight  confusion of intellect, and a  re-
markable sensation of tingling in various parts  of the body, particularly in
the head, face, and extremities.  In  poisonous doses, besides the effects  on
the  mouth and throat already mentioned, it occasions burning heat of the
oesophagus and stomach, thirst, violent nausea, vomiting, purging, severe
gastric and intestinal spasms, headache, dimness of vision with contracted or
expanded  pupil, numbness or paralysis  of the  limbs, diminished sensibility
in general, stiffness  or spasm of the muscles,  great prostration of strength,
pallid countenance, cold extremities, an extremely feeble pulse, and  death in
a few hours, sometimes preceded by delirium, stupor,  or  convulsions.  All
these effects  are not experienced in  every case, but there  is no one  of them
which has  not been  recorded as having occurred in one or more instances.
Dissection reveals  inflammation of the  stomach and  bowels, and engorge-
ment 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 inter-
nally 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 is said to  occasion a feeling
of heat and prickling or  tingling followed by numbness (Turnbull), and if
in contact with a wound produces its peculiar constitutional effects.   Applied
to the eye, it causes contraction of the  pupil.  (Pereira.)   In relation  to its
mode of action, aconite  appears to be locally irritant, and,  at the same time
entering the 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 
part i.                   Aconitum.—Adeps.                       55

this  paralyzing influence, and hence  proceeds the  great depression of  the
pulse under the full action of the medicine.
  Aconite  has been  employed in rheumatism, neuralgia, gout,  scrofula,
phthisis, secondary syphilis,  scirrhus and cancer, certain cutaneous diseases,
amaurosis, paralysis, epilepsy,  intermittent fever, dropsies, and other com-
plaints.  Professor Fouquier, who experimented largely with it in the Hopital
de la Charite, found little advantage from its use, except as  a diuretic in pas-
sive dropsy.  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.  It
may be administered in powder, extract, or tincture.  The  dose of the pow-
dered leaves is one or  two grains, of the extract  from half a grain to a grain,
of  the tincture twenty or thirty drops, to be repeated twice or three times a
day, and gradually increased till the effects of  the medicine are experienced.
Dr. Turnbull  recommends a  tincture made from  the root, carefully  dried  and
powdered, in  the proportion  of an ounce to six fluidounces of strong alcohol.
Of  this, eight or ten drops  may be given three times  a  day, and  gradually
increased till  its effects become obvious.  Few patients, he observes,  will
bear more than twenty drops.   Aconite may be used externally in the form
of the strong tincture just referred to,  of extract  mixed  with lard, of a plaster
made with  the extract, or of aconitina. (See Extractum Aconiti, Extract-
urn Aconiti Alcoholicum, and Aconitina.)   The tincture may be applied by
 means of a piece of soft sponge fastened to the end  of a stick.
   Off. Prep.  Aconitina,  Lond.; Extractum Aconiti,  U. S., Lond., Dub.;
 Extract. Aconiti  Alcoholicum,  U. S.,  Ed; Tinctura Aconiti, U. S.     W.


                       ADEPS.  U.S.,  Lond.

                                 Lard.

    " The prepared fat  of Sus Scrofa, free from saline matter." U. S.  " Sus
 Scrofa.  Adeps prxparatus." Lond.
    Off. Syn.  AXUNGIA.  Fat of Sus Scrofa. Ed.;  ADEPS SUILLUS
 PRiEPARATUS. Dub.
   Axonge, Graisse, Saindoux, Fr.; Schwcineschmalz,  Germ.;  Grasso di porco, Lardo,
 llal.; Manteca de puerco, Lardo,  Span.
    Lard is the prepared fat of the hog.  The Dublin College gives a process
 for its preparation; but, as in  this  country it  is purchased by the druggists
 already prepared, the  introduction of any officinal directions in our Pharma-
 copoeia was deemed superfluous.   The adipose matter of the omentum and
 mesentery, and that which  surrounds  the kidneys, are  usually employed;
 though the subcutaneous fat is said to afford lard of a firmer consistence. In
 the crude state it contains membranes and vessels,  and is  more or less  con-
 taminated with blood, from all which it must be freed before it can be fit for use.
 For this purpose, the fat, having  been deprived, as far as possible, by the
 hand, of membranous matter, is cut into pieces, washed with water till the
 liquor ceases to be coloured, and  then melted, usually with  a small 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, 
66
Adeps.
PART I.
and become acrid.  The process is completed by straining the fluid through
linen, and pouring it into suitable vessels, in which it concretes upon cooling.
  Lard, as offered for sale, often contains common salt, which renders it unfit
for pharmaceutic  purposes.-  To free it from this, the Dublin College directs
that  it be melted with twice its weight of boiling water, the  mixture well
agitated and set aside  to cool, and the fat then separated.
  Properties.  Lard is white, inodorous, with little taste, of a soft consistence
at ordinary temperatures, fusible at about 100° F., insoluble in water, partially
soluble in alcohol, more  so in ether and the volatile  oils, dissolved and de-
composed by the stronger acids, and converted into soap  by union with die
alkalies.   When  melted, it  readily  unites with wax  and resins.   According
to Braconnot, it contains, in 100 parts, 62 of olein or the liquid principle of
oils, and  38 of stearin or the concrete principle.  But M. Le Canu has ascer-
tained that the stearin of Braconnot consists of two distinct substances, differ-
ing in fusibility and solubility.   For the least fusible of these he retains the
name of  stearin, and  to the other applies that of margarin, from  its resem-
blance to the principle of the same name found in  vegetable oils.  Most fats
and oils, of animal origin, are composed of these ingredients,  upon  the rela-
tive proportion of which their consistence respectively depends.  The liquid
and  concrete principles may be obtained  separate by the action  of boiling
alcohol,  which  on cooling deposits the  latter, and yields the former upon
evaporation. Another method is to compress fat, or oil  congealed  by cold,
between  the folds of  bibulous  paper.  The olein is absorbed by the paper,
and may be separated by compression under water ; the stearin and margarin
remain.
  Olein, originally denominated elciin, resembles oil in appearance, is colour-
less when pure, congeals at 20° F., has little  odour and a sweetish taste, is
insoluble in water but soluble in  boiling  alcohol,  and consists of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.  The olein  of lard has recently been introduced exten-
sively into use for burning  in lamps.
  Stearin is white, concrete,  of a crystalline appearance  like spermaceti,
pulverizable, fusible at about 143°, soluble in alcohol and  boiling ether, inso-
luble in cold ether and in water, and composed, like the former principle, of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  It may be separated from the  concrete mat-
ter of lard by treating it with  cold ether  so long as any  thing  is dissolved.
The stearin is left behind, and the ethereal solution yields margarin by evapo-
ration.
  The margarin of animal fats resembles stearin very closely, differing only
in its melting point, which  is about 118°, and  in being soluble  in cold ether.
Very good candles are now made out of the concrete  constituents of lard.
  Exposed to the air, lard  absorbs  oxygen and becomes rancid.   It should,
therefore, be kept in  well closed vessels, or procured fresh when wanted for
use.  In the rancid state it is irritating to the  skin, and sometimes exercises
an injurious reaction  on  substances  mixed with it.   Thus, the ointment of
iodide of potassium, which is  white when prepared  with fresh lard, is  said
to be more or less yellow when the lard employed is  rancid.
  Medical  Properties and Uses.   Lard  is emollient, and is  occasionally
employed 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. 
PART I.
Alcohol.
57
                        ALCOHOL.  U.S.

                               Alcohol.

  " Rectified spirit of the specific gravitv 0-835." U. S.
  Off.Syn. SPIRITUS RECTIFICATUS. Lond., Ed., Dub.
  Spirit of wine; Alcool, Esprit de  vin, Fr; Rectificirtcr Weingeist, Germ ; Alcoole,
Acquavite rettificata, Ital; Alcohol, Espiritu rectificado de vino, Span.


            SPIRITUS VINI  GALLIC!  Lond.

                               Brandy.

  " Spiritus. E vino Gallico destillatus.'''' Lond.
  Eau de vie, Fr.; Brantwein, Germ; Acquavite, Ital; Aqua ardiente, Span.
  The Pharmacopoeias have recognised several pharmaceutical  strengths of
the liquid, which in its pure state is known to the chemist under the name
of alcohol.  The British Colleges have adopted three strengths of this sub-
stance; while the United States Pharmacopoeia has admitted only two.  The
following table presents a view of the names and strengths  of the alcohol
according to these different authorities; assuming those  spirits to be identi-
cal, the specific gravities of which approach to equality.
	U.S.	Lond.	Ed.	Dub.
Highest off. C strength. \ Medium do. < Lowest do. <	Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-835. Alcohol Dilutum. Sp. gr 0-935.	Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-815. Spiritus Rectifi-catus. Sp. gr. 0-838. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-920.	Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-794—6. Spiritus Rectifi. catus. Sp. gr. 0 838. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-912.	Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0 810. Spiritus Rectifi-CutUS. Sp. gr. 0 840. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0919.
   The London College, in their revised Pharmacopoeia for 1836, have intro-
duced brandy, under the officinal name of Spiritus Vini Gallici.   As this
is an alcoholic liquor, and may be considered as a fourth form of alcohol
recognised by that College, its  officinal title  has been associated  with
" Alcohol,'''' in forming  the heading of  this article.
   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
spirit, under the same officinal name, of the British Colleges is much stronger.
It is certainly to be regretted that the same name has been  applied to the sub-
stance of  such different strengths, as  it leads to confusion.  Our  principal
object, however, in this article, is to describe  the alcohol of the United
States  Pharmacopoeia, corresponding to  the  British Spiritus Rectifcatus;
and we shall introduce incidentally our notice of  brandy, and of the stronger
spirit of the  British Colleges, also called alcohol.  The Alcohol Dilutum,
and the  corresponding preparations of the British Pharmacopoeias, will  be
considered in their appropriate place, in the second part of this work.   (See
Alcohol Dilutum.)
   Alcohol, in the chemical  sense, is a peculiar liquid,  generated for the
most part in vegetable juices and infusions by a peculiar fermentation,  called 
58
Alcohol.
PART I.
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 fermen-
tation, one general character prevails, however various they may be in other
respects; that, namely, of  containing sugar in  some form or other.   It is
found  further, that after they have undergone the vinous fermentation, the
sugar they  contained has, either wholly or in  part, disappeared, and that the
only new  products are alcohol  which  remains  in the liquid, and carbonic
acid which escapes during the process; and these, when taken together, are
found  to be equal in  weight to  the  sugar lost.   It  is hence inferred, that
sugar is the subject-matter of the changes that occur during the vinous  fer-
mentation,  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 compo-
sition of alcohol.
   Sugar, however, will not undergo  the  vinous fermentation by itself;  but
requires to  be  dissolved in water, subjected to  the influence of a ferment, and
kept at a certain temperature.  Accordingly, sugar, water, the presence of a
ferment, and the maintenance of an  adequate temperature, may be deemed
the pre-requisites of the vinous fermentation.   The water acts by giving
fluidity, and the ferment and temperature operate by  commencing and main-
taining the  chemical changes.  The precise  manner in which the ferment
operates in commencing the reaction is  not known.  Neither has it been
certainly ascertained whether it is a peculiar vegetable principle, or whether
a number of distinct vegetable substances are capable of acting  in a similar
way.  As a general rule, substances containing nitrogen, such as gluten, albu-
men,  caseous matter, &c, possess  the  property of inducing the  vinous fer-
mentation.   The  proper temperature ranges from  60° to 90°.
   Certain  vegetable infusions, as those  of potatoes and  rice, though con-
sisting almost  entirely of starch, are,  nevertheless, capable of undergoing the
vinous fermentation, and  form seeming exceptions to the rule that sugar is
the only substanpe susceptible of this  fermentation.   The apparent excep-
tion is explained  by the  circumstance,  that starch is susceptible of a spon-
taneous 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 during the change it passes through the  in-
termediate  state of sugar.
   Alcohol, being  the product of the vinous fermentation, necessarily exists
in  all vinous liquors, and may be obtained from them by distillation.  For-
merly it was supposed that these liquors did not contain alcohol, but were
merely capable of furnishing it in consequence of a new arrangement of their
ultimate constituents, the result of the heat applied,   Brande, however, dis-
proved this idea,  by showing that  alcohol may be obtained from all vinous
liquors without the application of  heat, and,  therefore,  must  pre-exist in
them.  His method consists in  precipitating their acid and colouring matter
by subacetate of lead,  and separating the water by carbonate of potassa.
Gay-Lussac and Donovan have proved the same fact.  Accordino- to the for-
mer,  litharge in fine powder is the best agent for  precipitating the colouring
matter. 
PART I.
Alcohol.
59
  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 varieties of ardent spirit of commerce.
When obtained from wine, it is  called brandy;  from fermented molasses,
rum;  from  cider,  malted barley, or rye, whisky; from  malted barley  and
rye-meal with  hops, and rectified from juniper berries, Holland  gin; from
malted barley, rye, or potatoes, rectified with 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. of 0-920 they are desig-
nated in commerce by the term proof spirit.   If  lighter  than  this, they are
said to be above proof; if heavier, below proof; and the percentage of water,
or of spirit  of  0-825, necessary to be added to any sample of spirit to bring
it to the standard of proof  spirit, indicates the number of degrees the given
sample is above or below proof.   Thus, if 100 volumes of a spirit require
10 volumes  of  water to reduce it to proof spirit,  it  is said to be  " 10 over
proof."   On the other hand, if 100 volumes of a spirit require 10 volumes of
a spirit of 0-825 to raise it to proof, the sample is said to be "10 under proof."
  Proof spirit  is still very far from being pure ;  being a dilute alcohol, con-
taining about half its weight of water,  together with a peculiar oil and other
foreign matters.  It may be  further purified and  strengthened by redistilla-
tion, or rectification as  it is called.  Whisky is the spirit usually employed
fortius purpose; and from every hundred  gallons, between fifty-seven  and
fifty-eight may be obtained, of the average strength of rectified spirit,  (sp. gr.
0-835,) corresponding to the alcohol  of the  U. S.  Pharmacopoeia, and the
Spiritus Rectificatus of the British Colleges.  When this is once more cau-
tiously distilled, it will  be  further purified from water, and attain  the sp. gr.
of about 0825, which  is the  lightest  spirit which can be obtained by ordi-
nary distillation, and is the pure spirit or alcohol of  the British system of
excise.   It  still, however,  contains eleven per cent, of water.  In the mean
while, the spirit, by these repeated  distillations, becomes more and more
 reed  from the  contaminating oil,  called grain oil or fusel oil.
  If it  be desired  to obtain alcohol of still greater concentration, it is neces-
sary to avail ourselves of certain  substances which  have a  powerful affinity
for  water.   Of this nature  are lime, carbonate of potassa, and chloride of cal-
cium.   These, being mixed with the  rectified spirit, unite with the water
and sink,  while the purer spirit floats above, and may be separated by decan-
tation or distillation.   By  availing themselves of substances of this  nature,
the British Colleges are enabled to produce their strongest spirit, which they
denominate  alcohol. (See  tabular view, page 57.)  The following are the
processes which they adopt.
  Alcohol  (sp. gr." 0-815),  Lond.—"Take of rectified  spirit,  a  gallon
[Imperial measure] chloride of calcium, a pound.  Add the chloride of cal-
cium  to the spirit, and when it  has dissolved, distil seven pints, and  five
fluidounces."
  Alcohol (sp. gr.  0-794-6), Ed.—" Take of rectified  spirit, one pint
[Imp. meas.J;  lime, eighteen ounces.   Break down the lime into small frag-
ments : expose the spirit and lime together to  a gentle heat in a glass matrass 
60
Alcohol.
PART I.
till the lime begins to slake: withdraw the heat till  the slaking is finished,
preserving the  upper part of the matrass cool  with damp cloths.   Then
attach a proper refrigeratory, and with a gradually increasing heat distil  off
seventeen fluidounces.   The density of this alcohol should not  exceed 796:
if higher, the distillation must have been begun before the slaking of the lime
was  finished."
  Alcohol (sp. gr. 0-810), Dub.—" Take of rectified spirit, a gallon; pearl-
ashes, dried and still hot, three pounds and a half; muriate of lime, dried, a
pound.  Add the pearlashes in powder to the spirit, and let the mixture digest
in a covered vessel for seven  days, shaking it  frequently.  Draw  off the
supernatant spirit, and mix with it the muriate of lime.   Lastly, distil, with
a moderate heat, until the  mixture in the retort begins to thicken."
  In these processes, the London College uses chloride of calcium, the Edin-
burgh, lime, and the Dublin, both carbonate of potassa and chloride of calcium,
for separating the water.   These substances are all well fitted to remove the
water, on account of their strong attraction for that liquid.  Formerly, the
London Pharmacopoeia directed the use  of carbonate of potassa for this pur-
pose; but in the revision of 1836, the  chloride  was advantageously substi-
tuted, which, on  account of its solubility in alcohol, is more powerful than
the alkaline salt, as an agent for separating water.  By the processes  of the
London and Dublin  Colleges, the rectified spirit is  not entirely deprived of
water; but by the Edinburgh formula, it is brought at once to its  highest
strength, when it has a  specific gravity between 0-794 and 0-796, and is
called anhydrous or absolute alcohol.   The officinal alcohol of the London
and  Dublin Colleges may be brought to the same strength, by very carefully
and  repeatedly  distilling it from chloride of calcium.
  Soubeiran recommends  the following as an easy method for obtaining abso-
lute  alcohol abundantly and economically.   1st. Rectify alcohol, marking
86°  of the centesimal alcoholmeter of  Gay-Lussac (rectified spirit), by dis-
tilling it from carbonate  of potassa.   This operation raises its strength to 94°
or 95°.   2d. Raise this alcohol to 97J, by distilling it with fused chloride of
calcium, or by digesting it with quicklime, from which it must be afterwards
poured off, in the proportion of a pint of the alcohol  to 1^ ounces of the chlo-
ride, or 2|  ounces of the lime.   3d.   Distil the product of this operation
slowly, with quicklime, 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
(7k  ounces  to the pint.)  In all  cases,  the alcohol must be digested  for two
or three days with the lime, before decanting or distilling, at a temperature
between 95° and  100° F.  Lime will  not answer as a substance to be dis-
tilled from, unless it be in sufficient excess; for  otherwise, towards the end
of the distillation, the hydrate  of  lime formed, will yield up  its water to
the alcohol, and weaken  the distilled product.  (Journ. de Pharm.,  xxv. 1.
Jan., 1839.)
   It thus  appears that the  process adopted by  the  Edinburgh  College for
absolute alcohol, now first introduced into their Pharmacopoeia, is substan-
tially the same as that recommended by Soubeiran.  Dr. Christison assures
us that,  on using pure  quicklime, with the precautions mentioned in  the
Edinburgh  formula, he has " always obtained  from rectified  spirit of the
density of 0 838, seventeen-twentieths  of its volume of alcohol, of  density
0-796;  and if the first tenth be kept apart, the rest  may be obtained  so low
as  0-7942."   A  good  way for  ascertaining when  all  the water has been 
PART I.
Alcohol.
61
removed, is to drop into the  liquid a piece of anhydrous baryta, which will
remain unchanged if the alcohol be free from water; otherwise it will fall to
powder.
  Alcohol, though freed from water by the processes indicated, may still be
impregnated with a portion  of the essential  oil called  grain oil.  This is
usually removed by  digesting the  spirit with  charcoal, especially animal
charcoal.   The  same end may be attained  on a small scale, by adding a
little of the solution  of nitrate of  silver to the spirit, and exposing it to a
bright light.  By the action of the  oxide of silver on the oil, it is converted
into a black powder,  and by a new distillation, the  spirit is obtained  pure.
The absolute alcohol of the  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia  is submitted to this
test.  Its purity is directed to be such, that, " when mixed with a little solu-
tion of nitrate of silver and exposed to bright light, it remains unchanged, or
only  a very scanty dark precipitate forms."
   Properties.   Alcohol is  a colourless, transparent, volatile liquid, of a
penetrating,  agreeable  odour, and  strong burning taste.   When  free from
water of dilution, its  sp. gr.  is 0 796, or a little under, at the temp, of 60°.
Its density progressively increases by dilution, so that its sp. gr. is an index
of its strength.   When of the sp. gr. 0-820, its boiling point is at 176°; this
point being always lower in  proportion as the alcohol is stronger.   Its spe-
cific gravity, as  a vapour, is  1-60 compared with air.  Absolute alcohol  has
never been frozen; but Dr. J. K. Mitchell, of this city, succeeded by a cold
of 146° below zero, in  rendering alcohol of 0-798 viscid, so as to resemble
melted  wax.  In Dr. Mitchell's experiments,  alcohol of  0-820 froze readily.
On account of  the  property of alcohol of resisting extreme  degrees of cold
without freezing, it is used in thermometers  for measuring low degrees of
temperature.
   Alcohol  is inflammable, and burns without smoke or residue, the products
being water and carbonic acid.  Its flame is of a bluish colour when strong;
but yellowish, when  weak.   It combines with water and ether in all propor-
tions.  Its value depends upon the quantity of absolute alcohol  which it
contains ;  and as this is greater in proportion as the  sp. gr. of any sample is
less, it is found  convenient to take the density in estimating its purity.  This
is done by instruments with bulbs and long  stems, called hydrometers,
which,  by  being allowed to float in the spirit, sink deeper into it in  propor-
tion as it is lighter.   Any given hydrometer strength corresponds with some
particular specific gravity;  and  by  referring to tables  constructed for  the
purpose, the per centage of absolute alcohol indicated in each case is at once
shown.  The following table,  constructed by Lowitz  and improved   by
Thomson,  is of this kind.   We have placed  in notes, referring to their re-
spective specific gravities  in  the  table, the names of the  different officinal
spirits,  whereby the per centage of absolute alcohol is indicated which they
severally contain.
7 
62
Alcohol.
PART I.
Tabic of the Specific  Gravity of different  Mixtures of Absolute  Alcohol
            and Distilled Plater, at the Temperature of 60°.
100 Parts.			100 Farts.			100 Farts.		!	100 Parts.		
Ale. 100	Wat.	Sp. Gr. at 60°.			Sp. Gr. at 60°.			Sp. Gr. at 60°.			Sp. Gr. 'it 60°.
			Ale. 76	Wat. 24		Ale.	Wat.		Ate.	Wut.	
	0	•796*			■857	52	48	•912tt	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	•920»	25	75	•967
96	4	•807	72	2H	•867	48	52	•922	24	76	•968
95	5	•809t	71	29	•870	47	53	•924	23	77	■970
94	6	•812	70	30	•871	46	54	•926	22	78	•972
93	7	■815f	69	31	•874	45	55	•928	21	79	•973
92	8	•817	68	32	•875	44	56	•930	20	80	■974
91	9	•820	67	33	•879	43	57	•933	19	81	■975
90	10	■822	66	34	•8b0	42	58	; -935§§	18	82	•977
89	11	■825§	65	35	•883	41	59	!-937	17	83	■978
88	12	•827	64	36	•886	40	60	•939	16	84	■979
87	13	•830	63	37	•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	•8381T	60	40	■896	36	64	•947	12	88	•986
83	17	•840**	59	41	•698	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	i -989
80	20	•848	56	44	•904	32	68	•955	8	92	1 '990
79	21	•851	55	45	■906	31	69	•957	7	93	i-991
78	22	•853	54	46	•908	30	70	•958	6	94	i-992
77	23 |	•855	53	47	■910	29	71	•960			
  Alcohol is  capable  of dissolving a great number of substances;  as for
example, sulphur and  phosphorus  in  small  quantity, iodine, ammonia, and
potassa, soda, and lithia in the caustic  state,  but not as  carbonates.  Among
vegetable  substances, it is a solvent of the organic  vegetable alkalies, urea,
tannic acid, sugar, mannite, camphor, resins,  balsams, volatile oils, and soap!
It dissolves the fixed oils sparingly, except castor  oil,  which is abundantly
soluble.   It acts on most acids, forming  ethers with some, and  effecting the
solution of others.  All deliquescent salts are soluble in alcohol except3 car-
bonate 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.
  It is capable of combining, in the solid form, with different substances, so
as to form definite  compounds, which, from their analogy to hydrates  are
called alcoates.                                        OJ     J       '
   Composition.  Alcohol consists of four eqs. of carbon 24, six of hydrogen
6, and  two of oxygen 16=46; or, in volumes, of four volumes of the vapour
of carbon, six volumes of hydrogen,  and one volume of oxyaen    These
elements  may be viewed as united  so as to form a compound of one eq  of
ether and one of water (C4HsO +HO).                               H
  It has already been stated that, in the vinous  fermentation, sugar is  con-
verted into alcohol  and carbonic acid.   This conversion is thus exnlainoH
conversion is thus  explained.
* Alcohol, Ed.          t Alcohol, Dub. (nearly.)
§ Lightest spirit obtained by ordinary distillation.
IT Spiritus Rectificatus, Lond., Ed.
tt Spiritus Tenuior, Ed.   \\ Spiritus Tenuior, Lond.
X Alcohol, Lond.
II Alcohol, US.
** Spiritus Rectificatus, Dub.
9§ Alcohol Dilutum, U.S. 
PART I.
Alcohol.
63
The sugar, of whatever kind, is first changed into glucose or grape sugar.
This, at the temperature of 212°, consists of C^H^O^, and is resolved by the
fermentation  into two eqs.  of alcohol C8Hi204, and  four eqs. of carbonic
acid (C408).
  Medical Properties, fyc.  Alcohol is a very powerful diffusible  stimulant.
It is the intoxicating ingredient in  all spirituous and vinous liquors, includ-
ing  under the latter term, porter, ale, and cider, and  every liquid in short
which has undergone the vinous fermentation.  In  its pure state it is never
used in medicine; but, diluted in  various  degrees, it forms a menstruum for
many remedies.  In a diluted state, and  taken  in  small quantity, it excites
the  system, renders  the  pulse full, communicates additional energy to the
muscles, and  gives temporary exaltation  to  the  mental faculties.   In some
states of acute disease, characterized  by excessive debility, it  is  a valuable
remedy.  In  the form of brandy it is frequently given in the sinking stages
of  typhus with  advantage.   Other kinds of ardent spirit are occasionally
administered, and each  is supposed to  have its peculiar qualities.  Thus,
according to  Dr. Paris, brandy may be  esteemed  simply cordial and stoma-
chic; rum, healing and sudorific ; and gin and whisky, diuretic.  Physicians
should be on  their guard not  to prescribe  alcoholic remedies  in chronic dis-
eases, whether alone or in the form of tinctures, for fear of begetting intem-
perate habits  in their patients.  Externally, alcohol is sometimes  applied  to
produce cold by evaporation, or to stimulate  when its evaporation is re-
pressed.  A mixture of equal parts of rectified spirit and white of egg is stated
by Dr. Christison to be an excellent application in the early stage of excoria-
tion from pressure in protracted diseases.  It is to be applied frequently by a
fine brush or feather, and renewed as it dries, until  an albuminous coating is
formed over the excoriated surface.
   As an article  of daily use,  alcoholic liquors produce the most  deplorable
consequences.  Besides the moral degradation which they cause,  their habi-
tual use  gives  rise  to  dyspepsia, hypochondriasis, visceral obstructions,
dropsy, paralysis, and not unfrequently mania.
   Alcohol is extensively employed  by perfumers and distillers,  in making
essences  and cordials.  In  the arts  it is used to form drying varnishes, and
in  chemistry, as an  important analytic agent.   Being a powerful antiseptic,
it is very useful in preserving anatomical preparations.
   Effects as  a Poison.   When taken in large quantity, alcohol, in the form
of various ardent spirits, 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 sto-
mach pump  used.   The affusion of cold water is  often very useful.   As a
counter-poison, acetate of ammonia has been asserted to act with  advantage.
After death,  abundant evidence is furnished of the absorption of the alcohol.
By Dr. Percy it was detected by chemical analysis in  the  brain, and by
others in the ventricles.
   Pharmaceutic Uses.   Alcohol is very extensively employed as a pharma-
ceutic agent.   Either in its rectified state, or diluted with water, it is used in
the formation of all  the tinctures, spirits,  ethers, and resinous extracts.   It is
added to  the vinegars, some of the medicated waters, and one or more of the
decoctions and infusions, to assist in their preservation; and serves as a vehi-
cle or diluent of certain  active medicines,  as in the Spiritus Ammonias, and
Acidum  Sulphuricum Aromaticum.   It  is also employed for various inci-
dental purposes connected with its solvent power.
    Off. Prep, of Alcohol.  Alcohol Dilutum, U. S., Ed.
    Off. Prep, of Brandy. Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici, Lond.         B. 
64
Aletris.—Allium.
PART I.
                  ALETRIS. U.S. Secondary.

                            Star Grass.

   " The root of Aletris farinosa." U. S.
   Aletris.  Sex.  Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Liliaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla  tubular,  six-cleft, wrinkled, persistent.   Stamens in-
serted into the base of the segments.   Style triangular, separable into three.
Capsule opening at the top,  three-celled, many seeded. Bigelow.
   Aletris farinosa. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii.  183; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
iii. 92.   This is an indigenous perennial plant, the leaves of which  spring
immediately from  the  root,  and spread on the ground in  the form of a  star.
Hence have originated the  popular names of star grass, blazing star, and
mealy  starwort, by which  it is  known in different  parts  of the  country.
The leaves are sessile, lanceolate, entire,  pointed, very  smooth, longitudi-
nally 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  presenting, when old, 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 flower-
ing 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 extracted  by alcohol, and the tincture  becomes turbid upon the
addition of water.  The  decoction is  moderately  bitter; but much less  so
than the tincture.  It affords no precipitate with the salts of iron. (Bigelow.)
   Medical Properties. In small doses  the root  appears to be simply tonic,
and may be employed advantageously for similar purposes with other bitters
of the same class.  When largely given it  produces nausea.  The powder
may be administered as a tonic in the dose often grains.             W.
                  ALLIUM.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.

                              Garlick.

  "The bulb of Allium sativum." U. S., Ed. "Allium sativum.  Bulbus."
Lond.
  Off Syn. ALLIUM SATIVUM. Bulbus. Dub.
  Ail, Fr.; Knoblauch. Germ.; Aglio, Ital; Ajo, Span.
  Allium. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Liliacese.
  Gen. Ch.  Corolla six-parted, spreading.  Spathe many-flowered.   Umbel
crowded.  Capsule superior.  Willd.
  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  employed.  Of the European species, several have been used from a
very early period, both as food and  medicine.  Three only are officinal__
the  A sativum, or garlick ; A Cepa, or onion ; and A Porrum, or leek.  The
U. S. Pharmacopoeia has  adopted only the A sativum, and  to this we shall 
PART I.
Allium.
65
confine our observations in the present place, simply stating that few genera
present a greater  resemblance in medical and sensible  properties  among the
various species that compose them, than the present.
  Allium sativum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 68; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 749, t.
256.   This is a  perennial plant, and 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
stem is simple, and rises about two feet in height.  The leaves are long, flat,
and grass-like; and sheath the lower half of the stem.  At the termination of
the stem is a cluster of flowers and bulbs mingled together, and enclosed in
a pointed  spathe which opens on one side and withers.  The flowers are
small and white, and make  their  appearance in July.  This species of gar-
lick grows wild in Sicily, Italy, and the south of France; and is cultivated
in all civilized countries.
   The part employed, as well for culinary purposes as in medicine, is the
bulb.  The bulbs are dug up with a portion of the stem attached, and, hav-
ing been dried in the sun, are tied together in bunches, and thus  brought to
market.   They are said to lose by drying nine parts of their weight out of
fifteen, with little diminution of their sensible  properties.   This species of
Allium is commonly called  English garlick, to  distinguish  it from  those
which grow wild in our fields and meadows.
   Properties.  Garlick,  as  found in the shops, is of a shape  somewhat
spherical, flattened at the bottom,  and drawn towards a point at the summit,
 where a portion  of the stem several inches in length projects.  It is covered
with  a white, dry, membranous  envelope, consisting of  several delicate
lamina?, within which the small bulbs  are arranged around the stem, having
each a distinct coat.  These small bulbs, which in common  language are
called cloves of garlick, are usually five or six in number, of an oblong shape,
somewhat curved, and in their interior are whitish, moist, and fleshy. They
have a disagreeable pungent odour, so peculiar as  to have received the name
 of alliaceous.  Their taste is bitter and acrid.  This smell and taste, though
 strongest in the  bulb, are found to a greater or less extent in all parts of the
 plant.  They depend on  an essential oil which is very volatile, and may be
 obtained by distillation, passing over with the  first portions of water.   It is
 of a yellow colour, exceedingly pungent  odour,  and  strong acrid taste; is
 heavier than  water; contains sulphur; and when applied to the skin pro-
 duces much irritation, and  sometimes even blisters.  Cadet-Gassicourt ob-
 tained six drachms of it from  20 lbs. of garlick.  Besides this oil, fresh
 garlick, according  to the same chemist, contains  in 1406 parts, 520 of mu-
 cilage, 37 of  albumen, 48 of fibrous matter, and 801 of water.    Bouillon-
 Lagrange mentions, among its constituents, sulphur, a  saccharine  matter, and
 a small quantity of fecula.  The fresh bulbs yield upon  pressure nearly a
 fourth part of juice, which is highly viscid, and  so tenacious as to require
 dilution with  water before it can be easily filtered.  When  dried  it serves as
 a lute for porcelain.  It has the medical properties of the bulbs.  Water,
 alcohol, and vinegar extract  the virtues of garlick.  Boiling, however, if con-
 tinued for some  time, renders it inert.
    Medicul Properties and Uses.  The use of garlick as a medicine and con-
 diment, ascends to the highest  antiquity.  When it is taken internally, the
 active principle is very speedily absorbed, and, penetrating throughout the sys-
 tem, becomes sensible in the breath and various secretions.  Even externally
 applied, as for example to the soles of the feet, it imparts its peculiar odour
 to the breath, urine, and perspiration,  and, according  to  some writers, may
                                    7* 
66
Allium.—Allium Cepa.
PART i.
be tasted in the mouth.  Its effects upon the system are those of a general
stimulant.  It quickens the circulation, excites the nervous system, promotes
expectoration in a debilitated state of the vessels of the lungs, produces dia-
phoresis or diuresis according  as the patient is kept warm or cool, and acts
upon the stomach as a tonic and carminative.   It is said also to be emmena-
gogue.   Applied to the skin,  it is irritant and rubefacient, and  moreover
exercises, to a greater or less extent, its peculiar influence upon the  system,
in consequence of  its  absorption.   Moderately employed, it is beneficial in
enfeebled digestion and flatulence;  and is habitually used as a condiment by
many who have no objection to an offensive breath.   It has been given with
advantage in chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, and other pectoral affections
in which the  symptoms of inflammation have  been subdued, and  a feeble
condition of the vessels remains.  We use it habitually and with great bene-
fit in such affections occurring in  children, as  well as in the nervous and
spasmodic coughs  to which this class of patients are peculiarly liable. Some
physicians have highly recommended it in old atonic dropsies and calculous
disorders; and it has been employed in the treatment of intermittents. .  It is
said also to be an excellent anthelmintic.  If taken too largely, or in excited
states of the system, it is apt to occasion gastric irritation, flatulence, hemor-
rhoids,  headache,  and fever.   As a medicine, it is at present  more used
externally than inwardly.   Bruised and applied to the feet, it acts very
beneficially as a revulsive  in disorders of the head; and is  especially useful
in the febrile complaints of children, by quieting restlessness and producing
sleep.   In the same state  it is used to resolve indolent tumours.   Its juice
mixed with  oil, or the garlick itself bruised and steeped  in spirits, is fre-
quently used as a liniment in infantile convulsions, and other cases  of spas-
modic or nervous disorder among children.   The same application has been
made in cases of cutaneous eruption.   A clove  of garlick, or a few  drops of
the juice introduced into the ear, are said to prove highly efficacious in atonic
deafness; and the  bulb, bruised and applied in the shape of a poultice above
the pubis, has sometimes restored action to the  bladder in cases of retention
of urine, from debility of that organ.   In the same shape it  has been recom-
mended as a resolvent in indolent tumours, and may, perhaps, prove benefi-
cial by  stimulating the absorbents.
   Garlick may be taken in the form of a pill; or the clove may be swallowed
either whole, or cut into pieces of a  convenient size.  Its  juice is  also fre-
quently  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, U.S.                                  W.
               ALLIUM  CEPA. Bulbus. Dub.

                               Onion.
  Ognon, Fr.; Zwiebel-Laucb, Germ.; Cipolla, Ital; Cebolla, Span.
  Allium. See ALLIUM,  U.  S.
  Allium  Cepa. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 80.  The onion  is a perennial bul-
bous plant, with a naked scape, swelling  towards the base, exceedino-  the
leaves in length, and terminating in a simple umbel of white flowers.  °The
leaves are  hollow, cylindrical, and pointed. 
PART I.
Allium Cepa.—Aloe.
67
  The original country of this species of Allium is unknown.  The plant
has been  cultivated  from time immemorial, and is now diffused  over the
whole civilized world.  All parts of it have a peculiar  pungent odour, but
the bulb only is used.
  Properties.  The bulb is of various size and shape, ovate, spherical, or flat-
tened, composed of concentric fleshy and succulent layers, and covered with
dry membranous coats, which are reddish, yellowish, or while, according to
the variety.  It has, in a high degree, the characteristic odour of the plant,
with  a sweetish and acrid taste.   Fourcroy  and  Vanquelin  obtained from it
a white acrid volatile oil holding sulphur in solution, albumen, much uncrys-
tallizable  sugar and mucilage, phosphoric acid, both free and combined with
lime, acetic acid, citrate of lime, and lignin.  The expressed juice is suscepti-
ble of the vinous fermentation.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The onion is stimulant, diuretic, expec-
 torant, and rubefacient. Taken moderately,  it increases the appetite and pro-
 motes digestion, and is much used as a  condiment; but in large  quantities it
 is apt to~cause flatulence, gastric uneasiness, and febrile excitement.   The
 juice is occasionally given, made into syrup with sugar, in infantile catarrhs
 and croup, in  the absence of much inflammatory action.   It is also recom-
 mended in dropsy and calculous disorders.  Deprived of its essential oil by
 boiling, the onion becomes a mild esculent; and it is  much more used as
 food Than as  medicine.  Roasted  and  split, it  is sometimes applied  as an
 emollient cataplasm to suppurating tumours.                        W.


                        ALOE.  U.S.,  Lond.

                                 Aloes.

    "The inspissated juice of the leaves  of Aloe spicata, and other species of
 Aloe "US   "Aloe spicata. Foliorum succus spissatus." Lond.
    Off Syn.  ALOE BARBADENSIS. ALOE INDICA.  ALOE SOCO-
 TORINA. From undetermined species of Aloe. Ed.;  ALOE HEPATICA,
 ex A.  vulgari. ALOE SOCOTORINA, ex A.  spicata. Dub.
    Sue d'aloes, Fr.;  Aloe, Germ., Ital; ALe, 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.
 The Aloe spicata, however, is generally acknowledged to be  an abundant
 source of it;  and the  Aloe  Vulgaris and Aloe  Socotrina are usually ranked
 among the medicinal species.  In Lindley's Flora Medica, A. purpurascens*
 A. arborescens,\  A. Commelyni,  and A. multiformis,^ natives of the Cape
 of Good Hope, are enumerated as yielding aloes; and others are, without
 doubt, occasionally resorted to.   The  U.S. Pharmacopoeia and that of Lon-
  don at present recognise particularly only the  Aloe spicata.  We shall con-
 fine ourselves to  a description of the three following species, which probably
  yield most of the aloes of commerce.
    Aloe. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord.  Libaceaa.
    Gen. Ch.  Corolla erect,  mouth spreading,  bottom nectariferous.   Iifa-
  ments inserted into the receptacle.  Willd.

           * Curtis's Botanical Magazine, pi.,  1474.
           t De Candolle, Tlantes Grasses, fig. 38.  Curtis's Bot. Mag. pi., 130b. 
68
Aloe.
PART I.
   Aloe spicata.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 185.   This species of aloes was first
described bv Thunberg.  The stem is  round, three or four feet high, about
four inches'in diameter, and leafy at the summit.   The leaves are spreading,
subverticilate, about two feet long, broad at the base, gradually narrowing to
the point, channeled  or grooved  upon their upper surface, and with  remote
teeth upon their edges.   The flowers are bell-shaped, and  spread horizon-
tally in very close spikes.  They contain  a large  quantity of purple  honey
juice.  Beneath each flower is a broad, ovate, acute bracte, of a white colour
with three green streaks, and nearly as long as the  corolla.  Of the  six petals,
the three inner  are ovate, obtuse, white, with three green lines, and broader
than the outer, which otherwise resemble them.   The stamens  are much
longer than the corolla.   The spiked  aloe is a native of Southern  Africa,
growing near the Cape of Good Hope, and, like all the other species of this
genus, preferring a sandy soil.   In some districts of  the colony it is found
in great abundance, particularly at Zwellendam, near  Mossel Bay, where  it
almost covers the surface of the country.   Much of the Cape aloes  is said
to be derived from this species.
   A. Socotrina. Lamarck, Encycl., i.  85; De Cand.  Plantes  Grasses, fig.
85; Curtis' Bot. Mag. pi, 472.—A. vera.  Miller, Diet., ed. 8, no. 55.  The
stem  of this species is erect, a foot and  a half or more  in height, woody, and
leafless below,  where it  is very rough  from the  remains of former  leaves.
At top it is  embraced by green, sword-shaped,  ascending leaves,  somewhat
concave  on their upper surface, convex beneath, curved inward at  the point,
with numerous small white 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 it is supposed to be  the source
of the Socotrine aloes.
   A.  Vulgaris. Lamarck, Encycl., i. 86;  De Cand.  Plantes  Grasses, fig.
21,  This species has  a very short woody stem, and  lanceolate  embracing
leaves, which are first spreading, then ascending,  of a glaucous-green colour
somewhat mottled with  darker spots, flat on the  upper surface, convex be-
neath, and armed with hard reddish spines, distant from each other, and per-
pendicular to the margin.  The flower-stem is axillary, of a glaucous-reddish
colour, and branched, with a cylindrical-ovate spike of yellow flowers, which
are at first erect, then spreading, and  finally pendulous, and do not  exceed
the stamens in  length.  A. vulgaris is a native of south-eastern Europe and
the north of Africa, and is cultivated in Italy, Sicily, Malta, and especially in
the W. Indies, where it contributes largely to furnish the Barbadoes aloes.
    The proper aloetic juice exists in longitudinal vessels beneath the epidermis
 of the leaves, and readily flows out when these  are cut transversely.  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 preparing it.   The finest kind is that obtained by exuda-
 tion and subsequent inspissation in the sun.  Most of  the better sorts, how-
 ever, 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 tempera-
 ture.  The plan of bruising and expressing the leaves, and boiling down  the
 resulting liquor, yields a much inferior product; as a large portion of it must
 be derived from the  mucilaginous juice of the parenchyma.  The worst plan 
PART I.
Aloe.
69
of all is to boil the leaves  themselves in water, and to evaporate the decoc-
tion.   The quality of the drug is also affected by the careless or fraudulent
mixture of foreign matters  with the juice, and the unskilful  management of
the inspissation.
   Commercial History  and  Varieties.   Four chief  varieties of aloes are
known in  commerce, that of the Cape  of Good Hope, the Socotrine, the
Hepatic, and the Barbadoes, of which the first two  are  most used in this
country.
   1. Cape Aloes, which is by far the most abundant, and, by its 'extraordi-
nary cheapness and excellent qualities, almost promises to supersede the other
varieties, has been imported chiefly if not exclusively  from Great Britain; as
no direct trade has  till recently been carried on between  the U. States and
the Cape of Good Hope.  It is collected by the Hottentots and Dutch boors,
indiscriminately from the A. spicata and other species, which grow wild in
great abundance.  The process is very simple.  According to the account of
Hallbeck, a Moravian Missionary who resided at the Cape, a hole is made in
the ground, in which a sheep skin is spread with the smooth  side  upward.
The leaves are then cut off near the stem and arranged around the  hole, so
that the  juice which runs out may be  received  into  the  skin.   The juice
flows  most freely in hot weather.  (Un. Breth. Mission. Intelligencer, N. Y.,
vi. 436.)   When a sufficient quantity of  the liquor has been collected, it is
inspissated by artificial  heat in iron eauldrons, care being taken  to prevent
its burning by constant stirring.  When sufficiently concentrated, it is poured
into boxes or skins, where it concretes  upon cooling.   The  finest kind is
collected  at  the  Missionary  Institution at  Bethelsdorp,  and  hence  called
Bethelsdorp 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.  (Dunsterville,  in Pereira"'s Mat. Med.)
   Cape aloes has sometimes been  confounded with  the  Socotrine, from
which, however, it differs very considerably in appearance and sensible pro-
perties.  By the German writers  it is called shining aloes.   When freshly
broken, it has a very dark  olive or greenish colour approaching to black, pre-
sents a smooth bright almost glassy surface, and  if held up  to the light, ap-
pears  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.  The odour  is strong and disagree-
able, but not  nauseous.   It has not the  slightest mixture of the aromatic.
Cape aloes, when perfectly hard, is very brittle, and readily reduced to pow-
der; but in very hot weather, it  is apt to become  somewhat  soft and tena-
cious, and  the interior of the  pieces is occasionally more  or less so even in
winter.  It is usually imported in casks or  boxes.   Dr. Pereira says that a
variety of aloes is sometimes imported into England from the Cape,  of a red-
dish-brown colour like hepatic aloes.
   2. SocoTRmE Aloes.   The genuine  Socotrine aloes is  produced in the
Island of  Socotra,  which  lies in the  Straits of Babelmandel, about  forty
leagues to  the east of Cape Gnardafui;  but  we are  told by Ainslie, that the
greater part of what is sold under that name is prepared in  the kingdom of
Melinda, upon the eastern coast of Africa; and Wellsted states that the aloes
of the neighbouring parts  of Arabia is  the  same as  that  of Socotra.  It is
probable that the commerce in this variety of aloes is carried on chiefly by
the maritime Arabs, who  convey it either  to India,  or up  the Red Sea by 
70
Aloe.
PART I.
the same channel through which it reached Europe before the discovery of
the southern passage into  the  Indian Ocean.  The species of Aloe which
yields it is not certainly known.  Ainslie says that it is evidently from the
same species with the Cape aloes ; but he does not give his  reasons for the
opinion; and  the external character of the two varieties is so different, that
we cannot but hesitate in admitting their  identity of origin._  We  have been
able to discover no good reason for depriving  the A. Socotrina of the honour
formerly conceded to  it, of producing this highly valued variety of aloes.
According to Wellsted, the plant grows on the sides and summits of moun-
tains, 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 drugis collected than for-
merly, and in  the year  1833 only two tons were exported.  The whole pro-
duce was formerly monopolized by the Arabian Sultan of Kisseen, who still
claims sovereignty over the island.  But at present the business of collecting
the drug is entirely free to the  inhabitants.  The  leaves are  plucked at any
period of the year, and are placed in skins into which  the juice is allowed
to exude.   In what way the inspissation is  effected  we are not  informed.
The aloes is exported  in  skins.  Its quality differs much according to the
care taken in its preparation.   The  price varies in Muscat from two  to four
shillings a pound.   (Wellsted's Voyage  to  the coast of Arabia and Tour
in the Island  of Socotra.)  A  portion ascends the Red Sea,  and  through
Egypt reaches the ports of Smyrna and Malta, whence it is sent  to  Lon-
don.   Another portion  is carried to Bombay, and thence  transmitted to
various parts of the world.  The little that reaches  this country  either comes
by special order from London, or is brought by our India traders.  We have
known of two arrivals directly into the United States from the Island of So-
cotra, and have in our possession parcels of aloes  brought by both.   They
are identical in character,  and correspond exactly with the following de-
scription.
  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 disaoreeable, is
accompanied with an aromatic flavour.  Though  hard  and  pulverulent in
cool weather, it is somewhat tenacious in summer, and  softens by the heat
of the  hand.
  Under the name of Socotrine aloes are occasionally to be met with in the
market, small parcels beautifully semi-transparent, shining, and  of a yellow-
ish, reddish, or brownish-red colour.  These, however,  are  very rare, and
do not deserve to be considered as a distinct variety.   They are  probably
portions of the juice carefully  inspissated in  the sun, and may accompany
the packages brought from any of the commercial sources of aloes.
  When in mass, as imported  from the East, Socotrine aloes is soft and
plastic, and of a very light  yellowish-brown colour in the interior.  It be-
comes  hard and brittle when broken into pieces; and  the London  dealers
hasten the result by exposing it to a very gentle heat,  so as to evaporate the
moisture.   Pereira tells us that impure  and  dirty pieces of the  druo- are 
PART I.
Aloe.
71
melted and strained, and that the skins from which  the  best portions have
been removed are washed with water, which is then evaporated.  No in-
considerable portion  of the Socotrine aloes received  from London has pro-
bably undergone such processes.
   Much of the aloes sold as Socotrine, has never seen the Island of Socotra,
nor even the Indian seas.   It has been customary to affix this title as a mark
of superior value to those parcels of the drug, from whatever source  they
may have been derived, which have been prepared with unusual care, and
are supposed to  be of  the best quality.   Thus, both  in Spain and the West
Indies,  the juice which is obtained  without  expression,  and inspissated in
the sun without artificial heat, has been called Socotrine aloes; and is proba-
bly little inferior to the genuine drug.
   The  Socotrine aloes has been very long known under this name, and in
former  times  held the same superiority in the  estimation of the profession,
 which it still to a certain degree retains.
   3. Hepatic Aloes.  Much  confusion and uncertainty have prevailed in
 relation to this kind of aloes.  The name was originally applied to a product
 from the  East Indies of a reddish-brown or  liver colour, which gave origin
 to the designation.  From a supposed resemblance between  this and the aloes
 from the West Indies, the name was very commonly applied also to the latter
 variety, and was also extended to portions of the drug collected in Spain and
 other parts of the south of Europe.   But the West India aloes is decidedly
 different  from any now brought from the East, and deserves the rank of a
 distinct variety, with the name of Barbadoes aloes.  In this country we sel-
 dom meet with aloes bearing the name of the hepatic, although much that is
 sold as Socotrine probably deserves it.   In the drug commerce of London,
 it is still recognised as a distinct variety.  It is imported into England chiefly
 from Bombay ; but, according to Ainslie, is not produced  in Hindostan, being
 taken thither  from Yemen in Arabia.  It is probably obtained from the same
 plant or plants which yield the  Socotrine, but prepared with less care, or by
 a somewhat different process.  In relation to the Socotrine and hepatic aloes,
 we should probably not be far wrong in  considering the former as embracing
 the finest, and the latter the inferior parcels of the same variety;  and it is  in
 fact stated  that they sometimes  come together, a large  mass of the hepatic
 being crossed by a vein of the Socotrine.  They are both embraced  by the
 Edinburgh College under the title of Aloe Indica—an improper designation;
 as the  aloes which is produced in India  is altogether inferior, and is seldom
 or never exported from that region.   The variety which  the Edinburgh Col-
 lege designates as Socotrine aloes, and defines to be "in thin pieces translu-
 cent and garnet-red, almost entirely soluble in spirit of the strength of sherry,"
 has little°claim  to the title, being of unknown origin, very rare,  and wholly
 unlike  the drug usually brought from Socotra.
    Hepatic aloes is of  a reddish-brown  colour, but is darker and less glossy
 than the Socotrine.   Its odour is somewhat like that of the Socotrine, but
 less agreeable, and is  wholly different from that of Cape aloes.  The taste
 is nauseous,  and intensely bitter.  The  fracture is  not  so smooth, nor the
 edges so sharp and transparent as in either of the first  mentioned varieties.
 It softens in the hand, and becomes adhesive.   The powder is of a dull yel-
 low colour.
    4. Barbadoes Aloes.  This is the name by which the aloes produced in
 the West Indies is  now generally designated.  The aloes  plants are largely
 cultivated in the poorer soils of Jamaica and Barbadoes, especially of the latter
 island.  The species from which most of the drug is procured is the A. vul-
 garis; but the A. Socotrina, A. purpurascens, and A. arborescens, are also 
72
Aloe.
PART I.
said to be cultivated.  The process employed appears to be somewhat differ-
ent 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, however, is now made, either by boiling the juice to a pro-
per 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 consequence  of the great demand for it in veterinary practice, it
commands a high  price  in Great Britain; and very little is consumed  in the
United States.
  The colour  of  Barbadoes  aloes  is not uniform.   Sometimes  it is dark
brown or almost  black, sometimes  of a reddish-brown or liver colour, and
again of some intermediate shade.  It has usually  a dull fracture,  and  is
almost perfectly opaque even at the  edges, and in thin  layers.   It is also dis-
tinguishable 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 recently
been imported  from Muscat,  and a considerable quantity came over in the
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 Hin-
dostan have been described by Pereira under the name of India aloes; but
they are  not brought,  unless accidentally, into the markets of Europe  or this
country.
   General Properties.  The  odour of aloes  is different in the different varie-
ties.  The taste is in all of them intensely  bitter and very tenacious.   The
colour and other sensible properties have already been sufficiently described.
Several distinguished chemists have investigated  the nature and composition
of aloes.   The opinion  at one time  entertained, that is was a gum-resin, has
been abandoned since the experiments of Braconnot, who found it to consist
of a bitter principle, soluble in water and in  alcohol of 38° B., which he con-
sidered peculiar and named resino-amer; and of  another substance, in  much
smaller proportion, inodorous and  nearly tasteless, very soluble in alcohol,
and scarcely soluble  in boiling water, which he designated  by the name  of
flea-coloured principle.   These results  have been essentially confirmed by
the experiments of Trommsdorff, Bouillon-Lagrange, and Vogel, who con-
sider the former substance as  extractive matter,  and the latter as having the
chief characters of resin.  Besides these principles, Trommsdorff discovered
in a variety of hepatic aloes, a proportion of insoluble matter which he con-
sidered as albumen;  and Bouillon-Lagrange  and Vogel  found that Socotrine
aloes yields, by distillation, a small quantity of volatile oil, which they could
not obtain from the hepatic.  The proportions of the ingredients vary "greatly
in the different varieties of the drug; and the probability is, that scarcely any
two specimens would afford precisely the same results.  Braconnot found
about 73 percent, of the bitter principle, and 26 of the flea-coloured principle. 
PART I.
Aloe.
73
Trommsdorff obtained from Socotrine aloes about 75 parts of extractive, and
25 of resin;  and from  the  hepatic, 81-25 of extractive,  6-25  of resin, and
12-50 of albumen, in the hundred parts.   The former variety, according to
Bouillon-Lagrange and Vogel, contains  68 per cent, of extractive and 32 of
resin ;  the latter 52 of extractive, 42 of resin, and 6 of the albuminous matter
of Trommsdorff.  We are  not aware that any analysis  has been published
of the Cape aloes as a distinct variety.
  Berzelius  considers the  resin of Trommsdorff  and others, to  belong to
that form of  matter which he calls apotheme (See Extracts), and  which is
nothing  more than  extractive, altered by the action of the air.   It may be
obtained separate, by treating aloes with water, and  digesting the undissolved
portion with oxide of lead, which unites with the apotheme  forming an inso-
luble  compound, and leaves a portion of unaltered extractive, which had
adhered to it, dissolved in the water.   The oxide of lead may be separated
by nitric acid very much diluted; and the  apotheme remains in the form of
a brown powder, insoluble in cold water, very slightly  soluble in  boiling
water, to which it  imparts a  yellowish-brown colour,  soluble in  alcohol,
ether,  and alkaline  solutions,  and burning  like tinder   without flame and
without  being melted.   According to the same author, the bitter extractive
which constitutes the remainder of the  aloes, and for  which  the name of
aloesin has been proposed,  may be obtained by treating  the watery infusion
of the drug  with oxide of lead, to separate  a portion of  apotheme which
adheres  to it, and evaporating the liquor.   Thus  procured,  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.  Chlorine produces with its solution a precipitate analogous  to apo-
theme.   Cold sulphuric  acid dissolves without changing  it.  Nitric acid
dissolves it, producing a greenish colour.   Its solution is rendered brighter
by acids, which occasion a slight precipitate, and  dark  red by the alkalies
and the salts of  iron.  Acetate of lead, tartar emetic, perchloride of tin, and
the salts of  manganese, zinc, and copper, do not  disturb the  solution;  the
protochloride of tin, and the nitrates of mercury and silver occasion precipi-
tates.   It is probably the active portion of the drug.
   Aloes yields  its active matter to cold water, and  when good  is  almost
wholly dissolved by boiling water; but the resinous portion, or apotheme of
Berzelius, is deposited  as the solution  cools.  It is also  soluble in alcohol,
rectified or diluted.   Long  boiling impairs its purgative  properties by con-
verting the  extractive into  insoluble apotheme.  The alkalies, their carbo-
nates, 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 preci-
pitate the bitter  extractive (aloesin), as the insoluble portion  is without action
upon the system.   Its aqueous solution keeps a long time,  even for  several
months, without exhibiting  mouldiness  or putrescency; but  it becomes ropy,
and acquires the character,  which it did not previously possess, of affording
an abundant  precipitate with the infusion of galls.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Aloes was known to the ancients.  It is
mentioned in the works of Dioscorides  and Celsus,  the former of whom
speaks  of two  kinds.   The varieties  are similar  in their  mode of action.
They  are  all cathartic, operating very slowly but certainly, and  having a
peculiar affinity for  the  large intestines.   Their action,  moreover, appears
to be directed rather to the  muscular coat than to the exhalent vessels ; and
the discharges  which  they produce,  are  therefore  seldom   very thin  or
     8 
74                               Aloe.                          part i.
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 tendency to the uterine system.
Its emmenagogue effect, which is often very considerable, is  generally attri-
buted 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 con-
fined to cases in which its action  upon the neighbouring  intestine is most
conspicuous.  A peculiarity in the action of this cathartic is, that an increase
of the quantity administered beyond the  medium dose, is not attended by a
corresponding increase  of effect.   Its tendency to irritate the  rectum may be
obviated,  in some measure, by combining it with soap or an  alkaline  carbo-
nate; but it does not follow, as supposed  by some, that this  modification of
its operation  is the result of increased solubility; for  aloes given in a liquid
state produces the  same effect as  when taken  in pill or powder, except that
it acts somewhat  more speedily.   Besides,  when  externally applied  to a
blistered surface, it operates exactly in the same manner as when internally
administered ; thus proving that its peculiarities  are not dependent upon the
particular form in which it may be given, but  on specific tendencies to parti-
cular parts.*  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.
From its  special direction  to the rectum, it has been found peculiarly useful
in the treatment of ascarides.  In amenorrhoea it is perhaps more frequently
employed than  any  other remedy, entering  into almost  all the numerous
empirical preparations  which  are  habitually  resorted to  by females  in this
complaint, and enjoying a no  less favourable  reputation in regular practice.
It is, moreover, frequently given in combination with more irritating  cathar-
tics, in order to regulate their liability to excessive action.   In the  treatment
of amenorrhoea, 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.t
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Aloes Comp., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Enema Aloes,
Lond.;  Extractum Aloes Hepaticac,  Dub.;   Ext.  Aloes  Purificat.,  Lond.;
Ext.  Colocynth. Comp., U. S.,  Lond.,  Dub.;  Pilurae  Aloes, U. S., Ed.;

   *  Sec a paper on Endermic Medication, by Dr. Gerhard, in the North Am. Med. and
Surg. Journ., vol. x. p. 155.
   t  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 anti-
 BiLioos pills, of aloes, scammony, rhubarb, and tartaiizcd antimony ;  Speediman's pills
 of aloes, myrrh, rhubarb, extract of chamomile, and ess. oil of chamotn.; Dinner pills  of
 aloe?, mastich, red roses,  and syrup of wormwood;  Fothergill's  pills, of aloes, scam-
 mony, colocynth, and oxide of antimony; Peter's pills, of aloes, jalap, scammonyYgam-
 bogc, and  calomel; and Radcliff's Elixir, of aloes, cinnamon, zedoary, rhubarb, cochineal
 syrup of buckthorn,  and spirit and water as tho solvent; to which  may be added, Lee's
 Windham pills, consisting of gamboge, aloes, soap, and nitrate of potassa, and Le: s New
 London tills, of aloes, scammony, gamboge, calomel, jalap, soap, and syrup of buckthorn. 
PART I.
Aloe.—Althaea.
75
Pil. Aloes  Comp., Lond., Dub.; Pil. Aloes  et Assafcetidae,  U. S., Ed.;
Pil. Aloes et Ferri, Ed.; Pil. Aloes et Myrrhae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Pil. Colocynth. Comp., Dub., Ed.;  Pil.  Gambogiae Comp., Dub., Lond.,
Ed.;  Pil. Rhei Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed.; Pil. Sagapeni Comp., Lond.;
Pulvis Aloe's Compositus,  Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Aloes et Canellae,  U.S.,
Dub.; Tinctura Aloe's, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Aloes  et Myrrhae,
U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Benzoini  Comp.,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Tinct. Rhei et Aloes,  U. S., Ed.;  Vinum Aloes, U. S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.                                                            W.


                        ALTHAEA.  U.S.

                           Marshmallow.

   "The root of Althaea officinalis."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  AhTUMIE  RADIX.  ALTH^E^E  FOLIA.  Lond., Ed.;
ALTHiEA OFFICINALIS.  Folia et Radix. Dub.
   Guimauve, Fr.; Eibisch, Germ.; Altea, lud.;  Altea, Malvavisco, Span.
   Alth.ea. Sex.  Syst. Monadelphia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord.  Malvaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx double, the exterior six or nine-cleft.  Capsules nume-
rous,  one-seeded.   Willd.
   Althsea officinalis.  Willd.   Sp. PlanU iii. 770.;  Woodv.  Med.  Bot. p.
552.  t. 198.  The marshmallow is an herbaceous perennial, with a perpen-
dicular branching root, and  erect woolly stems, from two to four feet or more
in height, branched and leafy  towards the  summit. The leaves are alternate,
petiolate, nearly cordate on  the lower part of the  stem, oblong-ovate  and
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 spreading, obcordate petals, of a pale purplish colour.   The
fruit consists of numerous 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 Conti-
nent of Europe, it is  largely  cultivated  for  medical  use.  The whole plant
abounds in mucilage.   Both the leaves and root are officinal, but the latter
only is employed to any extent in  this country.   The flowers are sometimes
to be  found in the  shops, but  are scarcely  used.
   The roots should be  collected  in autumn from plants at least  two years
old.   They are cylindrical, branched, as thick as the finger or thicker, from
a foot to a foot and a half long, externally of a yellowish  colour which be-
comes grayish by drying, within  white and fleshy.  They are usually pre-
pared for the market  by removing the epidermis.  Our shops are supplied
chiefly if not exclusively from Europe.
   Properties.   Marshmallow root comes to us in pieces three or four inches
or more in length, usually not so thick  as  the finger, generally round, but
sometimes  split, white  externally and downy from  the mode in  which the
epidermis is removed, light and easily broken with a short somewhat fibrous
fracture, of a peculiar faint smell, and  a  mild  mucilaginous sweetish taste.
Those pieces are to be  preferred  which are plump and but slightly fibrous.
The root contains  a large proportion of mucilage, besides starch and saccha-
rine matter, which it yields readily to boiling water.  The mucilage, without
the starch, is extracted  by cold water, which thus becomes ropy.  A  prin-
ciple  was discovered in the  root by M. Bacon, which he supposed to be 
76
Althaea.—ilumen.
PART I.
 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 the agency of strong acids, of potassa or soda, or even of water alone at
 a high temperature, into ammonia and peculiar acids, and which are desig-
 nated by the termination amide.  Thus asparagin, which must now 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.  It is found in
 various other plants besides the marshmallow, as in  the shoots of asparagus,
 in all the varieties  of the potato^ and in the roots of the comfrey and liquorice
 plant.  (Journ.  de Pharm., xix. 208.)  Asparamide 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 Malvaceae are sometimes substituted without disadvan-
 tage, as they possess similar properties.   Such are those of the Althsea rosea
 or hollyhock, and the Malva Alcea.
   The  leaves, which  are  recognised by  the British Colleges, are without
 smell, and  of  a  mucilaginous taste, and are used for the  same purposes  as
 the root.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The virtues of marshmallow are  exclu-
 sively those of a  demulcent.  The decoction of the root is much used  in
 Europe in irritation and  inflammation of the mucous membranes.    The roots
 themselves, boiled and bruised, are sometimes employed as a poultice.  The
 leaves are applied to  similar uses.  In France,  the  powdered root is much
 used in the preparation of pills and electuaries.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Althaeas, Dub., Ed*; Syrupus Althaeas, Lond~, Ed.
 Dub.                                                            W,


              ALUMEN.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Alum.

   " Sulphate of alumina and potassa." U. S.
   Alun, Fr., Dan., Swed.; Alaun, Germ.; Allume, Ital; Alumbre, Span.
   The officinal  alum  is a dAble salt, consisting of the tersulphate of alu-
 mina, united with the sulphate of potassa.  It  is included  in the Materia
 Medica of the United  States and British Pharmacopoeias, as an article to be
 procured from the  wholesale manufacturer.
   Alum  is manufactured  occasionally from  earths  which contain it ready
 formed, but most generally from minerals which, embracing most or all  of
 its constituents, are called alum ores.   The principal alum ores are the alum
 stone, which is a native  mixture of subsulphate  of alumina and  sulphate of
 potassa, found in large quantities at Tolfa and Piombino in Italy, and certain
 natural mixtures of sulphuret of iron with clay and carbonaceous matter
 called aluminous schist or alum-slate.
  It is particularly at the Solfaterra and other places  in the kino-dom of  Na-
 ples,  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 
 part i.                        Alumen.                             77

 exposure to the air for three months; the mineral being frequently sprinkled
 with water, in order that it  may be brought to the state of a soft mass.  This
 is lixiviated,  and the  solution obtained crystallized  by evaporation.   The
 alum stone may be considered as  consisting of alum, united with a certain
 quantity of the hydrate of alumina.   This latter, by the calcination, loses its
 water, and becomes incapable of remaining united with the alum of the mi-
 neral, which is consequently set free.  Alum of the greatest purity  is obtained
 from this ore.
   Aluminous  schist, when  compact, is first exposed  to the air for a month.
 It is then stratified with wood,  which is set  on fire.   The combustion which
 ensues is slow and protracted.   The  sulphur is in part converted into  sul-
 phuric  acid, which unites with the alumina;  and the sulphate of  alumina
 thus formed generates a portion of  alum with the potassa derived from the
 ashes of the wood.  The iron, in the mean time, is  almost wholly converted
 into sesquioxide, and thus becomes insoluble.   The matter is lixiviated, and
 the  solution crystallized into alum by evaporation.   The  mother-waters,
 containing sulphate of alumina,  are then  drawn off, and  made  to yield a
 fresh portion, of alum by the addition of sulphate of  potassa, or  chloride of
 potassium.
   When  the  aluminous schist is easily disintegrated, it is not subjected to
 combustion, but  merely placed in  heaps, and occasionally  sprinkled  with
 water.  The  sulphuret of iron gradually absorbs oxygen and passes  into
 the sulphate of the protoxide, which effloresces  on the surface of the  heap.
 Part of the sulphuric acid formed unites with the alumina; so that, after the
 chemical changes are completed,  the heap contains both the sulphate of  iron
 and the sulphate of alumina. At the end of about a year, the matter is lixivi-
 ated, and  the  solution 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 pow-
 der, heat  being at the  same time applied.   They are then allowed to cool,
 that the alum  may crystallize.   The  crystals are  then separated from the
 solution, and  purified  by a  second  solution  and crystallization.   They are
 next added to  boiling water to full saturation, and the solution is transferred
 to a  cask, where, on  cooling, nearly the whole concretes  into a  crystalline
 mass.   The cask is then taken to  pieces, and the salt, having been broken
 up, is packed  in barrels for the  purposes  of commerce.   This  process is
 generally followed for manufacturing alum, being employed in France, Great
 Britain, and the United States.
   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  next crystallized into alum by the addition of sulphate  of potassa in the
usual manner.
   Besides the  officinal alum, which is sometimes calledpotassa-alum, there
are several varieties of this  salt,  in which  the potassa is replaced by some
other base, as, for example, ammonia or soda.   Ammoniacal alum, or the
sulphate of alumina and ammonia, is  sometimes manufactured in France,
where it is formed  by adding putrid urine to a solution of the sulphate of
alumina.  In  Great Britain it  is sometimes made by  adding sulphate of
ammonia from gas  liquor to the sulphate of alumina.  Scotch alum, made
near Paisley, generally contains both potassa and  ammonia.   Ammoniacal
                                  8* 
78
Alumen.
part i.
alum resembles so exactly the potassa-alum, that it is  impossible  by simple
inspection to distinguish them;  and in composition it is perfectly analogous
to the potassa  salt.   It may, however, be distinguished by subjecting it to a
strong calcining heat, after which alumina will be found as the sole residue ;
or by rubbing  it up with potassa or lime and a little water, when the smell
of ammonia will be perceived.
   Properties.   Alum is a white, slightly efflorescent salt, crytallized  in
regular octohedrons, and possessing a sweetish, astringent taste. It dissolves
in between fourteen and fifteen times its weight of cold, and three-fourths of
its weight  of  boiling water.   Its solution  is precipitated by ammonia and
potassa, which throw down the alumina as a gelatinous hydrate, free from
colour,  if the  alum be  pure.   Its sp. gr. is  1-71.  It reddens litmus, but
changes the blue tinctures of the petals of plants to green.  It cannot, there-
fore, be properly said to contain an excess of acid.    When heated a little
above 212°, it undergoes the aqueous fusion; and if the heat be continued, it
loses  its water, swells up, becomes  a  white,  opaque, porous mass, and  is
converted into the officinal preparation, called dried  alum.  (See Alumen
Exsiccatum.)   Exposed to a  red heat, it  gives off oxygen, together with
sulphurous and anhydrous  sulphuric acids; and the residue consists of alu-
mina  and sulphate of potassa.  When calcined with finely divided charcoal,
it forms a spontaneously inflammable substance, called Homberg's pyropho-
rus, which  consists of  a mixture of sulphuret of potassium, alumina, and
charcoal.
   Several varieties of alum are  known in commerce.   Roche alum, so called
from its having come originally from Roceha in Syria, is a sort which occurs
in fragments, about the size of an almond, and presenting a pale rose colour,
which is given to it, according to Dr. Pereira, by bole or rose-pink. Roman
alum  also occurs in small  fragments, covered with a  rose-coloured efflores-
cence, derived from a slight covering of oxide of iron.
   All the alums of  commerce contain more or less sulphate of iron, varying
from five to seven parts  in the thousand.  Roman alum is among the purest
varieties,  and  is, therefore, much esteemed.  The iron is  readily detected
by adding to  a solution of the suspected  alum, a few drops of the ferro-
cyanuret of potassium, which will cause a greenish-blue tint, if iron be pre-
sent.   It may be detected also by precipitating the  alumina with a solution
of potassa, and afterwards adding the alkali in excess.   This will redissolve
the alumina; but any iron which may have been precipitated with it, will be
left in the state of sesquioxide.  The  quantity of iron usually present, though
small, is injurious to the alum when used in dyeing.   It may,  however, be
purified, either by  dissolving it in the smallest quantity of boiling water,
and stirring the solution  as it cools, or by repeated solutions and crystalliza-
tions.
   Incompatibles.   Alum is incompatible with the alkalies and their carbo-
nates, lime and lime-water, magnesia and  its  carbonate, tartrate of potassa,
and acetate of lead.
   Composition.  Alum  was regarded as a sulphate of alumina, until it was
proved  by Descroizilles, Vauquelin, and Chaptal to contain also sulphate of
potassa, sulphate of ammonia, or both these salts.  When its second base is
potassa, it consists  of one equivalent of tersulphate of alumina 171-7, one of
sulphate of potassa 87-25, and twenty-four of water  216=474-95.   In  the
ammoniacal alum,  the  equiv. of sulphate  of  potassa  is replaced by one of
sulphate of ammonia.   In other respects its composition is the  same.  Alu-
mina is classed by the chemist as an earth. It is essential to the constitution
 of true  alum,  as it cannot be replaced by any other base. It may be obtained 
PART I.
Alumen.
79
by precipitating a solution of alum by water of ammonia, added in excess.
As thus procured, it presents a  gelatinous appearance, and is  in the state of
hydrate.  In this form it has been  used  by some practitioners on the conti-
nent of Europe in diarrhoea.  In the form of clay, dried, it has been employed
as a styptic to leech bites. Alumina consists of two equiv. of a metallic radi-
cal called aluminium 27-4, and three of oxygen 24=51-4.  It is, therefore,
a sesquioxide.
  Medical Properties, 8,'C  Alum, in ordinary medicinal  doses, is astrin-
gent;, in large doses, purgative.   It is used both as an internal and local
remedy.  Internally it is employed as an astringent in passive hemorrhages,
colliquative  sweats, diabetes, and chronic dysentery and diarrhoea; also in
gleet and leucorrhoea, in which latter diseases it is sometimes  combined with
cubebs.  It has been  recommended by Kreysig and Dzondi in dilatation of
the heart and aortic aneurism.   A striking case of benefit from alum in dila-
tation of the heart, by Schlesier, is given in  the Eclectic Journal of Medi-
cine, iv. 135, from the Medicinische Zeitung.  In this case, the alum was
given in combination with rhatany and digitalis.  As a purgative, it has been
employed in colica  pictonum.  The practice  was introduced by a Dutch
physician in 1752, and imitated by Dr. Percival with great success.   Its  use
in this disease has been latterly revived,  and  its efficacy fully established by
Kapeler and Gendrin, of Paris, and Copland, of London.  It allays nausea
and vomiting, relieves flatulence, mitigates the pain, and opens the bowels
with more certainty than  any  other medicine.  Its remarkable influence in
allaying the tormina in this disease, has led some to attribute  to it a sedative
operation.   Sometimes it is  advantageous to conjoin opium  and camphor.
   The local applications of  alum are numerous.  In various  anginose affec-
tions, it is found highly useful, applied topically either in powder or solution.
AVhen 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 pow-
dered alum  may be placed in  one end  of a tube, and then blown by means
of the breath into the throat of the child.  M. Velpeau, in 1835, extended
the observations of M.  Bretonneau, and has successfully applied alum, not
only in simple inflammatory sorethroat, but in those  forms  of  angina  de-
pendent on  small-pox, scarlatina, &c.   In  these cases, the powdered alum
may be applied several  times  a day to  the  fauces by means of the index
finger, so as to cover the affected  surfaces.   In relaxation of  the uvula,  and
in the beginning of sorethroat, with or without membraniform exudation,
a solution of alum  forms one of our best  gargles.  It forms also  a useful
astringent wash in certain  states  of  mercurial sore-mouth.   In gleet  and
leucorrhoea  the solution  is an  approved  remedy, either alone or conjoined
with sulphate of zinc.   (See  Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.)  It is
frequently applied as a local styptic, in epistaxis, by means  of a plug soaked
in a saturated solution, and pressed up  the  nostril,  and in menorrhagia, by 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 puru-
lent ophthalmia of infants, it forms the most efficacious remedy we  possess.
In these cases, it is sometimes applied in the form of the  alum cataplasm.
(See Cataplasma Aluminis, Dub.)
   The ordinary dose  of alum is from  ten  to twenty grains, repeated every
two or three hours, taken in the form of pill or solution.  To prevent nausea,
nutmeg or  some aromatic water  may be  added.   In colica pictonum  the
dose is from half a drachm to  two drachms, given in solution every three or 
80
Alumen.—Ammonia.
part i.
four  hours.  An elegant way of exhibiting alum, is  in the form  of alum
whey, made by boiling  two drachms of alum with a pint of milk, and then
straining to separate the curd.   The dose is a wineglassful containing about
fifteen 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 solu-
tion containing  from half an ounce  to an ounce of alum to a pint of water,
and sweetened with  honey, forms a convenient gargle.  Solutions for  gleet
and leucorrhcea, and as topical  applications to  ulcers,  &c,  must vary in
strength according to the state of the parts to which they are applied.
  Off Prep. Alumen Exsiccatum,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Cataplasma
Aluminis,  Dub.; Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.;  Pulvis  Aluminis
Compositus, Ed.                                                  *>.


                          AMMONIA.

                            Ammonia.

  AH the ammoniacal compounds owe  their distinctive properties to the pre-
sence of a peculiar gaseous compound of hydrogen and  nitrogen, called
ammonia.  It 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  a hot  and  acrid
taste, and  an exceedingly pungent smell.   It has a powerful  alkaline  reac-
tion, 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 spasmodically when the attempt is made to breathe it. It con-
sists of one eq.  of nitrogen  14, and three of hydrogen 3=17; or in volumes,
of one volume of nitrogen  and three volumes of hydrogen, condensed into
two volumes.    Its symbol is NH3.
  The salts of ammonia may be divided into hydracid salts and oxacid salts.
Thus when muriatic acid unites with ammonia, we have the hydracid salt
called muriate of ammonia, which is usually  considered to be a compound of
muriatic acid and ammonia, with the  symbol  NH3,HC1.   But  Berzelius
supposes that, in the act of uniting, the hydrogen  of the muriatic acid is
transferred to the elements of  the  ammonia, and that the  compound  thus
formed, uniting with the chlorine, gives  rise to a salt, represented by NH4 ,C1.
To this  hypothetical compound (NH4) Berzelius gives the name of ammo-
nium, and, consequently, to muriate of ammonia, the appellation of chloride
of ammonium.
  Applying the same view to the oxacid salts of ammonia, Berzelius  con-
ceives that they are  compounds of oxide of ammonium (NH40) with their
several acids.   It is  found that the true oxacid salts of ammonia always con-
tain one eq. of water, which cannot  be separated from them without destroy-
ing their nature; and it is supposed that the elements of this eq. of water,
united with the elements of one eq. of ammonia, form oxide of ammonium.
To apply the new  view to sulphate of ammonia,  this  salt is usually con-
sidered  to  be a protohydrated  sulphate of ammonia, (NH3,S03,II0);  but
on the new view, it is the  sulphate of oxide of ammonium, without water
(NH40,S03).
  The following is  a table of the principal officinal preparations containing
ammonia, in  the British and  United States Pharmacopoeias, with the sy°
nonymes. 
PART I.
Ammonia.
81
  I. In Aqueous Solution.
       Liquor Ammoniae Fortior, U. S.; Ammonias Liquor Fortior, I^ond.;
             Ammoniae Aqua Fortior, Ed.—Stronger Solution of Am-
             monia.
          Linimentum Ammoniae Composition, Ed.
          Tinctura Ammonias Composita, Lond.
       Liquor Ammoniae, U. S., Lond.; Ammoniae Aqua, Ed.; Ammoniae
             Causticae  Aqua, Dub.—Solution  of Ammonia.—Water of
             Ammonia.
          Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Ammonio-Chlo-
             ridum, Lond.;  Hydrargyri Praecipitatum Album, Ed.; Hy-
             drargyri Submurias Ammoniatum, Dub.—White Precipitate.
          Linimentum Ammoniae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.—Liniment of
             Ammonia.— Volatile Liniment.
          Linimentum Camphoras Compositum, Lond., Dub.
          Linimentum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond.
 II. In Spirituous Solution.
        Spiritus Ammoniae, U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.—Spirit of Ammonia:
          Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata, Ed.
          Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, Ed.
          Tinctura Opii Ammoniata, Ed.
          Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, Ed., Dub.
        Spiritus  Ammoniae Aromaticus, U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.—Aro-
             matic Spirit of Ammonia.
          Tinctura Colchici Composita, Lond.
          Tinctura  Guaiaci  Ammoniata, U. S., Dub.;  Tinctura  Guaiaci
             Composita, Lond.
          Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, U. S.; Tinctura Valerianae Com-
             posita, Lond.
        Spiritus  Ammoniae Foetidus, Lond., Ed., Dub.—Fetid Spirit of
             Ammonia.
III. In Saline Combination.
        Ammonias Murias, U.S.,  Ed., Dub.;  Ammoniae Hydrochloras,
             Lond.—Muriate of Ammonia.—Sal Ammoniac.
          Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S.;  Ferri Ammonio-Chloridum, Lond.
        Ammoniae Carbonas,  U. S., Ed., Dub.; Ammoniae Sesquicarbonas,
             Lond.—Carbonate of Ammonia.—Mild Volatile Alkali.
          Cuprum Ammoniatum,  U. S., Ed., Dub.; Cupri Ammonio-Sul-
             phas, Lond.
          Liquor Ammonias Sesquicarbonatis, Lond.; Ammoniae Carbonatis
             Aqua, Ed., Dub.
            Linimentum Ammonias Sesquicarbonatis, Lond.
            Ammoniae Bicarbonas, Dub.
          Liquor Ammoniae  Acetatis,  U. S., Lond.;  Ammonias Acetatis
             Aqua, Ed., Dub.—Spirit of Mindererus.
        Ammoniae Hydrosulphuretum, Dub.
  The ammonia in the spirit  of  ammonia of the U. S. and Ed. Pharmaco-
poeias is in the caustic state ; in the corresponding preparations of the London
and Dublin Colleges, it is carbonated.   In the aromatic and fetid spirits of
ammonia,  the alkali is caustic in the Edinburgh preparations, but carbonated
in those of the other Pharmacopoeias.   It is  seen by the table that the am-
moniated  tinctures are  made in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia with the
simple spirit of ammonia; in  the U.S. and London Pharmacopoeias, with
the aromatic spirit.  Of the two ammoniated tinctures of the Dublin College,
one is made with the simple, the other with the aromatic spirit.        B. 
82                    Liquor Ammoniae Fortior.               part i.
         LIQUOR AMMONITE  FORTIOR.  U.S.

                 Stronger Solution of Ammonia.

  " An aqueous solution of Ammonia of the specific gravity 0-882."  U. S.
  Off.Syn. AMMONITE LIQUOR  FORTIOR. Lond.;  AMMONITE
AQUA FORTIOR. Ed.
  This preparation was first introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia of
1836, and has since been successively admitted into those of Edinburgh and
the  United States.   It is too strong for  internal exhibition, but forms a con-
venient ammoniacal solution for reduction, with distilled water, to the strength
of ordinary officinal solution of Ammonia  (Liquor Ammoniae), or for pre-
paring strong rubefacient and vesicating lotions and liniments.   (See Lini-
mentum Ammonise Compositum, Ed.)
  The  U. States  and London Pharmacopoeias include this solution  in the
list  of the  Materia Medica;  but in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, a formula
is given for its preparation, which is as follows :
  " Take  of Muriate  of Ammonia, thirteen  ounces;  Quicklime, thirteen
ounces; Water, seven fluidounces and a half; Distilled Water, twelve fluid-
ounces.  Slake the Lime with the water, cover it up till it  cool, triturate it
well and quickly with the Muriate  of Ammonia previously in fine powder,
and put the mixture into a glass retort, to  which is attached a receiver with
a safety-tube.   Connect  with the  receiver a  bottle also  provided with a
safety-tube, and 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 com-
municating tubes must descend to the bottom of the bottles at the  further end
from the retort; and the receiver and bottles must be kept cool by snow, ice,
or a running stream of very cold water.  Apply to  the retort a gradually in-
creasing 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
Liquor Ammonix.  But it  is perceived, by the details of the process, that
the Edinburgh  College propose to  obtain  both the stronger  and ordinary
solution of ammonia  at one operation.   This is  done by connectino- two
bottles with the retort, through an intervening  empty receiver, and cha^o-ino-
them  severally with  one-third  and two-thirds of the  prescribed distTlled
water.   The  receiver between the  retort  and  the  bottles  serves to detain
impurities.  The  water in the first bottle becomes nearly saturated with
ammonia, a result which  is favoured by the application of cold.   After  the
gas  has ceased to  be disengaged  from the retort,  it is removed; and any
ammonia  which may have condensed with water  in the receiver, is saved
by being driven over by a gentle heat.   As the water in the first bottle will
not take up all the  ammonia  disengaged, the balance is allowed to pass into
the  second bottle,  where it saturates the water to  a greater or less  extent
forming a  weak  aqueous ammonia.   The aqueous ammonia  in the first
bottle is the Edinburgh Ammonise Aqua Fortior, and that in the  second is 
part i.               Liquor Ammonia Fortior.                    83

converted into Liquor Ammonias of the proper officinal strength, by the addi-
tion of aqueous  ammonia from the first bottle, if too weak, or  of distilled
water, if too strong.  The Edinburgh process has the merit of economizing
the ammonia, which is  more  or less  wasted in the processes of the other
Pharmacopoeias, and of furnishing two preparations at one operation.
   Properties of Aqueous Ammonia of maximum strength.   It is a colour-
less liquid, of a caustic, acrid taste, and peculiar, pungent smell. It is strongly
alkaline, and immediately changes  turmeric to reddish-brown when held over
its fumes.   Cooled down to 40° below zero, it concretes into a gelatinous
mass, and at the temperature of 130° enters into  ebullition, owing  to the
rapid disengagement of the gas.  Its sp. gr. is 0-875 at 50°, when it contains
32-5 per cent, of ammonia.
   Properties of the  Officinal  Stronger Solution of Ammonia.   This has
 similar properties to  those mentioned above.  Its officinal sp. gr. is  0882,
 U.S., Lond.; 0-880, Ed.  When of the density  0-882, it contains about
 29 per cent, of ammonia.   The liquor ammonias fortior of the shops  is usu-
 ally not so strong, commonly  ranging in density from 0-886 to 0-910.  Even
 though of proper officinal strength at first, it in  general becomes gradually
 weaker by the  escape of ammonia, in consequence of the bottle in which it
 is kept  being inaccurately stopped, or occasionally opened.   When  pure it
 is wholly volatilized by heat, giving off  pungent alkaline vapours.   If pre-
 cipitated by lime-water, it contains carbonic acid.   After having been satura-
 ted with nitric acid, a precipitate produced by carbonate of ammonia indicates
 earthy impurity; by nitrate of silver, either muriatic acid or a chloride.
    Liquor Ammonise Fortior is a convenient preparation for the apothecary,
 to make Liquor Ammonise, by due dilution with  distilled  water;  and  the
 Pharmacopoeias have given  directions for this  purpose.  In the  U. States
 and London Pharmacopoeias the  stronger solution  is directed to  be  diluted
 with two measures of distilled water; in the Edinburgh, with two and a half
 measures.  By dilution in these  proportions, the stronger preparation is
 brought uniformly to the strength of  Liquor Ammonias (sp. gr. 0-960).  The
 larger proportional amount of water, directed by the Edinburgh College, is
 rendered  necessary by the greater strength of their officinal stronger solution.
    When purchasing or making the Stronger  Solution of Ammonia, the
 apothecary should not trust  to its being  of the officinal  strength; but ascer-
 tain the point by taking its density, either with the specific  gravity bottle or
 the hydrometer.   In reducing it to make Liquor Ammoniae, the same precau-
 tion should be used ; and if the mixture should not have the sp. gr. of 0-960,
 it should be brought to that density by the  addition either of the stronger
 solution or of distilled water, as the  case may require.
    Medical Properties and  Uses.   This solution  is too strong for  medical
 employment in its unmixed state.   Its rubefacient, vesicant, and caustic pro-
 perties, when duly reduced by admixture with tincture of camphor and spirit
 of rosemary, will be noticed under the head of Linimentum Ammonise Com-
 positum.  It is used as a chemical agent  to prepare two Edinburgh officinals,
 Ferrugo and Ferri Oxidum Nigrum.
    Off. Prep.  Linimentum Ammonias Compositum, Ed.; Liquor Ammoniae,
   U. S., Lond., Ed.;  Tinctura Ammoniae  Composita, Lond.            B. 
84
Ammonice Marias.
PART I.
          AMMONLE MURIAS.  U S., Ed., Dub.

                      Muriate of Ammonia.

   "Chlorohydrate of Ammonia." U.S.
   Off. Syn. AMMONLE HYDROCHLORAS. Lond.
   Sal ammoniac, Hydrochlorate of ammonia; Sel ammoniac, Fr.; Salmiak, Germ.; Sale
ammoniaco, Ital; Sal ammoniaco, Span.
   This salt is placed in the Materia Medica list of all the  Pharmacopoeias
commented on in  this work.  It originally came from Egypt, where it was
obtained by  sublimation from the  soot afforded by the combustion of camels*
dung, which is used in that country for fuel.
   Preparation.  At present muriate of ammonia is derived from two prin-
cipal sources, the ammoniacal liquor, called gas liquor, found in the condens-
ing vessels of coal-gas works, and the brown, fetid ammoniacal liquor, known
under the  name of bone spirit, which is a secondary product, obtained, du-
ring the destructive distillation of bones, by the manufacturers of animal char-
coal for the  use of sugar-refiners.  These two liquors are the parent of all
the ammoniacal compounds; for while they are both used to obtain muriate
of ammonia, this salt  is employed, directly or indirectly, in obtaining all the
other salts of ammonia.
   The gas liquor contains carbonate, hydrocyanate, hydrosulphate, and sul-
phate of ammonia, but principally the  carbonate.  The first three salts are
converted  into sulphate, by the addition of sulphuric acid, and due evapora-
tion, whereby  brown  crystals of sulphate of ammonia are obtained.  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,
chloride, and water, there  are formed muriate of ammonia  which sublimes
into the head, and sulphate of soda which  remains behind.  Thus  NH ,
S03,HO+NaCl  become  NH3,HCl+NaO,S03.  Sometimes,  instead of
the ammonia being first converted into the sulphate, it is made at once into
muriate of ammonia by the addition of muriatic acid or chloride of calcium.
When chloride of calcium is employed, the chief reaction takes place between
carbonate of ammonia and the chloride, with the result of forming muriate of
ammonia in  solution, and a precipitate of carbonate of lime.  The solution
is duly evaporated, whereby brown crystals of muriate of ammonia  are ob-
tained.  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 muriate  of ammonia are  knocked off in cakes."
(Pereira.)
   In the destructive distillation of bones for making animal charcoal, or indeed
of any animal  substance whatever, the  distilled products  are the bone  spirit
already  mentioned, being chiefly an aqueous solution of carbonate of ammo-
nia, and an empyreumatic oil  called animal oil.  These products all result
from a  new  arrangement of the ultimate constituents of  the animal  matter
Hydrogen and  oxygen form  water;  carbon and  oxygen, carbonic  acid ■
nitrogen and hydrogen, ammonia; and  carbon, hydrogen,  and oxyo-en the
animal oil. 
PART I.
Ammonia Murias.
85
   Muriate of ammonia may be obtained from bone  spirit in the manner just
described for procuring it  from gas liquor.  Sometimes, however, the sul-
phate 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 ammonia is then converted into the muriate by sublimation with
common salt, in the manner just explained.
   For obtaining muriate  of ammonia, other processes, besides those given
above, have been proposed or practised ;  for an account of which the reader
is referred to the Chemical Essays of the late  Mr. Parkes, who has appro-
priated a separate essay to the subject.
   Commercial  History.   All the muriate of  ammonia consumed in the
 United States is obtained from abroad.  Its commercial varieties are known
 under the  names of the  crude and refined.  The crude is imported from
 Calcutta in chests,  containing from  350 to 400  pounds.  This  variety is
 consumed  almost  exclusively by coppersmiths and other artisans in  brass
 and copper, being  employed for the purpose of keeping the metallic surfaces
 bright, preparatory to brazing.   The refined comes to us exclusively from
 England, packed in casks containing from 5 to 10 cwt.
   Properties.   Muriate of ammonia  is a white, translucent, tough, fibrous
 salt, occurring in commerce in large cakes, about two inches thick, convex
 on one side and concave on the other.  It has a pungent, saline taste, but no
 smell.   Its sp. gr. is 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.   A hot
 concentrated aqueous solution, as it cools, deposits the  salt in feathery crys-
 tals.  This salt is very difficult to powder in the ordinary  way.   Its pulver-
 ization,  however, may be effected  readily by making a boiling  saturated
 solution of the salt,  and stirring it as it cools.   The salt  may thus be  made
 to granulate, and in this state, after having been drained from the  remaining
 solution  and dried, may be readily powdered.  Muriate of ammonia, at a red
 heat, sublimes  without decomposition,  as its  mode  of preparation proves.
 Exposed to a damp  atmosphere, it becomes  slightly moist.  It has the pro-
 perty of increasing the solubility of corrosive sublimate in water.  (See Liquor
 Hydrargyri Bichloridi, Lond.) It is decomposed by the strong mineral acids,
 and by°the alkalies  and  alkaline earths;  the  former  disengaging muriatic
 acid, the  latter, ammonia, both sensible to the  smell.   Muriate of ammonia
 is the  salt usually employed for obtaining gaseous ammonia, which is con-
 veniently disengaged bv means of lime.   Though neutral in composition, it
 slio-htly reddens litmus.   It is incompatible with acetate of lead and nitrate
 of°silver, producing a precipitate, with the former, of chloride of lead, with
 the latter,  of chloride of silver.
    According to the  Edinburgh College, muriate of ammonia is not liable to
 adulteration.  If it be not entirely volatilized by heat and  soluble in water,
 it contains impurity.  If the salt is entirely volatilized by heat,  and yet pro-
 duces  a precipitate  with  chloride of barium,  the presence  of sulphate of
 ammonia is indicated.                                              ,
    Composition.   Muriate of ammonia is composed of one eq. ot  muriatic
 acid 36-42, and one of ammonia 17=53-42; or,  in ultimate constituents, of
 one eq. of chlorine, one of nitrogen, and four of hydrogen.   Viewed  as
 chloride of ammonium, it consists of one eq. of chlorine and one of ammo-
 nium (NH4,C1).   In equivalent volumes, it consists of two  volumes of muri-
 atic acid gas, and  two volumes of ammonia, condensed into a solid.
    Medical Properties.   Muriate  of ammonia is  employed both internally
      9 
86               Ammoniae Murias.—Ammoniacum.           part
and externally.  Internally it acts primarily on the alimentary canal, purging
in large doses, but rather constipating in small ones.   Its secondary action
is alleged to be that of a stimulating alterative on the capillary, glandular, and
lymphatic systems, and on the mucous, serous, and fibrous tissues, the nutri-
tion of which it is supposed to improve.  It has been recommended in catar-
rhal  and rheumatic fevers;  in pleuritis, peritonitis, dysentery, and other
inflammations of the serous and mucous  membranes, after the first violence
of the disease has abated; in chronic inflammation  and enlargement of the
thoracic and  abdominal viscera; and in amenorrhoea,  when dependent on
deficient action of the uterus.  Several cases of pectoral disease, simulating
incipient phthisis, are  reported to have been cured by this remedy in Otto's
Bibliothek  for 1834.  According to Dr. Watson,  it is  a very efficacious
remedy in hemicrania.  The dose  is from five to thirty  grains, repeated
every two or three hours, either given in  powder mixed with powdered gum
or sugar, or dissolved in syrup or mucilage.   It is very little used as an
internal remedy in the United States;  but is a good deal employed on the
continent of Europe,  especially in Germany, where it is deemed a powerful
alterative and resolvent.
   Externally, muriate of ammonia  is used in solution as  a stimulant and
resolvent in contusions, indolent tumours, &c.   The strength of the solution
must be varied according to the intention in view.  An ounce of the salt, dis-
solved in nine fluidounces of water and one of alcohol, forms  a solution of
convenient strength.   When the  solution is  to be used  as a wash for ulcers,
or an injection in leucorrhoea, it should not  contain more than from  one to
four drachms of the salt to a pint of water.
   Off.  Prep. Ammoniae  Aqua  Fortior, Ed.;  Ammonias Carbonas,  U. S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.; Ferrum Ammoniatum, U.S., Lond.;  Liquor Ammonias,
U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi, Lond.; Spiritus
Ammonias, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus, U. S., Lond.;
Spiritus Ammonias Fostidus,  Lond.                                 B.


             AMMONIACUM.  U. S„ Lond., Ed.

                            Ammoniac.

   "The concrete juice of Dorema  Ammoniacum." U.S.   " Dorema Am-
moniacum.   Gummi-resina."  Lond.   "  Gummy-resinous  exudation of
Dorema Ammoniacum." Ed.
   Off.  Syn.  AMMONIACUM GUMMI.  HERACLEUM GUxMMIFE-
RUM.  Gummi Resina. Dub.
   Gomme  ammoniaque,  Fr.; Ammoniak, Germ.; Comma ammoniaco, Ital;  Comma
amoniaco, Span.; Ushek, Arab.; Semugh belshereen, Persian
   Much uncertainty long existed as  to the ammoniac'plant. It was generally
believed to be a species of Ferula,  till  Willdenow  raised, from some seeds
mixed  with the gum-resin found in  the shops, a plant which he ascertained
to be wHeracleum, and named Hgummiferum, under the impression that
it must be the true source of the medicine.   On this authority,  the plant was
adopted by the British Colleges, and recognised in former editions of our
national Pharmacopoeia.   Willdenow expressly acknowledged that he could
not procure from it any gum-resin, but ascribed the  result tj the influence of
climate.   The Heracleum however, did not correspond exactly with the
representations  given of  the ammoniac  plant by  travellers; and Soremrel
ascertained that it was a native of the Pyrenees! and never produced o-um
Mr. Jackson, in his account of Morocco, imperfectly describes a  plantlndi- 
PART I.
Ammoniacum.
87
genous in that country, supposed to be a species of Ferula, from which gum-
ammoniac is procured by the natives.  This plant is believed by Lindley to
be the Ferula tingitana, and its  product is thought to be the  ammoniacum
of the ancients, which was obtained from Africa; but this is not the drug now
used under that name, which is derived exclusively from Persia.   M. Fon-
tanier, who resided many years in Persia, saw the ammoniac plant growing
in the province of Fars, and transmitted a drawing of it with specimens to
Paris.  From these it was inferred to be a species of Ferula; and Merat and
De Lens proposed for it  the name originally applied to it by Lemery, of F.
ammonifera.  It was subsequently, however,  ascertained, from specimens
obtained in Persia by Colonel Wright, and  examined by Dr. David Don,
that  it belonged to a genus allied to Ferula, but essentially  different, and
named by  Mr. Don, Dorema.   A description of it is  contained in the 16th
volume of the Linnaean Transactions, under the name of Dorema Ammonia-
cum.  This is now acknowledged by all the  officinal  authorities except the
Dublin College.   The same plant has been 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 im-
pression that it belonged to a previously undescribed genus.
  The ammoniac plant grows spontaneously in Farsistan, Irauk, Chorassan,
and  other  Persian provinces.   Dr. Grant found  it growing  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 trans-
mitted to  India.   It reaches this country usually by the route of Calcutta.
The name of the drug is thought to have been derived from  the temple of
Jupiter Ammon  in the Lybian desert, where the  ammoniac of the ancients
is said  to  have been collected; but Mr. Don  considers  it a corruption of
Armeniacum, originating in the circumstance that the gum-resin was formerly
imported into Europe through  Armenia.
  Properties.  Ammoniac  comes either in the state of tears, or in aggregate
masses, and in both forms is frequently mixed with impurities.   That of the
tears, however, is preferable, as the purest may be conveniently picked out, and
kept/or  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 mat-
ters, such as seeds, fragments of vegetables, and sand, or other earth.
  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 stand- 
 88               Ammoniacum.—Amygdala Amara.           part i.

 ing.  The alcoholic solution is transparent, but is  rendered  milky by the
 addition  of water.  Bucholz obtained from 100  parts of ammoniac, 22-4
 parts of gum, 72-0 of resin, 1-6 of bassorin, and 4-0  of water including vola-
 tile 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 is di-
 vided by ether into two resins, of which one is soluble, the other  insoluble
 in that menstruum.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  This gum-resin is stimulant and expecto-
rant, in  large doses  cathartic, and, like many other stimulants, may be so
given as occasionally to prove  diaphoretic, diuretic, or emmenagogue.  It
has been employed in medicine from the highest antiquity, being mentioned
in the writings  of Hippocrates.  The complaints in which it is most fre-
quently used are  chronic catarrh, asthma, and  other  pectoral affections,
attended with deficient expectoration without acute inflammation, or with  a
too copious secretion from the bronchial mucous membrane, dependent upon
debility of  the vessels.  It is thought to  have been useful in some cases of
amenorrhoea, and in chlorotic and hysterical conditions of the system arising
out  of this complaint.  It has also been prescribed  in obstructions or chronic
engorgements of the abdominal viscera, under  the  vague  notion of its deob-
struent 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 de-
pendent on mucous matter lodged in  the intestines;  but it would be difficult
to ascertain in what cases  such  mucous  matter existed, and, even allowing
its presence, to decide whether  it was a cause or a result  of the diseased
action.  Ammoniac is usually administered in combination with other ex-
pectorants, with tonics, or emmenagogues.  It is  much less used than for-
merly.  Externally applied in  the shape of a plaster, it is thought to be
useful as a discutient or resolvent in white swellings  of the joints and other
indolent tumours.  (See Emplastrum Ammoniaci.)
  It is given in substance, in the shape of pill or emulsion.  The latter form
is preferable.   (See Mistura Ammoniaci.)  The  dose is  from ten to thirty
grains.
  Off.Prep. Emplastrum Ammoniaci, U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emplas-
trum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emplastrum Gum-
mosum, Ed.; Mistura Ammoniaci, U.  S., Lond., Dub.; Pilulas Ipecacuanhas
 Compositas, Lond.;  Pilulas Scillae Compositae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
                                                                   W.


         AMYGDALA  AMARA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                          Bitter Almonds.

  " The kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus  communis—variety amara "
 U.S. "Amygdalus  communis.   (De Cand.) var. «. Nuclei." Lond. "Ker-
 nels of Amygdalus communis, var. a. (DC.)"  Ed.
  Off. Syn.  AMYGDALA AMARiE.  Amygdalus communis.  Nuclei
 Dub. 
part i.        Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.             89
         AMYGDALA DULCIS. U.S., Lond., Ed.

                          Sweet Almonds.

  " The kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus communis—variety dulcis." U. S.
"Amygdalus  communis.  (De Cand.)  var /3. Nuclei." J^ond. "Kernels of
Amygdalus communis, var. /3. and y. (DC.)" Ed.
  Off. Syn.  AMYGDALA DULCES. Amygdalus communis.  Nuclei.
Dub.
  Amande douce, Amande amere, Fr.; Siisse Mandeln, bitlere Mandeln,  Germ.; Man-
dorle dolci, Mandorle amare, Ital; Almendra dulce, Almendra amarga, Span.
  Amygdalus.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Amygdaleas.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-cleft, inferior.  Petals five.  Drupe with a nut perfo-
rated with  pores. Willd.
  Amygdalus  communis.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 982;  Woodv. Med. Bot.
p. 507. t. 183.   The  almond tree rises usually from fifteen to  twenty feet
in height, and divides into numerous spreading branches.  The leaves stand
upon short footstalks, are about three  inches long,  and three quarters of an
inch broad, elliptical, pointed at both  ends, veined, minutely serrated, with
the lower serratures and petioles glandular, and are  of a bright green colour.
The flowers are large, of a pale red colour varying to white, with very short
peduncles and petals longer than the calyx, and are usually placed in  nume-
rous pairs upon the branches.  The fruit is of the peach kind, with the outer
covering thin, tough, dry, and  marked with a longitudinal furrow, where  it
opens when fully ripe.   Within this covering is a  rough  shell, which con-
tains the kernel or almond.
  There are several varieties of this species of Amygdalus, differing chiefly
in the size and  shape of the fruit, the thickness of the shell, and the taste of
the  kernel.  The two most important are the Amygdalus (communis) didcis,
and the Amygdalus (communis) amara, the former bearing sweet, the latter
bitter almonds.   Another variety is the fragilis of De Candolle which yields
the  soft-shelled  almonds.
  The  almond  tree is a  native of Persia, Syria, and Barbary, and is very
extensively cultivated in various parts of the South  of Europe.   It has been
introduced  into the  United States;  but in the northern and  middle  sections
the fruit does not usually come to perfection.   We are supplied with sweet
almonds chiefly from Spain and the South of France. They are distinguished
into the soft-shelled and hard-shelled, the former of which come  from Mar-
seilles and Bordeaux, the latter from Malaga.  From the latter port  they are
sometimes brought to us without the shell.  In British commerce,  the two
chief varieties are the  Jordan and  Valentia almonds, the former imported
from Malaga, the latter from Valentia.   The former are longer, narrower,
more pointed, and more highly esteemed than the latter.  The bitter  almonds
are  obtained chiefly from Morocco, and are exported from Mogador.
  Properties.   The shape  and appearance of almonds are too well known
to require description.  Each kernel consists  of two white  cotyledons, en-
closed 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 sepa-
rate notice.
                                   9* 
90             Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.         part
  1.  Amygdala Dulcis.   Sweet Almonds.   These, when blanched, are
without smell, and  have a sweet, very pleasant taste, which has rendered
them a favourite article of diet in almost all countries where they are readily
attainable.   They are, however, generally considered  of difficult digestion.
By the analysis of M. Boullay,  it appears that they contain in 100 parts, 5
parts of pellicle, 54 of fixed oil, 24 of albumen, 6 of uncrystallizable sugar,
3 of gum, 4 of fibrous matter, 3-5 of water, and 0-5 of acetic acid comprising
loss.  The albumen differs somewhat from ordinary vegetable albumen, and
has received the name of emulsin.  It may be obtained separate by treating
the emulsion of almonds  with  ether, allowing the  mixture, after  frequent
agitation, to stand until a  clear  fluid  separates at the  bottom of the vessel,
drawing  this off by a syphon,  adding alcohol to it so as to precipitate the
emulsin,  then washing the precipitate with fresh 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
eoagulates at 212°.   Its distinguishing property is that of producing certain
changes hereafter  to be noticed  in amyg-dalin, which property it loses when
coagulated by heat.   (Thomson and Richardson, Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
x. 351, from Athenaeum.)   It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, and is probably identical with the principle for which Robiquet pro-
posed the name of synaptase.   Thomson and Richardson suppose, from
their experiments, that it may be an  amide.   (See Althsea.)  The fixed oil,
which may  be  obtained by expression, is colourless or slightly tinged with
yellow, sweet  and bland to the taste,  and  may be substituted for olive oil in
most of  the economical uses to which the latter is applied.   (See Oleum
Amygdalse.)  Almonds, when  rubbed with water, form a milky emulsion,
the insoluble matters being suspended by  the agency of the albuminous, mu-
cilaginous, and saccharine principles.
  2. Amygdala Amara. Bitter Almonds.  These are smaller than the pre-
ceding Variety.   They have the bitter taste of the peach-kernel,  and, though
in their natural state inodorous or nearly so, have, when triturated with water,
the fragrance of the peach blossom.   They contain the same ingredients as
sweet almonds, and like them form  a  milky emulsion with water.  It was
formerly supposed that they also contained hydrocyanic acid and an  essential
oil, to which their peculiar taste and smell, and their peculiar operation upon
the system were ascribed.   It has, however, been ascertained by MM. Robi-
quet and Boutron, that these principles do not pre-exist in the  almond, but
result from the reaction of water;  and Wohler and Liebig have proved, what
was suspected by Robiquet, that they are formed out of a substance of pecu-
liar properties  denominated amygdalin, which is the characteristic  constitu-
ent of bitter almonds.   This substance, which was discovered by Robiquet
and Boutron, is white, crystallizable, inodorous, of  a  sweetish  bitter  taste,
unalterable in the air, freely soluble  in water and  hot alcohol, very sliehtly
soluble  in cold alcohol, and insoluble Jh  ether. Its elementary constituents
are nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and  oxygen; and it is  supposed to be an
amide;^, when treated with an alkali, it yields ammonia and a peculiar acid
which has been named amygdahc acid.   Liebig and Wohler recommend the
following process for procuring  it, in  which the object  of the fermentation is
to destroy the  sugar with which it is  associated.  Bitter almonds, previously
deprived of their fixed oil by pressure are to be boiled in successive por-
tions  of  alcohol till they are exhausted.  From the limm™ <!,„,  u, •   a
all the alcohol is to  be dVawn off by distillation^ cLTe^ taken  neaTthe
end of the  process, not to expose the syrupy residue to too o-reat a heat
This residue is then  to be diluted with water, mixed  with good yeast, and 
part i.        Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.             91

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 por-
tion 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 trans-
parent solution with water.  Any oil which it may contain may be separated
by washing it with ether.  One pound of almonds yielded at least 120 grains
of" amygdalin.  (Annalen der Pharm., xxii. and xxiii. 329.)
   Amygdalin, when mixed with  an emulsion of  sweet  almonds, gives rise,
among other products, to the volatile oil of bitter  almonds and hydrocyanic
acid—the emulsin  of the sweet  almonds acting  the part of a ferment, by
setting on foot a reaction  between the  amygdalin  and water;  and  the same
result is obtained when pure  emulsin is added to a solution of amygdalin.
It appears then that the volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid, developed in bitter
almonds when moistened,  result  from the  mutual reaction of amygdalin,
water, and  emulsin.  It is asserted that emulsin procured from other seeds,
as those of  the poppy, hemp, and mustard, is capable of producing the same
reaction between water and amygdalin, though in a less degree than that of
the sweet or bitter almonds.  (Annul, der Pharm., xxviii. 290.)
   Bitter almonds yield their fixed oil by pressure;  and the essential oil,
impregnated with hydrocyanic acid, may be obtained from  the residue by
distillation with water.  This oil, usually called oil of bitter almonds, has a
bitter, acrid, burning taste, and the peculiar odour of the kernel in a very high
degree.  It is of  a yellowish colour, heavier than water, soluble  in alcohol
and ether, slightly soluble in water, and deposits, upon  standing, a  white
crystalline  substance, which consists  chiefly of  benzoic acid.  It may be
entirely freed from hydrocyanic acid,  by agitating it strongly with hydrate
of lime and a solution of chloride of iron, and submitting the mixture to dis-
tillation.  The oil comes over with the  water, from which it may be sepa-
rated in the usual manner.  Thus purified, it still retains its peculiar odour,
with a burning and aromatic taste ; but, as proved by Dr. Goppert of Breslau,
is wholly destitute of those poisonous properties which distinguish the oil in
its original  state, and which depend on the presence of hydrocyanic  acid.
The  odour of the oil of bitter almonds has.been  usually, but erroneously,
ascribed to this acid, which, on  examination, will be  found to smell  very
differently.  The same remark is applicable to the essential oils of the cherry
laurel, of the bird cherry,  and probably of other vegetables supposed to con-
tain hydrocyanic acid.  The  benzoic  acid which the oil of bitter almonds
deposits upon standing, has been satisfactorily proved by Robiquet and Bou-
tron not to  pre-exist in the. oil, but to result from  the absorption of oxygen;
and Wohler and  Liebig have  rendered it probable that there exists a  radical
in the oil, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, which, though it has
not yet been isolated, is a distinct substance, and constitutes the basis of nu-
merous compounds. The oil is composed of this radical, called benzule, and
hydrogen, with the former of which, oxygen when absorbed forms benzoic
acid,  and with the latter, water.   The  pure  oil  is therefore considered  a
hydruret of benzule.
   The  essential oil of bitter almonds operates upon the system in a manner
closely analogous to that of hydrocyanic  acid.   A single drop is sufficient to
destroy a bird, and four drops have occasioned  the death of a dog of middle
size.   The distilled water of bitter almonds operates in a similar manner,
though less powerfully ; and the almonds themselves have proved deleterious
when taken in considerable  quantities.  Confectioners employ bitter almonds
for communicating flavour to the syrup of orgeat.  (See Syrupus Amyg- 
92             Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.         part r.
 dalse.)   The  kernel of the peach  possesses similar properties, and is fre-
 quently used as a substitute.  The oil of bitter almonds is much used by the
 perfumers.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Sweet almonds  exercise no  other influ-
 ence upon the system than that of a demulcent.   The  emulsion formed  by
 triturating them  with  water is a pleasant vehicle for the administration of
 other medicines, and is itself useful in cases of catarrhal affection.   Bitter
 almonds are more  energetic, and, though not much in use, might undoubt-
 edly be employed with advantage in  cases to which the hydrocyanic acid is
 applicable.  An emulsion made with  them has been beneficially prescribed
 in pectoral affections  attended with cough, and is said to  have cured inter-
 mittents  when bark has failed. (Bergius, Mat. Med.)  It probably operates
 by diminishing the excitability of the nervous system, and moderating exist-
 ing irritation.  Dr. A. T. Thomson says that he has found it extremely useful
 as a lotion in acne rosea and impetigo.  Bitter almonds are said by Hufeland
 to have been successfully employed for the expulsion of the tape worm.   In
 some persons they produce urticaria when taken in the smallest quantities.
   The oil of bitter almonds might probably be substituted with advantage
 for the 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.  From this fact it may be inferred, that the oil is about four times  as
 strong as our officinal hydrocyanic acid, and may therefore be given in the
 dose of from a  quarter of a drop to a drop, to be gradually and very cau-
 tiously 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 facilitate the  solution in water, the  oil may be  previously dissolved  in
 spirit.
   Wohler and Liebig propose, as a substitute for cherry-laurel water, which
 owes its effects to the hydrocyanic acid it contains, but is objectionable from
 its unequal strength, an extemporaneous mixture, consisting of 17 o-rains  of
 amygdalin, and one fluidounce  of an  emulsion  made with°two drachms  of
 sweet almonds, and a sufficient  quantity of water.   This mixture contains
 according to the above named chemists, one grain of absolute  hydrocyanic
 acid, and is  equivalent to two fluidounces of fresh cherry-laurel  water.   If
it be found to answer in practice, it will have  the great advantage of certainty
in relation to the dose; as amygdalin  may be kept any length°of time unal-
tered.  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 com-
mencing dose.
   Off. Prep, of Sweet Almonds.  Confectio  Amygdalas, Lond., Ed   Dub •
Mistura Acacias, Ed.,  Dub.; Mistura Amygdalas, U. S., Lond., Ed' Dub'-
Mistura Camphoras, Ed.; Oleum Amygdalarum, Dub.; Syrupus Amyo-dala7,
 U. S.
   Off. Prep, of Bitter Almonds.  Syrupus Amygdalas, U. S.         W. 
PART I.
Amygdalus Persica.
93
          AMYGDALUS PERSICA.  Folia. Dub.

                           Peach Leaves.

  Pecher, Fr; Pfirsichbaum, Germ.; Persico, Ital; Alberchigo, Span.
  Amygdalus.   See AMYGDALA.
  Amygdalus  Persica.   Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 982 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
511. t.  184.—Persica vulgaris. Miller, Lamarck.  Everyone  is  familiar
with the appearance of the common peach tree.   It is  characterized speci-
fically by  having " all the serratures of the  leaves acute, and by its sessile
solitary flowers."   Though its native country is  not certainly known, it is
generally  supposed  to have been brought  originally from Persia.  In no
country, perhaps, does it attain greater perfection, as regards the character of
its fruit, than in the United States.
  Peaches  are  among  the most grateful and wholesome of our  summer
fruits.  They abound in saccharine matter, which renders their juice suscep-
tible of the  vinous  fermentation;  and a distilled liquor  prepared from them
has been much used in some parts  of the  country under the name  of peach
brandy.
  The kernels  of the fruit bear a close resemblance in  appearance  and pro-
perties, and  probably in chemical nature,  to bitter almonds, for which they
are frequently,  and  without inconvenience, substituted in our shops.  They
are employed  by distillers  in the  preparation of liqueurs,  and by  cake-
bakers to give flavour to various productions of their ovens; and are said to
yield as much amygdalin as bitter almonds.
  The  flowers, leaves, and  bark also have the peculiar odour and  taste of
bitter almonds,  and would probably yield hydrocyanic acid.  The leaves
afford a volatile oil by distillation.   These are  the only part directed by the
Dublin  College.
  Medical Properties, fyc.  Peach leaves  are said to be laxative ; and they
probably exert, to a moderate extent, a sedative  influence over the nervous
system.   They have been used as  an anthelmintic with great reported suc-
cess.   More recently their infusion has  been recommended in irritability of
the bladder, in  sick stomach,  and  hooping-cough.  Half an ounce of the
dried leaves  may be infused  in a pint of boiling water, and half a fluidounce
given for a dose three times a  day, or more  frequently.   Dr. Dougos gives,
in hooping-cough, a pint of the strong infusion, in small doses, in the course
of the day.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxiii. 356.)
  The  flowers  also are  laxative; and a syrup prepared from them is con-
siderably used,  in infantile cases, upon the continent of Europe.   Woodville
states that a drachm of the dried flowers, or half an ounce in their recent
state, given in infusion, is the dose as a vermifuge.   Cases of fatal poison-
ing from their use in children are on record.
  The kernels  have more of the  peculiar powers  of hydrocyanic acid, and
therefore require to  be used with some caution.   Blanched, and  rubbed up
with hot water, they form an  emulsion well adapted to coughs  depending
on or associated with nervous irritation.
  The dried fruit stewed with sugar is an excellent laxative article of diet,
suitable to cases of  convalescence attended with torpid bowels.       W. 
94
Amylum.
part I.
                   AMYLUM.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                               Starch. ■

  " The fecula of the seeds of Triticum vulgare." U. S., Ed.   " Triticum
hybernum. Seminum Fxcula."  Lond.
  Amidon, Fr.,- Starkmehl, Germ,- Amido, Ital.,- Almidon, Span.
  Starch is a proximate vegetable principle contained  in most  plants, and
especially abundant in  the various grains ; such  as wheat, rye, barley, oats,
rice, maize, &c.; in other seeds, as peas, beans, chestnuts, acorns, &c; and
in numerous tuberous roots, as those of the potato (Solanum tid)erosum),
the  sweet potato  (Convolvulus Batatas), the arrow-root, the cassava plant,
and different species of Curcuma.   The  process for obtaining it  consists
essentially in reducing  the substances in which it exists to a state of minute
division, agitating or washing  them with cold water, straining or pouring off
the  liquid, and allowing it to stand till the  fine fecula which it holds in sus-
pension has subsided.   This, when  dried, is  starch, more or less pure  ac-
cording to the care taken in conducting the process.  The starch of com-
merce is procured chiefly from wheat, sometimes also from potatoes.  Our
space will not allow us to enter into details in relation to the particular  steps
of the operation to which these substances are subjected ; and the omission
is of less consequence, as starch is never prepared by the apothecary.
  Starch is white, pulverulent, opaque, and, as  found in the shops, is usually
in columnar masses, having a somewhat crystalline  aspect, and producing a
peculiar sound  when pressed between  the  fingers.  Its specific gravity is
1-53.  When exposed  to a moist air, it absorbs a considerable  quantity of
water, which may be driven off by a  gentle heat.  It is insoluble in alcohol,
ether, and cold  water; but unites with boiling water,  which,  on 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, con-
tracts, and assumes the appearance of horn.   If the proportion of starch be
very small, the solution,  after slowly depositing a very minute  quantity of
insoluble matter, continues  permanent, and upon being  evaporated yields a
semi-transparent mass,  which is partially soluble in cold water.   The starch
has, therefore, been modified by the combined agency of water  and heat;
nor can it be restored to its original  condition.   Exposed, in the dry state,
to a temperature somewhat above 212°, it undergoes, according to Caventou,
a similar modification;  and a degree of heat sufficient to roast it slightly con-
verts it into a substance soluble  in cold water, 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 mor-
tar; and that the effect  is not the result of heat evolved by friction, is evinced
by  the fact that it takes place when the starch is triturated with water.  The
views now generally entertained  in  relation to starch, by which the above
mentioned phenomena  may be most conveniently explained, are those ori-
ginally presented by Raspail, and subsequently confirmed and extended by
Guibourt, Guerin, and others.   According to  these views, starch consists
of organized granules,  which, examined by the microscope, appear to be of
various form and  size.   These granules consist of a thin exterior pellicle or
tegument, and  of an interior substance, the former  wholly insoluble,  the
latter soluble in  water.  The former constitutes, according to  M. Payen,
only 4 or 5 thousandths of the weight of starch.  In relation to the interior 
PART I.
Amylum.
95
portion different  opinions are entertained.  M. Guerin thinks that it  con-
sists of two distinct substances, one soluble  in cold water, the other soluble
at first in boiling  water but  becoming  insoluble by evaporation.   Thus,
when one part of starch is boiled for fifteen  minutes in one hundred parts of
water, and the liquid is  allowed to stand, a small portion, consisting  of the
broken teguments, is  gradually deposited.  If the  solution be now filtered
and  evaporated, another portion  is  deposited  which cannot  afterwards  be
dissolved.   When  wholly deprived of this  portion  and evaporated to  dry-
ness, 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 tegument prevents the access
of the liquid  to the interior portion; but  when the  pellicle is  broken  by the
agency of heat, or by mechanical means, the fluid is admitted, and the starch
partially dissolved.*  Another  view of the  structure of the starch granule,
founded on microscopic observation, has been  advanced by  Schleiden.   Ac-
cording to this view, it consists of concentric layers, all of which have the same
chemical composition; but the outer layers having been first formed, have more
cohesion  than the  inner, and are  consequently more difficult of solubility.
The rings observed upon the surface of  the granules, in  some varieties, are
merely the edges of these layers ;  and the point or hylum  about which the
rings are  concentrically  placed, is a minute hole, through which probably the
substance of the interior layers was introduced.  (Pharm., Central  Blat. Juni,
1844, p. 401.)
   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 decom-
posed 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  com-
bination with the oxide of  the metal.  Starch  may be made to unite with
tannin by boiling  their solutions together;  and a  compound  results,  which,
though retained by the water while hot, is deposited when it cools. By long
boiling with diluted sulphuric or muriatic acid, it is  converted first into dex-
trine^ and ultimately  into  a saccharine substance similar to the sugar  of
grapes.   A similar conversion into dextrine and the sugar of grapes is effect-
ed by means  of a principle  called diastase, discovered by MM.  Payen and
Persoz in the seeds of barley, oats, and wheat,  after germination.' (See  Hor-
deum.)   Strong muriatic and nitric acids dissolve it; and  the latter, by the

   *  See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xi. 265, for an interesting paper by Wm. Procter, Jun., on
the various opinions in relation to the nature of starch; also Ibid. xv. 226, for remarks by
Pereira on potato starch.
   t Dextrine is a substance resembling gum in appearance and properties, but differing
from it in not affording mucic acid  by the action of nitric acid.   It is largely dissolved
by water, hot or cold, and forms a mucilaginous solution, from which  it  is precipitated by
alcohol. This  fluid has no action on dextrine. 
96
Amylum.—Anethum.
PART I.
aid of heat, converts it into oxalic and malic acids.   Concentrated sulphuric
acid decomposes it.  Mixed with hot water and exposed to a temperature of
70 or 80°, it undergoes fermentation, which results in the formation of several
distinct  principles, among which are  sugar, a  gummy substance (perhaps
dextrine), and a modification of starch which De Saussure called amidine.
  The tegumentary  portion of starch, for which the  name  of amylin has
been proposed, when entirely freed  from  the interior soluble  matter, is
wholly insoluble in water even by prolonged boiling, is insoluble  in alcohol,
and is said to suffer no change  by the action of iodine or  diastase.  The
acids, however, act upon it as they do  upon  starch.   It approaches nearer in
properties to lignin than  to any other principle.
  Starch, as obtained from different substances, is somewhat different in its
characters.  Wheat starch, when examined by a microscope, is found  to
consist of granules of various  sizes, usually rounded,  but uneven upon the
surface, and mixed with loose integuments, resulting from  the  process  of
grinding.  It has also a  certain degree of hardness and adhesiveness, owing,
according to Guibourt, to the escape of a portion of  the interior substance of
the broken granules, which attracts some moisture from the air, and thus
becoming glutinous, acts as a bond between those which remain unbroken.
Another opinion attributes this  peculiar consistence to the retention of a por-
tion of the gluten of the wheat flour, which causes the granules  to cohere.
Potato starch is employed in various forms, being prepared so  as to imitate
more costly amylaceous substances, such as  arrow-root and sago.   In its
ordinary state, it is  more pulverulent than wheat  starch, has  a  somewhat
glistening appearance, and may be distinguished, with the aid of  the micro-
scope, by the size of its  granules, which are larger  than those of any other
known fecula, except canna or tons 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 distin-
guishable in the fresh starch, and are said by Raspail to  disappear upon  de-
siccation. These surround a minute circular hole or hylum upon  the surface
of the granule.  In some instances there are two of  these holes, one at each
end, or both at the same end.   The characters  of other kinds of  fecula will
be given under the  heads of the several officinal substances  of which they
constitute the whole or  a part.  Starch consists of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen—its formula, from whatever source it may be derived, being, accord-
ing to the latest opinions, C13H1&010.
  Medical Properties, $c.  Starch is nutritive and demulcent,  but in its
ordinary form is seldom administered internally.  Powdered and dusted upon
the skin, it is sometimes  used to  absorb irritating  secretions, and prevent
excoriation.  Dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, it is  often employed
in enemata, either as a vehicle  of other substances, or  as a demulcent appli-
cation in irritated  states of the rectum.  It may be used as an antidote to
iodine taken in  poisonous quantities.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum  Amyli, Lond.; Enema Opii  vel Anodynum, Ed.;
Mucilago Amyh,  Ed.,  Dub.;  Pulvis Tragacanthae  Comp., Lond.,  Ed.-
Trochisci Acaciae,  Ed.                                          ''vy ''


                    ANETHUM.  Lond., Ed.

                             Dill Seeds.

   "Anethum graveolens.  Fructus."  Lond.   "Fruit of Anethum  o-raveo-
lens."  Ed.                                                      &
   Aneth a, odeur forte, Fr.; Dill, Germ.; Aneto, Ital; Eneldo, Span. 
PART I.
Anethum.—Angelica.
97
  Anethum.   Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferas or
Apiaceae.
  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  bipin-
nate or tripinnate, glaucous leaves, which stand  on sheathing footstalks, and
have linear and pointed leaflets.  The flowers are yellow, and in large,  flat,
terminal  umbels,  destitute of involucre.   The  plant is  a native of Spain,
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, Lond., Ed.;  Oleum Anethi, Ed.        W.

                 ANGELICA. U.S.  Secondary.

                              Angelica.

  " The root and  herb of Angelica atropurpurea." U. S.
  Angelica.   Sex.  Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Umbelliferas or
Apiaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Fruit elliptic, compressed, somewhat solid and corticate, ridges
three,  dorsal acute,  intervals  grooved, margin   alated.   General  involucre
none.  (Sprengel.)   Umbel  large,  many-rayed, spreading;  umbellet  dense,
subhemispheric;  involucell about eight-leaved.   Calyx five-toothed. Petals
inflected.  Nuttall.
  Angelica atropurpurea. Willd.  Sp.  Plant,  i. 1430.  This indigenous
species of Angelica,  sometimes called masterwort, has  a perennial purplish
root, and a smooth herbaceous stem, the dark colour of which has given rise
to the specific name of the plant.   The leaves are ternate, and supported 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 the 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  poi-
sonous;  but the acrimony is dissipated by drying.
  Medical Properties, fyc.  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
     10 
98
Angelica Archangelica.
PART I.
used in flatulent colic;  and we are told that the stems are sometimes candied
by the country people.                                             ^* •


     ANGELICA ARCHANGELICA. Semina. Dub.

                    Seeds  of  Garden Angelica.

                        ANGELICA.  Ed.

                    Root of Garden Angelica.

   "Root of Angelica Archangelica."  Ed.
   An^elique, Fr.; Engolwurzi!,  Germ ; Arciingelica, 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 an-
gelica  has  a'  long, thick, fleshy,  biennial root, furnished with many fibres,
and sending up  annually a  hollow, jointed, round, channeled, smooth, pur-
plish stem, which rises five  feet  or more in  height, and divides into nume-
rous 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 disposed 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 Swit-
zerland and among the Pyrennees.   It has become an object of culture 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 possesses aromatic properties; but  the root  and fruit
only are officinal.
   1. The root should be dug up in the autumn of the first year, as it is then
less liable  to become  mouldy and worm-eaten than when taken  from the
ground in the spring.   It is spindle-shaped, an inch  or more  in thickness at
its upper  extremity, and  beset with numerous long  descending radicles.
The fresh root has a  yellowish-gray epidermis, a fleshy  yellow parenchyma,
and when wounded yields a honey-coloured juice,  which has all the aro-
matic 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, the taste at first sweetish,
afterwards  warm, aromatic,  bitterish, and  somewhat musky.  These pro-
perties are extracted by alcohol, and less  perfectly by  water.  The con-
stituents of the  root, according to the  younger Buchner, are volatile oil  a
peculiar 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., 3.  ser. ii.  124.)   Five hundred parts yield by distillation
nearly four parts of volatile oil.
   2.  The seeds, as the fruit  is commonly called, are two or three lines lonff
oval, obtuse or somewhat notched at the ends, flat, and marked  with a lonei'
tudinal furrow on one  side,  convex with three angular  ridges on the  other 
part i.          Angelica Archangelica.—Angustura.              99

They are ash-coloured, and have the same smell and taste as the root.  They
are said to keep well.
   Medical Properties.  Angelica is an  elegant aromatic tonic;  but is little
employed in the United States.  The Laplanders, in whose country it flour-
ishes, are  said to esteem it highly as a condiment and medicine.  In Europe,
the stems  are  frequently made into a preserve, and used in desserts in order
to excite the stomach.  The dose of the root or seeds is from thirty grains
to a drachm.
   Off. Prep. Spiritus Anisi Compositus, Dub.                      W.

                      ANGUSTURA. U.S.

                         Angustura Bark.

   "The bark of Galipea officinalis.  Hancock."  U.S.
   Off. Syn.  CUSPARIA.  Galipea  Cusparia.  Cortex. Lond.;   CUSPA-
 RIA.   Bark  of  Galipea  officinalis, Ed.;   ANGUSTURA. BONPLAN-
 DIA TRIFOLIATA. Cortex. Dub.
   Angusture, Fr,- Angusturarinde, Germ.,- Corteccia dell' Angustura, Ital,- Corteza de
 Angostura, Span.
   The subject of Angustura  bark, in its botanical relations, has  been in-
 volved in some confusion.   The drug  was at first supposed to be derived
 from a species of Magnolia, and in Europe was referred by some  to the
 Magnolia glauca of this country.  Humboldt and  Bonpland were the first
 to enlighten the medical public as to its true source;  though the name which
 it bore was sufficient to indicate the neighbourhood of its  growth.   These
 naturalists, when at Angustura, a South American city upon the banks of the
 Orinoco,  received specimens of the foliage of the plant from which the bark
 was obtained; and  afterwards believed that  they had  found the  same plant
 in a tree  growing in the vicinity of Cumana.   This latter they had the
 opportunity of personally inspecting, and were therefore enabled to describe
 accurately.   Unable to attach it to any known genus, they erected it into a
 new one, with the title of Cusparia, a name of Indian origin, to which they
 added the  specific appellation  of febrifuga.  On  the authority  of these
 botanists, the  Cusparia febrifuga was  generally believed to be  the  true
 source of the medicine, and was recognised  as such by the London College.
 A specimen having in the mean time been sent by them to Willdenow, the
 name of  Bonplandiu was  imposed on  the new genus by that celebrated
 botanist;  and was subsequently adopted by  Humboldt and Bonpland them-
 selves, in their great  work on equinoctial plants.  Hence  the title of Bon-
 plandia trifoliata, by which the tree is described in  many  works of Materia
 Medica.  De  Candolle, however, having found in  the  description  all the
 characters of the genus Galipea of Aublet, has rejected both these titles, and
 proposes to substitute that of Galipea  Cusparia, which  has been adopted
 by the London College in the last edition of their Pharmacopoeia.  After all
 these commutations, however, it appears from  the researches of Dr. Han-
 cock, 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, which
 these authors had mistaken for it, having been led into error by the  imper-
 fect specimens which they received.*   Among other striking differences be-
 tween the two plants, is that of their size ; the tree described by Humboldt and
 Bonpland being of great  magnitude, attaining the height  of sixty  or eighty

   * See a paper by John Hancock, M. D., in the Transactions of the  London  Medico-
 Botanical Society. 
100
Angustura.
PART I.
feet, while that from which the bark is obtained is never higher than twenty
feet.   Hancock proposes for the latter the title of  Galipea officinalis, which
has been adopted in the United States and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias.
   Galipea.   Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Rutaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Corolla inferior, irregular, four or five cleft, hypocrateriform.
Stamens 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 exhale a peculiar unpleasant odour.   The fruit consists of five bivalve
capsules, of which two or  three are  commonly abortive.  The seeds, two
of which are contained in each capsule, one often abortive, are round, black,
and of the size of  a pea.
  This tree grows in great  abundance on the mountains of Carony, situated
between the 7th and 8th degrees of N. Latitude; and is well  known in the
missions of Tumeremo, Uri, Alta Gracia, and Cupapui, 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 Sep-
tember, add greatly to the beauty of the  scenery.
  The bark is generally brought from  the West India ports packed in casks;
but, according to Mr. Brande, the original package, formed in Angustura or
its neighbourhood, consists of the  leaves of a species of palm, surrounded
by a network made of sticks.
  Properties.   The pieces are of various lengths, for the most part slightly
curved, rarely  quilled, sometimes nearly flat, from  half a  line  to a line or
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 pul-
verized a pale yellow  powder; but  when macerated"for  a short time in
water, they  become soft and  tenacious, and  maybe  cut into  strips with
scissors   The smell of  Angustura bark is peculiar and disagreeable when
fresh, but  becomes fainter with age; the  taste is bitter and slightly aromatic
leaving a sense of  pungency at the end of the tongue.  According to Fischer',
it contains volatile  oil, bitter extractive, a hard and  bitter resin, a soft  resin
a substance analogous  to caoutchouc, gum,  lignin, and various salts.  The
vo atile oil, which  may be obtained by distillation with water, is of a liffht-
yellow.sh  colour, lighter than water, of an  acrid taste, and of the  odoufof
                                                    and of the odour of

live, and bitter resin.  The bark imparts its virtues 'to water°and 'akohoh
?lb!i\.-IhAaJ.-!.Ve fefc f^V^hly lhe volatile oil, bitter extrac-
Ja
treated
taneous
coverer,
heat,
parts of boiling water, soluble in the concentrated acids and in the ■ Ik  r      , a"a  U.U
tated by the infusion of galls.                              ne alkaI>es, and precipi- 
PART I.
Angustura.
101
  Dr. A. T. Thomson states that precipitates are produced  with the  infu-
sion by the solutions of sulphate of iron, tartrate of antimony and potassa,
sulphate of copper,  acetate and  subacetate  of lead, bichloride of mercury,
nitrate of silver, and pure potassa; by nitric and  sulphuric acids; and by the
infusions  of galls  and yellow cinchona; but how far  these  substances are
medicinally incompatible with the bark, it would be difficult in the present
state of our knowledge to determine.
  False Angustura.  Under this  title, the European writers on Materia
Medica describe a bark which has  been  introduced on the continent mixed
with the true Angustura bark, and which, possessing  poisonous properties,
has in some  instances produced unpleasant effects when  prescribed by mis-
take 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  prominent white  spots; by
the brownish colour and smoothness of its  internal surface, 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 call brucia, and upon which
its  poisonous operation depends.   Of this alkali we shall have occasion to
speak in another place.  (See Nux Vomica.) In consequence of its presence,
a drop of nitric acid upon the internal surface of the  bark produces a deep
blood-red spot.   The same acid, applied to the  external surface, renders it
emerald-green.   In the true Angustura  bark, a dull red  colour is  produced
by  the acid on both  surfaces,   'the false Angustura  was at first supposed
to be derived from the Brucea antidysenterica;  and was  afterwards referred
to some unknown  species of Strychnos, in consequence of containing brucia,
which is a characteristic ingredient of that genus  of plants.  At present, it is
generally believed to  be  derived from the Strychnos Nux vomica, the bark
of  which, according  to Dr.  O'Shaughnessy, exactly  corresponds with the
description given  by authors of the false Angustura, and like it contains bru-
cia.   Very little of the false Angustura bark reaches the United States.  The
only specimens we have ever seen, are  some which  have been sent hither
from Europe as objects of curiosity.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Angustura bark had  been long used by
the natives of the country where it grows, before it became known in Europe.
From the continent its employment extended to the West Indies,  where it
acquired considerable reputation.  It was first taken to Europe about fifty
years since, and attracted particular attention among the English physicians.
It is now ranked among the officinal remedies throughout Europe and Ame-
rica ;  but has not sustained the  estimation in which it was at first held ; and
in the  United States is not much prescribed. Its  operation is that of a stimu-
lant tonic.  In large doses it also evacuates the  stomach  and  bowels, and is
often  employed  for  this purpose in South  America.   It was at one  time
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 particularly efficacious in  bilious diarrhoeas and  dysenteries;
and has been recommended in dyspepsia, and other diseases in which a tonic
treatment is demanded.  The testimony, however, of practitioners in Europe
and the United States, is not strongly in its  favour;  and it is probably better
adapted to tropical diseases, than to those of temperate climates.   Hancock
employed it very  extensively in  the malignant  bilious intermitttent levers, 
102
Angustura.—Anisum.
PART I.
dysenteries, and dropsies  of Angustura and Demerara;  and speaks  in  the
strongest terms of its efficacy in these  complaints.  The form in _which he
used it was that of fermented infusion, as recommended by the native practi-
tioners. It has this advantage over Peruvian bark, that it is less apt to oppress
the stomach.
  It may be  given in powder,  infusion, tincture, or extract.  The dose in
substance is  from  ten to thirty grains. In larger quantities it is apt to  pro-
duce nausea.   From five to fifteen grains is the dose of  the extract, which,
however, according to Dr.  Hancock, is  inferior to the powder or infusion.
To obviate nausea, it is frequently combined with aromatics.
  Off.Prep.  Infusum Angusturas, U.S.,Lond., Ed.;  Tinctura Angusturas,
Dub., Ed.                                                       W.

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

                               Anise.

  "The fruit of Pimpinella Anisum."  U.S., Ed.   " Pimpinella Anisum.
Fructus." Lond.  " Pimpinella Anisum. Semina." Dub.
  Graines d'anis, Fr.; Anissame, Germ.; Semi 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. p.
135. t. 52.  This is  an  annual  plant, about a foot in.height, with an erect,
smooth, and branching stem.  The leaves are petiolate, the lower roundish-
cordate, lobed, incised-serrate,  the  middle  pinnate-lobed  with  cuenate 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
continent.   It is also cultivated  occasionally in the gardens of this country.
The fruit  is  abundantly produced in Malta and  Spain.  The Spanish is
smaller than the German or French, and is usually  preferred.
  Anise seeds (botanically fruit) are about  a line  in length, oval,  striated,
somewhat downy, attached to  their footstalks, and  of  a 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
depend upon  a peculiar volatile  oil,  are imparted sparingly to boiling water,
freely to alcohol.   The  volatile oil exists in the envelope of the  seeds, and
is obtained separate by distillation. (See Oleum  Anisi.)  Their  internal
substance  contains  a bland fixed  oil.  By expression, a greenish oil is
obtained, which is  a mixture of the two.   The seeds are sometimes adul-
terated with small fragments of  argillaceous earth;  and their aromatic quali-
ties are occasionally  impaired,  in  consequence of  a slight fermentation,
which they are apt to undergo in the mass, when collected before maturity
  A case of poisoning is on record from the  accidental admixture of the fruits
of Comum maculatum, which  bear some  resemblance  to those  of anise
but may be  distinguished  by their crenate or notched  ridges   Thev 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 
part i.                 Anisum.—Anthemis.                     103

plant, being the fruit of the 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 containing a brown shining  seed.   It  is much used in  France to
flavour liquors, and the volatile oil upon which its aromatic properties depend
is imported into this country from the East Indies, and  sold as common oil
of anise, to which, however, it is much superior. (Togno and Durand.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Anise is a grateful aromatic carminative ;
and, like several other fruits of a similar character, is supposed to have the
property of increasing  the  secretion of milk.  It has  been  in use from the
earliest times.  In Europe  it is much employed in flatulent colic, and  as a
corrigent of griping or unpleasant medicines ;  but in this country fennel-seed
is usually preferred.   Anise may be given bruised, or in powder, in the  dose
of twenty or thirty grains  or  more.  The infusion  is less  efficient.   The
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, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Anisi, Lond.
                                                                W.


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

                             Chamomile.

  "The  flowers of Anthemis nobilis." U.S.  "Anthemis nobilis.  Flores
simplices." Lond.   " Simple flowers of Anthemis nobilis." Ed.
   Off.Syn.  CHAM^EMELUM. ANTHEMIS NOBILIS.  Flores. Dub.
  Camomille Romaine, Fr.; Romische Kamille, Germ.; Camomilla Romana, Ital;  Man-
zaniHa Romana, Span.
  Anthemis. Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositas
Senecionideas. De Cand.   Asteraceas. Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Receptacle chaffy.   Seed down none or a membranaceous  mar-
gin.  Calyx hemispherical, nearly equal.  Florets of the ray more than  five.
Willd.
  Several species of Anthemis have been  employed in  medicine.   The A.
nobilis, which is the  subject of the present  article, is by far the most im-
portant.  The A. Cotula, or May-weed,  is also recognised by the U. S. Phar-
macopoeia. (See Cotula.)   The  A.  Pyrethrum, which affords the pellitory
root, is among the  officinal plants.  (See Pyrethrum.)  The 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 the  common chamomile, for which they are said to be some-
times substituted in Germany.  They may be  distinguished by their  want
of smell.  The A. tinctoria is occasionally employed as a tonic and vermi-
fuge 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 yel-
low 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 palest.   The florets of the ray are numerous,  narrow, and termi- 
104
Anthemis.
PART I.
 nated with three small teeth.  The whole herb has a peculiar fragrant odour,
 and a bitter aromatic taste.   The flowers only are officinal.
    This plant  is a native of Europe, and grows  wild  in all the temperate
 parts of that continent.   It is also largely cultivated  for medicinal purposes.
 In France, Germany, and  Italy, it  is  generally known by  the  name  of
 Roman chamomile.  The flowers become double  by cultivation, and in this
 state are  usually preferred; though, as  the  sensible  properties are found in
 the greatest degree in the disk, which is not fully developed  in  the  double
 flowers, the single are the most powerful, and are exclusively directed by the
 London and Edinburgh Colleges.   It is rather, however, in aromatic flavour
 than in 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 as a  medicine.  Those  which are whitest should be pre-
 ferred.
   Though not a native of America, chamomile grows wild in some parts of
 this country, and is occasionally cultivated in our gardens for family use, the
 whole herb being employed.  The medicine, as found in our shops, consists
 chiefly of the double flowers, and  is imported  from Germany and England.
 From  the former country  are also occasionally imported, under the name  of
 chamomile, the flowers of the Matricaria Chamomilla, a  plant belonging to
 the same  family with the  Anthemis, and closely allied to it in sensible as well
 as medicinal properties. (See Matricaria.)
   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 cha-
 msemelum; and it is somewhat singular that the Spanish  name manzanilla
 has a similar signification.*  The flowers impart their odour and taste to both
 water and alcohol, the former  of which, at the boiling temperature, extracts
 nearly one-fourth of their  weight.   They have not been accurately analyzed,
 but are known  to contain a volatile oil, a bitter extractive matter, resin, and a
 small quantity of tannin.   The first two are probably their active ino-redients.
 (See Oleum Anlhemidis.)
   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 ori.Tinal affection, or conse-
 quent «pon some acute disease.  It is  especially applicable  to that condition
 of general debility with languid appetite,  which often attends convalescence
 from idiopathic fevers. As a febrifuge, it has also acquired much reputation,
 being frequently prescribed in remittents, when  the  subsidence of action
 between the paroxysms is so considerable as  to demand the use of tonics, but
 is  not sufficiently complete to admit of a resort to Peruvian bark  or its pre-
 parations.  Chamomile in substance has,  in some instances, proved effectual
 in the treatment of internments; but we have so many other remedies more
 efficient in these cases, that it is now seldom if ever employed    The teoid
 infusion is very often given to promote the operation of emetic medicines  or
 to  assist the stomach  in  relieving  itself when oppressed  by its contents
 The flowers are sometimes applied externally as  fomentations  in c^es  of
irritation or inflammation of the abdominal viscera and -,« ™„(i0 •   -\'    •
flabby  ill-conditioned  ulcers   The dose of ^^wl^f atZt^m
half a drachm to a drachm three or  four times a day, or more frequent^
according  to the end  proposed.  The infusion is  usually preferred.   The

a littleha7PSmelUm ^ **" °D ^ gr°U"d' ^ ^ ™ *™h'   Manzanilla signifies 
PART I.
Anthemis.—Antimonium.
105
decoction and extract cannot exert the full  influence of the medicine; as the
volatile oil, upon which its virtues partly depend, is driven off at the boiling
temperature.
   Off. Prep.   Decoctum  Chamasmeli Comp.,  Dub.;  Decoctum  Malvas
Comp., Lond.;  Extractum  Anthemidis, Ed., Dub.;  Infusum Anthemidis,
U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Oleum Anthemidis, J^ond., Ed.           W.


                        ANTIMONIUM.

                             Antimony.

   Stibium, Laf.; Antimoine,  Fr.; Antimon, Spi.essglanz, 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 sul-
phuret;  and 4. as a sulphuretted oxide.   It  is found principally in France
and Germany.
   Extraction.   All the antimony of commerce is extracted from the native
tersulphuret, which is by far the most abundant ore of this metal.   The ore
is first separated from  its gangue by fusion.  It is then reduced to powder,
and placed on  the floor of a reverberatory furnace;  where it is subjected  to
a gentle  heat, being constantly stirred  about with an iron rake.   The heat
should not be sufficient to cause fusion.  This process of roasting is known
to be  completed, when the matter is reduced  to the state of a dull grayish-
white powder,  called  antimony ash.  By this  treatment  the antimony is
partly teroxidized, and partly converted into antimonious acid; while  nearly
all the sulphur is dissipated  in the form of sulphurous acid gas:  a portion of
tersulphuret, however, remains undecomposed.  The matter  is then  mixed
.either with tartar,  or with charcoal impregnated with a concentrated solution
of carbonate of soda, and the mixture heated in crucibles, placed in a melting
furnace.   The charcoal reduces the teroxide of antimony, while the alkali
unites with the undecomposed tersulphuret, and forms  with it  melted scorias,
which cover the reduced  metal and  diminish its loss by volatilization.  The
metal obtained is then purified by a second fusion.
   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;  and the English, in cones.  The French
is most esteemed.
   Properties, fyc.   The  time of the discovery of antimony is not known;
but Basil Valentine was  the first to describe  the  method of obtaining it,  in
his work entitled  Currus Triumphalis Antimonii, published towards the
end of the fifteenth century.   It is  a brittle,  brilliant  metal, ordinarily of a
lamellated  texture, of a silver-white  colour when pure, but bluish-white  as
it occurs  in commerce.   When rubbed between the fingers, it imparts a sen-
sible  odour.  Its sp. gr.  is  6-7, and its fusing point 810°, or about a red
heat.   On cooling after  fusion, it assumes a crystalline structure, and  an
appearance on the surface bearing some resemblance to a fern leaf.   When
strongly  heated it  burns  with  the emission of white vapours, consisting of
teroxide, formerly called  argentine flowers of antimony.   A small portion
being fused, and then  thrown from a moderate height upon  a flat surface,
divides into numerous globules, which burn rapidly as they move along.   It 
106           Antimonium.—Antimonii Sulphuretum.         part i.
forms three combinations with  oxygen; one oxide—teroxide of antimony,
and two acids—antimonious and antimonic acids.  Its equivalent number  is
129;  and the teroxide contains three, antimonious acid four, and antimonic
acid five  eqs. of  oxygen.  The teroxide will be noticed under  the head of
Antimonii  Oxidum.   Antimonic acid is  a lemon-coloured powder,  which
may be prepared by oxidizing the metal by digestion in nitric acid, and then
driving off  the excess of nitric  acid by a heat not exceeding 600°.   When
exposed to a red heat, it parts with oxygen, and is converted into antimonious
acid.   This is a white powder,  and,  though  medicinally inert, frequently
forms a large proportion of the  preparation called antimonial powder.   (See
Pulvis Antimonialis.)
  The following table exhibits  a view of the different officinal preparations
of antimony:—
  I.  Sulphuretted:—
       1. Antimonii  Sulphuretum, U. S., Ed., Dub.;  Antimonii Sesqui-
           sulphuretum, Lond.
       2. Antimonii Sulphuretum Praeparatum, Dub.
       3. Antimonii Sulphuretum Prascipitatum,  U. S.; Antimonii Oxysul-
           phuretum, Lond.;  Antimonii  Sulphuretum Aureum, Ed.; Sul-
           phur Antimoniatum Fuscum, Dub.
 II.  Oxidized:—
       1. Teroxide. Antimonii Oxidum, Ed.
       2. Teroxide, combined with terchloride of antimony.   Antimonii
           Oxydum  Nitromuriaticum, Dub.
       3. Teroxide, combined  with tartaric acid and potassa.   Antimonii
           et  Potassas  Tartras,  U. S., Dub.;  Antimonii  Potassio-Tartras,
           IsOtid.; Antimonium Tartarizatum, Ed.  Dissolved  in  icine.
           Vinum Antimonii,  U. S.;  Vinum Antimonii Potassio-Tartratis,
           Lond.; Vinum  Antimoniale, Ed.  Dissolved in diluted alcohol.
           Liquor Tartari Emetici, Dub.  Mixed with lard.   Unguentum
           Antimonii, U. S.;  Unguentum  Antimonii Potassio-Tartratis,
           Lond.; Unguentum Antimoniale, Ed.; Unguentum Tartari Emet-
           ici, Dub.
       4. Teroxide and antimonious  acid, mixed with phosphate of lime.
           Pulvis Antimonialis, Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Antimonii Compositus,
           Lond.
  According to Serullas, all the antimonial preparations, except tartar emetic,
and butter or terchloride of antimony, contain a minute proportion of arsenic.
Tartar emetic  is an exception, because, according to  this chemist, it sepa-
rates entirely, in the act of crystallizing, from any minute portion of arsenic
in the materials from which it  is prepared;  the poisonous metal  being left
behind in the mother-waters of the process.
  In Pharmacy,  antimony is scarcely used in the metallic state; the  tersul-
phuret bein? the source, either  directly or indirectly, of all  its medicinal pre-
parations. (See Antimonii Sulphuretum.)                           «

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

                     Sulphuret of Antimony.
  "Native Sesquisulphuret of  Antimony, purified by fusion "  TJ V
   Off.Syn. ANTIMONII SESQUISULPHURETUM  Loml   '
  Arufic.al  sulphuret of antimony; Antimoine sulphure. Fr.; Schwefelantimon, Schwe-
felspiesssjlanz, Germ.; Solfuro d'antimonio, Ital; Antimonio crudo Span
  Preparation, Spc.  The officinal sulphuret of antimony  of the Pharmaco
pceias is obtained from the native sulphuret, technically called antimony ore, 
part i.             Apocynum Androsaemifolium.                 107

by different processes of purification ;  the following being an outline of that
generally pursued.  The ore  is placed in melting pots with  perforated bot-
toms, which are made to rest on others half buried in the earth.   The melt-
ing pots are surrounded  with  wood, which is set on fire.   The sulphuret is
quickly melted, and runs down into the receiving pots, leaving the stony and
earthy impurities behind.   A better process is to place the  melting pots in a
circular reverberatory furnace,  and to connect  them, by  means of curved
earthen tubes, with the receiving pots, situated  outside the furnace.  This
arrangement affords facilities  for removing the residue of the operation, and
allows of the collection of the melted sulphuret, without interrupting the fire,
and, consequently, without loss of time or fuel.
   Properties, $-c.  Sulphuret of antimony is mostly prepared in France and
Germany,  and comes to the United States principally from  France.  It is
called, in commerce, antimony, or crude antimony, and occurs in fused
roundish 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, lets fall the greater part  of the antimony as a white
powder  (oxychloride of antimony).  If the muriatic acid  should have dis-
solved some lead or copper, the  filtered solution, after the precipitation of the
white powder,  would  give  a  dark  coloured precipitate  with sulphuretted
hydrogen; but  if these metals  should  be absent, it would  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, consist-
ing  of oneeqiuv. of antimony 129, and three of sulphur 48-3=177-3.
   Sulphuret of antimony requires to  be levigated in order  to fit it for exhibi-
 tion as a  medicine, when it takes the name of prepared  sulphuret of anti-
mony.   In this form it  is now  officinal  only with  the Dublin College. (See
Antimonii Sulphuretum Prseparatum.)
   Off. Prep.  Antimonii et Potassas  Tartras, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Antimonii
Oxidum, Ed.;   Antimonii Sulphuretum Prascipitatum, U. S., Lond., Ed.;
Antimonii   Sulphuretum  Prseparatum, Dub.;   Pulvis  Antimonialis,  Ed.,
Lond.                                                            B*


 APOCYNUM ANDROSAEMIFOLIUM .U.S. Secondary.

                             Dog's-bane.

   " The root of Apocynum  androsaemifolium."  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, saggitate,  cohering  to
 the  stigma by the middle.   Style  obsolete.  Stigma thick and acute.   Fol-
 licles long and linear.   Seed comose.  Nut/all.
   Apocynum androsaemifolium. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1259;  Bigelow, Am.
 Med. Bot. ii.  148.  Dog's-bane is  an indigenous, perennial,  herbaceous
 plant, from three to six  feet in height,  and  abounding  in a milky juice, 
108
Apocynum Cannabinum.
PART I.
 which exudes when any part of the plant is wounded.  The stem is erect,
 smooth, simple below, branched above, usually red on the  side exposed  to
 the sun, and covered with a tough  fibrous bark.   The leaves are  opposite,
 petiolate, ovate, acute, entire, smooth on both sides, and two or three inches
 long.   The flowers are white, tinged with red, and grow in loose, nodding,
 terminal or axillary cymes.  The peduncles are furnished  with very small
 acute bractes.  The tube of the corolla is longer than the calyx, and its bor-
 der 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
 Carolina.   It is found along fences and the skirts of woods, and flowers in
 June and July.  The root is the part employed.
   This is  large, and like other  parts of the  plant contains a milky juice.
 Its taste is unpleasant and  intensely bitter.  Bigelow inferred from his ex-
 periments that it contained  bitter extractive, a red colouring matter soluble
 in water and not in alcohol, caoutchouc, and volatile oil.
   Medical Properties.  The powder  of the recently  dried root acts  as an
 emetic in the dose  of thirty grains; and is said to be  sometimes employed
 by practitioners in  the country for  this purpose.   By  Dr. Zollickoffer it  is
 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 ANDROSiEMIFOLIUM.
   Apocynum cannabinum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  1259; Knapp, Am. Med.
 Rev. iii. 197.  In  general  appearance  and character, this species bears  a
 close  resemblance  to the  preceding.   The  stems  are  herbaceous, erect,
 branching, of a brown colour, and two  or three feet in height; the leaves are
 opposite, oblong-ovate, acute at both ends, and somewhat  downy beneath;
 the cymes are paniculate, many-flowered, and pubescent; the corolla is small
 and greenish, with  a tube not longer than the calyx, and with an erect bor-
 der ; the internal  parts of the flowers are pinkish or purple.  The plant grows
 in similar  situations with the A. androsaemifolium, and flowers about  the
same period.  Like that species, it abounds in a  milky juice, and has a tough
fibrous bark, which, by maceration, affords a substitute for hemp. From this
circumstance the common name of the plant was derived.  Its fruit is similar
to that of the former species.
   The root, which is the officinal part,  is horizontal, five or six feet in
length, about one-third of an inch thick, dividing near the end into  branches
which  terminate  abruptly, of a yellowish-brown  colour when youno-,  but
dark chestnut when old, of a strong odour,  and a nauseous, somewhat^'crid
permanently bitter taste.   The internal or ligneous  portion is yellowish-
white,  and  less bitter than the exterior or cortical part.   The fresh root
when wounded,  emits  a milky juice, which  concretes into  a  substance
closely resembling  caoutchouc.  In the dried state, it is brittle and readily
pulverized,  affording a powder like  that of ipecacuanha.   According to Dr
Knapp it contains  a  bitter  principle, extractive,  tannin, gallic acid  resin' 
part !•            Apocynum Cannabinum.—Aqua.               109

wax, caoutchouc, fecula, lignin, and a peculiar principle upon which its acti-
vity depends, and which he proposes to call apocynin. (Am. Med. Review,
in. 197.)  Dr. Griscom by a subsequent analysis obtained similar results, with
the addition of gum to the other ingredients.  The root yields its virtues to
water and alcohol, but, according to Dr. Griscom, most readily to the former.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Indian Hemp is  powerfully  emetic and
cathartic, sometimes  diuretic,  and, like  other emetic substances,  promotes
diaphoresis and expectoration.   It  produces  much nausea, diminishes the
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 decoc-
tion of the plant, which acted as a powerful hydragogue cathartic. Dr. Knapp
also found it useful in a case of dropsy.  Other instances of its efficacy in this
complaint have been published by Dr. Griscom of New York. (Am. Journ.
of Med. Sciences, xii. 55.)
   From fifteen to thirty grains of the powdered  root will generally produce
copious vomiting and  purging.  The decoction  is a more  convenient form
for administration.  It  may be prepared  by boiling half an ounce of the dried
root in a pint and a half of  water to a pint, of which from  one to two fluid-
ounces  may  be given two or three times a day, or more frequently if requi-
site.  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.  " Sprino- Water "
Ed.                                                     *   °
   [!J«j Gr.; Eau, Fr.; Wasser, Germ.; Arqua, Ital; Asrua, Span.
   Water  has always  been included, as an officinal, in the  United States
Pharmacopeia, on account of its great importance as a medical and pharma-
ceutical 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.  It is one of the most abundant  productions in nature,
and plays an  important part in the economy of the universe.   It is more or
less concerned in almost all the changes which take  place in inorganic mat-
ter, and is essential to the growth  and  existence of living  beings, whether
animal or vegetable.  In treating of a substance of such diversified  agency,
our limits will allow only of  a sketch of its properties and  modifications.
We shall speak of it under the several heads ot pure water, common water,
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 all solids  and liquids.   A cubic inch  of it, at
the temp, of 60°, weighs very nearly 252-5 grains.   It is compressible to a
small  extent,  as wras proved  first by Canton, and  afterwards, in an incontest-
able 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 39° its
    11 
110
Aqua.
PART I.
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 constitu-
ents 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 wea-
ther, and exerts, by its variable amount at different times, an important, influ-
ence on the animal economy.
   Water unites with other'bodies  either in the liquid or solid form ; in the
former case producing solutions, in the latter hydrates.  It is the most uni-
versal solvent known, and  on this property mainly depends its great influence
in the operations of nature.
   Water consists of one equivalent of hydrogen 1, and one of oxygen 8=9;
or in volumes, of one volume of hydrogen and  half  a volume  of oxygen,
condensed into  one volume of aqueous  vapour or steam.  On these data, it
is easy to calculate the sp. gr. of steam; for its density will be 00689 (sp.
gr. of hydrogen)+ 0-5512 (half the sp. gr. of oxygen)=0-6201.
   Common Water.  From  the extensive solvent powers of water, it is ob-
vious that, in  its natural  state, it must be more or less contaminated with
foreign  matter.  This  is found to be the case;  and, according to the nature
of the strata through which  it  percolates,  it becomes variously impregnated.
When  the foreign substances  present  are in  so small amount as  not  very
materially to alter its taste and other sensible qualities, it constitutes the dif-
ferent varieties of common water.
   Common water possesses almost  innumerable shades of difference, as
obtained  from  different localities and  sources,  but all its varieties  may  be
conveniently arranged  under the two beads of soft and hard.  A soft water
is one  which contains but inconsiderable impurities,  and which, when  used
in washing, forms a lather  with soap.  By  a hard water is  understood a
variety of  water  which contains sulphate of lime,  and, therefore, curdles
soap, and is unfit for domestic  purposes.  Tincture of soap is a convenient
and  useful test for ascertaining the quality of water.   In  distilled water it
produces no  effect;  in soft  water,  only a slight  opalescence; and  in  hard
water,  a  milky appearance.  This  latter appearance is due to  the formation
of an insoluble compound between the oil of  the soap and  the"lime of the
sulphate  of lime.
   The most usual foreign substances in common  water, besides oxygen and
nitrogen, and matters held in a state of mechanical suspension, are carbonic
acid, sulphate  and carbonate of lime, and chloride of sodium (common  salt).
Carbonic acid  is detected by lime-water which produces a precipitate before
the  water  is boiled, but  not  afterwards,  as ebullition drives  off this  acid.
The presence of sulphate of lime is shown  by precipitates being  produced
by nitrate of baryta, and, after  ebullition, by oxalate  of ammonia."  The first
test shows the  presence of  sulphuric acid, and the  latter indicates lime not
held in solution by carbonic acid.   Carbonate of lime can be present only
by being held in  solution by an excess of carbonic acid, and is  detected by
boiling the water,  which causes it to precipitate.  Nitrate of silver will pro-
duce a precipitate, if any soluble chloride be  present; and  in all ordinary
cases the particular one present may be assumed to be common salt.
   It is generally supposed that the oxygen and nitrogen present in  natural
waters are in the same proportion  as in atmospheric air;  but for the  most
part the  oxygen is in  larger proportion.  In  atmospheric air, the oxycren
amounts to about 20 per cent, in  volume; but the usual gaseous  mixture
expelled from fresh water by boiling, contains  about 32 per cent  of this eas
The cause of this difference in proportion is that water has a neater affinity 
PART I.
Aqua.
Ill
for oxygen than for nitrogen, and consequently takes up proportionably more
of the former than of the latter from the atmosphere.
   Common water is also divided into varieties according to its source.  Thus
we have rain, snow, spring, river, well, lake,  and marsh water.   This divi-
sion is not so practical, however, as  that into  soft and hard; as the source
of the water is not always indicative of its quality.   We shall notice these
varieties in a general manner.
   Rain  and snow  Waters are  the purest kinds of natural water, being, in
effect, produced by a natural distillation. 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 atmosphere, and
other impurities derived  from roofs.   It may be obtained tolerably pure,
even in  large cities, by taking advantage of a heavy rain, and, after  it has
descended for a considerable time and washed  away every impurity, collect-
ing  it as it falls  from the roofs and spouts.
   Rain water ordinarily contains atmospheric  air; and, according to Liebig,
a little nitric acid, if it descended during a storm.  Snow water has a pecu-
liar  taste, which was formerly supposed to depend  on the presence of air
more oxygenous than  that of the atmosphere; but in  point of fact, when
newly melted, it contains no air, and this accounts for its vapid taste.   After
exposure to the air, however, for some time, it takes up the  constituent
gases  of the  atmosphere like  other natural  waters.   Both rain and snow
water are sufficiently pure for employment in  most chemical operations.
   Spring water (aqua fontana) depends entirely for  its quality on the strata
through which it flows; being purest when it passes through sand or gravel.
It almost always contains a trace of common salt,  and generally other impu-
rities, which vary according to the locality of the spring.
   River  water  (aqua fluviatilis), generally speaking, is less impregnated
with saline matter  than spring water,  on account of  its being made up  in
considerable part of rains, and  of its volume bearing so large a proportion to
the  surface of its bed.   On the other hand, it is much more  apt to have
mechanically suspended in it, certain  insoluble matters of a vegetable and
earthy nature which impair its transparency.
   Well water, like that from springs, is liable  to contain various  impurities.
As a general rule, the  purity of the  water of a well will be in proportion to
its depth, and the constancy with which it is  used.   Artesian or overflow-
ing wells, on account of their great depth, generally afford a very pure water.
   Lake water cannot be characterized as having any invariable qualities.
In most of the lakes in the United States it constitutes a very pure and whole-
some water.  This remark is particularly applicable to our great  lakes.
   Marsh water is generally stagnant; and contains vegetable remains under-
going decomposition.  It is an unwholesome water, and ought never to be
used for medicinal purposes.
   The term Aqua, in  the  U.S. Pharmacopoeia, maybe considered  as  de-
signating any natural water of good  quality.  In the  Edinburgh  Pharma-
copoeia 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 lively, limpid, and without smell.
It answers well for the cooking of vegetables, and  does  not curdle  soap.
Upon the addition of nitrate of baryta,  nitrate of silver, or oxalate of ammo-
nia, 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 
112
Aqua.
PART I.
its dissolving a small portion of lead.   This risk is  greater in proportion to
the original purity of the water;  for it is found that the presence of a minute
portion of saline matter, as for example of a chloride or sulphate, protects
the water from the slightest metallic  impregnation.  The  protection  is
afforded by the formation of an insoluble film on the surface of the lead, as
a consequence of the decomposition of the saline matter. (See Christison on
Poisons.)
  The Schuylkill water introduced into this city possesses all the character-
istics  of a good water, except that it is occasionally turbid after heavy rains.
Accordingly, it may be used pharmaceutically in all cases in which " water"
is directed as  contra-distinguished from "distilled water."   A  brackish  or
hard  water ought never to be employed.  For some  pharmaceutical pro-
cesses, however, no natural water is deemed sufficiently pure; and hence  the
necessity of resorting to a process for its purification.  This is effected by
distillation, and, accordingly, all the Pharmacopoeias  give a  formula  for dis-
tilled  water. (See Aqua Destillata.)
  Mineral Waters.  When natural  waters are so far impregnated with
foreign substances as to have a decided taste and a peculiar operation on  the
animal economy, they are called  mineral ivaters.  These  are  conveniently
arranged for description under the four heads of carbonated, sulphuretted,
chalybeate and saline, according  to the qualities which may be supposed to
predominate in each.
  1.  Carbonated waters are characterized  by containing an excess  of car-
bonic acid, which gives them a  sparkling appearance,  and the  power  of
reddening litmus paper.  These  waters frequently contain the carbonates of
lime,  magnesia, and iron, which  are held  in solution by the excess  of car-
bonic 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 their yield-
ing a  brown precipitate with the  salts of lead or silver.  Examples  of this
kind of mineral water are furnished by the waters of Aix  la Chapelle and
Harrowgate in Europe, and  those of the while, red, and salt sulphur springs
in Virginia.
  3.  Chalybeate ivaters are characterized  by  a strong inky taste, and  by
striking a black colour with  the infusion of g;:lls, and a blue one with ferro-
cyanuret of potassium.  The iron is  generally in the state of carbonate of
the protoxide, held in solution by excess  of carbonic acid.  By standing,
the 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  Enoland, and  of
Bedford, Pittsburgh, and Brandywine, in the United  States.
  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 lime, magnesia, and soda, and the chlorides  of calcium,
magnesium, and sodium. Potassa is occasionally present, and lithia has been
detected by Berzelius in the spring  of  Carlsbad, in Germany.  Bromine
exists in considerable  quantity in the  saline at Theodorshalle, 'in Germany
as also in the salt springs of western Pennsylvania.   The mineral springs at
Saratoga, in the state of New York, contain  a  small portion of iodine and
some  of them  a  trace of bromine.  The  principal  saline waters are those
of Seidlitz in  Bohemia,  Cheltenham  and  Bath in  England, and Harrods-
burg 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 
PART I.
Aqua
113
waters enumerated under the foregoing  heads, with the authority for each
analysis.
   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; chlo-
ride 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 grs. (Bergmann.)
   Pyrmont.  In  a wine pint.  Carbonic  acid 26  cubic inches.   Solid con-
tents;—carbonate  of magnesia 10 grs.; carbonate of lime 4-5;  sulphate of
magnesia 5-5 ; sulphate of lime 8-5 ; chloride of sodium 1-5 ; oxide of iron
06.  Total 30-6 grs. (Bergmann.)
   2. Sulphuretted.
   Aix la Chapelle. In a wine pint.  Sulphuretted hydrogen 5-5 cubic inches.
Solid contents;—carbonate of soda 12 grs.; carbonate of lime 4-75; chloride
of sodium 5.  Total 21-75 grs. (Bergmann.)
   Harrowgate old well.  In a wine gallon.  Gaseous contents;—sulphuretted
hydrogen 11 cubic inches ; carbonic acid 4-25 ; nitrogen 8 ;  carburetted hy-
drogen 4-15.  Total 30-4 cubic inches.   Solid contents;  chloride of sodium
752 grs.; chloride of calcium 65-75; chloride  of magnesium 29-2; bicar-
bonate of soda 12-8.  Total 859-75 grs.  (English West. Quart. Journ.)
   White sulphur. In a wine  gallon.  Gaseous  contents;—sulphuretted hy-
drogen 2-5 cubic inches; carbonic acid 2; oxygen  1-418; nitrogen 3-552.
Total 9-5.    Solid contents  in a pint;—sulphate of magnesia  5-588 grs.;
sulphate of lime 7-744 ; carbonate of lime 1-150; chloride of calcium 0-204;
chloride  of sodium 0-180 ; oxide of iron a trace ; loss 0-410.  Total 15-276
grs. (Prof. William 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 ; traces of manganese, vege-
table 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 con-
tents;—sulphate of iron  1-80 grs.; sulphate of lime 4-09; chloride of sodi-
um 1-53;  chloride of magnesium  0-75;  silica 0-14; loss 0-19.   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 sodi-
um 41-3; oxide of iron 0-8.  Total 73-8 grs. (Brande and Parkes.)
   Bedford. Anderson's Spring.  In a wine gallon.  Carbonic acid 74 cubic
inches.  Solid contents;—sulphate of magnesia  80 grs.; sulphate  of lime
14-5;  chloride of sodium 10; chloride of calcium 3;  carbonate of iron 5;
carbonate of lime 8.  Total 120-5 grs. (Church.)
   4. Saline.
   Seidlitz. In  a wine pint.   Solid contents;—carbonate of magnesia 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. In a wine pint. Carbonic acid 1-2 cubic inches.   Solid contents;—
carbonate  of lime 0-8 grs.;  sulphate of  soda 1-4;  sulphate of  lime 93.;
                                  11* 
114
Aqua.
PART I.
 chloride of sodium 3-4; silica 0-2; oxide of iron a trace.   Total  15-1 grs.
 (Phillips.) ,
   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;—car-
 bonic acid 336 cubic inches;  atmospheric air 4.  Total 340 cubic inches.
 Solid contents;—chloride of sodium  187 grs.; carbonate of magnesia  75;
 carbonate of lime 26; carbonate of soda 2 ; carbonate of iron 1; iodine  3-5.
 Total 294-5 grs.  (Prof. Emmons.)
   Saratoga.  Pavilion Spring. In a wine gallon.  Gaseous contents;—car-
 bonic acid 359-05 cubic inches;  atmospheric air 5-03.  Total 364-08 cubic
 inches.   Solid contents;—chloride  of sodium 187-68 grs.; carbonate of soda
 4-92 ; carbonate of lime 52-84 ;  carbonate of magnesia 56-92 ; carbonate of
 iron 3-51; sulphate of soda 1-48;  iodide of sodium  2-59; alumina  0-42;
 silica 1-16; phosphate of lime 0-19; bromide of potassium a trace.   Total
 311-71  grs. (Dr. J. R. Chilton.)
   Saratoga.  Union Spring.  In a wine gallon.   Gaseous  contents;—car-
 bonic 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; car-
 bonate of iron 5-452; iodide of sodium, or iodine 3-600;  silica and alumina
 1-570;  bromide  of potassium  a  trace.   Total 392-907  grs.  (Dr. J. R.
 Chilton.)
   Saratoga.  Congress  Spring. In a wine gallon.   Gaseous  contents;—
 carbonic acid 311 cubic inches; atmospheric air 7.  Total 318 cubic inches.
 Solid contents;—chloride of sodium 385 grs.;  iodide of sodium 3-5;  bicar-
 bonate of soda 8-982 ;  bicarbonate of  magnesia 95-788 ;  carbonate of lime
 98-098;  carbonate of iron 5-075; silica 1-5;  bromide of  potassium a  trace.
 Total 597-943 grs.  (Steel.)
   Sea  JFatcr. English Channel.  In  a thousand grains.   Water  964-744
 grs.; chloride of  sodium 27.059; chloride of potassium 0-765 ; chloride of
 magnesium 3667; bromide of  magnesium  0-029;  sulphate of  magnesia
2-296;  sulphate  of lime 1-407;  carbonate of lime  0-033.   Total  1000-000
grs. (Schweitzer.)  It is perceived that bromine is present in very minute
 amount.   100 pounds of sea water yield only 3£ grains of this element.   Ac-
cording  to Balard, iodine  exists in the water of the Mediterranean.   Sea
 water, filtered, and charged with five times its volume of carbonic acid, forms,
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.  (Annuaire de
 Therapeutique, 1843.)                            •
  Medical and Dietetic Properties  of Water.—Water is a substance of the
first necessity to animals and vegetables. In animals there exists an instinctive
 desire for it, to repair the waste of the fluids which is constantly taking place
in the animal  economy.  It constitutes the basis of  nearly all the secretions
and nine-tenths of the weight of the blood.  In short, it is nature's ao-ent for
producing the liquid state,  and  is the only diluent proper in a state ofnealth
  Water as a remedy is highly important.   When taken into the stomach'
it acts by its temperature, by its bulk, and by being  absorbed.  When of the
temperature of about 60°, it gives no positive sensation either of heat or cold •
between 60° and 45°, it creates a cool sensation ; and below 45°, a decidedly
cold one.   Between 60° and 100°, it relaxes the fibres of the stomach  and
is apt to produce nausea, particularly if the effect of bulk be added to that of 
PART I.
Aqua.
115
temperature.  By its bulk and  solvent powers, it  often 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 par-
ticular temperature at  which it  may  be applied.   When this is above 97°,
it constitutes either 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
produce profuse sweating.   It acts locally  on  the skin by softening and re-
laxing its texture. In stiffness of the joints, and various diseases  of the skin,
it has often proved beneficial.   The  late Dr. Duncan had seen scaly cutane-
ous diseases, which had  resisted for years every other treatment, become
quickly cured by its use.
   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 con-
stitution peculiar, its use is not without danger ; as it is apt to produce a feeling
of suffocation, violent throbbing in the temples,  and vertigo, with tendency
to apoplexy.   When  it acts favourably, it depletes actively from the skin  by
producing profuse sweating.
   The warm bath,  though below the animal heat,  nevertheless produces
a sensation of warmth;  as its temperature is  above that of the  surface.   It
diminishes the frequency of the pulse, especially  if previously  accelerated,
renders the respiration slower, lessens the heat of  the body, and relaxes the
skin.   The warm bath cannot be deemed, strictly speaking,  a stimulant.
By relieving certain diseased actions and states, accompanied by  morbid irri-
tabilitv, it often acts as a soothing  remedy, producing a disposition to sleep.
It is proper in febrile  and exanthematous diseases,  in which the  pulse is fre-
quent, and the skin preternaturally hot and dry, and where the general  condi-
tion is characterized by restlessness.   It is contra-indicated  in diseases of the
head and chest.
   The tepid bath,  from  it? temperature,  is  not  calculated  to  have much
modifying influence on the heat of the body.   Its peculiar effects are to soft-
en and cleanse the skin, and 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.   If the cold
bath  were applied at a temperature just sufficient  to excite a cool sensation,
and this  temperature  were gradually lowered,  it  is probable that  it would act
exclusively as a sedative.
   From  the  above  explanations, it may be easily understood that the cold
 bath will act very differently under different circumstances.  It  is often use-
 ful in  diseases of relaxation and debility,  when  practised by affusion  or
 plunging.  But  it is  essential  to its efficacy and  safety in these cases, that
 the stock of vitality should be sufficient to create, immediately  after its use,
 those general sensations of warmth and invigoration included under the term 
116
Aqua.—Aralia Nudicaulis.
PART I.
reaction.  It was used with advantage by the late Dr. Currie of Liverpool,
in the form of  affusion, in certain febrile  diseases, especially scarlatina,   lo
make it safe, however, the heat must  be  steadily above the natural standard,
and the patient must be free from  all sense of chilliness, and not in a state of
profuse perspiration.
  Cold water is frequently applied as a sedative in local inflammations, and as
a means of restraining hemorrhage.   Its  use, however, is inadmissible in in-
flammations of the chest.
  Pharm.  Uses.  Water is the most extensive pharmaceutical agent that  we
possess.   It is employed in a vast number  of preparations, as  a  means of
promoting chemical action by its solvent power.  It is more or less present
in all the liquid forms of  medicines, and  is the sole menstruum in the medi-
cated waters, decoctions, and infusions.
  Off Prep. Aqua Destillata, U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.                B.


        ARALIA NUDICAULIS. U. S. Secondary.

                        False Sarsaparilla.

  •'The root of Aralia nudicaulis." U. S.
  Aralia. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. 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; Ran*nesque, Med. Flor.
i. 53.  The false sarsaparilla, wild sarsaparilla, or small spikenard, as  this
plant is variously called, is an indigenous perennial, with one leaf and  one
flower-stem, springing together from the  root or from a very short stalk, and
seldom rising two feet in  height.   The leaf, which stands  upon a  long foot-
stalk, is twice ternate, or once  and  quinate, with oblong-oval,  acuminate
leaflets, rounded at the base, serrate on the margin, and smooth on both sur-
faces.   The scape or flower-stem is naked, shorter than the leaf, and  termi-
nated by three small umbels, each  consisting of from twelve to thirty small
yellowish  or greenish flowers.  The fruit consists of small round berries,
about as large  as those of the common elder.
  The plant grows  throughout the  United States, from Canada to Carolina,
inhabiting shady and rocky woods, and delighting in a rich soil.   It flowers
in May and June.  The  root is the officinal portion.
  This is horizontal, creeping, sometimes  several feet in length, about as
thick as the little finger, more or less twisted, externally of a yellowish-brown
colour, of a fragrant odour, and  a warm, aromatic, sweetish taste.  It  has
not been analyzed.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  False  sarsaparilla is a gentle stimulant  and
diaphoretic, and is thought to exert an alterative influence over the system an-
alogous to that of the root from which it derived its common name.   It is used
in domestic practice, and  by some practitioners in the country, as a remedy in
rheumatic, syphilitic, and cutaneous affections, in the same manner and dose
as the genuine sarsaparilla.
  The root of the Aralia racemosa, ox American spikenard, though not offi-
cinal, is used for the same purposes as the A. nudicaulis, which it is said to
resemble in medical properties.   Dr. Peck strongly recommends  the root of
the  Aralia hispida, called  in Massachusetts dwarf elder, as a  diuretic in
dropsy.   He uses it in the form of decoction, and finds it pleasanter to the
taste and  more acceptable to the stomach than most other medicines of the
same class.  (Am.  Journ.  of.  Med.  Sci., xix. 117.)                W. 
part i.           Aralia Spinosa.—Arctium Lappa.               117


           ARALIA SPINOSA.  U.S. Secondary.

                        Angelica-tree  Bark.

  " The bark of Aralia spinosa." U. S.
  Aralia.   See ARALIA NUDICAULIS.
  Aralia spinosa.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1520.  This is an indigenous arbor-
escent shrub, variously called angelica-tree, toothache tree, and prickly ash.
The last name, however, should be dropped, as it belongs properly to the
Xanthoxylum fraxineum, and if retained  might lead  to  confusion.   The
stem is erect, simple, from eight to twelve  feet high, armed with numerous
prickles, and furnished near the top with  very large  bipinnate or tripinnate
leaves, which are also  prickly, and are composed of oval, pointed, slightly
serrate leaflets.  It terminates in an ample panicle,  very much branched,
and bearing  numerous small  hemispherical umbels,  in  each of which are
about thirty white  flowers.
  This species  of Aralia is found chiefly in the Southern and  Western
States, though cultivated  in the gardens of  the north as an ornamental plant.
It flourishes  in low, fertile  woods, and flowers in August and  September.
The bark,  root, and berries  are medicinal; but  the first only is  directed by
the Pharmacopoeia.
  The bark is thin, grayish externally, yellowish within, of an odour some-
what aromatic, and a bitterish, pungent, acrid  taste.  It  yields  its virtues to
boiling water.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The virtues of Aralia spinosa are  those
of a stimulant diaphoretic.   According to  Elliot, an infusion of the recent
bark of the root is  emetic and cathartic.   The remedy is used in chronic
rheumatism and cutaneous eruptions.  Pursh states that  a vinous or spi-
rituous infusion of the  berries is remarkable for  relieving rheumatic pains ;
and a similar tincture is said to be  employed  in Virginia with advantage in
violent colic.  The pungency of this tincture has also been found  useful in
relieving toothache.
  The bark is most conveniently administered in decoction.         W.


         ARCTIUM LAPPA.  Semina. Radix. Dub.

                   Seeds  and Root of Burdock.

  Bardane, Fr; Genuine Klette, Germ ; Bardana, Ital, Span.
  Arctium.  Sex.  Syst.  Syngenesia  iEqualis.—Nat.  Ord.   Compositas-
Cinareas. De Cand.  Cynaraceas, Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.  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.—L,appa minor. De Cand. Prodrom.v'i. 661.  Burdock  is a biennial
plant, with a simple spindle-shaped root,  a foot or more in length, brown
externally,  white  and spongy  within, furnished with thread-like  fibres,
and  having withered scales near  the summit.   The  stem is succulent,
pubescent,  branching, and three or four feet in height, bearing very large
cordate, denticulate leaves, which are  green on  their upper surface, whitish
and downy on  the  under, and stand on long footstalks.  The  flowers are
purple, globose, and arranged  in terminal  panicles.  The calyx consists of
imbricated  scales, with  hooked extremities, by which they adhere to clothes, 
118                Arctium Lappa.—Argentum.              part i.
and the coats  of animals.  The seed-down is rough and prickly, and  the
seeds are quadrangular.
   This plant  is a native of Europe, and is abundant in the United States,
where it grows on the roadsides, among rubbish, and  in cultivated grounds.
Pursh thinks that it was introduced.  The  root, which should be collected
in spring, loses four-fifths of its weight by drying.
   The  odour  of  the root is  weak  and unpleasant,  the taste mucilaginous
and sweetish, with a slight degree  of bitterness  and astringency.   Among
its constituents, inulin has been found by Guibourt, and sugar by Fee.
   The seeds are aromatic, bitterish, and somewhat acrid.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The root is considered aperient,  diapho-
retic,  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  persevered  in  for a long
time.   It is best administered in the form of decoction, which may be pre-
pared by boiling two ounces of the recent bruised root in three pints of water
to two, and given  in the quantity of  a pint during the day.  The seeds  are
diuretic, and have been used in the same complaints in the form of emulsion
or powder.  The dose is a  drachm.  The leaves have also been employed
both externally and internally  in cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations.   W.


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

                                Silver.

   Argent, Fr.; Silber, Germ.; Ar^cnto, Ital; Plata, Span.
   Silver is  occasionally found in the metallic state,  sometimes  pure either
crystallized or in  the form of vegetations, at other times combined with
gold,  antimony, arsenic, or  mercury; but more usually it occurs in the state
of sulphuret, either pure, or mixed  with  other sulphurets, such as those of
copper, lead,  and antimony.   It is sometimes,  though rarely, found as a
chloride.
   The most productive mines of silver are found on this  continent, being
those of Mexico and Peru ; the richest in- Europe   are  those of Norway,
Hungary, and Transylvania.   The  principal ore which is worked is  the
sulphuret.   The mineral containing silver which is  most disseminated is
argentiferous galena, which is a sulphuret of lead, containing sulphuret of
silver.  Argentiferous galena exists in several localities in the  United States.
A mine of silver  was opened about  the  year 1841, in  Davidson county,
North Carolina.   The ore is an argentiferous  carbonate of lead, yielding
about one-third of  its weight of lead, from which  from 100 to 400* ounces
of silver are extracted per ton.  (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
(common salt), and roasted in  a reverberatory furnace.  The sulphur becomes
acidified, and combines with sodium and oxygen, so  as to form  sulphate of
soda, while the chlorine forms a chloride with the silver.  The roasted mass
is then reduced to very fine powder, mixed with half its weiaht 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  machinery.  The chlorine combines with the°iron,  and
remains in solution as chloride of iron, while the silver forms an amalgam
with the mercury.  The amalgam is then subjected to pressure  in leathern
bags, through the pores of which the excess of mercury passes, a solid 
PART I.
Argentum.—Armoracia.
119
amalgam being left  behind.   This is then subjected to heat  in a distillatory
apparatus, by means of which the mercury is separated from the pure silver,
which remains behind in the form of a porous mass.   In Peru and Mexico
the process  is  somewhat similar to the above, common  salt  and mercury
being used; but slacked lime  and sulphuret of iron are also employed, with
an effect which is not very obvious.
   When argentiferous galenas are worked for  the  silver they contain, they
are first reduced, and the argentiferous lead obtained is fused on a large shal-
low cupel called a test, and exposed to the blast of a bellows, whereby the
lead is oxidized, half vitrified, and  driven off the test in  scales, forming the
substance called litharge.  By continuing the  operation, the whole of the
lead is separated, and the silver, not being  oxidizable, remains behind as a
brilliant fused mass.   The time required for the separation is much abridged
by the process  of Mr. Pattinson of Newcastle.  This consists in allowing
 the melted alloy to cool slowly, and separating the crystals which first form,
 and which are much richer in silver than the original mass, by means of a
 perforated 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, and
 its sp. gr. about 10-4.  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
 hydro|en, which  always exists in minute quantity in the  atmosphere.  It
 is  entirely soluble  in diluted  nitric acid.   If any gold be present, it will re-
 main 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 totally  soluble in
 ammonia.  If the remaining solution  should contain copper  or lead, it will
 be precipitated or  discoloured by  sulphuretted hydrogen.
    Pharm. Uses.   Silver  has no action on the animal economy in the metal-
 lic state.   The only officinal preparations  containing it are  the nitrate and
 cyanuret.  The oxide and chloride have been proposed as medicines, and
 will be noticed in the Appendix.
    Off. Prep.   Argenti Nitras, U. S.,  Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.; Argenti  Nitratis
 Crystalli, Dub.                                                    B.

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

                              Horse-radish.

    "The  fresh root of Cochlearia Armoracia."  U.S.,  Ed.   " Cochlearia
 Armoracia. Radix recens."  Lond.
    Off. Syn.  COCHLEARIA ARMORACIA. Radix.  Dub.
    Raif'ort sauvage, Fr.; Mecrrcttig, Germ.; Rafuno  rusticano, Ital; Rabano  ruaticano,

    Cochlearia.   Sex. Syst.   Tetradynamia Siliculosa.—Nat. Ord.  Bras-
 sicaceas 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, branch-
  ing stem rises two or  three feet  in height.  The radical leaves are lance- 
120
Armoracia.—Arnica.
PART I.
 shaped, waved,  scolloped on  the edges, sometimes  pinnatifid, and  stand
 upon strong footstalks.  Those of the stem are much smaller,  without  foot-
 stalks, sometimes  divided  at  the edges, sometimes  almost  entire.   The
 flowers are numerous, white, peduncled, and form thick clusters  at the  ends
 of the  branches.  The calyx lias four ovate, deciduous leaves, and the co-
 rolla an equal number of obovate  petals, twice as long  as the calyx, and in-
 serted  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, tapering,  whitish
 externally, very white  within, fleshy, of a  strong pungent  odour when
 scraped or bruised, and of a  hot, biting, somewhat sweetish  taste.   Its vir-
 tues are imparted to water and alcohol.  They depend upon a volatile oil,
 which is dissipated by drying; the root becoming at first sweetish, and ulti-
 mately 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 cor-
 rosive,  exciting inflammation and  even vesication when  applied to the skin.
 From a comparison of its sensible properties, chemical reactions, and ultimate
 composition with those of  the volatile oil  of  mustard, Hubatka has decided
 that the two  oils are  perfectly  identical.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., v. 42,
 from Ann. der Chem. und Pharm.)   It exists  in exceedingly small  propor-
 tion in the root, constituting, according to Gutret, only 6 parts  in 10,000.
 Besides this principle, the fresh root contains, according to the same chemist,
 a  bitter resin in  minute  quantity, sugar, extractive,  gum,  starch, albumen,
 acetic acid, acetate and sulphate of lime, water, and lignin.   It may be  kept
 for some time without material injury, by being buried in sand in a cool place.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Horse-radish is highly stimulant, exciting
 the stomach when swallowed, and promoting  the  secretions, especially that
 of urine.   Externally applied it  is rubefacient.  Its chief use is  as  a  con-
 diment  to promote appetite, and invigorate digestion; but it is also occasion-
 ally employed as a medicine, particularly  in  dropsical  complaints attended
 with an enfeebled condition  of the digestive  organs, and of the  system in
 general.  It has, moreover, been  recommended in palsy and chronic rheu-
 matism, 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
 slowly swallowed in the quantity of  one  or  two  teaspoonfols, repeated as
 occasion demanded.   The  root may be given  in the dose of  half a drachm
 or more, either grated or cut into small pieces.
   Off Prep.  Cataplasma Sinapis.Ztofi.,- Infusum Armoracias, U.S.,  Lond.,
 Dub.; Spiritus Armoraciae Compositus, Lond.,  Dub.                 W.


                   ARNICA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                          Leopard's-bane.

   " The root and herb of Arnica montana." U S
   Off. Syn. ARNICA MONTANA.  Flores. Folia. Radix.  Dub
   Arnique, Fr.; Berg-YVolverly, Gemeinea  achtes Fallkraut, Germ.;  Arnica montana
Ital, Span.                                                              ' 
PART I.
Arnica.
121
   Arnica.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord.  Compositas-Se-
necionidea;. De Cand.  Asteraceae. Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx with equal leaflets, in a double row.   Seed-down hairy,
sessile.   Seeds both of the disk and ray furnished with seed-down.   Recep-
tacle hairy. Hayne.
   Arnica montana. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2106; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 41.
t. 17.   This  is a perennial, herbaceous  plant,  having a woody, brownish,
horizontal root, ending abruptly, and  sending forth numerous slender fibres
of the same  colour.   The stem is about a  foot  high, cylindrical, striated,
hairy, and terminating in one, two, or three peduncles, each bearing a flower.
The radical leaves are ovate, entire, ciliated, and obtuse; those  of the stem,
which usually consist of two opposite pairs, are lance-shaped.  Both are of
a bright green colour, and somewhat pubescent on their upper surface.  The
flowers  are- very large, and of a fine  orange-yellow  colour.  The calyx is
greenish,  imbricated, with lanceolate scales.   The ray  consists of about
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 might no
doubt be cultivated in this country; but it is  very little used, and in the U.S.
Pharmacoposia has  been placed with the medicines not considered strictly
officinal.  The flowers, leaves, and root have  been employed in  medicine;
but the flowers are usually preferred.
   Properties. The whole plant, when  fresh, has  a strong, disagreeable odour,
which is apt  to excite sneezing,  and is  diminished  by desiccation.   The
taste is acrid, bitterish, and durable.  Water extracts  its virtues.    Chevallier
and Lassaigne discovered in the flowers, gallic  acid, gum, albumen, yellow
colouring  matter, an  odorous resin, and  a bitter  principle which they con-
sidered  identical with that discovered by them  in the seeds of the Cylisus
Laburnum, and hence named cytisin.  This substance is yellow, of a bitter
and nauseous taste, deliquescent, readily soluble  in water and diluted alcohol,
but with difficulty in  strong alcohol, and insoluble in ether.  In the dose of
five grains it, is powerfully emetic and cathartic,  and is  supposed to be the
active principle of  the plant.   The flowers are said also  to contain a small
proportion of a blue volatile oil.   According to Pfaff, the root contains vola-
tile  oil, an acrid resin, extractive, gum, and lignin.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Leopard's-bane is a stimulant, directed
with peculiar energy to the brain and whole nervous system, as manifested
by the headache, spasmodic contractions of the limbs, and difficulty of respi-
ration, which result from its  use.  It  acts also as an  irritant to the stomach
and bowels, often producing  an emetic and cathartic effect, and is said by
Bergius  to be diuretic, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue.   It is much used by
the  Germans, who  prescribe the flowers  and root with  advantage in amau-
rosis, 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 intermittent fever,
dysentery, diarrhoea, nephritis, gout,  rheumatism,  dropsy, chlorosis, and
various other complaints, in most of  which it seems to have been empiri-
cally prescribed.  It seems to be peculiarly  useful in diseases attended with
a debilitated  or typhoid  state of the system, to  which it is adapted by its
stimulant properties.   The powdered leaves are  sometimes employed as a
sternutatory ;  and the inhabitants of Savoy and the Vosges are  said to sub-
     12 
122                Arnica.—Artemisia Santonica.             part i.
 stitute them  for tobacco.  The French practitioners occasionally use  the
 flowers of Arnica, though much less extensively than the German.  In Eng-
 land and the  United States the medicine is little known.  It is best given in
 substance or  infusion.   The dose of the powder is from five  to ten  grains
 frequently repeated.  The infusion may be  prepared by digesting an  ounce
 in a pint of water, of which from  half a 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.                 W.


        ARTEMISIA SANTONICA. Semina.  Dub.

               Seeds of Tartarian  Southernwood.

  Barbotine, Semencinc, Fr.; Wnrmsame, Germ.; Seme Santo, Ital.
   Artemisia. See ABSINTHIUM.
  The wormseed of Europe is ascribed by the Dublin College, without suf-
ficient authority, to the Artemisia  Santonica, or Tartarian southernwood.
It is of two kinds;  one called the Aleppo, Alexandria, or Levant wormseed,
the other Barbary wormseed.
  The former is supposed to be the product of the Artemisia Contra, which
grows in Persia, Asia Minor, and other parts of the East.  It consists in fact
not of the seeds, b»t of the small globular unexpanded flowers of the  plant,
mixed with their broken peduncles, and with minute, obtuse, smooth leaves.
It has a greenish colour, a very strong aromatic odour increased by friction,
and a very bitter, disagreeable taste.
  The Barbary wormseed is thought by some to be derived from  the Arte-
misia Judaica, by others from the A. glomerata of Sieber, both of which
grow in Palestine and Arabia.   It consists of broken peduncles, having the
calyx sometimes attached to their extremity.   The calyx is also sometimes
separate, consisting  of very small linear  obtuse leaflets.  The flowers are
wanting, or in the shape of minute globular buds. All these parts are covered
with a whitish down, which serves to distinguish this variety from the worm-
seed of the Levant.  It is, moreover, lighter and more coloured than the latter.
Its smell and  taste are the same.
  These products contain a volatile oil  and  a resinous extractive matter, to
which their virtues have been ascribed.   A peculiar principle  has  also been
discovered in  them, which has received the name ot santonin.   It is crystal-
lizable,  colourless, tasteless, inodorous,  soluble in  ether and alcohol",  and
nearly insoluble in water.  Its alcoholic  solution  has a decided bitterness.
Though neuter in its action upon test-paper, it combines with  the alkalies to
form soluble and erystallizable salts.  It  may be obtained by treatino- worm-
seed with hydrate of lime and alcohol, evaporating the tincture to one°quarter,
filtering the residue to separate the resin, and  treating it while  hot with con-
centrated  acetic acid.   The  santonin is deposited in crystals as the liquor
cools.   In the dose of three or four grains twice a day, it is said to be very
efficacious as  a vermifuge.  For details as to the mode of extracting santonin
the reader is referred to the American Journal of Pharmacy  vol xv p  278'
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   The  products above described have long
been celebrated as a vermifuge, and the title ot semen contra, by which they
are designated in many works on pharmacy,  originated in their anthelmintic
property.  They maybe given in powder or infusion. The dose in substance
is from ten to thirty grains, which should be repeated morning and evening
for several days, and then followed by a brisk cathartic.   They are not used 
PART I.
Arum.
123
in this country, having been  superseded by the seeds of the Chenopodium
anthelminticum, which are universally known among us by the  name of
wormseed.                                                       \y„


                    ARUM. U.S.  Secondary.

                            Dragon-root.

   " The cormus of arum triphyllum."  U. S.
   Arum.  Sex. Syst. Moncecia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Araceas.
   Gen. Ch. Spathe one-leafed, cowled. Spadix naked above, female below,
stamineous in the middle.  Willd.
   The root, or, as it is botanically called, the cormus of the Arum  macula-
tum, is occasionally used as a medicine in Europe, and held a place  in the
Dublin Pharmacopoeia previously to the last edition.  Its medicinal proper-
ties are so precisely  those of the  A. triphyllum of this  country,  that the
substitution of the latter in  our Pharmacopoeia  was a matter of  obvious
propriety, independently of the consideration that the root is efficient only
in the recent state.
   Arum triphyllum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 480;  Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
i.  52.  The dragon-root, Indian turnip, or wake-robbin, as this  plant is
variously called in common language, has a perennial root or cormus, which,
early  in the spring, sends up a large, ovate, acuminate, variously coloured
spathe,  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 portion of the spadix
gradually  decay, while  the germs are converted  into a compact bunch of
shining, scarlet berries.  The leaves, which are usually one or two  in num-
ber, and stand on long sheathing  footstalks, are composed  of three ovate
acuminate leaflets, paler on their under than their upper surface, and becom-
ing glaucous as the plant advances.  There are  three varieties of this species
of Arum,  distinguished  by  the colour of the spathe, which in one is  green,
in another dark purple, and in a third white.
   The plant is a native of North and South America, and is  common in all
parts  of the United States,  growing in damp  woods, in swamps,  along
ditches, and in other moist  shady places.  All  parts of it are highly  acrid,
but the root only is officinal.
   This is  roundish, flattened, an  inch or two  in diameter, covered with  a
brown,  loose, wrinkled epidermis, and  internally white,  fleshy, and  solid.
In the recent state, it has a  peculiar odour, and  is violently acrid, producing,
when chewed, an insupportable burning and biting  sensation in the  mouth
and throat, which continues for a long time, and leaves an unpleasant sore-
ness behind.   According 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 off by heat.  It is not imparted to  water,
alcohol, ether, or olive oil.   The root loses nearly all its acrimony by dry-
ing, 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 the A. maculatum 
124
Arum.—Asarum.
PART I.
is said sometimes to be employed by the country people, in times of great
scarcity, as a substitute for bread ; and an amylaceous substance is prepared
from it in England called Portland arrowroot or Portland sago.  For medi-
cinal use, the Indian turnip may be preserved  fresh for a year, if buried in
sand. (Thacher.)
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  Arum in its recent state  is  a powerful
local irritant, possessing the  property of stimulating the secretions, particu-
larly  those of the skin and lungs.   It has been  advantageously given in
asthma, pertussis, chronic  catarrh, chronic rheumatism,  and various affec-
tions 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 gradually increased  to half a drachm
or more.   The powder made into a paste with honey or syrup, and placed
in small quantities  upon the tongue, so as to be gradually diffused over the
mouth and throat, is said to have proved useful in the aphthous sore-mouth
of children.                                                      W.


                         ASARUM. Lond.

                             Asardbacca.

   " Asarum Europasum. Folia."  JjOnd.
   Off. Syn. ASARUM EUROPiEUM. FOLTA. Dub.
   Asaret, Cabaret, Fr.; Haselwurzel, Germ ; Assaro, Ital, Span.
   Asarum.  Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Monogynia—Nat. Ord.  Aristolochi-
 aceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx three or four-cleft, sitting on the germen.   Corolla none.
 Capsule coriaceous, crowned.  Willd.
   Asarum Europoeum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 838;  Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.
 170. t. 66.  The asarabacca has a  perennial root or rhizoma, with a very
 short, round, simple, herbaceous, pubescent stem, which in  general supports
 only two leaves and one flower.   The leaves,  which are opposite and stand
 on long footstalks, are kidney-shaped, entire,  somewhat  hairy,  and of a
 shining deep green colour.   The  flower is large, of a dusky purple  colour,
 and placed  upon a short  terminal peduncle.   The calyx, which supplies
 the place of a corolla, is bell-shaped, greenish at the base, and divided at the
 mouth into  three  pointed purplish segments, which are erect, and turned
 inwards at their extremity.  The filaments are twelve, and prolonged beyond
 the  anthers  into a small hook.  The style is surmounted by a six-parted
 reddish stigma.  The fruit is a six-celled coriaceous capsule, crowned with
 the persistent calyx.
   This species of Asarum is a native of Europe, growing  between 37° and
 60° N. latitude, in woods and shady places,  and flowering in May.  All
 parts of the  plant are  acrid.   The leaves only are directed'by the London
 College, but the  whole plant, including root, stem, leaves, and  flowers, is
 usually kept in the shops.   The root is about as thick as a goose-quill,  of a
 grayish colour, quadrangular, knotted and twisted, and sometimes furnished
 with radicles at each joint.  It has a smell analogous to that of pepper, an
 acrid taste, and affords a grayish powder.  The leaves are nearly inodorous,
 with a taste slightly  aromatic, bitter, acrid, and nauseous.  Their  powder
 is yellowish-green.  Both parts rapidly lose  their activity by keeping and
 ultimately become inert.  Geiger, however, asserts that they  keep well if 
PART I.
Asarum.
125
perfectly  dry.   Their virtues are imparted  to alcohol and water, but are
dissipated by decoction.  According to MM. Feneulle and Lassaigne, the
root contains  a  concrete volatile oil, a  very  acrid fixed oil, a yellow sub-
stance analogous to cytisin, starch, albumen, mucilage, citric acid, and  saline
matters.   The latest analysis is  by Grager, who  found  in  the root a  liquid
volatile oil, two  concrete volatile  substances called respectively asarum cam-
phor and asarite, a peculiar bitter principle called asarin, tannin, extractive,
resin, starch, gluten, albumen, lignin, citric acid, and  various salts; in the
leaves, asarin,  tannin, extractive, chlorophylle, albumen,  citric  acid, and
lignin.  The active principles appear to be the volatile oil, which is lighter
than water, glutinous, yellow, of an acrid and burning taste, and a smell like
that of valerian, and the asarin,  which is soluble in alcohol and very bitter,
and is probably  the same as the cytisin of Feneulle and Lassaigne.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The root and leaves of asarabacca,  either
fresh or carefully  dried, and powerfully emetic and cathartic, and were for-
merly much used in Europe with a view to these effects.  The dose is from
thirty grains  to a drachm.  But as an emetic  they have been entirely super-
seded by  ipecacuanha, and are now used  chiefly, if not exclusively,  as an
errhine.   The powdered root, snuffed up  the nostrils in the quantity of one
or two grains, produces much irritation, and a copious flow  of mucus, which
is said to continue sometimes for several days.  The leaves are milder and
generally preferred.  They should be used in the quantity of three or four
grains, repeated every night until the desired effect is  experienced.   They
have been strongly recommended in headache, chronic ophthalmia, and rheu-
matic and paralytic affections of the face, mouth, and throat.
   Off. Prep.  Pulvis Asari Compositus, Dub.                       W.

                   ASARUM.  U. S.  Secondary.

                Canada Snakeroot.  Wild  Ginger.

   " The root of Asarum Canadense."  U. S.
   Asarum.   See ASARUM.
   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 the A.  Europseum, or asarabacca, in appearance and botanical
character.  It has  a  long, creeping, jointed, fleshy, yellowish  root or rhi-
zoma, furnished with radicles of a similar colour.  The stem is very  short,
dividing, before  it  emerges from  the ground,  into two long round hairy leaf-
stalks, 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 pendu-
lous peduncle.   The flower is often concealed  by the loose soil or decayed
vegetable  matter;  so that the leaves with  their petioles  are the only  parts
that appear above  the surface of the  ground. There is no corolla.   The
calyx is very woolly, and divided into three  broad concave  acuminate seg-
ments, 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 consists 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.
                                  12* 
126           Asclepias Incarnata.—Asclepias Syriaca.
  Canada snakeroot, or wild ginger, is an indigenous plant, inhabiting woods
and shady places from Canada to  Carolina.  Its  flowering period is  from
April to July.  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 serpentina, but in our
opinion bearing a closer resemblance to that of cardamom.  The taste of the
petioles, which usually accompany the root, is more bitter and less  aromatic.
  Among its  constituents,  according to  Dr. Bigelow, are a light  coloured,
pungent, and  fragrant essential oil, a  reddish bitter resinous  matter, starch,
and gum ; in addition  to which Mr. Rushton found fatty matter, chlorophylle,
and salts of potassa, lime, and iron.  Mr. Procter  found the resin to be  acrid
as well as  bitter,  and without aromatic properties.  The root imparts its
virtues to alcohol, and less perfectly to water.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Wild ginger is an aromatic stimulant tonic,
with diaphoretic  properties, applicable  to  similar  cases with serpentaria,
which  it resembles in its  effects.   It is said to be sometimes used by the
country people as a substitute for ginger.  From the close botanical analogy
of the plant with the  European 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 decoctions.   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 above, two or three feet high, and  furnished
with opposite,  nearly sessile, lanceolate,  somewhat downy leaves.   The
flowers are red, sweet-scented, and  disposed  in  numerous  crowded  erect
umbels, which are generally in pairs.  The nectary is entire, with its horn
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 simi-
lar to those of the  A. Syriaca; but they have  not, so far as  we know, been
fully tested.  Dr.  Griffith states that it has been  employed by several  phy-
sicians, who  speak of it as  a useful emetic and  cathartic.   (Journ. of the
Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv.  283.)                                    W.


        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 sterna,
 from three to five feet high, with opposite, lanceolate-oblong, petiolate leaves' 
part i.        Asclepias Syriaca.—Asclepias Tuberosa.            127

downy on their under surface.  The flowers are large, of a pale purple
colour, sweet-scented—and arranged in nodding umbels, which  are two or
three in number.   The nectary is bidentate.  The pod or follicle is covered
with sharp prickles, and contains a large quantity of silky seed-down, which
has been sometimes used as a substitute  for fur in the  manufacture of hats,
and for feathers in beds and pillows.
  This species of  Asclepias is very common in the United States, growing
in sandy  fields, on the road sides, and on the banks of streams  from New
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.   According to
Schultz,  80 parts of the juice  contain 69 of water, 3-5 of a wax-like fatty
matter, 5 of caoutchouc, 0-5  of gum, 1  of sugar with salts  of acetic  acid,
and  1 of other salts.   (Pharm. Central Blaft, 1844,  p. 302.)
   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.                    W.


       ASCLEPIAS  TUBEROSA.  US. Secondary.

                          Butterfly-weed.

   " The root of Asclepias tuberosa."  U.  S.
  Asclepias.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Asclepiadaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx small, five-parted.  Corolla rotate, five-parted, mostly
reflexed.   Staminal crown (or nectary)  simple, five-leaved;  leaflets oppo-
site 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 pleu-
risy-root is perennial, and gives origin to numerous stems which  are erect,
ascending, or  procumbent, round, hairy,  of a green or  reddish  colour,
branching at the top, and about three  feet in height.  The  leaves are scat-
tered, oblong-lanceolate, 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 when in full bloom, in the months
of June and July,  exhibiting a splendid appearance.   It is most abundant in
the Southern States.  The root is the only part used  in medicine.
  This  is large,  irregularly tuberous, branching, often somewhat fusiform,
fleshy, externally brown,  internally white and  striated,  and  in  the recent
state, of a sub-acrid nauseous taste.   When dried it is easily pulverized, and
has a bitter but not otherwise unpleasant taste.   It yields its virtues readily
to boiling water. 
 128               Asclepias Tuberosa.—Assafcetida.           part i.

   Medical Properties and Uses.  The root of the Asclepias tuberosa  is
 diaphoretic and expectorant, without being stimulant.   In  large doses  it is
 often also cathartic.  In the Southern States it has  long been employed by
 regular practitioners  in  catarrh, pneumonia,  pleurisy, consumption,  and
 other pectoral affections ; and appears to be decidedly useful  if applied in
 the early stages, or, after sufficient depletion, when  the  complaint is already
 formed.   Its popular name of  pleurisy-root  expresses the  estimation  in
 which it is held as a remedy in that disease.  It has also been used advan-
 tageously in dysentery  and acute rheumatism, and might  probably prove
 beneficial in our autumnal remittents.   Much  testimony might  be  advanced
 in proof of its possessing  very considerable diaphoretic powers.   It is  said
 also to  be gently tonic, and has  been popularly employed  in  pains of the
 stomach arising from flatulence and indigestion.
   From twenty grains  to a drachm of the root in powder may  be given
 several times a day;  but as a diaphoretic it is best administered in decoction
 or infusion,  made in the proportion of an ounce  to  the  quart of water,  and
 given in the dose of a teacupful every two or three hours till it operates.


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

                             Assafetida.

   " The concrete juice of the  root of Ferula Assafcetida."  U. S.  " Ferula
 Assafoetida.  Gummi-resina.,'> Lond.,  Dub.  " Gummy-resinous  exudation
 of Ferula Assafcetida, and  probably Ferula persica." Ed.
  Assafcetida, Fr.; Stinkasant, Teufelsdreck, Germ.; Assafetida,  Ital; Asafetida, Span.;
 Ungoozeh, Persian; Hilteet, Arab.
   Ferula.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat.  Ord. Apiaceas or Um-
 belliferas.
   Gen. Ch.  Fruit  oval, compressed plane,  with three  streaks on each
 side.  Willd.
   Ferula  Assafcetida.   Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1413; Koempfer, Amcenitat.
 Exotic. 535. t. 536.   The following description of the  plant  which yields
 assafetida is derived from that by Kosmpfer, who wrote  from actual observa-
tion.  The root is  perennial, fleshy, tapering, when  of  full size as large as
 a man's leg, beset with many small fibres  near the top,  externally  blackish,
 internally white, and abounding  in an excessively fetid, opaque, milky juice.
 The leaves, all of which spring immediately from the root,  are  six or seven
in number, nearly  two  feet long, bipinnate, with the leaflets alternate,
 smooth, variously sinuated and lobed, sometimes lanceolate,  of a deep green
colour and fetid smell.   From the midst of the leaves rises  a luxuriant,
herbaceous stem, from six to nine feet in height, two inches in diameter  at
 the base,  simple, erect, round, smooth, striated, and terminating in large
 plano-convex umbels with numerous radii.  The flowers are  pale yellow;
 the seeds oval, flat, foliaceous, and of a reddish-brown  colour.  The plant
 is said to differ greatly both in the shape of its leaves, and  the  character of
its fetid product, according to the situation and soil in which it grows.
   It is  a  native of Persia and  perhaps  other  countries of the East;  and
flourishes  most abundantly in the mountainous provinces of Laar and Cho-
rassan, where its  juice  is collected.   Burns, in his travels into Bokhara,
 states that the plant is eaten with relish by the  people, and  that sheep crop
it greedily.   Some suppose that other species  of Ferula contribute  to  the
 production of the assafetida  of commerce; and the  F.  persica is  admitted
 among  its  probable sources by the Edinburgh College.   This  plant grows
 also in Persia, and has a strong odour of the drug. 
PART I.
Assafcetida.
129
  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 sum-
mit of the root is  cut  off transversely, and the juice which exudes having
been scraped off, another thin  slice is removed, in  order to  present a  fresh
surface for exudation.   This process is repeated  at intervals till  the root
ceases to afford juice, and perishes.  During the whole period of collection,
which occupies  nearly six weeks, the solar heat is  as much  as possible ex-
cluded. The juice collected from numerous plants is put together, and allowed
to harden in the sun.
   Assafetida is brought to this  country either from  India, whither it is con-
veyed from Bushire, 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.
   As found  in the  shops it  is in irregular masses, of a  softish consistence
when not long exposed, of  a yellowish or reddish-brown colour  externally,
exhibiting when broken an irregular whitish,  somewhat  shining  surface,
which soon becomes red on exposure to the air, and ultimately passes into
a dull  vellowish-brown.  This change of colour is characteristic of assafe-
tida, and is ascribed to the influence of air and light upon its resinous ingre-
dient.   The masses appear as  if composed of distinct portions intermingled
and agglutinated together, sometimes of white, almost pearly tears, embedded
in a darker, softer, and more fetid paste.  Occasionally the tears are  found
in  a  separate state, though  very rarely in the commerce  of this  country.
They are roundish, oval, or irregular, and generally flattened, from the size
of a pea to that  of a large almond, yellowish or brownish externally and
 white within, and  not unlike ammoniac tears, for which they might be mis-
 taken except for their odour,  which, however, is  weaker  than  that of the
masses.  (Pereira.)  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. (Berzelius.)  It is  inflammable, burning with a clear,
lively flame.   It yields  all its  virtues  to alcohol, and forms a clear tincture,
which becomes milky on the addition of water.  Macerated in water it pro-
duces a  turbid red solution, and triturated with that fluid gives a white  or
 pink-coloured milky emulsion  of considerable permanence.   In one hundred
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,  the  Ger-
 man chemist, 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, phos-
phoric, 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 obtained separate by distillation  with water or alcohol.  It  is lighter
than water, colourless when first distilled, but becoming yellow with age, of 
130
Assafodida.
PART I.
 an exceedingly offensive odour, and of a taste at first flat, but afterwards bit-
 ter and acrid.  It is said to contain a small portion of sulphur.  The volatile
 oil and the bitter resin are the active principles.
   Impurities and Adulterations.  Assafetida is probably not often purposely
 adulterated, but it frequently comes of inferior quality,  and  mixed with vari-
 ous impurities, such as sand and stones.  Portions which are very soft, dark
 brown or blackish, with few or no tears, and indisposed to assume a red colour
 when  freshly  broken, should be rejected.  We  have been informed that a
 case seldom comes without more or less of  this inferior assafetida, and of
 many it forms the larger proportion.  It is sold chiefly for horses.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The  effects of assafetida on the system
 are those of a  moderate  stimulant, powerful antispasmodic,  efficient  expecto-
 rant, and feeble  laxative.   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, hypo-
 chondriasis, convulsions of various kinds, spasm of the stomach and bowels
unconnected with inflammation, and in  those  numerous irregular  nervous
 disorders which  accompany derangement of  the different  organs, or result
from mere  debility of the nervous system.  From the  union of expectorant
with antispasmodic  powers, it is highly useful in spasmodic pectoral affec-
tions, such as  hooping-cough, asthma, and certain infantile coughs and ca-
tarrhs, complicated with disorder of the  nervous apparatus, or with a dis-
position of the system to  sink.  In these last cases it was employed with
great  success  by the late  Dr. Jos. Parrish of Philadelphia.*   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 the lungs do not perform their office from want of due ner-
vous energy, and in which inflammation is absent  or  has  been sufficiently
subdued, assafetida  may occasionally be prescribed with advantage.   In the
form of enema it  may be beneficially employed in typhoid diseases  attended
with inordinate accumulation of air in the bowels, and in other cases of tym-
panitic abdomen.   The same form will be found  most convenient in  the hys-
teric paroxysm, and  other kinds of convulsion.   In most cases its  laxative
tendency adds  to its advantages; but in some  instances  must be counteracted
by the addition of laudanum.   It may often be usefully combined with pur-
gative  medicines in constipation of the bowels 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  Indfa 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;
and older persons may be found, without going so far as India, who employ
it habitually.                                                       r
  The medium dose is ten grains, which may be given in  pill or emulsion.
(See Mistura  Assafoetidae.)  The tincture is officinal, and is frequently used.
 When  given by  injection it should be  prepared by trituration with warm
water.  From half a drachm to  two drachms may be administered at once in
this way.   As assafetida is not  apt to affect the  brain injuriously  it may be
given very freely  when not contra-indicated by the existence of inflammatory
action.                                                                J
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Assafostidas, U. S., Ed.; Enema Fostidum  Ed
Dub.;  Mistura Assafoetidas, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Pilulas Aloes et  Assafce'
* See a paper by Dr. Parrish in the N. Am. Med. and Surg. J, 
part i.           Assafcetida.—Aurantii Cortex.                  131

tidas,  U. S., Ed.; Pilulas Assafcetidae, U. S.; Pilulas Galbani  Composite,
U. S., Lond., Ed.; Spiritus Ammonias Foetidus, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinc-
tura Assafoetidas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Castorei Ammoniata, Ed.
                                                                 W.


                 AURANTII CORTEX. U.S.

                            Orange Peel.

  "The outer rind of the fruit of Citrus vulgaris or Citrus Aurantium."
U.S.
   Off. Syn.  AURANTIUM.  Citrus Aurantium. Fructus.   AURANTII
CORTEX. Citrus vulgaris.  Fructus Cortex exterior.   AURANTII FLO-
RES. Citrus Aurantium.  Flores.  AURANTII OLEUM.  Oleum eflori-
bus destillatum.  Lond.; 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  AU-
RANTIUM. Fructus succus et tunica exterior.  Flores. Folia.  Dub.
   Ecorce d'orange, Fr.; Pomeranzenschalon, Germ.; Scorze del frutto dell'arancio, Ital;
Corteza de naranja, Span.
   Citrus.  Sex.  Syst.  Polvadelphia 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.   They are all  natives of warm climates, and  where the winters are
severe, require the aid of artificial heat.  Though the species are not nume-
rous, great diversity exists in the character of the fruit;  and many varieties,
founded upon this circumstance, are noticed  by writers.  In the  splendid
work on the natural history of the  Citrus by Risso and Poiteau, 169 varie-
ties are described under the eight following heads:—1. sweet oranges, 2.
bitter and sour oranges, 3. bergamots, 4. limes,  5. shaddocks, 6.  lumes, 7.
lemons, and 8. citrons.   Of  these it  is difficult to decide which  have just
claims to the rank of distinct species, and which must be considered merely
as varieties.   Those  employed in medicine may be arranged in two sets, of
which the orange, C. Aurantium, and the  lemon, C. Medica, are  respect-
ively the types, the former characterized by a winged, the latter by  a naked
or nearly naked petiole.   The form and character of the fruit, which are not
entirely constant, serve as the basis  of the subdivisions.  The C. Decumana,
which yields the  shaddock-* agrees with the C. Aurantium in the form of its
petiole ; but its fruit is not officinal.
   Citrus Aurantium. Willd.  Sp.  Plant, in. 1427; Woodv. Med. Sot.?.
532.  t.  188.   The orange tree grows to the height of about fifteen feet.  Its
stem is  round, very  much branched, sometimes even from the base,  and
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 essential oil; and, when rubbed between the
fingers, are  highly fragrant.  Their footstalks are about an inch long, and
are furnished with wings or lateral appendages.  The flowers,  which have a
delightful odour, are  large, white, and attached  by short peduncles, singly
or in clusters, to the smallest branches.  The calyx is saucer-shaped, with 
132
Aurantii Cortex.
part i.
pointed teeth.   The  petals are oblong, concave, white,  and beset with
numerous small glands.   The filaments are  united at their base in three or
more distinct portions, and support  yellow anthers.  The germen is round-
ish, and bears a cylindrical style, which is terminated by a globular stigma.
The fruit is  a spherical berry/often .somewhat flattened at its base and apex,
rough, of a yellow or orange colour, and divided internally into nine vertical
cells, in each of which are from two to four seeds, surrounded by a pulpy
matter.   The  rind of the fruit  is double, consisting of a thin exterior layer
which abounds in vesicles filled with  a  fragrant  essential oil, and of an inte-
rior one which  is thick, white, fungous, insipid, and inodorous.  There  are_
two  varieties of the  C. Aurantium, considered by some as  distinct species.
They differ  chiefly in the character of  the fruit, which in one is  sweet, in
the other sour and bitterish. The first retains the original botanical title,  the
second is called Citrus vulgaris by Risso and others.   The Seville  orange
is the product of the  latter.
  This beautiful evergreen, in which  the fruit is mingled, in every stage of
its growth, with the blossoms and foliage, is one of those productions of the
tropics which have  been applied to the most  numerous  purposes both of
utility and ornament.  A native of  China and India, it was introduced into
Europe at a  very early period, was transplanted to America soon  after the
first settlement of this continent, and is now found in every civilized country
where the climate is  favourable to its cultivation.   In  colder countries, it is
one of the most cherished ornaments of the hot-house, though in this situa-
tion its beauties are not fully developed, and its fruit does  not attain perfec-
tion.  It flourishes in the  most southern  portion of our  own country, particu-
larly in the neighbourhood of St. Augustine in Florida, whence we annually
derive a considerable supply of very fine oranges. The tree also  grows in
the gardens  about New Orleans, but  is  sometimes destroyed by the frosty
winters which are incident to that climate. The fruit is brought to us chiefly
from the South of Europe and the West Indies.   The Havana oranges have
the sweetest and most pleasant flavour.
  Various parts of the orange-tree -are  used  in medicine. The leaves, which
are bitter and aromatic, are employed in  some places in the state of infusion
as  a gently stimulant diaphoretic.  The fresh flowers impart to water distilled
from them their peculiar fragrance;  and  the  preparation thus  obtained is
much esteemed in the South of Europe  for  its  antispasmodic virtues.   The
distilled water of orange-flowers is  recognised as officinal by all the British
Colleges.  An oil is  also obtained from  the flowers by distillation,  which is
called neroli in  France, and is much used in  perfumery, and in  the compo-
sition of liqueurs.  It is an ingredient of the famous Cologne water.   That
obtained from the flowers of the  Seville or bitter orange°(C. vulgaris), is
deemed the  sweetest.  It was introduced into the London  and  Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeias, with the title of Aurantii Oleum, to serve  for the  prepa-
ration of orange-flower water.  The  fruit  is applied to several purposes.
Small unripe oranges, about the size  of a cherry or  less, previously dried,
and rendered smooth by a turning lathe, are sometimes employed  to  main-
tain 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 mois-
ture;  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 gravish or
greenish-brown colour, a  fragrant odour, and a bitter taste, and are said to be
used for  flavouring  cordials.   An  essential oil is obtained from  them  by
distillation, known to the French by the name of essence de petit ^rain  and 
PART I.
Aurantii Cortex.
133
employed for similar purposes with that of the flowers.  The oil, however,
which now goes by this name, is said to be distilled chiefly from  the leaves,
and those of the bitter orange yield the best.  The unripe fruit is also among
the Dublin officinals.  The London College recognises the ripe fruit, the
Dublin the juice of the fruit.   The juice of the  Seville orange is sour and
bitterish, and forms with water a refreshing and grateful drink in  febrile dis-
eases.  It is employed for the same purposes with the juice of the lemon,
which it resembles in containing citric acid, though in much smaller propor-
tion.   The  sweet orange is much more pleasant to  the  taste, and  is very
extensively used as a light refrigerant article of diet in  inflammatory diseases,
care being taken to reject the membranous portion, and to swallow only the
pulp.  The rind of the  mature fruit is  the  only part directed by the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia.  The outer portion is that considered officinal; as the inner
is wholly destitute of useful properties, and  by its affinity for moisture
produces a disposition in  the peel to become  mouldy.  The best mode of
separating the outer  rind, when its desiccation  and  preservation are desired,
is to pare it from the  orange in narrow  strips with a  sharp knife, exactly as
we pare an apple.  When the object is to  apply the fresh  rind to certain
pharmaceutic purposes, as, for  instance,  to the  preparation of the confection
of orange peel, it is best separated by a grater.   The  dried peel,  sold in our
drug  stores, is usually that of the Seville orange, and is chiefly brought from
the Mediterranean.
   Properties.  Orange peel has a grateful aromatic odour, and a warm bitter
taste, which depend upon the essential oil contained in its vesicles. The rind
of the Seville orange is  much  more bitter than that of the other variety.
Both yield their sensible properties to water and alcohol.   The essential oil
may be obtained by simple expression from the fresh grated rind, or by dis-
tillation with water.   It has properties closely resembling those of the oil of
lemons, and may be used for similar purposes.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Orange peel is a mild tonic, carminative,
and stomachic, but is seldom used alone.   It is chiefly employed  to commu-
nicate a pleasant flavour  to other medicines, to correct their nauseating pro-
perties, and to assist their stimulant  impression  upon  the stomach.  It is a
frequent and very  useful  addition to bitter infusions and decoctions, as those
of gentian, quassia, columbo, and especially Peruvian bark.   It is obviously
improper to subject orange peel to long boiling; as the essenial oil on which
its virtues chiefly depend  is thus driven  off.  The dose in substance is from
half a drachm to a drachm  three times a  day.   Large quantities  are some-
times productive of mischief, especially in children,  in whom violent  colic
and even convulsions are  sometimes induced by it.   We have  known the
case of a child, in  which death resulted from  eating the rind of an orange.
   When the object in the use of orange peel is simply to obtain its agreeable
flavour, the rind of the sweet orange is  preferable;  as a tonic, that of the
Seville orange.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Florum Aurantii, Lond., Ed.; Confectio Aurantii  Cor-
ticis,  U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Aurantii  Compositum, L,ond.;
Infusum  Gentianas Comp., U.S.,  Lond., Ed.; Spiritus Armoracias Comp.,
Lond.;  Syrupus  Aurantii Corticis,  U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura
Aurantii, Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Cinchonas Comp.,  U. S., Lond., Ed.; Tinct.
Gentianas Comp.,  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.; Vinum Gentianas, Ed.        W.
13 
134
Avence Farina.—Azedarach.
PART I.
                   AVENGE FARINA. U.S.

                              Oatmeal

   " Meal prepared from the seeds of Avena sativa." U. S.
   Off. Syn. AVENA. Avena sativa.  Semina integumentis nudata.  Lond.;
AVENA.  Seeds  of Avena  sativa.  Ed.; AVENA SATIVA.  Farina ex
seminibus.  Dub.
   Farine  d'avoine, Fr.; Ilafermehl, Germ; Farina dell'avena, Ital; Harina de avena,
Span.
   Avena. Sex. 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.
   This grain, though cultivated chiefly for horses, is very nourishing, and is
largely consumed  as  food  by  the  inhabitants of Scotland, the North  of Ire-
land, Brittany, and some other countries.   The  seeds deprived of their husk
are called groats, and are  directed  by the British Colleges ; but are not offi-
cinal on this side of the Atlantic.  It is only the meal, prepared by grinding
the seeds, that is kept in our shops.
   Oatmeal contains, according to Vogel, in 100 parts, 59 of starch,  4-30 of
a grayish substance resembling rather coagulated albumen than gluten, 8-25
of sugar  and a bitter principle. 2-50 of gum, 2 of  fixed oil, and  23-95  of
fibrous matter including loss.  It has no smell,  is very slightly but  not un-
pleasantly bitter, and yields most  of its nutritive matter with facility  to boil-
ing water.
   Gruel  made with oatmeal affords a nutritious, bland, and  easily digested
aliment, admirably adapted to inflammatory diseases ; and, from its somewhat
laxative tendency, preferable in  certain cases to the purely mucilaginous  or
amylaceous  preparations.   It is  very often administered 'after brisk cathar-
tics, 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.  Su<rar and
lemon-juice may be added to improve its flavour ; and raisins are no°t unfre-
quently boiled with the meal and water for the same  purpose.
   Off. Prep. Pulvis  pro Cataplasmate, Dub.                        -yy.


               AZEDARACH.  U. S. Secondary.

                            Azedarach.

   " The bark of the root of Melia Azedarach."  U  S
   Melu..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    ' 
part I.                  Azedarach.—Barium.                     135

  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 disposed in
beautiful axillary clusters near the extremities of the branches.   The fruit is
a round drupe,  which, when ripe, is about as large as a cherry,  and of a yel-
lowish  colour.
  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 for ornamental purposes in various parts of the eastern
and western continents.   It is  abundant in our Southern States, where  it
lines the streets of cities, and adorns the environs of  dwellings, and in some
places  has become  naturalized.  North  of Virginia it does  not flourish,
though small trees may sometimes be seen in sheltered situations.  Its flowers
appear  early in the spring.  The  fruit  is sweetish  to the taste, and,  though
said by some  to be  poisonous, is eaten  by children at the South without
inconvenience, and is reputed to  be powerfully vermifuge.  But the  bark
of  the root is the part chiefly employed.   It is preferred in the recent state,
and is therefore  scarcely to be found  in the shops  at the  North.  It has  a
bitter, nauseous taste, and  yields its virtues to boiling water.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  This bark is cathartic and emetic, and in
large doses is  said to produce narcotic effects similar to those of spigelia,
especially if  gathered at the season when the sap is mounting.   It  is con-
sidered 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 ver-
minose 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 table-
spoonful every  two  or three hours,  till it  affects  the stomach or bowels.
Another plan is to give a  dose morning and evening for several successive
days, and then to administer an active  cathartic.                     W.

                             BARIUM.

                               Barium.

  This is the  metallic radical of the earth baryta, and is the basis of several
officinal compounds.   It was first obtained in 1808, by Sir 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.   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 com-
pounds  of barium are the chloride, and the carbonate and sulphate  of the
protoxide of barium  (baryta).  The carbonate and  sulphate are found  as
mineral substances, and are not used as medicines, but as the materials from
which the chloride may be prepared.
  Baryta may be obtained from the native  carbonate by intense ignition
with carbonaceous matter;  or from the native sulphate, by ignition with char-
coal, which converts it into-sulphuret of barium, subsequent solution of the
sulphuret in nitric acid, and strong ignition of the nitrate formed to dissipate 
136
Baryta Carbonas.—Barytce Sulphas.
PART I.
the acid.  As thus obtained  it is an anhydrous solid, caustic, alkaline, diffi-
cultly fusible, and of a grayish-white colour.  Its sp. gr. is about 4.   It acts
on the animal  economy as a poison.  When  sprinkled with water it slacks
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 crucible.  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  test called barytic water.   A boil-
ing saturated solution, as it cools, yields crystals of baryta, containing much
water of crystallization.
  Baryta consists of one eq. of barium 68-7, and  one of oxygen 8=76-7.
Its symbol is BaO.                                                 "•


        BARYTCE  CARBONAS.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                     Carbo?iate of Baryta.

  Carbonate de biryte,  Fr.; Kohlensaurer Baryt, Germ.;  Barite carbonate, Ital; Car-
bonato de barito, Span.                                      v
  The officinal carbonate of baryta is  the  native carbonate, a mineral dis-
covered in 1783, by Dr. Withering, in honour of whom it is called With-
erite.   It is rather a rare mineral.  It is found  in Sweden and  Scotland, but
most  abundantly  in  the lead-mines of the North of England.   It occurs
usually in grayish, or pale  yellowish-gray, fibrous masses,  but  sometimes
crystallized.  Its  sp. gr. varies from 4-2 to 4-4.   Generally it is strongly
translucent, but sometimes  opaque.  It effervesces with acids, and, before
the blowpipe, melts into a white  enamel without losing its carbonic acid.  It
is distinguished from the carbonate of strontia, with which it is most liable
to be confounded, by its greater specific  gravity, and by the  absence of  a
reddish flame upon burning alcohol impregnated with its nitric solution.  On
the animal economy,  it acts as a poison.
   When pure, carbonate of  baryta  is entirely soluble in muriatic acid.   If
any sulphate of baryta  be present, it will  be  left undissolved.   If  neither
ammonia  nor  sulphuretted  hydrogen  produce discoloration or a precipitate
in the muriatic solution, the absence of  alumina, iron, copper, and  lead is
shown.  Lime may be detected by adding to the muriatic solution an excess
of sulphuric acid, which will throw down the  baryta as a sulphate, and after-
wards testing the  clear liquid with carbonate of soda, which, if lime be pre-
sent, will produce a precipitate of carbonate of lime.
   Carbonate of baryta consists of  one eq.  of  carbonic acid 22, and one  of
baryta 76-7=98-7.   Its only officinal use is to make the chloride  of barium.
(See Barii Chloridum.)
   Off. Prep. Barii Chloridum, U. S., Lond., Ed.                    B.


              BARYTA SULPHAS. Ed., Dub.

                        Sulphate of Baryta.

   Heavy spar, Baroselenite; Sulfate de baryte, Fr.; Schwefelsaurer Baryt, Germ.; Barite
solfata, Ital.
   The native sulphate of baryta is  used in Pharmacy with the  same view as
the native carbonate; namely, to obtain the chloride of barium.  The U.S.
and London Pharmacopoeias direct for this  purpose the carbonate of baryta'
and the Dublin College the  sulphate; while the Edinburgh Colleo-e retains 
part i.             Baryta Sulphas.—Belladonna.                137

both, giving a separate formula for the use of each, according to  the option
of the operator. (See Barii Chloridum.)
   Sulphate of baryta is a heavy lamellar, brittle mineral, varying in sp. gr.
from  4-4 to  4-6.   It is  generally translucent, but  sometimes transparent or
opaque, and its usual colour is white or flesh-red.   When  crystallized, it is
usually in the form of a very flat rhombic prism.   Before the blow-pipe, it
strongly decrepitates, and  melts into a white enamel, which, in the course
of ten or twelve hours, falls to powder.   By this treatment  it is partially
converted into sulphuret of barium,  and, if applied  to the tongue, will give a
taste like that of putrid eggs, which  arises from the formation of sulphuretted
hydrogen.   This salt, on  account of its great insolubility, is riot poisonous.
When ground to fine powder, it is sometimes mixed with white lead;  but it
impairs the  quality of  that pigment.  It consists of one equivalent of acid
40-1, and one of baryta 76-7= 1168.
   Off. Prep. Barytas Murias, Ed.,  Dub.                            B.
              BELLADONNA. U S., Lond., Ed.

                             Belladonna.

   "The  leaves of Atropa  Belladonna."   U.S.,  Ed.  "Atropa Belladonna.
 Folia." Lond.
   Off.Syn.  ATROPA BELLADONNA. Folia et radix.  Dub.
 •  Belludone, Fr.; Gemeine Tollkirsche, Wolfskirsche, Germ.; Belladonna,  Ital; Bella-
 dona, Belladam;!, Sp'in.
   Atrofa. Sex. Syst. Pentanhia Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceee.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla bell-shaped.   Stamens  distant.  Berry globular, two-
 celled. Willd.
   Atropa Belladonna. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1017;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
 230. i. 82.   The belladonna, or deadly nightshade, is an herbaceous peren-
 nial plant,  with a fleshy creeping root, from which rise  several erect, round,
 purplish, branching stems, to  the  height of  about three feet.   The leaves,
 which are  attached by short footstalks to  the stem, are in  pairs of unequal
 size, oval,  pointed, entire, of a dusky green  colour on their upper surface,
 and  paler beneath.  The flowers are large, bell-shaped, pendent, of a dull
 reddish colour, and supported upon solitary  peduncles, which rise from the
 axils of the leaves.   The  fruit is a roundish berry with a longitudinal fur-
 row on each side, at first green, afterwards red, ultimately  of a deep purple
 colour, bearing considerable resemblance to a cherry, and containing, in two
 distinct cells,  numerous seeds, and a sweetish violet-coloured juice.   The
 calyx adheres to the base of the fruit.
   The plant is a native of  Europe, where it grows in  shady places, along
 walls, and amidst rubbish, flowering in June  and July, and ripening its fruit
 in September.  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 Jrly, the latter
in the autumn or early in the spring, and from  plants three years old or more.
   Properties.  The dried leaves are of a dull greenish colour, with a very
faint narcotic  odour, and a sweetish, subacrid, slightly nauseous taste.   The
 root is long, round, from one  to several inches in thickness, branched and
fibrous, externally when dried of a reddish-brown colour, internally whitish,
 of little odour, and a feeble  sweetish taste.  Both the leaves and root, as well
 as all other parts of the  plant, impart their  active properties to  water and
                                   13* 
138
Belladonna.
PART I.
alcohol.  By the researches of the German chemist Brandes, it was rendered
probable that these properties resided in a peculiar alkaline  principle, which
he supposed to exist in the plant combined with an excess of malic acid, and
appropriately named atropia.   Besides the malate of atropia, Brandes found
in the dried herb two azotized principles, a green resin (chlorophylle),  wax,
gum, starch, albumen, lignin, and various  saline ingredients.  The alkaline
principle was afterwards detected by M. Runge; and the fact of its existence
was established beyond question by the experiments of Geiger and Hesse,
who  obtained  it from an  extract prepared from the  stems and leaves of the
plant.  It was first, however, procured in a state of purity  by Mein, a Ger-
man  apothecary, who extracted it from the root.*   Atropia crystallizes in
white, silky prisms;  is  inodorous and of a bitter taste;  dissolves easily in
absolute alcohol and ether, but very slightly in water, and more freely  in all
these liquids hot than cold; melts at a temperature above 212°, and is  vola-
tilized unchanged;  restores  the colour of litmus paper reddened by acids;
forms soluble salts  with  the  sulphuric,  nitric,  muriatic, and acetic acids;
and, in a very dilute solution, produces, when applied to the eye, a speedy
and  durable dilatation of  the  pupil.   Like the other  vegetable alkalies, it
consists of nitrogen,  carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen'—its formula being  NC34
H^Og.  Liibekind  has described, under the name of belladonnin, a volatile
alkaline  principle, wholly distinct from atropia, which he obtained from bel-
ladonna;  but it  yet remains to be seen whether this was not the  product of
the process.   (See Am. Journ. of Pharm. xiii. 127.)
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.    The  action of  belladonna is that of a
powerful narcotic, possessing also  diaphoretic and  diuretic properties, and
somewhat disposed to operate upon  the bowels.  Orfila infers from his ex-
periments, and from known facts, that it has little intensity of local action,
but is absorbed, and, entering  the circulation, exercises  its influence  upon
the nervous system, especially upon  the brain.   Among  the  first obvious
effects which it  produces  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
  * The following is the process employed  by Mein.  The  roots of plants two or three
years  old were selected.  Of these, reduced to an extremely fine powder, 24 parts were
digested, for several days, with 60 parts of alcohol  of 86 or 90 per cent.  The liquid hav-
ing been  separated by strong expression, the residue was (rented anew  with an  equal
quantity .of alcohol: and the tinctures, poured together and filtered, were mixed with one
part of hydrate of lime, and frequently shaken for twenty-four hours. The copious pre-
cipitate which now formed was  separated by filtering; and diluted  sulphuric acid was
added drop by drop to the filtered liquor, till slightly in excess.  The sulphate of lime
having been separated by a new filtration, the alcoholic liquid was  distilled to one-half,
then mixed with 6 or 8 parts of pure water, and  evaporated with a gentle heat till the
whole of the alcohol was driven off. The residual liquid  was filtered, cautiously  evapo-
rated  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 sub-
stance which opposes the crystallization of the atropia was thus precipitated   From this
the liquid  was carefully decanted, and a  small additional quantity of the solution  of the
carbonate was dropped  into it, till it no longer became turbid.  A gelatinous mass now
gradually formed, which, at the end of twelve or twenty-four hours, was agitated in order
to separate the mother waters, then thrown upon  a filter, and dried  by folds of unsized
paper. The substance thus obtained, which  was atropia in an impure state was di^olvcd
in five times its  weight of alcohol; and the solution, having heen fillcrcd, was mixed with
six or eight times its bulk of water.  The liquor soon became milky, or was rendered so
by evaporating the excess of alcohol, and, in the course of twelve or twenty four  hours
deposited the atropia in the form of light  yellow  crystals, which were rendered cntirelV
pure  and colourless by washing with a few drops of water, drying on blottinj; water  and
again treating with alcohol as before.  From twelve ounces of the root, Mein obtained bv
this process twenty grains of the pure alkali. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 87.) 
PART I.
Belladonna.
139
vision.  The practitioner should watch  for  these effects 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.
When taken in too  large a quantity, belladonna is capable of producing  the
most deleterious effects.   It is in fact  a powerful poison, and many instances
are recorded in which it has been accidentally swallowed or purposely ad-
ministered with  fatal consequences.   All  parts  of the  plant are poisonous.
It is  not  uncommon,  in countries where the  belladonna grows wild, for
children to pick and eat the berries, allured  by their fine colour and  sweet
taste.   Soon after the poison has been swallowed, its  peculiar influence is
experienced in dryness of the mouth  and fauces, great  thirst, difficult deglu-
tition, nausea and ineffectual  retching, vertigo, intoxication  or delirium,
attended with violent gestures, and sometimes with fits of laughter, and fol-
lowed by a comatose state.   The pupil is dilated and insensible to light, the
face red and tumid,, the mouth and jaws  spasmodically affected, the stomach
and bowels insusceptible of impressions, in  fact the whole  nervous system
prostrate and paralyzed.  A feeble pulse, cold extremities,  subsultus  tendi-
num, deep coma or delirium, and sometimes convulsions, precede the fatal
termination.   Dissection discloses  appearances of inflammation in  the  sto-
mach and intestines; and  it is  said that the body soon begins to putrefy,
swells, and becomes covered with livid spots, while dark blood flows from
the mouth, nose, and ears.   To obviate the poisonous  effects of belladonna,
the most effectual method is to evacuate the stomach as speedily as possible,
either by means of emetics, or the stomach-pump, and  afterwards to cleanse
the  bowels by  purgatives and  enemata.  It is  not probable that vinegar,
which has been recommended, can be of any essential service as an antidote.
The infusion of galls might possibly be useful, and, if the experiments of M.
Runge can be  relied on, lime-water or the alkaline solutions would render
the poisonous matter which might remain in  the stomach inert.
   Notwithstanding the tremendous energy of this  narcotic when  taken in
very large doses, it has been used as a medicine, even from very early times.
The leaves  were  first employed externally to discuss scirrhous  tumours,
and heal  cancerous and other ill-conditioned ulcers ;  and were afterwards
administered internally for the same purpose. Much evidence of their bene-
ficial  influence  in  these affections is on record, and  even  Dr. Cullen  has
spoken in their favour; but this application of the  remedy has fallen  into
disuse.  It is at present more esteemed  in nervous diseases.  The German
practitioners  are  much in  the  habit  of using it in hooping-cough, in  the
advanced stages of which  it is undoubtedly  sometimes beneficial.  In neu-
ralgia it is one of the most effectual remedies in our possession ;  and we
ourselves can  bear testimony to its usefulness in  this complaint.  Hufeland
recommends it in  the convulsions dependent  on scrofulous irritation.  It  has
been  prescribed also in chorea, epilepsy, hydrophobia, mania, paralysis,
amaurosis, rheumatism, gout, dysmenorrhea, obstinate intermittents, 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.  In Germany
it has within a few years acquired great credit as a  preventive of scarlatina
—an application of the remedy  first suggested by the  famous author of the
homoeopathic  doctrine, and  founded  upon the idea, that, as the symptoms
produced by scarlatina in the nervous system closely  resemble those which
result from large doses of belladonna,  the  former might be prevented, or 
140
Belladonna.—Benzoinum.
PART I.
 at least moderated, by establishing the latter, as small-pox  is prevented by
 vaccination, or rendered milder if  the system has already come partially
 under its influence.
   Applied  to the eye, belladonna has the property of dilating the pupil ex-
 ceedingly, and for this  purpose is sometimes employed by European ocu-
 lists previously to the operation for cataract.   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 perhaps be  bene-
 ficially used, when, from inflammation of the iris, there is  danger of a per-
 manent closure of the pupil.  For these  purposes, a strong infusion of the
 plant, or a  solution of the extract, may be dropped into the eye, or a little
 of the extract itself rubbed  upon the eyelids.   The same application of the
 remedy has been recommended in cases of morbid sensibility  of the  eye.
 The decoction or extract of belladonna, applied to the neck  of the uterus, is
 asserted to have hastened  tedious labour dependent on rigidity  of the os
 tineas; and  spasmodic  stricture of the  urethra, neck of the bladder, and
sphincter ani, and  painful uterine affections have been relieved  by the local
use of the extract,  either smeared upon  bougies, or administered by injec-
tion.  In the latter mode it  has  sometimes relieved strangulated  hernia.  It
is  asserted  also to be very useful  in the relief of paraphimosis.   The  inha-
lation of the vapour from a decoction of the leaves or extract has  been highly
recommended in spasmodic asthma.  For this  purpose, two drachms of the
leaves, or fifteen grains of the aqueous extract are employed to the  pint of
water. Relief is said to have been obtained in phthisis by smokino- the leaves,
 infused when fresh in  a strong solution of opium, and then dried.
  Belladonna may be given in substance, infusion, or extract.   The dose of
the powdered leaves is for children from the eighth to  the fourth of a grain,
for  adults one or two  grains, repeated daily, or twice a day, and  gradually
increased till the peculiar effects of the medicine are experienced.  An  in-
fusion may be prepared  by  adding a scruple of the dried leaves  to ten fluid-
ounces of boiling water, of which from one to two fluidounces  is the dose
for an adult.  The extract is more used in the United  States than any other
preparation. (See Extractum Belladonna.)
  Off. Prep. Extractum Belladonnae, U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Extract.
Belladonnas Alcoholicum, U. S.; Tinctura Belladonnas, U. S.         W.

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

                              Benzoin.

  " The concrete juice of Styrax Benzoin." U. S.  " Slyrax Benzoin.  Bui-
samumy Lond.  " Concrete balsamic exudation of Stvrax  Benzoin "  Fd
  Off. Syn. STYKAX BENZOIN. Resina. Dub.               '
  Eenjoin, Fr.; Bcnzoe, 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 Linnaeus, who, however  com-
mitted another, in  ascribing the  drug to the Croton Benzoe, a shrub which
he afterwards described under the name of Terminalia Benzoin    Mr  Drv-
ander was the first who ascertained the true benzoin tree to be a Styrax- and
his description, published in the 77th vol. of the English Philosophical Tr in-
actions, has been copied by most subsequent  writers.   The specimen  by
which Mr.  Dryander decided the generic character, was obtained  bv  Sir
Jos. Banks from Mr.  Marsden at Sumatra.                          3 
PART I.
Benzoinum.
141
  Styrax.  Sex. Syst. Deeandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord. Styracece.
  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 compound, 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  as it is  sometimes  called, is a native of
Sumatra, Java, Borneo,  Laos,  and Siam. (Ainslie.)  By wounding the bark
near the origin of the  lower branches, a juice  exudes, which hardens upon
exposure, and constitutes the benzoin of commerce.  A tree is thought of a
proper age to be  wounded at six years, when its trunk is about seven or eight
inches in diameter.  The operation is  performed annually, and the product
on  each occasion from one tree  never exceeds three pounds.   The juice
which first flows is the purest, and affords the whitest and most fragrant
benzoin.   It is exported chiefly from  Acheen in Sumatra, and comes  into
the western markets in  large  masses packed in chests and  casks, and  pre-
senting externally the  impression of the reed mats in which they were origi-
nally 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  of this balsam  consisting exclusively of  yellowish-white
homogeneous  fragments, which, when  broken, presented a perfectly smooth
clear, white, shining surface.   These were no doubt identical in constitution
with the tears of the larger masses.
  Properties.   Benzoin has an agreeable and fragrant odour, with very little
taste;  but when chewed for some  time, leaves a sense of irritation in the
mouth and fauces.  It breaks  with a resinous fracture, and presents a mot-
tled 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 ex-
hibits impurities.  In  the  inferior  kinds,  the white spots  are very  few or
entirely wanting.  Benzoin is easily pulverized, and  while 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 like the gum-resins.  It
imparts  to boiling-water a notable proportion of benzoic acid.  Lime-water
and the alkaline solutions partially dissolve it, forming benzoates, from which
the acid may be precipitated  by the  addition  of another, having  stronger
affinity  for the base.   Its chief constituents are resin and benzoic acid ;  and
it therefore belongs to  the balsams.   The  white  tears, and the brownish
connecting medium, are said by Stolze to contain very nearly the same  pro-
portion of acid,  which,  according to Bucholz, is  12-5 per cent., to  Stolze
19*8 per cent.  The resin is of three different kinds, one extracted  from the
balsam  along  with  the  benzoic acid by a boiling solution of carbonate of 
142
Benzoinum.—Bismuthum.
PART I.
potassa in excess, another dissolved by ether from the residue, and the third
affected by neither of these solvents.  Besides benzoic acid and resin, the
balsam contains a minute proportion  of extractive, and traces of volatile oil.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Benzoin, like the other balsams, is stimu-
lant and expectorant, and  was formerly employed in various pectoral affec-
tions ;  but, except as an ingredient of the compound tincture of benzoin, it
has fallen into almost entire disuse.   Trousseau and Pidoux recommended it
strongly, in the way of  fumigation, in chronic  laryngitis.   Either the air of
the chamber may be impregnated with  its vapour  by placing a small portion
upon some live coals, or the patient may inhale the vapour of boiling water
to which the  balsam has been added.  It is employed  in  pharmacy for the
preparation of benzoic acid (see Acidum Benzoicum);  and the  milky liquor
resulting from  the addition of water  to  its  alcoholic solution, is sometimes
used as a cosmetic, under the impression that it  renders  the skin soft and
tender.   In the  East Indies it is burnt by the Hindoos  as a perfume in their
temples.
   Off Prep.  Acidum Benzoicum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura Ben-
zoini Composita, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.                          W.


           BISMUTHUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Bismuth.

  Tinglass; Etain de glace, Bismuth, Fr.; Wissmuth, Germ.; Bismuttc,  Ital; Bismut,
Span.
   Bismuth is a peculiar  metal, occurring usually in  the metallic state, occa-
sionally as a sulphuret, and rarely as  an oxide.   It is by no means generally
diffused, being  principally found  in  Saxony.  It  occurs  also in Cornwall,
and has been  found at Monroe, Connecticut, seventeen  miles west of New-
Haven.   It is obtained  almost entirely  from the  native bismuth, which is
heated by means of wood or charcoal, whereby  the metal is fused and separa-
ted 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, bril-
liant 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, and its melting  point 476°.   At a°high  tem-
perature, in close vessels, it volatilizes, and may  be distilled over.   When
heated  in  the open air  to a  full  red heat,  it takes fire,  and burns with  a
faint blue flame, forming an oxide of a yellow colour.   This is the pro-
toxide, and consists of  one equivalent  of bismuth  71, and one of oxygen
8=79.   Besides this oxide, bismuth forms a sesquioxide of a brown colour,
very like the deutoxide of lead, and consisting of two eqs.  of metal  142,
and  three of oxygen  21=166.  Bismuth  is acted on feebly  by  muriatic
acid, but violently by nitric acid,  which dissolves it with a copious extrica-
tion of red fumes.  Sulphuric acid when cold has no action on it, but at a
boiling heat effects its solution with the  extrication of sulphurous acid.  As
it occurs in commerce, it is generally contaminated with a little arsenic, the
presence of which may  be detected by its not being completely soluble in an
excess of nitric acid.   It may be purified from all  contaminating metals, by
dissolving the bismuth of commerce  in diluted nitric acid, precipitatino- the
clear solution  by adding it to water, and reducing  the white  powder°thus
obtained  (subnitrate of bismuth) with black flux.   The same precipitate is
obtained by adding ammonia  to the  nitric solution ;  and if the supernatant 
PART I.
Bismuthum.—Brominum.
143
liquor should be blue, the presence of copper is indicated.   If the precipitate
be yellowish, iron is present.
  Pharmaceutical Uses, fyc.  Bismuth, in an  uncombined state, is not used
in medicine, but is  employed  pharmaceutically to obtain  the subnitrate of
bismuth, the only medicinal preparation formed from this metal.  In the arts,
it is  used to form a white paint for the complexion, called pearl white;  and
as an ingredient of the best pewter.
   Off. Prep. Bismuthi Subnitras,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.           B.


                BROMINUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                                Bromine.

   Off. Syn. BROMINIUM. Lond.
   Brome, Fr.; Brom, Germ.; Bromo, Ital
   Bromine is  an  elementary body, possessing  many analogies to chlorine
 and  iodine.  It was  discovered in  1826 by Balard, a chemist of Montpellier,
 in the bittern  of sea-salt works, in which it  exists as a bromide of mao-ne-
 sium.   Since then it has been discovered in the waters of the ocean, in  cer-
 tain  marine animals and vegetables, in  numerous  salt springs, and, in  two
 instances, in the mineral kingdom—in an ore of zinc, and in the cadmium of
 Silesia.  In the United States it was first discovered by  Professor Silliman,
 who found  it in the bittern of the salt  works at Salina, in the state  of New
 York, where it exists apparently in considerable quantities.   It exists in the
 salt  wells of Western Pennsylvania, the bittern of which  contains about nine
 drachms of bromine to the gallon.  At present this  bromine is successfully
 extracted for the purposes of commerce.  It  has  been  detected also  in the
 waters of the Saratoga Springs, and was found by  the late Professor Emmet,
 of the University of Virginia, in the Kenhawa water.
   Preparation.  Bromine  is  prepared  by passing a  current  of  chlorine
 through bittern, and then agitating it strongly  with a portion of ether.  The
 chlorine decomposes the bromide of magnesium present in the bittern, form-
 ing  a chloride  of magnesium;  and the disengaged bromine dissolves  in the
 ether, to which it communicates a hyacinth-red  colour.   The ethereal solu-
 tion of bromine is next decanted, and treated with  a concentrated solution
 of caustic  potassa, wdiereby the bromine is converted into bromide of potas-
 sium, and  bromate of  potassa.  In the mean  time the ether loses its  colour
 and  becomes pure, and may be again employed in dissolving fresh  portions
 of bromine.  Having in this way obtained a sufficient quantity of the salts
 above mentioned,  their solution is evaporated to dryness, and the dry mass
 calcined at a red heat, in order to convert the bromate of potassa into  bro-
 mide of potassium.  The bromide is next decomposed by distilling it, with
 sulphuric acid  and deutoxide of manganese, from  a retort furnished with a
 bent tube   plunging into water contained in  a bottle.   The acid combines
 with potassium and  oxygen, so as to form sulphate of potassa, and the libe-
 rated bromine  distils over, and condenses under the water.
   Properties.  Bromine  is a volatile liquid, of  a dark red colour when viewed
 in mass, but hyacinth-red in thin layers.  Its taste is very caustic, and its
 smell strong and disagreeable, having some resemblance to that of chlorine.
 Its density is very nearly 3.  At 4° below zero it becomes a hard, brittle,
 crystalline  solid, having a dark leaden colour, and 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 suf-
 ficient to fill a large  flask with its peculiar vapour. 
144                   Brominum.— Calamus.                part i.
    Bromine is sparingly soluble in water, to which it communicates an orange
  colour, more soluble in alcohol, and still more  so  in ether.  The alcoholic
  and ethereal, solutions lose their colour in a few  days, and become acid from
  the generation of hydrobromic acid.  It bleaches vegetable substances like
  chlorine, 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 chlorine and iodine;  since
  its  combinations are decomposed  by chlorine, while, in its turn, it  decom-
  poses those of iodine.  Its eq. number is 78-4 and  its symbol Br.   It forms
  acids  with both oxygen and hydrogen, called bromic and hydrobromic acids,
  which are analogous both in properties and composition to the corresponding
  compounds of chlorine and  iodine.  In  testing  for bromine in mineral or
  saline waters, the water is evaporated in order to  crystallize most of the salts.
  The solution, after having been filtered, is placed in  a narrow tube, and a few
  drops of strong chlorine water are added.  If this  addition produces an orange
  colour, bromine is present.  The water examined, in order that  the test may
  succeed, must be free from organic matter, and the chlorine not added in
 excess.   Bromine  may be  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 with sulphate of zinc, and then adding successively a few drops
 of nitric acid and a portion of ether, shaking the whole together.   If bromine
 be present, it  will be set free  and  dissolved in  the ether, to  which  it will
 communicate  an  orange colour. (Dupasquier.)
   Medical Properties.  Bromine, from its analogy to iodine, was early  tried
 as a remedy, and the result has demonstrated its value as a therapeutic agent.
 It acts like iodine, by stimulating the lymphatic system and promoting ab-
 sorption.  It  has  been employed  in  bronchocele,  scrofulous tumours and
 ulcers, amenorrhoea, chronic  diseases of  the skin, and hypertrophy of the
 ventricles. For a list of the diseases in which bromine and  its preparations
 have been used, the reader is referred to  the Essay of Dr. Clover in the  Ed.
 Med. fy  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, con-
 taining one part of bromine 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 tried in medicine   (See
 Potassn Bromidum, Lond.)  The bromide of iron and the two bromides of
 mercury will be noticed in the Appendix.
  Bromine, in an  overdose,  acts as an irritant poison.  The best antidote,
 according to Mr. Alfred Smee, is ammonia.
   Off. Prep.  Potassii Bromidum, Lond.                            g


                 CALAMUS.  U.S. Secondary.

                            Sweet Flag.

  " The rhizoma of Acorus Calamus." U. S.
  Off.  Syn.  ACORUS. Acorus Calamus. Rhizoma.  Lond- CAT AMTT<*
AROMATICUS.  Rhizoma of Acorus Calamus, var. a  vulgaris  S
^ Acorus vrai, Acorus odorant, Fr.; Kalmuswurzel,  Germ.; Calamo  aromatico, Ital.,

  Acorus.  Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.— Nat. Ord. Acoraceas. 
PART I.
Calamus.
145
   Gen. Ch.  Spadix cylindrical, covered with florets.   Corolla six-petalled,
 naked. Style none.  Capsule three-celled. Willd.
   Acorus Calamus. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 199; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 63.
 The sweet flag, or calamus,  has a perennial, horizontal, jointed, somewhat
 compressed root (rhizome), from half an  inch  to an inch thick, sometimes
 several feet in length, sending off numerous round and yellowish or whitish
 fibres  from its base, and bunches of brown fibres resembling coarse hair from
 its joints, internally white and  spongy, externally whitish with a tinge of
 green, variegated  with  triangular shades  of  light brown  and  rose colour.
 The leaves are all radical, sheathing at the base, long, sword-shaped, smooth,
 green  above, but of a red colour, variegated with green and white near their
 origin from the  root.   The scape  or flower-stem resembles  the leaves, but
 is longer, and from one side, near the middle of its length, sends out a cylin-
 drical  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 abundantly throughout the United
 States, in low, wet, swampy places,  and  along the sides  of ditches and
 streams, and flowering in May and June.   It is also a native  of Europe and
 Western Asia;  and a variety of the  same species is found in  India.   The
 European plant differs from  the American in some unimportant particulars.
 The leaves as well as root have an  aromatic odour; but  the latter only is
 used in medicine.   It should be collected late in the autumn or in the spring.
 After removal from the  ground, the roots are washed, freed from their numer-
 ous fibres, and dried with a moderate heat.   By the process  of drying they
 lose nearly one-half their diameter, but are improved in odour and taste.
   Properties.   The roots, as found in  the shops, are  in  pieces  of various
 lengths, somewhat flattened, externally  wrinkled  and of a yellowish-brown
 colour, and presenting  on their under surface numerous minute circular spots,
 indicating the points at which the fibres were inserted.  Their texture is
 light and spongy, their colour  internally whitish or yellowish-white,  and
 their fracture short and rough.   Sometimes  pieces are brought  into the
 market consisting  exclusively of the interior portion of the root.   They are
 usually long, slender, irregularly quadrangular, and of a grayish-white colour;
 and are prepared by paring off the outer coat with a knife.  The odour of
 calamus is strong  and  fragrant; its taste warm, bitterish, pungent, and aro-
 matic.   Its active principles are taken up by boiling water.  From one hun-
 dred parts of  the  fresh  root  of the European plant, Trommsdorff obtained
 0-1 part of volatile oil,  2-3  of a soft resin, 3-3 of extractive with a little chlo-
 ride of potassium,  5-5 of gum with some phosphate of potassa, 1-6  of starch,
 analogous to inulin, 21-5 of lignin, and 65*7 of water.  Sixteen ounces  of the
 dried root afforded to Neumann about two scruples  of volatile oil.   The oil
 is at first yellow, 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 attacked by worms, and  deteriorates by keeping.
   The root of the  Indian variety is said to be less  thick than  the European,
 and to  have a stronger and  more pleasant taste and smell.  It is supposed by
 some to be the  true calamus of the  ancients, though the claims of  either
variety to this honour have not been certainly established.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Calamus is  a stimulant tonic, possessing
the ordinary virtues of  the  aromatics.   It may be taken with advantage in
pain or uneasiness of  the  stomach or  bowels arising from  flatulence, and
forms a useful adjuvant to tonic or purgative medicines, in cases of torpor or
     14 
146
Calamus.— Calcii Chloridum.
PART I.
debility of the alimentary canal.  It was probably known to the ancients ; but
the calamus aromaticus of Dioscorides was a different product, having oeen
derived, according to Dr. Royle, from a species of Andropogon.  1 He medi-
cine is at present much neglected, though well calculated to answer as a
substitute for more costly aromatics.  The dose in substance is from a scruple
to a drachm.   An infusion, made in the  proportion of an ounce ot  the roo
to a pint of boiling water, is sometimes given in the dose of  a wineglasslul
or more.
            CALCII CHLORIDUM.  U. S., Lond.

                      Chloride of Calcium.

  Off. Sun. CALCIS MURIAS. Ed., Dub.
  Muriate of lime, Hydrochlorate of lime; Chlorure de calcium, Hydrochlorate de chaux,
Fr.; Chlorcalcium, Salzsaurer Kalk, Germ.
  Chloride of calcium consists of chlorine, united with calcium, the metallic
radical of lime.  It is placed in the list of the  Materia Medica in the United
States Pharmacoposia; but processes for preparing it are given by the London,
Edinburgh and Dublin  Colleges.  It may be readily formed by saturating
muriatic acid with  chalk or  marble, evaporating  to dryness,  and heating to
redness.   The  muriatic acid,  by reacting with  the lime, forms chloride of
calcium and water, the latter of which is dissipated at a red heat.  The Lon-
don College forms the chloride from chalk in the following manner.  "Take
five ounces of chalk,  and ten fluidounces, each, of hydrochloric acid and dis-
tilled water.  Having mixed the  acid and  water together,  add  the chalk
gradually to the mixture  to  perfect saturation.   After the effervescence shall
have ceased, filter  the liquor, and evaporate it to dryness.  Put the dry salt
in a crucible, and having fused it, pour it out upon  a clean stone slab.  When
it has cooled, break it into pieces, which must be kept in bottles well  stopped."
The Edinburgh process is  substantially the same with  the  London.  The
only differences are  that  the  Edinburgh College  use white  marble in frag-
ments,  and obtain the  chloride in crystals, by  evaporating the solution re-
sulting from the saturation  to  one-half, and setting it  aside  in a coldVplace.
  In making chloride of calcium, the Dublin College use the residuum  of
their process for obtaining water of ammonia.   The latter preparation being
procured  by the action  of lime  on muriate of  ammonia, the residuum is  a
solution of chloride of calcium ; but it generally contains adhering ammonia
and an excess of lime.   Any  quantity of this residuum  is taken, and, after
being filtered, is evaporated  to dryness.  The excess of lime may be saturated
 with  muriatic acid, or converted into an insoluble carbonate by exposing the
 solution for some  time to the air.
   Properties.   Chloride of calcium, in the fused or  anhydrous state, as  it
 is directed or understood to be  in the  U. S., London, and Dublin Pharma-
 copoeias, 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.  It is employed  for  the latter  purpose  by the London and
 Dublin Colleges.   The crystallized  salt, as directed by the  Edinburgh Col-
 lege, is also very deliquescent, 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 freezing mixture. So- 
PART I.
Calcis Hydras.— Calx.
147
lution of chloride of calcium, when pure, yields no precipitate with ammonia,
chloride of barium, or ferrocyanuret of potassium dissolved in a large quan-
tity of water.   The non-action of these tests severally shows the absence
of magnesia, sulphuric acid, and iron.
   Chloride of calcium exists in  solution in  the  water  of the ocean and of
many springs.  It is usually associated with common salt and  chloride of
magnesium, from which it is separated with difficulty.
   Composition.   Chloride of calcium consists of one eq. of chlorine 35*42,
and one of calcium 20-5=55-92.  When crystallized, it contains six eqs.
of water=54.
   Chloride of calcium is used medicinally in solution  only.  In this state
it is officinal under the name of Liquor  Calcii Chloridi, under which  title
its medicinal properties will be given.  It is employed in saturated solution
by the Edinburgh  College for purifying sulphuric ether.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Calcii  Chloridi,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Morphiae Murias,
Ed.                                                              B.

                   CALCIS HYDRAS.  Lond,

                         Hydrate  of Lime.

   " Calx recens usta aqua resoluta."  Lond.
   Slacked lime; Hydrate de chaux, Chaux eteintc, Fr.; Gekischter Kalk, Germ.
   The London College have introduced hydrate of lime  as a new officinal in
their  revised  Pharmacopoeia  of 1836.  It is  readily  prepared  by  adding
water to quicklime by small quantities at a time, until  the  earth falls  into
powder.  During  the operation, which is called the slacking of lime,  a great
deal of heat is evolved, and the water forms with the earth a solid  compound,
called hydrate of lime.   It is white, pulverulent, and much less caustic than
lime.  Exposed to the air it attracts  carbonic acid, and, when subjected to
a high temperature, loses the combined water, and  returns to the state of
lime.  When perfectly formed, the hydrate contains nearly one-fourth of its
weight of water, corresponding to one eq. of the earth and one of water.
Its only officinal   use is to  form chlorinated lime or bleaching powder.
(See Calx  Chlorinata.)   The tests for hydrate of lime  are the same as for
lime. (See  Calx.)
   Off. Prep. Calx Chlorinata, Zone?.                                B.


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

                                Lime.

   " Lime recently prepared by calcination." U. S.   " Calx recens usta."
Lond.
   Quicklime; Chaux, Chaux vive, Fr.; Kalk, Germ.; Calce, Ital; Calviva, Span.
   Lime, which ranks among the  alkaline earths, is a very important phar-
maceutical  agent, and forms the principal ingredient in several standard pre-
parations.  The London and  Edinburgh  Colleges  give  processes  for its
preparation ; but in the United States and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, it is placed
exclusively in the  list of  the Materia Medica.
   Lime is  a very abundant natural production.   It is never  found pure, but
mostly combined with  acids, as with  carbonic  acid in  chalk, marble, calca-
reous spar, limestone, and shells;  with sulphuric acid in the different kinds
of gypsum;  with  phosphoric acid in the bones of animals; and with silica
in a great variety of minerals. ' 
148
Calx.
PART I.
   Preparation.  Lime is prepared by calcining, with  a  strong  heat, some
 form of the native carbonate.   The carbonic acid is  thus expelled, and the
 lime remains behind.  When the lime is intended for nice chemical opera-
 tions, it should be obtained  from pure  white marble, or from oyster shells.
 For the purposes of the arts it is procured from common limestone, by cal-
 cining it in kilns of peculiar construction.   When  obtained in this way, it
 is  generally impure,  being of a grayish  colour,  and containing  alumina,
 silica, sesquioxide of iron,  and occasionally a little magnesia and oxide of
 manganese.
   The  officinal lime of the United.States and Dublin Pharmacopoeias  is the
 lime of commerce, and, therefore, impure.   That obtained by the processes
 of the London and  Edinburgh Colleges  is  purer.   The London  College
 takes a  pound of chalk, and exposes it, broken into small pieces, to a  very
 strong fire for an hour.  The Edinburgh directions are to  expose  white mar-
 ble, broken into small fragments, in a covered crucible, to a full red heat for
 three hours, or till the  residuum, when slacked and suspended in water, no
 longer effervesces on the addition of muriatic acid.
   Properties.   Lime is a  grayish-white  solid, having  a strong, caustic,
 alkaline taste,  and the  sp. gr. 2*3.  It is very refractory in the fire, having
 been fused only by the compound blowpipe  of Dr. Hare.  Exposed to the
 air, it absorbs  moisture and carbonic acid, and falls into a  white powder. In
 this state, it is a mixture of  carbonate and hydrate.   On account of its  lia-
 bility to change by being kept, lime, intended  for  pharmaceutial purposes,
 should be recently burnt.  It acts upon vegetable colours as a strong alkaline
 base.  Upon  the addition of water, it  cracks  and  falls  into powder, with
 the evolution of heat. (See Calcis  Hydras, Lond.)  If  it  dissolve  in muri-
 atic acid without effervescence, the fact shows the  absence of carbonic acid,
 and that the lime has been well burnt.  If any silica  be present, it will be
 left undissolved by the muriatic acid.   If the solution give no  precipitate
 with ammonia, the absence of iron and alumina is shown.
  ,Lime is  but sparingly soluble in water, requiring, at  the temperature of
 60°, about seven hundred times its weight of that liquid  for complete solu-
 tion.  Contrary to the general law, it is less soluble  in hot  than in cold water.
 The solution  formed is called lime-water.   When  lime is mixed in excess
 with water, so as to form a thick liquid, the mixture is called milk of lime.
   Lime is the  oxide of a peculiar metal, called  calcium, and consists of one
 eq. of calcium 20-5,  and one of oxygen 8=28-5.   It is distinguished from
 the other alkaline earths by forming a very deliquescent salt {chloride of calci-
 um) by  the action of 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
   Medical Properties.   Lime  acts externally  as  an  escharotic, and  was
 formerly applied to  ill-conditioned ulcers.  Mixed  with  caustic  potassa  it
 forms the Potassa cum Cake.  As  an  internal remedy it is always admin-
 istered in solution. (See Liquor Calcis.)
   Economical  Uses.   The  uses of lime  in the arts  are  numerous  It is
employed in the fabrication of soap, to render the fixed alkalies caustic • as
 a manure for fertilizing fields; and, mixed with sand and water, as the ordi-
nary cement of buildings.
   Lime is used to prepare ^ther Sulphuricus,  Zrf.; Alcohol, j£rf. Liquor
Ammonias, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Potassas, U. S  Lond  Ed
Dub.; Quinias Sulphas, U. S.;  Spiritus Ammonias, U. S., Ed • Strvphnia'
 U. S., Ed.; Sulphur Prascipitatum,  U.S.                     ' &tI7cnma<
   Off Prep. Liquor  Calcis,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassa cum Calce,
Lond., Ed., Dub.                                                 v^c,
                                                                   Jj. 
PART I.
Calx  Chlorinata.
149
         CALX CHLORINATA.  U. S, Lond.,  Ed.

                         Chlorinated Lime.

  "A compound resulting from the action of chlorine on hydrate of lime."
U.S.
  Chloride of lime, Hypochlorite of lime, Oxymuriate of lime, Bleaching powder; Chlo-
rure de chaux, Fr.; Chlorkalk, Germ; Cloruro de calce, Ital.
  This  compound was originally prepared, and brought into  notice as a
bleaching agent, in 1798, by Mr. Tennant of Glasgow.  Subsequently it was
found to have valuable properties as a medicine and disinfectant, and, accord-
ingly, it has been successively introduced into  the London, Edinburgh, and
United States Pharmacopoeias.   The London College only has given a pro-
cess for its preparation, which is as follows:  " Take of Hydrate of Lime a
pound; Chlorine as much as may be sufficient.   Pass  the chlorine over the
lime, spread in a proper vessel, until it is saturated.  Chlorine is very readily
evolved from Hydrochloric [muriatic] Acid added to Binoxide [deutoxide] of
Manganese, with a gentle heat."
  This process of the  London College is  unnecessary; as chlorinated lime
is made  in  large quantities, and of excellent quality, by the manufacturing
chemist, for the use of the bleacher, dyer, and paper-maker.  The following
is the process pursued  on the large scale.  An oblong square chamber  is
constructed, generally of siliceous sandstone, the joints being  secured by a
cement of pitch, rosin,  and dry gypsum.   At one end it is furnished with an
air-tight door, and on each side with a glass  window, to enable the operator
to inspect the process during its progress.   The  slacked 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, which, by keeping them about an inch asunder, favour the
circulation of the gas over the lime.
  The  chlorine is  generated in a leaden vessel  nearly spherical, the  lower
portion of  which is surrounded with an iron case, leaving an interstice two
inches wide, intended  to  receive steam for the purpose  of producing the
requisite heat.  In the leaden vessel are five apertures.  The first is in the
centre of the top, and receives a tube  which descends nearly to the bottom,
and through which a vertical  stirrer passes, intended to mix the materials,
and furnished, at the lower end, with horizontal cross-bars of iron, or of
wood sheathed with lead.   The second is for the introduction of the common
salt and manganese.   The third admits a syphon-shaped funnel, through
which the sulphuric  acid is introduced.  The fourth is connected with a pipe
to lead off the gas.  The fifth, which is near  the  bottom, receives a dis-
charge pipe, passing through the iron case, and intended for drawing off the
residuum of the operation.
  The pipe passing from the leaden vessel terminates under water contained
in a leaden chest  or  cylinder,  where the gas is  washed from muriatic acid.
From  this intermediate vessel,  the chlorine finally passes,  by means of a
pretty large leaden  pipe, through the ceiling of  the  chamber containing the
lime.   The process  of  impregnation  generally lasts four days, in order  to
form  a good bleaching  powder.  If the process be hastened, heat will be
generated,  which will favour the production of chloride of calcium, attended
with a proportional diminution of chloride  of lime.
  The proportions of the materials employed for generating chlorinated lime
vary  in different manufactories.  Those generally  adopted  are 10 cwt. of
common salt, mixed with from 10 to 14 cwt. of deutoxide of manganese;  to
                                  14* 
150
Calx  Chlorinata.
PART I.
which  are added, in successive portions, from 12 to 14 cwt. of strong sul-
phuric acid, diluted before  being  used until its sp. gr. is reduced  to  about
1-65, which will be accomplished by adding about one-third of its weight ol
water.   In manufactories in which sulphuric  acid is also made, the acid in-
tended for this  process is brought to the  sp. gr. of  1-65 only, whereby the
expense of further concentration is saved.
  Properties.   Chlorinated lime is a dry or slightly moist, grayish-white,
pulverulent substance, possessing an acrid, hot, bitter, astringent taste, and a
feeble odour resembling that of chlorine.   It possesses  powerful bleaching
properties.  When  perfectly saturated  with  chlorine, it  dissolves  almost
entirely in water; but, as  ordinarily prepared, a  large portion is  insoluble,
consisting of hydrate of lime.   When exposed to  heat, it gives off oxygen
and some  chlorine,  and is  converted  into chloride of calcium.   It is incom-
patible with the mineral acids, with  carbonic acid,  and the alkaline carbon-
ates.   The acids evolve chlorine copiously, and the alkaline carbonates cause
a precipitate of carbonate of lime.  (See Liquor Sodx Chlorinatse.)
  Composition.  Although the bleaching powder  has  been studied by a
number of able chemists, its composition is still involved in doubt.   Dr. Ure
believes that it consists of hydrate of lime and  chlorine, united in variable
proportions, not correspondent to equivalent quantities.  According to Brande,
Grouvelle, and  Phillips, the compound obtained when chlorine ceases to be
absorbed, consists of one eq. of chlorine and two  of hydrate of lime, resolva-
ble, 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 substance has been so much improved in quality of late years, that good
samples consist of single equivalents ofehlorine and lime, and are almost entire-
ly soluble  in water.  It thus appears that the best authorities agree in consider-
ing the bleaching  powder to contain lime and  water, or  their elements,
together with  chlorine.   From the statement of Dr. Thomson, it may be
assumed as  probable that the essential part of the compound is the portion
soluble in water. On this view, its ultimate constituents, exclusive of the ele-
ments of water, are one eq. of chlorine, one of calcium, and one of oxygen; the
excess of lime found T>y Phillips and others being a portion of the earth imper-
fectly hydrated, and, therefore, in an unfit state to be acted on by the chlorine.
Three views are taken of the manner in which these elements are united to
form the bleaching powder.  The first makes it a chloride of lime, the second,
hypochlorite of lime with chloride of calcium, and the third, oxychloride of
calcium.  By doubling  the elements present, it is easily shown by symbols,
that the several views taken do not change the ultimate composition of the
compound; for 2CaO+2Cl=CaO,C10 + CaCl=2CaOCl.
   The simplest view of the nature of the bleaching powder  is that which
supposes it a compound of chlorine and lime.  The view which makes it a
hypochlorite is that of  Balard  and Berzelius, and is supported by the fact
that the compound smells of hypochlorous acid.  On the other hand, if it
contain chloride of calcium, it ought to  deliquesce, unless it  can be shown
that the metallic chloride is in such a state of combination as to prevent this
result.  The third view, that it is an oxychloride, which assimilates its nature
to that of the  deutoxide of calcium, is  held  by  Millon.   According  to this
chemist, the quantity of chlorine taken up by a metallic protoxide is regu-
lated by the nature of its peroxide.   The peroxide of calcium is a  deutoxide
(CaOa); and Millon contends that, in fhe bleaching powder, by the replace-
ment of the second equivalent of oxygen in the deutoxide by chlorine, we
have the compound CaOCl.  Again, the peroxide of potassium is represented
by K03, and Millon states that the bleaching compound which potassa (KO) 
part i.                    Calx Chlorinata.                       151

forms with chlorine, is K0C12.  If further observation should show that the
number of equivalents 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, it 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,  which
latter combines with an additional eq. of lime, to form hypochlorite of lime.
Upon the whole, considering the uncertainty as to  the real nature of the com-
pound under consideration, the name  of chlorinated lime, adopted  by the
Pharmacopoeias,  is  a judicious one, as  involving  no  decision  of its exact
composition.
   Impurities and Tests.   Chlorinated  lime may contain a great excess of
lime, from imperfect impregnation with the  gas.  This defect will be  shown
by the  large proportion insoluble in water.  If it contain much chloride of
calcium, it will be quite moist, which is always a sign of inferior quality.  If
long and insecurely kept,  it deteriorates from the gradual formation of chlo-
ride of calcium and carbonate  of lime.   Several methods  have been proposed
for determining its bleaching and disinfecting power, which depends solely
on the quantity of chlorine it contains.   Welter proposed to add a solution
of the bleaching powder to a standard solution of sulphate of indigo, in order
to ascertain its decolorizing power; but the objection to this test is that the
indigo of commerce is very variable in its amount  of colouring matter.  Dr.
Ure has proposed muriatic acid to disengage the chlorine over mercury; but
this test is liable to the fallacy that it will disengage carbonic acid as well as
chlorine ; and it has been shown by some unpublished experiments  of Mr.
Procter of this city, that the amount of disengaged gaseous matter is  not in
proportion to the  decolorizing power.   The late  Dr. Dalton  proposed as  a
test, to add a solution of the bleaching powder to one of the sulphate of
protoxide of iron, until the odour of chlorine is perceived.   Chlorine is not
disengaged until the iron is sesquioxidized, and the stronger the  bleaching
powder, the sooner  this will be accomplished.   Dr. Thomson and Professor
Graham consider this test as the best yet proposed.
   The Pharmacopoeias have given no satisfactory test of the value of chlo-
rinated lime.  The  character  given in the London and United States Phar-
macopoeias of entire solubility in dilute muriatic acid, with the evolution of
chlorine, applies  equally to good  and  bad samples.  Assuming  the chlo-
rinated 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.   This
test is given  by the Edinburgh  College, with directions for measuring the
bulk, after rest, of the precipitated  oxalate of lime; but the  plan is not prac-
tically convenient.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Chlorinated lime, externally applied, is
a desiccant and disinfectant, and has been used with advantage in solution
as an application  to ill-conditioned ulcers,  burns, chilblains, and cutaneous
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
a stimulant and astringent.   It has  been employed by Dr. Reid in the epi-
demic typhoid fever of Ireland ; by the same practitioner, in dysentery, both
by the mouth and injection, with  the effect of correcting the fetor, and im- 
152
Calx  Chlorinata.
part i.
proving the appearance ]of the stools; by Cima, both internally and exter-
nally in scrofula;  and by Dr. Varlez of Brussels in ophthalmia.   Dr. Pe-
reira has used a weak solution very successfully in  the  purulent ophthalmia
of infants.  In the febrile  cases  Dr. Reid  found it to render the tongue
cleaner and moister, to check diarrhoea, and induce sleep.   The dose inter-
nally  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  applied, it is
impossible to give  any very  precise directions for its  strength as an  external
remedy.  From one to four drachms of the powder added to a pint of water,
and the  solution filtered, will form a liquid within the limits of strength ordi-
narily 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 con-
stantly 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 scrofulous enlargements of the lymphatic glands,  it may be made of a
drachm  of the chloride to an ounce  of lard.  Chlorinated lime acts, without
doubt, by the chlorine which it contains ; but it is not so eligible  for some
purposes as the solution of chlorinated soda. (See Liquor Sodse Chlorinatse.)
  In consequence  of its powers as a disinfectant, chlorinated lime is a  very
important compound  in its application to medical police.   It  possesses the
property of preventing or arresting animal and vegetable putrefaction, and,
perhaps, of destroying pestilential and  infectious miasms.   It may be used
with advantage for preserving bodies from exhaling an unpleasant odour be-
fore interment in the summer season.   In juridical  exhumations its use is
indispensable, as it effectually removes the disgusting and insupportable fetor
of the corpse.  The mode in which it is applied in  these cases, is  to enve-
lop 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  infec-
tion, it also appears to be highly useful. Hence  hospitals, alms-houses, jails,
ships, &c,  may be purified  by its  means.   In  short, all places which  may
be deemed infectious, from having  been the receptacle of cases of virulent
disease, may be more or less disinfected by its use, after they have undergone
the ordinary processes of cleansing.
   The way in which  chlorinated lime acts, is  exclusively by its  chlorine,
which,  being loosely combined, is disengaged by the slightest affinities.  All
acids, even the carbonic, disengage it; and as this acid is a product of animal
and vegetable decomposition, noxious effluvia furnish the means,  to a certain
extent,  of their own  disinfection by  this  chloride.   But the stronger acids
disengage the chlorine far more readily, and, among these, sulphuric acid is
the cheapest and  most convenient.   Accordingly,  the  powder may be  dis-
solved in a very dilute solution of sulphuric acid, or  a small  quantity of this
acid may be added to an aqueous solution ready formed; in case a more co-
pious 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 purify-
ing 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. 
PART I.
Camphora.
153
  Chlorinated lime is used as a chemical agent in the U. S. formula for pre-
paring acetate of zinc.
  Off Prep.  Liquor Sodas Chlorinatas, U. S.                        B.


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

                             Camphor.

  "A peculiar concrete substance derived from Laurus  Camphora, and puri-
fied by sublimation."  U.S.  "Laurus Camphora.  Concrelum sui generis,
sublimationepurijicatum.^ Lond.   "Camphor  of Camphora officinarum."
Ed.   "Laurus Camphora. Dryobalanops Camphora.  Camphora.'1'' Dub.
  Camphre, Fr.;  Kampher, Germ.; Canfora, Ital.; Alcanfor, Span.
  The name of camphor has been applied to various concrete, white, odor-
ous, volatile  products, found in different aromatic plants, and  resulting pro-
bably from some chemical  change  in  their volatile oil.  But commercial
camphor is derived exclusively from two plants, the Camphora officinarum
of Nees or Laurus Camphora  of  Linnaeus, and the  Dryobalanops Cam-
phora; 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,  has recently been obtained  upon the Tenasserim coast,  in  fur-
ther India, by subliming the tops of an annual plant, growing abundantly in
that  region, and thought to be a species of Blumia.  This product, however,
has not yet been introduced into general commerce.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm.
"xvi.  56. from the Calcutta Journ. of Nat. Hist.)   The following observa-
tions apply to the officinal camphor.
  Camphora. Sex. Syst.  Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord. Lauraceas.
   Gen. Ch. Blowers hermaphrodite, panicled,  naked.  Calyx six-cleft, pa-
pery, with a deciduous limb. Fertile stamens nine,  in three rows; the inner
with two  stalked, compressed glands at the base;  anthers four-celled ; the
outer turned inwards, the inner  outwards.   Three sterile stamens  shaped
like  the first, placed in a whorl alternating with the stamens of the  second
row; three others stalked, with  an ovate glandular head.   Fruit placed on
the obconical base of the calyx.  Leaves triple-nerved, glandular in the axils
of the principal veins.  Leaf buds scaly.  (Lindley, Flora Medica, 332.)
  Among the species composing the genus Laurus of Linn., such striking
differences have been  observed in the structure of the flower and fruit, that
botanists have been induced to arrange them in new genera.   The camphor,
cinnamon, and sassafras trees have been separated from  the proper laurels by
the German  botanist Nees, and  made  the types of distinct  genera, which
have been adopted  by Lindley and most other  recent writers, and  may be
considered as well established.   The United States  Pharmacopoeia virtually
recognises the new arrangement by adopting the genus Cinnamomum,  though
it still attaches the two other plants to the Laurus.
  Camphora officinarum. Nees, Laurin. 88.—Laurus Camphora.  Willd.
Sp. Plant, ii. 478;  Woodv. Med. Bot.  p. 681. t. 236.—Persea  Camphora.
Sprengel.   The camphor tree is an evergreen of considerable size,  having
the aspect of the linden, with a trunk straight below, but divided above into
many branches, which are covered with a smooth, greenish bark.  Its  leaves,
which stand  alternately upon long  footstalks, are  ovate lanceolate,  entire,
smooth and shining, ribbed, of a bright yellowish-green  colour on their upper
surface, paler on the under, and two or three inches  in length-.  The  flowers
are small, white, pedicelled, and  collected in clusters, which  are supported 
154
Camphora.
PART I.
by long axillary peduncles.  The fruit is a red berry resembling that of the
cinnamon.   The tree is  a  native of the most eastern parts of  Asia, and is
found abundantly in  China and Japan.  It has been introduced into the bo-
tanical gardens of Europe, and is occasionally met with in the  conservatories
of our own country.
  The leaves have when bruised the odour of camphor, which is diffused
through all  parts of the plant, and is obtained from the  root, trunk, and
branches by sublimation.  The process is not precisely the same in all places.
The following is said to be the one pursued in Japan. The parts mentioned,
particularly  the  roots and  smaller branches, are  cut into chips, which are
placed, with a little water, in large iron vessels, surmounted by earthen capi-
tals, furnished with a lining of rice-straw.  A moderate heat is then applied,
and the camphor, volatilized by the steam  of the boiling water, rises into the
capital, where it is condensed upon the straw.   In China, the  comminuted
plant is said to be first boiled with water  until the camphor adheres  to the
stick used in stirring, when the strained  liquor is allowed to  cool; and the
camphor which concretes, being alternated with layers of earth, is submitted
to sublimation.
  Commercial  History.  Camphor, in  the  crude state,  is brought to this
country chiefly from  Canton.   It comes  also from Batavia, Singapore,  Cal-
cutta, and very frequently from London.    All of it is probably derived origi-
nally from  China and Japan.   Two commercial  varieties are found  in the
market.  The cheapest  and  most  abundant is  the  Chinese camphor, the
greater part 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.  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  pur-
poses.  The process for  refining  camphor was first practised in Europe by
the Venetians, who probably derived it from the Chinese.   It was afterwards
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  is  equal to any that  was formerly imported.  Crude
camphor is mixed with  about  one-fiftieth of quicklime,  and  exposed, in  a
glass or earthenware vessel placed  in a sandbath, to a gradually increasing
heat, by which it is melted, and ultimately converted into  vapour,, which con-
denses in a suitable  recipient.  Refined  in this  manner, it is usually in the
form of large circular cakes,  one  or two  inches thick, convex  on one  side,
concave on the other, and perforated in the centre.
  Properties.   Camphor has a peculiar, strong, penetrating, fragrant odour;
and a bitter, pungent taste, attended with  a  slight sense  of coolness.   It  is
beautifully white and pellucid, somewhat unctuous to  the touch, friable, and
yet possessed of a degree of tenacity which  renders its  reduction to a' fine
powder very difficult, unless the cohesion  of its particles be overcome by the
addition of a minute proportion of alcohol, or other volatile liquid for which 
PART I.
Camphora.
155
it has  an affinity.   It  may be obtained in powder  also by precipitating its
alcoholic solution with water, or by grating and afterwards  sifting it.  The
fracture of camphor is shining, and its texture  crystalline.   Its sp. gr. varies
from 0-9857 to 0-996.   It therefore floats upon water, on the surface  of
which, if  thrown in  small fragments, it  assumes very singular circulatory
movements, which cease upon the addition of  a drop of oil.   Its volatility is
so  great, that  even at ordinary temperatures  it is wholly  dissipated if left
exposed to the air.   When it is confined  in  bottles, the vapour condenses
upon the inner surface, and, when allowed to stand for  a long time  in  large
bottles partially filled, sometimes  forms  large and beautiful  crystals.   It
melts  at 288°  F. and boils at 400°.  (Turner.)  In  close vessels it may be
sublimed unchanged.   When  allowed to  concrete slowly from  the state  of
vapour,  it assumes the form of hexagonal plates.  It is not altered by air and
light.  It readily takes fire, and burns with a brilliant flame, giving out much
smoke, and leaving no residue.  Water triturated with camphor dissolves a
very minute proportion, not more, according to Berzelius, than a thousandth
part;  which, however, is  sufficient to impart a decided odour and taste to the
solvent.  By the intervention of sugar or magnesia, particularly of the latter,
a much larger proportion is dissolved. (See Aqua Camphorse.)  Carbonic acid
also increases the solvent power of water.  Ordinary alcohol will take up
seventy-five per cent, of  its weight of camphor, which is precipitated upon
the addition of water.   Berzelius states that 100 parts of alcohol, of the sp.
gr. 0-806, dissolve 120 parts at 50° F.  It is soluble also without change  in
ether, the  volatile and fixed oils, strong acetic  acid, and the diluted mineral
acids.  By means of the spirit of nitric ether, it is  rendered somewhat  more
soluble in  water.  By the action of strong sulphuric  and  nitric acids, it is
decomposed, the former carbonizing and converting it into  artificial „tannin;
the latter, by the aid of repeated distillation, into  a  peculiar  acid called the
camphoric.  The  alkalies produce very  little effect upon it.   The  resins
unite with it, forming a soft tenacious mass, in which the odour of the cam-
phor is  sometimes  almost extinguished  and frequently diminished;  and a
similar softening effect results when it  is triturated with the  concrete oils.*
Exposed to a strong heat  in close vessels, camphor is resolved into a volatile
oil  and charcoal.   It is closely analogous in  character  to the essential oils.
Berzelius considers it a stearoptene free from any mixture of eleoptene.  (See
Olea  Volatilia.)  According  to  M.  Dumas, it consists of a  radical  called
camphene  united  with  oxygen.   Camphene,  which  is  represented  by pure
oil  of  turpentine,  is composed of ten equivalents of carbon 60, and eight  of
hydrogen 8=68.   With one  equiv. of oxygen it forms camphor, with four

  * As this property of camphor may have a strong  bearing injuriously or otherwise on
pharmaceutical processes, it is desirable that the operator, as well as prescriber, should  be
aware of the degree of effect  produced by different resinous substances which may be
mixed with  camphor.  M. Planche has found that mixtures, formed by triturating pow-
dered camphor with powdered dragon's blood, guaiac, assafetida, or galbanvm, assume
and preserve  indeBnitely the pilular consistence;  with benzoin, tolu, ammoniac, and mas-
tic,  though at first of a pilular consistence, afterwards become soft by exposure to the air;
with sagapenum and anime,  assume a permanently  semi-liquid form; with olibanum,
opopanax, gamboge, euphorlrium, bdellium, myrrh, and amber, remain  pulverulent though
somewhat grumous; and with tacamahac, resin of jalap, sandarac, and resinoid matter of
cinchona, preserve the form of powder indefinitely.  The  same experimenter observed,
that camphor loses its odour entirely when  mixed with assafetida, galbanvm, sagapenvm,
anime, and tolu ;  retains a feeble odour with dragon's blood, olibanum, 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) 
156
Camphora.
PART  I.
 equiv. of the same body, hydrated  camphoric acid, and with half an equiv. of
 hydrochloric acid, artificial camphor.*
    Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Camphor  does  not  seem to have been
 known to the  ancient Greeks  and  Romans.   Europe  probably  derived it
 from the  Arabians, by  whom  it  was employed  as a  refrigerant.   Much
 difference of opinion has  prevailed as  to its  mode of action, some maintain-
 ing  its  immediate sedative  influence, others  considering  it as  a direct and
 decided stimulant.  Its  operation appears to be primarily  and chiefly directed
 to the cerebral and nervous systems; and the circulation, though usually
 affected to a  greater or less  extent, is  probably involved, for the most part,
 through the  agency of the brain. It acts, also, to a certain extent, as a direct
 irritant of the mucous membranes  with which it is brought into  contact, and
 may thus in some measure secondarily excite the pulse.   The effects  of the
 medicine  vary  with the  quantity administered.   In  moderate doses it pro-
 duces, in  a  healthy  individual,  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-

   * Sumatra  Camphor.  Borneo  Camphor. Dryobalanops  Camphor.  It has long been
 known that an excellent variety of camphor is produced in the Islands of SumUra and
 Borneo, by a forest tree, which, not having been seen by botanists, remained until a recent
 period undetermined. It was at length, however, described  by Colebrooke, and is  now
 recognised in systematic works as the Dryobalanops Camphora, or D. aromatica.  It is a
 very large tree, sometimes  attaining  the  height of one hundred feet, with a trunk six or
 seven feet in diameter, and ranking among the tallest and largest trees of the  luxuriant
 regions where  it grows.  It is found both in Sumatra and Borneo, and is abundant on the
 N. VV. coast of the former island.   The camphor exists 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  before this  object is  attained.
 When discovered, the tree is  felled and cut into logs, which are then split, and the cam-
 phor  removed by means of sharp-pointed  instruments.  The  masses  are  sometimes as
 thick  as a man's arm; and the product of a middling sized tree is nearly eleven pounds-;
 of a large one, double the quantity. The trees which have been wounded and left stand-
 ing, often produce camphor seven or  eight years  afterwards.   The Dryobalanops yields
 also a fragrant liquid, called in the East Indies oil of camphor, and highly valued as an
 external application in rheumatism and other painful affections.  It is said to be found in
 trees  too young to produce camphor, and is  supposed to constitute the first stage in the
 development of this  substance; as it  occupies the  cavities in the trunk, which are after-
 wards filled with the camphor.  It holds, in fact, a large portion of this principle in solu-
 tion, and may be made to yield an inferior variety by artificial concretion. The whole tree
 is pervaded more or less by the camphor  or the oil;  as the wood retains a fragrant smell,
 and, being on this account less liable to the attacks of insects, is highly esteemed for car-
 penter's work.  The  camphor-wood trunks,  occasionally.brought to this country  from the
 East Indies, are probably made out of the wood of the Dryobalanops.
   It has been supposed that this variety of camphor is occasionally brought into  the mar-
 kets of Europe and America.   But this is a mistake; as the whole produce of the islands
 is engrossed by the Chinese, by whom it is so  highly valued, that it commands at CantoD,
 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 a foliaceous  crystalline texture, white, somewhat translucent, of an
 odour  analogous to that of  common camphor, and yet decidedlv distinct, and less agree-
able.  It has also  a  camphorous taste.   It is more compact and  brittle than ordinary
 camphor; but  does not  sink  in water, and is easily pulverized without the addition of
alcohol.  It  is, moreover, much less disposed to rise in vapour, and  to condense on the
 inside of the bottle containing it.   Like ordinary camphor, it is fusible, volatilizuble very
slightly soluble in water, and freely soluble  in alcohol and in ether.  We have never met
 with it in the drug stores. 
part i.             .         Camphora.                           157

tain Italian physicians, it has  a tendency to the  urinary and genital organs,
producing a  burning  sensation along  the urethra, and exciting voluptuous
dreams.*   Cullen, however,  states that he  has employed it  fifty  times,
even  in large doses, without having  ever  observed any  effect  upon  the
urinary  passages.   By  many it is  believed  to  allay  irritations  of  the
urinary and genital apparatus,  and to possess antaphrodisiac properties.  In
its primary operation it  allays nervous irritation, quiets restlessness, and
produces a  general  placidity  of feeling, which  renders  it highly useful in
certain forms of disease attended with derangement of the nervous functions.
In larger doses it  displays a  more decided action on the brain, producing
more or less giddiness and  mental confusion, with a  disposition  to  sleep;
and, in morbid states  of the system, relieving pain and  allaying spasmodic
action.   In immoderate doses it  occasions nausea, vomiting, anxiety, faint-
ness, vertigo, delirium,  insensibility,  coma, and convulsions,  which  may
end in death.   The pulse, under  these circumstances, is  at first reduced in
frequency and force;t but as the action advances, it sometimes happens that
symptoms of strong sanguineous determination to the head become evident,
in the  flushed countenance,  inflamed  and  fiery eyes, and highly  excited
pulse.i  There can be no doubt that it is absorbed ;  as its odour is observed
in the breath and perspiration, though, as is asserted, not in the urine.
   By its  moderately stimulating powers, its  diaphoretic tendency,  and its
influence over the nervous system, it is admirably adapted to  the  treatment
of all diseases of a  typhoid character, which  combine  with  the  enfeebled
condition  of the system,  a frequent irritated  pulse, a dry  skin, and  much
nervous derangement, indicated by restlessness, watchfulness, tremors, sub-
sultus, and low muttering1 delirium.  Nor are its beneficial  effects confined
to typhoid diseases.  With a view to  its anodyne and narcotic  influence, it
is often used in those of an inflammatory character, as in our  ordinary re-
mittents, and  the  phlegmasia?, particularly rheumatism, when  the increased
vascular action is complicated  with derangement of the nervous system.  In
such  cases, however, it should never  be used  until after proper depletion,
and even then should be combined with such  medicines as may obviate  the
slight stimulation  it  produces, and give it a more decided  tendency to the
skin ; as, for instance,  tartarized  antimony, ipecacuanha, or  nitre.   In a
great number of spasmodic and nervous disorders, and complaints of irrita-
tion,  camphor has been  very extensively employed.    The  cases  of this
nature to which experience  has proved it to be  best adapted, are dysmenor-
rhea, 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  ad-
vantage may be derived from combining it with  opium.  Camphor has also
been employed internally  to allay that  irritation of the urinary  organs  which
is apt to be  produced by  cantharides.
   It is  much used  locally as an anodyne, usually dissolved  in  alcohol,
oil, or acetic acid, and frequently combined  with laudanum.   In rheumatic
and  gouty  affections,  and various  internal spasmodic   and  inflammatory
complaints,  it often  yields  relief  when  applied  in  this  way.  The ardor
urinas of gonorrhoea  may  be alleviated  by injecting  an oleaginous  solution
of camphor into the urethra;  and  the  tenesmus from  ascarides  and dysen-
tery,  by administering the same solution in the form of enema.  Twenty or
thirty grains of camphor, added to a poultice, and applied to the perineum,

            *  N. Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. ix. p. 442.
            t  Alexander, Experimental Essays, p. 227.—Orfila.
            X Quarin, quoted by  Woodville, Med. Bot., 2d ed., vol. iv. p. 687.
     15 
158
Camph or a.— Canella.
PART I.
allays  the chordee, which is  a  painful attendant upon gonorrhoea.   The
vapour of camphor has been inhaled into  the lungs with benefit'in  erases of
asthma and spasmodic cough;  and a lump of it  held to the  nose is  said to
relieve that  unpleasant fulness of the nostrils  and coryza  which  attend a
commencing catarrh.  It has been employed for the same purpose, and for
nervous headache, in the form of powder snuffed up the nostrils.
   Camphor may be given  in substance in the form of bolus or pill, or dif-
fused in water by trituration with  various  substances.   The  form of pill  is
objectionable ; as in this state the  camphor is with difficulty  dissolved in the
gastric liquors, and floating on  the top is  apt to excite  nausea, or pain and
uneasiness at  the upper orifice of the stomach.  Orfila states that, when
given in the solid form, it is capable of producing ulceration in the  gastric
mucous 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,  as it is apt to become sour very speedily.   The aqueous solu-
tion is often  employed where only a slight impression is desired.  For this
purpose, the Aqua Camphorae  of  the United States  Pharmacopoeia is pre-
ferable to the solution effected by simply pouring boiling water upon a lump
of camphor, which is sometimes prescribed  under the name  of camphor lea.
   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 extended 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,  Ed., Dub.;  Aqua Cam-
phoras, U.S., Lond., Dub.;  Ceratum  Hydrargyri Comp., Lond.; Ceratum
Plumbi  Subacetatis, U.S., Lond.; Linimentum Camphoras, U. S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.;  Linimentum Camphoras Comp., L,ond.,  Dub.;  Liniment. Hy-
drargyri Comp.,  Lond.;  Liniment. Opii,  Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Liniment.
Saponis Camphoratum, U.S.; Liniment.  Terebinthinas, Lond., Ed.; Mis-
tura Camphoras, Ed.; Mist. Camphorae cum Magnesia,  Ed., Dub.; Tinc-
tura Camphorae,  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Opii  Camphorata, U.S.,
Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Saponis Camphorata,  U. S., J^ond., Ed., Dub.   W.


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

                                Canella.

   " The bark  of Canella alba." U. S., Ed.  " Canella alba. Cortex."  Lond.
   Off. Syn. CANELLA ALBA.  Cortex. Dub.
   Canclle blanche, Fr,; Weisser Zimmt, Canell, Germ.; Canella bianca, Ital- Canela
blanca, Span.
   Canella.  Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Meliaceae.
De Cand.  Canelleas. Lindley.
   Gen.  Ch.  Calyx three-lob'ed.  Petals five.  Anthers sixteen, adherino-  to
an urceolate nectary.   Berry one-celled with two or four seeds. Willd  °
   Canella alba.   Willd. Sp.  Plant, ii. 851; Wood v. Med. Bot  p 6*94  t
237.  This  is the only species of the genus.   It is an erect tree', rising
sometimes to the height  of fifty feet, branching only at the top, and covered
with a whitish bark, by which it is easily distinguished from other trees  in
the woods where  it  grows.   The leaves are  alternate, petiolate  oblong
obtuse, entire, of a dark green colour, thick and shining like  those of the
laurel, and of a similar odour.  The flowers are small, of a violet colour and 
PART I.
Canella.— Canna.
159
grow in clusters upon divided footstalks, at the extremities of the branches.
The fruit is an oblong berry, containing one, two, or three black and shining
seeds.
  The Canella alba is a native of Jamaica and other West India islands.  The
bark of the branches, which is the part employed in medicine, having  been
removed by an iron instrument, is deprived of its epidermis, and dried in the
shade.  It comes to us in pieces partially or completely quilled, 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 has a pale orange-yellow colour, usually much lighter
on the inner surface, an aromatic odour somewhat resembling that of cloves
and  a warm, bitterish, very pungent taste.  It is brittle, breaking with a shor
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 rendered
milky by the addition of water.   By distillation  with water it affords a  large
proportion of a yellow or  reddish,  fragrant, and very acrid essential oil.  It
contains, moreover,  according to  the analysis of MM. Petroz  and Robinet,
mannite, a peculiar  very bitter extractive,  resin, gum, starch,  albumen, and
various saline substances.  Meyers and Reiche  obtained twelve drachms of
the volatile oil  from ten pounds of the  bark.  They found it to consist of two
distinct oils, one lighter and the other heavier than water.  According to the
same chemists, the bark  contains 8 per cent, of  mannite, and yields 6 per
cent, of ashes. (Ann. der Chem. und Pharm., and Am. Jour, of Pharm., xvi.
75.) Canella has  been sometimes  confounded  with  Winter's  bark,  from
which, however, it differs  both  in  sensible properties and composition.  It
contains, for instance, no tannin or oxide  of iron, both of  which are ingre-
dients in the latter. (See Wintera.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Canella is possessed of the ordinary pro-
perties of the  aromatics, acting as  a  local  stimulant and gentle tonic, and
producing 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 Aloe's  et Canellae,  U. S., Dub.; Tinctura Gentianas
Composita, Ed.; Vinum  Aloes,  Lond.,  Dub.; Vinum  Gentianas,  Ed.;
Vinum Rhei, U. S.,  Ed.                                         W.

                            CANNA. Ed.

                            Canna  Starch.

   " Fecula of the root of an imperfectly determined species  of  Canna." Ed.
   Under the French name of tons  les  mois, a variety  of fecula has recently
been introduced into the markets of  Europe and this country.  It is said to be
prepared in the West India island of St. Kitts, by a tedious and troublesome
process, from  the  root or rhizome of the  Canna coccinca,  although this
botanical origin is altogether uncertain.
   Canna starch is in the form of a  light, beautifully white powder, of a shin-
ing  appearance, very unlike  the ordinary forms of fecula.   Its granules are
gaid to be larger than those of any  other variety of starch in use, being from 
160
Canna.— Cantharis.
PART I.
the 300th to the 200th of an inch in length.  Under the microscope they ap-
pear 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 prepared with boiling water, a nutritious and whole-
some food for infants and invalids.   It may be prepared in the same manner
as Arrow-root,  and  is said to  form even a stiffer jelly with boiling water.
(See Maranta.)                                                  W.


                CANTHARIS.  U S., Lond., Ed.

                           Spanish Flies.

   " Cantharis vesicatoria." U. S., Lond., Ed.
   Off. Syn. CANTHARIS VESICATORIA.  Dub.
  Cantharide, Fr.; Spanische Fliege, Kantharide, Germ.; Cantarelle, Ital; Cantharidas,
Spans
   The term Cantharis was employed  by the ancient Greek writers to desig-
nate many coleopterous insects.  Linnasus conferred the  title upon a genus
in which the officinal blistering fly  was not included, and placed this insect
in the genus Melo'e.   This latter, however, has  been divided by subsequent
naturalists into  several genera.  Geoffroy made the Spanish fly the prototype
of a new one which he  called  Cantharis, substituting Cicindela as the title
of the Linnasan genus which he had thus deprived of its original designation.
Fabricius made some alteration in the  arrangement of Geoffroy, and substi-
tuted Lytta for Cantharis as the generic title.   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  Cantharidese.
This tribe he divided  into eleven  genera, among which  is  the Cantharis.
Two others of these genera, the Melo'e properly so called, and the Mylabris,
have been employed as vesicatories.  The Mylabris dehor ii is thought  to
be one of the insects 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, the M. pustulata, is applied to the same pur-
pose in China.   The Meloe proscarabxus and  M. majalis have been occa-
sionally substituted  for  cantharides  in Europe,  and  the M.  trianthemae is
used to a considerable extent in the upper provinces  of Hindostan.   Several
species of Cantharis, closely analogous to  each  other in medical properties,
are found in various parts of the world; but the C. vesicatoria is the only
one recognised  by the  Pharmacopoeias of  France and Great Britain   The
C. vitlata 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 the C. vesicatoria, or common Spanish fly.
   Cantharis.  Class Insecta  Order  Coleoptera. Linn.—Family Trache-
ites.   1 nbe Canthandeas,  L.atreille.
   Gen. Ch. Tarsi entire;  nails bifid; head not produced into  a rostrum-
elytra flexible,  covering the whole abdomen, linear semicylindric •  wings
perfect; maxilla; with two membranaceous lacinix, the external one  acute
within, subuncinate; antennae  longer  than the head  and thorax  rectilinear-
first joint largest, the second transverse, very short;  maxillan,\alm larger
at tip. Say.                                              n  f i      a 
 part i.                        Canthaiis.                           161

   Cantharis vesicatoria.   Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect., torn. ii. p. 220.
 This insect  is from six to  ten lines  in  length, by two or three in breadth,
 and of a beautiful shining golden-green colour.  The head is large and heart-
 shaped, bearing two thread-like, black, jointed  feelers; the thorax short and
 quadrilateral;  the wing-sheaths  long and flexible, covering brownish mem-
 branous 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 considerable  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.  The countries in which they most
 abound are Spain, Italy, and the  South of France; but they are  found to a
 greater or less extent in all the temperate parts of Europe, and in the West
 of Asia.  In the state of larva, they live in the ground and gnaw the roots of
 plants.  They usually make their appearance in swarms  upon the trees in
 the  months of May and June, at which period they are collected.  The time
 preferred for the purpose is in the morning at sun-rise, when they are torpid
 from the cold of  the night,  and  easily let go their hold.  Persons with their
 faces protected by  masks and their hands by 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 smok-
 ing the trees with burning brimstone.   When perfectly dry, they are intro-
 duced  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, and other parts of the Medi-
 terranean.   Considerable quantities are also brought  from St. Petersburg,
 derived originally, in all probability, from the southern provinces of Russia,
 where the insect is very abundant.   The Russian  flies are more esteemed
 than those from other sources.  They may be distinguished by their greater
 size, and their colour approaching to  that of copper.
   Properties.  Dried  Spanish flies preserve the form and colour, and, to a
 certain extent, the disagreeable odour of the living insect.  They have an
 acrid,  burning, and urinous  taste.   Their powder is of  a grayish-brown
 colour, interspersed with  shining particles, which  are the fragments of the
 feet, head, and wing-cases.   If  kept perfectly dry, in well-stopped  glass
 bottles, they  will  retain their activity  for a great length of  time.   A portion
 which had been preserved by Van Swieten for thirty years in a glass vessel,
 was  found  still to possess vesicating properties.   But exposed to a damp air,
 they quickly undergo putrefaction ; and this change takes place more speedily
 in the powder; hence the insects should  either be kept whole, and powdered
 as they are wanted  for  use, or, if kept  in powder,  should be well dried im-
 mediately after pulverization, and  preserved in air-tight vessels.   They should
 never be purchased in powder, as, independently of the  consideration just
 mentioned, they may in this state be more easily adulterated.  But,  however
 carefully managed, cantharides are apt to be  attacked by mites, which feed
 on the interior soft  parts of the body, reducing them  to powder, while the
harder exterior parts are not affected.  An idea was at one time prevalent,
that the vesicating property of the insect was not injured by the worm, which
 was supposed to devour only the inactive portion.  But this has been proved
to be a mistake.  M. Farines, an apothecary  of Perpignan, has satisfactorily
shown that, though the hard parts left  by these mites possess some vesicating
                                 15* 
162
Cantharis.
part i.
power, and the powder  produced by them still more, yet the sound flies are
much stronger than either.  Camphor, which  has been  recommended as a
preservative, does  not  prevent the destructive agency of the worm.*  It is
also stated by M. Farines, that when the flies are destroyed by the vapour of
pyroligneous acid  instead of common vineger,  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  povyder might be
deprived of all  its active principles, and  yet retain the  exterior characters
unaltered.   The  wing cases also resist putrefaction for a long time, and the
shining particles  have been detected in the  human stomach months after inter-
ment.
   So early as 1778, Thouvenel attempted to analyze cantharides, and the
attempt was repeated by Dr. Beaupoil in  1803; but no  very interesting or
valuable result was obtained till the year  1810, when  Robiquet  discovered
in them a crystalline substance, which  appears to be the vesicating principle
of the insect, and  to which Dr. Thomson gave the name of cantharidin.
The constituents, according to Robiquet, are, 1. a green oil, insoluble in water,
soluble in  alcohol, and inert as a vesicatory;  2. a black  matter, soluble in
water, insoluble  in alcohol, and inert; 3.  a yellow viscid matter, soluble in
water and alcohol,  and without vesicating powers ; 4. cantharidin; 5. a fatty
matter insoluble in alcohol; 6. phosphates of lime and magnesia, acetic acid,
and in the  fresh  insect a small quantity of uric acid.   Orfila has since dis-
covered a volatile principle, upon which the  fetid odour of the fly depends.
It is separable by distillation with water.   Cantharidin is a white substance
in the form of crystalline scales, of a shining micaceous appearance,  insolu-
ble in water and  cold  alcohol,  but soluble in ether, the oils, and  in boiling
alcohol, which deposits it upon cooling.   It is fusible and volatilizable by
heat without decomposition, and its vapours condense in acicular crystals. It
is obtained by macerating powdered flies in ether for several days; introduc-
ing the mixture  into a  percolation apparatus;  adding, after  the liquid has
ceased to flow out, fresh  portions of ether, till it comes away nearly colour-
less; displacing  the whole of  the menstruum still remaining in the mass by
pouring water upon it; distilling the filtered liquor so as to recover the ether;
then allowing the  residue to  cool;  and,  finally,  purifying the cantharidin
which  is deposited, by treating it with  boiling  alcohol  and animal charcoal.
Alcohol of 34°, or a mixture of alcohol and ether, may  be substituted for the
ether itself; but  the last-mentioned fluid  is preferable,  as it dissolves less of
the green oil, the separation of which from the cantharidin is the most  diffi-
cult part of the process.   By this plan, M. Thierry obtained from 1000 parts
of powdered flies, 4 parts of pure cantharidin.   Notwithstanding the insolu-
bility 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

  * It appears from the experiments of M. Nivet, that, though camphor does not preserve
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 introduced
with advantage, in small lumps, mto bottles  containing powdered cantharides.  (Journ.
de Pharm., xix. 604.)   Pereira has  found that a few drops of strong acetic acid added to
the flies are  the best preservative.  Perhaps, however, a more effectual means of preserv-
ing them, whether whole or in powder, would be the application of the process of Apert,
which consists in exposing them, for half an hour, confined in glass bottles, to the heat of.
boiling water, which destroys the eggs of the insect, without impairing the virtues of the
flies.  (Ibid. xxu. 246.) Of course, the access of water to the flies should be carefully
avoided.                                                                  J 
PART I.
Cantharis.
163
in exciting vesication as the flies themselves, while the residue was in each
case inert.   The cantharidin consequently exists in the insect so combined
with the yellow matter  as  to be rendered soluble in water and cold  alcohol.
It has been found also in the Cantharis vittata, and  Mylabris cichorii, and
probably exists in other vesicating insects.
  Adulterations.  These are not common.  Occasionally other insects are
added, purposely, or through  carelessness.  These  may be  readily distin-
guished by their different shape or colour.  An account has been published
of considerable quantities  of variously  coloured glass beads having been
found in a parcel of  flies; but this  would be too coarse a fraud to be exten-
sively practised.  Pereira states that powdered flies are sometimes adulterated
with euphorbium.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Internally administered, cantharides are a
powerful stimulant, exercising a peculiar influence over the urinary and geni-
tal organs.  In moderate doses, this medicine  sometimes acts as a diuretic,
and generally  excites some irritation in the urinary passages, which, if  its
use be persevered in, or the dose increased, often  amounts to violent stran-
gury, attended with excruciating pain, and the discharge of bloody urine.
In still larger quantities, it produces, in addition to these effects, obstinate and
painful  priapism, vomiting, bloody stools, severe pains in the whole abdo-
minal 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,  deli-
rium, and death.  Orfila has known twenty-four grains of the powder prove
fatal.  Dissection reveals inflammation and ulceration of the mucous coat of
the whole intestinal canal.   According to M. Poumet, if the intestines be in-
flated, dried, cut into pieces, and examined in the sun between two pieces of
glass, they will exhibit small shining yellow or green  points, strongly  con-
trasting with the matter around them. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e  Ser., iii. 167.)
Notwithstanding their exceeding violence, cantharides have  been long and
beneficially used in  medicine.   Either these or other vesicating  insects  ap-
pear to  have been given by  Hippocrates in cases of dropsy and amenorrhoea,
in the latter of which complaints, when properly prescribed, they are a highly
valuable remedy.  In dropsy they sometimes prove beneficial  when  the sys-
tem is in an atonic condition, and  the vessels of the  kidneys feeble.  Dr.
Ferriar  considers  them peculiarly useful in the anasarcous swellings which
occasionally succeed scarlet fever.  They are also  useful in obstinate gleet,
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 a  cure  was  effected under  the use
of tincture of cantharides.  They  are used also in certain cutaneous erup-
tions, especially those of a  scaly character, and in  chronic eczema.   Their
unpleasant effects upon the urinary passages are best obviated by the  free use
of diluent drinks ; and, when not consequent upon  great abuse of the medi-
cine, may almost always be  relieved by an anodyne  injection composed  of
laudanum with a small quantity  of mucilaginous fluid.   The dose of  Spanish
flies is one or  two grains of the powder, which may be given  twice a day in
the form of pill.   The tincture, however, is more frequently employed.
  Externally applied, cantharides  excite inflammation in the skin, which
terminates in a copious secretion of serum under  the  cuticle.   Even  thus
applied, 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 results from the absorption of the active principle of the fly; and is 
164
Caiitharis.
PART I.
 not prevented  by any  of the various modes of combination  in  which  the
 epispastic substance has been applied.  Camphor given internally, or mixed
 with the flies previously to  their application, was at one time in much repute
 as a preventive of strangury, but has lost its credit.  The most certain  method
 of  obviating this unpleasant effect, is to allow  the  epispastic  application to
 continue no longer than is  necessary to its  full rubefacient operation; and
 afterwards to favour vesication by  the use of an  emollient poultice. (See Ce-
 ratum Cantharidis.)
   The blistering fly may be employed either as  a rubefacient, or with a view-
 to the production of a  blister.  In the  former  capacity it is  seldom  used,
 except in low states of disease, where external stimulation is required to sup-
 port the  system ;  but as an  epispastic it is preferred  to all other substances,
 and in the extent of its  employment,  is surpassed by  few articles of the Ma-
 teria Medica.
   Blisters  are calculated  to answer numerous  indications.   Their  local
 effect is  attended with  a  general excitement of the  system, which renders
 them valuable auxiliaries to  internal stimulants in low or typhoid conditions
 of disease;  and they may sometimes be safely resorted  to with this  view
 when the latter remedies are inadmissible.  The powerful impression they
 make on the system is sufficient, in many instances, to subvert morbid asso-
 ciations,  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 revul-
 sion, they prove  useful  in a vast variety of complaints.   Drawing both the
 nervous  energy and the circulating fluid to the seat of their own immediate
 action, they relieve irritations and inflammations of internal  parts; and are
 employed for this  purpose  in  every disease attended with  these derange-
 ments.   In  such  cases,  however, arterial  excitement  should  always  be
 reduced by direct depletion  before the remedy is resorted  to.   Blisters are
 also capable of substituting their action  for one  of a  morbid nature existing
 in the part  to which they are directly  applied.  Hence their use in  tinea
 capitis,  obstinate  herpes, and  various   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
 results in erysipelas  and various other local  inflammations, in the immediate
 vicinity of  which their action can be established; and the effects of an issue
 may be  obtained by the  continued application  of irritants to  the blistered
 surface.  Perhaps the  pain  produced by blisters  may be useful in some
 cases of nervous excitement or derangement,  in which it is desirable  to
 withdraw the attention  of the patient from subjects  of agitating reflection.
 On some constitutions they  produce  a poisonous impression,  attended with
 frequent  pulse, dryness of  the  mouth and  fauces, heat of skin, subsultus
 tendinum, and even convulsions; and some physicians have been so much
 alarmed by the occasional occurrence  of these symptoms as to induce them
 to employ the remedy with great hesitation.  What is the precise condition
 of system in  which these effects result, it is impossible to determine.  They
probably arise from  the absorption of the active principle of  cantharides";
and depend  on idiosyncrasies of constitution, by which  the system of cer-
 tain  individuals  is susceptible of impressions different  from those  usually
produced by the same cause.  In this respect the 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 which results from
their use far overbalances any partial and  uncertain evil.  For some rules 
part i.            Cantharis.— Cantharis  Vittata.                 165

relative to the application of blisters, the reader is referred to the article Ce-
ratum Cantharidis.
   Off. Prep. Acetum Cantharidis, Lond., Ed.; Ceratum Cantharidis, U.S.;
Cerat. Cantharidis,  Lond.; Emplastrum Cantharidis,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;
Emplast. Cantharidis Comp., Ed.; Linimentum Cantharidis, U. S.; Tinc-
tura Cantharidis, U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Unguent.  Cantharidis,  U. S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguent. Infusi Cantharidis, Ed. -              W.

                CANTHARIS VITTATA.  U. S,

                            Potato Flies.

   " Cantharis vittata."  U. S.
   Within the limits of the United States are several species of Cantharis,
which  have been employed as substitutes for the C. vesicatoria, and found
to be equally efficient.  Of these, only the  C. vittata  has been 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 which have been submitted  to experiment.
   1. Cantharis vittata. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect.; Durand, Journ. of
the  Phil. Col.  of Pharm., ii. 274. fig. 4.  The potato fly is  rather smaller
than the C. vesicatoria, which it resembles  in shape.   Its length is about
six lines.  The head is of a light red colour, with dark spots  upon the top;
the feelers are black; the elytra or wing cases are black, with a yellow lon-
gitudinal stripe  in the centre, and with a yellow margin; the  thorax is also
black, with three  yellow lines ; and the abdomen and legs, which have the
same colour, are covered with  a cinereous  down.  It inhabits chiefly the
potato vine, and makes its appearance about the end of  July or beginning of
August, in  some seasons in great abundance.   It is found on the plant in
the  morning and evening, but during  the heat of the day descends into the
soil.  The insects are collected by shaking them from  the  plant into hot
water; and are 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 Chap-
man of Bucks  county, Pennsylvania, who found it equal if not superior to
the Spanish fly as a vesicatory.   The testimony of Dr. Chapman has been
corroborated by that of many other practitioners, some of whom have even
gone so far as  to assert, that the potato fly is not  attended in  it3 action with
the inconvenience of producing strangury.  But this statement has been ascer-
tained to be incorrect, and as the vesicating property of  all these insects pro-
bably depends  upon the same proximate 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
attributable to the greater freshness of the former.  It may be applied to the
same purposes, treated  in the same manner, and given in the same  dose as
the foreign insect.
   2. Cantharis cinerea. Latreille, Gen.  Crust, et Insect.; Durand, Journ.
of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., i. 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 the C. vittata, and are entirely covered with a short and dense
ash-coloured down, which conceals the proper colour  of the insect.   The
feelers are black, and the first and second joints are very large in the male. 
166
Cantharis  Vittata.
part i.
This species also inhabits the potato vine, and is occasionally found on other
plants, as the English bean and wild indigo.  It is a native of the  Northern
and Middle States.   All the remarks before made upon the potato fly, as to
the mode of collection, properties, and medical use,  apply equally well  to
that at present under consideration.  Illiger in 1801 first discovered its vesi-
cating properties; but to Dr. Gorham is due the credit of calling public atten-
tion  particularly to  the subject, in a communication  addressed, in the year
1808, to the Medical Society of  Massachusetts.  This species is often con-
founded with the C. vittata.
   3. Cantharis marginata. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect.; Durand, Journ.
of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., ii. 274. fig. 6.  This  is somewhat larger than
the C. vittata, and of a different shape.  The elytra are black, with the
suture  and margin ash-coloured.   The head, thorax, and abdomen are black,
but nearly covered with an ash-coloured down; and on the upper part of the
abdomen, under the wings, are two longitudinal lines of a bright clay colour.
This species is usually found, in the latter part of summer, upon the different
plants belonging to the genus Clematis, and frequents especially the lower
branches which trail along the ground.  Professor Woodhouse, of Philadel-
phia, first ascertained the vesicating properties of this  insect; but it had pre-
viously been described by Fabricius as a native  of the Cape of Good Hope.
Dr. Harris, of Massachusetts, found it equally efficient  as  a vesicatory with
any other species of this genus.
   4. Cantharis atrata. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et 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. margi-
nata in figure.   Its length is only four or five lines.  It is distinguished by
its size, and by its  uniform  black colour.   It frequents more  especially the
different species of Aster and  Solidago, though it is found also on the Pru-
nella vulgaris, Ambrosia triftda,  and some other plants.   Mr. Durand met
with considerable numbers of this insect in the neighbourhood of Philadel-
phia in the month of September, and they continued to appear till the middle
of October.  They are common in the Northern and Middle States, but are
not confined exclusively to this country, being found also in Barbary.  Drs.
Oswood and Harris, of New-England, have experimented with them, and
satisfactorily ascertained their vesicating powers. They are probably identical
with the insect noticed as vesicatory  by  Professor Woodhouse, under the
name of Melo'e  niger.
   Several other species have been discovered in the United  States, but not
yet practically employed.   Among these are the C.  aeneas, a native of Penn-
sylvania, discovered by Mr. Say; the C. politics and C. asze/ianus, which
inhabit the  Southern States;  the  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 the C. albida, another large species, found
by Mr. Say near the Rocky mountains.  Of.these the C. Nuttalli* bids fair,
at some  future  period, to  be an  object of  some 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 pur-
ple and somewhat rugose on their outer surface, green and polished beneath;
the feet  black;  the thighs, blue or purplish.   The  exploring party under
Major Long ascertained the vesicating powers  of this insect.   It was  found
in the  plains of the Missouri,  feeding on a  scanty grass, which it sometimes
covered  to  a considerable extent.   In one place it  was so numerous and
* Lytta Nuttalli,Say, Amer. Entomol.,vol. i. fig. 3. 
part i.            Cantharis Vittata.— Capsicum.                 167

troublesome, as to be swept away by bushels, in order that a place might be
cleared for encamping.                                            W.


                   CAPSICUM. U.S., Lond.

                          Cayenne Pepper.

  " The fruit of Capsicum annuum."  U. S.  " Capsicum annuum. Baccse."
Lond. " Fruit of Capsicum annuum and other species." Ed.
  Off.Syn. CAPSICUM ANNUUM. Capsulas cum seminibus. Dub.
  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.   The C.bac-
catum or bird  pepper, and the C.frutescens are  said to  yield  most of the
Cayenne pepper brought from  the West Indies  and  South America;  and
Ainslie 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,  the C. annuum. The
first two are shrubby  plants, the last is annual and herbaceous.
   Capsicum annuum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1052; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
226.  t. 80.  The stem of the annual  capsicum is thick, roundish, smooth,
and branching; rises two or three feet  in  height; and supports ovate, pointed,
smooth,  entire  leaves, which are  placed without regular order on long foot-
stalks.   The flowers are  solitary, white, and  stand on  long peduncles at
the axils of the leaves.  The calyx is persistent, tubular, and five-cleft; the
corolla,  monopetalous and wheel-shaped, with the limb  divided  into five
spreading, pointed, and plaited segments;  the filaments,  short,  tapering,
and furnished with  oblong anthers; the  germen, ovate, supporting  a slender
style which is  longer than the filaments, and terminates  in  a blunt stigma.
The  fruit is a  pendulous, pod-like berry, light, smooth  and shining, of a
bright, scarlet,  orange, or  sometimes yellow colour, with two or three cells,
containing a dry,  loose pulp, anil numerous flat, kidney-shaped,  whitish,
seeds.
  The  plant is a native of the warmer regions of Asia and America, and is
cultivated in almost all parts of the world.   It is abundantly produced in this
country, both for culinary and medicinal  purposes.  The flowers appear in
July  and August, and the  fruit ripens  in  October.   Several varieties are cul-
tivated in our gardens, differing in the shape of the fruit.  The most abun-
dant is probably that  with a  large irregularly  ovate berry, depressed at the
extremity, which is much used in the  green  state for pickling.  The medici-
nal variety 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 perfectly ripe  and  dry, the fruit is ground  in^ powder,  and brought
into market under the name of red or Cayenne pepper.   Our  markets  are
also partly  supplied  by  importation  from the  West Indies.  A variety of
capsicum, consisting of very small, conical, exceedingly pungent berries, has
recently  been imported from Liberia.   In England  the fruit of the C. annuum
is frequently called chillies.
  Powdered capsicum is  usually of a more  or less bright red colour, which 
168
Capsicum.
PART I.
 fades upon exposure to light, and ultimately disappears.  The odour is pe-
 culiar 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 peculiar principle, which was obtained, though  probably not in a per-
 fectly  isolated state, by  Braconnot, and named capsicin.   The  fruit, freed
 from the  seeds, was  submitted to the action  of  alcohol, and the resulting
 tincture evaporated.  During the  evaporation a red-coloured wax  separated,
 and the residuary  liquor by further evaporation  afforded an extract, from
 which ether dissolved the capsicin.   This was obtained by evaporating the
 ether.   It resembles an oil or soft resin, is of a yellowish-brown  or reddish-
 brown  colour, and when tasted, though at first balsamic, soon produces an
 insupportably hot and pungent impression over the  whole  interior  of  the
 mouth.   Exposed to heat it  melts, and at a higher temperature emits  fumes,
 which, even in  very small  quantity, excite  coughing and  sneezing.   It is
 slightly soluble  in water and vinegar, and very soluble in alcohol, ether, oil
 of turpentine, and the  caustic alkalies, which it renders  reddish-brown.   It
 constitutes, according  to Braconnot, 1-9 per cent, of the fruit.   The other
 ingredients, as ascertained by the same chemist,  are colouring  matter, an
 azotized substance,  gum, pectic acid (probably pectin),  and  saline matters.
 It is said  that the 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
 present.
  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 cir-
 culation, though considerable, is not in proportion to its  local action.  It is
 much employed  as  a condiment, and proves highly useful in correcting the
 flatulent tendency of certain vegetables, and bringing them within the diges-
 tive  powers of the  stomach.  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 medi-
 cine it  is useful in cases of enfeebled and languid stomach, and is occasionally
 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.    It acts by
 exciting the stomach, and rendering it sensible to the influence of the tonic.
 Upon the  same  principle it  may prove useful  in low forms of fever  as  an
 adjuvant to  tonic or stimulant medicines.   Its most important application,
 however,  is to the treatment of malignant sore throat and scarlet fever in
 which it is  used both internally and as a gargle.   No other remedy 'has
obtained equal credit in these  complaints.  The following formula was em-
ployed 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 vine-
gar.  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 
PART I.
Capsicum.— Carbo.
169
so energetically.  In milder cases of scarlatina  with  inflamed or ulcerated
throat, much relief and  positive advantage often follow the employment of
the pepper in a more diluted state.   Capsicum has  also been advantageously
used in sea-sickness, in the dose of a teaspoonful given in some  convenient
vehicle on the first occurrence  of nausea.
   Applied externally, Cayenne pepper is a powerful rubefacient,  very useful
in local rheumatism, and in low forms of disease, where a stimulant impres-
sion upon the surface is demanded.  It has the advantage, under these circum-
stances, of acting speedily without endangering vesication.   It may be ap-
plied  in  the form of cataplasm, or  more conveniently and efficiently as  a
lotion mixed with heated spirit.  The powder or tincture, brought into con-
tact with a relaxed uvula, often acts very beneficially.
   The dose of the powder is from  five to  ten grains, which may be  most
conveniently given in the form of  pill.  Of an infusion prepared by adding
two drachms to half a pint of boiling  water, the dose is about  half a fluid-
ounce.   A gargle may be prepared by infusing half a drachm of  the powder
in a pint of boiling water, or  by adding  half a fluidounce of the tincture to
eight fluidounces of rose-water.
   Off. Prep. Tinctura Capsici, U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.            W.
                               CARBO.

                               Carbon.

   Pure chnrcoal; Carbone, Fr., Ital; Kohlcnstoff,  Germ.; Carbon, Span.
   Carbon is  an elementary substance of great  importance, and very exten-
sively diffused in  nature.  It exists in large quantity in  the mineral king-
dom, and  forms the most  abundant constituent  of  animal and vegetable
matter.   In a  state of perfect  purity and  crystallized, it  constitutes  the
diamond, and more or less pure, it forms the substances  known under the
names of plumbago or black  lead,  anthracite, bituminous coal, coke, animal
charcoal, and vegetable  charcoal.   Combined  with oxygen,  it constitutes
carbonic acid, which  is a  constituent  of the  atmosphere,  and present in
many natural waters, especially  those which have  an  effervescing  quality.
United with oxygen and a base, it forms the carbonates, and of course car-
bonate of lime, which is  one of the  most abundant  combinations of the
mineral kingdom.
   The diamond, or crystallized carbon, is  found principally  in  India and
Brazil.   It is  perfectly transparent, and the hardest and most brilliant sub-
stance in nature.  Its sp. gr.  is about 3-5.   It is perfectly  fixed  and  unalter-
able in the fire, provided air be  completely  excluded;  but it 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, perhaps, in  the mine of Borrow-
dale, in  England;  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.  Immense beds of
it exist in Pennsylvania.  Bituminous coal is  a form of the carbonaceous
     16 
 170                             Carbo.                          part i.

 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 ob-
 tained, very useful in the arts as a fuel.
   Carbon may be obtained  artificially, in a state approaching to purity, by
 several processes.  One  method is to expose lampblack to  a full red heat in
 a close vessel.   It may also be obtained in  a very pure state by passing the
 vapour of volatile oils through an ignited porcelain tube; whereby the hydro-
 gen and oxygen of the  oil will be dissipated, and the charcoal  left in the
 tube.   A very  pure charcoal is  procured by exposing  sugar,  or other
 vegetable substances which leave no  ashes  when burnt, to  ignition  in close
 vessels.
   Properties.  Carbon in its crystallized form has already been described
as diamond.  In its uncrystallized state it is an insoluble, infusible solid,
 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 a  gaseous
 acid, called  carbonic acid.   Its sp. gr.  in the solid state, apart from the pores
 which it contains when  in mass, is 3-5; but with the  pores included, it is
 only 0-44.  In a state of vapour, its density is 0-4215, as obtained by calcu-
 lation.  It is a very unalterable and indestructible substance, and has great
 power in resisting and correcting putrefaction in other  bodies.  When in a
state of extreme division, it possesses  the  remarkable  power of destroying
 the colouring and odorous principles of most liquids-  The conditions, under
 which this property is most powerfully developed, are  explained under the
head of animal  charcoal. (See Carbo Animalis.)   Its  other  physical pro-
 perties 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 combines in  five proportions with
 oxygen,  forming carbonic oxide, and  carbonic, oxalic, mellitic, and croconic
acids. (See  Aqua Acidi  Carbonici, and  Oxalic Acid.)   It  unites also with
 chlorine, iodine, and bromine.   With hydrogen it forms a number  of com-
pounds,  called carbo-hydrogens, 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  purified volatile oils.
 With nitrogen it constitutes cyanogen, the  compound radical of hydrocyanic
 or prussic acid ; and united  with iron  in minute proportion it forms steel. It
 is thus perceived, that as a chemical agent it performs an important part in
 the economy of nature.
   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. These
 are described in the two  following articles.                            g4 
PART I.
Carbo Animalis.
171
           CARBO  ANIMALIS.   U.S., Lond., Ed.

                         Animal Charcoal.

  " Charcoal prepared from bones." U. S.  " Carbo. Ex came et ossibus
coctus"  Lond.; " Impure animal charcoal obtained commonly from bones."
Ed.
  Charbon animal, Fr.,- Tliierische Kohle, Germ.,- Carbone animate, Ital; Carbon ani-
mal, Span.
  The animal charcoal employed in pharmacy and the arts, is obtained from
bones by subjecting them to a red  heat  in close vessels, and  is  chiefly em-
ployed  as  a decolorizing  agent.   The residue of the ignition is  a black
matter, which, when reduced to powder, forms the substance properly called
bone-black,  but  familiarly known  under the incorrect name of ivory-black.
Ivory by carbonization will  furnish a black, which, on account  of its fine-
ness and intensely black colour, is  more esteemed than the  ordinary bone-
black; but it is much more expensive.
  Animal charcoal, in the form  of bone-black, is extensively manufactured
for the use of sugar refiners  and others;  and an ammoniacal liquor, called
bone spirit, is obtained  as  a secondary product, and sold  to  the  makers
of sal  ammoniac.   The bones  are subjected to destructive  distillation  in
iron retorts or cylinders, and when the bone spirit ceases to come over, the
residuum is charred bone or bone-black.   Bone  consists  of  animal matter
with phosphate and carbonate of lime.   In consequence of a  new arrange-
ment of the elements of the animal matter, the nitrogen and hydrogen united
as ammonia, and a part of the charcoal as carbonic acid, distil over; while the
remainder of the charcoal is left  in  the retort, intermingled with the calca-
reous salts.   In this form, therefore, of animal charcoal, the carbon is mixed
with phosphate and carbonate of lime; and the same is the  case with the
true ivory-black.
  Properties.  Animal  charcoal, in the form of bone-black, called ivory-
black in the shops, is a black powder,  possessing a  slightly alkaline and
bitterish  taste, and having  a general resemblance to powdered vegetable
charcoal.  It is, however, more dense and  less combustible than this  char-
coal;  from  which,  moreover, it may be distinguished by burning  a small
portion of it on a red-hot iron, when it will leave a  residuum  imperfectly
acted on  by sulphuric acid ;  whereas the ashes from vegetable charcoal will
readily dissolve in this acid,  forming a bitterish solution.
  Animal charcoal by no means  necessarily possesses the  decolorizing pro-
perty ; as this depends upon its peculiar state of aggregation.  If a piece  of
pure animal matter be carbonized, it usually  enters into fusion, and, from
the gaseous matter which is extricated, becomes porous and cellular.  The
charcoal  formed has  generally a metallic  lustre,  and  a colour resembling
that of black lead.  It has, however, little or no decolorizing power, even
though it may be finely pulverized.
  Rationale of the Effects  of Charcoal as a Decolorizing  Agent.  The
decolorizing power of charcoal  was first  noticed by Lowitz  of St. Peters-
burg;  and  the subject was subsequently ably  investigated by Bussy, Payen,
and Desfosses.  It is generally conmmunicated to cbarcoal by igniting it  in
close vessels, but not always.  The kind of charcoal, for example, obtained
from substances which undergo fusion  during carbonization,  does not  pos-
sess the  property, even though it may be afterwards finely pulverized.  The
property in question is possessed to a certain extent by wood  charcoal; but 
172
Carbo Animalis.
PART I.
 is developed in it in a much greater degree by burning it with  some  chemi-
 cal 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,
 horns, hoofs, &c,  by  first carbonizing them in connexion with  carbonate of
 potassa, and  then washing the product with water.  Charcoal thus prepared,
 seems to be reduced to its finest possible particles.  The next most powerful
 decolorizing  charcoal is ivory or bone-black, in which  the separation of the
 carbonaceous particles  is effected  by the  phosphate of lime present  in the
 bone.   Vegetable  substances also may be made to yield  a good charcoal
 for destroying colour,  provided,  before carbonization, they be well com-
 minuted, and mixed with pumice  stone, chalk, flint, calcined bones, or other
 similar substance in a pulverized state.
  It results  from the  foregoing  facts, that the decolorizing power of char-
 coal  depends upon  a peculiar mode of aggregation of its particles, the lead-
ing character of which  is  that they are isolated  from  one another, and thus
 enabled to present a greater extent of surface.   It is  on this principle that
certain chemical substances act in  developing the property in question, when
they are  ignited in a  state of intimate mixture with  the  substance to be
charred.  Thus it is perceived that there is no necessary connexion between
animal charcoal and the decolorizing power; as this  charcoal  may or  may
not possess  the peculiar  aggregation of its  particles on which the  power
depends.  Bone-black, for instance, has this property, not  because it is an
animal charcoal;  but because, in consequence of the phosphate of lime pre-
sent in the bone, the favourable state of aggregation is  induced.   Of  all the
substances  yet tried to separate the  carbonaceous molecules, carbonate of
potassa appears to be the best.
  The following table,  abridged from one drawn up by Bussy, denotes the
decolorizing power of  different charcoals, compared with the effect of bone-
black taken as unity.
KINDS OF CHARCOAL.
Bone-black,.........
Bone charcoal treated by an acid,  ---...
Oil ignited with phosphate of lime,     -
Lampblack, not ignited,......
Charcoal from acetate of potassa, -
Gluten ignited  with carbonate of potassa,     ...
Blood ignited with phosphate of lime,  ....
Lampblack ignited with carbonate of potassa,     ...
Blood ignited with chalk,   -.....
White of egg ignited with carbonate of potassa,   ...
Glue ignited with carbonate of potassa,....
Bone charcoal, formed by depriving the bone of phosphate of lime by
  an acid, and  ignition with carbonate of potassa, ....
Blood ignited with carbonate of potassa,     .

  Comparing the extremes of this  table, it is perceived  that b
with carbonate of potassa is twenty times  more powerful  in discharging the
colour of syrup,  and fifty times more  powerful in  decolorizing indigo  than
an equal weight of bone-black   This is certainly a great  disparity in effect,
and could hardly have been anticipated.
 
part i.             Carbo Animalis.— Carbo Ligni.                173

   Bone-black consists, in the hundred  parts, of eighty-eight parts of phos-
phate and carbonate of lime, ten of charcoal, and two of carburet or silicuret
of iron. (Dumas.)   The proportion of  charcoal, here  given, is small.   Ac-
cording to  Dr. Christison, Scotch bone-black generally yields about  twenty
per cent, of charcoal, which is a large  amount to be  obtained by analysis,
considering that thirty-three per cent, only of the bone is animal matter, and
that part of the charcoal  is lost in the process.
   Pharmaceutical  Uses, fyc.   Animal charcoal is  used in pharmacy  for
decolorizing  vegetable principles, such  as quinia, morphia, &c, and in the
arts, principally for clarifying syrups in sugar refining and  for  depriving
spirits distilled from grain of the peculiar volatile oil, called grain oil, which
imparts to  them an unpleasant taste as first distilled.   The manner in which
it is used is to mix it with the substance to be decolorized, and to  allow the
mixture to stand for some  time.   The  charcoal unites chemically with the
colouring matter, and  the solution by filtration is obtained white and trans-
parent.  For  most pharmaceutical  operations, animal  charcoal  should  be
purified by muriatic acid  from phosphate and carbonate of lime.   (See Carbo
Animalis Purificatus.)  In the United States formula for sulphate of quinia,
however, it is used without purification; as the carbonate of  lime which it
contains performs a useful part in the process.  (See Quinise Sulphas.)
   Off. Prep.  Carbo Animalis Purificatus, U. S., Lond., Ed.          B.


           CARBO LIGNI.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Duh.

                              Charcoal.

  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
heap, and  covered  with earth and sod  to  prevent the free access of air;
several holes being left at the bottom, and one at the top of the heap, 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 pervade the whole heap, those-at the bottom are
stopped also.  The combustion taking  place with  a smothered flame  and
limited access of air, the volatile portions of the wood, consisting of hydrogen
and oxygen, are dissipated;  while  the  carbon, in the form of  charcoal, is
left behind.
   In this process for the carbonization of wood, all the volatile products are
lost; and a portion of the charcoal itself  is dissipated by combustion.  Wood,
thus carbonized, yields not more than  17 or 18 per cent, of charcoal.  A
better method  is to char the wood in  iron cylinders, when it yields from 22
to 23 parts in the 100 of excellent charcoal;  and at the same time, the means
are afforded for  collecting  the volatile products, consisting of pyroligneous
acid, empyreumatic oil, and tar.  This  process  for  obtaining  charcoal  has
been described under another head.   (See Acidum Pyroligneum.)
   Preparation for Medical Uses.   Common charcoal is not, perhaps, suffi-
ciently pure for medical exhibition ; as all the  volatile portions of the wood are
not completely expelled.   Lowitz directs its purification to be conducted in
the following manner.  Fill a crucible with ordinary charcoal reduced to fine
powder, and lute on a perforated cover.   Then expose  the whole to a strong
red heat, and continue  the ignition as long  as a blue flame issues  from  the
aperture in the cover.  When this  ceases, allow the charcoal to cool, and
transfer it quickly to bottles, which must be well stopped.
                                   16* 
174
Carbo Ligni.— Cardamine.
PART I.
   Properties.  Charcoal is a black, shining, brittle, porous substance, taste-
 less and inodorous, and insoluble in water.  It is a good conductor of elec-
 tricity, but a bad one of heat. In masses, it floats in water; but when reduced
 to a fine powder, whereby its porosity is destroyed, it sinks in that liquid.
 It possesses  the remarkable property of absorbing many times its own bulk
 of certain gases, provided it be perfectly dry.   When exposed to the air after
 ignition, it increases rapidly in weight, absorbing from twelve to fourteen per
 cent, of moisture.   As ordinarily prepared, it contains  the incombustible part
 of the wood, amounting to one or two per cent., which is left in the form of
 ashes when the charcoal is burnt.  These may be removed by digesting the
 charcoal in diluted muriatic acid, and afterwards washing it thoroughly on a
 filter with boiling water.
   Medical Properties, fyc.  Powdered charcoal is antiseptic and absorbent.
 It is employed with advantage in certain forms of  dyspepsia, attended with
 fetid  breath and putrid eructations; and it has been exhibited  in dysentery
 with the effect of correcting the fetor of the stools.   As a remedy in  obsti-
 nate  constipation, Dr.  Daniel, of Savannah, speaks of it in high terms, and
 reports fourteen or fifteen cases, in which  it proved successful.   He also
 found it useful in the nausea and confined state of the bowels which usually
 attend pregnancy.   Its use as an ingredient of  poultices is noticed under the
 title of  Calaplasma Carbonis Ligni.   Several of its varieties constitute the
 best tooth powder that can be used.   Those  which are generally preferred
 are the charcoals of the cocoa-nut shell and of bread.  The dose of charcoal
 varies from  twenty grains to a drachm  or more.  Dr. Daniel gave it,  in his
 cases, in doses  of a tablespoonful repeated every half hour.
   In consequence of the absorbent and antiseptic properties of charcoal, it is
 invaluable in domestic economy.  Meat embedded in it in close  vessels is
 kept perfectly sweet for many months ; and water intended for long voyages
 is equally preserved by the addition of its powder.  The power of some of
 its varieties  in  destroying colours  and odours  is very considerable; and it
 acts upon the principle which has been explained under the head of animal
 charcoal. (See Carbo Animalis.)
   Charcoal is used in preparing the Edinburgh Barytas Murias, when this
 salt is obtained  from the sulphate of baryta.
   Off.  Prep. Cataplasma Carbonis Ligni, Dub.                     B.


                      CARDAMINE. Lond.

                           Cuckoo-flower.

  " Cardamine pratensis. Flores." L,ond.
  Off.  Syn.  CARDAMINE PRATENSIS.  Flores.  Dub.
  Cresson des pres, Fr.; Wisenkresse, Germ.; Kardamine, Ital.
  Cardamine.  Sex. Syst. Tetradynamia Siliquosa.—iVa*. Ord.  Brassica-
«eas or Cruciferas.
   Gen. Ch. Pods opening elastically, with revolute valves.  Stigma entire.
 Calyx somewhat gaping. Willd.
 , Cardamine pratensis. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii. 487; Woodv. Med. Bot  d.
 398.  t.  144.   The  Cuckoo-flower is  a perennial herbaceous plant, with'a
 simple  smooth, erect stem, about a foot in height.   The leaves are  pinnate ;
 the radical, composed of roundish  irregularly  toothed leaflets, those of the
 stem  alternate, with  leaflets  which become  narrower, more  entire  and
 pointed as they ascend.  The flowers  are purplish-white  or rose-coloured,
 and terminate the stem in a raceme approaching the character of a corymb 
PART I.
Cardamine.— Cardamomum.
175
  This species of Cardamine  is  a native of Europe, and is  found in  the
northern parts of our continent, about Hudson's Bay.  It is  a very  hand-
some plant, abounding in moist meadows, which it adorns with its flowers
in the months of April and May.  The leaves are bitterish and slightly pun-
gent, resembling in some measure those of water-cresses, and like  them sup-
posed to be possessed of antiscorbutic properties. In Europe they are some-
times added to salads.  The flowers only are officinal.  They have the same
taste with the leaves, and, when fresh, a  somewhat pungent odour.  When
dried, they become inodorous and nearly  insipid.
  They formerly possessed the  reputation of being diuretic,  and  since the
publication of a  paper by Sir George Baker, somewhat more than half a cen-
tury ago, have been occasionally used as an antispasmodic in various nervous
diseases, such as chorea and spasmodic asthma, in which they  were success-
fully employed  by that  physician.  They produce, however,  little obvious
effect upon the system, and are not employed in this country.         W.


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

                               Cardamom.

   " The fruit of Alpinia Cardamomum." U. S.  "Alpinia Cardamomum.
 Seminal  Lond.   " Fruit of Renealmia Cardamomum."  Ed.
   Off. Syn.  AMOMUM CARDAMOMUM.  Semina.  Dub.
   Petit cardamome, Fr.; Kleine Kardumomen, Germ ,- Cardamomo minore, Ital; Carda-
momo menor, Span.; Ebil, Arab.; Kakelah seghar, Persian; Capalaga, Malay; Gujaratii
elachi, Hindoost.
   The subject of cardamom has been involved in  some confusion and un-
certainty, both in its commercial and botanical relations.  The name has been
applied  to the  aromatic  capsules of various  Indian plants belonging to the
family of the Scitamineas.  Three varieties have long been designated by the
several titles of the lesser, middle,  and larger, the cardamomum minus, me-
dium, and majus, of older authors; but  these  terms have been used differ-
ently by different writers, so that their precise signification remained doubtful.
Pereira, whose position in the midst of the greatest drug market in the world
has given  him excellent opportunities, which he has not  neglected, of investi-
gating the commercial history of drugs,  has  enabled us in great measure  to
clear up this confusion.   It is well known that the lesser cardamom of most
writers is the variety recognised by the Pharmacopoeias, and  generally kept
in  the  shops.   The other varieties, though  circulating to  a  greater or less
extent in European and Indian commerce, are  little known in this country.
A  sketch of the non-officinal cardamoms, condensed from the  account  of
Pereira, is  given below in a note.*  The following remarks  have reference
 exclusively to the genuine  Malabar or officinal cardamom.
  * 1.  Ceylon Cardamom.   This has been denominated variously by different authors, car-
damomum medium, cardamomum majus, and  cardamomum longum, and is sometimes
 termed in English commerce wild cardamom.  It is the large cardamom  of Guibourt.  In
the East i,t is sometimes called Grains of Paradise; but it is distinct from the product
 known with ns 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
specifically designated by Sir James Edward Smith, Elettaria major.  This plant has been
described by Pereira in the Pharmaceutical Journal  and. Transactions (vol. ii. p. 388).
The fruit is a lanceolate-oblong, acutely triangular capsule, somewhat curved, about  an
 inch and a half long and four lines broad, with flat and ribbed sides, tough and coriaceous,
brownish or yellowish-ash coloured, having frequently at one end the  long, cylindrical,
 three lobed calyx, and at the other the fruit stalk.  It is three-celled, and contains angular,
 rugged, yellowish-red seeds, of a peculiar fragrant odour, and spicy taste. Its effects are 
176
Cardamomum.
PART I.
   Linnasus confounded, under  the  name of Amomum  Cardamomum, two
 different vegetables—the genuine plant of Malabar, and another growing in
 Java.  These were separated by Willdenow, who  conferred on the former
 Sonnerat's title of Amomum repens,  while he retained the original name
 for the latter, though not the true cardamom plant.   In the tenth vol. of  the
 Linn. Transactions, A. D.  1811, Mr. White,  a British Army Surgeon in
 India,  published a very minute  description  of the  Malabar  plant, which he
 had enjoyed frequent  opportunities  of  examining in its native state.   From
 this description, Dr. Maton inferred that the  plant,  according  to Roscoe's
 arrangement of the Scitamineas,  could not be considered an Amomum; and,
 as he was unable to attach it to any  other known genus,  he proposed to con-
 struct a new one with the name of  Elettaria,  derived from  elettari, or ela-
 tari, the  Malabar name of this vegetable.  Sir James Smith afterwards sug-
 gested  the propriety of naming  the new genus Matonia, in honour of Dr.
 Maton; and the latter title having been adopted by  Roscoe, obtained a place
 in former editions of the London and United States Pharmacopoeias.  After
 all,  however, it is  doubtful whether the new  genus  is well founded;  and

 analogous  to those of the officinal cardamom, which, however, commands  three times its
 price.
  2. Round Cardamom.  This is probably the  "Ay.aifA.ov of Dioscorides, and the Amomi
 uva  of Pliny, and is believed to be  the  fruit  of the 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 cunphorous flavour.  Tlicy
 are sometimes, though very rarely, met with connected  together in their native cluster*,
 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 eulii-
 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 im.
 perfectly three-lobed, of a dirty grayish-browiijcolour,  and coarse fibrous appearance.
 They are strongly ribbed, and, when soaked in water, exhibit from nine  to thirteen ragged
 membranous wings, which distinguish them from all other  varieties.   Tlic seeds have a
 feebly aromatic taste and smell.  This variety of cardamom affords but a very small pro-
 portion of volatile oil, is altogether of  inferior  quality, and when imported into London, is
 usually sent to the continent.
  4.  Madagascar Cardamom. This  is the  Cardamomum  majus of  Geiger and  some
other authors, and  is thought to be the fruit of the  Amomum angustifolivm of Snnnerat,
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
ot the officinal cardamom.                                             °
are
  5.  Grains of Paradise.  Grana Paradisi.  Under this name, and that of Guinea grains,
  e 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 ringers, and of a strongly hot and peppery taste.  They arc
brought from Guinea, and are said to be produced by the Amomum Grana Paradisi of Sir
J. E. Sm.th.   1 heir effects on the system are analogous to those of pepper ;  but they are
seldom  used except  in veterinary practice, and to give artificial strength to spirits wine,
beer, and vinegar.  In the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, (ii. 443), Dr. Pereira  points out
seven distinct sc.tammeous fruits, to which the name of grains of paradise have been ap-
plied by different authors.   That above described is the only one now known  by the name
in commerce.
  Other products of different Scilaminc*. which have received the name of cardnmom,
are described by Pereira;  but the above are all that are known in commerce, or likely to
be brought into our drug markets.                                             J 
PART I.
Cardamomum.
177
 the  celebrated Dr. Roxburgh describes the  Malabar cardamom plant as an
 Alpinia, with the specific  appellation  of A. Cardamomum.   He has been
 followed by Sprengel, and several other German authorities, and recently by
 the  London  College, and the framers of the Pharmacopoeia of the United
 States.  Lindley and Pereira, however, adhere to the genus Elettaria of Dr.
 Maton.  Finally, Roscoe has arranged the  plant with the abandoned genus
 Renealmia of Linnaeus which he has restored ;  and  the Edinburgh College
 has recognised this arrangement.
   Alpinia.  Sex. Syst.  Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Scitamineas.
 Brown.  Zingiberaceas. Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla with interior border unilabiate.   Anther double, naked,
 (uncrowned.)  Capsule  berried, three-celled.   Seeds a few, or numerous,
 arilled.  Roxburgh, Asiat. Research, vol. xi. p. 350.
   Alpinia Cardamomum.  Roxburgh.—Elettaria Cardamomum.  Maton.—
 Matonia  Cardamomum. Roscoe.—Amomum  Repens. Sonnerat;  Willd.
 Sp. Plant, i. 9.   Renealmia Cardamomum. Roscoe, Monandrous Plants.
 Figured in Linn. Trans., x. 248.  The cardamom plant has a tuberous hori-
 zontal root or rhizoma, 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 surface, glossy and pale  sea-green beneath, with  strong midribs, and
 short footstalks.   The  scape or flower-stalk proceeds from the base of the
 stem, and lies upon the ground, with the flowers  arranged in  the form of a
 panicle.  The calyx is monophyllous, tubular, and toothed at the margin ; the
 corolla monophyllous and funnel-shaped, with the inferior border unilabiate,
 three-lobed, and spurred at the  base.   The  fruit is  a three-celled capsule,
 containing numerous seeds.
   This valuable  plant is a native  of  the mountains of Malabar, where it
 springs up spontaneously in  the forests  after the removal  of the undergrowth.
 From  time immemorial,  great numbers of the natives have derived a liveli-
 hood from its cultivation.   It begins to yield fruit at the end of the fourth
 year, and continues to bear  for several years afterwards.   The capsules when
 ripe are picked from the fruit stems, dried over a gentle fire,  and  separated
 by rubbing with the hands from  the footstalks and adhering calyx.
   Thus prepared, they are  ovate-oblong, from  three to  ten lines long,  from
 three to four  thick, three-sided with  rounded  angles, obtusely pointed  at both
 ends, longitudinally wrinkled, and of a yellowish-white colour.  The seeds
 which they contain are small, angular, irregular, rough as if embossed upon
 their surface, of a brown colour, easily reduced to  powder, and thus sepa-
 rable from the capsules, which, though  slightly aromatic, are  much  less so
 than the seeds, and should be rejected when the medicine is given  in sub-
 stance.  The seeds constitute about 74 parts by weight in the hundred.   Ac-
 cording 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 varie-
 ties ; 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. short-
longs,  which differ from the second variety in being  somewhat shorter  and
less pointed.   The odour of cardamom is fragrant, the taste warm, slightly
pungent, and highly aromatic.   These properties are  extracted by water and
alcohol, but more readily by the latter.  They depend on a volatile  oil which
rises with water  in distillation.   The seeds  contain,  according to  Tromms- 
178                 Cardamomum.—Carota.                part i.

dorff, 4-6 per cent, of volatile oil, 10-4 of fixed  oil, 2-5 of  a salt of potassa
mixed with a colouring principle, 3-0 of starch, 1'8 of azotized  mucilage, 0-4
of yellow colouring matter, and 77-3 of ligneous fibre.  The  volatile oil is
colourless, of an agreeable and very penetrating  odour, and of  a strong, aro-
matic, 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, loses its  peculiar odour and taste.  (Trommsdorf, An-
nalen der  Pharmacie, July, 1834.)  The seeds should be powdered only
when wanted for immediate use, as they retain their aromatic properties best
while enclosed within the capsules.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Cardamom is a warm  and grateful aro-
matic, 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 condi-
ment.  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 com-
pound preparations.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Aromatica, Lond.,  Dub.; Extract.  Colocynthidis
Comp., U. S., Lond., Dub.; Pulvis  Aromaticus, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Tinctura Cardamomi,  U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Tinct.  Cardam.  Comp.,
Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Cinnam.  Comp.,  U S.,  Lond.,  Ed.;  Tinct.
Conii, Lond., Dub.; Tinct. Gentian.  Comp., U. S., Lond.,  Dub.; Tinct.
Quassias Comp., Ed.;  Tinct. Rhei, U.S., Ed.; Tinct. Rhei Comp., Dub.;
Tinct. Rhei  et  Aloes, U.S.,  Ed.;  Tinct. Sennas  Comp., Lond., Dub.;
Tinct. Sennas et Jalapas, U. S., Ed.;  Vinum Aloes,  U. S.,  Ed.       W.
                 CAROTA. U. S., Secondary.

                           Carrot  Seed.
  " The fruit of Daucus Carota." U. S.
  Off. Syn.  DAUCI FRUCTUS. Daucus Carota. Fructus. Lond.; DAU-
CUS CAROTA. Var. SYLVESTRIS. Semina. Dub.
                 DAUCI RADIX. Lond., Ed.

                      Garden Carrot  Root.

  " Daucus Carota.  Radix recens.," Lond.  " Root of Daucus Carota. var.
Sativa." Ed.
  Off. Syn.  DAUCUS CAROTA. Radix. Dub.
  Carrolte, Fr.; Gemeine Mohre, Gelbe Rube, Germ.; Carota, Ital; Lanahorin, Span.
I  Daucus.   Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat.  Ord.  Umbelliferas, or
Apiaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Corolla somewhat rayed. Florets of the disk abortive.  Fruit
hispid with hairs. Willd.
  Daucus Carota. Willd. Sp. Plant, i.  1389;  Wood v. Med. Bot. p. 130.
t. 50.  The  wild  carrot has a biennial spindle-shaped  root, and an annual,
round, furrowed, hairy stem, which divides  into long,  erect, flower-bearing
branches, and rises two or three  feet in  height.   The leaves are hairy, and
stand on footstalks nerved on their under side.   The  lower are laro-e and
tripinnate, the upper, smaller and less compound ; in  both, the leaflets are
divided  into narrow pointed segments.  The flowers  are small, white, and 
PART I.
Carota.
179
disposed in many-rayed compound umbels, which are at first flat on the top
and spreading, but when the seeds are formed, contract  so as to present a
concave cup-like surface.   A sterile flower of a deep purple colour is often
observable in the centre of the umbel.  The general involucrum is composed
of several leaves, divided  into long narrow segments;  the partial is more
simple.  The petals are five, unequal and cordate.  The fruit consists of two
plano-convex  hispid portions, connected by their flat surface.
   The 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 considerably employed, both in domestic practice and by
physicians, in chronic nephritic affections, and in dropsy.   As they possess
to a certain extent the cordial properties of the aromatics, they are especially
adapted to cases in which  the stomach is enfeebled.   They are said to afford
relief in the  strangury from blisters.   From thirty grains to a drachm of the
bruised seeds may be  given at a dose, or a pint of the infusion, containing the
virtues of half an  ounce or an ounce  of the seeds, may be taken during the
 day.  The whole  umbel is often used instead of the seeds alone.
   2. Carrot Root. The root of the wild carrot is whitish, hard, coriaceous,
branched, of  a strong smell, and an acrid disagreeable taste; that of the cul-
 tivated variety is reddish, fleshy, thick, conical, rarely branched, of a pleasant
 odour,  and  a peculiar, sweet, mucilaginous  taste.  The constituents of the
root are  crystallizable and uncrystallizable sugar, a little starch, extractive,
 gluten, albumen, volatile oil, vegetable jelly [pectin  of Braconnot),  malic
 acid, saline matters, lignin, and  a peculiar crystallizable,  ruby-red,  neutral
 principle, without  odour or taste, called carotin.  In  relation to the nature
 of vegetable jelly  much uncertainty has existed.  By some it has  been con-
 sidered a modification of gum or  mucilage combined  with a vegetable acid.
 Braconnot found it to be a peculiar principle, and gave it the name of pectin,
 derived from  the Greek word Ttqxtis,  and expressive of the peculiar property
 of gelatinizing, by which  it is distinguished.   It exists more or less in all
 vegetables, and is abundant in certain fruits and roots  from which jellies  are
 prepared.  It may be separated  from the juice  of fruits by the addition of
 alcohol, which precipitates it in the form of a jelly.  This being washed with
 weak alcohol and  dried, yields a semi-transparent substance bearing  some
 resemblance to fish-glue or isinglass.   Immersed in 100  parts of cold  water,
 it swells like bassorin, and ultimately forms a homogeneous jelly.  With  a
 larger proportion of water 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 
180
Carota.— Carthamus.
PART I.
decomposed  by the addition of an acid, which  unites with  the  alkali  and
separates the pectic acid. (Braconnot, Annates  de  Chimie, Juillet, 1831.)
Peclic acid thus obtained is in the  form of a colourless jelly, slightly acidu-
lous, with the property of reddening litmus paper,  scarcely soluble  in cold
water, more soluble in boiling water, and forming with the latter  a solution,
which, though it does  not become solid on cooling, is  coagulated  by the
addition of alcohol, lime-water, acids, or salts, and even of sugar if allowed
to stand for some time.  With the alkalies the acid forms salts which are also
capable of assuming the consistence of a jelly.   With the earths and metallic
oxides  it forms  insoluble salts.  Braconnot thinks  that pectic acid exists in
many  plants  already formed, being produced  by  the reaction of alkalies
present in the plant upon the pectin.   The views of Braconnot  have been
confirmed by M. Fremy,  who also found that pectin results,  in fruits, from
the reaction of acids upon a peculiar insoluble substance they contain when
immature; and that pectin is changed into  pectic acid not only by alkalies,
but also by vegetable albumen.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The wild root  possesses  the  same pro-
perties 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 sup-
posed to correct, while it sometimes changes the character of the diseased
action.   It is brought to the proper consistence by scraping.  In this state it
retains a portion of the active principles of the  plant, which render it some-
what stimulant.   Boiled and  mashed, as usually recommended, the  root is
perfectly mild, and fit only to form emollient cataplasms.
   Off. Prep.  Cataplasma  Dauci, Dub.                             W.


               CARTHAMUS.   U.S. Secondary.

                          Dyers'1 Saffron.

   "The flowers of Carthamus tinctorius."  U. S.
   Flours de carthame, Safran batard, Fr.; Farber Saffor, Germ.; Cartamo, Ital, Span.
   Carthamus.  Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat.  Ord. Composite
Cynareas. De Cand.  Cynaraceas.  Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Receptacle  paleaceous, setose.  Calyx  ovate, imbricated, with
scales  ovate,  leafy at  the end.   Seed-down  paleaceous,  hairv, or none.
Willd.                                                     J
*  Carthamus tinctorius. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii.  1706.  The  dyers' saffron
or safflower is an annual plant, with a smooth erect stem, somewhat branched
at top, and a foot or two in height.   The leaves are  alternate, sessile, ovate,
acute, entire,  and furnished with spiny  teeth. The flowers are compound, in
large, terminal, solitary heads.  The florets are of an orange-red colour, with
a funnel-shaped corolla, of which the tube is long, slender, and cylindrical, and
the border divided into  five equal, lanceolate, narrow segments.
   The plant is a native of the Levant and Egypt, but is cultivated  in various
parts of Europe and America.  The  florets are the parts employed.  They are
brought to us chiefly from the ports  of the Mediterranean.   Considerable
quantities are produced in  this country, and sold under the name of American
saffron.
   Safflower in mass is  of  a red colour, diversified by the  yellowness of the
filaments  contained  within the floret.   It has a peculiar slightly aromatic
odour, and a scarcely perceptible bitterness.  Among its ingredients are two
colouring substances—one red, insoluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol 
part i.                  Carthamus.— Carum.                     181

very soluble in alkaline liquids, and called carthamine, or carthamic acid by
Dbbereiner, who found it  to possess acid properties; the other yellow and
soluble in water.  It is the former which  renders safflower useful as a dye-
stuff.  Carthamine mixed  with finely powdered talc forms the cosmetic pow-
der known by the  name of rouge.   For more detailed information in relation
to these principles, the reader  is referred  to  the Journal  de Pharmacie et de
Chimie (3d series., vol. iii. p.  203.)
   These flowers are sometimes fraudulently mixed with  saffron, which they
resemble  in colour,  but  from  which they  may be distinguished  by their
tubular form, and by the yellowish  style and filaments which they enclose.
   Medical Properties.  In large doses carthamus is said to be laxative; and
administered in the state of warm infusion it proves  somewhat diaphoretic.
It is used in domestic practice, as a substitute for saffron, in measles,  scarla-
tina, and  other exanthematous diseases,  in  order to promote the eruption.
An infusion made in the proportion of two drachms to a  pint of boiling water
is usually employed, and given without restriction as to quantity.     W.


                          CARUM.  U. S.

                              Caraway.

   " The fruit of Carum  Carui."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  CARUI. Lond., Ed.; CARUM CARUI. Semina. Dub.
   drvi, Fr., Ital,- Gemeiner Kummel, Germ.; Alcaravea, Span.
   Carum.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Umbelliferas or
Apiaceas.
    Gen.  Ch.  Fruit  ovate-oblong, striated.  Involucre  one-leafed.   Petals
keeled, inflexed-emarginate. Willd.
   Carum Carui. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  1470;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 102. t.
41.   This plant is biennial and umbelliferous,  with a spindle-shaped, fleshy,
whitish root, and an erect stem, about two feet in height, branching  above,
and furnished  with doubly pinnate, deeply incised leaves, the segments of
which are  linear and pointed.  The flowers are small and white, and termi-
nate the branches of  the stem in erect umbels, which are accompanied  with
an involucre consisting sometimes of three or four leaflets, sometimes  of one
only, and are destitute  of partial involucre.
   The caraway plant is a native of Europe, growing wild in meadows and
pastures, and cultivated in many  places.   It has been introduced into this
country.   The flowers appear in  May and June, and the seeds* which are
not perfected  till the second year,  ripen  in August.   The root, when im-
proved by culture,  resembles the parsnip, and is used as  food by  the inhabi-
tants of the North of Europe. The seeds are the part used in medicine.
They are collected by cutting down the  plant and threshing it  on a cloth.
Our markets are supplied partly from Europe,  partly from our own  gardens.
The American seeds are  usually rather  smaller than those brought from
Germany.
  Caraway seeds (half-fruits) are about two lines in length, slightly curved,
with five longitudinal ridges which are of a light yellowish colour, while the
intervening spaces are dark brown.   They have a pleasant aromatic  smell,
and a sweetish, warm, spicy taste.   These properties depend on an  essential
oil, which they afford largely by distillation.   The residue is insipid.  They
yield their virtues readily to alcohol, and more slowly to water.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.    Caraway is a  pleasant stomachic  and
carminative, occasionally used  in  flatulent colic, and  as  an adjuvant or cor-
     17 
182
Carum.— Caryophyllus.
PART I.
rective 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 sometimes baked in cakes, to which they
communicate an agreeable flavour, while they serve to stimulate the digestive
organs.
  Off. Prep.  Aqua Carui, Lond., Dub.;  Confectio  Opii, Lond.,  Dub.;
Confectio  Rut?e,  Lond., Dub.;  Oleum  Cari,  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;
Spiritus Carui, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Juniperi  Compositus,  U. S.,
Lond., Dub.;  Tinct. Cardamomi Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinct. Sennas
Comp., Lond., Dub.; Tinct. Sennas et Jalapas,  U. S., Ed.          W.


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

                               Cloves.

  " The unexpanded flowers of Caryophyllus  aromaticus."  U. S. " Cary-
ophyllus aromaticus.   Flores nondum explicati exsiccati."  Lond. "Dried
undeveloped flowers  of  Caryophyllus  aromaticus." Ed. "Eugenia caryo-
phyllata.  Flores  nundum expliciti." Dub.
  Girofle, Clous de Girofles, Fr.; Gewurznelken, Germ.; Garofani, Ital.; Clavos de espicia,
Span ,- Cravo da India, Portuguese ; Kruidnagel, Dutch; Kerunfel, Arab.
  Caryophyllus. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Myr-
taceas.
  Gen. Ch. Tube of the calyx cylindrical;  limb four-parted.   Petals four,
adhering 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, convex externally, sinuous in various ways internally.   Lind-
ley.   De Cand.
  Caryophyllus aromaticus. Linn. Sp. 735. De Cand. Prodrom. iii.  262.
Eugenia caryophyllata.  Willd.  Sp.  Plant, ii. 965;  Wood v. Med.  Bot.
p. 538. t.  193.   This small tree is one of the most elegant of those which
inhabit the  sunny clime of India.   It has a pyramidal form, is always green,
and  is  adorned throughout  the year with  a succession of  beautiful rosy
flowers.  The stem is of hard wood,  and covered with a smooth,  grayish
bark.  The leaves are about four  inches in  length by  two in  breadth, obo-
vate-oblong, acuminate  at both ends, entire, sinuated, with many parallel
veins on each side of the midrib, supported  upon long footstalks, and  oppo-
site to each other  upon the branches.   They have a firm consistence, a shin-
ing 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
abundantly before their conquest by the Dutch.   By the monopolizing policy
of this commercial people, the trees were extirpated in  nearly all the islands
except Amboyna and Ternate, which were under their immediate inspection.
Notwithstanding, however,  the jealous  vigilance of the  Dutch, a French
governor of the Isle of France and of Bourbon, named  Poivre, succeeded, in
the year 1770, in obtaining plants from the Moluccas, and introducing  them
into the colonies  under  his control.  Five  years afterwards, the clove-tree
was introduced into Cayenne and the West Indies, in 1803 into the Island of 
PART I.
Caryophyllus.
183
 Sumatra, and in 1818 into Zanzibar.  It is now cultivated largely in these
 and other places ;  and commerce has ceased to depend on the Moluccas  for
 supplies of this valuable spice.
   The unexpanded  flower buds are the part  of the plant employed under
 the ordinary name of cloves.*   They are first gathered when the tree is
 about six years  old.   The fruit has  similar  aromatic  properties, but much
 weaker.   The buds are picked  by the hand, or separated from the tree  by
 long reeds, and  are  then quickly dried.   In the Moluccas they are said  to
 be sometimes 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 first
 introduced into  Europe by the  Arabians, and were circulated through  the
 medium of Venetian commerce.  After the discovery of the southern passage
 to India, the trade in this spice passed into the  hands of the Portuguese; but
 it was subsequently wrested from them by the  Dutch,  by whom it was long
 monopolized.  Within a few years, however, the  extended culture of the
 plant has opened new sources of supply; and the commerce in cloves is no
 longer restricted to  a single nation.  The United  States derive  their chief
 supplies from the West Indies and the  European  colonies in Guiana.   Of
 the average annual import, according to the custom-house returns, from 1820
 to 1828  inclusive, 43,240 pounds  were brought from the West Indies or
 South America,  and 12,828 from France; while from England, Holland, and
 the East Indies together, the amount imported  was only 11,090 pounds;  and
 as the cloves obtained from  France were probably of American  growth, it
 appears  that we can receive but a very small proportion of those produced in
 the Moluccas.   The latter are said to be  thicker, darker, heavier, more oily,
 and more highly aromatic than those of the colonies to which the clove-tree
 has been transplanted.  They are known in commerce by the name of Am-
 boyna cloves.  Those of Bencoolen, from Sumatra, are deemed equal if not
 superior by the English druggists.
   Properties.  Cloves resemble a nail in shape, are usually rather more
 than half an inch  long, and have a round  head with  four spreading points
 beneath it.   Their colour is externally deep brown, internally reddish; their
 odour strong and fragrant; their taste hot, pungent, aromatic, and very per-
 manent.   The best cloves are large, heavy, brittle, and exude a small  quantity
 of oil on being pressed or scraped with the nail.  When light, soft, wrinkled,
 pale, and of feeble taste and smell, they are inferior.   We  are told that those
 from which the  essential oil  has been distilled are sometimes fraudulently
 mixed with the genuine.
   Trommsdorff obtained from 1000 parts of cloves 180 of volatile  oil, 170
 of a peculiar  tannin, 130 of gum, 60 of resin, 280 of vegetable fibre,  and 180
 of water.   M. Lodibert afterwards discovered a fixed oil,  aromatic and of a
 green colour, and a white resinous substance which crystallizes in  fasciculi
 composed of very  fine diverging  silky needles, without taste or smell, solu-
 ble in ether and  boiling alcohol, and exhibiting no  alkaline reaction.  This
 substance, called by M. Bonastre caryophyllin, was found in the cloves of the
 Moluccas, of Bourbon, and of Barbadoes, but not in  those of Cayenne. Ber-
 zelius considers  it a stearoptene, and  probably identical with that deposited
by the oil of cloves when long kept.  M. Dumas has discovered  another
crystalline principle, which forms in the  water distilled from cloves, and is

   * The peduncles of the flowers have been  sometimes employed.  They possess  the
odour and  taste of the cloves, though in a less degree, and furnish a considerable quantity
of essential oil.  The French call them grijfes de girofies. 
184                  Caryophyllus.—Cascarilla.              part i.

gradually deposited.   Like caryophyllin, it is soluble in alcohol and ether,
but differs from that substance in assuming a red  colour  when touched with
nitric acid.   M. Bonastre  proposes  for it the name of eugenin.  {Journ. de
Pharm., xx. 565).   Water extracts the odour of cloves  with comparatively
little of their taste.  All their sensible properties are imparted to alcohol, and
the tincture  when evaporated  leaves an excessively fiery extract, which be-
comes insipid when deprived of  the oil by distillation with water, while the
oil which comes over is mild.   Hence it has been inferred that the pungency
of this aromatic depends on a union  of the essential oil with the resin.   For
an account of the oil of doves, see Oleum Caryophilli. The infusion and oil
of cloves are reddened by nitric acid, and rendered  blue  by tincture of chlo-
ride of iron; facts of some interest, as morphia affords the same results with
these reagents.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Cloves are among the most stimulant of
the aromatics, but, like others of this class, exert less effect upon  the system
at large than on the part to which they are immediately  applied.   They are
sometimes administered in substance or infusion to relieve nausea and vomit-
ing, correct  flatulence, and excite languid digestion; but  their chief use is to
assist or modify the action of other medicines.  They enter as  ingredients
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 Aromalica, Lond., Dub.;  Confectio  Scammonii,
Lond., Dub.; Infusum Aurantii  Compositum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum
Caryophylli,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Mistura  Ferri Aromatica,  Dub.;
Oleum Caryophylli, Ed.;  Spiritus Ammonias  Aromaticus, U. S.,  Lond.;
Spiritus Lavandula Compositus, U.S., Ed.,  Dub;  Syrupus Rhei Aromati-
cus, U.S.;  Vinum Opii, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.                   W.


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

                             Cascarilla.

  " The bark of Croton Eleutheria." U. S.   " Croton Cascarilla. (Don.)
Cortex." Jyond.  " Bark  probably of Croton Eleuteria, and possibly other
species of the  same genus." Ed.   " Croton Cascarilla. Cortex." Dub.
  Cascarille, Fr.; Cascarillrinde, Germ.;  Cascariglia, Ital; Chacarila, Span.
  Croton.  Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Euphorbiaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx cylindrical, five-toothed.  Corolla five-petalled.
Stamens ten to fifteen. Female. Calyx many-leaved. Corolla none.  Styles
three, bifid.  Capsule three-celled. Seed one. Willd.
  Cascarilla has been  ascribed by different authors to  different species of
Croton.  The United States and Edinburgh Pharmacopasias indicate the C.
Eleutheria,  that of the  Dublin College, the C. Cascarilla of Linnasus.  Both
species grow in the West Indies, and it is not impossible that the bark of
both has been sold as  cascarilla; but there is reason to  believe that the C.
Eleutheria is at least the most abundant source of it.  The London College
is undoubtedly wrong  in ascribing  it  to  the  C.  Cascarilla of Don.  This
botanist mistook  the 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  proposed  to transfer the specific name of 
PART I.
Cascarilla.
185
Cascarilla to the Mexican plant;—an unfortunate error, to which the London
College has given authority by  its  sanction.  No fact is better ascertained
than that  the  proper  cascarilla bark is  a West India  product, and is  never
brought from Mexico.  The Copalchi  bark has  sometimes been  mistaken
also for a variety of cinchona, to which, however, it  bears no great resem-
blance.
   Croton Eleutheria. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 545; Sloane's Jamaica, vol. ii.
t.  174.  This species of Croton is a small tree or shrub, said by Browne to
be four or five feet in height, but as seen by Dr. Wright in Jamaica,  rising
to twenty feet, and branching thickly towards  the summit.  The leaves are
entire, ovate or cordate lanceolate, and elongated towards the apex, which is
blunt.   They are of a bright green colour upon their  upper surface,  and
stand alternately upon short footstalks.  The flowers,  which are of a whitish
colour, are disposed  in  axillary  and terminal  racemes.   This shrub grows
wild in the West Indies, especially the Bahama islands, in one of which—
the small island of Eleutheria—it is  found so abundantly as to  have received
its name from that circumstance.   It is  called by Browne sea-side balsam.
   Croton  Cascarilla. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv,  531 ; Wood v. Med. Bot. p.
629. t. 222.   This is still smaller than the preceding species, and is  called
by Browne the small sea-side balsam.   The stem is branched and covered
with brown bark, of  which the  external coat is  rough and whitish.   The
leaves are long, very narrow,  somewhat pointed, entire, of a bright  green
colour on the upper surface, downy and of a silvery whiteness  on the under.
They are placed alternately on short  footstalks.   The flowers are small,
greenish,  and disposed in long terminal spikes.  This plant  is a native of
the Bahamas, has been found abundantly in Hayti, and  is said also  to grow
in Peru and Paraguay.  Browne describes it as hot and  pungent to the taste.
The Croton  lineare  of Jacquin, considered by  Willdenow as a variety of
die 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 portions is partially, sometimes wholly  removed,
leaving  a dark-brown  surface, while the  inner surface has a chocolate colour,
and the fracture is reddish-brown.   The small pieces are sometimes curled,
but have a distinct abrupt edge as if broken from the branches.  The second
variety consists entirely of very small pieces  not more  than an inch or  two
in length, very thin,  without the white  epidermis, not regularly quilled, but
curved more or less  in the direction of their length, often having a  small
portion  of woody fibre attached to their inner surface,  and presenting an
appearance precisely as if shaved  by a knife  from  the stem or branches of
the shrub.   Whether these two varieties are derived from distinct species,
or differ only from the mode of collection,  or the  part of the plant  from
which they are taken, it is difficult to determine.
   Properties.  Cascarilla has an aromatic  odour, rendered much more  dis-
tinct by friction, and a warm, spicy, bitter taste.  It is brittle, breaking with
a short fracture.  When burnt it emits a pleasant odour very closely resem-
bling that of  musk, but weaker and more agreeable.  This property serves
to distino-uish it from all other barks.   Trommsdorff found it to contain 1-6
                                   17* 
186
Cascarilla.— Cassia Fistula.
PART I.
 of a greenish-yellow volatile oil, having a penetrating odour analogous to that
 of the bark, and the sp. gr. 0-938, 15 1 of a brown, soft, slightly bitter resin,
 18-7 of bitter extractive mixed with gum and traces of chloride of potassium,
 and 65-6 of lignin.  (Berzelius, Traite  de Chim.)   Either  alcohol or water
 will partially  extract its active matters; but diluted alcohol is  the  proper
 menstruum.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.   This bark is aromatic and tonic.   It was
 known in Germany so early as the year 1690, and was  much used as a sub-
 stitute for Peruvian bark by those who were prejudiced against this febrifuge
 in the  treatment of remittent and  intermittent fevers.  It has, however, lost
 much  of its reputation, and is now employed only where a pleasant and
 gently stimulant tonic is desirable; as  in dyspepsia, chronic diarrhoea and
 dysentery, flatulent colic, and other cases of debility of the stomach or bow-
 els.  It is sometimes advantageously combined with the more powerful bit-
 ters.   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 occa-
 sion vertigo and intoxication.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum  Cascarilla?,  Dub.;  Infusum  Cascarillas,  U.S.,
 Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cascarillas, Lond., Ed., Dub.          W.


                   CASSIA FISTULA.  U.S.

                          Purging  Cassia.

   " The fruit of Cassia Fistula."  U. S.
   Off.  Syn. CASSIA. Cassia Fistula. Leguminum Pulpa. Lond.; CASSLE
PULPA. Pulp of  the  pods of Cassia Fistula. Ed.; CASSIA FISTULA.
Pulpa leguminis. Dub.
   Casse, Fr.; Rohrenkassie, Germ.; Polpa di Cassia, Hal; Cnna Fistula, Span.
   Cassia.   Sex. Syst.  Dceandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceas  or
Leguminosas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-leaved. Petals  five. Anthers,  three  upper  sterile,
three lower beaked. Lomentum. Willd.
   The  tree which yields the purging cassia is ranked by many botanists  in
a distinct genus, separated from the Cassia and denominated Cathar to carpus,
of which the following is given as the  essential generic character.  " Calyx
five-parted, deciduous.  Corolla regular, of five petals.  The  lower fila-
ments bowed.   Pods long,  woody, many-celled.   Cells filled with  pulp."
Lindley,  in Loud.  Encyc. of Plants.
   Cassia Fistula.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii.  518 ;  Wood v. Med. Bot. p. 445. t.
160.—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 com-
posed of five  or six  pairs  of opposite  leaflets, which are  ovate, pointed,
undulated, smooth,  of a pale green colour, from three to five inches lono-, and
supported upon short petioles.   The flowers are large, of a golden y°ellow
colour,  and arranged in long pendent axillary racemes.   The fruit consists
of long, cylindrical, woody, dark-brown, pendulous pods, which, when acd-
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 
PART I.
Cassia Fistula.
187
generally supposed to have been transplanted to other parts of the world.  It
is at present very extensively diffused through the tropical regions of the old
and  new continents, being found in Insular  and Continental India, Cochin
China, Egypt, Nubia, the West Indies, and  the warmer  parts of America.
The fruit is the officinal portion of  the plant.  It is imported from the East
and  West Indies, chiefly the latter,  and from  South  America.
  Properties.  Cassia pods are a  foot or more in length, straight or but
slightly curved, cylindrical, less than an inch in  diameter, with  a woody
shell, externally of a dark brown colour, and  marked with three longitudinal
shining bands, extending from one  end  to  the  other, two of which are in
close proximity, appearing to  constitute a single band, and the  third is on
the 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  highly esteemed than  those
which come  from the West Indies.  We have seen a quantity of pcds 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 answered
all the purposes required of the medicine.   They corresponded exactly with
a specimen of the fruit of the  Cassia Brasiliana  brought  from the  West
Indies, and were probably derived from that plant.
   The heaviest pods, and those which do not make a rattling  noise when
shaken, are to be preferred, as they contain a larger portion of the pulp,
which is the part employed.  This should be black and shining, and hr.ve a
sweet taste.   It is apt to become sour if long exposed to  the air, or mouldy
if kept in a  damp  place.  The pulp is extracted from the pods  by first
bruising them, then boiling them in water, and afterwards  evaporating  the
decoction; or, when the pods are fresh, by opening them at the  sutures, and
removing the pulp by a spatula. (See Cassise Fistidse Pulp a.)
   The pulp is the portion considered officinal by the British Colleges; but
as it is the pod that is usually kept  in the  shops, the United  States Pharma-
copoeia designates the latter.  Cassia pulp has a slight rather sickly odour,
and a sweet mucilaginous taste.  From the analysis of M. Henry it appears
to contain  sugar, gum, a substance analogous to tannin, a colouring matter
soluble in ether, traces of a principle resembling gluten, and  a small quan-
tity of water.
   'Medical Properties and Uses. Cassia pulp is generally laxative, and may
be advantageously given in small  doses in cases of habitual  costiveness.
In quantities sufficient to purge it  occasions  nausea, flatulence,  and griping.
In this country it is very rarely prescribed, except  as an ingredient in  the
confection of senna, which is a highly pleasant  and useful laxative prepara-
tion.  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, U. S.                          W. 
188
Cassia Marilandica.
PART I.
              CASSIA MARILANDICA. U.S.

                         American Senna.

   " The leaves of Cassia Marilandica." U. S.
   Cassia.  See CASSIA FISTULA.
   Cassia Marilandica. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 524; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
ii. 116;  Barton, Med. Bot. i. 137.   This is an indigenous perennial plant,
of vigorous growth, sending up annually  numerous round,  erect, nearly
smooth stems, which  are usually simple, and rise from  three to six feet in
height.   The leaves are alternate, and composed of  from  eight to ten pairs
of oblong lanceolate, smooth, mucronate leaflets, green on their upper surface,
pale beneath, and connected by short petioles with  the common  footstalk,
which is compressed, channeled above, and furnished near its base with an
ovate, stipitate gland.   The flowers,  which are of a  beautiful golden yellow
colour, grow in short axillary racemes at the upper part of the  stem.  The
calyx is composed of five oval, obtuse, unequal, yellow leaves ; the corolla of
the same number of spatulate  concave petals, of which three are ascend-
ing, and two descending and larger than the others.   The stamens are ten,
with yellow filaments  and  brown anthers, which open by a terminal pore.
The three upper stamens bear short  abortive anthers; the three lowermost
are long, curved, and tapering into a beak.  The germ, which descends with
the latter, bears an erect style terminating in a  hairy  stigma.  The fruit is a
pendulous legume, from two to four inches  long, linear, curved, swelling at
the seeds, somewhat hairy,  and of a blackish colour.
   The American senna, or wild senna  as  it  is  sometimes called, is very
common in all parts of the United States south  of New  York, and grows
naturally as far northward  as the Southern  boundary of Massachusetts.  It
prefers a low, moist, rich soil, in the vicinity of water, and,  though frequently
found in dryer and more elevated places, grows most abundantly and luxu-
riantly  in the flat ground on the borders of rivers  and ponds.   It is some-
times cultivated to the  northward in gardens for medical use.   In the months
of July or August, when it  is in full bloom, it exhibits a rich  and beautiful
appearance.   The leaves should be collected in August  or the beginning of
September, and carefully dried.
   They  are sometimes brought into the market, compressed  into oblong
cakes, such as those prepared by the Shakers from most herbaceous medi-
cinal plants.   The leaflets  are  from an inch and  a half to  two  inches long,
from one quarter to half  an inch  in breadth, thin, pliable, and of a pale
green colour.   They have  a feeble  odour, and a nauseous taste somewhat
analogous to that of senna.   Water and alcohol extract their virtues.  They
were analyzed by Mr.  Martin, of Philadelphia, and found to contain a prin-
ciple analogous to cathartin in chemical properties and effects on  the sys-
tem,  albumen, mucilage,  starch,  chlorophylle,  vellow  colouring  matter,
volatile oil, fatty matter, resin, and lignin, besides salts of potassa and lime.
(Am. Journ. of Pharm., i. 22.)
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  American senna is an  efficient and safe
cathartic, closely resembling the imported senna  in  its  action, and capable
of being substituted for it in all cases  in which the latter  is  employed.  It
is, however, less active; and to produce an equal effect, must be administered
in a dose about one-third larger.  It is habitually used by many practitioners
in the country.  Like  senna it is  most conveniently given in  the  form of
infusion, and  should be similarly combined in order  to  obviate its tendency
to produce  griping.                                                ^y 
PART I.
Castanea.— Castor eum.
189
                CASTANEA.  U. S.  Secondary.

                             Chinquapin.

  " The bark of Castanea pumila."  U. S.
  Castanea. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Cupuliferas.
  Gen. Ch.  Male.  Ament naked.  Calyx none. Corolla five-petalled. Sta-
mens ten to  twenty.  Female. Calyx five or six-leaved,  muricate.  Corolla
none.   Germs three.   Stigmas pencil-formed.  Nuts three, included in the
echinated calyx. Willd.
  Castanea pumila. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 461;  Michaux, A". Am. Sylv.
iii. 15.   The chinquapin is an indigenous shrub or small tree, which, in the
Middle States,  rarely much  exceeds seven or eight feet in height; but in
Carolina, Georgia, and  Louisiana, sometimes attains  an elevation of thirty
or forty feet, with a diameter of trunk equal to twelve or fifteen inches. The
leaves are oblong, acute, mucronately serrate, and distinguished from those
of the  chestnut, which belongs  to the same genus, by their whitish and
downy under surface.   The  barren flowers are grouped upon axillary pe-
duncles 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 portion 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.  "Cas-
tor fiber.  Concretum infolliculis prxputii repertum." Lond.  "A peculiar
secretion in  the prasputial follicles of Castor fiber." Ed.
  Castoreum, Fr.; Bibergeil, Germ ; Castoro, Ital; Castoreo, Span.
  In the beaver, Castor fiber of naturalists, between  the anus and external
genitals of both sexes, are two pairs of membranous follicles, of which the
lower and larger are pear-shaped, and  contain an oily, viscid, highly odorous
substance, secreted  by glands which  lie externally to the sac.   This sub-
stance is called castor.   After the death of the animal, the follicles containing
it are removed and dried either by smoke or in the sun;  and in this state are
brought into the market.
  This drug is derived either from the northern and  north-western parts of
the American continent, or from the Russian dominions ; and is distinguished,
according to its source, into the Canadian or American,  and Russian castor.
Of  the latter but a very small portion reaches this country.  That which is
brought to Philadelphia is derived chiefly  from Missouri.
  Castor comes to us in the form of solid unctuous masses, contained in sacs
about two inches in length, larger at one end than at the other, much 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 
 190                           Castoreum.                       part i.

 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 contents,  which are of a rusty or liver-colour, have a stronger taste
 and smell,  and  are  considered  more valuable as a medicine.   A variety of
 Russian castor, described by Pereira under the name of chalky Russian cas-
 tor, is in smaller and rounder sacs than the American, has a peculiar empy-
 reumatic odour  very different from that of the other varieties, breaks  like
 starch under  the teeth, and  is  characterized by  effervescing with dilute mu-
 riatic  acid.  In the castor from Missouri, the contents of the sac are sometimes
 almost white, and evidently of inferior quality.  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,  accord-
 ing to Brandes, whose analysis is the most recent, are volatile oil; a resinous
 matter; albumen; a substance resembling osmazome ; mucus;  urate, carbo-
 nate, benzoate, phosphate, and sulphate  of lime; acetate and muriate of soda;
 muriate, sulphate, and benzoate of potassa; carbonate of ammonia; membra-
 nous  matter; and a peculiar proximate principle previously discovered by
 M.  Bizio, an Italian chemist,  and called by him  castorin.  This principle
 crystallizes in long, diaphanous, fasciculated prisms, has the smell of castor,
 of which it is alleged to be the active constituent, and a taste like that of
copper.  It is insoluble in cold water  and in cold alcohol; but is dissolved
by one hundred  parts of the latter liquid at the  boiling temperature,  and by
the essential oils.  It possesses neither alkaline nor acid properties.   It may
be obtained by treating castor  minutely divided with six times  its weight of
boiling alcohol, filtering the liquor while hot, and allowing it to cool.  The
 castorin is slowly  deposited, and  may be  purified by the action of cold
 alcohol.  Its  claim to be considered the  active principle of castor  is very
 doubtful.
  Alcohol  and sulphuric  ether  extract the virtues of castor.   An infusion
 made  with boiling water has its sensible properties  in a slight degree; but
 the odorous principle of the  drug is dissipated by decoction.
  The virtues of castor are  impaired by age;  and the change is more rapid
 in proportion to the elevation of temperature.  Moisture promotes its  speedy
 decomposition.   In a dry cool  place it may be  kept  for a long time without
 material deterioration.  When quite  black, with  little taste  or smell, it is
 unfit for use.  A factitious  preparation is  sometimes sold, consisting of  a
 mixture of various drugs,  scented with genuine castor, intermingled with
 membrane, and  stuffed into the scrotum of a goat.   The  fraud may be de-
 tected by the comparatively  feeble odour, the absence of other characteristic
 sensible properties, and the want of the  smaller follicles containing fatty
 matter, which are always attached to the real bags of castor.
  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 symp-
 toms of general excitement; but its force  is chiefly  directed to the  nervous 
PART I.
Cataria.— Catechu.
191
system, and in small doses it scarcely disturbs the circulation.  It has also
enjoyed a high reputation as  an emmenagogue.  It was  employed  by the
ancients.  Pliny and Dioscorides speak of it as useful in  hysteria and ame-
norrhosa.  In Europe, especially on the continent, it is still frequently pre-
scribed in low forms of fever attended with nervous symptoms, in spasmodic
diseases, such as hysteria and epilepsy, in  many anomalous nervous affec-
tions, and in diseases dependent on or connected with suppression or reten-
tion of  the  menses.  The practitioners of  this country rarely resort to it.
The dose in substance is from ten to twenty grains, which may be given in
bolus or emulsion.  The tincture is sometimes  employed.
   Off. Prep.  Tinctura Castorei, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cas-
torei  Ammoniata, Ed.                                            W.

                   CATARIA. U. S.  Secondary.

                                Catnep.

   " The leaves of Nepeta Cataria."  U. S.
   Cataire, Fr.; Katzenmdnze, Germ.; Cattara, Ital; Gatera, Span.
   Nepeta. Sex. Syst.  Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae
or Labiatas.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx dry, striate, five-toothed.   Corolla with  the  upper lip
undivided, the under lip three-parted, the middle division crenate. Stamens
approximate.
   Nepeta Cataria.  The Ca'nep 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 Slates, but
is supposed to have been introduced from Europe.
   The  whole herbaceous part of the plant is used; but  the leaves only are
recognised in the United States Pharmacopoeia.  They have a strong pecu-
liar, rather disagreeable odour, and  a  pungent, aromatic, bitterish, camphor-
ous taste.   They yield  their virtues to water.   The active constituents are
volatile oil,  and tannin of the variety which produces a greenish colour with
the salts of iron.
   In its  operation upon the system, catnep is tonic and excitant, bearing
considerable resemblance to  the  mints and labiate  plants.  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
amenorrhcea, chlorosis, hysteria, the  flatulent  colic  of infants, &c; but  is
scarcely known in regular practice.   Some of the older writers speak favour-
ably of its powers.  The leaves are said to relieve toothache if chewed, or
held for a few minutes in contact with the diseased tooth.  Two drachms of
the dried  leaves or herb may  be given as a dose in infusion.          W.


             CATECHU.   U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Catechu.

   " The  extract of the wood of Acacia Catechu." U. S.  " Acacia Catechu.
Ligni Extractum." Lond.  "Extract of the  wood  of Acacia Catechu, of 
192
Catechu.
PART I.
 the kernels of Areca Catechu, and of the leaves of Uncaria Gambir, proba-
 bly too from other plants."  Ed.   "Acacia Catechu.  Extractum ex ligno."
 Dub.
   Cachou. Fr.,- Catechu, Germ.,- Catccu, Catciu, Catto, Ital,-  Catecu, Span.; Cult, Hin-
 dooslanee.
   Acacia.  See ACACIA.
   Acacia Catechu. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1079; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 433.
 t. 157.  According  to Mr. Kerr, whose description  has been followed by
 most subsequent writers,  the  Acacia Catechu is a  small tree, seldom more
 than  twelve feet in height,  with a trunk one foot  in diameter,  dividing
 towards the top into many close branches,  and covered with a thick, rough,
 brown bark. The leaves,  which stand alternately upon the younger branches,
 are composed of from fifteen to thirty pairs  of 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 foot-stalk.  Two short recurved spines are  attached  to the stem at
 the base of each leaf. The flowers are in close spikes, which arise from the
 axils of the leaves, and are about four  or five inches  long.  The fruit is  a
 lanceolate, compressed, smooth, brown pod, with an undulated thin margin,
 and contains six or eight roundish flattened seeds, which when chewed emit
 a nauseous odour.
   This species of Acacia  is a native of the  East Indies, growing abundantly
 in various provinces  of Hindostan, and in the  Burman  empire.   Pereira say's
 that it is now common in Jamaica.  Like most others  of the same genus, it
 abounds in astringent matter, which may be extracted by decoction.  Catechu
 is an  extract from the wood of the tree.
   This drug had been long  known in medicine before its true source was
 discovered.   It was  at first called terra  Japonica, under the erroneous  im-
 pression that it was an earthy substance derived from  Japan.  When ascer-
 tained by analysis to be of vegetable origin, it was  generally considered by
 writers on the Materia Medica to be an extract obtained from the betel-nut,
 which is  the fruit of a species of palm, denominated by Linnasus Areca
 Catechu.  The true origin  of the  drug  was  made known by Mr.  Kerr,
 assistant-surgeon of the civil hospital in Bengal, who had an  opportunity not
 only of examining the tree from which it was obtained, but also of witness
 ing the process of its extraction.  According to Mr. Kerr, the manufacturer,
 having carefully cut off the  exterior white part of the wood, reduces  the
 interior brown or reddish-coloured  portion into chips, which he then boils in
 water  in unglazed earthen vessels, till all  the soluble matter  is dissolved.
 The decoction thus obtained  is evaporated  first by  artificial  heat, and after-
 wards in the sun, till it has assumed a thick consistence, when it i«  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 essen-
 tially  the  same.   The process, as he  observed it,  was  completed  by  the
pouring of the extract into  quadrangular earthen moulds.  Our own country-
man the Rev. Howard Malcolm, states, in his "Travels in South Eastern
Asia,   that catechu is largely prepared from the wood  of the Acacia Catechu
in the vicinity of Prome ,n Burma!,.  Two kinds, he observes, are prepared
from the same tree, one>. black, which is  preferred in China, and  the other red,
 which is most esteemed in Bengal.  According to some authors, the unripe
 fruit and leaves are  also submitted to  decoction, and  Mr. Kerr states that
 the areca  nut may sometimes be added to the other  ingredients in places
 where it is abundant.                                  °           j
  The name catechu in the native language  signifies the juice of a tree, and 
PART I.
Catechu.
193
appears to  have  been  applied  to  astringent extracts  obtained  from various
plants.  According to the United States, London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias,
however, the term  is properly restricted to the extract of the Acacia Catechu;
as it was  not intended to recognise  all  the astringent products  which are
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 ex-
ception to the general rule.   A minute account of the diversified forms  and
exterior characters, which  the officinal  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 Burman  dominions.    We  derive it directly
from Calcutta, or bv 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 into the
form of a note the following observations upon the varieties of catechu, those being first
considered which are  probably derived from the Acacia  Catechu, and therefore entitled to
an officinal rank.
                              1. Officinal Catechus.
  The following, so  far as we have been  able  to  distinguish them, are  the varieties of
officinal catechu to be found in the markets of Philadelphia.
  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 h;id been  placed in saucers, or vessels of a similar shape,  to harden. As found
in the retail shops it is almost always in fragments, most of which, however, exhibit some
evidences of the original form.  The cakes are of various size, from two or three to six
inches or more in diameter, and weighing from  a few ounces to nearly  two pounds.
Their exterior is usually smooth and dark brown, but we have seen a specimen in which
the flat surface exhibited impressions  as if produced by  coarse  matting.  The colour
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 resinous, 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 unable 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. Catechv; but  no accounts that we have seen
of the preparation of the  drug  in  particular geographical .sites, indicate 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 Burmnn dominions, and named
from that section of the country whence it is exported.  It enters commerce, probably in
general through Calcutta, in large masses, sometimes of a hundred weight, consisting of
layers of flat cakes, each wrapped in leaves said  to be those of the Nauclea Brunonis. In
this form, however,  we do  not see it in the shops; but almost always in angular irregular
fragments, in  which portions of two layers sometimes cohere with  leaves between them,
indicating their origin.  It is characterized by its compactness, its  shining fracture, and
its blackish-brown or  dark Port-wine colour, so that when finely broken  it  bears no in-
considerable resemblance  to  kino.   This is an excellent variety of catechu, and  is not
unfrequent in the shops.
  3.  Catechu  in Quadrangular Calces.  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
     18 
194
Catechu.
PART I.
    Properties.   Catechu, as it comes to us, is in masses of different shapes,
 some in balls  more or  less  flattened, some in  circular cakes, some saucer-
 shaped,  others cubical  or oblong, or quite  irregular,  and  of every grade in
 size, from small  angular  pieces, which are  evidently fragments of the origi-

 length and breadth, and somewhat  less in thickness, of a rusty-brown colour externally,
 and dark  brown or brownish-gray within, with a somewhat  rough and dull fracture, but,
 when broken across the layers in which it is  sometimes disposed, exhibiting a smoother
-and more shining surface.  Guibourt speaks  of the layers  as  being blackish externally
 and grayish within, and bearing some resemblance to the bark of a tree, a resemblance,
 however,  which has not struck us  in the specimens which  have fallen under our notice.
 There is little doubt that this variety comes from the provinces of  Bahar and Northern
 India, where the preparation of the drug was  witnessed by Mr. Kerr and Dr. Royle, who
 both speak of it us being cut, when drying, into the quadrangular form.  It has been called
 Bengal Catechu, because exported from that province.
   4. Catechu in Balls.  We have seen this in two  forms—the  one consisting of globular
 balls about as large as an orange, very hard and heavy, of a ferruginous aspect externally,
 very rough when broken, and so full of sand as to be gritty  under the  teeth;  the other in
 cakes, originally, in all probability,globular, and of about the samedimensions, 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 fracture, the  quadrangular variety last
 described.  The former kind is rare, and  the specimens we have seen had been twenty
 years in the shop, and had very much the appearance of a factitious  product.   The latter
 is in all probability the kind known formerly  as- the Bombay catechu; as Dr. Hamilton,
 and more  recently Major Mackintosh, in describing the mode of preparing catechu on the
 Malabar coast, of which Bombay is the entrepot, says that while the  extract is soft it is
 shaped into balls about the size of an orange.

                              2. Non-officinal Catechus.
   1.  Gambir.   Terra Japonica.   An astringent extract  is abundantly prepared in certain
 parts of the East Indies, under the name of gambir or gambeer,  and imported  into Europe
 and America under  that of terra Japonica. The plant from which  it is obtained, ca led
 by Mr. Hunter, who first minutely described  it, Nauclea Gambir, but by Roxburgh, De
 Candolle and others, Uncaria Gambir, is  a climbing shrub, belonging to the class and
 order Pentandria Monogynia,  and to the natural order Rubiacea of .lussieu, Cinchonacea
 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 proper consistence it is spread
 out into flat cakes in moulds or otherwise,  and then cut  into small cubes, which are dried
 in the sun.  Sometimes these cohere into a mass, in consequence of being packed'together
 before they are  perfectly dry.
   Gambir is in  the form of cubes, with sides about  an inch square, is light and porous so
 that it floats when thrown in water, is of a deep yellowish or reddish brown colour exter-
 nally, but much paler within, presents a dull  earthy surface when broken, is inodorous,
 and has a strongly astringent,  bitter, and subsequently sweetish taste.  It  softens and
 swells up when heated, and leaves  but a minute  proportion  of ashes when burnt.  It is
 partially soluble in  cold  water, and  almost wholly soluble in  boiling water, which deposits
 a portion  upon  cooling.  Duhamel, Eeky, 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 matter, gum or
 gummy extractive, a deposit like  the red cinchonic, and  two and a half per cent, of lignin.
 {Pereira.)  The peculiar principle  is called catechuin or catechuic acid. This, when per-
 fectly pure, is snow-white, of a silky appearance, crystallizible in fine needles, unalterable
 if dry in the air, fusible  by  heat,  very slightly  soluble in cold water with which it softens
 and swells up, soluble  in boiling water which deposits  it on cooling, and  soluble  also in
 alcohol and ether.   It very slightly reddens litmus paper, and though  it colours the solu-
 Hon of chloride of iron beautifully green, and produces with it a grayish-green precipitate,
 it differs from tannic acid  in not affecting a  solution of gelatin.  It  bears considerable
 analogy to gallic acid  in its relations  to the metallic salts.   To prepare it, the precipitate
 which falls upon the cooling of the decoction of gambir, should be well washed  upon  a
 filter  with cold water, and  again dissolved in  boiling water with a little purified  animal
 charcoal.  The solution being filtered, and allowed to stand, gradually deposits the acid,
 of a snow-white colour.  To obtain it perfectly white in the dry state, it must be dried under 
part i.                           Catechu.                                195


nal cakes, to  lumps which  weigh one or two pounds.   The colour is  ex-
ternally 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  distin-
guished into  the pale  and  dark varieties;  but  there does not appear  to  be
sufficient  ground for  retaining this distinction.  Catechu is  inodorous, with
an astringent  and bitter taste, which is followed by a sense of sweetness.   It
is brittle,  and breaks with a fracture, which is rough in some specimens, in
others  uniform, 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.   Its  chief chemical
constituents  are tannin, extractive,  and mucilage.  Out of 200  parts  of

an exhausted receiver with sulphuric acid.  (Wackenroder, Annul, 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; sometimes in very
small cubes, distinguishable by the black colour they afford with tincture of iodine, indi-
cating the admixture of sago or other amylaceous matter; and finally, in circular cake's
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 com-
merce,  and we  have met with none of them in the shops.
   Gambir was  probably the substance first brought from the East under the name of terra
Japonica.  It is largely consumed in  the East by the betel-chewers.  Great quantities
are imported into Europe, where it is used  for tanning, calico printing, dyeing, Sec.  In
this country it is also largely consumed by the calico printers.  Though a strong astringent,
and applicable to the same purposes as the officinal catechu, it is  seldom or never medich
nally employed  in this country.
   2. Areca Catechu.  This is obtained from the areca nut or betel nut, which is the seed
of the Areca Catechu,  a palm cultivated in all puts of India. (See Appendix.)  It is pre-
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 frac-
ture, 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, SfC on India.)  They are prepared in  Mysore, and Ainslie states that both varie-
ties are sold in  the bazars  of Lower India, and used for the same purposes as the officinal
catechu by the native and  European practitioners.   They are also much used for chewing
by the natives.  But they are seldom exported, and it is uncertain whether they find their
way into European or American commerce.  Pereira thinks he has identified the kassu
with a  variety of catechu derived from Ceylon, where he has been informed that an  ex-
tract of the areca nut is prepared.  It is in circular flat cakes, from two to  three inches
in diameter, scarcely an inch thick,covered on one side with paddy husks, and internally
blackish-brown  and shining, like Pegu catechu.
  Guibourt and Pereira describe other varieties, which we have not met with, and which
are probably rare.  One of these is the Siam  Catechu, in conical masses shaped like a
betel nut, and weighing about a pound and a half.   Its fracture is shining  and liver-co-
loured,  like that of hepatic aloes ; in  other respects it resembles  Pegu catechu.  Another
is the black mucilaginous  catechu of Guibourt, in parallelopipeds an  inch and a half in
length,  by an inch in breadth.  Internally it is black  and shining, and its taste is mucila-
ginous and fecblv astringent.  A third is the dull reddish catechu of Guibourt, in some-
what flattened balls, weighing three or four ounces, of a dull-reddish, wavy, and often mar-
bled fracture.  We saw something like this ten years since, which  had been brought upon
speculation  by  a  merchant from Calcutta, but is not now  in the  market.   Lastly, there
is a pale or whitish catechu, in  small roundish  or oval lumps, with an irregular surface,
dark or blackish-brown externally, very pale and dull internally, and of a bitter astringent
and sweetish taste, with a smoky flavour.  It is unknown  in commerce. 
196
Catechu.— Centaurea Benedicta.
PART I.
Bombay catechu, Sir H. Davy obtained  109 parts  of tannin, 68 of extrac-
tive, 13  of muciiage, and 10 of insoluble residue.   The same  quantity of
Bengal catechu yielded 97 of tannin, 73  of  extractive, 16 of mucilage, and
14  of  insoluble residue.  The  portion  designated by  Davy as extractive
contains, if it do not chiefly consist of,  a principle discovered by Buchner
and now ealled  catechuic acid.  (See note page 194.)  The tannic acid is
of the  variety which precipitates the salts of iron of a  greenish-black colour.
It precipitates gelatin,  but not tartar  emetic.  (Kane.)   Catechu is almost
entirely soluble in a large quantity of water,  to which  it imparts a brown
colour.   The late Dr. Duncan found that 18  ounces at 52° were required to
100 grains of the extract, of which about TVm 0f earthy matter was left undis-
solved.   The extractive is much less  soluble than  the astringent principle,
which  may be almost entirely separated  from it by  the frequent application
of small quantities of cold  water.  Boiling water  dissolves the extractive
matter much more  readily than cold,  and deposits it of a  reddish-brown
colour  upon cooling.  For the important chemical reactions of catechu, see
Acidum  Tannicum.
  Medical 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 a small
proportion of lime and  with aromatics,  and wrapped in the leaf of the Piper
Betel.   Catechu  may be advantageously used  in most  cases  where astrin-
gents are indicated,  and., though  less employed in this country than kino, is
not inferior to it in medicinal virtues.   The complaints  to which it  is best
adapted  are diarrhoea dependent on debility or relaxation of the intestinal
exhalents, and passive  hemorrhages, particularly  that from  the  uterus.  A
small piece of it, held  in the  mouth and allowed  slowly to  dissolve, is an
excellent remedy in relaxation of the uvula,  and the irritation of the fauces
and troublesome cough  which depend  upon it.  Applied to  spongy gums,
in the state of powder, it sometimes  proves  useful; and it has been recom-
mended  as a dentrifice  in  combination  with powdered charcoal, Peruvian
bark, myrrh, &e.  Sprinkled upon the surface  of indolent ulcers, it is occa-
sionally beneficial, and is  much  used in India  for the same  purpose mixed
with other ingredients in the state of an ointment.    An infusion or decoction
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. Electuarium Catechu, Ed., Dub.; Infusum  Catechu  Com-
positum, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Catechu, U.  S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
                                                                 W.

           CENTAUREA BENEDICTA.  Dub.

                           Blessed Thislle.

  " Centaurea benedicta. Cnicus benedictus. Folia."  Dub.
  Chardon benit, Fr.;  Cardobenedikten, Germ.; Cardo santa, Ital; Cardo bendito, Span.
  Centaurea. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Frustranea.—Nat. Ord.  Composite
Cynarese. De Cand. Cynaraceae. Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.   Receptacle bristly.  Seed-down simple.   Corollas  of the ray
funnel-shaped, longer, irregular.  Willd. 
part i.           Centaurea Benedicta.— Centaurium.              197
  Centaurea benedicta.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2315 . Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
34. t. 14.—Cnicus benedictus. De Cand. Prodrom. vi. 606.   The blessed
thistle {carduus benedictus) is an annual herbaceous plant, the stem of which
is about two feet high, branching  towards the top, and  furnished with long,
elliptical, rough leaves, irregularly toothed, barbed  with sharp points at their
edges, of a bright green colour on  their upper  surface, and whitish on  the
under.   The lower leaves  are deeply sinuated,  and stand on footstalks,  the
upper are sessile, and in some measure decurrent.  The flowers are yellow,
and surrounded by an involucre of ten leaves, of which  the five exterior  are
largest.   The calyx is  oval, woolly, and composed of several  imbricated
scales, terminated by rigid, pinnate, spinous points.
  This  plant is a native of the South of Europe, and is  cultivated in  gardens
in other parts of the world.  It has become naturalized  in the United States.
The period of flowering is June, when its medicinal virtues are in  greatest
perfection.   The leaves are the officinal portion.   They should be gathered
when the plant is in flower, quickly dried, and kept in a dry place.
   The herb has a feeble unpleasant odour, and an intensely bitter taste, more
disagreeable in  the fresh than the  dried plant.   Water and alcohol extract its
virtues.   The infusion formed with cold water is a grateful bitter; the decoc-
tion is  nauseous, and offensive to the stomach.   The bitterness remains in
the extract.   The active constituents are volatile oil and a peculiar principle,
for which the name of  cnicin has  been proposed. This is crystallizable,
inodorous,  very bitter,  neither acid nor alkaline, scarcely soluble  in cold
water, more so in boiling water, and soluble in all proportions in alcohol.  It
consists of carbon, hydrogen, and  oxygen, and is analogous to salicin in com-
position. In  the dose of 4 or  5 grains it is said often to vomit, and in that of
8 grains to be useful in intermittent fevers. (Ann. de Therap., 1843.  p. 206.)
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   The  blessed   thistle  may be  so  adminis-
tered as to  prove tonic, diaphoretic, or emetic.  The  cold infusion, made
with half an  ounce of the leaves to a pint of water, has been employed as a
mild tonic  in debilitated conditions of the stomach.   A stronger  infusion,
taken warm while the patient is confined to bed, produces copious perspira-
tion. A still stronger  infusion,  or the decoction taken in large draughts,
provokes vomiting, and  has  been used to  assist the  operation of  emetics.
The herb, however,  is at present little employed, as all its beneficial effects
may be obtained  from  chamomile.   The dose  of the  powder  as a tonic is
from a scruple to a drachm, that of the infusion  two fluidounces.      W.


              CENTAURIUM. Lond., Ed., Dub.

                  Common European  Centaury.

   "Erythraea Centaurium."  Lond.  "The  flowering heads  of Erythraa
Centaurium." Ed.  " Erythraea  Centaurium. Folia."  Dub.
   Petite centaure, Fr.; Tausenguldenkraut, Germ.; Centaurea minore, Ital;  Centaura
minor, Span.                                  .           7  ~
   Erythraea.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianaceae.
   Gen.  Ch.  Capsule 'linear.  Calyx five-cleft.  Corolla funnel-shaped, with
a short limb withering.  Anthers often  bursting, spiral.  Stigmas two.
Loudon's Encyc.                                                 .
   Erythraea Centaurium. Loudon's  Encyc. of Plants, p. 130.—Unroniw
Centaurium. Willd. Sp Plant, i. 1068; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p. 275. t.  96.
This is  a small, annual, herbaceous plant, rising about a foot in  height, with
a branching stem, which divides above into a dichotomous panicle, and bears
                                   18* 
198
Cera Alba.— Cera Flava.
PART I.
opposite,  sessile, ovate lanceolate, smooth,  and obtusely pointed leaves.
The flowers are of a beautiful rose colour, standing without peduncles in the
axils of the stems,  with their calyx about half  as long as the tube of the
corolla.  The plant grows wild in most of the countries of Europe, adorning
the woods and pastures, during the latter part of summer, with its pretty and
delicate flowers.
   The herb, though without odour, has a strong bitter taste, which it imparts
to water and alcohol.  The flowering summits are generally preferred, though
the Dublin College  directs the leaves.  The name of centaurin has been
proposed  for its bitter principles.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   The common centaury of  Europe has
tonic  properties very closely resembling those of gentian, with which it is
associated in the same natural family.  It is employed on the other side of
the Atlantic in dyspeptic complaints, and formerly had considerable reputa-
tion 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 angu-
laris or American centaury.   The dose of the powder is from thirty grains
to a drachm.  Another species of Erythraea (E. Chilensis) possesses similar
properties, and is employed to a considerable extent in Chili as a mild tonic.
                                                                 W.

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

                            White Wax.

   "Bleached yellow  wax."  U.S.   "Concretum ab  ape paratum, dealba-
tum." Lond.   " Bleached Bees'wax." Ed.
   Cire blanche, Fr.; Weisses Wachs,  Germ.,- Cera bianca, Ital,- Cere blanca, Span.

               CERA FLAVA.  U. S., Ed., Dub.

                            Yellow  Wax.

   "A  peculiar concrete  substance prepared by Apis  mellifica." U.S.
" Waxy concretion of Apis mellifica." Ed.
   Off. Syn. CERA.  Apis mellifica. Concretum  ab ape paratum.  Lond.
   C.re jaune, Fr.,- Gclbes Wachs, Germ.,- Cera gialla,  Ital.,. Cera amarilla. Span.
   Wax is one of the  products of the  common bee, Apis mellifica of natu-
ralists, which constructs with it the cells  of the  comb  in  which the honey
and larvae are deposited.   It was  at one time a doubtful point,  whether the
insect elaborated its wax by its  own organs, or  merely gathered it  already
formed from vegetables.  The  question was set at rest by Huber, who fed a
swarm of bees exclusively on  hrjney and water, and found nevertheless 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, which are found  in both kingdoms.  It is, however,
the product of the bee only that is recognised as  officinal by the Pharmaco-
poeias.  1 his  is directed in two forms :  1. that of yellow ^procured imme-
diately from the comb; and 2. that of white wax prepared by depriving the
former of its colour.  We shall consider these separately, and afterwards  give
a brief 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 
part i.                Cera Alba.— Cera Flava.                    199

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 aire supplied  chiefly
from the Western States and North Carolina, especially the latter, and from
Cuba.  Some of inferior quality is imported from Africa.
   In this state  wax has a yellowish colour, an agreeable somewhat aromatic
odour, and a slight peculiar taste.  To the touch it is rather soft and unctuous,
though of  a firm solid consistence and  brittle.  It has a granular  fracture;
but  when cut with a knife  presents a  smooth glossy surface, the lustre of
which is so peculiar as, when  met with in other bodies, to be  called waxy.
It does not adhere to the fingers, nor to the teeth when  chewed, but  is soft-
ened and  rendered  tenacious  by a moderate heat.  Its point  of fusion is
 142° F.;  its specific gravity from 0-960 to 0-965.   The colour, odour, and
taste of yellow wax depend on some principle associated  with it, but not
constituting one of its essential ingredients.
   Various  adulterations have been practised, most of which may be readily
detected.   Meal, earth, and other insoluble substances  are at the same  time
discovered and  separated by  melting  and straining the wax.  When the
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  com-
 municate 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 it is  carried on to a consi-
 derable extent in the vicinity of Philadelphia.  The wax, previously melted,
 is made to fall in streams upon a revolving cylinder,  kept constantly wet,
 upon which  it concretes, forming  thin ribband-like layers.  These, having
 been removed, are spread  upon linen  cloths stretched on frames, and ex-
 posed to the air and light; care being  taken  to water and  occasionally turn
 them.   In a few days  they are partially  bleached;  but to deprive the  wax
 completely of colour it is necessary to  repeat the whole process  once, if not
 oftener.  "When sufficiently white it is melted and cast into small  circular
 cakes.  The colour may also be discharged by chlorine; but the wax is said
 to be somewhat altered.  White wax sometimes contains  one or more fatty
 acids, consequent probably upon the employment of alkalies in bleaching it,
 which render  it an unfit  ingredient in  the unctuous preparations of certain
 salts.  Of these acids  it  may be deprived by means of alcohol. (Journ. de
 Pharm. et Chim., 3e ser. iv. 205.)
    Perfectly pure wax is white, shining, diaphanous in thin  layers, inodor-
 ous, 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
 temperature.   According to Saussure, its specific gravity in  the solid state
 is 0-966,  at 178° F. 0-834, and at 201° 0-8247.   By a great heat it is partly
 volatilized, partly decomposed ;  and, when flame is applied to  its vapour, it
 takes fire and burns  with a clear  bright light.  It is insoluble in water, and
 in cold alcohol or ether,  but is slightly soluble in boiling  alcohol and ether,
 which deposit it in a great measure upon cooling.   The essential and fixed
 oils dissolve it with facility; resin readily unites with it by fusion; and  soaps
 are formed by the action of soda and potassa in solution.  It is not  affected
 by the  acids  at ordinary temperatures, but is converted into a black mass 
200
Cera Alba.— Cera Flava.
PART I.
when boiled with concentrated sulphuric acid.   Its ultimate constituents are
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.   Dr. John ascertained that it consists of two
distinct proximate principles, one of which  he called  cerin, the  other myn-
cin.   According  to MM.  Boudet and  Boissenot, the former constitutes at
least 70  per cent, of wax,  melts  at about  143°, dissolves in  16 parts  of
boiling alcohol, and is  saponifiable  with  potassa, yielding  marganc  acid, a
little  oleic acid,  and a  fatty matter insusceptible of saponification called
cerain; the latter melts at 149°, is dissolved by 200 parts of boiling alcohol,
and is not saponifiable  by potassa.   From the experiments of M. Luvy it
would appear, that cerin and myricin are isomeric with each other  and with
wax; that by a boiling  solution of  potassa wax is wholly saponified, with-
out the formation of glycerin;  that both wax and cerin are converted into
stearic acid by  saponification ; and  that this,  by a further  oxidation,  is
changed into margaricacid. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chitn., 3e ser. iii. 315.) I
  White wax has been adulterated with white lead and tallow.   The  former
sinks to the bottom of the vessel when the wax is melted ;  the latter imparts
to it  a dull opaque  appearance,  and a disagreeable odour during  fusion.
Starch has been  employed for the  same purpose.   It may be detected  by
dissolving the wax in oil of turpentine, in which starch is insoluble.  Pereira
says that pure wax is yellowish-white; and that the  white  bleached  wax in
circular cakes always contains spermaceti, which is added to improve  its
colour.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Wax has little  effect upon  the system.
Under the impression, however, that it sheathes the inflamed mucous mem-
brane of the bowels, it has been  occasionally  prescribed  in diarrhoea and
dysentery ; and it is mentioned 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 obstinate diarrhoea.   His mode of using it is to melt
the wax with oil  of sweet  almonds or olive oil, and, while the mixture is still
hot, to incorporate it by means of the yolk of an egg with some  mucilagi-
nous fluid.  The dose is about half a drachm, to be repeated  three  or four
times a day. Another method is to form an emulsion by means of soap ; but
it is evident that this would be the most energetic ingredient of the mixture.
Wax is sometimes ^ed to fill  cavities  in carious teeth.  Its chief employ-
ment, however, is in the formation of ointments, cerates, and plasters.  It is
an  ingredient in  almost all the officinal cerates, which, indeed, 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
sometimes supplied.   In  some plants it exists  so abundantly as to be profit-
ably extracted for use.   Such is the Ceroxylon  Andicola, a lofty palm grow-
ing on the Mountain of Quindiu 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 called
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 in which the drug-
gists of this country are particularly interested, is that derived  from the My-
rica cerifera, and commonly called myrtle wax.  (See Bigelow's Am. Med.
Bot., iii. 32.) The wax myrtle is an aromatic shrub, from one to twelve feet
in-height, found in almost all parts of the United States from New England 
part i.                  Cerevisice Fermentum.                    201

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 jaun-
dice.  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, but more  abundantly in
New England, particularly Rhode Island, whence it  is exported  to other
parts of the country.
   Myrtle wax is of a pale grayish-green colour, somewhat diaphanous, more
brittle and at the same time more unctuous to the touch  than beeswax, of a
feeble odour,  and a slightly bitterish taste.  It  is about as heavy  as water,
and melts at 109° F.   It is insoluble in water, scarcely soluble in cold  alco-
hol, 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.   In  chemical rela-
tions it bears a close resemblance to beeswax, and consists, like that product,
of cerin and myricin, containing 87 parts of the former and 13 of  the latter
in the 100.   The green  colour,  and probably the bitter taste, depend upon a
distinct principle, which  may be separated by boiling the  wax with  ether and
allowing  the  liquid to cool.  The wax is deposited  colourless, while the
ether remains green.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  This variety of wax has been popularly
employed in the United  States as a remedy for  dysentery; and  we are told
by Dr. Fahnestock, that  he found great advantage from its use in numerous
cases during an epidemic prevalence of this complaint.  He gave  the pow-
dered wax in  doses of a teaspoonful frequently repeated, mixed with muci-
lage or syrup.  (Am. Journ. Med.  Scien., ii. 313.)  It  is  occasionally substi-
tuted by apothecaries for beeswax  in the formation of plasters,  and is used in
the preparation of tapers and candles.   It is somewhat fragrant  when burn-
ing, but emits a less brilliant light than common lamp-oil.           W.

        CEREVISLE FERMENTUM. Lond., Dub.

                                Yeast.

   Levurc, Fr.; Bierhefen, Germ.; Fermento di cervogia, Ital; Espuma de cervczi, Span.
   This is the  substance  which rises, in  the form of froth, to  the surface of
beer, and  subsides  to  the bottom, during  the process of fermentation.  A
similar substance is always produced during the  vinous fermentation of  sac-
charine liquids ; but the  principles of its formation are  unknown.
   It is  flocculent, frothy, somewhat viscid, semi-fluid, of a dirty yellowish
colour, a sour  vinous odour, and a bitter taste.   At a temperature of 60° or
70°, in a close vessel  or damp atmosphere, it soon undergoes putrefaction.
Exposed  to a  moderate  heat, it  loses its liquid portion, becomes dry, hard,
and brittle;  and may in  this state  be preserved for a long time.  In France
it is  brought to the solid state by introducing it  into sacs, washing it with
water, then  submitting it to  pressure, and  ultimately drying it.
   Yeast is insoluble in  alcohol  or water.  It was analyzed by  Westrumb,
and found to contain in  15142 parts, 13 of potassa, 15 of carbonic acid, 10
of acetic acid,  45 of malic acid, 69 of lime, 240 of alcohol, 120 of extractive,
240 of mucilage, 315 of  saccharine matter, 480  of  gluten,  13595 of water, 
202
CerevisicB Fermentum.— Cetaceum.
part i.
besides traces of silica and phosphoric acid.   Its bitterness  is attributable to
a principle derived from the hops.  The property for which it  is cruelly
valued is that of exciting the vinous fermentation in saccharine liquids, and
the panary fermentation in various farinaceous  substances.    I his property
it owes to the azotized principle or gluten which it contains; for it separated
from.this constituent,  it  loses its powers as a ferment, and re-acquires them
upon the subsequent  addition of the gluten.  By boiling in water it is de-
prived of the property of exciting fermentation.   At an elevated temperature
it is decomposed, affording  products similar to  those which result from the
decomposition of animal matters.
   Examined by a microscope, yeast is found to abound in minute transpa-
rent vesicles, which appear to contain one or more  granules.   These  have
been supposed  to be  living infusory plants or animalcules, which have the
power of  propagating themselves at the expense of sugar and other organic
proximate  principles  with which they may  be brought into  contact;  and
attempts have been made to solve the mysteries of fermentation by the con-
jecture, that the sugar or other fermenting substance, while contributing to
the  nourishment of these microscopic beings,  undergoes  a decomposition
resulting in the formation of new products.  This  theory, however, is not
generally  admitted—the doctrine of Liebig, that fermentation is merely a
chemical movement excited by a movement of decomposition going on in the
ferment, being  at present the one most in vogue.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Yeast has been highly extolled as a remedy
in typhoid fevers, and is said  to have been  given with advantage in hectic.
It is, however, little employed, as its somewhat  tonic and stimulating effects,
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.   Dr. Hewson, of Philadelphia, informs us, 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.  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 vessels.  It is usually employed mixed with fari-
naceous substances in the form  of  a cataplasm.  The dose is from half a
fluidounce to two fluidounces every two or three hours.
   Off. Prep. Cataplasma Fermenti, Lond., Dub.                    W.


            CETACEUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                             Spermaceti.

   "A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Physeter macrocephalus."
 U. S.   " Physeter Macrocephalus.  Concretum in propriis capitis  cellis
repertum.'''' Lond.  "  Cetine of Physeter macrocephalus, nearly pure." Ed.
   Blanc de baleine, Spermaceti, Cetine, Fr.;  VVallrath, Germ.; Spermaceti, Ital; Es-
perma de bellena, Span.
   The spermaceti whale is from sixty to eighty feet in length, with an enor-
mous head, not less in  its largest part than thirty feet  in circumference, and
constituting one-third of the whole length of the body.  The upper part of
the head is occupied  by large cavities, separated from each other by cartila-
ginous partitions, and containing an oily liquid, which, after the death  of the
animal, concretes into a white unctuous spongy  mass, consisting of the proper
spermaceti mixed with  oil.   This mass is removed from the cavities, and 
part i.                  Cetaceum.— Cetraria.                    203

the oil allowed  to separate by draining.  The quantity of  crude spermaceti
thus obtained from a whale of the ordinary size, is more than sufficient to fill
twelve large barrels.   It still, however, 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.   The common whale oil, and the oil of  other cetaceous animals,
contain small quantities of  spermaceti, which they slowly deposit on long
standing.
   Spermaceti is in white, pearly, semitransparent masses, of a crystalline
foliaceous texture; friable, soft and somewhat unctuous to the touch; slightly
odorous;  insipid; of the sp. gr. 0-943; fusible at 112° F.  (Bostock);  vola-
tilizable  at  a higher  temperature  without  change  in vacuo,  but partially
decomposed if  the air is admitted; inflammable; insoluble  in water; soluble
in small proportion in boiling alcohol, ether, and oil of turpentine, but de-
posited 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 washing with a warm ley of potash.  By the agency
of the alkalies,  it is with difficulty saponified, being converted  into an acid,
called  by  MM.  Dumas  and  Stass  ethalic acid,  and a peculiar principle
named ethal by Chevreul.  Spermaceti, when quite pure, may be considered
either  as  a compound of ethalic acid  and  ethal, or,  more probably, as a
distinct substance, which is  resolved into these two by  reaction  with alkaline
solutions. (Smith, Annul, der Chem. und Pharm., xlii. 241.)  The name
of cetin was proposed for it  in this  state  by Chevreul.  As  found  in the
shops  it  is  not entirely  pure, containing a  fixed oil,  and  often a  peculiar
colouring principle.  From these it is separated by boiling in alcohol, which
on cooling deposits the  cetin in  crystalline scales.   Thus purified, it does
not melt  under  120° F., is soluble in  40 parts of boiling alcohol of the sp.
gr. 0821  (Thenard), and is harder, more shining,  and less unctuous to the
touch  than  ordinary spermaceti.   The ultimate constituents of spermaceti
are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen;  and its formula,  according to Dumas,
C33H330.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Like the  fixed oils, spermaceti has been
given as a demulcent in irritations  of the pulmonary and intestinal mucous
membranes; but it possesses no peculiar virtues, and its  internal use  has
been generally  abandoned.   It may be  reduced to powder by the addition  of
a little alcohol or almond  oil, or suspended in water, by means  of mucilage,
or the  yolk of eggs and sugar.  Externally it is much employed as an ingre-
dient of ointments and cerates.
   Off. Prep. Ceratum Cetacei, U.  S., Lond., Ed.;  Unguentum Aquae Rosa?,
U. S.; Unguentum Cetacei, Lond.                                 W.

                 CETRARIA. U. S.,  Lond., Ed.

                           Iceland  Moss.

   " Cetraria Islandica." U. S., J^ond.,  Ed.
   Off. Syn.  LICHEN  ISLANDICUS.    CETRAKIA ISLANDICA.
Planta. Dub.
  Lichen  d'lslande, Fr.;  Islandiches  Moos, Germ.; Lichenc Islandico, Ital; Liquen
Islandico, Span.
   Cetraria. Sex. Syst. Cryptogamia  Lichenes.—Nat. Ord. Lichenaceae.
   Gen Ch.  Plant cartilagino-membranous, ascending or spreading, lobed,
smooth, and naked on both sides.  Apothecia shield-like, obliquely adnate 
204
Cetraria.
part i.
with the margin, the disk coloured, piano concave; border inflexed, derived
from the frond. Loudon's Encyc.
   The genus Lichen of  Linnaeus has been  divided by subsequent botanists
into numerous genera,  which have  been raised  to  the dignity of a distinct
order, both in the natural and artificial systems of arrangement.   The name
Cetraria was conferred by Acharius 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, channeled, 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
different parts, with  less of the green tint  than in the  recent state.  It  is
inodorous, and has  a  mucilaginous,  bitter  taste.   Macerated  in  water  it
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 lime the dissolved  matter separates, and when dried forms semitrans-
parent masses, insoluble  in cold water, alcohol, or ether, but soluble,in boil-
ing 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.  The most accurate
analysis of Iceland moss, is that  by Berzelius.   By this chemist 100 parts
were found to afford 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. (Traite de Chim., vi. 251.)
   The name of cetrarin  has been conferred on the bitter principle of Iceland
moss.   The following  process for obtaining  it is that of Dr. Herberger, who
is said to have been the first to procure it in a pure state.  The moss, coarsely
powdered, is boiled for half an hour in four times  its weight of alcohol  of
0-883.   The liquid, when cool, is  expressed and filtered, and treated with
diluted muriatic acid in the proportion of three  drachms  to every pound  of
moss employed.  Water is then added  in the  quantity of about four times
the bulk of the liquid,  and the  mixture  left  for a night in a closed matrass.
The deposit which forms is  collected on  a filter, allowed  to  drain  as  much
as possible,  and submitted to the press.   To purify it, the mass, while still
moist, is broken into, small pieces, washed with  alcohol or ether, and  treated
with two hundred times  its weight of boiling  alcohol, which dissolves the
cetrarin, leaving the other organic principles  by which it has been hitherto ac-
companied.   The greater part is deposited as the liquor cools, and the remain-
der may be obtained by  evaporation.  By this process one pound of moss yielded
to Dr.  Herberger  133 grains  of cetrarin.   This  princip'e is white, not 
PART I.
Cetraria.
205
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 17 of cetrarin at the boiling temperature.   Ether also
dissolves it, and it is slightly soluble in water.  Its solutions are quite neutral
to test paper.   It is precipitated by the acids, and rendered much more solu-
ble by the alkalies. Concentrated muriatic acid changes its colour to a bright
blue.  It precipitates the salts of iron, copper, lead, and silver.  In the dose
of  two grains repeated  every two hours it  has been used successfully in
intermittent fever. (See  Journ.  de Pharm. xxiii. 505, and Am. Journ. of
Pharm.  x. 54.)
   The gum and starch contained in the, moss render it sufficiently nutritive
to serve  as food for the  inhabitants of Iceland and Lapland, who employ it
powdered and made  into bread, or boiled with milk, having first partially
freed it  from  the bitter principle  by repeated maceration in water.  The  bit-
terness may be entirely extracted by macerating the powdered moss,  for
twenty-four hours, in twenty-four times its weight of a solution formed with
1 part of an alkaline carbonate and 375 parts of water, decanting the liquid
at the  end of this  time, and repeating the process with an equal  quantity of
the solution.  The powder being now dried is perfectly sweet and highly
nutritive.  This process was suggested by Berzelius.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Iceland moss is at the  same time demul-
cent, nutritious, and tonic, and therefore well  calculated for  affections of  the
mucous  membrane of the lungs and bowels, in which the local  disease is
associated with a debilitated condition of  the digestive organs, or of the sys-
tem generally.  Hence it has been found useful in chronic catarrhs, and other
pulmonary affections  attended with  copious and debilitating  expectoration,
especially when the matter discharged was of a purulent character; as also in
dyspepsia, chronic dysentery, and diarrhoea.  It has,  moreover,  been  given
in cases  of debility succeeding acute disease, or dependent on copious  puru-
lent discharge from  external ulcers.  But the complaint in the treatment of
which it has acquired most reputation is pulmonary consumption.  It had
long been employed in this disease, and in haemoptysis, by  the Danish phy-
sicians, before it became known to the profession at large.   In the latter half
of the  last century it was introduced into extensive use ; and numerous cases
of cures supposed to  have been effected by it are on record.  But  now that
the pathology of consumption is understood, physicians have ceased to expect
material  advantage from  it in the genuine tuberculous form of the disease;
and  there is reason to believe  that the cases which  have recovered under its
use, were nothing more than chronic bronchitis or chronic inflammation of the
pulmonary tissue.   It can act only as a  mild, nutritious, demulcent  tonic;
and  certainly exercises no specific influence over tuberculous disease.
  It is usually employed  in the  form of decoction.  (See Decoctum Cetra-
rise.)  By some writers it is recommended to deprive it of the bitter principle
by maceration in water, or a  weak  alkaline solution, before  preparing  the
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 substances used in medicine.   The powder is sometimes given in
the dose  of thirty grains  or a drachm ; and a preparation has obtained  some
repute, in which the  ground moss is incorporated with chocolate, and used
at the morning and evening meal  as an ordinary beverage.
  Off. Prep. Decoctum Cetrarise, U.S., Lond., Dub.                W.
19 
206                        Chenopodium.                     part i.
                    CHENOPODIUM.  U.S.

                             Wormseed.

  " The fruit of Chenopodium anthelminticum." U. S.
  Chenopodium.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Chenopo-
diaceae.
  Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved, five-cornered. Corolla none.  Seed one, len-
ticular, superior. Willd.
  Chenopodium anthelminticum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1304; Barton, Med.
Bot. ii. 183.  This  is an indigenous perennial plant, with an herbaceous,
erect, branching, furrowed stem,  which rises from two to five feet in height.
The leaves are alternate or scattered, sessile, oblong lanceolate, attenuated at
both ends, sinuated  and toothed  on the margin, conspicuously veined, of a
yellowish-green colour, and dotted on  their under surface.  The flowers are
very numerous, small, of the same colour with the leaves, and arranged in long,
leafless, terminal panicles, which are composed of slender, dense, glomerate,
alternating spikes.
  This species of Chenopodium, known commonly by the names of worm-
seed and Jerusalem  oak, grows in almost all parts of the United States, but
most vigorously and abundantly in the southern section.  It is usually found
in the vicinity of rubbish, along  fences, in the streets of  villages, and in the
commons about the larger towns.  It flowers from July to September, and
ripens  its seeds  successively through  the autumn.   The whole herb has a
strong, peculiar, offensive, yet somewhat aromatic odour, which  it retains
when dried.  All parts of the plant are occasionally employed ;  but the fruit
only is strictly officinal.  This should be  collected in October.
  Wormseed, as found in the shops,  is in small grains, not larger than  the
head of a pin, irregularly spherical, very light, of a dull, greenish-yellow or
brownish  colour, a  bitterish,  somewhat  aromatic, pungent taste,  and  pos-
sessed in a high degree of the peculiar smell of the plant.  These grains,
when deprived, by rubbing them in the hand, of a capsular covering which
invests the proper seed, exhibit a  shining surface of a very dark colour. They
abound  in a volatile oil,  upon  which  their  sensible properties  and medical
virtues depend,  and which is obtained  separate by distillation.  (See Oleum
Chenopodii.)  The same oil impregnates  to  a greater or less extent the whole
plant.
  The fruit of the Chenopodium ambrosioides, which is also an indigenous
plant, and very  prevalent in the Middle States, is said to be used indiscrimi-
nately with  that of the C. anthelminticum.   It may be distinguished by its
odour, which is weaker and less  offensive,  and to some  persons agreeable.
The plant itself  is often  confounded with the true wormseed, from which it
differs in having its flowers in leafy racemes.   This species of Chenopodium
has been employed  in Europe  as a remedy in nervous affections, particularly
chorea.  Five of six cases of this disease, reported by Plenk, yielded, after
having resisted  the  ordinary means, to the  daily use of an infusion of two
drachms of  the plant in  ten ounces of water, taken in the dose of a cupful
morning and evening,  and associated  with the employment of peppermint.
(Merat and  De  Lens, Diet, de  Mat. Med.)
  The  C. Botrys,  which is also known by the vulgar name of Jerusalem
oak, is another  indigenous species,  possessing anthelmintic virtues  The
plant is said to  have been used  in France  with  advantage as  a pectoral in
catarrh and  humoral asthma.                                  r 
part i.              Chenopodium.— Chimaphila.                 207

  Medical Properties and Uses.  Wormseed is one of our most efficient
indigenous anthelmintics, and is thought to be particularly adapted to the ex-
pulsion of lumbrici in children.   A dose of it is usually given before break-
fast 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 scruples.   The  volatile oil  is perhaps more frequently given than the
fruit in substance, though  its  offensive  odour and taste  sometimes render it
of difficult administration.  The dose for a child is  from five to ten drops,
mixed with sugar, or in the form of emulsion.  A tablespoonful of the ex-
pressed 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.
   Off.Prep. Oleum Chenopodii, U.S.                            W.


                  CHIMAPHILA.   U.S., Lond.

                             Pipsissewa.

   " The leaves of Chimaphila umbellata."  U. S. "  Chimaphila corymbosa.
Folia.'''' Lond.
   Off. Syn. PYROLA. Herb of Chimaphila umbellata. Ed.;  PYROLA
UMBELLATA. Herba. Dub.
   Chimaphila.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Pyrolaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-toothed.  Petals five.  Style very short, immersed in
the germ.   Stigma  annular, orbicular, with a five-lobed disk.  Filaments
stipitate ;  stipe discoid,  ciliate.   Capsules five-celled, opening from the sum-
mits, margins unconnected. Nuttall.
   This genus was separated from the Pyrola by Pnrsh, and is  now admitted
by most botanical writers.  It embraces two species, the C. umbellata  and
C. maculata, which  are both indigenous, and known throughout the country
by the common title of  winter green.  The generic title was  founded upon
the  vulgar  name of the plants.   It  is formed of two Greek  words, xn^a
winter, and ^aoj a friend.  The C.  umbellata only is officinal.
   Chimaphila  umbellata.  Barton, Med.  Bot. i. 17.—Pyrola umbellata.
Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 622; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.  ii. 15.  The pipsissewa
is a small  evergreen plant, with a perennial, creeping, yellowish root (rhi-
zoma), 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, coriaceous,  smooth, of a
shining sap-green colour on the upper surface, paler beneath, and supported
upon short footstalks, in  irregular whorls, of which there are usually  two
on the same stem.   The  flowers are  disposed in a  small terminal corymb,
and stand upon nodding peduncles.   The  calyx is  small, and divided at its
border into five teeth or segments.  The corolla is composed of five roundish,
concave, spreading petals,  which are of a white colour tinged  with red, and
exhale an agreeable odour.  The stamens  are ten, with filaments shorter
than the  petals, and with  large, nodding, bifurcated, purple anthers.   The
germ  is  globular and depressed, supporting a thick and apparently sessile
stigma, the style being short and immersed in the germ.  The seeds are
numerous, linear, chaffy, and enclosed  in a roundish, depressed, five-celled,
five-valved calyx, having the persistent calyx at the base. 
208
Chimaphila.
PART I.
   This humble but beautiful evergreen is a native of the northern latitudes of
America, Europe, and Asia.  It is found in  all parts of the United States, and
extends even to the Pacific ocean.   It grows under the shade of  woods, and
prefers a loose sandy soil, enriched by decaying leaves.  The flowers appear
in June and July.  All parts of the plant are endowed with active properties.
The leaves and stems are kept in the shops.
   The C. maculata, or spotted winter green, probably possesses similar vir-
tues with the  C. umbellata.  The character of the leaves of the two plants
will serve to  distinguish  them.  Those of the C. maculata are lanceolate,
rounded  at the base, where they are broader than near the summit, and of a
deep olive green  colour, veined  with  greenish white; those of the officinal
species are broadest near the summit, gradually narrowing to the base, and of
a uniform shining green.  In drying, with exposure to light, the colour fades
very much,  though it still retains a  greenish hue.
   Pipsissewa, when fresh and bruised, exhales a peculiar odour.  The taste
of the leaves is pleasantly bitter, astringent, and sweetish;  that of the stems
and  root  unites with these qualities a  considerable  degree of pungency.
Boiling water  extracts  the active  properties of the plant, which  are also
imparted  to alcohol.   The constituents, so  far  as  ascertained, are  bitter
extractive, tannin, resin, gum, lignin,  and saline matters.  The active prin-
ciple has not yet been  isolated, though it  probably exists in the substance
called bitter extractive.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This  plant  is diuretic,  tonic, and astrin-
gent.  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 cer-
tain 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 little  was thought
of it till the appearance of the paper of Dr. Sommerville,  in the 5th vol. of
the London  Medico-Chirurgical Transactions.   By this writer it was highly
recommended  as  a remedy in dropsy; and his favourable report has been
sustained by the subsequent statements of many respectable practitioners.
It is particularly useful in  cases attended with disordered digestion and gene-
ral debility, in which  its  tonic  properties  and  general 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 effect-
ed cures.  Other disorders, in wdiich it is said to have proved useful, are cal-
culous and nephritic affections, and in general  all those  complaints of the
urinary passages for which uva nrsi is prescribed.  It is very highly esteemed
by some  practitioners as a remedy in  scrofula, both before and  after  the
occurrence of  ulceration; and it has certainly proved highly advantageous in
certain obstinate ill-conditioned ulcers and  cutaneous  eruptions,  supposed to
be connected with a strumous diathesis.  In these cases it is used both inter-
nally, and locally as a wash.
   The decoction  is the preparation usually preferred, and may  be taken to
the amount  of a  pint  in  twenty-four hours.   The watery extract may be
given in the dose of twenty or thirty grains four times a day.   Mr. Procter
prepares  a syrup by macerating  four ounces of the leaves, finely bruised, in
eight fluidounces of water for thirty-six hours, and  then subjectino- it to per-
colation till a pint of fluid  is obtained, which is  reduced  one-half°by evapo-
ration, and incorporated with twelve  ounces of sugar.   One or two  table-
spoonfuls may be given for a dose.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Chimaphilae,  U. S., Lond., Dub.            W. 
part i.                        Chiretta.                            209
                        CHIRETTA.  Ed.

                               Chiretta.

   " Herb and root of Agathotes Chirayta." Ed.
   Agathotes.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria  Monogynia. — Nat. Ord.  Gentian-
aceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla withering,  rotate,  in  aestivation  twisted  to the right;
with  glandular  hollows protected by a fringed scale upon  the  segments.
Anthers not  changing.   Stigmas sessile.   Capsules  conical, one-celled,
with  spongy placentae upon the sutures.   Seeds indefinite, minute.  (Lind-
ley.)
   Agathotes  Chirayta. Don, I^ond.  Phil. Mag. 1836, p. 76.—Gentiana
Chirayta.  Fleming, Asiat. Research, xi.  167.  The chirayta or chiretta
is an  annual plant, about three feet high, with an erect, smooth, round stem,
branching  into an elegant leafy  panicle, and furnished with  opposite, em-
bracing, lanceolate, very acute,  entire, smooth, three  or five-nerved leaves.
The flowers are numerous, peduncled, yellow, with a  four-cleft calyx having
linear acute divisions, the limb of the  corolla spreading and four-parted, four
stamens, a single style, and a two-lobed stigma.  The capsules are  shorter
than the permanent calyx and corolla.  The plant is a native of Nepaul, and
other parts of  Northern India.   The whole of it is officinal.   It is gathered
about the time when the flowers begin to decay.
   The dried plant is imported into Europe  in bundles.  The root is fibrous,
and the stems  contain a yellowish pith.  In other respects it corresponds with
the description above given.   All parts  of  it  have a very bitter taste, which
is strono-est in the root.  It is without odour.  Water  and alcohol extract its
virtues, which are also retained in the extract.  According to Lassaigne and
Boissel, the stems contain resin, a yellow bitter substance, brown colouring
matter,  gum, and various salts.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Chiretta  has  long been used  in India,
where it is a favourite remedy with both the native and European practition-
ers.   It  has recently  been  introduced into  Europe, where it appears to  be
highly esteemed; but has not been employed to any  considerable  extent in
this country.  Its properties are those of the pure bitters,  and probably do not
differ from those of the other members of the natural family of Gentianaceae.
(See Gentiana.)  Like these, in overdoses it nauseates and oppresses the
stomach.   Some have supposed that, in addition  to  its tonic properties, it
exerts a peculiar influence over the liver, promoting the  secretion of bile and
correcting  it when deranged, and restoring healthy evacuations in  cases of
habitual  costiveness.   But it may well  be doubted whether it  produces any
other  effects of this kind than such as are incident to its tonic power, and
might be expected from the other pure bitters.  It has been used in dyspep-
siafin the debility of  convalescence, and generally in cases  in which corro-
borant measures are indicated.   In India it has been  successfully employed
in intermittents and remittents, combined with the seeds of the Guilandina
Bonduc.   It may be  administered in  powder, infusion, tincture, or extract.
The dose in substance is twenty  grains.   The infusion is officinal.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Chiretta;,  Ed.                               W.
19* 
210
Chondrus.
PART I.
                 CHONDRUS.  U. S., Secondary.

                             Irish Moss.

   "Chondrus crispus. (Greville, Alg. Brit.)" U.S.
   Chondrus. Sex. Syst. Cryptogamia Algae.—Nat. Ord. Algaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Frond  cartilaginous, dilating  upwards  into a  flat, nerveless,
dichotomously divided frond, of a purplish or livid-red colour.   Fructifica-
tion, subspherical capsules in the substance of the frond, rarely supported on
little  stalks,  and  containing a mass of minute free  seeds.   (Greville, from
Lindley's Flor. Med.)
   Chondrus crispus.   Greville, Alg.  Brit. 129.  t. 15.— Sphserococcus
crispus. Agardh.—Fucus crispus.  Linn.   The Irish moss, or  carrageen,
as it is frequently 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 im-
bedded 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 for use.  It is said also to  be a native
of the United States.
   When  collected, it is  washed  and  dried.  In the recent  state it is of a
purplish colour, but, as found in the shops, is yellowish or yellowish-white,
with occasionally purplish portions.  It is translucent, of a feeble  odour, and
nearly tasteless-  It swells up in cold water, but does not dissolve.  Boiling
water dissolves a large  proportion of  it, and, if the  solution be sufficiently
concentrated, gelatinizes on cooling.  According to Feuchtwanger, it contains
starch, and a large proportion of pectin, with compounds of sulphur, chlorine,
and bromine, and some oxalate of lime.  Herberger  found 79-1 per cent, of
vegetable  jelly, and  9-5  of mucus, with fatty matter, free acids, chlorides,
&c, but neither iodine  nor bromine.   M. Dupasquier discovered in it both
of these principles, which had escaped attention previously in consequence
of their reaction, as soon as liberated, upon the sulphuret of sodium resulting
from  the decomposition of the sulphate of soda of the moss  when charred.
(Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3c. ser., iii. 113.)  The pectin or vegetable
jelly,  Pereira thinks entitled to the rank of a distinct proximate principle, 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
farinaceous  preparations, such as tapioca, sago, barley, &c, are usually em-
ployed. It has been  particularly recommended in chronic pectoral affections,
scrofulous complaints, dysentery, diarrhoea, and disorders of the kidneys and
bladder It may be used in the form of decoction, made by boiling a pint and
a half of water with half an ounce of the moss down to a pint.   Suo-ar and
lemon juice  may usually be  added to improve  the  flavour.   Milk may be
substituted for water, when a more  nutritious preparation is required.   It is
recommended to macerate the moss for about ten minutes in cold water before
submitting it to decoction.  Any unpleasant flavour that it may have acquired
from the contact of foreign substances  is thus removed.               \V 
PART I.
Cimicifuga.
211
               CIMICIFUGA.  U.S. Secondary.

                         Black Snakeroot.

  "The root of Cimicifuga racemosa." U. S.
  Cimicifuga.  Sex. Syst.  Polyandria Di-Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Ranun-
culaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx four or five leaved. Petals four to eight, deformed, thick-
ish, sometimes wanting.  Capsules one to five, oblong, many-seeded. Seeds
squamose. Nuttall.
  Cimicifuga racemosa. Torrey, Flor. 219.—C. Serpentaria. Pursh, Flor.
Am. Sept. p. 372.—Actsea racemosa. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 1139.—Macrotys
racemosa. Eaton's Manual, p. 288.   This is a  tall stately plant, having a
perennial root, and a simple herbaceous stem, which rises from four to eight
feet in height.  The leaves are large, and ternately decomposed, having ob-
long 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 and rocky woods, from  Ca-
nada  to Florida,  and flowering in  June and July.  The root is  the part
employed.
  This, as found in the shops, consists of a thick, irregularly bent or con-
torted body or  caudex,  from  one-third of an inch to an inch in thickness,
often several inches in  length, furnished with  many slender radicles, and
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 fre-
quently attached  to the  root.  The colour  is externally  dark  brown, almost
black, internally whitish; the  odour, though not strong, is very peculiar and
rather disagreeable; the  taste is bitter, herbaceous, and somewhat astringent,
leaving a slight  sense of acrimony.   The  root yields its virtues to boiling
water.  It was found by Mr. Tilghman, of Philadelphia, to contain  gum,
starch, sugar, resin, wax, fatty matter, tannin and gallic acid, a black colour-
ing matter, a green  colouring matter, lignin, and salts of potassa,  lime, mag-
nesia, and iron.  (Journ. of Phil.  Col. of Pharm., vi. 20.)
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  The effects of cimicifuga  in health have
not been very accurately investigated.  It has been usually considered a mild
tonic, with the  property of stimulating the  secretions, particularly those  of
the skin, kidneys, and bronchial mucous  membrane; and has been thought
by some to have an especial affinity for the uterus.  It undoubtedly exercises
considerable influence over the nervous system,  probably of a sedative cha-
racter; but this influence, so far as our observation has gone, is shown rather
in morbid states of  that system than in health.   Dr. Hildreth has found  it,
in large doses, to produce  some vertigo,  impaired vision, nausea  and vomit-
ing, and a reduction of  the circulation;  but  from very large  quantities has
seen no alarming narcotic effects.  Its common name was probably derived
from its supposed power of curing  the diseases arising from  the bite of the
rattlesnake.  Till recently, it has been employed chiefly in domestic practice
as a remedy in rheumatism, dropsy, hysteria, and various affections of  the
lungs, particularly those resembling consumption.  Several cases of chorea 
212
Cimicifuga.— Cinchona.
PART I.
 are recorded by Dr. Jesse Young, in which it is said to have effected cures;
 and the editor of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences  states, that he
 was informed by Dr. Physick that he had known it, in  the dose often grains
 every two  hours, prove successful in the cure of this complaint in  several
 instances.  In the cases recorded  by Dr. Young, the powdered root was
 given in the quantity of a teaspoonful  three  times a  day.  (Am. Journ. of
 Med. Sciences, ix. 310.)  We have  administered this medicine in chorea,
 with complete success, after the failure of purgatives and metallic tonics; and
 have also derived the happiest effects from it in a case of convulsions, occur-
 ring periodically, and  connected with uterine disorder.   Dr.  Hildreth has
 found it, in combination with iodine, very advantageous in the early stages
 of phthisis. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci.,N. S., iv. 281.) It is usually admin-
 istered in the form of decoction.  An ounce of the bruised root  may be boiled
 for a short  time in a  pint of water, and one or two fluidounces  given for a
 dose. From half a pint to a pint of the decoction may be taken without incon-
 venience during the day.  Dr. Hildreth  recommends a saturated tincture in
 the dose of one to two fluidrachms.                                W.


                       CINCHONA. U.S.

                          Peruvian Bark.

  " The bark  of  different species of Cinchona from  the western coast  of
 South America."  U. S.
   Varieties.   CINCHONA FLAVA. Fellow Bark.   The variety called  in
 commerce  Calisaya Bark.—CINCHONA PALLIDA. Pale Bark.  The
 variety  called  in  commerce Loxa  Bark.—CINCHONA  RUBRA. Red
 Bark.   The variety called in commerce  Red Bark. U. S.
  Off. Syn. CINCHONA CORDIFOLIA. Cinchonacordifolia.  Cortex.—
 CINCHONA  LANCIFOLIA. Cinchona lancifolia.   Cortex.—CINCHO-
 NA OBLONGIFOLIA.  Cinchona oblongifolia. Cortex. Lond.
  CINCHONA  CORONA.   Bark  of Cinchona  Condaminea.  Croion
 .Bar/c.—CINCHONA  CINEREA.  Bark of Cinchona micrantha.  Gray
 Bark.   Silver  Bark.—CINCHONA FLAVA.  Bark of an  unascertained
 species of Cinchona.  Yellow Bark.—CINCHONA RUBRA. Bark of an
 undetermined species of Cinchona.  Red Bark.  Ed.
  CINCHONA CORDIFOLIA. Cortex.  Cinchona flava.—CINCHONA
 LANCIFOLIA. Cortex. Cinchona officinalis.—CINCHONA OBLONGI-
 FOLIA. Cortex.  Cinchona rubra. Dub.
  Quinquina, Fr.; China, Peruvianische Rmde, Germ.; China, Ital; Qninn, Span
  When this work was  originally written,  various points  in relation to the
botanical and pharmacological history of  Peruvian Bark were unsettled, and
appeared to require discussion.   Since that period, the  botanical  part o'f the
 subject has been  laboriously investigated  by Professor  Lindley, of London,
 whose conclusions are as satisfactory as the existing state of information will
permit;  and certain opinions in relation to the sources and character of differ-
ent varieties of the drug, which were held  by us  in common with eminent
pharmacologists of the continent of Europe, but, being wholly different from
those of the highest  British authorities,  were  thought to  require whatever
support  we could  give them, have now been adopted by the best writers of
 Great Britain, and  may be considered as fully established.  In the present
edition,  therefore, discussion upon these points may be spared  as  no  longer
necessary;  and we shall content ourselves with stating the facts  as now <rene-
rally admitted.                                                    ° 
PART I.
Cinchona.
213
                        Botanical History.

  Though the use of Peruvian bark was introduced into Europe so early as
1640, it was not  till the year  1737 that the plant which  produced it  was
known to naturalists.  In that year,  La Condamine, one of the French Aca-
demicians who were sent to South America to make observations relative to
the figure of the earth, on his journey to Lima, through the province of Loxa,
had an opportunity of examining the  tree, of which, upon his return, he pub-
lished a description in the Memoirs of the Academy.  Soon afterwards Lin-
naeus gave it the name of Cinchona officinalis, in honour of the Countess of
Cinchon, who is  said to have first taken  the bark  to  Europe; but, in his
description of the plant, he is stated  by Humboldt to have united the species
discovered by La Condamine with  the C. pubescens, a specimen of which
had  been sent him from Santa  Fe  de Bogota.  For  a long  time botanists
were ignorant that more than one species of this genus  existed; and the C.
officinalis continued, till a comparatively recent date, to be recognised by the
Pharmacopoeias as the only source of the Peruvian bark of commerce.  But
numerous plants supposed to belong to the genus were afterwards discovered
in various parts of the world ; and the number of distinct species for which
the honour  has been claimed,  is not less than forty-six,  exclusive  of the
varieties which have been mistaken for species by  one or another botanist.
But  the propriety of associating all these plants in one genus has always
been considered doubtful; and,  according to  De Candolle, there exist suffi-
cient grounds for distributing them into at  least eight genera; viz., Cinchona,
Buena,  Remijia,  Exostemma,  Pinckneya,  Hymenodyction, Luculia,  and
Danais.  The Cinchona is confined exclusively to the region of country
now occupied by the republics of New Granada, Equador, Peru, and Bolivia.
The Buena includes two Peruvian and one  Brazilian  species, the former of
which, before their change of name, were designated as the Cinchona acu-
minata, and C. obtusifolia.  The  genus Remijia was established  by De
Candolle, and embraces three shrubs of Brazil, which were ascribed by Aug.
de St. Hilaire to the  Cinchona,  and  the bark of which is used as a febrifuge
by the natives of the country.  To  the Exostemma belong the West India
species, of  which there  are  not less than  nine, formerly known as the Cin-
chona Caribsea, C.floribunda, &c.   To the  same genus belong the former
Cinchona Philippica of the Philippine islands, the C. corymbifcra of Tonga-
taboo, four species indigenous  to Peru, and  two discovered by M.  de St.
Hilaire  in Brazil.   The Pinckneya consists of a single species, inhabiting
Georgia and South Carolina, discovered by Michaux the elder, and described
in some botanical works by the name of  Cinchona  Caroliniana.   The
Hymenodyction is an East India genus, including  the  Cinchona  exrelsa of
Roxburgh, found on the Coromandel coast.  The Luculia, of which there is
but one species—the Cinchona gratissima  of Roxburgh's Flora Indica—
inhabits the  mountains of Nepaul.  The Danais embraces  the  Cinchona
Afro-Inda of Willem., growing in  the Isle of France.  Of these  various
genera, the  Cinchona, Buena or  Cosmibuena of Ruiz  and Pavon, and the
Exostemma, have been  most generally confounded.  The last, however, is
decidedly distinguished by the projection of the stamens beyond the corolla,
a character  expressed in the  name of the  genus.  The  two former are still
frequently combined by scientific writers.   The Buena was  originally sug-
gested as a distinct genus by Ruiz and Pavon, has been  recognised by De
Candolle and some  other authors, and appears to be  sufficiently character-
ized.  Its chief peculiarities are the shape of the corolla,  the separation of the 
214
Cinchona.
PART I.
calyx from the fruit at maturity, and the opening of the capsule from above
downwards.   We have  briefly noticed these genera, which have at various
times been confounded with the true Cinchona, because the barks of some of
them have been occasionally substituted in pharmacy for the  genuine febri-
fuge of Peru.   We shall now  proceed to consider the true Cinchonas.   It
may be proper, however, first to  say, that the botanists who have made per-
sonal observations upon these  plants, besides La  Condamine, of whom we
have  before spoken, are chiefly Joseph de Jussieu, who in the  year 1739
explored the country about Loxa, and gathered specimens which are still
existing in the cabinets of Europe; Mulis, who in the year 1772 discovered
Cinchona trees  in New Granada, and afterwards, aided by his  pupil Zea,
made further investigations and discoveries in the same region of  country;
Ruiz and Pavon, who in the year 1777 began a course  of botanical  inquiries
in the central  portions of Lower Peru, and discovered several new species;
Humboldt and Bonpland, who visited several of the Peruvian  bark districts,
and  published the results of their observations after 1792; and finally Pop-
pig,  who travelled in Peru as late as 1832, and  published an  account of his
journey about the year 1835.
   Cinchona.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Cinchonaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed.  Corolla hypocrateriform, with a five-parted
limb, valvate in aestivation.  Anthers linear, inserted  within the tube, and not
projecting, unless in  a  very slight degree.   Capsule  splitting  through the
dissepiment into two cocci open at  the commissure,  and crowned  by the
calyx. Seeds girted by a membranous lacerated  wing.  (Lindley.)
   The plants composing  this  genus  are trees  or shrubs.  The leaves are
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.)
   It has been stated that the genuine cinchona trees are confined exclusively
to the continent of South America.   Within these limits, however, they are
very widely diffused, extending from  La Paz, in  the former  vice-royalty of
Buenos Ayres, to the mountainous regions of Santa Martha on the northern
coast.  Those which yield the bark of commerce grow at various elevations
upon the Andes, seldom less than 4000  feet  above the level of the  sea;  and
require a  temperature considerably lower than that which usually prevails in
tropical countries.
   There has been much difficulty in properly arranging the species of Cin-
chona; and botanists  have not  only differed among themselves on this point,
but have in some instances exhibited a degree of excitement unbecoming the
dignity of science.  Ruiz and Pavon, in the Flora Peruviana, describe thir-
teen new species, while Mutis reduced  the  number to seven, and  Professor
Zea attempted to prove, that almost all  the  efficacious  species of  Ruiz and
Pavon are reducible to the four described by Mutis  in the year 1793, in the
Literary News of Santa Fe de Bogota.   It appears from the best testimony,
that the number of the species has been unnecessarily augmented by certain
botanists ; mere fugitive differences, depending on peculiarities of situation or
growth,  having been  exaggerated into permanent characteristics.  One source
of the difficulty of a  proper discrimination is  stated by Humboldt to be the
varying shape of the leaves of the same species, according to the degree of
elevation upon the mountainous declivities, to the severity or  mildness of the
climate,  the greater or less humidity of the soil, and to various circumstances
in the growth of individual plants.  Even the same tree often produces foli-
age 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 
PART I.
Cinchona.
215
of the leaves which have grown upon one and the same branch.  The fruc-
tification partakes, to a certain extent, of the same varying character; and the
difficulty is thus further  augmented.
   Lambert,  in  his "Illustration of the genus Cinchona," published  in the
year 1821, after admitting with Humboldt the  identity  of several varieties
which had received specific  names from  other botanists, describes nineteen
species, exclusive of the two Peruvian Buense.   De  Candolle enumerates
only sixteen well ascertained species.
   In the  present state  of our knowledge, it is  impossible to decide from
which species of Cinchona the several varieties of bark are respectively de-
rived.  The former references of the yellow bark to  the C. cordifolia, of the
pale to the C. lancifolia, and of the  red  to the  C. oblongifolia, have been
very properly abandoned in the  United States  and  Edinburgh Pharmaco-
poeias, though still retained in those of the London and Dublin Colleges.   It
is now  almost universally admitted that  the valuable  barks, known  in the
market by these titles, are not the product of the species to which they have
been ascribed.   It is stated by Humboldt, that the property of  curing agues
belongs to the barks of all the cinchonas with  hairy and  woolly blossoms,
and to those alone.   In Lindley's catalogue this division includes  fifteen
species.   We shall  notice the  most prominent, mentioning also the syno-
nymes employed by different authors.
   1.  Cinchona Condaminea.  Humb.  and Bonpl. Plant.  Eqidn. i.  p. 33.
t. 10; Lindley, Flor. Med. 414.   This tree,  when  full grown, has  a stem
about eighteen feet high and a foot in  thickness, with  opposite branches,  of
which the lower are  horizontal, and the higher rise upwards at their extremi-
ties.  The bark of the trunk is ash-gray with clefts  or fissures, and  yields
when wounded a bitter  astringent juice; that of the small branches is  green-
ish, smooth, and glossy, and easily separable from  the wood.   The  leaves
are of variable  shape, but generally ovate-lanceolate, about four inches  in
length by less than two  in breadth, smooth, and scrobiculate at the axils  of
the veins beneath.  The flowers are in  axillary, downy, corymbose panicles.
The tree grows on the declivities  of  the  mountains,  at an  elevation of from
about a mile to  a mile and a half, and in a mean temperature of 67° F.   It
was seen by Humboldt  and  Bonpland in the neighbourhood of Loxa, and  is
said also to grow near Guancabamba and Ayavaca in Peru.  It is now gene-
rally admitted to  be the  source of  the crown bark of Loxa, and is recognised
as such by the Edinburgh College.
   2. C.micrantha.  Ruiz, and  Pavon. Fl. Peruv. ii. 52. t. 194; Lindley,
Flor. Med.  412.—C. scrobiculata, Humb. and Bonpl. Plant. Equin. i.  p.
165. t.  47.   Lindley has  no hesitation in uniting  the C.  scrobiculata  of
Humboldt and Bonpland with  the C.  micrantha of Ruiz and Pavon.   It  is
a large tree,  attaining the height of forty feet,  with oblong  leaves, from four
to twelve inches  in length and  from two  to six  in  breadth, scarcely acute,
smooth, shining on  the upper surface, and scrobiculate  at the axils  of the
veins beneath.  The flowers are in terminal, loose, leafless panicles, and are
smaller  than those of any other species except the C. lancifolia.  (Lindley.)
The tree was seen by Humboldt and Bonpland forming large  forests  in the
mountains near the city of Jaen  de  Bracomoros.  It grows also, according
to Ruiz and Pavon, in the mountains near Chicoplaya, Monzon, and Puebla
de San Antonio, and, according to Poppig,  at  Cuchero.  Large quantities  of
the bark  are  collected by the people of Jaen, and sent to the coast to be
shipped to Lima; and Ruiz states that it is always mixed with that sent into
the market  from the provinces  of Panatahuas,  Huamilies, and Huanuco.
The Edinburgh College ascribes  to this species their Cinchona cinerea, the 
216
Cinchona.
PART I.
 gray or silver bark of British  commerce,  frequently called also Huanuco
 bark.   It undoubtedly contributes to furnish the officinal pale bark.
   3. C. lancifolia. Mutis, Period, de Santa Fe, p. 465; Lindley, Flor. Med.
 415.—C. angustifolia. Pavon,  Quinolog.  Suppl. p. 14.  This species has
 been shorn of much of its  honours by Lindley, who has separated from it
 the  C. nitida and  C. lanceolata of Ruiz and  Pavon,  the union of which with
 it by  other botanists had given it an unmerited importance.  As seen by
 Mutis, it is a very handsome tree, from thirty to forty-five  feet  in height,
 with a trunk from one to four feet in diameter.  Its leaves are oblong-lanceo-
 late, very acute at each end, revolute  at the edge, smooth  above,  and not
 scrobiculate.  The flowers,  which are  the smallest in the genus, are in five-
 flowered axillary cymes. (Lindley.)   This species is a native of  New Gra-
 nada.   The  London and Dublin Colleges ascribe to  it one of the  officinal
 varieties of bark, under the impression, probably, that the species is  identical
 with the C. Condarninea, and therefore affords  the most esteemed pale bark
 of the shops.  This, however,  has been ascertained to be a mistake.  The
 product of the  C.  lancifolia is one of the Carthagena barks, and is of inferior
 quality.   It was named orange  bark—quina naranjanda—by Mutis, and  a
 specimen deposited by  Humboldt, under  this name,  in the  Museum of
 Natural  History of Paris, was  found by Guibourt  to be identical with his
 spongy Carthagena bark.   That the tree cannot produce one of the valu-
 able varieties is proved by the fact, that none of these comes from Carlhao-ena,
 through  which  the bark of the C. lancifolia must be exported.
   4. C. cordifolia. Mutis, in Humb. Magaz. Berlin, 1807, p. 117;  Lind-
 ley,  Flor. Med. 839.   This is a spreading tree, fifteen or  twenty feet hiidi,
 rising on a single, erect, round  stem, which is covered with a smooth bark,
 of a brownish-gray colour.  The  bark of the smaller branches  is lighter
 coloured.  The leaves vary  much in form, but some of a heart-shape are to
 be found on  almost every branch.  They are usually roundish-ovate, about
 nine inches long,  smooth and  shining on the  upper surface, ribbed and
 pubescent on the  under.  The  flowers are in  thyrsoid, brachiate, tomen-
 tose  panicles.  This species was first discovered by Mutis in the mountains
 about Santa Fe de Bogota in New Granada, and grows at elevations  varying
 from 5800  to 9500 feet.  It is  considered  by the London and Dublin Col-
 leges as  the  source of the yellow bark of the  shops.  It has been ascer-
 tained beyond the  possibility of doubt, that it does not produce the valuable
 or officinal yellow bark, which  never  comes from the region where it is
 known to grow.   Guibourt has  found that the quina amarilla de Santa Fe,
 or yellow bark  of  Santa Fe,  which is probably produced by the C. cordifolia,
 is identical with hard Carthagena bark.
  5. C. magnifolia. Ruiz and  Pavon, FL Peruv. ii. 53.  t.  196.__C.  ob-
 longifolia, Mutis.—There has been  some confusion in relation to the species
 designated by these two names.   The  London  and Dublin Colleges, in re-
 cognising the C. oblongifolia as  the source of the officinal red bark, undoubt-
 edly  have in view the plant discovered by Mutis  in New Granada;  while  the
former college gives the authority of Lambert for the name.   Now Lind-
ley has ascertained that the  C. oblongifolia of Lambert  is a different plant
from that of Mutis of the same name, and believes, with the authors of  the
Flora Peruviana, that the latter  is identical  with their C. magnifolia.   We
shall, therefore,  take it for granted, that this is  the plant intended  by  the
London College, the bark of the C. oblongifolia of Lambert being wholly
unknown.  The C. oblongifolia of Mutis is a  stately tree with very lar«-e
leaves, which are oblong,  strongly ribbed,  smooth  and shining on boffi
surfaces,  and  often a foot in length exclusive of the footstalk.   The  flowers 
PART I.
Cinchona.
217
 are in large, terminal, leafless thyrses, and have a fragrant odour, not unlike
 that of orange-blossoms, from  which circumstance the tree has  received the
 name of Cascarillo de Flor de Azahar.  This  species grows in New  Gra-
 nada, and, according to Ruiz and Pavon, is abundant also on the mountains
 of  Panatahuas, about Cuchero, Chincao,  Chacahuassi,  &c.   Some years
 since, it  was considered as indisputably the source of the best red bark of
 commerce, ascribed to it  by the London and  Dublin  Pharmacopoeias.  A
 little reflection might have convinced those acquainted with the commerce
 in bark,  that this reference was incorrect; for who ever hears of the officinal
 red bark as coming from Carthagena?  and  yet  this is the port  from which
 the  product of the C. oblongifolia,  growing in New Granada, is shipped.
 The tree does, undoubtedly, as asserted by Mutis, produce a red bark; but
 it is the red  Carthagena bark, the quina roxa de  Santa Fc of Ruiz, a
 comparatively valueless  variety, wholly distinct from  the efficient  red  bark
 brought  from  the Pacific, and so highly esteemed  as  a febrifuge.   Ruiz
 speaks of it as of inferior quality and little esteemed;  and Bergen and  Gui-
 bourt have proved it to be  identical with the  worthless quina nova or new
 bark of  European commerce.
   The foregoing species have  been particularly noticed, because recognised
 in some  of the Pharmacopoeias as the sources  of  officinal varieties of bark.
 The following, for  a  description  of   which  we refer  to Lindley's Flora
 Medica,  yield  barks possessing febrifuge properties.—6. C. nitida of the
 Flora Peruviana, incorrectly confounded, according to Lindley,  with C. lan-
 ceolata by De Candolle, and C. Condaminea  by Lambert, grows in groves,
 in cold situations upon the Andes, in the Peruvian provinces of Huanuco,
 Tarma, Huamilies, and Xauxa, and affords a bark which is very highly es-
 teemed in those places, though unknown as a distinct variety in commerce.—
 7.  C. lucumafolia of Pavon, confounded by Lambert with C. Condaminea,
 grows near Loxa, and  probably contributes to the Loxa or pale  barks.—
 8. C.lanceolata of the Flora Peruviana, is found at  Cuchero, and various other
 places fifteen or twenty leagues distant  from Huanuco, where it forms groves
 in lofty cold situations upon the Andes.   Its bark  is said by Ruiz and Pavon
 to be called yellow bark, from the colour of its inner surface, and to resemble
 Calisaya bark in  flavour.   Ruiz,  indeed, conjectures  that it is the source of
 that highly valued variety of bark, in which  case, the tree must also grow
 in Bolivia at a great distance from  its  known locality.—9.  C. ovalifolia  of
 Humboldt  and Bonpland, the  C. Humboldtiana of Roemer and Schult, and
 of De Cand.,  is a shrub from six to nine feet high, inhabiting the  province
 of Cuenca, where it forms considerable forests.   It probably contributes  to
 the Loxa barks, although its product  is  said to be of inferior quality.—10. C.
 ovata of  the Fl. Peruv. grows  in close groves, in  warm situations at the foot
 of the Andes,  near Pozuzo and  Panao, about ten leagues from Huanuco,
 Lindley considers it quite distinct from  the C.pubescens of Vahl, and C. cor-
 difolia of Mutis, with both of which it  has been confounded.  Ruiz  calls its
 bark cascarillo pallido or pale bark, and states that it was  not to  be  found in
 commerce, though employed  at  Panao  in the preparation of an extract of
 cinchona.  Von Bergen, however, upon comparing a specimen of the  cas-
 carillo pallido  in the collection  of Ruiz with the Jaen bark, found them iden-
 tical in  character.—11. C. pubescens  of Vahl,  considered by Lindley as
identical with  the C. purpurea of the Fl. Peruv., is  a  tree of considerable
magnitude, distinguished by the violet tint of its large leaves, and the purple
colour of its flowers.  It occurs  in groves on the lower mountain ridges in the
provinces of Loxa, Jaen, Panatahuas, &c, was  seen by Poppig  at Cuchuo,
and is said to grow also in  New Granada.   The bark is of inferior quality,
     20 
218
Cinchona.
PART I.
and is said to be employed for adulterating the better kinds.  A specimen
taken to Europe by Poppig  was found by Reichel to be  identical with the
Huamilies bark of commerce.—12. C. hirsuta  of the Fl. Peruv. grows on
wooded mountains in the province of Panatahuas near Huanuco, and is said
to yield a good bark, called formerly quina  delgadilla  or delgada, but now
scarcely collected.—13. C. glandulifera of the Fl. Peruv. is a shrub of about
twelve feet, flourishing on the high mountains  of the region N. W.  of Hu-
anuco, and yielding an  excellent bark,  unknown in commerce, called  by the
inhabitants cascarillo negrillo from  its  blackish  epidermis.   In its flowering
season, it perfumes the forest by the strong scent of its  blossoms.—14. C.
acutifolia of the Fl. Peruv., discovered by Tafalla in the Peruvian  Andes,
north of Huanuco,  yields a very  inferior bark, said by Ruiz  and  Pavon
sometimes to occur in parcels  of  the better kinds.—15. C. macrocarjm of
Vahl, identical, according to Ruiz and Pavon, with the C. ovalifolia of
Mutis, is a shrub of about eight feet in height, forming considerable  forests
in the provinces of Loxa and  Cuenca, found by Mutis  in New Granada,
and said to grow  as far north as Santa Martha.   Its bark  is called quina
blanca or  white bark, probably from the colour of the epidermis, and is not
highly esteemed.   May not this species  be the source  of the  commercial
variety of Cinchona brought from Maracaybo and Santa Martha?
   Besides the above species,  Lindley enumerates, 16.  C. rotundifolia of
Ruiz and Pavon, growing in the province of Loxa ; 17. C. villosa of  Pavon,
the C. Humboldtiana of  Lambert, growing  at Jaen of Loxa;  18. C. oblon-
gifolia of Lambert, in  the same locality;  19.  C. eaducifiora  of Bonpland,
growing  near Jaen  de  Bracomoros; 20.  C. stenocarpa  of Lambert, inha-
biting the mountains of  Loxa; and 21. C. cava of Pavon, the  C. Pavonii
of Lambert, which is found in  Quito-   None of these are known to yield
bark to commerce.  The C.  dichotoma of the Flora Peruviana, C.  macro-
calyx of De Candolle, C. crassifolia of Pavon in De Candolle's Prodromus,
C. Pelalba of the same  authority, and C. Muzonensis  of Goudot  in  De
Candolle's Prodromus,  are considered by Lindley as uncertain species.


                       Commercial History.

   For more than a century after Peruvian bark  came into use, it was  pro-
cured almost exclusively  from Loxa and the neighbouring  provinces.  In a
memoir published A. D. 1738,  La Condamine speaks of the  bark of Rhio-
bambo, Cuenca, Ayavaca, and  Jaen de Bracomoros.  Of  these places, the
first two, together with Loxa, lie within the ancient kingdom of Quito, at its
southern  extremity; the others are  in the same vicinity, within the  borders
of Peru.   The drug was shipped chiefly at the  Port of Payta, from  which
it was carried to Spain, and thence  spread over Europe.  Beyond the limits
above mentioned,  the Cinchona was not supposed to exist, till, in the year
1753, a gentleman of Loxa,  familiar with  the aspect of the tree, discovered
it while on a journey from the place of his residence to Santa Fe de Bogota,
in numerous situations along his route, wherever, in fact, the elevation of
the country was eqmd to  that of Loxa, or about 6,500  feet above the level
of the sea.  This discovery  extended quite through Quito into the kingdom
of New Granada, as far as two degrees and  a half north of the equator.  But
no practical  advantage  was derived from it; and the information lay buried
in the archives of the vice-royalty,  till subsequent events  brouoht it'to light.
To Mutis undoubtedly belongs  the credit of making known the existence of
the Cinchona in New Granada.  He first discovered it in the neighbourhood
of Bogota, in the  year  1772.  A botanical expedition was some time after- 
PART I.
Cinchona.
219
wards organized by the Spanish government, with the view of exploring this
part of their American dominions, and the direction of it was given to Mutis,
The researches of the expedition eventuated in the discovery of several spe-
cies of the Cinchona in  New Granada, and a commerce  in  the bark soon
commenced,  which was  afterwards increased, and  carried on with  great
vigour through the ports of Carthagena and Santa Martha.   The English
and North Americans, opening a contraband trade with these ports, were
enabled to undersell the Spanish merchant,  who received his supplies by the
circuitous route of Cape  Horn; and the  barks of New Granada were soon
as abundant as those of Loxa in the markets of Europe.
   To these sources another was added about the same time, A. D. 1776, by
the discovery of the Cinchona in the centre of Peru, in the mountainous re-
gion about the city of Huanuco, which lies on the eastern declivity of the
Andes, to the north-east  of Lima, at least six degrees to the south of the pro-
vince of Loxa.   To explore this  new locality, another botanical expedition
was set on foot,  at the  head of which  were  Ruiz  and  Pavon, the  distin-
guished authors  of the Flora Peruviana.   These botanists  spent several
years in this  region, during which  time they discovered numerous species
that were afterwards described in their Flora.   Lima  became the entrepot
for the barks collected around Huanuco; and hence probably  originated the
name of Lima bark, so often conferred, in common language, not only upon
the varieties  received through that city, but also upon the medicine generally.
   Soon after the last-mentioned  discovery, two additional localities of the
Cinchona 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 Cochabamba, then  within  the vice-royalty  of  Buenos  Ayres,  now
attached to the republic  of Bolivia.  These latter places became the source
of an abundant supply of excellent bark, which received  the  name of Cali-
saya bark.   It was sent  partly to the ports on the Pacific, partly to Buenos
 Ayres.
    The consequence of these  discoveries, following each other in such rapid
 succession,  was  a vast  increase in the supply of bark, which was now
 shipped from the ports  of  Guayaquil, Payta,  Lima, Arica, Buenos  Ayres,
 Carthagena, and Santa Martha.  At the same time, the average quality was
 probably deteriorated ; for, though many of the new varieties were possessed
 of excellent properties, yet equal care in superintending the collection  and
 assorting of the article could not be exercised now that the field was so ex-
 tended, as when  ft was confined to a small portion of the  South of Quito
 and North of Peru.   The varieties which were poured into the market soon
 became so numerous as  to burthen the memory, if not to defy the discrimi-
 nation of the druggist; and the best  pharmaceutists found themselves at a loss
 to discover any permanent peculiarities, which  might serve as the basis of a
 proper and useful classification.  This perplexity has continued more or less
 to the present time; though the discovery  of the new alkaline principles has
 presented a ground of distinction which was before unknown.   The restric-
 tions  upon the commerce  with South America, by  directing  the trade into
 irregular channels, had  also  a tendency to deteriorate the character  of the
 drug.  In the complexity of contrivance to which it was necessary to resort,
 to deceive the vigilance  of the government, little attention could be paid to a
 proper assortment of the several  varieties;  and not only were the best barks
 mixed with  those of inferior species and  less careful preparation, but the
 products  of  other trees,  bearing  no resemblance  to the Cinchona, were
 sometimes added, having been artificially prepared so as to deceive a careless
 observer.   The  markets of this country were peculiarly ill furnished.  The 
220
Cinchona.
PART I.
supplies being derived chiefly, by means of a contraband trade, from Car-
thagena and other ports on  the  Spanish Main,  or  indirectly through the
Havana, were necessarily of an inferior character; and the little 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, has taken
place  since the ports on the Pacific have been opened to our commerce. The
best kinds of bark have thus been rendered directly accessible to us ;  and in-
creased intelligence  in the community has  co-operated with the facility of
supply, to exclude from our markets that kind of trash with which they were
formerly glutted.   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 pro-
bably receive  supplies of bark in exchange for the mercury, piece-goods,
flour,  &c,  which constitute their  outward cargo.
  The persons who  collect the bark are called in South America Cascaril-
leros.   Considerable experience  and judgment are  requisite  to render an
individual well qualified for this business.  He must not only be able to dis-
tinguish the  trees which produce good bark from those less esteemed, but
must also know the proper season and the age  at which a  branch should be
decorticated,  and  the marks by which  the efficiency or inefficiency of any
particular product is  indicated.   The bark gatherers begin their operations
with the setting in of the dry season in May.  Sometimes they first cut
down the tree, and afterwards strip oft' the bark from the branches ;  in other
instances,  they decorticate the tree while 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 course of  time become fit for decortication, while, if de-
prived 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 instru-
ment.  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 other-
wise it becomes deteriorated.   For this purpose it is  taken  out of the woods
into the vicinity of some inhabited place, where it is exposed to the sun.  In
the drying  process it rolls itself up, or in technical language, becomes  quilled,
and the degree to which this  effect takes place, is proportionate directly to
the thinness of the bark, and  inversely to the age of the branch from which
it was derived.   In  packing  the  bark for  exportation, due care is  seldom
taken to assort the varieties according  either to the species of Cinchona by
which they are furnished, or to their resemblance in appearance and charac-
ter ;  and it often happens that several different kinds are introduced into the
same  case.   The packages are, in commercial language, called sewons.   As
found in this market they are usually covered with a case  of thick and stiff
ox-hide, which is lined within by a  very coarse cloth, 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, and are open  to the enterprise of all
who choose to engage in  the collection of the bark.  The consequence is,
that the operations are carried on without  reference to the future condition
of this important interest, and the  most wasteful modes of proceeding are
adopted if they save present trouble, or  contribute  to immediate profit.
Nevertheless, the great extent to which the Cinchona forests prevail, spread-
ing, as they  do, with some interruptions, over more than  thirty degrees of 
PART I.
Cinchona.
221
latitude, and   cupving  regions which can never be applied to agricultural
purposes, almost precludes the idea of their even remote extinction.


                            Classification.

   To form a correct and lucid  system of classification  is the  most difficult
part of the subject of bark, which is  throughout  full  of  perplexities.   An
arrangement  founded on the botanical species, though the most scientific
and satisfactory when attainable, is in  the present instance utterly out of the
question.   There  are few varieties, of the precise origin of which we can be
said to have any certain knowledge; by far the greater  number being either
derived from an unknown source, or  but obscurely traceable to the species
producing them.
   The Spanish merchants adopted a  classification dependent partly on the
place of growth or shipment, and partly on the inherent properties, or sup-
posed relative  value of  the bark.   So long as the sources of the drug were
very confined, and the number of varieties small, this plan  answered the"
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 have ceased  to be expressive of the  truth, and are often erroneously,
almost always  confusedly applied.  The L,oxa barks embrace,  among us,
not only those which come from that province, but  those also from the
neighbourhood of Huanuco; while others, which have  received different
names, are  brought from the same place.   It is said that, by the traders in
 South America, the young slender gray barks are called by the name of Loxa,
from whatever  source they may be derived ;  while those somewhat larger
 and older receive  their  appellation from Lima.
    Perhaps the best arrangement  for pharmaceutical and medicinal purposes
 is that adopted  in  the United States Pharmacopoeia, founded upon difference
 of colour.  It  is true that  dependence cannot be placed upon-this property
 alone; as barks of a similar colour have been found to possess very different
 virtues ;  and, between the various colours  considered characteristic, there is
 an insensible gradation of shade, so that it is not always  possible to decide
 where one ends and the other  begins.  Still it has been found that the most
 valuable  barks, which  are brought almost  exclusively from the western or
 Pacific coast of South America, and are recognised only as corning from this
 source by our Pharmacopoeia, may be arranged, according  to their colour,
 in three divisions, which, though mingling at  their extremes, are very dis-
 tinctly characterized, in certain specimens, by peculiarity not only in colour,
 but also  in  other sensible properties, and even in  chemical constitution.
 The three divisions alluded to are the pale, the yellow,  and the red.  These
 may be  considered as exclusively the officinal  barks;  while  the  inferior
 varieties  which approach one or other of these classes in colour, but differ
 in other properties, may be treated as  extra-officinal, and considered under a
 separate head.  As these inferior kinds come chiefly if  not exclusively from
 the northern ports of New Granada and Venezuela, they are known in  com-
 merce by the name of Carthagena barks, and by this name will be described
 in the present work.   Parcels of little value may be occasionally imported
 from the Pacific  coast  of South America; but the quantity is small, as the
 profit they would  yield would not pay the expense of so long a voyage.  In
 describing, therefore, the different kinds of bark, we shall treat first of the
 officinal varieties under ihe three heads of pale, yellow, and red, and secondly
 of the extra-officinal under the title of Carthagena barks.  The commercial
 name will at the same time be given in all instances in which a knowledge of
                                   20* 
222
Cinchona.
PART I.
it can be useful in this country.  It is proper here to state, that the different
barks frequently come to us mingled in the same package, and that, in decid-
ing upon the character of a seroon, the druggist is guided rather by the  pre-
dominance than the exclusive existence of certain distinctive properties.
  There is a remarkable difference in the epidermis or outer covering of the
strictly officinal barks from the western coast of South America, and  that of
the extra-officinal or Carthagena barks, from  the ports of the  Caribbean sea.
In the former, the  epidermis  is cracked, rugose, and of a  brownish colour,
and, when apparently whitish, is so in consequence of adhering lichens, upon
the removal of which by scraping the normal colour appears;  in the latter it
is  comparatively destitute  of fissures, smooth, whitish or  yellowish-white,
and micaceous.

                            1. Pale Bark.
  The  epithet pale applied to these barks is derived from the colour of the
powder.  The French call  them  quinquinas gris, or gray barks, from the
colour of the epidermis.   They come into the market in  cylindrical pieces
of variable length, from a  few inches to a foot and a half, sometimes singly,
sometimes doubly quilled, from two lines to an inch  in diameter, and from
half a line to two  or three lines in thickness.   The  finest kinds  are about
the size of a goosequill.  Their  exterior surface is usually more or  less
rough, marked  with  circular  and sometimes with longitudinal fissures, and
of a grayish  colour, owing to the lichens which cover the epidermis.   The
shade is different  in different samples.   Sometimes it is  a light gray, ap-
proaching to  white, sometimes dull and brown, sometimes a grayish-fawn,
and  frequently diversified by the intermixture  of the proper colour of the
epidermis with that of the patches of lichens attached to it.  The interior
surface, in the finer kinds, is smooth; in the coarser it is occasionally rough
and somewhat  ligneous.   Its colour  is uniformly a brownish-orange, some-
times inclining to red, sometimes to yellow, and in some inferior specimens is
of a dusky hue.  The fracture is usually clear, 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 deeper hue  in the  inferior kinds.
The  taste is  moderately bitter and somewhat astringent, without being dis-
agreeable or nauseous.   Authors  speak also of an  acidulous and aromatic
flavour,  which is  less evident.  The superior kinds have  a feeble odour,
which is distinct and agreeably aromatic in the powder and decoction.  The
pale barks are chemically  characterized by containing a much larger propor-
tion of cinchonia than of  quinia;  and their infusion  does not yield a precipi-
tate with solution of sulphate of soda.   Their appearance indicates that
they were derived from the smaller branches.  They are collected in the
provinces about Loxa, or in the country which surrounds the city of Huanuco
to the north-east of Lima, and are probably derived chiefly from the C.  Con-
 daminea and C. micrantha.
   There are several commercial  varieties of pale bark, obtained  from dif-
 ferent sources,  and differing more or less  in  their  properties.   The  most
 highly  esteemed of  these  is the  Loxa bark, the finest specimens of which
 are 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 either  named Lima bark, because taken  to
 that city for commercial distribution, or Huanuco bark, from its place of col-
 lection.  The former name has been more  common in this country, where,
 indeed, this  commercial variety has not unfrequenfly been confounded with 
PART I.
Cinchona.
223
the Loxa bark.   Other pale barks are  the Jaen and Huamilies barks, which
are scarcely known as distinct varieties in the United States.*

  * Since the publication of the first edition of this Dispensatory, we have had an oppor-
tunity of examining Von Bergen's splendid work upon b:irk, entitled Versuch einer Mono-
graphie der  China, published  in Hamburgh  in  the year  1826.   His descriptions are
undoubtedly among the most precise and accurate which have been published, and we
have availed ourselves of them in drawing up the following sketch of the varieties which
may be arranged under the head of pale bark.  We have also consulted, in relation to this
subject, the works of the French pharmaceutical writers, particularly that of Guibourt,
and the elaborate German work of Geiger, entitled Handbuch der Fharmncie, SfC, and,
more recently, the English treatise on Materia Medica by Pereira.  We have thrown our
remarks into the form of a note;  as the information in relation to these different varieties
can be of little practical use  to the student, though it may possibly serve to aid the  dis-
crimination of the druggist in the purchase of bark, by enabling him to decide on the
relative value of the different parcels submitted to his notice.
   1.  Loxa Bark. Crown  Bark.—Quinquina  de  Loxa, Fr.—Loxa-China,  Kron-China,
Germ.—This is  in cylindrical tubes,  strongly rolled, from six to fifteen  inches long,
 from two lines  to an  inch in diameter, and trom half a line to two  lines  thick.  The
 outer surface is more or less rough, seldom much wrinkled longitudinally, but marked
 with numerous  transverse fissures, which usually run round the bark, and divide it into
 rings, the edges of which are somewhat elevated.  In the  smallest quills these fissures
 are not very obvious;  in the larger, they are  distant and apt to be interrupted.  In the
 largest the surface is  sometimes very rough and  even warty.  The proper colour of the
 epidermis is dark-gray, sometimes almost black, sometimes ash-coloured, and occasion-
 ally inclining to fawn; but frequently  diversified by whitish  lichens, which are in some
 instances so  numerous as  to cover almost the whole exterior of the bark, and give  it a
 light-gray 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.   This variety of
 bark appears to contain, on  nn average  of  several results  stated by Geiger, about 0-48
 per cent, of  cinchonia, and 0-06 of quinia.   In the thicker pieces, which  appear to be
 richest in the organic alkalies, Thiel found 1-0 per cent, of cinchonia, and 003 of quinia.
 According  to Soubeiran, one pound of Loxa  bark yields from a drachm and a half to
 two  drachms of sulphate of cinchonia.  The strong reaction of a solution of gelatin
 indicates the presence of much tannin. Guibourt, in the edition of his Histoire des
 Drogues, printed in  1S3G, describes  several varieties of Loxa bark, one answering to
 the above, under the  name  of Quinquina gris  briin de Loxa, a  second, under that  of
 quinquina de Loxa cendre,  which he  considers  identical  with the Jaen  bark of Von
 Bergen, and  two others both of which  he  calls  quinquina  de Loxa fibreux.  Of these
 two, one is  probably  not found in commerce, and the  other is the variety described  in
 his  former edition as  the Quinquina  gris de  Loxa.  This is  characterized by its  light-
 gray colour  externally, and by its extreme thinness, which is observable even in the pieces
 laken from the larger branches, the bark being  almost as  thin and  as  much  rolled as
 Ceylon cinnamon. It is very rare.  In  the seronns of  Loxa b;irk other kind's are some-
 times mixed  with the genuine.  Among them are quills of  a bark supposed  to be iden-
 tical with the  Huamilies (see Huamilies bark), and a variety which  has  been called
 white Loxa bark, of unknown origin, resembling  the genuine except in the character of
 its epidermis, which  is whitish and micaceous like that of the Carthagena  harks.  Eng-
 lish 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 larger in  size,
 and characterized by a whitish silvery appearance of the epidermis derived from adhering
 lichens;  and 3. the leopard crown bark, named from its speckled  appearance, depending
 on whiti.-h lichens alternating with the dark brown epidermis.  Loxa bark  is thought to
 be derived chiefly from  the C. Condaminea, and  to have been the variety first  imported
 into  Europe.
   2. Lima or Huanuco bark.  Cinchona Cinerea,  Gray bark, Silver bark, Ed.—Quinquina
 de Lima, Fr.—China  Huanuco, Gram  China, Germ.—The Lima  or Huanuco  bark was
 introduced into notice about the year 1779, after the discovery of Cinchona  trees in the
 central regions of Peru; but Poppig says that the trade in it began in 3 785.  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), 
224
Cinchona.
PART I.
    In this country, the pale bark has fallen into disuse ; and the sales made by
  the druggists are very small.  As it yields little quinia,  it is  not employed in
  the manufacture of the sulphate of that alkali, which has almost superseded
  the bark as a remedy in intermittents;  and the red bark is preferred by phy-

  in the more immediate neighbourhood of which the  trees were found.  The dimensions
  of this variety of bark do not materially differ from those of the preceding, although in
  the largest pieces the diameter  is somewhat greater.   Many of the smaller quills  have a
  more or less spiral form.  At the edge of most of the complete  quills, a sharp oblique
  Blit made with a knife is observable.   The epidermis is usually adherent.  -The exterior
  surface is  marked with longitudinal  wrinkles, which in  the  thick pieces are often  so
  deep as to amount to furrows,  penetrating quite  through the outer coating of the bark.
  Transverse  fissures are also  generally observable, but they never  run wholly round the
  quill, often not more Hian a  quarter or half round, and do not exhibit elevated borders.
  In some pieces the outer layer  of the epidermis is rubbed off either wholly or in spots,
  and in a few the  entire thickness of  the external layers, which  we usually denominate
  the epidermis, is  here and there removed, exhibiting  the proper  bark in patches.  The
  colour externally  is  very light  gray, almost milk-white, with occasionally bluish gray
  and  darkish  spots intermingled.   Whore 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 occasionally
  a purplish tinge.   The transverse fracture is smooth in the exterior part, fibrous or splin-
  tery in  the interior.   The longitudinal fracture is usually somewhat uneven, without
  being splintery, and exhibits  here and there minute shining spots.  The inner layers of
  the bark are usually soft and friable. The colour of the powder is  a full cinn.imon-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 slighlly  aromatic, and
  ultimately bitter and  adhesive.  The proportion of cinchonia contained  in  Huanuco bark,
  by an average of several  results stated by Geiger, is  Vii per cent., of quinia 0-^9 per
  cent.   Von Sanlcn got from the  best specimens, as the maximum, 2 73 per cent, of cin-
  chonia and no quinia.  The most productive pieces arc those of middling size. Guibourt
  makes two varieties of this bark, the quinquina gris Jin de Lima, including the smaller
 quills, and the quinquina gros Lima, or Lima blanc, including  the larger.  It has  been
 raised to the rank of a distinct officinal variety by the Edinburgh  College.  Little, if any
 of it, is brought to this country; and, according to Poppig, the trade in it ceased in South
 America m 1SI5.   This variety of bark is now confidently ascribed to  the C. micrantha.
 (see  L. micrantha.)
   3.  JemJmrk  Ash-bark.—China Jaen, Blasse  Ten-China, Germ.—Quinquina de Loxa
 cendre of Guibourt.    Phis variety probably  derives its  name  from  the province  of
 Jaen do 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 b rkf bul are distinguishable by being frequently curved  longitudinally,
 or bent in d.nerent directions,  and somewhat spiral.  The outer coat is often partially or
 entirely rubbed off leav.ng the surface smooth and soft to the touch.  When the epidermis
 is perfect, it exhibits small irregular transverse fissures, with occasionally faint longitu-
 dual fissures and  wavy wrinkles,  and here and there  a few warts, but no deep furrows.
 oVowntbUsr„^nCSVvT,n 'if'11  °\  aSl' grdy- l° nehl ?cl!oW' ^versified with blackish and
 brownish spots.   When the outer coat is rubbed off, it inclines  still  more to  yellow.
 Gfcns.derea ,n mass, the bark always appears somewhat yellowish or straw-coloured.   The
 exter.or layers are soft and rather spongy, and  may be  readily scraped by  the nail.   The
 inner surface ,. exceedingly diversified, sometimes  smooth, sorne.imes uneven and sp in
 ery.   It is usually  of a dull cinnamon colour.   The bark is very britile  and the fracture
 is smooth in the -mailer qudls, more or less uneven, and sometimes sin Lryi, th ,£™
 i'VJVf'  S a rc*'nous "PPearance.   The odour is somewhat swe t h a"d
 compared to that of tan.  The taste ,s acidulous, slightly astringent, and  bitter without
 being disagreeable.  The colour of the powder is cinnamon-brown.  The bark i  very
 deficient .nialkal.es.    orae experimenters  have found none, or  only .traces while the
 higliest product obtained was 80 grains of quinia and 13  grains of cinchonia from a Sund
 M.  Manz.ni.of Pans, extracted from it an alkaline principle which  he believed to be pe
cul.ar, and named cinchocaUn ; but which has  been ascertained to be identical with the
arte..*, discovered  by  PelleUer,  This variety  of bark  is considered to  be of i t7e value 
PART I.
Cinchona.
225
sicians, when it is necessary to resort to the  medicine in substance.  There
is little doubt, however, that cinchonia  possesses febrifuge  properties little if
at all inferior to those of quinia; and should  the source of the latter begin to
fail, the pale bark would come into more extensive use for the preparation of
the former.

                               2. Yellow Bark.

   The officinal term yellow bark  should be  considered as applicable only to
the valuable variety of the drug having this colour.   This is known in com-
merce under the name of Calisaya, which has been said, though erroneously,
to be derived from a district of  country in Bolivia, near the city of La Paz,
where  the bark is  collected.*   Among  the  druggists, the  Calisaya bark is


Von Bergen believes it to be the product of the C. ovata of the Fl. Peruv.  It is exported
from South America chiefly in chests.
   Von Bergen describes another variety of pale bark, under the name of dark Jaen bark,
(dunkele Ten-China), or  pseudo Loxa, which bears a considerable resemblance  to the
genuine Loxa, but may be distinguished by the oblique or  bent shape of the quills,  and
the uneven, fibrous, or even splintery appearance of the inner surface.   It seldom  comes
in large pieces.  It contains very little of the active principles of bark.   Von Santen dis-
covered neither quinia nor cinchonia in two specimens  which he examined.   Its general
appearance, and strong reaction with a solution of gelatin, appear to associate  it with the
Loxa bark;  and  Geiger's conjecture is  not improbable, that it is the product of the same
tree growing in unfavourable situations, or altered by disease.
   4. Huamilies bark.—China Huamilies, Germ.—Tiiis bark is not generally known as a
distinct variety, though probably identical with the quinquinaferrugineux, or ferruginous
bark of the  French writers.  Its  commercial name was undoubtedly derived from the
province of Huamilies, which lies in the interior of Peru, to the  northward of Huanuco,
and is a part of the country explored by the botanical expedition under Ruiz and Pavon.
It came into notice in Germany about the beginning of the present century, when a  parcel
of it was imported directly from  Lima into Hamburg.   It is in quills and flat  pieces.
The quills are from  three lines to an  inch and a half in diameter, from  five to sixteen
inches long, and from half a line to three lines thick.  The flat pieces, which are usually
only fragments of the largest quills, are from one to two inches broad, and six to twelve
inches long.  In general all the layers  of the bark are  present, but sometimes the outer
coat, and even the whole of that part usually called  the epidermis in our  descriptions of
bark, (including those outer layers which in the tree are destitute of vitality, having been
thrown  outward  by the annually renewed layers beneath them,) are wanting in spots,
though very seldom  entirely absent.  The epidermis is comparatively thin, very  brittle,
soft, and spongy.   The outer surface, in the  small and middling  quills, is  sometimes
nearly smooth, but usually marked with wavy longitudinal  wrinkles, and  beset here  and
there with warts.  These warts are abundant upon the thick  pieces, which they 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  tino-e  of purple.  When the epidermis is wanting,
the colour is often a full  ochre yellow.  The inner surface  is sometimes uniform  and
almost smooth, sometimes  slightly fibrous, rarely splintery.   The colour of the surface is
rusty brown, occasionally reddish, and in the fibrous or splintery pieces of an ochre yellow.
The fracture in the smaller quills is rather even, in the larger presents short fibres,and is
sometimes even splintery.  The odour of the bark is feeble but agreeable, the taste  some-
what 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  0p67 per cent,  of the
former, and 0-25 of the latter; so  that the bark, though dissimilar in appearance from the
other varieties of pale bark, agrees with them  in containing  more cinchonia than quinia.
Von Santen obtained, as a maximum, 1-2 per cent,  of cinchonia, and little or no quinia.
Huamilies bark is now believed to be the product, of the C. purpurea of the Flor.  Peruv.
(See C. pubescens.) It is scarcely  known in the United States. (Note to the second edition,
altered in the fourth, fifth, and sixth.)
  * No such province exists in Bolivia.  According to  M. Laubert, the  name is  a cor-
ruption of r.olisalln, said to be derived from colla, a  remedy, and salla, a rocky country.
(Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 614.) 
226
Cinchona.
PART I.
arranged in two divisions, the quilled  and the flat, which  sometimes come
mixed together in the same seroon, sometimes separate.  The appearance of
both indicates that they were taken from larger and older branches than those
which yield  the pale varieties.  They are sometimes called by the  French
quinquina jaune royal, from their 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  or four inches to a foot and a half long, from a quarter of
an inch to two or three inches in diameter, and of equally variable thickness.
The  epidermis is of a brownish colour diversified or concealed  by whitish
or yellowish  lichens, is  marked  by longitudinal  wrinkles  and  transverse
fissures, and  is often partially separated, and generally easily separable from
the proper bark.   In the  larger  kinds it is thick, rough, deeply indented by
the transverse fissures which often surround the quills, and is composed of
several layers separated from each other by a reddish-brown membrane like
velvet.   The epidermis yields a dark-red powder, is tasteless, and possesses
none of the  virtues of the bark.  It is  desirable, therefore,  to  get, rid of  it
before the bark is  powdered, as the medicine  is thus  procured of  greater
strength.  The bark itself, without  the  epidermis, is from one to two lines
in thickness, of a fibrous  texture,  and when broken  presents shining points,
apparently the termination  of small fibres running longitudinally,  which,
examined by the  microscope, are  found, when freed from a salmon-coloured
powder that  surrounds them, to be  yellow and transparent.  They  readily
separate when the bark  is  powdered, in  the  form of spiculae, 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;  probably  from  the longer
exposure of  the latter to the action of air and moisture.   The odour  is faint,
but  when the bark is boiled resembles that of the  pale varieties.   The small
quills closely resemble some of  the pale varieties in appearance, but  may be
distinguished by their very bitter taste.
   The flat  Calisaya (Calisayaplancha of the Spaniards) which appears to
have been derived from the large  branches and trunk, is in pieces of  various
lengths, either quite flat, or but  slightly curved, generally destitute of the
epidermis, and therefore  presenting the yellowish  colour of the bark  both
within and  without.   It is  usually 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 epi-
dermis.
   The valuable yellow bark is characterized by its strongly bitter taste, with
comparatively little astringency; by its fine brownish-yellow somewhat orange
colour, which is still brighter in the powder; and  by containing a large pro-
portion of quinia with very little cinchonia.   The salts of  quinia and lime
are  so abundant in its composition, that its infusion instantly  precipitates a
solution of sulphate of soda. (Guibourt.)*

   *  The Calisaya bark is the third  variety of Von Bergen, who describes it  under the
 name of China Regia  or Konig's China. We  give a brief abstract of  his description,
 omitting the form  and dimensions, which are given with sufficient minuteness in the 
PART I.
Cinchona.
227
   Nothing is known with certainty as to the particular species which yields
Calisaya bark.   Some writers, influenced  simply by its officinal title of yel-
low bark, have attributed it to the C. cordifolia; because Mutis gave  the same
name to the product of that species.  The British  Colleges fell into this error,

text.  The epidermis,* which in many of the small quills is partly  wanting,  in the flat
pieces usually altogether absent, is very thick and  brittle, constituting from a third to one-
half of the bark, and in some of the largest quills or partially quilled  pieces,  even two-
thirds.  In the latter case it may often be seen to consist of six or eight  different layers.
The quills are generally marked with longitudinal wrinkles  and  furrows, as well as with
transverse fissures,the last  of which are never absent.  The fissures, which often form
complete circles round the quills, have usually an elevated border and  sink so deeply in
many of the larger pieces, that they are even observable  upon the proper bark.  In the
smaller pieces they are often  faint, but  usually crowded.  The colour of the  epidermis
varies from whitish-gray to bluish-gray, but is very much diversified by  lichens, so as to
present yellowish-white, ash-gray, and blackish spots.  When the outer  layer of the epi-
dermis is wanting, as is not  unfrequenfly 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 wood  are never found adhering to the
inner surface, as in some other varieties.  The prevailing colour of this surface is mostly
a  rather dark or full cinnamon-brown, passing sometimes into a  rusty-brown, but seldom
of a reddish hue.  This bark breaks more easily in the  longitudinal direction than any
other variety, exhibiting a chestnut-brown colour in the part answering to the 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 sometimes fibrous, some-
times splintery.  A resinous layer may  be observed beneath the epidermis, which usually
remains when the latter is removed, and communicates to the flat pieces  the dark colour
by which their external surf ice is distinguished.  Small sharp splinters, which  in the lon-
gitudinal  fracture appear like shining  points, are  apt to insinuate  themselves  into the
skin  when the  bark is broken or much  handled.  The odour is  feebly tan-like, the taste
slightly acidulous, strongly but not disagreeably bitter, somewhat aromatic, feebly astrin-
gent, and rather durable.  The powder  is of a fine cinnamon hue.
   Thiel obtained from the flat Calisaya  bark 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 cin-
chonia from eilher ; 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.)
   Under the name of light Calisaya, Guibourt, in the  last edition of his work, describes
a  variety of bark which he says is brought from the same region  of country that pro-
duces the genuine.  It is identical  with that named in  previous editions orange-yellow
bark (quinquina jaune orange), and is of comparatively little value, at least for the prepa-
ration of sulphate of quinia, though the best specimens, as they contain much  cinchonia,
are not without medicinal activity.   Like the Calisaya, it is in quills or flat pieces, some-
times with and sometimes without the epidermis; but it may be distinguished by its want
of thickness,  its finer  and  more compact  texture,  and  by a character which is most
striking in the  fresh specimens, viz., that of presenting a rose colour  in the part which  is
near the epidermis, while  the inner portion is of a pure yellow, so  that the whole  bark
has an  orange colour.  The  epidermis, moreover, when present, is  thin, smoother  than
that of the genuine Calisaya, and without the numerous  transverse fissures which mark
the latter bark.
   Another bark, derived from the  same  region of country as the preceding,  and some-
times sold as Calisaya bark, though wholly without quinia, is described by Guibourt under
the name of Cusco bark, and has recently attracted some  attention as the  source of a new
alkali discovered by MM.  Pelletier and Coriol,  and  named  aricina from the port  of
Arica, whence  the bark is  said to be  sent.  The smaller  pieces may  be  distinguished
from the genuine Calisaya by their white, uniform epidermis, without fissures; but when
the epidermis is wanting, as frequently happens in the  larger pieces,  the two barks might
easily be confounded.  The  test of sulphate of soda  may here be found useful; as  this

  * By the epidermis is here understood the whole of the external layers which are accumulated upon
the outer surface of the bark by the annual renewal of the cortical layers, and the consequent separation
of those of former years, which remain, but without life, attached 10 the external surface.  A different
meaning is attached to the term by Von Bergen; but as we have taken pains to make the description
in every instance correspond with our definition, we do not misrepresent his meaning. 
228
Cinchona.
PART I.
 without, however, being aware that the yellow bark which they adopted as
 officinal, was really the Calisaya.  That it is an error has been fully demon-
 strated; as no Calisaya bark is brought from those regions where the C. cor-
 difolia most abounds.  In the  last edition of  the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia,
 the  error has been  corrected.   Many writers ascribe this variety to the C.
 lancifolia, on the authority of  Mutis  himself, who asserts that it is indispu-
 tably derived  from  that species.   But Mutis was mistaken;  for  it is now
 well known that the bark  of  the C. lancifolia  is wholly different from the
 Calisaya. (See C. lancifolia.)  Ruiz was  disposed to ascribe  it to  his C. lan-
 ceolata;  but  Von Bergen found a specimen of the bark of that species in
 Ruiz's collection to  be different from the officinal yellow bark.  According
 to M. Auguste Delondre, who received specimens of the plants producing
 Calisaya bark from his  correspondents  in South America, no less than three
 distinct trees  contribute to furnish the  bark thrown  into commerce under
 that title.   One of these specimens appeared to  Guibourt to  belong to the
 Cinchona micrantha, and  another to the C. Condaminea.   The third re-
 sembled the latter of these two  species, but differed somewhat both in its
 leaves and fruit.  A fourth specimen  had fruit like that of the Condaminea,
 but smaller leaves, and was considered by Guibourt as probably the C. an-
 gustifolia of Ruiz, now thought  to be merely a variety of the C. lancifolia.
 But this information is quite too vague to lead to any satisfactory conclusion.
 It may, however, serve to explain the fact  that barks are sometimes im-
 ported under the name  of  Calisaya, and  derived from the same district of
 country, which differ from the  genuine bark both in appearance and qualities,
 and  will not serve for the preparation of sulphate of quinia.*
   The genuine Calisaya bark is produced most  abundantly, if not exclusive-
 ly, in Bolivia, formerly Upper  Peru,  in the province of La Paz, and  in the
 country about Apolobamba on  the Rio Paro; and, before the disturbances
 in these countries, was  shipped as well from the port  of Buenos Ayres as
 from those on the Pacific.   It  is at present, however, procured exclusively
 from the latter.   A  very fine parcel was  exhibited  to us, imported directly
 from Coquimbo in Chili.   We have been informed by gentlemen who have
 been long personally engaged  in commercial transactions upon the  Pacific
 coast of South  America, that  the Calisaya bark of commerce is  originally
 obtained chiefly, if not exclusively, at the port of Arica, whither it is brought
 from the interior provinces of  Bolivia.   From that town it is sent to various
 other ports on the Pacific.   It  is generally supposed to have been first intro-
 duced into commerce towards the end of the last century,  and it was pro-
 bably 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 quina-
 quina, which, though supposed by that traveller to have been derived from
 the  Peruvian  balsam tree, was very  probably, as  conjectured by Guibourt,
 the true cinchona.   Besides, 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

 salt, which so strikingly precipitates the infusion of Calisaya, does not disturb that of the
 Cusco bark. It is proper to state, that Guibourt could obtain from  this bark  no other
 alkali than cinchonia, and is disposed to  consider aricina as the result of the modi-
 fying influence of the process employed in its preparation. (Note to the second and fourth
 editions.)
  * See Guibourt's  Histoire des Drogues, 1836, and an interesting article upon the sub-
ject of the origin and collection of the Calisaya bark, in the Journal de Pharmacie, xxi. 505,
 and in the American Journ. of Pharm., vii. 325. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
229
states  that the  cinchona tree inhabited  the mountains  of Potosi, and pro-
duced  a bark more esteemed than that which grew in the province of Quito.
(Guibourt, Journ. de Pharm., xvi. 235.)  It is  possible that, though known
at this early period, it may have  gone  out of use; and  its re-introduction
into notice, towards the end of the last century, may have been mistaken for
an original discovery.   Whether it is found in the other localities of bark in
Peru  and  Quito, it  is  difficult to  determine;  but we  may infer from the
existence of a commercial variety known  to  the  Spaniards by the name of
Calisaya de Quito, that either the  identical bark, or a variety closely analo-
gous to it, has been found in that province.  The Calisaya de Santa Fe, men-
tioned by Laubert, has no  other claim  to  the title given it than  its colour;
and it  is not distinguished  in  the mirket,  perhaps not distinguishable from
the ordinary yellow Carthagena bark.

                               3. Red Bark.
   The name of this  variety is very  appropriately applied; as the colour is
usually distinct both  in  the bark and the powder.  In South America it is
called cascarilla roxa  and  colorada.   Some  writers  have divided  it into
several sub-varieties; but there does  not seem to be ground for such division
in  anv essential difference of properties.   Like  the  Calisaya, it comes in
quills  and flat pieces, which are probably  derived from  different parts of the
same  tree.   It is imported in chests.
   Some of the pieces are entirely rolled, some partially so, as if they had
been taken from  half the circumference of the  branch ; others are nearly or
quite  flat.   They vary very greatly in  size, the quill being sometimes less
than half an inch in  diameter, sometimes  so  much as two inches; while the
flat pieces are occasionally very large and  thick, as if derived from the trunk
of a tree.   They are covered with a  reddish-brown  or  gray, sometimes
whitish epidermis, which  is  rugged,  wrinkled  longitudinally,  and  in the
thicker  pieces  marked  with furrows, which  in some places penetrate to the
surface of the proper bark.   In many specimens, numerous small roundish
or oblong eminences, called warts, may be observed upon the  outer surface.
Beneath the epidermis is a layer, dark  red, brittle, and  compact, which pos-
sesses some bitterness and astringency, but much less than the  interior parts.
These are  woody and fibrous, of a more or less lively  brownish-red colour,
which is usually very distinct, but in some specimens passes into the orange
and even yellowish-brown;  so that  it  is not always  possible to distinguish
the variety by this property alone.   The  taste is bitter and astringent, and
the odour similar to that of other  good  barks.   Red bark is^chemically dis-
tinguished by containing considerable quantities  both of quinia and of cin-
chonia.*  It yields a turbid salmon-coloured  decoction  with water.

   * The red bark is given  as a distinct variety  by Von  Bergen, and stands first on his
list, under the name of China rubra or rothe China.  The 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 themselves  into roundish or oblong  warts, which are of a somewhat friable
and granular  consistence.  The longitudinal furrows  sometimes penetrate to the bark.
Transverse fissures seldom  occur.  The colour in the  smaller quills varies from  a fawn-
gray to a dull reddish-brown,  in the larger is reddish-brown or chestnut-brown with  a
tinge of purple.   When  the wrinkles and warts are rubbed off, the peculiar brownish-red
colour of the bark appears.  The pieces are often in part or almost wholly covered with
     21 
230
Cinchona.
PART I.
   The  species  of Cinchona  which produces red  bark  is unknown—the
 notion derived from Mutis, and formerly generally prevalent, that it was ob-
 tained from the C. oblongifolia of that botanist, having been  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 former 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
 receives  some support  from a statement  made by  La  Condamine, in his
 memoir upon the subject of cinchona.   We are told by this author that three
 kinds  of bark  were known  in  the  neighbourhood of Loxa—the white, the
 yellow, and the red.   The white, so named from the colour of the epidermis,
 scarcely possessed any medicinal virtue,  and was 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, 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 micaceous epidermis, does not
 reach  us; and that which he  calls yellow is  probably identical  with  the
 pale variety of the Pharmacopoeia,  as this grows  most  abundantly about
 Loxa.    Should it be admitted that the red bark  is furnished by  the same tree
 which yields the pale, we have a ready explanation of the  difference in size
 of the  two varieties.

                            Carthagena Barks.

   Under this head  may  be classed all  the Cinchona barks  brought  from the
 northern Atlantic ports of South America.   In  commerce, they are variously
 called  Carthagena, Maracuybo, and  Santa Martha  barks, according to the

 a whitish-trray 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 dTrty
 reddish cinnamon-colour.  The inner surface is  delicately  fibrous and almost uniform in
 the small quills, but becomes more fibrous and  uneven  in the  larger,  and  in the flat
 pieces is splintery and very irregular.  Its colour varies with the size of the pieces, being
 a reddish-rusty brown in  the least, redder in the  larger, and a full  brownish-red in the
 largest. The inner surface is also sometimes yellowish, or brownish, or of a dirty appear.
ance.   It becomes darker when scraped with the nail or other hard body.   The fracture
exhibits the different colours of the epidermis and inner bark, as  also of a resinous layer
which lies between the two. It  is usually smooth in the smaller quills, fibrous in the larger,
and at the same time fibrous and splintery in the largest and flat pieces.  The fracture of
the epidermis, however, is in all either smooth, or only here and there somewhat granular.
The odour is like that of tan and earthy,  the taste strongly 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 result  1-7 per cent, of pure  cinchonia, and  0-44 of sulphate of quinia   The
 highest product obtained was 317 per cent, of cinchonia, and 0-15 of sulphate  of quinia.
 Another specimen yielded 1-31 per cent, of the former, and 133 of the latter    Pelletier
 and Caventou obtained 0-8 per cent, of cinchonia, and 1-7 of quinia. (Geiger )  It appears
 therefore, that the proportion of the alkalies is exceedingly different in different specimens!
 The degree of bitterness  is, perhaps,  the best criterion of their efficacy
  Guibourt divides the r, d bark into two varieties, which he distinguishes by the names
 of quinquina rouge verruqueux, and  quinquina  rouge non  verruqueux, from the presence
 or absence of the warts  upon the outer surface.  He describes  also a variety of bark,
 under the name of quinquina rouge  de Lima, resembling the  proper red bark in appear-
 ance, but without  bitterness; and two others, distinguished severally by the  names of
quinquina rouge orange,  and quinquina rouge pale, which, however, merit little attention.
(Note to second and fourth editions.)
  A specimen of bark in our possession, brought by Dr. Dillard, of the U. S. Navy, from
 the Pacific, and labelled red  bark of  Cvenca, has a thick epidermis like that of the ordi-
nary red barks, is of a very deep dark-red  colour, and possesses little bitterness. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
231
 particular port at which they may be shipped.  They are all characterized
 by a  soft,  whitish or  yellowish-white, micaceous  epidermis,  which may
 easily be  scraped  by the nail, and which,  though  often more or  less  com-
 pletely removed, almost always  leaves  behind traces sufficient to indicate its
 character.   They  contain both cinchonia and quinia, though in  smaller pro-
 portion than the best barks from the Pacific.   It has before been stated that
 similar barks are found on  the Western coast of South America; but they
 never reach us  unless accidentally ; as  they would not bear  the expense of
 carriage.   Such are the while barks of  the Spanish writers.  The Cartha-
 gena barks  are  not recognised as officinal by the  Pharmacopoeias.   In  the
 state of powder, however,  they are  generally kept in  the shops, and sold
 for tooth powder,  &c, under the name  of common bark.   They  are more-
 over not unfrequently substituted, either fraudulently or by mistake,  for  the
 better kinds.   Like  the  proper  officinal barks they may be arranged into
 several subdivisions,  according to their diversities in colour.
   1.  Yelloio Carthagena Bark.   This is  by far the most abundant of  the
 non-officinal barks, and the  only one  uniformly found in the  market.  It
 occurs in  quills or flat pieces, but most commonly in the latter  form, and
 is distinguished, independently of  the peculiar epidermis  already  described,
 by the brownish-yellow colour of the proper  bark.   There are two varieties
 of it very well characterized  by their appearance and other  properties,  but
 not distinguished in commerce.*

   * Von Bergen  considers the Carthagena barks under the two divisions of 1.  China
flava dura, or harte gelbe China, and 2. China flava fibrosa, or holzige geibe China.  As
 these, with  the varieties  before noticed as described by him, complete the  nine divisions
 under which  he ranks the barks of commerce,  we shall give a brief abstract  of his account
 of them.
   1.  China flava dura, or hard yellow bark.—This is  in quills and flat pieces.   The quills
 are from three to eight, lines in diameter, from  half a  line  to a line and a half thick,  and
 from five to nine inches, and  sometimes, though rarely, even fifteen inches  long. The
 flat pieces are considerably thicker, from half an inch to two inches  broad,  and from four
 to eight in length.   They  are often somewhat twisted, and  so curved  in the  drying that
 the upper surface is rather concave.  The epidermis is in many pieces partially or almost
 wholly wanting.   The outer surface is on the  whole rather smooth, though  it usually  ex-
 hibits a few faint longitudinal furrows and transverse fissures, and pieces are occasionally
 found with hard warts or protuberances.   In the flat pieces, the epidermis, when  present,
 has somewhat of the  consistence  of cork and  consists of several layers.   The co'our of
 the epidermis varies  from  yellowish-white to  ash-gray, and is sometimes  diversified by
 bluish-gray or  blackish  lichens.   When it is wanting, the colour is between a dark
 cinnamon and brownish-yellow.  These  shades, however, are seldom clear, and  the  flat
 pieces have usually a  somewhat dusty aspect.   The inner surface of the quills  is tolerably
 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 cinnamon and a dull ochre-yellow, and in some pieces
 is rusty-brown or fawn-gray, or even whitish-yellow.   The bark does not readily break in
 the longitudinal dircclion.  The transverse fracture presents short splinters, and is some-
 times fibrous.   When cut transversely, the bark obscurely exhibits a very  small  darker-
 coloured resinous layer beneath  the epidermis.   The  odour  is feeble, the  taste  slightly
 astringent and bitter, but not strongly so. The powder is  of the colour  of cinnamon.
 Von Bergen attributes this variety to the C cordifolia.
  2.  China flava fibrosa,  or fibrous yellow bark.—In  shape and dimensions, this variety
does not materially differ from the preceding ;  but the flatter pieces  are almost always a
little  rolled,  or curved literally.  The epidermis is seldom entire, being  in general either
 in part or wholly rubbed  off. When present, it resembles in consistence that of the former
 variety.   Its outer surface is nearly smooth, only marked here and there with faint irre-
 gular transverse fissures and longitudinal furrows.  Its colour varies from a  dirty whitish-
 gray to  yellowish, but is sometimes more or less dark.   When the outer surface is
 rubbed off, as is the case  here and there in the  quills, and almost always in the flat pieces,
 the colour is a nearly  pure ochre-yellow.   Where the  whole thickness of the epidermis is
 wanting,  as  happens  here and there in spots, it is  dark  cinnamon, or dark  ochre-yellow,
and commonly dull or powdery.  The inner surface  is usually even, but  is  sometimes 
232
Cinchona.
PART I.
  Hard yellow  Carthagena Bark (China flava dura  of  Von  Bergen)  is
in pieces of  various size and  form, sometimes wholly or partially quilled,
and  sometimes  flat; and the flat  pieces  present the appearance of having
been warped m drying, being frequently  curved longitudinally backward,
and  sometimes  also in  the  transverse  direction or spirally.   The dimen-
sions are sometimes those given by Von  Bergen  (see note); but, as found
in this  market,  the bark is more commonly  in  small,  irregularly square
or oblong-flattish, and variously warped pieces, from  one to three or  four
inches  long, and from  one to three  lines in  thickness, mixed with small
quills  or fragments  of quills, the  former appearing  as if chipped  from
the   trunk  or large branches, the  latter  evidently derived  from the small
branches.  In this shape it was  treated of,  in former  editions of this  work,
as a distinct  variety, under  the name  of Santa Martha bark, which it  at
one  time held in the  market; but  a closer examination has convinced us
that it is the same bark as  the  hard  yellow bark of Von  Bergen, though
collected in  a different manner.   The quills  are generally more covered
with the micaceous  epidermis than the  flat  pieces, in which it is  often
nearly or quite removed.  The inner surface of the latter, though sometimes
smooth, is  often  rough and splintery, as if forcibly separated from  the wood
to which it adhered. The colour of the proper bark is a pale, dull, brownish-
yellow, darker in parcels which have been long kept;  and the 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
thought to be  obtained  from the C.  cordifolia; as  Guibourt found  that a
specimen of the bark of  that tree, which  came originally from  Mutis, re-
sembled it precisely in all its sensible  properties.
  Fibrous yellow  Carthagena Bark (China flava fibrosa of Von Bergen)
is said by Von Bergen  and  Pereira sometimes to occur in  quills, but we
have seen it  only in flat or slightly rolled pieces, which  are from  half an
inch to two inches broad, and from four to  six  or  even nine  inches long.
It differs from the former variety chiefly in a  somewhat brighter colour, and
in its less compact and very fibrous  texture, which  causes it to exhibit  long
splinters when broken transversely, and  often to hang together  by connect-
ing fibres when broken  longitudinally.  A  more precise description will be
found in the  note below.
  We  have  recently  seen specimens of a bark, of  which large quantities

irregular and  splintery, and always feels harsh to  the fingers, leaving small splinters
sticking in the skin when drawn over it.  The colour is a nearly pure ochre-yellow, like
that of the external surface when the outer layer is rubbed off, though somewhat duller
and very powdery.   The  fracture distinguishes this variety from the preceding and from
all  others.  The longitudinal fracture  is strikingly fibrous, and  in  the flat pieces the
fragments still hang together by  connecting fibres. The bark, moreover, breaks obliquely,
and the  fracture even of the epidermis,  which in other varieties is almost always smooth,
is here  uneven or rou<rh-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 tnste at
first woody and flat, afterwards slightly  bitter  and  astringent, and weaker in this than
any other variety of bark.  The colour of the  powder is intermediate between that of
cinnamon and yellow ochre. The tree from which this variety is obtained is unknown.
  Of these  two varieties of Carthagena bark, the  first yielded, on an average of two
experiments, 0-57 per cent,  of pure cinchonia, and 033 per cent, of sulphate of quinia;
the  second yielded, on an average of five trials  with different specimens, 0 4 per rent, of
pure cinchonia, and 0 36 of sulphate of quinia.  The highest product of the woody bark
was about 0 59 per cent,  of cinchonia, and 0 52 of sulphate of quinia. From this state-
ment, it appears that, so far as regards the relative proportion of their two active ingre-
dients, they  should rank with the red bark, though greatly inferior to it in strength. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
233
were said to have been brought  in  a cargo from Maracaybo, presenting the
general aspect, and in a striking degree the fibrous texture of this variety,
but in rather larger pieces, and differing also somewhat in the colour, which
instead of being a nearly pure ochre-yellow, has an  orange tint, especially
in the exterior portion, where it is  decidedly reddish  in some of the pieces.
This particular bark has a very close  resemblance to the officinal yellow or
Calisaya, for which it might readily be mistaken  by an inexperienced per-
son, and, if regarded only upon its inner surface, even by the most experi-
enced.   But the bark is rather thicker, less hard, compact, and heavy, and
much more fibrous  than the Calisaya, and, though in general deprived of
the epidermis, yet occasionally exhibits remains of it, having the characters
of that of the  Carthagena barks, and, where it is  quite absent, appears as
though'it  had been removed by scraping  or  cutting with  a  knife, and not
spontaneously separated at the natural juncture, as in the Calisaya.  Besides,
the bark is spongy under the teeth,  and wants the strong peculiar bitterness
of the officinal yellow.  Still it has a decidedly bitter  taste, and its infusion,
though not precipitated by solution of sulphate of soda, affords  a copious
precipitate with infusion of galls, indicating the presence of no  inconsiderable
proportion of the active alkaline  principles.
   A specimen of  bark labelled  yellow bark of Loxa, brought from South
America by Dr. Dillard, of the U. States Navy, and said to be employed in
Loxa  for making  extract of bark,  presents characters closely analogous to
those of the fibrous  Carthagena bark, and sufficient to justify the supposition
that it was derived from the  same species of Cinchona.
   The powder of yellow Carthagena bark has a yellowish cinnamon-colour,
with less of the reddish tint than the  Calisaya, for which,  however, it may
be readily mistaken, and, there is reason to  believe, is  not unfrequenfly sold.
It may be  distinguished by its  comparatively feeble  bitterness ;  but  much
more certainly by the test of sulphate  of soda, which throws down no pre-
cipitate with its infusion.
   2. Bed Carthagena Bark.  This name properly belongs to a bark known
to the French  pharmaceutists by the name of quinquina nova or new bark,
and ascertained to  be Mutis's red bark of Santa Fe, produced  by his  Cin-
chona  oblongifolia—the C. magnifolia of the  Flora Peruviana.  It is never
found in our markets, unless sometimes, possibly, as  an adulteration of the
officinal red bark.*   A red bark,  with whitish  and  micaceous epidermis,
thick, spongy, and of little taste, is sometimes  mixed  with the  packages of
the officinal red bark from the Pacific.  May it not be the product of the same
species of Cinchona, which grows  in Peru  as well as  in New Granada?
   3. Orange Carthagena Bark.   This is  the orange cinchona of Santa
Fe,  so  highly lauded by Mutis, and the spongy Carthagena bark of Guibourt.
It has occurred in commerce in large, flat,  somewhat curved, or semi-cylin-

  *  As described by Guibourt, this bark  is  in pieces a foot or more long, rolled when
small, open, or nearly flat when larger, in general of a perfectly cylindrical form; with a
whitish, thin, uniform epidermis, showing scarcely any cryptogamia, and but a few trans-
verse fissures answering to those of the  liber, and sometimes  entirely wanting; one to
three lines thick  without the epidermis;  of a pale  carnation colour, becoming deeper in
the air, especially upon the outer surface, which, when destitute of  epidermis, is always
reddish-brown ; of a fracture which  is foliaceous  in the outer part,  and short-fibrous in
the inner; and exhibiting,under the microscope, between its fibres, and especially 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 stir.
face, a yellow, transparent, resinous or gummy exudation.  The taste is flat and astrin-
gent like that of tan, the  odour feeble,  between  that of tan and the pale barks.   The
powder is fibrous and decidedly  red.   Examined  by Pelletier  and Caventou it afforded
neither quinia nor cinchonia.
                                   21* 
234
Cinchona.
PART I.
drical pieces, sometimes as much as three or four inches broad, a foot long,
and nine lines  in thickness, covered with  a yellowish-white, micaceous
epidermis, marked with longitudinal and sometimes transverse fissures.  The
bark itself is of an orange colour, externally fibrous, light, spongy under the
teeth, without taste or very feebly bitter, and destitute of medical virtue.  It
yields a beautiful orange powder.  It scarcely occurs at present in commerce.
The destruction at Cadiz, by the Spanish authorities, of a large  quantity of
this bark, collected by Mutis at the expense of the  government, which was
ascribed by Humboldt to mercantile cunning, is now considered as an indi-
cation of a just appreciation of its virtues.   The bark is the product of the
C. lancifolia.
  4. Brown Carthagena Bark.  Under this name Guibourt has  described a
bark of a white and smooth epidermis, rough, hard, compact, very heavy,
sometimes as much as half an inch  in thickness,  of an orange-brown colour
when freshly cut, and a chocolate  colour upon its  inner surface, and  of a
bitter astringent taste analogous to that of the pale barks, but more disagree-
able.   Some of the pieces from the  smaller  branches are completely quilled,
and others somewhat larger appear as if warped or contorted by desiccation.
Pereira thinks this may be a variety of the hard yellow Carthagena bark.
We have not met in this market with specimens answering the  description of
Guibourt.

                             False Barks.
  Before dismissing the subject of the varieties of cinchona, it is proper to
observe that numerous barks have at various times been introduced into the
market, and  sold as closely resembling or identical with the febrifuge of
Peru, which experience has proved to differ  from it materially, both in chemi-
cal composition and medicinal virtues.   These barks are generally procured
from trees which  were formerly ranked among the Cinchonae, but are now
arranged in other  genera.  They  are distinguished  from the true Peruvian
bark by the absence of quinia and cinchonia.   Among them  are 1. the Cari-
bsean bark, from the Exostemma Caribaea;  2.  the St. Lucia bark, or quin-
quina piton  of the French, derived from  the Exostemma floribunda;  and
3. the Pitaya bark, from the mountain of Pitaya in  Columbia, of uncer-
tain botanical origin, known  in France  by the  name  of  quinquina bicolore,
and in Italy by that of china bicolorata.  Of these the  last only is known
in this country.  A  considerable  quantity  of it  was some  time since im-
ported into New Orleans, whence a portion  reached  this city.  The spe-
cimen in our possession is in quills, for the most part singly, but in some
instances doubly rolled, from eight to  ten  inches to more than two feet in
length, and from a quarter of an inch to an inch  or more in diameter.   The
outer surface is of a dull grayish-olive colour, with numerous large  oval or
irregular spots much lighter  coloured, sometimes even whitish, and slightly
depressed beneath the general surface, as  if a layer of the epidermis had
fallen off within their limits.  It is to this appearance that the  bark owes its
name of bicolorata.  The colour  of the internal surface is deep brown or
almost blackish;  that of the fresh  fracture, brownish-red or  orange.  The
bark is hard, compact, and thin, seldom as  much  as a line in thickness, and
breaks with a short but not smooth fracture.   Its taste is very bitter and of
a flavour not unlike that  of some  of the inferior kinds of cinchona.   It is
without odour.  Folchi and Peretti found in it a new crystallizable alkaline
principle, which  they named pitaina.   It  has been considerably employed
by the Italian  physicians, and Brera found  it to cure intermittents in'the
quantity of half an ounce. (See a  paper by Dr.  Carson in the Am. Jour, of
Pharm., xiii. 49.) 
PART I.
Cinchona.
235
                         Chemical History.

  In the analysis  of Peruvian bark,  the  attention of chemists was at first
directed exclusively to the action of water  and alcohol upon it, and to the de-
termination of the  relative proportions of its  gummy  or extractive and resin-
ous matter.   The  presence of tannin  and of various  alkaline or earthy salts
in minute quantities was afterwards demonstrated.   Fourcroy made an ela-
borate analysis, which proved the existence of  other principles in  the bark
besides those previously ascertained;  but  his results were not very  definite.
Dr. Westring was the first who attempted the discovery of an active prin-
ciple in the bark, on which its febrifuge virtues  might depend ; but he was
unable to carry out his conception to any successful result.  Seguin  after-
wards pursued the same track, and endeavoured, by  observing the effects of
various  reagents, to  discover  the  relative value  of different varieties  of the
drug.  The  conclusions, however, at which he  arrived, have not been sup-
ported by subsequent experiment.  M. Deschamps, an apothecary of Lyons,
obtained from bark a crystallizable salt of  lime, the acid of  which Vauquelin
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 re-
agents.   He examined seventeen different kinds  of bark, which he  arranged
in three classes, according to their chemical relation  with certain reagents—
the first  class including those which  afforded precipitates  with tannin and
not with gelatin ; the second,  those which  precipitated gelatin and not tannin;
the third, those which  precipitated at the  same tannin, gelatin, and  tartar
emetic.   He supposed those  to be the most efficient  which  gave precipitates
with tannin  or the infusion of galls; but his classification has been abandoned
with the progress  of discovery.  Reuss, of  Moscow, 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 discovered.  The
first step, however, towards the discovery of cinchonia and quinia appears to
have  been taken by the late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh.   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 experi-
ments upon  some pale bark, which resulted in the separation of a white crys-
talline substance, considered by him to be the pure cinchonine of Dr.  Duncan.
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 uni-
versally known by the  name of cinchonine  or cinchonia.   But Dr. Gomez
was ignorant of its precise nature, considering  it  to be  analogous  to resin.
M. Laubert  afterwards  obtained the same principle  by a different  process,
and described it under the name of white  matter or  pure white resin.  To
Pelletier and Caventou was reserved the honour  of crowning all these expe-
riments,  and applying the results which they obtained  to important  practical
purposes.  They demonstrated the alkaline character  of the principle dis-
covered by Gomez and  Laubert, and gave it  definitively the name of cincho-
nine.   They discovered in  the yellow or  Calisaya bark  another alkaline
principle which they denominated  quinine.   Both these bases they proved
to exist naturally in the barks, combined with  the  kinic acid in the state of
kinate of cinchonine and of quinine.   It  has moreover been established by
their labours, that  the febrifuge property of bark depends upon the  presence
of these two principles.  It  was in the year 1820 that  these chemists an-
nounced their discovery.   Dr. Duncan's  suggestion was made so  early as 
236
Cinchona.
PART I.
 1803.   Among English and American chemists, the names of these alkaline
 bodies have been changed to cinchonia and quinia, for the sake of uniformity
 of nomenclature;  and by these names we shall always call them.*
   It has before been stated, on more than one occasion, that the three 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 Ca-
 ventou.  (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 70. 89. 92.)
   Pale bark of Loxa contains,  1. a fatty matter; 2. a red colouring matter,
 very slightly soluble,  identical  with the cinchonic red of Reuss ;  3. a yellow
 colouring matter, soluble in water and  alcohol, and capable of being precipi-
 tated by the  subacetate of lead ; 4. tannin;  5. gum;  6.  starch;  7.  lignin;
 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 comparatively small proportion of kinate of cinchonia.]
   Red bark contains the fatty matter, a large quantity of the cinchonic red,
 the  yellow  colouring  matter,  tannin,  starch, lignin,  kinate of lime,  and a
 large proportion both of kinate of quinia, and of kinate  of cinchonia.
   Carthagena bark contains the same ingredients with  the red  bark, but in
 different proportions.   It has less of the alkaline matter, which it also yields
 with much  greater difficulty to water, in consequence of the abundance of
 insoluble 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.)
   By the experiments of Henry, jun., and Plisson, it  may be considered as
 established, that the alkalies of the different  varieties  of bark  are combined
 at the  same  time with  kinic acid, and with  one or  more of the colouring
 matters,  which, in  relation  to  these  substances,  appear  to  act  the  part of
 acids.  This idea was originally suggested by Robiquet. (Journ.  de Pharm.,
 xii.  282. 369.)  It is  stated that the compounds of quinia and cinchonia
 with the cinchonic red are  scarcely soluble  in water, while  the kinates of
 these bases are very soluble. (Ibid., xvii. 201.)

  * In a previous note it has been stated that Pelletier and Coriol had discovered an alkali
 called aricina in the Arica or Cusco bark.  It was obtained  by the same process as that
 employed in the extraction  of quinia from yellow bark.  It is white, crystallizable, and
 distinguishable from cinchonia, which  it in many respects  resembles, by  exhibiting a
 green colour under the action of nitric acid, and by the property, possessed by its sulphate,
 of forming a tremulous jelly when a saturated  boiling solution of the salt  is allowed to
 cool.  Manzini obtained from Jaen bark an alkaline substance  which he supposed to be
 peculiar, and named cinchovatin,- but the same had been obtained by Bouehardat, and con-
 sidered by him, as well  as by Pelletier, to be identical with  aricina; and Winkler, hav.
 ing extracted a portion from the  bark, and  examined it with great care, coincides in this
 conclusion. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., ii. 95 et 313; Pharm. Central Blatt,
 A. D. 1844, p. 1-26.) Aricina, in  the  present state of our knowledge  respecting it,  is of no
 practical importance.                                                "
  t Winkler is said to have discovered in Calisaya bark a peculiar bitter principle, which
he found also in greater proportion in the new bark (Una nova), and  for which he proposes
the name of kinovic bitter.   It is insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether,  without
alkaline or acid  properties, and without nitrogen in its composition.   Winkler obtained it
from the new bark by treating this in fine powder with ether, evaporating the ether treat-
ing the residue  vviM. alcohol, then decolorizing the solution by means of animal charcoal,
and precipitating the bitter principle by ammonia.  It exists in  the new bark along with
a peculiar acid  discovered  by Pelletier and Cavcntou. and denominated by them kinovic
acid. I his acid is somewhat analogous to the stearic, being white, shinina, light,  slightly
soluble in water, and readily soluble in alcohol and ether.  Schnederman thinks that he
has  proved this acid and the kinovic bitter to be one and the  same substance ; but as it
has acid properties, it should retain the name of kinovic acid. (Journ. fur prakt, ch. xxviii.
p. 327 ) 
PART I.
Cinchona.
237
  From the statements above made, it appears that the three officinal varie-
ties of bark differ little except  in the proportion of their constituents.  All
contain both quinia  and cinchonia; the yellow bark  abounding in the first,
the pale in the second, and the red in  both.   Gum  is the only constituent
found in one and not in the others.   It is an ingredient in the pale bark, but
is  wanting in the red and yellow.
   The odour of bark appears to depend on a volatile oil which Fabroni and
Trommsdorff obtained by distillation with water.   The oil floated  on the
surface of the water, was of a thick consistence, and  had a bitterish  acrid
taste, with the odour of bark.
   The fatty matter, which was  first obtained pure  by M. Laubert,  is of a
greenish colour  as obtained from the pale bark, orange-yellow  from the  yel-
low.   It is insoluble in water, soluble  in boiling alcohol', "Which  deposits a
part of it on cooling, very soluble  in sulphuric ether even  cold, and capable
of forming soaps with the alkalies.   The colour is probably owing to extra-
neous matter connected with it.
   The cinchonic red of Reuss, the insoluble red colouring matter of Pelle-
tier 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  precipitated by an acid  from the  solution thus formed,
it  acquires the property of forming an insoluble compound  with gelatin, and
seems to  be converted  into a species of tannin.  It is precipitated by sub-
acetate of lead.   It is  most abundant in the red bark, and least  so  in the
pale.  Berzelius supposes it to consist of tannin and apotheme, and to be
formed from tannin  by the action of the air.
   The yellow colouring matter has little taste, is soluble  in water, alcohol,
and ether, precipitates neither gelatin nor tartar emetic, and is  itself precipi-
tated by subacetate of lead.
   The tannic acid,  tannin, or soluble red colouring matter of Pelletier and
Caventou, has been  considered as possessing all the properties  which  charac-
terize the proximate vegetable principles  associated together under the name
of tannic acid.   It has  a  brownish-red colour and austere taste, is  soluble in
water and  alcohol, combines with  metallic oxides, and produces precipitates
with the salts of iron,  which vary in colour according to the variety of bark;
being deep green with the pale bark, blackish-brown with  the yellow, and
reddish-brown with  the red.   It also forms  white  precipitates with tartar-
emetic and  gelatin, and readily combines with atmospheric oxygen, becoming
insoluble.   It must, however, differ materially from  the tannin  or tannic acid
of galls, which could  not exist  in aqueous solutions  containing  cinchonia
without forming an insoluble compound with that base.
   But the most interesting and important constituents of  Peruvian bark are
the cinchonia and quinia, and  the  acid with which  they are combined.  In
relation to these, therefore, we shall be  more minute  in our details.
   Cinchonia  when  pure is  a white crystalline substance, soluble  in two
thousand five hundred parts of boiling water, almost insoluble  in cold water,
very soluble in  boiling alcohol, which deposits a portion  in  the crystalline
state upon  cooling,  and slightly soluble in ether and  the fixed and volatile
oils.   Its bitter  taste, at first not very obvious in consequence  of  its  difficult
solubility, is developed after a 6hort time  by the solution  of  a minute por-
tion in the saliva.  Its alcoholic, ethereal, and oleaginous  solutions are very
bitter.  By heat it is  at the same  time  melted and  decomposed.  Its alka- 
238
Cinchona.
PART I.
line character is very decided, as it neutralizes the strongest acids, forming
with  them  saline compounds.   Of the salts  of cinchonia, the  sulphate,
nitrate,  muriate, phosphate, and acetate are soluble  in water.   The neutral
tartrate, oxalate,  and gallate are insoluble in cold water, but  may  be  dis-
solved in hot water, in alcohol, or in an excess of acid.   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 thus obtained is precipi-
tated  by an excess of lime.  The  precipitate is collected on a filter, washed
with  water,  and  treated  with boiling  alcohol.   The alcoholic solution is
filtered  while hot, and deposits the cinchonia  when it  cools.  A further
quantity is obtained by evaporation.  If not perfectly white, it may be freed
from  colour by first converting  it into a sulphate with dilute sulphuric acid,
then treating the  solution  with animal charcoal, filtering, precipitating by an
alkali, and °redissolving by  alcohol in  the  manner  already mentioned.  It
may  also be  obtained  from the mother waters  of  sulphate of quinia,  by
diluting them with water, precipitating with ammonia, collecting the precipi-
tate on a filter, washing and drying  it, and then dissolving it in boiling alcohol,
which deposits the cinchonia in a crystalline form upon cooling.  It may be
still  further purified by a second  solution  and  crystallization.   Cinchonia
consists of 1 equivalent of nitrogen, 20 of carbon, 12 of hydrogen, and  1 of
oxygen (NCgoH^O); and its combining number may be stated at 154, hydro-
gen being considered as unity.  Exposed to the air, it does not suffer decom-
position,°but very slowly absorbs  carbonic acid,  and acquires  the property
of effervescing slightly with  acids.   It may be distinguished, when dissolved
in the saline state  in water, from any other vegetable alkali,  by a  reddish
somewhat orange colour, produced by  the  addition first of liquid chlorine
and then  of ammonia to the solution.*   It is precipitated of a sulphur-yellow
by the perchloride of gold.  (Journ. de  Chim. Med., Oct.,  1842.)
   Sulphate of cinchonia, or more  strictly disulphate of cinchonia, the only
salt of this base which has been employed to any extent in a separate state,
may  be  prepared by heating cinchonia  with  a little  water, adding dilute
sulphuric acid gradually  till the alkali is dissolved,  then boiling with animal
charcoal  previously washed with  muriatic acid, filtering  the solution while
hot, and  setting  it aside  to crystallize.   By alternate  evaporation and crys-
tallization, the whole of the sulphate may be obtained from the solution.  It
is a white, very bitter salt, crystallizing in flexible, somewhat shining, four-
sided, flattened  prisms, terminated by  an inclined  face, and generally col-
lected in  fasciculi.  It is  soluble in fifty-four parts of waler at common tem-
peratures, and in  a  smaller quantity of boiling water.   Chemists at present
generally consider it as a disulphate.  By the addition of the necessary quan-
tity of acid,  it passes into the neutral sulphate, which is soluble in less  than
half its weight of water at 58°.  It consists, according to Pelletier" and Ca-
ventou, of 100 parts of cinchonia  and  13-021 of sulphuric acid. (Journ. de
Pharm.,  vii. 57.)
   Quinia (Quina,  Lond.)  is whitish, and  as  usually prepared,  is rather
flocculent in its appearance, not  crystalline like cinchonia.  It may, how-
ever, be  crystallized,  by cautious  management, from  its alcoholic solution,
in pearly silky needles.  (Journ. de Pharm., xi. 249.)  It is fusible without
chemical change at about 300° F., and  becomes  brittle  on cooling.   It  is

  * Cinchonia, quinia, and  strychnia,  when heated with caustic  potassa, yield  acrid
vapours, which condense  into an oily  liquid having alkaline  properties, for which the
name of quinolein (quinoleina) has been proposed by its discoverer,  M. Gerhardt. (Journ.
de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., ii. 341.) 
PART I.
Cinchona.
239
more bitter than cinchonia, is almost insoluble  in water, but is very soluble
in alcohol, and soluble also in ether, and  in  the fixed and volatile  oils.   Its
alcoholic solution is  intensely bitter.   It  unites with the acids to form salts,
which crystallize with  facility.  The gallate, tartrate,  and oxalate are  said
to be insoluble, or nearly so, in cold water, but are dissolved  by an excess
of acid.   It is unalterable in the air, not  even absorbing carbonic acid.   Its
salts may be distinguished from those of the other vegetable alkalies by the
beautiful emerald green colour which  results when  their solution  is treated
first with solution of chlorine and then with ammonia, and which changes to
a white or violet upon saturation with a  dilute acid.  They are precipitated
of a buff colour by perchloride of gold. (Journ. de Chim. Med., Oct., 1842.)
Quinia consists of  1  equivalent of nitrogen,  20 of carbon,  12  of hydro-
gen, and 2  of oxygen  (NCaoH1202); and  its combining number is  162.
This number, however, is founded  on the opinion, that of the two salts which
quinia forms with sulphuric acid, the one originally considered neutral, and
denominated simply sulphate  of quinia  is in fact basic, consisting of two
equivalents  of the base, and one of the acid, while the other, at first supposed
to be a supersalt, is strictly  neutral, consisting of one equivalent of each of
its ingredients.   The same remark is applicable to the  combining number of
cinchonia.  In both cases, were the  original opinion of the composition of
the sulphates to be admitted, the real combining numbers of the two alkalies
would be double those already stated.   Quinia is obtained by treating its sul-
phate  with the solution of an  alkali, collecting the  precipitate which forms,
washing it till  the water comes away tasteless, then drying it, dissolvino- it
in alcohol, and slowly evaporating  the solution.
   The only important artificial salt of quinia is the  sulphate, the process for
procuring which, as well  as its properties, will be hereafter described.  (See
Quinix Sulphas, among the  Preparations.) The muriate,phosphate, acetate,
citrate, valerianate,  lactate, ferrocyanate, and tannate have also  been  em-
ployed and  recommended,  but none of them  has  yet gained a reputation
which entitles  it to rank among standard remedies.   The first six may be
prepared by saturating a solution of the  acids  respectively with quinia, and
evaporating the solutions.  The ferrocyanate is  made by boiling together
two parts of sulphate of quinia and three of ferrocyanuret of potassium in a
very small quantity  of water, pouring off the  liquor from a greenish-yellow
substance of an  oily consistence which  is  precipitated, washing  the latter
with distilled water, then dissolving it in strong alcohol at  100° F., filtering
immediately, and afterwards evaporating the solution. (See Am.  Journ. of
Pharm., xii. 351.)   M. Pelouze, however, has  found this preparation to be
nothing more lhan pure quinia, mixed with  a little Prussian blue.  (Archives
Gen.,  3e ser. xv., 236.) The tannate may be prepared by precipitating the
infusion  of  bark, or solution of sulphate of quinia, by the infusion of galls or
solution of tannic acid, and then washing and drying the precipitate.  Either
of these salts may be given in the same dose as the  sulphate.
   Kinic Acid, (called also  Cinchonic, or Quinic Acid,) and the Kinates of
Cinchonia and Quinia.   It may be desirable to procure the alkaline princi-
ples in that state of  saline combination in which they exist in the bark,  as it
is possible that they may exert an influence over the  system  in this state,
somewhat different  from  that  produced  by their combinations with the sul-
phuric or other  mineral  acid.  As it is impossible to procure the  kinates
immediately from the bark in a pure state, it becomes necessary first to obtain
the kinic acid separately,  which may thus become of some practical import-
ance.   We  shall, therefore,  briefly describe the mode  of  procuring it, and
its characteristic properties.   By evaporating the  infusion of bark  to a solid 
240
Cinchona.
PART I.
consistence, and treating the  extract thus obtained with alcohol, we have in
the residue a viscid matter consisting chiefly of mucilage and kinate of lime.*
If an aqueous  solution of this substance be formed, and allowed to evaporate
at a gentle heat, crystals of  the kinate are  deposited, which may be purified
by a second crystallization.   The salt thus obtained, being dissolved in water,
is decomposed by  means  of oxalic acid, which precipitates the lime and
leaves the kinic acid  in  solution.   This may be procured  in the crystalline
state  by spontaneous evaporation, though as usually prepared, it is in the
form of a thick syrupy liquid.   The crystals are transparent and colourless,
sour to the  taste, and readily  soluble in alcohol and in water. The kinates of
cinchonia and quinia may be obtained either by a direct combination of their
constituents, or by the mutual decomposition of the sulphates of  those alka-
lies 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.)
   Of the relations of bark with the several solvents employed  in pharmacy
we shall  speak hereafter,  under the heads of  its infusion,  decoction, and
tincture; where we  shall also have  an  opportunity of mentioning some of
the more prominent substances which afford precipitates  with  its liquid pre-
parations.   It is sufficient at  present to state, that all the substances which
precipitate the infusion  of bark do not by any means necessarily affect its
virtues;  as it contains  several  inert ingredients which  form insoluble com-
pounds with bodies  which  do  not disturb its active principles.  As tannic
acid forms with  quinia and cinchonia compounds insoluble  in water,  it is
desirable that substances containing this acid, in a  free state, should not be
prescribed in connexion with the infusion  or  decoction of bark; for, though
this insoluble tannate  might be found efficacious if administered, yet  being
precipitated from the liquid, it would be apt to be thrown away as dregs, or
at any rate would communicate, if agitated, an unpleasant turbidness.
   It is evident, from what has been said, that  an infusion of bark, on account
of the tannin-like principle which  it contains, may precipitate  gelatin, tartar
emetic, and the salts of iron, without having a particle of cinchonia or quinia
in its composition; and that  consequently  any inference as to its value drawn
from this chemical property, would be fallacious:  but, as the active princi-
ples  are thrown down by the tannic acid of galls, no bark can be considered
good which does not afford  a precipitate with the infusion  of this substance.
   It is impossible to determine, with accuracy, the relative proportion of the
 active ingredients in the different  varieties of cinchona; as the quantity is by
 no means  uniform in different  specimens of the same variety.  Pelletier and
 Caventou  state, in their first Memoir, that they had been able to obtain only
 2 parts of cinchonia from  1000 of pale bark; while from  an equal quantity
 of the yellow they had  succeeded in extracting 9 parts of quinia, and  from
 the red, 8 parts of cinchonia and  17 parts  of quinia. (Journ. de Pharm., vii.
 92.)  But either they employed inferior specimens of the first  two varieties,
 or did not completely exhaust those upon which they experimented.  Ac-
 cording to a statement subsequently made by them to the French institute,
 they obtained from the best  Calisaya bark 29 per cent, of sulphate of quinia,

            * The kinate of lime is soluble in  water, but not in alcohol. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
241
from inferior kinds 1-5 per cent.; and the average  result was 2*33 per cent.
(North Am.  Med. and Surg. Journ., v. 475.)  Accounts generally agree in
giving less alkaline matter to the pale barks than to the yellow, and more to
the red than to either.  Mr. Viltmann, of Osnabruck, obtained from the Huan-
uco bark 3-5 per cent, of cinchonia, from the Calisaya or royal yellow, 5 per
cent, of quinia, from the red, 6 per cent, of quinia and cinchonia, and from
the Carthagena, 3-3 per cent, of alkaline matter.  (Journ. de Chim. Medicate,
Nov.,  1830.) We cannot, however, avoid suspecting some inaccuracy in the
steps  by wlych he obtained results so far exceeding those of the experienced
French chemists before quoted.
   The following mode of estimating the value of bark by the quantity of
alkaline  matter it contains, we copy from a communication of M. Tilloy, of
Dijon, published in the 13th vol.  of the Journ. de Pharmacie, p. 330. "Take
an ounce of  the bark coarsely powdered, introduce it into about 12  ounces
of alcohol of 30°  B. (sp. gr. 0-8748),  expose the mixture half an hour to
a  temperature of from  105° to  1203 F., draw  off the  alcohol, add  a fresh
portion, and  act as before; unite the liquors, and throw into them a sufficient
quantity of acetate or subacetate of lead to precipitate the colouring matter
and kinic  acid,  then allow the insoluble  matter to subside, and filter.  Add
to the  filtered liquor a few drops of sulphuric  acid to  separate the excess of
acetate of lead, filter  and distil off the  alcohol.  There remains an  acetate
or sulphate of quinia, according  to the quantity of sulphuric acid employed,
together with a fatty matter which will adhere to the  vessel.  Decant the
liquor, and add ammonia, which will instantaneously  precipitate the quinia.
Too much ammonia will retain it in solution, but in  this case a few drops
of sulphuric acid will cause it to precipitate.  The quinia washed with warm
water, and then  treated with sulphuric  acid, water, and a  little animal char-
coal, yields very white sulphate  of quinia.  I have  thus obtained in six hours
nine grains of the sulphate from an ounce  of bark  [576 grains French],
which is a large proportion  when allowances are made for the loss during
the process."  The Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia gives  the following mode of
testing the value of yellow bark.   "A filtered decoction of 100 grains in  two
fluidounces of distilled water gives, with a fluidounce of  concentrated solu-
tion of carbonate  of soda, a  precipitate,  which, when  heated in the fluid,
becomes a fused  mass, weighing when cold two grains or more, and easily
soluble in solution of oxalic acid."

                   Medical Properties and Uses.

   This valuable remedy was unknown to the civilized world till about the
middle of the seventeenth century; though the natives of Peru are generally
supposed to have been long previously  acquainted  with its febrifuge powers.
Humboldt, however, is of a different opinion.  In his Memoir on the Cin-
chona  forests, he stales that it is entirely unknown as a remedy to the Indians
inhabiting the country where it grows; and as these people adhere with per-
tinacity to the practices of their ancestors, he concludes  that it never was
employed by them. They have generally the  most violent prejudices against
it, considering it absolutely poisonous; and in  the treatment of fever pre-
fer 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,  and among whom  were many  familiar  with  the
medical knowledge of the day.  As bitters had been chiefly relied on  in the
treatment of intermittent fevers, and as  bitterness was  observed to be a pre-
dominant property in the bark of certain trees  which were felled in clearing
       22 
242
Cinchona.
PART I.
 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 a prevalent disorder in Peru, and soon ascertained its
 extraordinary powers.  A tradition to this  effect  is said  by Humboldt to be
 current at Loxa.   Ruiz  and Pavon, however, are  among  the writers who
 ascribe the discovery to the Indians.  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 Commilissse,
 by  which it was first known.   After its introduction, it was distributed and
 sold by the Jesuits, who are said  to have obtained for it the enormous sum
 of its weight in silver.  From this circumstance  it was  called Jesuits'1 pow-
 der, a title which it long retained.   It had acquired some reputation in Eng-
 land so early as the  year 1658, but from its extravagant price, and from  the
 prejudice  excited  against it, was  at first little used.  At this early  period,
 however, its  origin and nature do  not seem to have been generally known;
 for  we  are told that  Sir John  Talbot, an  Englishman, having employed it
 with great success in France,  in  the treatment of intermittents, under the
 name of the  English powder, at length, in  the year 1679, sold the secret of
 its origin and preparation to Louis  XIV., by whom it was divulged.
  W hen taken into the stomach, bark usually excites in a short time  a sense
 of warmth in the  epigastrium,  which often diffuses itself over the abdomen
 and even  the breast, and  is sometimes attended with considerable  gastric
 and intestinal irritation.  Nausea and even vomiting are sometimes produced,
 especially if  the stomach was previously in an  inflamed  or irritated state.
 Purging, moreover, is not an  unfrequent attendant upon  its action.  After
 some time has elapsed, the circulation often experiences its influence,  as
exhibited in the somewhat increased frequency of  pulse; and, if the dose  be
 repeated, the  whole system becomes more or less affected, and all the func-
 tions undergo a moderate degree of excitement.  Its action upon the nervous
system is  often evinced by a sense of tension or fulness or slight pain  in
the  head, singing in the ears, and  partial  deafness, which are afways expe-
rienced  by many  individuals when brought completely under its influence.
 The effects  above mentioned entitle bark to a place among  the tonics, and
 it is  usually ranked at the  very head of this  class of medicines.  But be-
sides the  mere excitation of the ordinary  functions of health, it produces
other effects  upon the system, which  must  be  considered  peculiar, and
wholly  independent  of its  mere tonic  operation.  The  power by  which,
when administered in the intervals between the  paroxysms of intermittent
 disorders,  it breaks the chain of morbid association, and  interrupts the pro-
gress 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 in these complaints it is  probable that,  in the intervals, a
 train of morbid actions is going on out  of  our sight, within the recesses of
 the  nervous  system; so it is also  probable that bark produces, in the same
 system, an action equally mysterious, which supersedes that of the malady,
 and thus accomplishes the restoration of the patient.  From the  possession
 both of  the tonic, and of the anti-intermittent property, if we may be allowed
 so to designate it, bark is capable of being usefully applied in the treatment of
 a great number ol diseases.
  It may usually  be employed  with benefit in all morbid conditions of the
 system, whatever may be the peculiar modifications, in which a  permanent 
PART I.
Cinchona.
243
corroborant effect is  desirable, provided the stomach be in a proper state for
its reception.   In low or typhoid forms of disease, in which  either no in-
flammation 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 mali<fnant 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 advantageously employed in chronic diseases connected
with  debility;  as, for example, in scrofula, dropsy,  passive  hemorrhages,
certain forms  of  dyspepsia, obstinate  cutaneous affections,  amenorrhoea,
chorea, hysteria; in  fact, whenever a corroborant influence is desired, and
no contra-indicating  symptoms  exist.  But in all these  cases it greatly be-
hooves 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 qfcinia, in acute rheumatism,  and  the advanced
stages of protracted fevers.
   But it is in the cure of intermittent diseases that bark displays its  most
extraordinary powers.  It was originally introduced into  notice as a remedy
in fever and ague, and the  reputation  which it acquired at an early period  it
has ever since  retained.   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 eye, face, and  other parts of the body, occurring periodi-
cally, are often  almost immediately relieved  by the use  of bark.   Some cases
of epilepsv, in  which the convulsions  recurred at regular  intervals, have also
been  cured by it; and  even the hectic  intermittent is frequently arrested,
though, as  the cause still generally continues to operate, the relief is too  often
only temporary.  Diarrhoea and dysentery sometimes put on the intermittent
form, especially in miasmatic districts ; and under these circumstances may
often  be cured by bark.  Nor is  it necessary that,  in the various diseases
which have been mentioned, the intermission should always be complete, in
order to justify a resort to the remedy.   Remittent  fevers, in which the re-
mission is very decided, not unfrequenfly yield to the use of bark, if preceded
by proper depleting measures.   But, as a general rule, the  less of the diseased
action there is in' the interval, the  better  is the  chance  of  success ; and, if it
exceed a certain point, the bark has usually been found to aggravate instead of
relieving the complaint.
   Some observations are  requisite as to  the  choice  of  the bark,  and the
forms of administration.  In the  treatment of intermittents, either  the red
or the yellow bark is decidedly preferable to the pale, and of the first two,
the red  is usually considered the most powerful.  With  regard to the red, 
 244                           Cinchona.                        part i.

 experience had  pronounced  in its favour long before analysis proved  its
 superiority.   It  not only contains  more of the active principles of the bark
 than the other varieties,'but has also  the  advantage of uniting them both in
 nearly equal proportion.   The  pale bark may possibly, in its finest forms, be
 superior for the purposes of a general tonic;  as it is less liable to offend  the
 stomach, and perhaps to irritate the bowels.
   Where the object is  to obtain the full  influence of bark, it is most effec-
 tually administered in  substance.   We can  by no means  be  absolutely cer-
 tain that quinia. and cinchonia are its  only  active  ingredients ;  and, even
 supposing them to be so, we are equally uncertain whether they may not be
 somewhat modified  in  their  properties,  even by the  therapeutically inert
 principles with which  they are associated.   In fact, bark in substance has
 been repeatedly known to cure intermittents  when the sulphate of quinia has
 failed.   It is  best administered diffused in water or  some aromatic infusion.
 Experience has  proved that its efficacy in the cure of intermittents is often
 greatly promoted  by admixture with other substances.   A mixture of pow-
 dered bark, Virginia snakeroot, and carbonate of soda, was at one time highly
 esteemed in this city; and  another, consisting of bark, confection of opium,
 lemon-juice,  and port wine, has in our own experience, and that of some of
 our friends, proved highly efficacious in some obstinate cases of fever and
 ague.*
   But, notwithstanding the superior efficacy of the bark in  substance, it is in
 the  great majority of instances sufficient  to resort to some one of its prepa-
 rations; and in many cases we  are compelled to this resort by the inability
 of the stomach to support the powder, or  the unwillingness of the patient to
 encounter its disagreeable taste.   The  best  substitute, in  cases of intermit-
 tent disease,  is decidedly the sulphate of quinia, or sulphate of cinchonia, the
 former of which is used almost to the exclusion of the latter, though not perhaps
 upon sufficient grounds.   The advantage of these preparations is their great
 facility of administration, and  the possibility,  by their employment, of intro-
 ducing a large quantity of the  active matter,  with less risk of offending the
 stomach.  The sulphate of quinia is now almost universally employed  in the
 treatment of intermittents, and bark resorted to only after this has failed. (See
 Quinix  Sulphas.)
   Though quinia possesses the anti-intermittent power of bark, it is  by  no
 means  satisfactorily ascertained that it is capable of  exerting all the peculiar
 influence of that medicine as a tonic;  but, as bark in powder  can seldom  be
 supported, by a delicate stomach, for a sufficient period to insure the neces-
 sary influence of the medicine  in  ehronic disease, it is customary to resort,
 in this case, to some  one of its preparations  in which the quinia is extracted
 in connexion  with  the other principles; as the infusion, decoction, tincture,
 and extract.   Each of these will be particularly treated of  among the prepa-
 rations.   It is here only necessary  to say, that their use is mostly°confined to
 chronic cases; or to those of  a  malignant  character, as typhus gravior, &c,
 in which  the whole virtues of the bark are desired, but the stomach  is unable
 to bear the powder.  Should bark or its preparations produce purging, as they
 occasionally do, they should be  combined  with a small portion of laudanum.
   It is sometimes  desirable to  introduce bark into the system by other sur-
faces than that of the  stomach; and it has  been found to exercise its peculiar

  *The following are the formulae  for  these mixtures: 1. R Cinchon. pulv. 3ss; Ser-
pentariiB pulv. gj; Sodae  C.irbonat. 3ss.  Misce et in  pulveres quatuor divide, una tertia
vel quarta quaque hota sumenda.  2. R. Cinchon. Rub. pulv.  3ss: Confect. Opii zj; Sue.
Limon. recentis fjij;  Vin. Oporto f3iv. Misce. Tertia pars, tertia quaque  hora  su-
menda. 
part i.             Cinchona.— Cinnamomum.                   245

influence to whatever part  it has been applied.  Injected into the rectum, in
connexion with opium  to  prevent purging, it has been employed success-
fully in the cure of intermittents; and the use of bark jackets, made by quilt-
ing the powder between two pieces of  flannel or muslin, and worn next the
skin, and of bark  baths made by infusing the medicine  in water, has proved
serviceable in cases of children.  But the best preparation of bark for external
application is decidedly sulphate of quinia, which, sprinkled upon a blistered
surface denuded of the  cuticle, is speedily absorbed, and produces on the
system effects not less decided than  those which result from its internal ad-
ministration.
  The medium dose of  bark, as administered in intermittents, is a drachm,
to be repeated more or less  frequently according  to circumstances.   When
given as a tonic in chronic complaints,  the dose is usually smaller; from ten
to thirty grains being sufficient to commence with.
  Off. Prep.  Decoctum Cinchonas,  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Extractum
Cinchonae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Bub.; Infusum Cinchonae,  U. S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Infusum Cinchonae Comp.,  U. S.;  Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub.;
Quiniae Sulphas,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Tinctura  Cinchonae,  U.S.,
Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Tinctura Cinchonae Comp.,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Vinum Gentianae, Ed.                                            W.
                CINNAMOMUM. U.S., Lond.

                             Cinnamon.

   "The bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum (Nees), and of Cinnamomum
aromaticum (Nees)." U. S.  " Laurus Cinnamomum. Cortex." Lond.
   Off. Syn. CINNAMOMUM.  Bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum; Cin-
namon.—CASSIiE  CORTEX.  Bark  of Cinnamomum Cassia;  Cassia
bark. Ed.; CINNAMOMUM.  LAURUS CINNAMOMUM. Cortex.—
CASSIA.  LAURUS CASSIA. Cortex. Dub.
   Cinnamon.—Canelle, Fr.; Brauncr 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  those
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 em-
ployed by the ancients, but whether exactly as now understood, it is impos-
sible to determine.   The  term cassia or  cassia  lignea has  been  generally
used in  modern times to designate the coarser barks analogous 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 Laurus Cassia of Linnaeus; but
the specific character given by that botanist was  so indefinite, and  based  on
such imperfect information, "that  the species  has  been almost unanimously 
246
Cinnamomum.
part i.
abandoned  by recent botanists.   The fact appears to be, that the barks sold
as cinnamon and cassia in  different parts of the world are  derived from
various  species of Cinnamomum.   Dr. Wight, who was  commissioned by
the British Indian  Government to inquire into the botanical source of "the
common cassia bark of the markets of  the world," expresses his belief that
the list of plants yielding this product extends to nearly every  species of the
genus, including not less than six plants on the Malabar coast and in Ceylon,
and nearly twice as many more in the Eastern part of  Asia, and the islands
of the Eastern Archipelago.  (Madras Journ. of Literat. 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. Lauracea?.
   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 sta-
mens next the centre.   Fruit seated in a cup-like calyx.  Leaves ribbed.
Leaf buds not scaly. (Lindley.)
   1.  Cinnamomum Zeylanicum.   Nees,  Laurinex, 52 ; Lindley, Med.
Flor. 329;  Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &c. xii. 263.—L,aurus Cin-
namomum.  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 declin-
ing ;  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 together 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
compared by some to the scent exhaled from newly sawn bones.  The fruit
when opened has a terebinthinate odour, and a taste in  some degree like that
of Juniper berries.  It is the prepared bark that constitutes the spice so well
known and  so highly valued under the  name of cinnamon.
   This  species of Cinnamomum is a native  of Ceylon, where it has long
been cultivated for the sake of its bark.   It is said also to be a native of the
Malabar coast, and has at various p. rinds 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

  * Dr. Ruschenberger states that the leaves have a strong odour of cloves when broken
and rubbed, and a "clove" oil  is nbtiined from  them by distillation, which yields consi-
derable profit. (Voyage round the World, p.  207.) 
PART I.
Cinnamomum.
247
highly productive.  This is  particularly the case in Cayenne, where the
plant was flourishing so early  as the year 1755.  It is exceedingly influenced,
as regards the aromatic character of  its bark, by  the circumstances of soil,
climate, and mode of culture.  Thus we are told by Marshall that in Ceylon,
beyond  the limits of  Negombo  and  Matura, in the western and southern
aspect of the island, the bark  is never of good quality, being greatly deficient
in the spicy, aromatic flavour of the  cinnamon; and  that even within these
limits it is of unequal value  from the various  influence of exposure, soil,
shade, and other circumstances.
   2.  C. aromaticum. Nees, Laurinex,  52; Lindley, Flor. Med. 330.—
C. Cassia. Blume; Ed. Ph.;  Hayne, Darstel. unci Beschreib. fyc.x'ii. 23.—
Laurus Cassia. Aiton, Hort. Ketv. ii. 427.—Not Laurus Cassia of Linn.
This  is  a tree of about the same magnitude as the former species, and like
it has nearly opposite, shortly petiolate, coriaceous, entire leaves, of a shining
green upon the upper surface, lighter coloured beneath,  and  furnished with
three nerves, of which the two lateral vanish towards the point.  The leaves,
however,  differ  in being  oblong-lanceolate and pointed, and in exhibiting,
under the microscope, a very fine  down upon the under surface.  The foot-
stalks and extreme twigs are also downy.   The flowers are in narrow, silky
panicles.  The  plant grows in China,  Sumatra, and  probably in other parts
of Eastern Asia,  and  is said  to be cultivated in Java.  It is believed to be
the species which furnishes, wholly or in part,  the Chinese  cinnamon or
cassia brought from Canton, and  is  supposed also to  be the source of the
cassia buds of commerce.
   Besides the two  species above  described, others  have been thought to
contribute to the cinnamon and cassia found in commerce.  The opinion of
Dr. Wight has  been  already stated.    The  C. Lnureirii of Nees, growing
in the mountains of Cochin-china  towards Laos,  and in Japan, affords, ac-
cording to Loureiro, a cinnamon, of which the finest kind  is superior to that
of Ceylon.   The C. nitidum, growing in Ceylon, Java, and upon the con-
tinent 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 the C.
Tamala of Hindostan have been sold  under the  same name.   The C. Cu-
lilawan of the Moluccas  yields the aromatic bark called Culilawan, noticed
in the Appendix; and similar barks are obtained from another species of the
same rpgion,  denominated-C. rubrum,  and from the C.  Sintoc of Java.
   Culture, Collection, Commerce, <y-c.  Our remarks under this head will
first be  directed  to the cinnamon of  Ceylon, in relation to which we have
more precise  information  than concerning the aromatic obtained from other
sources.  The bark was  originally collected exclusively from the tree  in a
wild state; but under \he government of the Dutch the practice of cultivating
it was  introduced, and it  has been continued  since  the British  have come
into possession of the island.  The  principal  cinnamon gardens  are in the
vicinity of Columbo.   The seeds  are  planted in a prepared soil at certain
distances, and as four or five are  placed in  a spot, the plants usually grow in
clusters like the hazel bush.  In favourable situations they attain the height
of five or six feet in six or seven years, and a healthy bush will then afford
two or  three shoots fit for pealing;  and  every second  year afterwards will
afford from  four to seven shoots  in a good  soil.   The cinnamon  harvest
commences in May and continues till  late in October.  The first object  is
to select shoots proper 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 longitudinal  incisions, of which two are made opposite 
248
Cinnamomum.
PART I.
to each other in  the  smaller shoots, several in the larger, and is then re-
moved 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 separation of the
cuticle.   The epidermis  and the green matter  beneath it are 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 into  a cylindrical pipe
which is about forty inches long.  When sufficiently dry,  these cylinders are
collected into bundles  weighing  about thirty pounds, and bound together  by
pieces of split bamboo.  The commerce in Ceylon  cinnamon was formerly
monopolized  by the East India Company ; but the  cultivation is now unre-
stricted, and the bark  may be freely exported upon  the payment  of  a duty
of three shillings sterling a pound. (Ruschenberger.)  It  is assorted  in the
island into three qualities, distinguished by the designations of first, second,
and third.  The inferior kinds,  which are of insufficient value to pay the
duty, are used for the preparation of oil of cinnamon.  Formerly, according
to Marshall, they were exported  to the continent of India, whence a portion
was said to reach Europe under the  name of cassia.
   Immense quantities of cinnamon  are  exported  from China, the finest of
which is little  inferior to  that of Ceylon, though the mass of it is  much
coarser.  It passes in  commerce  under the name of cassia; and is said by
Mr. Reeves to be brought to Canton from the province of Kwangse,  where
the tree producing it grows very abundantly. (Trans. Med. Bot. Soc, 1828,
p. 26.)   It has already been  stated  that  this tree is supposed to be the Cin-
namomum aromaticum;  but we have no positive proof  of the fact.   Tra-
vellers 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 L,aurus Cin-
namomum of Loureiro.  According to Siebold, the bark of the large branches
is of inferior  quality and is rejected, as it will not bear the expense  of car-
riage ; that from the  smallest branches resembles the Ceylon cinnamon in
thickness, but has a  very pungent  taste  and smell, and  is little esteemed;
while the intermediate branches yield an excellent bark, about  a  line in
thickness, which is even  more highly valued than the  cinnamon of Ceylon,
and yields on distillation a sweeter and less pungent oil. (Annal. der Pharm.,
xx. 280.)  It is highly probable  that a portion  of the cassia exported from
Canton is derived from Cochin-china and the islands of the Indian  Archi-
pelago.
   Cinnamon of good quality is said to be collected in Java, and considerable
quantities of inferior quality have been thrown into commerce, as cassia lig-
nea, from the Malabar coast.  Manilla and the Isle of France  are also men-
tioned as sources whence this drug is supplied.  Little, however, reaches the
United States from these places.
   Cayenne,  and  several  of the West  India  Islands, yield  to   commerce
considerable 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 aromatic  of Ceylon; the other resembles the Chinese. The
former is supposed  to be derived from plants propagated from a Ceylonese
stock, the latter from  those which have  sprung from a tree introduced from
Sumatra.
   By far the greater  proportion  of cinnamon brought to  this country is im-
ported from China.   It is entered as cassia at the custom house, while the 
PART I.
Cinnamomum.
249
same article brought from other sources is almost uniformly entered as cin-
namon.   By  an  examination of the  treasury returns  from the year 1820
to 1829, we found that the  average  annual import of this spice  was, in
round numbers, 652,000 pounds from China, 12,000 pounds from England,
9,000 pounds  from the British East  Indies, 3,000 pounds from the West
Indies, and an insignificant quantity from all other places, with the excep-
tion of 12,758 pounds brought in one year from the Philippines.  There is
no doubt that much of the amount brought from China is exported; but we
have not been able to ascertain the proportion.
  From what source  the ancients derived their cinnamon  and  cassia cannot
now be ascertained with certainty.  Neither  the plants nor their localities,
as described by Dioscorides,  Pliny, and Theophrastus, correspond precisely
with our present  knowledge; but in this respect much allowance must  be
made for the inaccurate geography of the  ancients.  It  is  not  improbable
that  the  Arabian or other  Eastern navigators, at  a very  early period, con-
veyed this spice within the limits of Phoenician and Grecian, and subse-
quently of Roman commerce.
  Properties.  Ceylon cinnamon is in long cylindrical fasciculi, composed
of numerous quills, the larger  enclosing the smaller.  The  finest is of a
light brownish-yellow colour, almost  as thin as paper, smooth, often some-
what shining, pliable to a considerable extent, with a splintery fracture when
broken.   It has a pleasant fragrant odour, and a warm, aromatic, pungent,
sweetish, slightly astringent,  and  highly agreeable  taste.   When distilled  it
affords  but a  small quantity  of essential oil, which,  however,  has an ex-
ceedingly grateful flavour.  It is brought to this country from England ; but
is very costly, and is not generally kept in the  shops.   The  inferior  sorts
are browner, thicker, less splintery, and of a less agreeable flavour,  and are
little if at all superior  to the  best Chinese.   The  finer variety of Cayenne
cinnamon approaches in character to that above described, but is paler and
in thicker pieces, being usually collected from older branches.   That which
is gathered very young, is scarcely  distinguishable from  the cinnamon of
Ceylon.  It is not recognised in our markets as a distinct variety.
   The  Chinese cinnamon,  called cassia in commercial language, is usually
in single tubes of various sizes, from an eighth of an inch to half an inch or
even an inch in diameter.   Sometimes the tubes are double, but very rarely
more than double.   In some instances the bark is rolled very much upon
itself, in others is  not even  completely quilled, forming segments  more  or
less extensive of a hollow cylinder.  It is of  a redder  or darker  colour than
the finest Ceylon cinnamon, thicker,  rougher,  denser, and breaks  with a
shorter fracture.   It has  a  stronger, more pungent and astringent,  but less
sweet and grateful taste; and, though of a similar odour, is less agreeably
fragrant.  It is the kind almost  universally kept  in our  shops, and, while
it is much cheaper than the former  variety, is perhaps not inferior  to it for
the preparation of the various tinctures, &c, into which  cinnamon enters
as an ingredient.   Of a similar character is the cinnamon imported  directly
from various parts of the East Indies.  But under the name of cassia are also
brought to us very inferior kinds of cinnamon, collected from  the trunks or
large branches of the trees, or injured by want of care  in  keeping, and per-
haps some derived from inferior  species.   It is said that  cinnamon  from
which the oil has been distilled, is sometimes fraudulently mingled with the
genuine.  These inferior kinds are detected, independently of their greater
thickness, and coarseness of fracture, by their deficiency in the peculiar sen-
sible properties of the spice.
  From the analysis made by Vauquelin, it appears that cinnamon contains 
250
Cinnamomum.
PART I.
a peculiar essential oil, tannin,  mucilage, a colouring matter, an acid, and
lignin.  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.  Bucholz found in 100 parts of cassia lignea, 0-8 of volatile oil,
4-0 of resin,  14-6 of gummy extractive (probably including tannin), 64-3 of
lignin and bassorin, and 16-3 of  water including loss.   This aromatic yields
its virtues wholly to alcohol, and less readily to water.  At the  temperature
of boiling alcohol very little of  the  oil rises, and an extract prepared from
the tincture  retains, therefore, the aromatic properties.   For an account of
the essential oil, see Oleum Cinnamomi.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Cinnamon is  among the most grateful
and efficient of the aromatics.   It is warm and cordial to  the stomach, car-
minative,  astringent, and, like  most other substances of  this  class,  more
powerful as  a  local than general stimulant.  It  is  seldom, however, pre-
scribed alone, though sometimes capable, when given in powder or infusion,
of allaying nausea, checking vomiting, and relieving flatulence.  It is chiefly
used as an adjuvant to other less pleasant medicines, and  enters  into a great
number of officinal preparations.  It is peculiarly adapted to diarrhoea, and
is often employed in that  complaint with chalk and astringents.  The dose
of the powder is from ten grains to a scruple.
  Cassia Buds.  This spice was  formerly recognised as officinal by the
Edinburgh College, under the name of Flores Lauri Cassix, but has been
omitted in their last Pharmacopoeia.   It consists of the calyx of one or more
species of Cinnamomum, surrounding the young germ, and, as stated by
Dr. Martins  on the authority of the elder Nees, about one quarter  of the
normal size.   It  is produced in China;  and  Mr. Reeve states that  great
quantities of it are brought  to Canton  from the province  which  affords the
cassia.  The species which yields it is in all probability the same with that
which yields the bark, though  it has been ascribed  by Nees to  the Cinna-
momum Loureirii.  In favour of the former opinion is the statement of Dr.
Christison, that the C. aromaticum, cultivated in  the hot houses of Europe,
bears  a flower-bud which closely resembles the cassia-bud when at the same
period of advancement.   Cassia-buds have some resemblance to cloves, and
are  compared to small nails with round heads.  The enclosed  germen  is
sometimes removed, and they  are then cup-shaped  at top.   They have a
brown colour, with the flavour of cinnamon, and yield an  essential oil upon
distillation.   Though  little  known in this country, they may be used for
the same purposes as the  bark.
  Off.Prep.  Acidum  Sulphuricum  Aromaticum,  U.S., Ed., Dub.;  Aqua
Cassiae, Ed.; Aqua Cinnamomi, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Confectio  Aromatica,
Lond., Dub.; Decoctum Hasrnatoxyli, Ed., Dub.;  Electuarium Catechu,
Ed.,  Dub.;  Emplastrum Aromaticum, Dub.; Infusum  Catechu Comp.,
U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Aromaticus, U. S.,  Ed., Dub.;  Pulvis
Cinnamomi  Comp., Lond.; Pulvis  Cretaa Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Pul-
vis  Kino  Comp., Lond.,  Dub.;  Spiritus Ammoniae  Aromaticus,  U.S.,
Lond., Dub.;  Spiritus  Cassias, Ed.; Spiritus Cinnamomi,  Dub.,  Ed.;
Spiritus Lavandulae Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Rhei  Aro-
maticus, U.S.; Tinctura Cardamorai  Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura
Cassiae, Ed.; Tinctura Catechu,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura  Cin-
namomi,   U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cinnamomi Comp.,  U.S.,
Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Quassiae  Comp., Ed.; Vinum Opii, £7. S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.                                                      Yf, 
PART I.
Cocculus.
251
                        COCCULUS.  Ed.

                         Cocculus Indicus.

  " Fruit of Anamirta Cocculus."  Ed.
  Off. Syn.  COCCULUS SUBEROSUS. Fructus. Dub.
  Coque du Levant Fr.; KokkelskOrner, FischkOrner, Germ.; Gaila di Levante, Ital.
  The plant which produces Cocculus Indicus was embraced  by Linnaeus,
with several others, under the common title of Menispermum Cocculus.
These were afterwards referred by De Candolle to a new genus, which he
denominated  Cocculus.   From this the particular  species under considera-
tion has  recently been separated by Wight and Arnott, and erected into a
distinct genus  with the name of  Anamirta, which has been  adopted by
Lindley and other botanists.
  Anamirta. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Dodecandria.—Nat. Ord. Menispermaceae.
  Gen. Ch. Flowers dioecious. Calyx of six sepals in a double series, with
two close-pressed bractioles.   Corolla none.  Male.  Stamens united into a
central column  dilated at the apex.  Anthers numerous, covering the whole
globose  apex  of the  column.   Female.  Flowers unknown.   Drupes one
to three, one-celled,  one-seeded.   Seed globose,  deeply excavated at the
hilum. Albumen fleshy.   Cotyledons  very  thin, diverging.  (Wight and
Arnott.)
  Anamirta Cocculus.   Wight and  Arnott, Flor.  Penins. Ind. Orient,  i.
446;  Lindley,  Flor. Med. 371.—Menispermum Cocculus. Linn.—Cocculus
suberosus.  De Cand. Prodrom. i. 97   This is the only species.  It  is a
climbing shrub, with a suberose or corky bark;  thick, coriaceous, smooth,
shining,  roundish or cordate leaves, sometimes truncate at the base; and the
female flowers  in lateral compound racemes.  It is a  native of  the Malabar
coast, and of Eastern Insular  and  Continental India.   The fruit is the offi-
cinal 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, and
planted in  the  recent state.   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 circum-
stance it was  called cocculus  Levanticus.   It is now brought exclusively
from the East Indies.
  Properties, #-c.   Cocculus  Indicus,  as found in the shops,  is roundish,
somewhat kidney-shaped, about as large as a pea ; having a thin, dry, black-
ish, 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 de-
nominated picrotoxin.   This is white, crystallizable in quadrangular prisms,
soluble in twenty-five parts  of boiling  and fifty of cold water,  very soluble
in alcohol and ether, but insoluble  in the oils.  It is poisonous, and, in the
quantity of from five to ten grains given to strong dogs, produces death pre- 
252                      Cocculus.—Coccxts.                  part i.

ceded by convulsions.  To procure it, the watery extract of the  seeds  is
triturated with pure magnesia,  and then treated  with  hot alcohol,  which
dissolves the picrotoxin, and yields it upon evaporation.  In this stale, how-
ever, it  is impure.  To obtain it  colourless it  must  be again dissolved  in
alcohol, and  treated with animal charcoal.  After filtration and due  evapo-
ration, it is deposited in the crystalline  form.  Besides picrotoxin, Cocculus
Indicus contains a large  proportion  of fixed oil and some other  substances
of less interest.  The active principle  above described is said to reside ex-
clusively in the kernel, upon which part M. Boullay operated.  In the shell,
MM. Pelletier and  Couerbe discovered  two distinct  principles, one  having
alkaline properties and named  menispermin (menispermia), the other iden-
tical with it in composition, but distinguishable by its  want of  alkalinity, its
volatility, and its solubility and  crystalline form, and  denominated  parame-
nispermin.   They  also  found, in the same part, a  new acid, which they
called hypopicrotoxic.   The picrotoxin of M.  Boullay they believed to pos-
sess acid  properties, and, under this impression, proposed for it the name  of
picrotoxic acid. (Journ.  de Pharm., xx. 122.)
  Medical Properties, <y-c.   Cocculus  Indicus  acts upon the system  in the
manner of the acrid narcotic poisons, but is never given internally.  In India
it is used to stupefy fishes in order that they may be caught; and  it has been
applied to the same purpose in Europe and this country.  It is 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 forbidden  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 obstinate cutaneous affections.   An ointment
made with the powder has been  used in tinea capitis and to destroy ver-
min in the hair.  Picrotoxin has been successfully substituted by  Dr.  Jaeger
for the drug itself.  Rubbed up with lard in the proportion of ten  grains  to
the ounce, it usually effected cures of tinea capitis in less  than a  month.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Cocculi, Ed.                              W.


                          COCCUS.  U.S.

                              Cochineal.

   " Coccus Cacti."  U. S.
   Off. Syn. COCCI. Coccus  Cacti. Lond., Ed.;  COCCUS CACTI. Dub.
  Cochenille, Fr., Germ.; Cocciniglia Ital.; Cochinilla, Span.
  The Coccus is a genus of hemipterous insects, having the snout or rostrum
in the breast, the antennae filiform, and  the posterior part  of  the  abdomen
furnished with bristles.  The  male has two erect wings, the female is wing-
less.  The C. Cacti is characterized by its depressed, downy, transversely
wrinkled body, its purplish abdomen,  its  short and black  legs, and its subu-
late antennae, which are about one-third of the length of the  body. (Bees's
Cyclopxdia.)
   This insect is found wild in Mexico and  the  adjoining countries, inhabit-
ing 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 south-
ern parts of the United States.  In  Mexico, particularly in the provinces of
Oaxaca  and Guaxaca, it is an important object of  culture.   The Indians
form plantations of the nopal (Opuntia cochinillefera), upon which the insect
feeds and  propagates.  During the rainy season, a number of  the females
are preserved under cover upon the branches of the plant, and are distributed 
PART I.
Coccus.
253
after the  cessation of the rains  upon the plants without.  They perish very
speedily  after having deposited their eggs.   These, hatched by the heat of
the sun,  give origin to innumerable minute insects, which spread themselves
over the  plant.  The males, of which, according to  Mr. Ellis, the  propor-
tion is not greater than one to one  hundred or two  hundred females, being
provided  with wings  and very active, approach and  fecundate the latter.
After this period, the females, which before moved  about, attach themselves
to the leaves, and increase rapidly in size; so  that,  in the end, their legs,
antennae, and proboscis are scarcely  discoverable, and they appear more like
excrescences  on the  plant than distinct animated beings.  They are now
gathered for use,  by detaching them from the  plant by means  of a  blunt
knife, a few  being left to  continue the race.  They are destroyed either by
dipping them enclosed in  a bag into boiling water, or  by the heat of  a stove.
In  the former case  they- are 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 con-
sequence of its inability  to  support  the  inclemency of the weather.  The
insect has been taken from Mexico to the Canary Islands, where it has been
successfully  propagated ; and considerable quantities of cochineal have been
delivered to  commerce from the island of Teneriffe.  Attempts  have also
been made to introduce the culture into  Spain, Corsica, and Algiers.
   As  kept in the shops, the finer  cochineal, grana fina of Spanish com-
merce, 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 insect with the whiteness of a powder  by which it is
almost covered, and  with  patches of a rosy tinge irregularly interspersed.
From its  diversified appearance, it  is called  by the  Spaniards  cochinilla
jaspeada.  It is the variety commonly kept in our shops. The other, cochi-
nilla renegrida, or grana  nigra, is  dark coloured, almost black,  with only
a minute quantity  of  the  whitish  powder between the wrinkles.  The two
are distinguished  in  our  markets by the  names of silver grains  and black
grains.   Guibourt  supposes  the difference to depend  upon culture,  or,
perhaps, on  original  varieties in the insect.  According  to others,  it arises
from the  mode of preparation;  the  gray  cochineal consisting of the insects
destroyed by a dry heat;  the black,  of  those destroyed by hot water, which
removes  the external whitish powder.   There  is little or  no difference in
their quality.
  Another and much inferior variety is the grana sylvestra or wild cochi-
neal, consisting partly of very small separate insects, partly of roundish or
oval  masses, which  exhibit, under the  microscope, minute and  apparently
new born insects,  enclosed in a white or reddish cotton-like substance.  It is
scarcely  known in our drug market.
  Cochineal has a faint heavy odour, and  a bitter slightly acidulous  taste.
Its  powder is of a purplish carmine colour,  tinging  the saliva intensely red.
According to Pelletier and  Caventou, it consists  of a peculiar  colouring
principle which they call  carmine, 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.
Carmine is of a brilliant purple red  colour, unalterable in dry air, fusible at
     23 
254
Coccus.— Cochlearia Officinalis.            part i.
122° F., very soluble in water, soluble in cold, and more so in boiling alco-
hol, insoluble in ether, and without nitrogen among its constituents.  It is
obtained by macerating cochineal in ether, and treating the residue with succes-
sive portions of boiling  alcohol, which on cooling deposits a part of the car-
mine,  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.
Pure carmine is deposited in the course of a few days.  The watery infusion
of cochineal is of a violet crimson colour, which is  brightened by the acids,
and deepened by the alkalies.   The colouring matter is  readily precipitated.
The salts  of  zinc,  bismuth, and  nickel  produce a lilac precipitate, and those
of iron a dark purple approaching to black.  The salts of  tin,  especially the
nitrate  and chloride, precipitate  the colouring matter of a brilliant scarlet, and
form the basis of those  splendid scarlet and crimson dyes, which  have ren-
dered cochineal so valuable in the arts.   With alumina the colouring matter
forms the  pigment called lake.  The finest lakes are obtained by mixing the
decoction  of cochineal with freshly prepared gelatinous alumina.   The pig-
ment called  carmine is  the colouring matter of cochineal precipitated from
the decoction by acids, the salts of tin, &c, or animal gelatin, and  when pro-
perly made is of the  most intense and  brilliant scarlet.
   Cochineal has been adulterated by causing  certain heavy substances,  by
shaking in a bag or  otherwise,  to adhere to the surface of the insects, and
thus increase their weight.   The fraud may  be detected by the absence,
under the  microscope, of a woolly 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 dis-
covered by powdering the cochineal, and suspending it  in water, when the
metal remains behind.
   Medical Properties, 8fC.  Cochineal is supposed  by some to possess ano-
dyne properties, and has been  highly recommended in hooping-cough and
neuralgic  affections.   It is frequently  associated, in prescription,  with car-
bonate of potassa, especially in the treatment  of hooping-cough.   In phar-
macy it is employed  to colour tinctures and  ointments.
   To infants with  hooping cough, cochineal  in substance is given in the dose
of about one-third  of a grain three times a day.   The dose of a tincture, pre-
pared by macerating one part of the medicine in eight parts of diluted alco-
hol, 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 cur-
ing the disease.
   Off.Prep. Tinctura Cardamomi Composita, Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Cinchonae
Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinct.  Gentianae Comp., Ed.; Tinct. Quassiae
Comp., Ed.; Tinct. Serpentariae, Ed.                               W.


       COCHLEARIA OFFICINALIS. Herba. Dub.

                       Common  Scurvy-grass.

   Cranson, Herbe aux cuillers, Fr.; 1 offtlkraut, Germ.; Coclearia,  Ital., Span.
   Cochlearia. See ARMORACIA.
   Cochlearia officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 448;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
393. t. 112.   Common scurvy-grass is an annual or biennial  plant, sending
up early in the spring a tuft of radical leaves, which are heart-shaped, round-
ish, of a deep shining green colour, and  supported on long footstalks.  The
leaves of  the stem are alternate, oblong, somewhat sinuate, the lower petio- 
part i.        Cochlearia Officinalis.— Colchici Radix.           255

late, the upper sessile.  The stem is erect, branched, angular, six  or  eight
inches high, and  bears, at the extremity of the branches, numerous white
cruciform peduncled flowers, in thick clusters.   The fruit is a roundish two-
celled  pod, containing numerous  seeds.  The whole plant is smooth and
succulent.
   It is a native of the  northern countries  of Europe, where, as well  as in the
United  States, it is  occasionally cultivated in  gardens.   The whole herb  is
officinal.  It has, when fresh, a pungent unpleasant odour if bruised, and a
warm, acrid, bitter taste.  These  properties are lost by drying.  They are
imparted to water and alcohol by  maceration,  are retained by the expressed
juiCe, and probably depend on a peculiar volatile oil which  is separable in
very small quantity by distillation with water.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Common scurvy-grass is gently stimulant,
aperient, and diuretic.  It is highly celebrated as a remedy in sea-scurvy; and
has been recommended in  chronic obstructions of the  viscera, and certain
forms of chronic rheumatism.  The fresh plant may be eaten as a salad, or
used in the form  of  infusion in water  or wine, or of the expressed juice.
Alcohol and water  are impregnated with its virtues by distillation; and the
distilled spirit has been found useful in paralysis in the dose of thirty drops
several  times a day.   The expressed juice may be used as a local application
in scorbutic affections of the gums.                                W.


                   COLCHICI RADIX.  U.S.

                          Colchicum Root.

   " The cormus of Colchicum autnmnale." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  COLCHICI  CORMUS.    Colchicum autumnale.   Cormus.
Lond.; COLCHICI  CORMUS.  The  cormus  of Colchicum autumnale.
Ed.; COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE.  Bulbus. Dub.

                  COLCHICI SEMEN.  U.S.

                          Colchicum Seed.

   " The seeds of Colchicum autumnale."  U.  S.
   Off. Syn.  COLCHICI  SEMINA.    Colchicum autumnale.   Semina.
Lond.; COLCHICI  SEMINA.   Seeds of  Colchicum autumnale.  Ed.;
COLCHICUM  AUTUMNALE. Semina. Dub.
   Colchique, Fr.; Zeitlose, Ilerbst-Z itlose, Germ.; Colchir-o. Ital, Span.
   Colchicum.  Sex. Syst.  Hexandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Melanthaceae.
   Gen. Ch.   A spathe.  Corolla six-parted, with a tube proceeding directly
from the root.  Capsules three, connected, inflated. Willd.
   Colchicum autumnale. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 272; Woodv. Med. Bot.  p.
759, t. 258.   This species of Colchicum, often called meadow-saffron, is
a  perennial  bulbous plant,  the leaves of which appear in spring, and the
flowers in autumn.   Its manner  of growth is peculiar,  and  deserves notice
in this place, as connected in  some measure with its medicinal efficacy.   In
the latter part of  summer, a new  bulb, or cormus as botanists now call the
part, begins to form at the lateral  inferior portion of the old one, which re-
ceives 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 
256
Colchici Radix.
PART I.
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 sur-
face 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 in-
stead 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, which having performed its appointed office perishes, while the
former, after attaining its full growth, sends forth new shoots from itself, and
in its turn decays.  Each parent bulb has two offsets.
   The C. autumnale is a native of the temperate parts  of Europe, where it
grows wild in moist  meadows.   Attempts  have been made  to introduce its
culture into this country, but with no great success; though  small quantities
of the bulb of apparently good  quality have been brought into the market.
The officinal  portions are the  bulb or cormus, and the seeds.   The root,
botanically speaking, consists of the fibres attached  to  the base of the bulb.
The flowers have been found to possess similar virtues with the  bulb and
seeds, but have not been adopted in the Pharmacopoeias.

                           1. Colchici Radix.
   The medicinal  virtue of the bulb depends  much upon the season at which
it is collected.  Early in the spring it is  too young to  have fully developed
its peculiar  properties; and late in  the fall it has become exhausted by the
nourishment which it has afforded to the new plant.  The proper period for
its collection is from the early part of June, when it has usually attained per-
fection, to the middle  of August, when the offset appears.   It is probably
owing, in great measure, to  this inequality in the colchicum  at different sea-
sons, that entirely opposite  reports  have been given by different authors of
its powers.  Krapf ate whole  bulbs  without experiencing inconvenience;
Haller found it entirely void of  taste and acrimony; and we are told that in
Carniola the peasants use it as  food with impunity in  the autumn.   On the
contrary, abundant  testimony might be adduced of its  highly irritating and
poisonous nature, of which in fact there at present exists no doubt.  Perhaps
soil and climate may have some influence in modifying its character.
   The bulb is often used in the fresh state  in the countries  where it grows,
as it is apt to be injured in drying, unless the process  is very carefully con-
ducted.  The usual plan is to eut the bulb, as soon after it has been dug up
as possible, into thin transverse slices, which are spread out separately upon
paper or perforated trays, and dried with a  moderate heat.  The reason for
drying it quickly after removal  from the ground, is that it otherwise begins
to vegetate, and a change in its  chemical nature takes place; and such is its
retentiveness of life, that if  not cut in slices, it is liable to undergo a partial
vegetation even during the drying process.  Dr. Houlton recommends that
the bulb should be stripped  of its dry  coating,  carefully deprived of the bud
or young bulb, and then dried whole.   It is owing to the high vitality of the
bud that the bulb  is so apt to vegetate. (Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., iv. 18.)
Much loss of  weight is sustained by exsiccation.  Mr. Bainbridge obtained
only two pounds  fifteen ounces of dried bulb from eight pounds of the fresh.
   Properties.   The recent  bulb or cormus of the C.  autumnale resembles
that of the tulip in shape and size, and is covered with  a brown membranous
coat.   Internally  it is solid, white, and fleshy  ; and, when cut transversely, 
PART I.
Colchici Radix.
257
 yields, if mature, an acrid milky juice.  Dr. J. R. Coxe  lays  much stress
 on a small lateral  projection from its base, which serves  in his opinion to
 distinguish it from all other  bulbs; but which  appears to  be merely a  con-
 necting 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  vertical  sections of the  bulb, but  generally in trans-
 verse circular  slices, about the eighth or  tenth of an inch in thickness,  with
 a notch at one  part  of  their circumference.  The cut surface  is white, and
 of an amylaceous  aspect.  The odour of the recent bulb is  said to be hircine;
 the dried is inodorous.   The taste is bitter, hot, and acrid.  Its constituents,
 according to Pelletier and Caventou, are  a peculiar vegetable alkali denomi-
 nated veratria,* combined with an excess of gallic acid ; a fatty matter com-
 posed of olein, stearin, and  a peculiar volatile acid analogous to the cevadic;
 a yellow colouring matter; gum; starch;  ihulin  in large quantity; and lignin.
 The active properties  are ascribed to the veratria, for an  account  of which
 see Veratrum album.   Wine  and vinegar extract all the virtues of the  bulb.
 Dr. A. T. Thomson states that the milky juice of fresh colchicum produces
 a beautiful cerulean blue  colour, if rubbed with the  alcoholic solution of
 guaiac; and that  the same effect is obtained by substituting for the juice an
 acetic solution of the dried bulb.  He considers the appearance of this colour,
 when the  slices  are rubbed with a little distilled vinegar and tincture  of
 guaiac, as a proof that  the drug  is good  and has been well dried.  A very
 deep or large notch  in  the circumference  of the slices  is considered by the
 same author an unfavourable sign, as it indicates that the bulb has been some-
 what exhausted in the  nourishment of the  offset.  The decoction yields a
 deep  blue  precipitate with  solution of iodine,  white  precipitates  with  the
 acetates of lead, nitrate of protoxide of mercury, and  nitrate of silver, and a
 slight precipitate with tincture of galls.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Meadow-saffron is believed to  act  upon
 the nervous system, allaying pain and producing other sedative effects, even
 when it exerts no obvious  influence over the secretions.   Generally speak-
 ing,  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

  * According to Geiger and Hesse, the organic alkali of the meadow-saffron is  peculiar,
 and  entirely distinct from  veratria, with which  it his  been confounded.   They propose
 for it the  name of colchicine,  which, in  accordance with our  nomenclature, should b«
 changed to colchicia.  It is crystallizible, and has a very bitter and sharp taste, but is
 destitute of the extreme acrimony  of veratria, and  does  not, like that principle, excite
 violent sneezing when applied  to the nostrils.   It differs also in being more  soluble in
 water, and  less poisonous in its influence on the animal system.  To a kitten eight weeks
 old, one-tenth of a grain was given  dissolved in  a little  dilute alcohol. Violent purging
 and vomiting were produced, with apparently severe pain and convulsions, and ihe ani-
 mal died at the end  of twelve hours.  The stomach and bowels were found violently in-
 flamed, with effusion  of blood throughout their whole extent.  A kitten somewhat  younger
 was destroyed in ten  minutes by only Ihe twentieth of a grain of veratria;  and, on exami-
 nation after death, marks of inflammation were found only in the upper part of the oeso-
 phagus.  We do not  know  that the conclusions of Geiger and  Hesse have yet been con-
 firmed by other experimentalists.  The process for obtaining culchicia is similar to that
 employed in the  preparation of hyoscyamia  from  hyoscyamus. (See the article  Hyos-
 cyamus )   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  filler and evaporate.
                                    23* 
258               Colchici Radix.—Colchici Semen.           part i.

carried off by the bowels, it often produces copious diaphoresis, and occa-
sionally acts as a diuretic and expectorant;  and a case is on record of a vio-
lent salivation supposed to have resulted from its use.   (N. Am. Med. and
Surg. Journ., x. 204.)  It appears in fact to have the property of stimulating
all the secretions, while it rather diminishes than otherwise the action of the
heart.   In an overdose, it is capable of producing dangerous and even fatal
effects.  Excessive nausea  and  vomiting, abdominal  pains,  purging and
tenesmus, great thirst, sinking of  the pulse, coldness of the extremities, and
general prostration,  with occasional  symptoms of nervous derangement, 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 con-
tinent of Europe it acquired considerable reputation in these complaints; but
the uncertainty of its operation led  to its  general  abandonment, and it had
fallen into almost entire neglect, when Dr. Want, of London, again brought it
into notice,  by attempting to prove  its identity with the active ingredient of
the eau medicinale  d'Husson, so  highly celebrated as  a cure  for gout.   In
James's Dispensatory, printed in  1747, it is said to be used in gout as an ex-
ternal application.   The chief employment of the  meadow-saffron is at pre-
sent in the  treatment of gout and  rheumatism,  in  which  experience  has
abundantly proved it to be a highly  valuable remedy.   We have, within our
own  observation, found it especially useful  in these  affections, when of a
shifting  or neuralgic character.   It  sometimes produces relief  without ob-
viously affecting the system; but is more efficient when it evinces its influence
upon  the skin or alimentary canal.   Professor Chelius  states that it changes
the chemical constitution of  the urine in arthritic patients, producing an evi-
dent increase of the uric acid. (N. Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., xi. 234.)
This  effect, however, is by no means uniform.  Dr. Elliotson  successfully
treated a case of  prurigo with the wine of colchicum, given in the  dose of
half a  drachm  three times a day, and continued  for three weeks.  (Medico-
Chirurg. Rev., Oct., 1827.)   Dr. Smith, of Port au Prince, employed it ad-
vantageously 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. 6G.)   Mr. Ritton found  the powdered
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.   The medicine is generally given in the state of
vinous tincture.  (See Vinum Colchici Radicis.)  In  this  form it has been
used  externally in rheumatism.   The dose of the dried bulb is  from  two to
eight grains, which may be repeated every four or six hours till the effects of
the medicine are obtained.
    Off.Prep.  Acetum  Colchici, U.S., Lond.,  Ed.;  Extractum Colchici
Aceticum, Lond., Ed.; Extractum Colchici  Cormi, Lond.;  Oxymel  Col-
 chici, Dub.;  Vinum Colchici Radicis, U. S.,  Lond., Ed.

                           2. Colchici Semen.
   The  seeds of  the meadow-saffron ripen in summer, and should be col-
 lected 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.  (Wil-
 liams.)  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 
part i.              Colchici Semen.— Colocynthis.                259

taste.  Their active properties reside in the  testa or husk, and they should
not, therefore, be bruised in the preparation of the wine or tincture.*   Dr.
Williams, of Ipswich in England, who first brought them into notice, recom-
mends 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  have this  advantage, that  they  are not
liable  to  become  injured  by drying—an advantage of peculiar  value  in  a
country  where  the  plant is not cultivated, and where  the bulb cannot be
readily procured in the fresh  state.  A  wine  of the seeds is directed in the
United States Pharmacopoeia.  Their  dose  is about  the same with that of
the bulb.
   Off. Prep.   Tinctura Colchici Composita, Lond.;  Tinct. Colchici Semi-
nis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Vinum Colchici Seminis, U. S.       W.


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

                               Colocynth.

   " The fruit of Cucumis  Colocynthis deprived of its rind."  U.S.  " Cu-
cumis Colocynthis. Peponum  Pulpa  exsiccata." Lond.   " Pulp  of  the
fruit of  Cucumis Colocynthis." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  CUCUMIS  COLOCYNTHIS.  Fructus  pulpa.  Dub.
   Coloquintida ; Coloquinte, Fr.; Coloquinte, Coloquintenapfel, Germ.; Coloquintida, Ital.,
Span.
   Cucumis. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Cucurbitaceae.
    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. Med. Bot. p.
 189. t. 71.   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 are  of a triangular shape, many-cleft, variously  sinuated, obtuse,
 hairy, of a fine green  colour  on the upper  surface, rough and  pale on the
 under;  and stand alternately  upon long petioles.  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  contains,
 within a hard, coriaceous  rind, a white spongy medullary matter, enclosing
 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  oi Lower India, particularly in sandy  situations  near  the  sea.   It  is
 said to be cultivated in Spain.
   * 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.
 Integuments, simple, soft, spongy, membranaceous, thin, reddish-brown, closely adherent
 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,ot 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 real characters of
 the seeds is the more necessary, as the seeds of other plants have been sold  for them. 
260
Colocynthis.
PART I.
  The fruit is gathered in autumn, when it begins to assume a yellow colour,
and, having been peeled, is dried quickly, either in a stove  or by the sun.
Thus prepared  it is imported  from the  Levant.   Pereira states  that very
small quantities are imported into England from Mogador unpeeled.*
  Properties.   As kept in the shops, colocynth is in the shape of  whitish
balls about the size of a small  orange, very light and  spongy,^ and abound-
ing in seeds which constitute three-fourths of their  weight.   The seeds are
somewhat bitier; but possess little activity, and, according to  Captain Lyon,
are even used as food in Northern Africa.   When the  medicine is prepared
for use, they are separated and rejected, the pulpy or  medullary matter only
being employed. This has a very feeble odour, but a nauseous and intensely
bitter taste.    Water and alcohol extract its virtues.   Vauquelin obtained the
bitter principle in a separate  stale  and called it  colocynthin.   According
to Meissner,  100  parts of the  dry pulp of colocynth  contain 14-4 parts of
colocynthin, 100  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), 17*6 of gummy
extract  derived from the lignin by means of potassa, 2-7  of phosphate of
lime, 3-0 of  phosphate of magnesia, and  19-0 of  lignin,  besides water.
(Berzelius, Fruit,  de  Chim.)   Colocynthin is obtained by boiling the pulp
in water, evaporating the decoction,  treating the extract  thus procured with
alcohol,  evaporating the alcoholic solution, and submitting the residue, which
consists  of the bitter principle  and acetate of potassa, to  the action of a little
cold water, which dissolves  the latter and leaves the  greater  part of the
former untouched.   It is yellowish-brown, sumewhat translucent, brittle and
friable, inflammable, more soluble in alcohol  than in water, but capable of
imparting to the latter an intense bitterness.  The aqueous solution gives with
infusion of  galls an abundant white precipitate.  An  infusion of colocynth,
made with  boiling water, has a golden-yellow colour, and gelatinizes upon
cooling.  Neumann obtained from 768 parts of the pulp, treated first with alco-
hol and afterwards with water, 168 partsof alcoholicand 216of 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 pow-
der. (Christison.)  Even in moderate closes  it sometimes acts with much
harshness,  and is  therefore seldom prescribed alone.   By some  writers it
is stated to  be diuretic.  It was frequently employed by the ancient Greeks
and the  Arabians,  though its  drastic nature  was not  unknown  to them.
Among  the moderns it is occasionally used, especially by the German prac-
titioners, in obstinate  cases of  dropsy, and various affections depending on
disordered action in the brain.   In combination with other  cathartics it loses
much of its violence,  but retains its  purgative  energy;  and in this state is
very extensively  employed.    The  compound  extract of colocynth  is  a
favourite preparation with many practitioners ; and, combined with calomel,
extract of jalap, and gamboge, it forms a  highly efficient and safe  cathartic,

    * 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 watermelon
had been successfully cultivated in that place, and yielded a bitter fruit having the me-
dicinal virtues of colocynth. With the letter came also some seeds of the plant, and a por-
tion 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 au'hor, produced vigorous
plants, which perfected their fruit.   The plant appeared intermediate between .the coloj.
 cynth and watermelon. The fruit was globular, about four inches in diameter, green like
 the watermelon externally, having the same odour when cut, hut of an extremely b tter
 taste.  A portion of the pulp was dried ; but we have not yet had an opportunity of testing
 its virtues. 
part i.                Colocynthis.—Colomba.                    261

especially applicable in congestion of the  portal circle and torpidity of the
liver.  (See  Piltilx  Catharlicx  Compositx.)  The  dose of colocynth is
from five to ten grains.  It is best administered in a state of minute division
effected by trituration with gum or farinaceous matter.
  Thunberg states that the fruit of the C. Colocynthis, at the Cape of Good
Hope, is rendered so mild by being properly pickled, that it is eaten both by
the natives and colonists; but, as it is thus employed before attaining  perfect
maturity, it  is  possible that the drastic  principle  may not have been de-
veloped.
  Off. Prep.  Extractum Colocynthidis, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Extract. Colo-
cynth. Comp., U.S., Lond., Dub.; Pilulse Colocynth. Comp., Dub., Ed.
                                                                 W.

                        COLOMBA. U.S.

                              Columbo.

   " The root of Cocculus palmatus." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  CALUMBA.  Cocculus palmatus.  Radix.  Lond.; CALUM-
BA.  Root of Cocculus palmatus. Ed.; COLOMBA. Radix.  Dub.
   Colombo, Fr.; Columbowurzel, Germ.; Columba, Ital.; Raiz de  Columbo, Span.; Ka-
lumbo, Port.; Calumb, Mozambique.
   The columbo plant was  imperfectly known till within a  recent  period.
Flowering specimens  of a  plant gathered by Commerson, about  the year
1770, in the garden of M. Poivre in the Isle  of France, and sent to Europe
with that botanist's  collection, were examined by Lamarck, and described
under the name of Menispermum palmatum.  But  its original locality was
unknown, and it was only conjectured to  be the source of columbo.    In the
year 1805, M. Fortin, while engaged in purchasing the root as an'article of
trade in Mozambique, obtained possession of  a living offset,  which  he took
to Madras, and which, being planted in the garden of Dr. Anderson, produced
a male plant.   This was figured and described by Dr. Berry, without any
knowledge of the previous description of Lamarck.   From the drawing thus
made, the plant was  referred to the natural family of the Menispermese; but,
as the female flowers were wanting, some difficulty was experienced in fixing
its precise botanical position.  De Candolle,  who probably had the opportu-
nity of examining Commerson's specimens, did indeed  give its generic and
specific character; but confessed that he was  not acquainted with the struc-
ture 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.
(Curtis's  Botan. Mag., vol. 4. pi. 2970.)  The  genus  Cocculus, in  which
the plant is now placed, was separated by De  Candolle from Menispermum,
and  includes those species which have six stamens, while the  Menispermum
is limited to those with twelve or more.
  Cocculus.  Sex. Syst. Dioecia Hexandria.—Nat. Ord. Menispermaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Sepals and Petals ternate, usually in two, rarely in three rows.
Stamens  six,  distinct, opposite the  petals.   Drupes berried,  1-6, generally
oblique, reniform, somewhat compressed, one-seeded.  Cotyledons distant.
De Cand.
   Cocculus palmatus.  De  Cand.  Syst. Veg.'\. 523;  Woodv.  Med. Bot.
3d ed. vol. 5. p. 21.   This is  a climbing plant, with  a  perennial  root, con-
sisting  of several fasciculated, fusiform, somewhat curved, and descending
tubers, of the thickness of an infant's arm.  The stems, of which one or two
proceed from the same root,  are twining, simple in the male plant, branched 
262
Colomba.
part r.
 in the female, round, hairy, and about as thick as the little finger.   The
 leaves,  which stand on  rounded, glandular-hairy  footstalks, are alternate,
 distant,  cordate,  with  three, five, or seven  entire,  acuminate, wavy, some-
 what  hairy lobes, and as many nerves, each of which runs into  one of the
 lobes.   The flowers are  small and inconspicuous, and are arranged in  soli-
 tary axillary racemes,  which, in the male  plant, are compound, in  the female,
 simple,  and in both shorter than the leaves.
   This  species of Cocculus is a native of Mozambique, on the south-eastern
 coast of Africa, where it grows wild  in great abundance  in the  thick forests
 which extend from the sea many miles  into the interior.   It is never culti-
 vated.   The root is dug up in  March, when dry weather prevails.  From
 the base of the root numerous fusiform offsets proceed, less fibrous  and woody
 than the  parent  stock.  These offsets are separated and cut into transverse
 slices, which  are dried in the shade.   The old root  is rejected.
   Columbo is a  staple export of the  Portuguese from their dominions in the
 South East of Africa.   It is taken to  India, and thence distributed to various
 parts  of the world.  It  was formerly supposed to be a product of Ceylon,
 and to have derived its name from Colombo, a city of that Island, from which
 it was thought to be exported.  It is possible that, when the Portuguese were
 in possession of  Ceylon, Colombo may  have been the entrepot for the drug
 brought  from Africa, and thus have given origin to its name.   Some, how-
 ever, consider a more probable derivation to be from the word calumb, which
 is said to be the  Mozambique name for the root.
   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 distinguisha-
 ble from  the cortical, is light, spongy, yellowish, usually more or less shrunk,
 so that the pieces are thinnest in the centre; and is  frequently marked with
 concentric circles and radiating lines.   Those  pieces are  to be preferred
 which have the brightest colour, are most compact and uniform  in their tex-
 ture, and least worm-eaten.   The odour of columbo is  slightly aromatic.
 The taste  is very bitter,  that of the cortical  much more so than  that of the
 central portion, which is somewhat mucilaginous.   The root is brittle,  and
 easily  pulverized.  The powder has a  greenish tinge, which becomes browner
 with  age and  deepens when it  is moistened.  As it attracts moisture from
 the air, and is apt to undergo decomposition, it should  be prepared  in small
 quantities at a time.
   M. Planche analyzed columbo in 1811, and found it to contain a peculiar
azotized  substance  in large quantity,  a bitter  yellow substance  not precipi-
tated by  metallic  salts, and  one-third  of  its weight of starch.   He obtained
also a small proportion of essential oil, salts  of  lime and potassa,  oxide of
iron, and silica.   Wittstock, of  Berlin, afterwards  isolated a peculiar crys-
tallizable principle,  in which  the bitterness resides, and for which  he proposed
the name of colombin.  (Journ. de Pharm., Fevrier, 1831.)  It appears to be
the bitter yellow  substance of Planche, deprived of a portion of colouring
matter.  Colombin  crystallizes in beautiful transparent quadrilateral  prisms,
is without smell,  and is extremely bitter.  It is but very slightly  soluble in
water,  alcohol, or ether, at ordinary temperatures, and  yet imparts  to these
fluids  a  strongly bitter taste.  It  is more soluble in boiling alcohol, which
deposits  it upon cooling.   The best solvent is diluted acetic acid.   It is taken
up by alkaline solutions, from which it is precipitated by acids. It has neither 
PART I.
Colomba.
263
acid nor alkaline properties, and  its alcoholic and  acetic solutions are not
affected by the metallic salts, or the  infusion of galls.   It is obtained by ex-
hausting columbo by means of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-835, distilling off three-
quarters of the alcohol, allowing the residue to stand for some days till crystals
are deposited, and lastly treating these crystals with alcohol and animal char-
coal.   The mother waters still contain a considerable  quantity of colombin,
which may be separated by evaporating with coarsely powdered glass to dry-
ness,  exhausting the residue with ether, distilling off  the ether, treating the
residue with  boiling acetic acid, and evaporating  the solution so that crystals
may form.  Colombin  is thought to be the active  principle of columbo.  The
virtues of the root  are extracted  by boiling water and by alcohol.   Precipi-
tates are produced  with the infusion and tincture by the  infusion of galls,
the acetate and subacetate of lead, corrosive chloride of mercury, and lime-
water;  but the bitter principle is not affected by these reagents.
   Adulterations.   In  France, a  spurious  columbo was some years since
extensively substituted for the genuine  root, which, according to  Guibourt,
had become  rare in the commerce of that  country.   As  it may possibly be
introduced into our market, it  is desirable that our druggists should be  put
in possession of the characters by which it may be distinguished.  Though
similar to columbo in  appearance, it is different in properties, and is  there-
fore truly a sophistication.  It is said to be  taken  to France from Barbary;
but the plant which yields it  is not known.   Though in round  slices  like
the genuine root, it has an epidermis  of a gray-fawn  colour, marked with
close  and parallel circular stria?;  its transverse surfaces  are  irregularly de-
pressed ;  the medullary portion  is  of a yellowish-orange,  with  a deeper-
coloured circle; the smell is weak like that of gentian, the taste feebly bitter
and rather saccharine; the powder is of a yellow-fawn instead of a greenish
colour; but the most striking  difference is  the total absence of starch, which
constitutes one-third of columbo.   Iodine therefore  is an excellent test.  If
the true columbo be moistened with hot water, and touched with iodine, it
immediately  assumes  a blackish colour; while the spurious root, treated in
the same way, undergoes  no  change.   The latter differs also in communi-
cating a fine  yellow colour to  ether,  in evolving ammonia when treated with
caustic potassa, and in reddening in infusion the tincture of litmus.   It is
said that the root of white bryony, tinged yellow with the tincture of columbo,
has sometimes been fraudulently substituted ; but the adulteration is too gross
to deceive those acquainted with the characters  of either of these drugs.
American columbo, which is the root of the Frasera Walteri, is  said to be
sold in some  parts of Europe  for the genuine.   Independently of the sensi-
ble 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 precipitate with  tincture of
galls, the tincture of frasera acquires a dark green with the former  reagent,
and is not affected by the latter. (Duncan.)
   Medical Properties  and Uses.   Columbo is  among the most useful of
the mild tonics.   Without astringency, with very little stimulating power,
and generally acceptable to the stomach, it answers  admirably as  a remedy
in simple dyspepsia, and  in those states of debility which  are apt to attend
convalescence from acute disorders,  especially when the alimentary canal is
left in an enfeebled  condition.   Hence it is often prescribed in the declining
stages of remittent  fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, cholera  morbus, and cholera
infantum.  The  absence  of irritating  properties renders  it also  an appro-
priate tonic in the  hectic  fever of phthisis, and its kindred  affections.  It
has been highly recommended in vomiting, unconnected  with inflammation 
264
Colomba.— Conii Folia.
PART I.
 of the  stomach, as in the sickness  of pregnant women.   It is frequently
 administered in combination with other  tonics,  with aromatics, with mild
 cathartics, and  with  antacids.   The remedy  which we have  found most
 effectual in the permanent cure of a disposition to the accumulation of flatus
 in  the bowels, is an infusion made with half an ounce  of columbo,  half an
 ounce of  ginger, a drachm of senna,  and  a pint of boiling water, and given
 in  the dose of a wineglassful three times a day.  Columbo is much used by
 the natives of Mozambique, and the neighbouring parts of Africa, in dysen-
 tery 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
 Colombx.) The dose  of the powder is  from ten to thirty grains,  and may be
 repeated three or four times a day. It is frequently combined with powdered
 ginger, carbonate of iron,  and rhubarb.
   Off. Prep.  Infusum Colombae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Ferri
 Aromatica, Dub.; Tinctura Colombae,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.       W.



                  CONII FOLIA.  U.S.,  Lond,

                         Hemlock Leaves.

   " The leaves of Conium maculatum."  U.S.   " Conium maculatum. Fo-
 lia."  Jjond.
   Off. Syn.  CONIUM.  Leaves  of  Conium maculatum. Ed.;  CONIUM
 MACULATUM. Folia. Dub.


                     CONII SEMEN.  U.S.

                           Hemlock Seed.

   " The seeds of Conium maculatum." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  CONII FRUCTUS. Conium maculatum. Fructus. Lond.
  Cigue' ordinaire, Grande cigue, Fr.; Gefleckter Schierling, Germ.; Cicuta, Ital.; Span.
  Conium.   Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiacese or Um-
 belliferae.
   Gen. Ch. Partial  Involucre  halved, usually three-leaved.  Fruit  nearly
 globular, five-streaked^ notched on both sides. Willd.
   Conium maculatum. Willd.  Sp.  Plant, i.  1395; Bigelow,  Am. Med.
 Bot.  i.  113; Woodv.  Med. Bot.  p. 104. t. 42.  This ?s an umbelliferous
 plant, having a biennial spindle-shaped  whitish root, and an herbaceous branch-
 ing 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  in-
 serted at the divisions  of the branches;  both have channeled foot-stalks, and
incised leaflets, which  are deep green on their upper surface and paler beneath.
The flowers  are very small,  white, and disposed in  compound  terminal
umbels.   The general involucre consists of from  three  to seven lanceolate,
reflected leaflets, whitish  at  their edges;  the partial  involucre, of three  or
four, oval, pointed, spreading, and on  one side only. The petals are cordate,
with their points inflected,  five in number, and  nearly equal.  The stamens
are spreading, and about as long as the corolla; the styles diverging.  The
fruit is roundish ovate, a line and a half or rather less  in length by a line  in 
 part i.               Conii Folia.— Conii Semen.                  265

 breadth, striated, and composed of two plano-convex, easily separable parts,
 which have on their outer surface five crenated ribs.
   The hemlock is a native of Europe, and has been introduced into the Uni-
 ted States, where it is now naturalized.   It  grows usually in bunches along
 the road sides or in  waste  grounds, and is found most abundantly in the
 neighbourhood of old settlements. Its flowers appear in June and July. The
 whole plant,  especially at this period, exhales a fetid odour,  compared  by
 some to that  of  mice,  by others to that  of the urine of cats; and  narcotic
 effects are experienced by those who breathe for a longtime air impregnated
 with the effluvia.  The plant varies  in narcotic  power according to the cli-
 mate and character of the weather, being most active in hot and dry seasons,
 and in warm  countries.  The hemlock  of Greece, Italy, and  Spain is said
 to be much more energetic than that of the North of Europe.  As a general
 rule, those  plants are  most  active which  grow in a sunny exposure.   The
 term cicuta, which till recently was very often applied to this plant, belongs
 to a different genus.   Both the leaves and fruit are officinal.
   The proper season for gathering the leaves is when the plant is  in flower;
 and Dr. Folhergiil asserts, from experimental knowledge, that they are most
 active about the time when the flowers begin to fade.  The  footstalks should
 be rejected, and the leaflets quickly dried, either in the hot sun, on tin  plates
 before a fire, or by a stove  heat not  exceeding 120° F.   They  should  be
 kept in boxes or tin cases, excluded as  much as possible  from  the air and
 light, by exposure to which  they lose their fine green  colour, and  become
 deteriorated in medical  virtues.   The same end  is answered by pulverizino-
 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 are  sometimes  destitute of the
 peculiar narcotic  principle.   When rubbed with  caustic  potassa they should
 exhale the  odour of conia.   The fruit, commonly  called seeds,  retains  its
 activity much longer than the leaves.
   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  somewhat  bitterish  taste.   Their  form has already been de-
 scribed.  Water distilled  from 'the  fresh leaves has the  odour of hemlock,
 and  a very liauseous taste, but does not  produce narcotic effects upon the
 system.  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
 empyreumatic oil.  We have no satisfactory  analysis of hemlock.  Schrader
 found  in the juice of the leaves,  resin,  extractive, gum, albumen, a green
 fecula, and  various saline  substances.   Brandes  obtained from the plant a
 very  odorous  oil, albumen, resin, colouring matter, and  salts,  and believed
 that he had discovered a peculiar alkaline principle; but there is good reason
 to think that he was mistaken; as the principle which he described is essen-
tially different from that which subsequent experiment has proved to exist in
the plant.
    24 
266
Conii Folia.— Conii Semen.
PART I.
   So long  ago as 1827,  Giseke obtained an  alkaline liquid by distilling
hemlock leaves with water and caustic lime; but he  did not succeed in  iso-
lating the substance in which this alkalinity resided.   Geiger was undoubt-
edly the first who obtained the active principle in a separate state, and proved
it to possess alkaline properties.   It appears that there are two volatile sub-
stances  in hemlock, one of them an  oil,  which comes over by simple distil-
lation, 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 state  of combination, rises readily  in distillation, and may
thus be  procured  separate.   This latter  substance is the active  principle of
the plant, and merits  the name  of conia which has been conferred upon it.
Coneine, conine, conicine, and  cicutine are synonymes,  which have been
adopted  by different  writers ; but the name first  mentioned is  that which
accords  with  the nomenclature of  the vegetable alkalies generally recognised
in England and  this country.  What is  the state of combination'in which it
exists in the plant is not certainly known ; but it is  probably united with an
acid,  as it may be separated by the reaction  of  the alkalies.   This acid
Peschier believed to be peculiar, and  named comic 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 anhy-
drous 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.    Caustic  soda  or  lime might be substituted
for potassa in the first distillation.   According to Dr. Christison, an easier
process is to  distil cautiously a mixture of strong solution of potassa and the
alcoholic extract of the unripe fruit.   The alkaloid  is  obtained floating  like
an oil upon the surface of the  water in the receiver.  As  obtained by the
above processes, conia is in the  state of a hydrate, containing one-fourth of
its weight of water and a little ammonia.   From the  former, it may be freed
by chloride of calcium, from the  latter,  by exposing it under an exhausted
receiver till it ceases to emit  bubbles of gas.
   The  fresh  leaves or seeds  should be employed in the preparation of conia;
as the alkali appears to undergo decomposition by time and exposure.  The
seeds contain  most of this principle; but even in these it exists in very small
proportion.   From six pounds  of the fresh and  nine pounds  of the dried
seeds, Geiger obtained about an ounce of conia; while  from  one hundred
pounds of the fresh herb  he got only a drachm, and from the  dried leaves
could obtain none of the alkali.   Christison recommends the full grown  fruit
while yet green ;  and states that eight  pounds will  yield half an ounce of
hydrate of conia, and contains much more. (Dispensatory.)  Some  doubts
were at one time thrown upon the accuracy of Geiger's conclusions as to the
nature of conia, which was supposed to owe its alkalinity to the presence of
ammonia; but the experiments of MM.  Boutron and  Henry have satisfacto-
rily settled the question in favour of  its  claims to be considered as a peculiar
organic alkali.
   Conia is in the form of a yellowish,  oily liquid, lighter than  water,  of  a
strong  and penetrating odour, recalling that  of  fresh  hemlock yet  not iden-
tical  with it, and of a very acrid taste.  In volatility it resembles the essen-
tial oils, readily rising with the  vapour of boiling  water, but when unmixed,
requiring for ebullition, according to  Christison,  a temperature of 370°.   It 
PART I.
Conii Folia.— Conii Semen.
267
is freely soluble in alcohol, ether, the fixed and volatile oils, and slightly so
in water.   It unites  with about one-fourth of water to form a hydrate.   It
reddens turmeric, and neutralizes the acids, forming with them soluble salts,
some of which  are  crystallizable.   With  tannic  acid it forms an insoluble
compound.   Like ammonia  it emits a white cloud, when approached by a
rod  moistened  with muriatic acid.   When exposed to the air, it speedily
becomes of a deep brown colour, and is ultimately converted  into a resinous
matter, and into ammonia which escapes.   Under the influence of heat  this
change takes place  with much  greater  rapidity.   Its presence may  be  de-
tected in  an extract or other preparation  of hemlock  by  rubbing  it with
potassa,  which  instantly develops  its  peculiar odour.   In  ultimate com-
position  it  is analogous to the other organic  alkalies, containing nitrogen,
carbon, hydrogen,  and oxygen.  In its  effects  on  the  system  it  closely
resembles  hemlock  itself.   Dr. Christison found it,  contrary to  the expe-
rience of Geiger, even more active in  the saline state, than  when  uncom-
bined.  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, from
whose paper these facts are derived, (Trans. Ed. Roy.  Soc, 1836,) is of the
opinion that it acts upon the spinal marrow, directly prostrating the  nervous
power, and thus producing paralysis of the voluntary muscles, which, invad-
ing  the organs of respiration, destroys  life by  arresting this  process.  The
brain does  not seem to be  especially attacked  ; as the  animal, when it  dies
slowly, preserves its senses unimpaired so long  as it breathes.  In cases of
sudden death from the poison, the heart does not cease to act till after appa-
rent death;  and its  action  may be  sustained after the  animal has ceased to
breathe by  keeping  up artificial respiration. Experiments  made upon  ani-
mals with  a recently prepared extract  of hemlock produced precisely the
same phenomena as those  which followed the  use of conia.  Locally the
 alkali appears  to act as an irritant.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Hemlock  is narcotic,  without being
 decidedly stimulant or sedative to the circulation.   Mr. Judd, however, has
 inferred from  his experiments that it  directly diminishes the action of the
heart, and when it produces  death, contrary to the results obtained by
Christison, exhausts the contractility of that organ. (Medico-Bot.  Trans.,
vol. i. pt. 4.)  These conclusions require confirmation.  When given so as
fully to affect the systemdt produces more or less vertigo, dimness of vision,
nausea, faintness, and general  muscular debility.  In  larger doses  it occa-
sions dilated pupils,  difficulty of speech, delirium  or stupor, tremors  and
paralysis,  and ultimately convulsions and even  death.   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 was not  again brought  into notice  till the
time of Storck, by whom  it was much  employed  and  extravagantly praised.
 Since that period it has been  submitted to ample trial, and, though its ori-
ginal  reputation has not been  fully sustained, it  still  retains a  place in the
catalogue  of useful medicines.  Anodyne, soporific  antispasmodic, anta-
phrodisiac, deobstruent, and diuretic properties  have  been  ascribed to it;
though its  claims to the possession of so  many virtues  have not been  well
established.  It was highly  recommended by Stb'rck as a remedy in  scir-
rhus and cancerous ulcers, but at  present is only considered a useful pallia-
 tive in this complaint.  In mammary tumours and chronic enlargements of 
268
Conii Folia.— Contrayerva.
PART I.
the liver and other abdominal viscera;  in painful scrofulous tumours and
ulcers;  in various diseases of the skin, as leprosy and elephantiasis; in the
complicated derangement of health  attendant upon secondary  syphilis; in
chronic rheumatism and neuralgic affections ; in excessive secretion of milk ;
in pertussis, asthma, chronic catarrh, and cpnsumption; and in various other
disorders connected with nervous derangement, or a general depraved state
of the health, it is occasionally employed wjth the effect of relieving or pal-
liating the  symptoms, or favourably modifying the action of remedies with
which it is  combined.   Dr. Gibson, professor of Surgery in the  University
of Pennsylvania, speaks highly of its efficacy in the  cure of goitre.  (See
Phil. Journ. of the Med. and Phys. Sci.,  i. 67.)
   The  powdered leaves, and the inspissated juice (the extract of the Phar-
macopoeias), 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 in-
stances, the quantity administered in one day has been augmented to more
than two ounces.  The strength of the preparations of hemlock is exceed-
ingly 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 resulted from a neglect of this precaution.   There is  also an officinal
tincture and an alcoholic extract, both of which, when properly prepared, are
efficient preparations.  The fresh juice of the plant has been recommended
by Hufeland in the dose of from twelve to forty drops.  The powdered seeds
may be employed in a dose somewhat smaller than that of the leaves. Cullen
states that an extract prepared from them is stronger  than that of the plant.
The fresh  leaves are sometimes used externally as an anodyne  cataplasm;
and the extract, and an ointment  prepared from the leaves, are applied to the
same purpose.
   Though fatal to some animals, hemlock is eaten with impunity by others,
as horses, goats, and sheep.  The  best method of  relieving  its poisonous
effects, is the speedy evacuation of the stomach.
   Off. Prep.  Cataplasma  Conii,  Isond., Dub.; Extractum  Conii,  U.S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.; Extract.  Conii Alcoholicum, U. S.;  Tinctura  Conii,
 U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Unguentum Conii, Dub.                  W.


             CONTRAYERVA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                            Contrayerva.

   " The root of Dorstenia Contrayerva."  U. S.
   Off.  Syn. CONTRAJERVA.  Dorstenia Contrajerva. Radix. Lond.
   Contrayerva, Fr.;  Giftwurzel, Germ.; Contrajerva, Ital; Contrayerba, Span.
   Dorstenia.  Sex. Syst. Tetandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord. Urticaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Receptacle common, one-leafed, fleshy, in which solitary seeds
 are nestled. Willd.
   The root  known by the name  of contrayerva is believed to be derived
 from several species of Dorstenia, among which, besides the D. Contrayerva,
 two others are mentioned by Dr. Houston, the D. Houstonia, and D. Drak-
 ena, the former growing near Campeachy, the latter  near Vera Cruz.  It is 
part i.        Contrayerva.— Convolvulus Panduratus.           269

referred by  Dr. Martius also to the  D. Brasiliensis,  growing in Jamaica,
Trinidad, and  Brazil.  The D. Contrayerva is  the  only one  recognised in
the Pharmacopoeias.
   Dorstenia Contrayerva. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 682; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
705. t. 240.  This plant has a perennial, fusiform, branching, rough, com-
pact root or rhizoma, which sends up several  leaves of an irregular shape,
about four inches in  length, lobed, serrated, pointed, and placed upon  long
radical footstalks, which are winged  towards  the leaves.   The scapes or
flower-stems are  also  radical,  rise  several inches  in height, and  support
irregular quadrangular receptacles, which contain male and female flowers,
the former having two stamens, the latter a single style.   The capsule, when
ripe, possesses an elastic power, by which the  seeds  are thrown out  with
considerable force.
   The  plant  grows in Mexico, the  West  Indies, and Peru.   The  root
(rhizoma) is the officinal portion.  According  to  Pereira, however, the con-
trayerva of the shops is not the product of the species above described, but
of the D. Brasiliensis, and is brought from Brazil.   The term  contrayerba,
in the language of the  Spanish  Americans, signifies counterpoison or anti-
dote, and was  applied to this root under  the impression  that it has  the pro-
perty 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 tuberous  portion.  The sensible properties are extracted by
alcohol  and  boiling water.   The decoction is of a dark brownish-red colour,
and highly mucilaginous.   The tincture reddens  infusion of litmus, and  lets
fall  a  precipitate on the addition of water.   The  root has  not  yet  been
analyzed, but  is known to contain starch and a volatile oil.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Contrayerva is a stimulant  tonic and dia-
phoretic, and has been given in low states of  fever, malignant eruptive  dis-
eases, some forms of dysentery and diarrhoea, and  other diseases  requiring
gentle stimulation.   It is  very  seldom used in  this country.   The  dose of
the powdered  root is about  half a drachm.                          W.

  CONVOLVULUS   PANDURATUS. U.S. Secondary.

                            Wild Potato.

   " The root of Convolvulus panduratus." U. S.
   Convolvulus. See SCAMMONIUM.
   Convolvulus panduratus. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 850; Barton, Med. Bot. i.
249.  The wild potato has a perennial root, and a round, purplish, procum-
bent or climbing stem, which twines around neighbouring objects, and grows
sometimes  twelve feet in length.   The leaves, which stand alternately on
long petioles,  are broad, heart-shaped at the base, entire, or lobed  on the
sides like a  guitar or violin, somewhat acuminate, deep  green on the upper
surface and paler beneath.   The flowers are in fascicles  upon long axillary
peduncles.   The calyx is smooth and awnless ; the corolla,  tubular campanu-
late, very large, white at the border, but purplish-red at the base.
   The plant is indigenous,  growing throughout  the United States in sandy
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.
                                  24* 
270             Convolvulus Panduratus.— Copaiba.          part i.

  The root, which is the  officinal part, is  very large, two or  three  feet in
length, about three inches thick, branched  at the bottom, externally  of a
brownish-yellow colour and full of longitudinal fissures, internally whitish
and milky, and of a somewhat acrid taste.  Pursh  says  that he  has seen a
root as thick as a man's thigh.
  Medical Properties.   The wild potato is feebly cathartic, and has been
proposed as a substitute for  jalap, but is  scarcely used.  It is  thought  also
to be somewhat diuretic, and has been employed, with supposed  advantage,
in strangury and  calculous complaints.   Forty grains of the  dried root are
said to purge gently.   Perhaps an extract might  be found more effectual.
                  COPAIBA. U. S., Lond.,  Ed.

                               Copaiba.

   " The juice of Copaifera officinalis and other species of Copaifera." U. S.
"  Copaifera Langsdorffii. Resina liquida." Lond. " Fluid resinous  exuda-
tion of various species of Copaifera. Copaiva." Ed.
   Off. Syn. COPAIFERA OFFICINALIS. Resina liquida. Dub.
   Balsam of Copaiva;  Baume  de  copahu, Fr.; Copaiva-Balsam, Germ. ; Balsamo di
copaiba, Ital.; Balsamo de copay va, Span.
   Copaifera.   Sex.  Syst.  Decandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Legumino-
sae, Jussieu.   Amyridaceae,  Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx none. Petals four.  Legume  ovate. Seed one, with an
ovate arillus. Willd.
   The first notice  to be found of the copaiba  plant is that  by Marcgrav and
Piso in the year 1648.  Jacquin in 1763  described a species of Copaifera,
which grew in the  Island of Martinique, and which  he named C. officinalis,
from the fact that it afforded this resinous juice.  As this was believed to be
the same plant with  that observed  by  Marcgrav  in Brazil,  it was adopted
without hesitation in  the Pharmacopoeias ;  but their  identity  is now denied;
and Desfontaines has proposed for the officinal species  the title of C. Jac-
quini, in honour of the botanist who originally described it.    From  recent
observation and  discoveries  it appears, that numerous  species of Copaifera
exist in Brazil and  other parts of South America,  all of which, according to
Martius, yield copaiba.  Besides the C. officinalis  or  C.  Jacquini, the fol-
lowing  are  described  by Hayne ;—C.  Guianensis,  C.  Langsdorffii, C.
coriacea, C. Beyrichii, C. Martii, C. bijuga, C.  nitida, C.  laxa, C. cordi-
folia,  C. Jussieui,  C.  Sellowii,  C. oblongifolia, and  C. multijuga.    Hayne
believes that the C. bijuga is the plant seen by Marcgrav and Piso.
   Copaifera officinalis.  Willd. ii. 630 ;  Woodv. Med.  Bot.  p. 609. t. 216.
C. Jacquini. Desfont. Mem. du Mus. vii.  376; Hayne, Darstel. und Bes-
chreib. fyc. 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 alter-
nate, 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 supported on short footstalks.  The flowers  are whitish, and  disposed
in  terminal branched  spikes.  The fruit is  an  oval, two-valved  pod, contain-
ing a  single seed.
   This species of  Copaifera is a native of Venezuela, and grows in the pro-
vince of Carthagena, mingled with  the trees which  afford the balsam of
Tolu.  It grows also in some of the West India islands, particularly Trini- 
PART I.
Copaiba.
271
dad and Martinique, where it is  said to be naturalized.  Though recognised
in the United States  Pharmacopoeia as one of the sources of the officinal
copaiba, it probably yields little of that now  in use.  Acording to Hayne, the
species from which most of the Copaiba of commerce is derived, is the C.
multijuga, growing in the province of Para.   It is probable that the C. Guia-
nensis, which inhabits  the neighbouring province of Guiana, especially in
the vicinity  of the Rio  Negro, affords also  considerable quantities; and the
C. Langsdorffii and C. coriacea, which are natives of Santo Paulo, are thought
to yield most of the juice collected in the last-mentioned  province.  But the
London College is  certainly in error in ascribing copaiba exclusively to the
C. Langsdorffii; as little of that found in commerce is derived from the region
of country where that species is known to flourish.
   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
until  recently was brought to this country chiefly from the port of Para, in
small  casks or  barrels.  But large quantities of it  are now brought  from
Maracaybo, in Venezuela, and from other ports on the Caribbean sea, whence
it comes in  casks, demijohns, cans, jugs, &c.  Copaiba is also exported  from
the French South American province of Cayenne, from Rio Janeiro, and  from
some of the West India islands;  but  little  reaches the  United States  from
these sources.
   Properties.  Copaiba is a clear, transparent liquid, usually of the consist-
ence  of olive oil, of a pale yellow colour, a peculiar not unpleasant  odour,
and a bitterish,  hot, nauseous taste.   Its specific gravity varies from 0-950
to 1*000.   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 appears to act the part of an
acid.   It dissolves magnesia, especially with the aid of heat, and even dis-
engages 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 Pilulx Copaibx.)   Its essential  constituents  are volatile oil  and resin,
with a minute proportion of an acid which  appears to be the acetic.    (Du-
rand, Journ. of  the Phil. Col. of Pharm., i. 3.)   As it contains no benzoic
acid,  it cannot with  propriety retain its former  title of  balsam of copaiva.
The  substances which  it most closely resembles, both in composition and
properties, are the turpentines.
   The volatile oil, which has been adopted as  officinal  by the Edinburgh
College under the name of Copaiba oleum, constitutes from a third to  one-
half or more of the  copaiba.  It may  be  separated by distillation,  and is
best obtained  by distillation with water.   As it first comes  over it is colour-
less,  but the later  product is of a fine  greenish hue.  By redistillation it
may be rendered wholly colourless.  It  has the odour and  taste of copaiba,
is lighter than water,  boils at about 470° (Christison), is  soluble in ether and
alcohol, absorbs muriatic acid gas and forms with it crystals of artificial  cam-
phor, and when  pure contains no oxygen, being  isomeric with pure oil of
turpentine.   It answers even better than  naphtha for preserving potassium,  a
fact first observed by  Mr. Durand, of Philadelphia. 
272
Copaiba.
PART I.
   The resinous mass which remains is hard, brittle, translucent, of a green-
 ish-brown colour,  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  yel-
 lowish, hard,  and brittle, and  constitutes by far the largest proportion of the
 residuum of the distillation.  It  appears  to possess acid properties;  as its
 alcoholic solution reddens litmus, and  it forms definite compounds with the
 alkalies.  It has therefore received the name of copaivic acid.  The second
 resin is  yellowish-brown, soft, unctuous, and without acid  reaction; and  is
 supposed by Berzelius to result from the  resinification of the volatile oil, as
 it is  more abundant in the old  than  in the recent juice.  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, assumes a deeper colour, a thicker
 consistence, and  greater density, and  if spread out upon an extended sur-
 face, ultimately becomes dry  and brittle.  This change is owing partly to
 the volatilization, partly to the oxidation of the essential oil.   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 ex-
 posure.   Similar differences also exist in the copaiba procured from different
 sources.  Thus, that of the West Indies, when compared  with the Brazi-
 lian,  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; 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 J; and it is
 not impossible that differences may exist in  the juice according to the  cir-
 cumstances of its collection.
  Adulterations.  Copaiba is said to be  frequently adulterated;  but  the
 remark is applicable rather to the markets of Europe than to those of the
 United  States.  The  fixed  oils are the most  frequent addition,  especially
 castor  oil,  which, in consequence of  its  solubility in alcohol,  cannot, like
 the others, be detected by  the agency of this fluid.   Various plans have
 been proposed for ascertaining the presence of castor oil.   The simplest is
 to boil one drachm of the copaiba in a pint of  water, till the liquid is wholly
 evaporated.  If the copaiba contain 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 sometimes occurs in commerce,
 in which this test fails.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 236.) 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 translucent."   The presence of a small proportion of  any 
PART I.
Copaiba.
273
fixed  oil renders the mixture opaque.   Turpentine, which  is said to be
sometimes  added to copaiba, may be detected by its  smell, especially if the
copaiba be  heated.
  Medical  Properties  and  Uses.   Copaiba  is gently stimulant,  diuretic,
laxative, and in very large doses  often actively purgative.  It produces, when
swallowed, a sense  of heat in the  throat and stomach, and extends an irri-
tant 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 mem-
branes, for  which it appears to have a strong affinity.  The  urine acquires
a peculiar odour during 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 a disagreeable itching and tingling sensation.  Nausea and
vomiting, painful purgation, strangury and bloody urine, and  a general  state
of  fever are among the morbid results of  its excessive action.   As a remedy
it has been found most efficient  in the diseases  of the mucous membranes,
particularly such as are of a chronic character.  Thus it is given with  occa-
sional advantage in leucorrhoea, gleet, chronic dysentery, painful hemorrhoid-
al affections, and in  chronic catarrh and  other  forms of  bronchial disease.
By Dr. La Roche, of Philadelphia, it is  highly recommended in catarrh of
the bladder, and  in  chronic irritation of the same  organ. (Am. Journ. of
Med. Scien., xiv. 13.) It has been given with some success 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 inflammatory  symptoms are
high.   Even in health, if taken  largely, it sometimes produces very unplea-
sant  irritation  of the urinary passages, and, by sympathy, of the  testicles.
It was  formerly highly esteemed  as a vulnerary, and  as  an  application to
ulcers; but is  now seldom used  externally.  Dr. Ruschenberger, of the
U. S. navy, strongly recommends it as a local application in chilblains. (Med.
 Examiner, i. 77.)
    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 concealment of its  nauseous qualities  necessary.  It  is some-
times given floating on the  surface  of some 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 afterwards with water impregnated with some
 aromatic essential oil, as that of mint  or cinnamon.   The volatile oil may
be used in the dose of ten or  fifteen drops, and probably  with  the same ef-
fects as the copaiba, of which it is the active ingredient.   It  may be admin-
istered dropped on  sugar, or  in the form of emulsion.   The  resin, which
has been proposed  as a substitute,  is nearly inert.  The pills made by means
 of magnesia may  sometimes be  resorted to with  advantage;  and it has
recently become the fashion to  administer copaiba enclosed  in  capsules of
 gelatin, which completely cover the taste, while they are readily dissolved
 in  the liquors  of the stomach.  (See Glue, in the Appendix.)  Velpeau 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. Piluke Copaibas, U. S.; Oleum Copaibae, Ed.           W. 
274
Coptis.
PART I.
                   COPTIS.  U.S. Secondary.

                             Goldthread.

  " The root of Coptis trifolia."  U. S.
  Coptis.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat.  Ord. Ranunculaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx none. Petals five or six, caducous.  Nectaries five or six,
cucullate. Capsules 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  bears considerable resemblance  to  the  strawberry in
size and general aspect.   It has a perennial  creeping  root, the slenderness
and bright yellow colour of which have given rise to the name  of gold-
thread, by which the  plant is commonly known.   The caudex, from which
the  petioles  and flower-stems proceed, is  invested with  ovate, acuminate,
yellowish, imbricated scales.   The leaves, which stand on long slender foot-
stalks, are ternate, with firm, rounded or obovate,  sessile leaflets, having an
acute base, a lobed and acuminately crenate margin, and  a smooth veined
surface.  The scape or flower stem is slender, round, rather longer than the
leaves, and surmounted by one small white flower, with a  minute mucronate
bracte  beneath it.  The petals are  oblong, concave, and of a white colour;
the  nectaries inversely conical, hollow, and yellow at the  top.  The stamens
have capillary  filaments and globose anthers.  The germs are from five to
eight,  stipitate,  oblong,  compressed,  and  surmounted by short  recurved
styles,, with acute  stigmas.   The capsules,  which diverge  in a  star-like
form are pedicelled, compressed, beaked, and contain numerous 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  blos-
soms 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 portion directed
by the Pharmacopoeia.
  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 im-
parts its bitterness and yellow colour to  water and alcohol, but most perfectly
to the  latter, with which it forms a  bright yellow tincture.   Its virtues appear
to depend on  a bitter extractive  matter, which is  precipitated by  nitrate of
silver and acetate of lead.  (Bigelow.)   It affords no evidence of containing
either  resin, gum, or tannin.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  It 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 much em-
ployed 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
all the simple  bitters.   It may be  given internally in substance, infusion, or
tincture.  The dose of the powder is from ten to thirty grains, of  a tincture
prepared by macerating  an ounce of the root in  a pint  of diluted alcohol,
one fluidrachm. 
PART I.
Coptis.— Coriandrum.
275
  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 people of  that country and
by the Chinese.   It appears to  be closely analogous  in properties to the C.
trifolia. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  ix. 196.)                          W.


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

                              Coriander.

  "The fruit of Coriandrum sativum." U.S., Ed.  "Coriandrum sativum.
J^TtfCftZS    T 071(l
   Off. Syn. CORIANDRUM  SATIVUM. Semina. Dub.
   Coriandre, Fr.; Koriander, Germ.; Coriandro, Ital.; Ciluntro, Span.
   Coriandrum  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiaceae or
Umbelliferae.                                »
   Gen. Ch. Corolla radiate.  Petals inflex-emarginate.  Universal involucre
one-leafed.  Partial involucres halved. Fruit spherical. Willd.
   Coriandrum sativum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1448;  Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.
137. t. 53.  This is an annual  plant, with an erect, round, smooth, branch-
ing stem, which rises about two  feet in height, and is furnished with com-
pound leaves, of  which the upper  are thrice ternate, with linear pointed
leaflets, the lower pinnate, with the pinnae cut into irregular serrated  lobes,
resembling those of common parsley.  The flowers are white or rose-coloured,
and  disposed in compound terminal umbels.   The fruit is globular, and con-
sists of two concave hemispherical portions.
   The C. sativum is a native of Italy, but at present grows wild in most
parts of  Europe,  having  become naturalized in consequence of its extensive
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, as found in the  shops, is globular, about the
eighth of an inch  in diameter,  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 sur-
mounted by the adhering style.   The smell and taste are gratefully aromatic,
and  depend on a volatile oil, which may be obtained  separate by distillation..
They are imparted to alcohol by  maceration, and less readily to water.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Coriander has, in  a moderate degree, the
ordinary medical 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.  Aqua  Calcis  Composita,  Dub.;  Confectio  Sennae,  U.S.,
L.ond., Ed.; Infusum  Gentiana?  Compositum,  U.S., Ed.;  Infusum Sennae,
 U.S.; Infusum Sennae Compositum, Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Rhei  et Sennae,
 U.S.; Tinctura Sennae et Jalapae U.S., Ed.                         W. 
276                 Cornu.— Cornus Circinata.               part i.
                       CORNU. Lond., Ed.

                             Hartshorn.

   " Cervus  Elaphus. Cornu."  Lond.  " Horn of Cervus  Elaphus." Ed.
   Off. Syn. CORNUA CERVINA.  Ramenta. Dub.
   Corne 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 British Colleges, inhabits Europe, Asia,  and the North of Africa.  Those
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 state of shavings, but is very little employed.
   Hartshorn shavings are without  smell and taste, pliable, and of an ivory
yellow colour.   According  to  M. Merat-Guillot, they contain in  100 parts,
27 of gelatin, 57-5 of phosphate of lime, 1  of carbonate of lime, and 14-5
of water including the loss.   Boiling water extracts  their gelatin, forming a
transparent,  colourless jelly, which  may be rendered  palatable by the addi-
tion of sugar, lemon or orange juice, and a little wine.   In its preparation,
two pints  of water are  boiled with  four ounces of the shavings to  a  pint,
and the residue strained while  hot.  The clear liquid  gelatinizes upon cool-
ing.  By destructive distillation, the shavings yield  an impure solution  of
carbonate of ammonia, which formerly received the name of spirit of harts-
horn; and the  same name has been subsequently applied to similar  ammo-
niacal solutions  procured from  other sources.  When burnt, they leave  an
earthy residue  consisting almost exclusively  of phosphate of lime.
  Medical Properties, fyc.   The jelly prepared from  the shavings of harts-
horn has been  thought to possess medical virtues;  but it is only nutritive and
demulcent, and is probably  not superior  to calfsfoot jelly.  The shavings
themselves are used in the preparation of the Pulvis Antimonialis.
   Off. Prep. Cornu Ustum, Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Antimonialis, Ed.,  Lond.,
Dub.                                                           W.


         CORNUS  CIRCINATA. U. S. Secondary.

                     Round-leaved Dogwood.

   " The bark of Cornus circinata."  U. S.
   Cornus. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Cornaceae.
   Gen.  Ch.  Involucre usually four-leaved.  Petals superior, four.  Drupe
with a two-celled nut. Willd.
   We have  ten indigenous species of Cornus, all of which are supposed  to
possess similar medical properties; and three—the C.  Florida, C. 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 less attracted the
attention of the profession.
   Cornus  circinata.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 663.  This  is a shrub from six to
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, ex-
tending 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 
part i.          Cornus Circinata.— Cornus Florida.             277

a powder resembling that of ipecacuanha.  Its taste is bitter, astringent, and
aromatic.   In chemical composition, so  far as  this has been ascertained, it
is analogous to the Cornus Florida.  It possesses also similar medical virtues,
and may be employed in the same doses.  It has been much used as a tonie
and astringent in Connecticut, and was highly extolled by the late Dr. Ives,
of New York, who recommended, as the most eligible preparation,  an infu-
sion made by pouring a pint of boiling water on an ounce of the coarsely pow-
dered 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 in  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 four or five inches, is compact, and covered with a brownish
 bark, the epidermis  of which is minutely divided by numerous  superficial
 cracks  or fissures.  The branches are spreading, and regularly disposed,
 sometimes opposite, sometimes 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 assume  a red colour.
 The proper flowers are small, yellowish, and collected in heads, which  are
 surrounded by a very large conspicuous involucre, consisting of four  white
 obcordate leaves, having the notch at their summit tinged with red  or purple.
 It is this involucre that constitutes the chief beauty of the tree  at the period
 of flowering.   The calyx  is four-toothed, and the corolla composed of four
 obtuse  reflexed  petals.  The fruit  is  an oval drupe of a vivid glossy  red
 colour,  containing 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 Massachu-
 setts 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 American forests.   The bark is the officinal  portion, and  is derived  for
 use both from the stem and  branches, and from the root.   The bark of  the
 root is  preferred.   It  is brought into market in pieces  of various sizes,
 usually  more or less rolled, sometimes invested with a fawn-coloured epider-
 mis, 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  matter, gum, resin, tannin,  and gallic acid.   A peculiar
 bitter principle, for which the name of cornine has been proposed, has been
 announced as an ingredient by Mr. Carpenter; but we need more definite
information on the subject.  The flowers of the C. Florida have  the same
    25 
278
Cornus Sericea.— Cotula.
PART I.
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 augment the force
and frequency of the pulse, and increase the heat of the body.  It is thought
to possess remedial properties closely 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 with supposed
benefit in typhoid fevers, and other eomplaints for which the Peruvian tonic
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 Floridx.)   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  Floridae. U.S.                     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
species 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 oppo-
site spreading branches.   The  young shoots  are more or less pubescent.
The leaves are opposite, 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 with that of the Cornus Florida.   It may be
given in the same doses, and administered in a similar manner.       W.


                  COTULA.  U.S. Secondary.

                            May-weed.

   " The herb of Anthemis Cotula." U. S.
   Camomille puante, Maroute, Fr.;  Hunds-Kamille, Stinkende-Kamille, Germ.; Camo-
milla fetida, Cotula, Ital.; Manzanilla loca, Span.
   Anthemis.  See ANTHEMIS.
   Anthemis Cotula.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii. 2181; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 161.
The may-weed 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 
PART I.
Cotula.— Creasotum.
279
height,  and supporting alternate,  sessile, flat, doubly pinnated, somewhat
hairy leaves, with pointed linear leaflets.   The flowers  stand  singly upon
the summits of  the  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 towards the  stem at night.   The calyx, which
is common to all the florets, is hemispherical, and composed of imbricated
hairy scales.   The receptacle is conical or nearly cylindrical, and  sur-
mounted by rigid, bristle-shaped paleae, shorter than the florets.   The seeds
are naked.
   This plant grows abundantly both in the United States and in  Europe. In
this country it is found in the vicinity of inhabited places, growing among
rubbish, along the sides of roads,  and in  waste grounds.  Notwithstanding
its extensive diffusion, it is  generally believed to be a naturalized, not an in-
digenous 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.  We  are not  aware that its analysis
has been attempted.
   The  medical  properties of this species of Anthemis are essentially the
same as those of chamomile, for which it may be employed as a substitute;
but its  disagreeable odour rs an obstacle to its general use.  On the conti-
nent of Europe  it  has been given in nervous diseases, especially hysteria,
under the  impression, probably derived from  its peculiar smell, that it  pos-
sesses antispasmodic powers. It has also been thought to be emmenagogue.
In this  country it is scarcely employed, 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., Ed.

                               Creasote.

    " A  peculiar substance obtained from tar."  U. S.
    Off".  Syn.  CREASOTON.  Oxy-hydro-carburetum,  ex oleo pyroxylico
paratum.  Lond.
    This is a substance of  the  nature of the volatile oils, discovered in 1830
 by Dr. 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 be
 formed by a slow alteration occurring in the vegetable.
    In the products of the distillation of organic substances generally, whether
 vegetable or animal, Reichenbach  also discovered five other principles, called
 paraffine,  eupione, picamar, capnomor, and  pittacal, which, as being asso-
 ciated with creasote, will be noticed here. Paraffine is a white, crystalline,
 soft solid, devoid of  taste and smell, and  characterized by its feeble affinity
 for other bodies, as is indicated by its name, from parum affinis.   Eupione
 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.   Both
 these substances are  composed exclusively of carbon and hydrogen.  Pica-
 mar is an oily colourless 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 its being one of the ingredients of smoke, is  a colourless liquid, 
280
Creasotum.
PART I.
lighter than water, having a pleasant odour and a  pungent taste, and occur-
ring in the heavy oil  of tar.   It has the property of dissolving  caoutchouc,
and is an ingredient in coal naphtha, which  derives from its presence  the
property of dissolving the same substance.  Pittacal, also obtained from  the
heavy oil of tar, is  a solid of a beautiful blue  colour, and differing from  the
other substances above noticed, in containing nitrogen as one of its elements.
  Preparation,   Creasote is obtained either  from tar or from crude pyro-
ligneous acid.   When tar  is used,  it is distilled until it has attained the con-
sistence  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,iand,
having been agitated 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 eupione.   To separate the latter, the liquid is  mixed  with  a solu-
tion of caustic potassa of the  density of 1*12, which  dissolves the creasote,
but not the eupione.  The  eupione,  which  swims above  from its  levity,
being separated, the alkaline solution  of the creasote  is  exposed to the  air,
until  it becomes brown in  consequence of the decomposition of a foreign
matter, and  is then  saturated with  sulphuric acid.  This  sets  free the crea-
sote,  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
redistilled for the  last time,  rejecting the first portion   which comes over
on account of containing much water, collecting the next  portion, and avoid-
ing to push the distillation  too far.   The product collected in this distillation
is pure creasote.
   When creasote is extracted from  pyroligneous acid, the first step is to dis-
solve 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 saturated 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.  &c, as above detailed
with  respect to the treatment of the corresponding oil  obtained from tar.
   According to M. Koene, the tar  of  the pine furnishes  but little pure crea-
sote; while coal tar, by his mode of treatment, yields  nearly five drachms to
the pint.   We have not space for the insertion of his process,  but the details
may  be consulted  in the  Journal de Pharmacie, 22e Annee,  p.  89.   M.
Cozzi has also given  a process which is  stated to be economical.   (Amer.
Journ. of Pharm., x. 339, from the Journ. de Chim. Med.)
   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 and  burning taste, and a  penetrating,  disagreeable
odour like that of smoked meat. As met with  in the shops, itnas frequently
a brownish  tinge.   It  burns  with a sooty flame.   Applied to the skin  in a
concentrated state, it  corrugates and  then  destroys the cuticle.   On  paper  it
leaves a greasy stain, which  disappears in a few hours, or in  ten  minutes
when exposed to a heat of about 212°.   Its  sp. gr. is 1*037 (1-066  accord- 
PART I.
Creasotum.
281
 ing to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia).  In  favour  of the latter number Dr.
 Christison adduces experimental results of his own, which are entirely satis-
 factory. (Christison's Dispensatory, p. 374.)   It  boils at 397°, and retains
 its fluidity at—17°, and not probably  at so low a temperature as—50°, as
 stated in the London Pharmacopoeia.*  It is a  non-conductor of electricity,
 and refracts  light powerfully.  It is devoid of acid or alkaline reaction. Mixed
 with water,  it forms two combinations—one a solution of 1  part of creasote
 in  about 80  of water, the other, of 1 part of water in 10 of creasote.  It unites
 in  all proportions with alcohol, ether, and naphtha.  It is capable of dissolv-
 ing a large quantity 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
 oleaginous consistence, the other, hydrated, and in the form  of small,  white
 pearly  scales.   It possesses similar habitudes' with soda.   It instantly dis-
 solves ammonia,  and retains it with great force.   Nitric and  sulphuric acids,
 in  a concentrated state, decompose creasote ; the former giving rise to abun-
 dant reddish vapours, the latter to  a  red  colour,  which becomes  black on
 the addition of more of the acid.  Acetic acid  dissolves it in all proportions
 without decomposing  it.   Creasote  dissolves  a large number  of metallic
 salts;  and it reduces a few to the metallic state, as, for  example, nitrate and
 acetate of silver.   It acts powerfully in coagulating albumen, whether of eggs,
 or  of the serum of the  blood.
   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 xgeasflesh, and awfw / save.   Reichenbach states that  fresh  meat dip-
 ped for a quarter of an hour  in a solution of  creasote,  is  preserved  from
 putrefaction, and  concludes that smoked meats  owe their  power to resist
 change to the presence of this substance.
   Composition.  According to Ettling, taking the mean of two experiments,
 creasote consists of 762 carbon, 7-8 hydrogen,  and 16 oxygen, proportions
 which coincide most nearly with thirteen eqs. of carbon,  eight of hydrogen,
 and two of oxygen.
   Impurities and Adulterations.  Creasote is apt to contain eupione, pica-
 mar, 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.   Fixed oils  are also  discovered  by a stain on
 paper, not discharged  by heat.  Any  trace of  the matter  which  produces
 the brownish tinge, is  detected  by the liquid becoming discoloured  by ex-
 posure  to sunshine.   Specific gravity is not a good criterion  of the purity
 of creasote;  because it is apt to  be adulterated  by liquids both heavier and
 lighter  than  itself, and hence  may have the proper density without  being
 pure.   If it  be very light,  the presence of alcohol may  be suspected.   This
 adulteration may be  separated  by distillation, and will  first  come over  dis-
 tinguishable  by burning with a clear instead of a smoky flame.
  Medical Properties, fyc.   Creasote is  irritant, narcotic,  styptic,  anti-
 septic,  and  moderately escharotic.  Internally  it has been  employed in

  *  The French authorities state that creasote remains fluid at 27° below zero, (Cent.)
This is equivalent to '18 6°  below freezing of Fahr.  It is probable that the London Col-
lege has inadvertently considered this number as indicating the number of degrees below
zero of Fahr., instead of below  freezing, and has taken the round  number, 50° below zero,
as a sufficiently near approximation.  Mr. Phillips has not adopted the number  of the
London Pharmacopoeia :  but has committed the error of giving  the temperature at 1'°,
instead of 17°  below zero.  (Sec his Trans. Lond. Pharm., Fourth Ed., 392.)
                                   25* 
282
Creasotum.
PART I.
a number of diseases;  externally, for the most part  as an  application  to
eruptions,  wounds and ulcers,  and  as  an  injection  and  gargle.    The
principal diseases in which it  has  been given are diabetes mellitus, epi-
lepsy,  hysteria, neuralgia,  chronic  catarrh,  haemoptysis, and  pulmonary
consumption.   Over the latter  disease  it has no  curative influence;  but it
is stated to facilitate expectoration and to give the sputa a more favourable
character.  In  this disease, and  in  bronchorrhcea without inflammation, it
has been recommended  to be inhaled in the state of vapour, by means of the
ordinary inhaling  bottle.   Dr.  Elliotson, of London, considers it an im-
portant remedy in arresting nausea  and vomiting, when not dependent on
inflammation or structural diseases of the stomach, as in hysteria and preg-
nancy.   He also recommends  it, as well as Mr. A. B. Maddock, of Lon-
don, as a  preventive of sea-sickness.   The eruptions  to the treatment  of
which it has been supposed to be best suited, are those of a scaly character.
In burns its efficacy has been insisted on, especially in those attended with
excessive suppuration  and fungous granulations.  In recent burns,  where
the cuticle  is not  broken, Dr. John Sutherland found it useful, applied  in
an undiluted state.  In chilblains also it is stated to be a useful application.
When applied to  wounds  it acts as a styptic, stopping the capillary hemor-
rhage, but possesses no power  to  arrest the bleeding  from  large vessels.
Hence creasote water has been applied locally 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 anti-
septic are usefully brought into  play.   It is  also  praised as  an  application
to syphilitic,   scrofulous,  and cancerous ulcers.  In all these  cases, the
remedy must be used of appropriate strength, and continued with judgment;
and in case it should irritate, its use  should be suspended, or alternated with
that of emollient and soothing applications.   In fistulous ulcers  it proves a
useful  resource, used by injection, by exciting the callous surfaces and dis-
posing them  to unite.  Dr. Hildreth,  of Zanesville,  Ohio, found it effica-
cious,  mixed  with mercurial ointment, in  the proportion of 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 appli-
cation should be strong enough to produce a smarting pain  for about five
minutes.   The local must of course be combined with  constitutional treat-
ment.   (Amer. Journ. of Med. Sci., Oct., 1842, p. 362.)  Dr. R. Dick, of
Glasgow, recommends  creasote as an internal remedy  in chronic gonorrhoea
and gleet.  In  cases of  putrid sorethroat, in  which  the  use  of a stimulant
and  antiseptic  is  required, a gargle of creasote  acts beneficially;  and  in
chronic suppuration of  the external  meatus  of the ear, the same properties
make it valuable as an  injection.   In deafness arising from  deficient  ceru-
men, Mr. Curtis has  found it useful.   The meatus is first well cleansed, and
afterwards brushed  over, night and  morning, with a  mixture of a drachm
of creasote to  four drachms of oil of almonds, by means of  a camel's hair
brush.   Dr. Partridge,  of this  city, has found the same treatment advanta-
geous in several cases of deafness.   The meatus  may be cleansed by drop-
ping 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 five or six days, until
 the ear is  thoroughly cleansed. (Med. Exam., iii. 347.)  In toothache, de-
 pending on destruction of the tooth and exposure of  the nerve,  creasote
 often acts promptly and radically in the removal of the pain.  One or two 
PART I.
Creasotum.— Creta.
283
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 the remedy effectual, the hollow of the tooth must be well cleaned
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  Creasoti.)  In
the pure state, it may be brushed over indolent or ill conditioned ulcers, or
applied to them by  means of lint, to arouse  their sensibility, or to create a
new action.   Internally  it is given in the dose of one or 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  eruptions,
ulcers, or burns, or as a gargle or injection, it is  employed in solution, con-
taining two, four,  or six  drops  to the fluidounce  of distilled 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, obscu-
rity of vision, depressed  action of the  heart, convulsions, and coma.  No
antidote is known to its poisonous  effects.   The medical  treatment consists
in the administration of ammonia and other stimulants.
   The addition of  three or four  drops of creasote  to a pint of ink is said
effectually to prevent its becoming mouldy. Dr. Christison finds, from experi-
ment, that creasote water is as good a  preservative of some anatomical pre-
parations 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 due.
   Off. Prep.  Mistura Creasoti, Ed.;  Unguentum Creasoti,  U.S., Lond.,
Ed.                                                               B.

                    CRETA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                                Chalk.

   " Native friable carbonate of lime." U. S.  " Calcis Carbonas (friabilis)."
Lond.   " Friable carbonate of lime."  Ed.
   Off. Syn.  CALCIS  CARBONAS.  CRETA  ALBA. Dub.
   Crair, Fr.,- Kreide, Germ.,- Creta, Ital.,- Greda, Span., Port.
   Carbonate  of lime, in  the extended meaning of the  term, is the most
abundant of simple minerals, constituting, according  to its state of aggrega-
tion  and other peculiarities,  the different varieties of calcareous spar, com-
 mon 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.   Though insoluble in pure
 water,  yet  it is present in minute quantity in  most natural waters,  being
 dissolved by means of the carbonic acid which they contain.   In the  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. 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 Prxcipitatum.) 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 Stales.   It occurs massive
 in beds, and very frequently contains nodules of flint, and fossil remains of
 land and marine animals. 
284
Creta.—Crocus.
PART I.
   Properties.  Chalk is an insipid, inodorous, insoluble, opaque, soft solid,
generally 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 23 to 2-6.
It is seldom a perfectly  pure carbonate of lime, but contains,  besides gritty
siliceous particles, small portions of alumina and of oxide of 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
oxide of iron.  Like all  carbonates  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 28-5=50-5.
   Pharmaceutical Uses.  Chalk,  on account of the gritty particles which it
contains, is unfit for medical use, until it has undergone levigation, when it
is called prepared chalk.  (See  Creta Prxparata.)  It is sometimes used  in
the preparation of the alkaline bicarbonates, to furnish a stream of  carbonic
acid, when decomposed by dilute  sulphuric acid;  as in the London process
for bicarbonate of potassa.
   Off. Prep. Ammoniae  Carbonas, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Calcii Chloridum,
Lond.; Calx, Lond.; Creta Praeparata, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Potassse
Bicarbonas, Lond.                                                 B.


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

                               Saffron.

   " The stigmas  of Crocus sativus."  U. S., Ed. " Crocus sativus. Stig-
mata exsiccata."  Lond.
   Off. Syn.  CROCUS SATIVUS. Stigmata. Dub.
   Safran, Fr., Germ.,-  Zufferano, Ital.,- Azafran, Span.
   Crocus. Sex. Syst. Triandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Iridaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla six parted, equal.  Stigmas convoluted.  Wdld.
   Crocus sativus.   Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 194; Woodv. Med.  Bot.o.lbZ.
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 makes its appearance
in September or October.   The  leaves are radical, 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 two segments of the corolla, 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.
   The C. sativus, or autumnal crocus, is a native of Greece and Asia Minor,
where it has been cultivated from the  earliest ages of antiquity.  It is also
cultivated for  medicinal use in  Sicily,  Spain,  France,  England, and other
temperate countries  of Europe.   In Great  Britain it has  been found  growing
wild but is not thought  to  be indigenous.   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. 
part i.                         Crocus.                            285

  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
purpose, and are arranged  either in rows, or in small patches at certain dis-
tances.   The flowers are gathered soon  after they show themselves, as the
period of flowering  is very short.  (Fee.)   The stigmas, or summits of the
pistils, together with a portion of the style,  are separated from  the remainder
of the flower, and carefully dried by artificial heat, or in  the  sun.   During
this  process they  are  sometimes 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  name  of hay-saffron and cake-saffron.
Five pounds of the fresh stigmas yield one pound of the dried. (Duncan.)
  The English saffron, formerly most highly esteemed in this country, has
disappeared  from  our market.  What may be sold  under that name is pro-
bably  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  best.   Genuine cake saffron is at present seldom  found in com-
merce.
  Properties.  Saffron has a peculiar, sweetish,  aromatic odour, a warm,
pungent 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  Vogel  and  Bouillon-
Lagrange, it afforded 6-5  per cent, of a peculiar extractive matter, and 7-5
of an odorous volatile oil,  together with wax, gum,  albumen,  saline  matter,
water, and vegetable  fibre.   The  extractive  matter was  named by them
polychro'ite, from the changes of colour which it undergoes by the action of
reagents.   It is prepared by evaporating the watery  infusion  to the consist-
ence 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 altogether on  exposure to light, and by chlorine.   Accord-
ing to M. Henry, sen., it  contains about 20 per cent,  of volatile  oil, which
can be separated  only by  the  agency  of an  alkali.   When perfectly pure,
it is of a brilliant red colour, soluble with  difficulty in water which it ren-
ders yellow, and readily soluble- in alcohol, and the fixed and volatile oils.
M. Henry states that this colouring matter constitutes 42 percent, of saffron,
and the essential oil 10 per cent.  It is to the latter  that the medicine owes
its active  properties.  It may be  partially separated 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
adulterations.  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 appear-
ance.   Sometimes the  flowers of other plants, particularly the  Carthamus
tinctorius or safflower, and the Calendula officinalis or officinal  marygold,
are fraudulently mixed with the  genuine stigmas.   They may be known by
their shape,  which is  rendered obvious by throwing  a portion of the sus-
pected mass into hot water, which causes them  to  expand.  (See Cartha-
mus.)  Other adulterations are the fibres of dried beef, the stamens of the 
286
Crocus.— Cubeba.
part i.
 Crocus distinguishable  by their yellow colour,  the  stigmas  previously ex-
 hausted in the  preparation of the infusion or  tincture, and various mineral
 substances easily detected upon close examination.
   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 possible, be selected.   It should possess in a high  degree  the
 characteristic properties of colour, taste, and  smell.  If it does not colour
 the  fingers when rubbed  between them, or has 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 saf-
flower, which are probably more frequent in the market than those of genuine
 saffron.
   As its  activity depends, partly at least, on a volatile  ingredient, it should
 be kept  in well-stopped vessels.   Some recommend that it should be en-
 closed in a bladder, and introduced into a tin case.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Saffron was  formerly considered highly
 stimulant 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 Shroeder 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 en-
 joyed 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 fre-
 quently used in exanthematous  diseases, to promote the eruption; a practice
 introduced by  the  humoral pathologists, but  afterwards abandoned by the
 profession, and not greatly injurious only from  the inactivity of the medicine.
 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.
   Off. Prep.   Acetum  Opii, U.S.;  Confectio  Aromatica,  U.S.,  Lond.,
 Dub.; Decoctum Aloes Compositum,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pilulae Aloes et
 Myrrhae, U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Pilulae  Styracis  Compositae,  Lond.,
 Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Croci, Lond., Ed.;  Tinctura Aloe's et Myrrhae, U.S.,
 Lond., El.;  Tinct. Cinchonae Comp.,  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct.
 Croci, Ed.;  Tinct. Opii Ammoniata, Ed.;  Tinct. Rhei  Comp.,  Lond.,
 Dub ; Tinct. Rhei et  Sennae, U. S.                                 W.


                       CUBEBA.  U S., Dub.

                                Cubebs.

   "The berries of Piper  Cubeba." U.S. " Piper Cubeba, Fructus."  Dub.
   Off. Syn.  PIPER CUBEBA.  Piper  Cubeba. Baccx. Lond.; CUBE-
 BS. Fruit of Piper Cubeba. Ed.
   Cubcbe, Fr ;  Kubeben. Germ.; Cnbebe, Ital; Cubebas, Span.,- Kehabeh, Arab.
   Piper. Sex. Syst. Diandria  Trigynia.—Nat.  Ord. Piperaceae.
    Gen.  Ch.  Calyx none.  Corolla none.  Berry  one-seeded. Willd. 
PART I.
Cubeba.
287
  Piper Cubeba.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 159;  Woodv. Med. Bot. 3d. ed. v. 95.
This  is a climbing perennial plant, with a smooth, flexuous,  jointed stem,
and entire, petiolate, oblong or ovate oblong, acuminate  leaves, rounded or
obliquely cordate  at the  base, strongly nerved, coriaceous, and  very smooth.
The flowers are dioecious  and in spikes, with peduncles about  as lono- 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  between the fruits  of the P. cubeba and  the cubebs sold in
London.
  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 appears to
be continuous with raised veins that run over the surface of the berry, and
embrace it like a  network.   The shell is hard, almost ligneous, and contains
within it a single loose seed,  covered with  a  blackish coat, and  internally
white and oleaginous.  The odour of the  berry  is agreeably  aromatic; the
taste  warm, bitterish, and  camphorous, leaving  in the mouth a peculiar sen-
sation of coolness, like that produced by the oil of peppermint.   The powder
is dark coloured  and of an  oily  aspect.   From  1000 parts of cubebs, M.
Monheim obtained 30 parts of a ceruminous substance, 25 of a green volatile
oil, 10 of a yellow  volatile oil, 45 of cubebin, 15  of a balsamic resin,  10 of
chloride  of sodium, 60 of extractive, and 650 of lignin, with 155 parts lost.
According to  MM.  Capilaine  and Soubeiran,  cubebin is best obtained by
expressing cubebs from which the oil has been  distilled, preparing with it
an alcoholic  extract,  treating this with a solution of  potassa, washing the
residue with water, and purifying it by repeated  crystallizations in alcohol.
Thus prepared, it is white,  inodorous, and insipid, not volatilizable by heat,
almost insoluble  in water, slightly soluble  in cold alcohol, freely so in that
liquid when  hot, and soluble also in ether, acetic acid, and  the  fixed and
volatile oils.  It  bears a close resemblance to piperin, but differs  from it in
composition.  (Journ. de Pharm.,  xxv. 355.)  The volatile oil is  officinal.
(See  Oleum Cubebx.) Cubebs gradually deteriorate by age; and in the state
of powder become rapidly  weaker, in consequence of the escape of their
active volatile ingredient.   They should always  be kept whole, and pulve-
rized at the time of dispensing them.   The powder is said to  be sometimes
adulterated with that of  pimento.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Cubebs  are gently stimulant, with a spe-
cial direction to the urinary organs.  In considerable quantities they usually
excite the circulation, increase the heat of the body, and sometimes occasion
headache and  giddiness.  At the same time they  frequently  produce an aug-
mented flow of the urine, to which they impart a peculiar odour.   Nausea
and moderate  purging are also occasional attendants  upon their operation;
and they are said to give rise to a sense of  coolness in the rectum during the
passage of the feces.  We  have  no evidence that they  were  known to the
ancients.   They  were probably first brought into Europe by  the Arabians ;
and  were formerly employed for  similar purposes with the black pepper;
but they were found much less powerful and fell  into disuse.   Some years
since they were again brought into notice in England  as a remedy in gonor-
rhoea, and have obtained considerable reputation.  This application of cubebs
was derived from India, where they have long been used in gonorrhoea, gleet,
and  as a grateful stomachic and  carminative in  disorders of the  digestive 
288
Cubeba.— Cuprum.
PART I.
 organs.  They are said to have occasionally produced swelled testicle wdien
 given in  the first mentioned complaint; and, though recommended in  all its
 stages, will  probably be  found  most safe and effectual in  cases  where the
 inflammatory action  is  confined to the mucous  membrane of the urethra.   If
 not speedily useful,  they should be discontinued.   They  have  been  given
 also in leucorrhosa,  cystirrhoea, abscess of the prostate  gland,  piles, and
 chronic bronchial inflammation.   They are best administered in the  form of
 powder,  of  which the dose  in gonorrhoea is from one to three drachms,
 repeated  three or four  times a day.   For other affections the dose is some-
 times reduced to ten grains.  The volatile oil may  be substituted  for the
 powder,  in the dose of ten or twelve drops, suspended in water by the inter-
 vention of sugar. An infusion, made in the proportion of an ounce of powdered
 cubebs to a  pint of water, has been employed as an  injection in  discharges
 from the  vagina, with asserted advantage.
   In London's Encyclopaedia of  plants, it is  stated that the berries of the
 Uvaria Zeylanica of  Ceylon are used as a specific for gonorrhoea, under the
 name of  cubebs.  They are, however, wholly  different from  the genuine
 drug, and may  be distinguished  by containing four  seeds in each  berry,
 while the latter has but one.
   Off. Prep. Oleum  Cubebae, Ed.; Tinctura Cubebae, U. S., Lond.
                                                                   W.


                             CUPRUM.

                                Copper.

   Cuivre,  Fr.; Kupfer,  Germ.,-  Rame, Ital.;  Cobre, Span.
   This metal is not officinal in  the  metallic state, but furnishes several im-
 portant preparations.   It is very generally diffused  in nature, and  exists
 principally in four states; as native copper, as  an oxide, as a sulphuret, and
 as  a salt.  Its  principal native  salts are  the sulphate, carbonate,  arseniate,
 and phosphate.   In the United States it has been found in various  localities.
 The principal copper mines in the world are those of  the Pyrenees in France,
 Cornwall in England, and Fahlun  in Sweden.
   Properties. Copper is a brilliant, sonorous metal,  of a reddish colour, and
 very ductile, malleable, and tenacious.   It has a slightly nauseous   taste, and
 emits  a disagreeable  smell  when  rubbed.  Its texture is  granular, and its
 fracture hackly.  Its  sp.gr. is 8-89,  and its fusing point, 1996 F.  according
 to Daniell; being  intermediate  in fusibility between silver and  gold.  Its
 equivalent number is  31-6.  Exposed to the air it undergoes a slight tarnish.
 Its combinations are  numerous and  important.   With oxygen it  forms two
 well characterized oxides, a red  suboxide or dioxide, consisting of two eqs.
 of copper and one  of oxygen  ; and a black protoxide formed of one  eq. of
 metal and one of oxygen.  The latter oxide, which  alone is salifiable, forms
 with acids several salts, important in medicine and the arts.  With metals
 copper forms numerous alloys, of which that with zinc, called brass, is the
 most useful.
   Characteristics.  Copper is recognised by its colour and the effect of tests
on  its nitric solution.  This  solution,  with potassa, soda, and  ammonia,
yields a blue  precipitate, soluble  in excess of the latter alkali, with which it
forms a deep blue  liquid.   Ferrocyanuret of potassium occasions a  brown
precipitate of ferrocyanuret of copper; and a bright plate of iron, immersed in
the solution,  immediately becomes covered with a film of  metallic copper.
The ferrocyanuret of  potassium is an exceedingly delicate  test for  detecting 
PART I.
Cuprum.
289
minute portions of copper in  solution.   Another test, proposed by M. Ver-
guin, 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 con-
tact  with the platinum and the liquid.  If copper  be  present, it  will be
instantly precipitated on  the  surface of the platinum.  (Journ. de Pharm.,
xxvii. 367.)
  Action on the Animal  Economy.  Copper,  in its pure state, is perfectly
inert, but in combination  is highly deleterious.   Nevertheless  a very minute
portion of the metal, so far as researches have extended, is always present
in the healthy body.  Its combinations,  when  taken in poisonous  doses,
produce a coppery taste in  the mouth;  nausea and vomiting; violent pain of
the stomach and bowels ; frequent black and bloody stools;  small, irregular,
sharp, and frequent pulse;  faintings; burning thirst;  difficulty of breathino-;
cold sweats;  paucity of urine; violent headache; cramps, convulsions, and
finally death.  The  best treatment in  cases of poisoning by  copper, is  to
administer white of eggs, diffused in water, in  large and  repeated doses.   If
this remedy be not at hand, the patient must  in the  mean  time be gorged
with warm water, or with  milk, and the throat irritated  by the finger or a
feather, in  order to excite vomiting.  Should vomiting not take place  by
these means, the stomach-pump maybe employed.  The efficacy of the new
antidote, bicarbonate of soda, proposed by W. Benoist,  requires  confirma-
tion; and his objections to  the white of eggs are probably unfounded.
  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 carbonized by nitric acid. The matter thus treated will  contain the copper.
By proceeding in this way, there is no risk of obtaining the copper naturally
existing in the animal tissues.   This method of proceeding  is  preferable  to
examining  the contents of the stomach and intestines, from which copper
may be absent, while yet  it  may have penetrated the different organs  by
absorption, especially the abdominal viscera.
  Vessels of  copper should be discontinued in  all operations connected with
pharmacy and domestic  economy;  for, although the  metal uncombined  is
inert, yet the risk is  great that the vessel may  be acted on, in  which event,
whatever may be contained in it would  be rendered  deleterious.
  Pharm. Prep.  The following  is a list of all the preparations containing
copper, in the U.S. and  British Pharmacopoeias, arranged so as to  exhibit
the synonymes.
     Cupri Acetas.  Crystalli., Dub.
     Cupri  Subacetas, U. S.,  Dub.;  iErugo, Lond.,  Ed.; Anglice, Verdi-
                      gris.
       Cupri  Subacetas Praeparatum, Dub.; Anglice, Prepared verdigris.
       Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis, U.S., Dub.; Unguentum iErtiginis,
                      Ed.
       Oxymel Cupri Subacetatis, Dub.; Linimentum iEruginis, Lond.
       Emplastrum  Cantharidis Compositum, Ed.
    Cupri Sulphas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
       Cuprum Ammoniatum,  U.S., Ed., Dub.;  Cupri Ammonio-Sulphas,
                      Lond.
         Cupri Ammoniati Aqua, Dub.;  Cupri  Ammoniati Solulio, Ed.;
                      Liquor Cupri Ammonio-Sulphatis, Lond.
         Pilulae Cupri Ammoniati, Ed.                            B.
    26 
290
Cupri Subacetas.
PART I.
             CUPRI SUBACETAS.  U.S., Dub.

                       Subacetate of Copper.

  " Impure subacetate of copper."  U. S.
  Off. Syn. iERUGO, Lond., Ed.
  Verdigris; Acetate de cuivre brut, VerUde-gris, Fr.; Grunspan, Germ.; Verde rame,
Ital.; Cardcnillo, Span.
  Preparation.   Verdigris is  prepared in targe quantities in the South of
France, more particularly in the neighbourhood of Montpellier.  It is also
manufactured in Great Britain and Sweden.  In France the process is con-
ducted in  the following manner.   Sheets of copper  are stratified with the
refuse of the grape which remains after the expression of the juice in making
wine, and allowed to remain in this state for a month  or six weeks.   At the
end of this time, the plates are found  coated with a considerable quantity of
verdigris.  This is scraped off, and the plates are then replaced as at first,
to be further acted on.   The scrapings thus obtained form a paste, which is
afterwards well  beaten with wooden mallets, and packed in oblong leathern
bags, about ten inches in length by eight in breadth,  in which it is  dried in
the sun, until the loaf  of verdigris, as it is called, attains  the  proper degree
of hardness.  The rationale of the process is easily understood.  The grape-
refuse contains  a considerable  quantity of juice, which, by contact with the
air, undergoes the acetous fermentation.   The copper becomes  oxidized, and,
by subsequent combination with the acetic acid generated during the fermen-
tation, forms the subacetate of copper or verdigris.  In  England a purer verdi-
gris is prepared by alternating copper plates with pieces  of  woollen cloth
steeped in pyroligneous acid.
  Verdigris comes to this country exclusively from France, being imported
principally from Bordeaux  and Marseilles. The leathern packages in which
it is put up, called sacks  of verdigris, weigh generally from  twenty-five to
thirty pounds, and arrive in casks, each containing from thirty to forty sacks.
  Properties.   Verdigris is in masses of a pale green colour,  and composed
of a multitude  of  minute  silky crystals.  Sometimes, however, it occurs of
a bright blue colour.   Its  taste is coppery.   It is insoluble in alcohol, and,
by the action of water, a portion of it is resolved into the neutral acetate which
dissolves, and a trisacetate  which remains behind in the form of a dark green
powder, gradually becoming black.   It is hence evident that when  verdigris
is prepared by levigation with water, it is altered in its nature.   The neu-
tral acetate  is the  crystallized acetate of copper of the Dublin College (see
 Cupri Acetas.  Crystalli);  while the  trisacetate may  be viewed as  identical
with the prepared verdigris of the same  College (see  Cupri Subacetas Prse-
paratum).  When acted on by sulphuric acid it is decomposed, vapours of
acetic acid being evolved, easily recognisable by their vinegar odour.  It is
 soluble almost entirely in  ammonia,  and dissolves in muriatic acid  with the
 exception of impurities, which  should  not exceed five per cent.  When of
 good quality, it has a lively green colour, is free from black or white spots,
 and is dry and difficult to break.  The green rust, called in popular language
 verdigris, which copper vessels are apt to contract when not kept clean, is a
 carbonate of copper, and must not be confounded with real verdigris.
   Composition.  Verdigris, apart  from its impurities, is a variable mixture
 of the subacetates of copper; the  subsesquiacetate  predominating  in the
 green variety,  the diacetate in the  blue.  The London College defines it to
 be an impure diacetate of copper;  the Edinburgh, the commercial  diacetate. 
 part I.             Cupri Acetas.—Cupri Sulphas.                291

 When acted on by water, two eqs. of the portion consisting of diacetate are con-
 verted into one eq. of soluble neutral acetate, and one of insoluble trisacetate.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Verdigris is used externally as a detergent
 and  escharotic, and  is  occasionally applied to  chronic eruptions,  foul and
 indolent ulcers, and  venereal  warts.   The special applications of  it will be
 mentioned  under its preparations.   For its effects as a poison, and  the mode
 of combating them, the reader is referred to the article  Cuprum.
   Off. Prep.  Cupri  Subacetas  Praeparatum, Dub.;  Emplastrum Canthari-
 dis  Compositum, Ed.; Linimentum  iEruginis, Lond.; Unguentum  Cupri
 Subacetatis, U. S., Ed.                                              B.


               CUPRI  ACETAS.  Crystalli. Dub.

                  Crystals of Acetate of Copper.

   Distilled verdigris, Crystals of Venus, Neutral acetate of copper; Cristaux de Venus,
 Verdet crystallise, Fr.; Destillirter Grunspan, Kupferkrystallen, Germ.
   Crystallized  acetate of copper  is prepared  principally at Montpellier, in
 France.  The verdigris which is  made  in  private houses is collected and
 carried to the manufactory.  It is there dissolved in vinegar by the assistance
 of heat, and the solution, after having been sufficiently concentrated, is trans-
 ferred to suitable vessels, where  it crystallizes on cooling.  The crystalliza-
 tion is facilitated by inserting sticks in the liquid, split in four longitudinally,
 the  several portions being kept apart  by small  wedges  of wood.  On  these
 the  crystals are deposited.
   This salt has a  deep  blue colour and  strong  styptic taste, crystallizes in
 rhomboidal prisms, and effloresces  slightly in the air.   It dissolves in water
 without residue, a character which serves to distinguish it  from verdigris.
 It consists of one eq. of acetic acid, one of protoxide of copper, and one of
 water.   Its popular name of distilled verdigris is incorrect; as no distillation
 is practised in its preparation.
   Medical and Pharmaceutical  Uses.   It is  not very  obvious  for  what
 reason the Dublin College has included this among its officinal preparations.
 It is sometimes employed in pharmacy for the  purpose of obtaining  acetic
 acid, which may be disengaged from it by the  action of sulphuric acid;  and
 the  larger proportional quantity of acetic  acid  which  it  contains  makes it
 more eligible for  this  purpose than  verdigris.   It enters into  no officinal
 preparation.                                                         B.

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

                        Sulphate of Copper.

  Blue vitriol, Roman vitriol, Blue stone; Sulfate de cuivre, Vitriol bleu, Couperose bleu,
 Fr.;  Schwefelsnures Kupfer, Knpfervitriol, Blauervitriol, Blauer Galilzenstein, Germ.;
 Rarne solfato, Vitriolo di rame, Vitriolo di Cipro, Ital.; Sulfato  de cobre, Vitriolo azul,
 Span.
  Preparation,  fyc.   Sulphate of  copper occasionally  exists in nature, in
 solution in the water  which flows through copper mines.   In this  case the
salt  is obtained by merely evaporating  the  waters  which naturally contain
it.   Another method  for obtaining  it, is  to roast the  native sulphuret  in a
reverberatory  furnace,  whereby  it is  made to   pass,  by absorbing  oxygen,
into  the state of sulphate.    The roasted mass  is lixiviated, and the solution
obtained is evaporated that crystals may form.   The salt procured by either
of these methods, contains a little sulphate of the sesquioxide of iron, from 
292
Cupri Sulphas.
PART I.
which it may be freed by adding an  excess  of protoxide of copper, which
has the  effect of precipitating the iron.  A third method consists in wetting,
and then sprinkling with sulphur, sheets of copper, which  are next heated
to redness for some time, and afterwards plunged into water while yet hot.
The same operation is repeated  until the  sheets are  entirely corroded.  At
first a sulphuret is  formed, which, by the  action of heat and air, gradually
passes into the state of sulphate.  This is dissolved in the  water, and is ob-
tained in crystals by evaporation.
  Sometimes sulphate of copper is obtained as a secondary product in  pur-
suing one of the me'thods for  separating  silver from gold.   The  silver is
separated by boiling  the alloy  in sulphuric  acid.   The  sulphate  of silver
formed  is then decomposed by  the  immersion of copper plates,  with  the
effect of forming sulphate of copper, and precipitating the silver.
  Properties.  Sulphate of copper has  a  rich  deep-blue colour and strong
metallic styptic taste.   It reddens vegetable blues, and crystallizes in large,
transparent, rhomboidal  prisms, which effloresce  slightly  in  the  air and
become  greenish, 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 cop-
per, which is immediately dissolved by an excess of the last-mentioned alkali,
forming a rich deep-blue solution, called in early pharmacy, aqua sapphirina.
It is also decomposed by the alkaline carbonates, and by a number of im-
portant salts, such as borax, acetate and subacetate  of lead, acetate of iron,
nitrate of silver, corrosive  chloride  of mercury,  tartrate  of  potassa, and
chloride  of  calcium; and it  is  precipitated  by all astringent vegetable in-
fusions.   Of course it must  not be  associated in prescription with any of
these substances.  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 copper, without taking  it up when added  in excess.  Sulphate of
copper consists of one eq. of sulphuric acid, one of protoxide of copper, and
five of water.
  Medical Properties.   Sulphate of copper,  in  small doses, is  deemed
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
some 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.  It has  of late been highly recommended
in chronic diarrhoea.  Externally it is employed in solution as  a  stimulant
to ill-conditioned ulcers, as an  escharotic for destroying warts,  fungous
granulations, and callous edges,  and as a styptic to bleeding surfaces.   It ia
found, in not a few  instances, to promote  the cicatrization of ulcers;  and it
is not unfrequenfly  employed, with that view, as a wash for  chancres.  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, mixed  with an equal weight  of  Armenian bole and two grains
of camphor, and added to half a pint of boiling water, forms, after becoming
limpid by rest,  a collyrium strongly recommended by Mr. Ware,  as a sub-
stitute for Bates's Aqua Camphorata, in the purulent ophthalmia of infants.
The dose, as an astringent or tonic, is  a  quarter or  half a grain,  gradually
increased; as an emetic, from two to five grains.   As a stimulant  wash, the 
PART I.
Cupri Sulphas.—Curcuma.
293
solution may be made of the strength of two, four, or eight grains to the fluid-
ounce of water.   Orfila cautions against giving large doses of this salt as an
emetic in cases of poisoning; as it is  apl, from its poisonous effects, to in-
crease  the  mischief, where it  happens  not to be expelled by vomiting, by
reason of the  insensibility of the stomach.  Upon the whole, such is the
activity of the sulphate of copper, that it should be exhibited with the greatest
caution.   For its  effects as a poison, see Cuprum.
   Off. Prep. Cuprum Ammoniatum, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.       B.


           CURCUMA. U.S.  Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                              Turmeric.

   "The rhizoma of Curcuma  longa." U. S., Ed.  "Curcuma  longa.  Rhi-
zoma." Lond.
   Off Syn. CURCUMA LONGA.  Radix. Dub.
   Safran des Indcs, Fr.; Kurkuma, Gilbvvurz, Germ.; Curcuma, Ital., Span.; Zirsood,
Arab.; Huldie, Hindoo.
   Curcuma. Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Zingiberaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Both limbs of the corolla three-partite.  Anther with two spurs
at the base.  Seeds with an arillus.  Loudon's Encyc.
   Curcuma longa.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 14;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 737. t.
252.   The root of this  plant is perennial, tuberous, palmate, and internally
of a deep yellow or orange colour.  The leaves are radical, large,  lanceo-
late, 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 brac-
teal 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, internally deep  orange-yellow, hard, compact, and breaking with a
fracture like that  of wax.  Another variety, comparatively rare, is round or
oval, about the size of a pigeon's egg, and marked externally with nume-
rous annular wrinkles. 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 turmericjs peculiar; the taste warm, bitterish, and feebly aromatic.
It tinges the saliva yellow, and  affords an orange-yellow powder.  Analyzed
by Pelletier and Vogel, it was found to contain lignin, starch, a peculiar yel-
low  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  alco-
holic extract of turmeric in ether, and evaporating the  ethereal  tincture.  It
may be procured  entirely pure  by separating it from  its combination with
oxide  of lead.  It is brown in mass, but  yellow  in the  state  of powder,
without odour or  taste, scarcely soluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol,
ether, and  the oils.   The alkalies  rapidly change  its colour  to a  reddish-
brown; and paper tinged with  tincture of turmeric is employed as a test of
their presence.  Berzelius, however, states  that its  colour  is changed to red
or brownish-red by the  concentrated  mineral  acids, by  pure boracic  acid,
                                  26* 
294
Curcuma.— Cydonia.
PART I.
especially when dissolved in alcohol, and by numerous metallic 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 permanent.
  Medical Properties, fyc.   This root is a stimulant aromatic, bearing some
resemblance to ginger in its operation, and is  much used in India as a con-
diment.  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 impart 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 parts of water.  The access of acid or
alkaline vapours should be carefully avoided.                        W.

                        CYDONIA. Lond.

                            Quince Seeds.

  "Cydonia vulgaris. Semina." JjOnd.
  Semences de coings, Fr; Quittenkerne, Germ.; Semi di cotogno, Ital.; Simiente da
membrillo, Span.
  The  quince tree has been separated from  the  genus Pyrus and erected
into a new one with the title Cydonia, which is now generally admitted by
botanists.  It differs from  Pyrus in the circumstance that  the  cells  of its
fruit contain many seeds, instead of  two only as in the latter.
  Cydonia. Sex. Syst.  Icosandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord.  Pomeae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-parted, with leafy divisions.   Apple closed, many-
seeded.   Testa mucilaginous. Loudon's Encyc.
   Cydoni t. vulgaris.  Pers.  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 sup-
posed to have been originally obtained from 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 plea-
sant confection; and  a  syrup prepared from  it may be used as a grateful
addition to drinks in sickness, especially in looseness of the bowels, which
it is supposed to restrain by its astringency.   The seeds are the  officinal
portion.
   They are ovate,  angled,  of  a reddish-brown  colour externally,  white
within, inodorous and nearly insipid, being slightly bitter when long'chewed.
Their coriaceous envelope  abounds in mucilage, which is extracted by boil-
ing water.  Two  drachms  of the  seeds are  sufficient to render  a pint of
water thick and ropy.   It has been proposed by a German pharmaceutist 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 Pharm. et de Chim., Seser.,  iii. 298.)
Dr. Pereira considers the mucilage of quince seeds as a peculiar substance,
 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. 
PART I.
Cyminum.—Delphinium.
295
  Medical Properties, <y-c.  The mucilage of quince seeds may be used for
all the purposes to which other mucilaginous liquids are applied.   It is  pre-
ferred by some practitioners as a  local application  in  conjunctival ophthal-
mia, but in  this country is less  used for this purpose  than the infusion of
sassafras pith.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Cydoniae, Lond.                         '  W.


                       CYMINUM.  Lond.

                            Cumin Seed.

   " Cuminum Cyminum. Fructus." Lond.
   Off. Syn. CUMINUM. Fruit of Cuminum  Cyminum. Ed.
   Cumin, Fr.; Romischer Kiimmel, Germ.; Cotnino, llal., Span.
   Cuminum.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiaceae or  Um-
belliferae.
   Gen. Ch. Fruit  ovate, striated. Partial umbels four. Involucres four-
cleft.
   Cuminum Cyminum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1440; Woodv. Med. 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 disposed  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 cultivated 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
sometimes  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, of a yellowish colour,
and has the sensible properties of  the seeds.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.  In  medical  properties they 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 re-
tained by the London College merely as an ingredient  in a  stimulant and
discutient plaster, which, however, has been discarded in the last edition of
their Pharmacopoeia.   Their dose is from fifteen grains to half a  drachm.
                                                                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.  Ranuncu-
laceae.
   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 
296            Delphinium.—Dianthus Caryophyllus.
Plants, p. 473. 7832. The larkspur is a showy annual plant, with an erect,
branched, slightly pubescent stem.  Its  leaves are divided into linear seg-
ments, widely separated, and forked at the summit. The flowers are usually
of a beautiful azure-blue colour, and disposed in loose terminal racemes, with
peduncles longer than the bractes.  The nectary is  one-leaved,  with  an
ascending horn  nearly equalling the corolla.  The seeds  are  contained m
smooth, solitary capsules.
   This species of larkspur has been introduced from Europe into this coun-
try, 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 the Delphinium
Stavhisagria. (See Staphisagrix  Semina.)  The flowers are  bitter and
acrid, and, having formerly been supposed to possess  the  power of healing
wounds, gave the name of consolida to the species.  They were 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.  They were analyzed by  Mr. Thomas C. Hopkins of Phila-
delphia, and  found to contain delphinia, volatile  oil,  fixed oil, gum, resin,
chlorophylle, gallic acid,  and salts of potassa, lime, and iron.  (Am. Journ.
of Pharm., xi. 8.) A tincture, prepared by macerating an ounce of the seeds
in a pint of  diluted alcohol, has been found useful in spasmodic asthma and
dropsy.  The dose is ten drops, to be  gradually increased till some effects
upon  the system are evinced.   The remedy has been employed  both in Ame-
rica and England ; and the seeds of an indigenous species, the D. exaltation,
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
Pharmacopoeia, is little if at all used.                               W.

     DIANTHUS CARYOPHYLLUS.  Flores. Dub.

                    Flowers of the Clove Pink.

   Dianthus. Sex. Syst.  Decandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Caryophyllacea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  cylindrical,  one-leafed,  with  four scales  at the  base.
Petals five, with claws. Capsule cylindrical, one-celled.  Willd.
   Dianthus Caryophyllus. Willd.  Sp.  Plant, ii. 674; Woodv.  Med. Bot.
p. 579. t. 205.  The clove pink or carnation is too well  known to require
minute description.  It is a perennial, herbaceous  plant, characterized as a
species by its branching  stem, its solitary flowers, the short ovate scales of
its calyx, its very broad beardless petals, and its linear, subulate, channeled,
glaucous leaves.  Indigenous  in Italy,  it is everywhere  cultivated in gar-
dens for the  beauty of its flowers, of which  numerous varieties have been
produced by horticulturists.   Those are selected for medicinal use which
have  the deepest  red colour,  and the  most aromatic odour.  The petals
should not be collected till the flower is fully blown, and should be employed
in the recent state.
   They have a fragrant odour said to  resemble that of the clove.  Their
taste is sweetish, slightly bitter, and  somewhat astringent.  Both*water and
alcohol extract their sensible properties, and they yield a fragrant essential
oil by distillation.
   In Europe they are employed to impart colour and flavour to  a syrup
which serves as a vehicle for  other less pleasant medicines.   According to
the directions of the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, this was prepared by 
part i.          Dianthus Caryophyllus.—Digitalis.             297

macerating one part of the flowers, without their claws, with four parts of
boiling  water for  twelve  hours,  then  filtering,  and adding seven parts of
sugar.                                                           W.


                    DIGITALIS.  U.S., Ed.

                              Foxglove.

   " The leaves of Digitalis purpurea."  U. S., Ed.
   Off. Sun.  DIGITALIS  FOLIA. DIGITALIS  SEMINA. Digitalis pur-
purea. Folia. Semina. Lond.  DIGITALIS PURPUREA. Folia. Dub.
   Digitale pourpree, Doightier, Fr.,- Purpurrollier Fingerhut, Germ.,- Digitalc purpurea,
Ital.; Dcdalera, Span.
   Digitalis. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Angiospermia.—Nat. Ord.  Scrophula-
riaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-parted.  Corolla bell-shaped, five-cleft,  ventricose.
 Capsule ovate, two-celled.  Willd.
   Digitalis  purpurea. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii.  283; Wroodv. Med. Bot. p.
218. t. 78.  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  in height, 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 serrated at their  edges,
and  have wrinkled  velvety surfaces, of which  the upper  is of a fine deep-
green colour, the under paler and  more downy.   The flowers are numerous,
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
peduncle 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  bearing  some resemblance to the end of the finger of  a glove, a circum-
stance which has  suggested most of the  names by which  the plant is desig-
nated in different  languages.   Its  mouth  is  guarded  by long  soft hairs.
Externally, it is in general of a bright purple colour; internally, is sprinkled
 with black spots  upon a white ground.  There is a variety of the plant in
which  the flowers are white.   The filaments are white, curved, and sur-
 mounted by  large yellow anthers.   The style, which is simple,  supports a
bifid stigma.  The seeds  are  very small,  numerous,  of a grayish-brown
colour, and contained in a pyramidal, two-celled capsule.
   The foxglove grows wild in most of the temperate countries of Europe,
where it flowers in the middle of summer.  In this country it is cultivated
both as an ornamental garden plant, and for medicinal purposes.  The leaves
are  the part  usually employed, although the London College recognises the
seeds also as officinal.  Much care is  requisite in selecting, preparing, and
preserving foxglove in order to insure its  activity.  The leaves  should  be
gathered  in  the  second  year,  immediately before or during the period of
inflorescence, and those  only should be  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 mid-rib are comparatively inactive, they may be rejected.
Withering 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 
298                           Digitalis.                        part i.

separate during  the  drying process.   Pereira states that  a more common,
and, in his opinion,  a preferable 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 pro-
per attention'in  preparing digitalis for the market, that it is  so often to be
found inefficient.  Much  of the medicine kept  in  our shops is  obtained
from the  settlement  of the Shakers in  New York,  and is in  the  state of
oblong  compact masses,  into  which  the  leaves  are probably compressed
before they are thoroughly dried.  In some of these  cakes the digitalis is of
good quality;  but  we  have seen others in which it was quite  the  reverse,
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 phials.  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 especially of taste.
  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.  The dried leaves analyzed by
Rein and  Haase, were found to contain in 100 parts, 5-5 of a green resin,
soft, viscid, soluble  in alcohol,  ether,  and the volatile oils, and possessing
the properties of a mixture of resin  and fixed oil;  15-0 of gum mixed with a
salt of potassa ; 2-0 of superoxalate  of potassa; 52-0 of lignin ; 5-5 of water,
with 5-0  parts lost.   According to Haase,  the virtues of digitalis depend
upon  the soft resin.  (Berzelius,  Traite de Chimie.)   MM.  Brault  and
Poggiale state, as the result of their researches, that the  leaves contain chlo-
rophylle,  resin, a fatty matter, starch, vegetable fibre, gum, tannin, a volatile
oil, and salts of lime and of potassa.   They are disposed  to ascribe the vir-
tues of the plant chiefly to the  resin, which has a bitter, acrid, almost corro-
sive taste.  The pretended digitalin of M. Le Royer has turned out to be
nothing more than a mixture of chlorophylle, resin, fatty  matter, and differ-
ent salts of lime and potassa.  (Journ. de  Pharm., xxi. 130.)  The results
of analysis, in relation to the  active principle of  the  drug, are as yet quite
unsatisfactory.   Dr.  Morries  obtained a narcotic empyreumatic oil by its
destructive distillation.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Digitalis is narcotic, sedative, and  diuretic.
Wnen 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 confusion in the mental  operations.   At the same  time, it occasionally
gives rise to irritation in the pharynx  and  oesophagus, which extends to the
larynx and trachea,  producing  hoarseness; and, in more than one  instance,
ptyalism  has been observed to result  from its action.   It sometimes  also
disturbs the bowels,  and excites nausea, or even vomiting.  Another  effect,
which, in a practical  point of view,  is highly important, is  an augmented
flow of urine.  This has been  ascribed by some to the  increased absorption
which digitalis is  supposed to  produce; 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 augmenting the quantity
of urine in health,  and it  probably exerts  a directly stimulating  influence
over the  secretory function of the kidneys.   This  influence is  said some-
times to extend to the genital organs. (N. Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. xi. 
PART I.
Digitalis.
299
p. 235.)   Besides the various  effects  above detailed, digitalis exerts a re-
markably sedative operation upon the heart.  This is  exhibited in the reduc-
tion both of the force and frequency of the pulse, which sometimes sinks from
the ordinary standard to 50, 40, or even 30 strokes in the  minute.   In some
instances, however, it undergoes little change ; in others only becomes irregu-
lar ; 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 very much influenced by posture.  Thus, in  his own case, the pulse
which had been reduced from 110 to 40 in the recumbent position, was in-
creased 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 pulsations 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 wholly unable to  supply by an
increase in  their force.
   The various effects above detailed may result from digitalis given in doses
calculated to produce its immediate influence.   In larger quantities its opera-
tion is more violent.  Nausea and vomiting, stupor or delirium, cold sweats,
extreme prostration of general  strength, hiccough, convulsions, syncope, are
among the alarming symptoms which indicate the poisonous character of the
medicine.   These effects are best counteracted by stimulants, such as brandy,
the volatile  alkali, and opium.  When there is reason to  believe  that any of
the poison remains, it is obviously proper, before employing other measures,
to evacuate the  stomach by the free use of  warm liquids.   From the experi-
ments of M. Bonjean it would  appear that  powdered  digitalis  may be given
to fowls, in large quantities,  with  entire impunity.  (Journ.  de Pharm. et
 de Chim., 3e ser., iv. 21.)
   A peculiarity of digitalis is that, after having  been given in moderate doses
for several days, without any apparent effect, it  sometimes acts suddenly  with
an accumulated influence, endangering even the life of the patient.   It is,
moreover, very permanent in its  operation,  which, having once commenced,
is maintained like that of mercury, for  a  considerable period, without any
fresh accessions of the medicine.  The practical inferences deducible from
these properties of digitalis are, first, that after it has been administered for
some time without effect, great caution should be observed not to increase the
dose, nor to urge  the medicine too  vigorously;  and  secondly, that after its
effects have begun to appear, it should be suspended  for a time, or exhibited
in moderate doses, lest a dangerous accumulation of  its influence 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 generally used, nor regarded as a standard remedy, till after its appli-
cation 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 very frequently fails;
the latter adapts it to the  treatment of  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 com-
plaints ; and it has been much employed for this purpose  by the Italian phy-
sicians,  who practised in accordance  with  the  contra-stimulant doctrine; 
300                     Digitalis.—Diosma.                   part i.

but experience has proved that it is a very frail support in any case in which
the symptoms of inflammation are such as  to call for the loss of blood.   As
an adjuvant  to the lancet, and  in cases in which circumstances forbid  the
employment of this remedy, it is often very useful.  Though it  certainly has
not the power, at  one time  ascribed to  it by some practitioners, 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 advanta-
geous in aneurism, hypertrophy and dilatation of the heart,  palpitations from
rheumatic or gouty irritation, and in various forms of hemorrhage, afteraction
has been sufficiently reduced by the lancet.  It has also been  prescribed in
mania, epilepsy, pertussis, and spasmodic asthma; and highly respectable
testimony can be adduced in favour of its  occasional  efficacy in these  com-
plaints ;  but any good which may be derived from it  is ascribable rather to
its influence over the  brain and nerves, than to that which it exercises over
the circulation.  In  delirium tremens it  has  been recently  recommended as
a specific, given  in the form of infusion,  in the full dose, repeated every two
hours till symptoms of narcotism are induced; but the practice is somewhat
hazardous unless the patient be carefully watched.   (Am Journ. of Med.
Sci., xvii. 501.)    The medicine, externally applied, is said to act speedily
and powerfully as a diuretic, and to have been used advantageously 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 Medicale, May,
1834.)
   Digitalis is most effectually 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;
but the virtues of digitalis are too energetic to require concentration; and  the
preparation  is not  more certain than the powder.  The decoction has also
been used, but has nothing to recommend  it.   Enormous doses of this me-
dicine  have  sometimes been given with  asserted impunity; and when they
occasion full vomiting, it is possible that they may sometimes prove harm-
less; but when the alarming consequences which sometimes result from com-
paratively moderate doses are considered, the practice must be condemned as
exceedingly hazardous.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Digitalis, Lond., Ed.; Infusum  Digitalis, U.S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pilulae Digitalis et Scillae, Ed.; Tinctura Digitalis, U. S.,
Lond.,  Ed., Dub.                                                 W.
                     DIOSMA.  U.S., Lond.

                               Buchu.

  " The leaves of Diosma crenata." U.S. " Diosma crenata. Folia." Lond.
  Off. Syn.  BUCKU. Leaves  of various  species  of Barosma. Ed.; DI-
OSMA  CRENATA. Folia. BUCHU. Dub.
  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 botanists to the genus Barosma, so  named from  the strong odour of the
leaves (p^vo and oj/mj).  The B. crenata,  B. crenulata,  and B. scrrati- 
 part i.                        Diosma.                           301

folia are described by Lindley as medicinal species.   The leaves of these
 and other Barosmas, and of some Agathosmas, are collected by the Hotten-
 tots, who value them  on account 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. Rutaceae.
   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.  (Condensedfrom Lindley.)  These plants are  all small shrubs, with
 opposite leaves, and peduncled flowers.
   Barosma  crenata. Lindley, Flor. Med. 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, coriaceous, 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.
   Properties.   The buchu leaves of 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 bitter-
 ish, and closely analogous  to that of mint.   These  various properties are
 abundantly sufficient to 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.  Analyzed by Cadet de  Gassicourt, they
 were found 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 chlo-
 rophylle, and 21-51  of resin.  Water and alcohol extract their virtues, which
 probably depend on the volatile oil and extractive matter.  The latter is pre-
 cipitated by the infusion of galls.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Buchu leaves  are  gently stimulant,  with
 a peculiar tendency to the urinary organs, producing diuresis, and, like  all
 other similar medicines,  exciting  diaphoresis when circumstances favour this
 mode of action.   The Hottentots at  the  Cape  of Good Hope have long used
 them in a variety of  diseases.  From  these  rude practitioners  they were
 borrowed by  the resident English and Dutch  physicians, by whose recom-
 mendation they have been  employed to some extent  in Great  Britain and
 on the continent of Europe, and have attracted attention on this side of the
 Atlantic.  They are chiefly given 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.   The remedy has also
 been recommended in dyspepsia, chronic rheumatism and  cutaneous affec-
 tions.   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 fluid-
 ounces.  A tincture  has  been employed as a stimulant embrocation in local
 pains.
   Off.Prep. Infusum Diosmae, U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Buchu,
 Dub.,  Ed.                                                       W.
     27 
302
Diospyros.—Dracontium.
PART I.
               DIOSPYROS. U.S.  Secondary.

                            Persimmon.

  " The bark of Diospyros Virginiana."  U. S.
  Diospyros.  Sex. Syst. Dioecia Octandria.—Nat. Ord. Ebenaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx  four to  six-cleft.   Corolla urceolate, four to six-
cleft.   Stamens eight to sixteen;  filaments often producing two  anthers.
Female. Flower as the male. Stigmas four or five. Berry eight to twelve-
S66(1g(1. NvtttolX^
  Diospyros Virginiana. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 1107;  Michaux,  N.Am.
Sylv. ii. 219.   The persimmon is an indigenous tree, rising in the Southern
States  in favourable  situations  to  the  height  of  sixty feet, with  a trunk
eighteen or twenty inches in diameter; but seldom attaining  more than half
this 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, acu-
minate, entire, smooth, reticulately veined, alternate, and supported on pubes-
cent footstalks.   The buds are  smooth.   The  male and female  flowers are
on different trees.   They are  lateral, axillary, solitary, nearly sessile, of a
pale orange colour, and not conspicuous.   The fruit is a globular berry, of a
dark yellow colour externally 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, accord-
ing 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  in the green state, the fruit is excessively
astringent; but when perfectly mature, and after having been touched by the
frost, it is sweet  and  palatable.  We  are  told  by Michaux, 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 fermented infusion.   The
unripe fruit  has been advantageously used by  Dr.  Mettauer, of Virginia, 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.  (Am. Journ.  of Med. Sci., N. S., iv. 297.)  The bark is
the only part of the tree directed by the Pharmacopoeia.  It 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.


               DRACONTIUM.  U.S.  Secondary.

                          Sku?ik Cabbage.

   " The root  of Dracontium  fcetidum—Ictodes foetidus  {Bigelow)—Sym-
 plocarpus fcetidus  (Barton, Med. Bot.)."  U. S.
   Botanists have had some difficulty in properly arranging this plant.   It is
 attached by Willdenow to the  genus Dracontium, by Michaux and Pursh is
 considered a Pothos, and by American botanists has been erected into  a new
 genus, whieh Nuttall calls Symplocarpus after Salisbury, and for which Dr.
 Bigelow has proposed the name Ictodes, expressive of the odour of the plant.
 The term Symplocarpus, though erroneous  in its origin, was first proposed 
PART I.
Dracontium.
303
for the new genus, and, having been adopted by several botanists, should be
retained.
   Symplocarpus.  Sex. Syst.  Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Araceae.
   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, Med. Bot. i. 123.—Ictodesfostidus. Bige-
low, Am. Med.  Bot. ii. 41.  The skunk cabbage is a very curious plant, the
only one of the genus  to  which it belongs.   The root is perennial, large,
abrupt, and furnished with numerous fleshy fibres, which  penetrate to the
depth of two feet or more.  The spathe, which appears before the leaves, is
ovate, acuminate, obliquely depressed at the  apex, auriculated at the base,
folded inwards at  the  edges, and of a brownish-purple  colour, varied with
spots of  red, yellow, and green.  Within the spathe, the flowers, which re-
semble it in colour, are placed in great numbers upon  a globose,  peduncled
spadix, for which  they form a compact covering.  After the  spathe has
decayed, the spadix continues to grow, and, when the fruit is mature, has
attained a size exceeding by several fold its original dimensions.   The dif-
ferent parts of the flower, with the exception of the anthers, augment in like
proportion.  At the base of each style is a roundish seed, immersed in the
spadix, about the size of a pea, and speckled with purple and yellow.  The
leaves,  which rise from the ground  after  the  flowers,  are numerous and
crowded, oblong,  cordate, acute, smooth, strongly veined, and attached to
the root by long petioles, which are hollowed in front, and furnished with
coloured sheathing stipules.  At the beginning of May, when the leaves are
fully developed, they are  very large, being from  one to  two feet  in  length,
and from nine inches to a foot in breadth.
   This plant is indigenous, growing  abundantly  in meadows, swamps, and
other wet places throughout the whole northern and middle sections  of the
Union.   Its flowers appear in March and April, and in the lower latitudes
often so early as February.   The fruit is usually quite ripe, and  the leaves
are decayed before the end of August.   The plant is very conspicuous from
its abundance, and from the magnitude of its  leaves.   All parts of it have a
disagreeable fetid  odour, thought to resemble that of  the  offensive  animal
after which it is named.   This odour resides in an extremely volatile  princi-
ple, which is rapidly dissipated by heat, and diminished by desiccation. The
root is the  part usually employed  in medicine.  It should be collected  in
autumn, or early in spring, and dried with care.
   The dried root, as  found in the  shops, consists of two distinct portions;
the body or caudex, 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 in pieces of various lengths,
about as  thick as a hen's  quill, very much flattened  and  wrinkled, white
within, and covered by a yellowish  reddish-brown epidermis, of a consider-
ably lighter shade than that of the body of the root. The fetid odour remains,
to a greater or less extent, for a considerable period  after the completion of
the drying  process.  The taste, though less decided than in the fresh state,
is still acrid, manifesting itself, after  the root has been chewed for a short time,
by a pricking and smarting sensation in the mouth and  throat.   The acri-
mony, however, is dissipated by heat, and  is entirely lost in decoction.  It
is also diminished by time and exposure; and the  root should not be kept for
use longer  than a  single  season.   According  to Mr. Turner (see Inaug.
Essay in Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii.  2.), the radicles, even in the  recent 
304
Dracontium.—Dulcamara.
PART I.
plant, have less acrimony than the caudex.  The seeds are said by Mr. Tur-
ner to have an exceedingly acrid taste, and, though inodorous when whole, to
give out strongly, when bruised, the peculiar odour of the plant.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The properties  of this  root are those of
a stimulant, antispasmodic, and narcotic.   In large doses it occasions nausea
and vomiting, with headache, vertigo, and dimness  of vision.   Dr. Bigelow
has witnessed these  effects  from thirty  grains of the  recently  dried root.
The medicine was  introduced into notice by the  Rev.  Dr.  Cutler, who
recommended it highly as  an antispasmodic  in  asthma; and  it has been
subsequently employed with apparent advantage in chronic catarrh, chronic
rheumatism, and hysteria.    Cures are also said to have been effected by its
use in dropsy.
  It is best given in powder, of which the dose is from  ten to twenty grains,
to be repeated three or four times a day, and  gradually increased till  some
evidence of its action is afforded.  A strong infusion is sometimes employed,
and the people in the  country prepare a syrup from the fresh root; but the
latter  preparation is  very unequal.   The  root itself, as  kept in the shops, is
of uncertain strength, in consequence of its deterioration by age.      W.


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

                             Bittersweet.

  " The  stalks of Solanum  Dulcamara."  U. S.   " Solanum  Dulcamara.
 Caulis." Lond., Dub.  "Twigs of Solanum Dulcamara." Ed.
  Douce-amere, Fr.; Bittersuss, Alpranken, Germ.; Dulcamara, Ital., Span.
  Solanum.   Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Solanaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla wheel-shaped.  Anthers somewhat coalescing, opening
 by  two pores at the apex.  Berry two-celled.  Willd.
   This genus includes numerous species, of which several have been used
 in medicine.  Besides the S. Dulcamara, which is the only officinal species,
 two others merit a brief notice.   1.  The 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 species, one of which  is a native of
 the United States.  The leaves are  the part employed  in medicine.   They
 are said to produce diaphoresis, sometimes diuresis  and moderate purging,
 and in large  doses nausea and giddiness.  As a medicine they have been used
 in cancerous, scrofulous, and scorbutic diseases, and other painful ulcerous
 affections, being  given internally, and applied at the same time in the form
 of  poultice, ointment, or decoction to  the tumours or ulcers themselves.  A
 grain of the  dried leaves may be given every night and  gradually increased to
 ten or twelve grains,  or till some sensible effect is experienced.   The medi-
 cine, however, is scarcely used at present.  By some persons the poisonous
 properties usually  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 Bour-
 bon as food, having been previously boiled in water.   In  the latter case, the
 active principle of the plant must have been extracted by decoction. 2. The
 leaves, stalks, and  unripe  berries  of the Solanum  tuberosum, or common
 potato, are asserted to have  narcotic properties, and  an  extract prepared from
 the leaves has been employed as a remedy in cough  and spasmodic affec- 
PART I.
Dulcamara.
305
tions, 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 ex-
tract to produce very favourable effects in protracted cough, chronic rheuma-
tism, angina  pectoris, cancer of the  uterus, &c.   The  influence  which  it
exercised upon the nervous  system  was strongly marked,  and,  in  many
instances, the dose could not be increased  above a few grains without o-iving
rise to threatening symptoms.  It appeared to Dr.  Latham to be very analo-
gous in its operation to  digitalis.   His experiments were repeated  in Phila-
delphia by Dr. Worsham with very different results.  The extract was found,
in the quantity of nearly one hundred  grains, to produce no sensible effect
on the system.  (Philad. Journ. of Med. and Phys. Sciences, vi. 22.)  We
can reconcile these opposite statements only  upon the supposition, that the
properties of the plant vary with  the season,  or with the place and circum-
stances of culture.  An excellent form of starch, called potato arrow-root, is
prepared from potatoes  for  medical  use ;  and an  imitation  of sago is also
made from them in Germany.  Dr.  Julius Otto  found solania in the germs
of the potato.  He was induced to make the  investigation by observing that
cattle were destroyed by feeding on the residue of germinated potatoes, used
for the manufacture of brandy.
   Solanum Dulcamara. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1028 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p;
237. t. 84;  Bigelow,  Am.  Med. Bot. i.  169.  The bittersweet or woody
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.   Most of  them are
quite entire, some  cordate at the base.   The flowers  are  disposed in elegant
clusters, somewhat analogous to cymes, and standing opposite to the leaves.
The calyx is very small, 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 longi-
tudinally 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 innoxious.  Bittersweet should be gathered in  autumn,
after the fall of  the leaf;  and the  extreme  twigs should be  selected.  That
grown in high and  dry situations is said to  be the best.
   The dried  twigs, as brought to  the shops, are of  various lengths, cylindri-
cal, about as thick  as a goose-quill, externally wrinkled and of a grayish-ash
colour, consisting of a thin bark,  an  interior ligneous portion, and a central
pith.   They  are inodorous, though the stalk in the recent state emits, when
bruised, a peculiar, rather nauseous  smell.   Their taste, which is at first
bitter, and afterwards  sweetish, has given origin to the  name of the plant.
Boiling water extracts all their virtues.  These  are supposed to depend, at
                                 27* 
306
Dulcamara.
PART I.
least in  part, upon  a peculiar  alkaline principle called  solanin or solania,
which was  originally discovered by M. Desfosses, of Besangon, in the ber-
ries of the Solanum nigrum, and has subsequently been found in the stalks,
leaves, and berries of the S. Dulcamara and S. tuberosum.   It is supposed
to exist  in  the 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°, scarcelyysoluble in water, solu-
ble in alcohol  and ether, and capable of neutralizing the acids.   It is distin-
guished  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 colourless,
with the deposition of a brown  powder. (Pharm.  Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1843,
p. 177.)  Given to  a cat, it was found by M. Desfosses to operate at first as
an emetic, and afterwards as a  narcotic. Dr. J. Otto observed, among its most
striking  effects, a paralytic condition of the posterior limbs of the animals to
which it was administered.  One grain of the sulphate of  solania was suffi-
cient  in  his hands  to destroy a rabbit in six  hours.   Besides solania, the
stalks of the S. Dulcamara  contain, according  to Pfaff,  a  peculiar principle
to which he gave the name of picroglycion, indicative of the taste  at once
bitter and  sweet, which it is said to possess.   This has been  obtained in a
crystalline  state by Blitz, by the following process.  The  watery extract is
treated with alcohol,  the tincture evaporated, the residue dissolved in water,
the solution precipitated with subacetate of lead, the excess  of this salt decom-
posed by sulphuretted hydrogen, the liquor  then evaporated to dryness, and
the residue treated  with acetic ether, which yields the  principle in the form
of small isolated  crystals by spontaneous  evaporation.   Pfaff found  also in
Dulcamara  a vegeto-animal substance,  gummy extractive, gluten, green wax,
resin, benzoic acid, starch, lignin, and various salts of lime.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.  Dulcamara  possesses feeble  narcotic  pro-
perties, with the  power of increasing  the  secretions, particularly that of the
kidneys  and skin.  We  have observed, in several instances, when the  system
was under its influence, a dark  purplish colour of the face and hands, and at
the same time considerable languor of the  circulation.  Its narcotic effects
do not become obvious, unless when it is taken in large  quantities.  In over-
doses it  produces nausea, vomiting, faintness,  vertigo, and convulsive mus-
cular movements.   It has been recommended in various diseases, but is now
nearly confined to the treatment of cutaneous eruptions, particularly  those of
a scaly character, as  lepra,  psoriasis, and  ptyriasis.  In these  complaints it
is often decidedly beneficial, especially in combination with  minute doses of
the antimonials.   Its influence upon the  secretions is  insufficient to account

  * 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 begin-
ning of June, and pressed down in  a suitable vessel, by means of pebbles, arc macerated
for twelve or eighteen  hours in  water enough to cover them, previously acidulated with
sulphuric acid, so as to have a strongly acid reaction during the maceration.   They are
then expressed by the hand, and  the liquor, with the addition of fresh portions of sulphuric
acid, is added twice successively, as at first, to fresh portions of sprouts, and in like man-
ner separated by expression.  After standing for some  days it is filtered, and treated with
powdered hydrate of lime in slight excess.  The precipitate which forms  is separated by
straining, dried in a warm air, and boiled several times with alcohol.  The alcoholic solu-
tion, 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, and then allowing it to cool. The whole residuary liquor
will assume a gelatinous consistence, and upon being dried, will leave the solania in the
form of a translucent, horny, amorphous mass.  (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1843, p. 174.) 
part I.                Dulcamara.—Elaterium.                   307

for its favourable  effects, and we must be content with ascribing them to an
alterative  action.   It is  said to have been beneficially employed in chronic
rheumatism and chronic catarrh.   Antaphrodisiac  properties are ascribed to
it by some physicians.  (See  Am.  Cyc. of Pract. Med., ii. 23.)   We have
seen it apparently useful in mania connected with strong venereal propen-
sities.  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 De-
coctum Dulcamarx.)   An  extract may also be  prepared, of which the dose
is from five to ten grains.  That of the powder would be from thirty grains
to a drachm.  In cutaneous affections a strong decoction is often  applied to
the skin, at the same time that the  medicine is taken internally.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum  Dulcamarae, U.S., Lond.; Extractum  Dulcamaras,
U.S.                                                            w.


                    ELATERIUM. U.S., Ed.

                             Elaterium.

   "A substance  deposited by the juice  of the fruit of Momordica Elate-
rium."  U. S.   " Feculence of the juice of the fruit of Momordica Elate-
rium." Ed.
   Off. Syn. ELATERIUM. Momordica Elaterium.  Pepones recentes.—
EXTRACTUM ELATERII.  Lond.;  MOMORDICA  ELATERIUM.
Fructus.  Fascula. Folia.—ELATERIUM.—EXTRACTUM ELATERII.
Dub.
   Elaterion, Fr.; Elaterium, Germ.; Elaterio, Ital., Span.
   Momordica.  Sex. Syst. Monoecia  Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Cucurbita-
ceae.
   Gen. Ch. Male.  Calyx five-cleft.  Corolla five-parted.  Filaments three.
Female. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla  five-parted. Style  trifid. Gourd bursting
elastically. Willd.
   Momordica Elaterium.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 605; Woodv. Med. Bot.
p. 192. t.  72.—Ecbalium Elaterium.  French Codex, A. D. 1837.  The wild
or squirting cucumber  is a perennial  plant, with  a large fleshy root, from
which proceed several  round, thick, rough  stems, branching  and trailing
like the common cucumber, but without tendrils.   The leaves are petiolate,
large, rough, irregularly  cordate, and of a grayish-green colour.  The flowers
are yellow, and proceed from the axils  of the leaves.  The fruit has the
shape of a small oval cucumber, about  an  inch and a half long, an inch thick,
of a  greenish  or grayish colour,  and  covered with stiff hairs or  prickles.
When fully ripe, it separates from the peduncle, and  throws out its juice
and seed with  considerable  force through an  opening at the base, where it
was  attached to the footstalk.  The name of squirting cucumber was de-,
rived from this circumstance;  and the scientific and officinal title  is supposed
to have had a similar origin,  though  some authors maintain that the term
elaterium was applied to the medicine,  rather from the mode of its operation
upon the bowels, than from the projectile-property of the fruit.*
  This species of Momordica is a native of the South of Europe ; and is cul-
tivated in Great Britain, where, however, it perishes  in the winter.   Elate-
rium is the substance spontaneously deposited by the juice of the fruit, when
separated, and allowed  to stand.   Dr. Clutterbuck, of London, proved that

  * From the Greek fhawca I drive, or tXtnve driver.  The word elaterium was used by
Hippocrates to signify any active purge.  Dioscorides applied it to the medicine of which
we are treating. 
308
Elaterium.
PART I.
it is contained only in the free juice which surrounds the seeds, and which
is obtained without expression.   The  body of the fruit itself, the  seeds, as
well as other parts of the plant, are nearly or quite inert.   When the fruit is
sliced  and placed upon a sieve, a perfectly limpid and colourless juice flows
out, which after a  short time becomes  turbid, and in the course of a few
hours  begins  to deposit a  sediment.   This, when collected  and  carefully
dried,  is  very light and pulverulent, of a yellowish-white colour, slightly
tinged with green.   It is the  genuine elaterium, and was  found by Clutter-
buck to purge violently in the dose of one-eighth of a  grain.   But the quan-
tity contained in the fruit is  exceedingly small.   Clutterbuck obtained only
six grains from forty cucumbers.  Commercial  elaterium is a much weaker
medicine, owing in  part, perhaps, to adulteration, but much more to the
mode in which it is prepared.   In order to increase the product, the juice of
the fruit is often expressed; and there is reason  to believe that it  is some-
times evaporated so as to form an extract, instead of being allowed to  depo-
sit the active matter.   The French elaterium is prepared  by expressing the
juice, clarifying it by rest and filtration, and then evaporating it to a suitable
consistence.  As the liquid which remains after the deposition of  the  sedi-
ment is comparatively inert, it will  be readily perceived that  the preparation
of the French Codex must be very feeble.  The following are the directions
of the London  College, with  which those of  the  Edinburgh and Dublin
Colleges essentially correspond.  " Slice ripe wild cucumbers, express the
juice very gently, and pass it  through  a very fine hair  sieve; then set it
aside for some hours until the thicker part has  subsided.  Reject  the  thin-
ner 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  elate-
rium.   Another portion, of a  paler colour,  is  deposited  by  the  decanted
liquor.  (Pereira.)   The slight  pressure  directed is necessary for the ex-
traction of the juice from the  somewhat immature fruit employed;  and the
perfectly ripe fruit cannot be employed; as, in consequence of its disposition
to part with its contents, it cannot  be carried to  market.   The medicine is
incorrectly denominated  by the London  and Dublin  Colleges Extractum
Elaterii; being neither an extract, strictly speaking, nor an inspissated juice.
The Edinburgh College calls  it Elaterium in the  Materia Medica list, but
inconsistently admits the name of Extractum Elaterii in  the  preparations.
In the  U.S. Pharmacopoeia, it is named simply Elaterium.  As the plant is
not cultivated in this country for medicinal purposes, our Pharmacopoeia  very
properly adopts, as  officinal, the medicine as it is found in commerce.   It is
brought chiefly from  England, but it is probable that a portion of the elaterium,
of which Dr. Pereira speaks as coming from Malta, reaches our market  also.
  Properties.   The best elaterium is in thin  flat or  slightly  curled cakes
or 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 in-
flammable, and so light that it swims when thrown upon water.  When of
inferior  quality, it is sometimes  dark-coloured, much curled, and rather
hard, either breaking with difficulty or presenting a resinous fracture.   The
Maltese  elaterium is in larger pieces, of a pale colour sometimes without
the  least tinge of green, destitute of odour, soft, and friable;  and not unfre-
quenfly presents evidences of having been mixed with chalk or starch.  It
sinks in water.
  Dr. Clutterbuck first observed that the activity of elaterium resided in that
portion of it which  was soluble in alcohol and not in water.   This fact was 
PART I.
Elaterium.
309
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 elate-
rium  was inactive.   Supposing the substance thus prepared to be the active
principle, he gave it the name of elatin; but incorrectly, as it consists of at
least two distinct ingredients.  The subsequent experiments of Mr. Hennel,
of London,  and Mr. Morries, of Edinburgh, which appear  to  have been
nearly simultaneous, demonstrated  the existence  of a  crystallizable matter
in elaterium, which is probably the active  principle of the medicine, and for
which Mr. Morries proposed the appropriate name of  elaterin.  According
to Mr. Hennel, 100 parts of elaterium contains 44 of elaterin, 17 of a green
resin  (chlorophylle), 6  of starch, 27 of lignin, and  6 of saline matters.   The
elatin of Dr. Paris is probably a mixture  of elaterin and the green  resin or
chlorophylle.*
   Elaterin,  according  to Mr. Morries, crystallizes when pure in colourless
microscopic  rhombic prisms, which have  a silky appearance when in mass.
It is extremely  bitter and somewhat acrid  to the  taste, insoluble in water and
alkaline  solutions, soluble in alcohol, ether, and  hot olive oil,  and sparingly
soluble in dilute acids.   At  a temperature between  300° and 400° it melts,
and at a  higher temperature  is  dissipated  in thick, whitish, pungent vapour,
having an ammoniacal odour.  It has no alkaline reaction.  It may be easily
procured by evaporating an alchoholic tincture of elaterium  to the consist-
ence  of  thin oil, and throwing the residue while yet warm into a weak boil-
ing solution  of  potassa.  The  potassa holds the green resin of chlorophylle
in solution, and the elaterin crystallizes   as the liquor cools.  Mr. Hennel
obtained  it by  treating with  ether  the alcoholic extract  procured by the
spontaneous evaporation 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. Kennel's  method.   By evaporating the ethereal solution, the
green resin is obtained  in a separate state.   Mr.  Hennel states that this was
found to possess the purgative  property of the  elaterium in  a concentrated
state, as it acted powerfully in a dose less than one-third  of  a grain.  But
this effect was probably owing to the presence of a portion of elaterin which
had been dissolved by the ether.  The late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, ascer-
tained that the crystalline principle or elaterin  produced, in  the  quantity of
TLth  or yLth of a grain, all the  effects of a dose of elaterium.   The quantity
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. Hennel
upwards of 40 per cent.   This great diversity  in the strength of elaterium
renders the substitution of its purgative principle highly desirable.
   Choice of Elaterium.  The inequality of elaterium depends probably
more on  diversities in the mode of preparation than on  positive adulteration.
It should possess all the sensible properties above  indicated, as characteriz-
ing good elaterium, should  not effervesce with acids,  and should yield, as
directed  by the Edinburgh  College, from  one-seventh  to one-fourth of ela-
terin, when  treated in  the  mode above  recommended for  procuring that
principle.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Elaterium  is  a  powerful hydragogue

  * The substance to which Pelletier gave the name of chlorophylle, under the impression
that it was a peculiar proximate principle, has been ascertained  by that  chemist to be a
mixture of wax, and a green fixed oil. (Journ. de Pharm.,  xix. 109.) 
310                     Elaterium.—Elemi.                   part i.

cathartic, and in a large dose generally excites nausea and vomiting.  If too
freely administered, it operates with great violence  both  upon the stomach
and bowels, producing inflammation of these  organs, which  has in some
instances eventuated fatally.   It also increases the flow of urine.  The fruit
was  employed by  the ancients,  and is recommended in  the writings  of
Dioscorides as a remedy in mania and melancholy.  Sydenham  and his
contemporaries considered elaterium highly useful in dropsy; but, in conse-
quence of some fatal results from its  incautious  employment, it fell into dis-
repute, and was generally neglected, till again  brought into notice  by Dr.
Ferriar.   It is now considered one of the  most efficient hydragogue cathar-
tics in the treatment of dropsical diseases, in which it has sometimes proved
successful after all other remedies have  failed.  The full dose of ordinary-
commercial elaterium  is from  one to two grains;  but as in this quantity it
generally vomits, if of good quality, the best mode of  administering it is in
the dose' of a quarter or half a 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.


                   ELEMI. Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Elemi.

   "Amyris elemifera. Resina."  Lond., Dub.  "Concrete  resinous  exuda-
tion from one or more unascertained plants." Ed.
   R6sine elemi, Fr.; Oelbauinharz, Elemi, Germ.; Elemi, Ital.;  Goma de limon, Span.
   Amyris. Sex. Syst. Octandria  Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord. Terebintacese,
Juss.; Amyrideae, R. Brown, Lindley.
   Gen.  Ch. Calyx four-toothed. Petals four, oblong. Stigma four-cornered.
Berry drupaceous.  Willd.
   Some botanists separate from this genus the species which have their fruit
in the form of a capsule  instead of a nut, and associate  them together in a
distinct  genus  with the name of Idea.   This is recognised by  De Candolle.
   Most of the trees belonging to  these two genera  yield, when wounded, a
resinous juice analogous to the  turpentines, and differing little as  procured
from the different species. It is not improbable  that the drug usually known
by the name of elemi, though referred by the Colleges to one tree, is in fact
derived  from several.  That known to the ancients is  said to have been ob-
tained from Ethiopia,  and all the elemi of commerce was originally brought
from the Levant.  The tree which afforded it was not accurately known, but
was supposed to be a  species of Amyris.  Geiger states  that it was  derived
from the A. Zeilanica, growing in Ceylon.   At  present the  drug is taken  to
Europe  from Brazil, and  is believed to be  the product of a plant  mentioned
by Marcgrav under the name of icicariba, and considered  by Linnaeus  as
the Amyris elemifera.  It appears, however, to be properly  an  Icica, and
De Candolle denominates it 7. Icicariba.  We can find no  detailed descrip-
tion of the tree.  It has a lofty trunk, with pinnate leaves, consisting of three
or five pointed, perforated leaflets, which are smooth on their upper surface,
and woolly beneath.  It is erroneously stated in some  works  to be a native
of Carolina. The elemi is obtained by incisions into the tree, through which
the juice flows and concretes upon the bark.
   It 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 
PART I.
Elemi.—Ergota.
311
yellow, sometimes 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, dis-
agreeable taste ; entirely soluble, with the exception of impurities, in boiling
alcohol; and affording a volatile oil by distillation.   It consists, according to
M. Bonastre, 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 ex-
tractive, and 1-5 of acid and impurities.  It  is sometimes adulterated with
colophony  and  turpentine.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Elemi has properties analogous to those of
the turpentines; but is exclusively applied to external  use.   In  the United
States it is rarely employed even in this way.  In the pharmacy of Europe
it enters into the composition of numerous plasters and ointments.  We are
told that it is occasionally  brought to this country in small fragments  mixed
with the coarser kinds of gum Arabic from the Levant and India.
   Off. Prep. Unguentum  Elemi, Lond., Dub.                      W.


                  ERGOTA.   U.S., Lond,  Ed.

                                Ergot.

   " The diseased seeds of Secale cereale." U. S. "Acinula clavus."  Lond.
"An undetermined fungus, with degenerated seed of Secale cereale."  Ed.
   Spurred rye; Secale cornutum; Scigle ergote, Fr.; Multrrkorn, Germ.
   In all the Graminacex  or grass tribe, and  in some of the Cyperacex, the
place of the seeds is sometimes occupied by a morbid  growth, which, from
its resemblance to the spur of a  cock, has  received  the name of  ergot,
adopted from the French.   This product is most frequent in the rye,  Secale
cereale  of  botanists,  and having  been found, as  occurring in that plant, to
possess valuable medicinal properties, was adopted in the first edition  of the
U. S. Pharmacopoeia under the name of Secale cornutum or spurred rye.  In
the last edition, this  name was changed for Ergota, in conformity with the
nomenclature of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, by whom the medicine
was recognised for the first time at the last revision of their catalogues.
   Considerable difference of opinion has existed in relation to the nature of
this singular substance.  It was at one  time generally thought to be merely
the seed altered by disease—the  morbid  condition  being ascribed by some
to the agency of an insect, by others to  excess of  heat and moisture.   A
second opinion  considered it a parasitic fungus, occupying the place of the
seed.   This was entertained by De Candolle, who called the fungus Scle-
rotium  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 beginning of its develop-
ment.   This view was put forth by M. Leveille in a memoir published  in
the Annals of the Linn. Society of Paris for  the year 1826.  According  to
this writer, a soft viscid tubercle may be seen, at the  earliest stage  of  the
flower, surmounting  the germ, the character of which it changes, without
preventing its growth.   The germ becomes of a dark colour,  and increasing
in size, pushes the tubercle before it,   which also  expands,  and exudes a
viscid  mater, which  spreads  over the  germ, and drying upon its surface,
gives  it a thin yellowish coating.   The  tubercle was considered by M. Le-
veille a fungus, and named Sphacelia segetum.  The  more recent observa-
tions of Mr. Quekett, of London, confirm this general view of the nature of
ergot; but  lead  to a different conclusion as to the character of the parasitic 
312
Ergota.
PART I.
plant.   According 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, and after a time  sink in the fluid.   These parti-
cles, when examined by the microscope,  prove  to be the  reproductive agents,
germs, or sporidia of a  species  of fungus,  and may be  observed to  sprout
and  propagate  in  various ways under favourable  circumstances.   Their
length, upon  the average,  is about  the  four-thousandth of an inch.  The
filaments  are the results of the  growth of these singular germs.  The spo-
ridia and filaments do not increase with the  increase of the ergot; and when
this has projected beyond the paleae and  become visible, it has lost a portion
of its  white  coating'and presents a dark  violet colour.  It now increases
with  great rapidity, and attains  its  full  size in a few days.   When  com-
pletely developed, it exhibits very few of the filaments  or sporidia upon its
surface.  But Quekett believes  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  matter.  The  fungus was named  by Quekett Er-
gotxtia abortifaciens.   This view of the  nature and cause of ergot  is strongly
supported  by the asserted  facts, that the microscopic fungus has an exist-
ence independent 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 ap'plied to the  seeds of
certain Graminaceae before germination,  or sprinkled in the  soil at the roots
of the  plants after they have begun to grow,  will give rise to  ergotized fruit.*
That  the  ergot is  not itself a  peculiar  fungus, but the  perverted grain, is
evinced by the frequent remains  of the stigma upon its summit, by the scales
at its  base, and  by  the circumstance  that in  some instances only a portion of
the seed is ergotized.  How far  its peculiar medical properties may depend
upon  the morbid substance  of the grain,  and how far on the fungous matter
associated with it, has not been  determined.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
xi. 116 and 237—and Med. Exam., N.  S„ i. 62.)
   The ergot usually projects out of  the  glume or  husk beyond the ordinary
outline of the spike or ear.  In some spikes the place of the seeds is wholly
occupied by  the ergot, in others only two  or three  spurs are observed.  It
is stated that this substance is much more  energetic when  collected  before
than after  harvest.  Rye  has  generally  been thought to be  most subject to
the disease in poor and wet  soils, and  in rainy seasons ; and intense heat
succeeding continued rains is said to  favour its development, especially if
these  circumstances occur at the time the  flower is  forming.  It is  now, how-
ever,  asserted that moisture has little or  nothing to do with  its production.!
  * Wiggcrs observed that  the white dust on the  surface of ergot occasioned the same
disease in other plants, when sprinkled in the soil about the roots; and  Quekett found that
the seeds of rye immersed in water impregnated with  the  sporidia from ergot, and after.
wards  allowed  to germinate, produced plants on every one of which there were some ears
possessing ergotted grains.  (Med. Gazette, October, 1841.)  It is true that Dr. Wright
failed in obtaining the same effects, though he sowed powdered ergot with  rye, watered
the growing plants daily with water  in which  ergot had  been steeped, and applied the
powder to the growing ears.  (Ed. Med. and Surg. Journ., January, 1841.)  But this failure
ought not to invalidate the positive results  obtained by others.
  t Mr. J. Price Wetherill informed  the author that, in two seasons,  he  had found rye,
sown very late, so as scarcely to come up before spring, to be almost universally ergotted;
while neighbouring rye, sown at the proper season, in the same kind of soil precisely, had
nothing of  the disease, though the seed were the same in both cases.   (Note to the"sixth
edition.) 
part i.                         Ergota.                            313

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 exhibits when taken on the sixth
day. (Pharmaceutical Transactions, Jan., 1842, from Journ. de Chim. Med.)
  Properties.    Ergot is in solid, brittle yet somewhat flexible grains, from
a third of an inch to an inch and a half long, from half a line to three  lines
in thickness, cylindrical or obscurely triangular, tapering towards each end,
obtuse at the  extremities, usually  curved like the spur  of a cock, marked
with one  or two longitudinal furrows, often irregularly cracked  or fissured,
of a violet-brown colour and  often somewhat glaucous externally, yellowish-
white, or violet-white within, of  an unpleasant smell when in mass resem-
bling 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 glau-
cous  aspect;  and the interior structure is  found to  be composed of minute
roundish  cells,  containing, according to Quekett, particles of  oil.   Ergot
yields its virtues to water and alcohol.   The aqueous infusion or decoction
is claret-coloured, and has an acid reaction.   It is precipitated by the acetate
and subacetate  of lead, nitrate of  silver, and  tincture of galls;  but affords
with iodine no evidence of the presence of starch.
  Ergot has been analyzed by Vauquelin, Winkler, a German chemist named
Wiggers, Wright, and several others.   The  results obtained  by Wiggers
and Wright, are most deserving of notice.   According to the former, ergot
contains°35-0 per  cent, of a peculiar  fixed oil;  1-04 of a peculiar, white,
crystallizable, very  soft fatty matter; 0-75 of cerin; 46-18 of  a substance
analogous to fungin, or the fleshy substance of mushrooms ; 1-21 of ergotin;
7-76 of a substance resembling osmazome ;  1 -55 of a peculiar saccharine mat-
ter; 2-32 of gummy extractive combined with an azotized colouring principle ;
and 1-46 of albumen ; besides saline and earthy matters in minute proportion.
Ergotin was  supposed by Wiggers to be the active  principle.  It is reddish-
brown, of a peculiar nauseous odour and a  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 undis-
solvedT  It was given with fatal  effects to a hen ;  but much ampler  observa-
tion is necessary to establish its claim to be considered as the active principle.
Dr. Christison, though following  the  process  of Wiggers,  was unable  to
obtain ergotin, and Dr. Wright was equally unsuccessful.  According to the
last-mentioned chemist, ergot contains 31-0 per cent, of oil, 11-4 of fungin,
26-0 of altered starch, 9-0 of mucilage, 7-0  of gluten, 5-5 of vegetable osma-
zome, 3-5 of  colouring matter, and 3-1 of salts with free phosphoric acid.
Dr. Wright, after careful investigation, came to the conclusion that the activity
of the medicine  resides in its fixed oil, which has accordingly been introduced
into practice as a substitute for ergot.  The oil of ergot, when obtained from
grains recently  collected, is,  according  to Dr. Wright, often quite free from
colour; but as usually prepared,  it is reddish-brown.   It has  a disagreeable,
somewhat acrid taste, is lighter than water, and is soluble in alcohol and alka-
line solutions.   It is prepared by forming an ethereal tincture of ergot by the
process of displacement, and evaporating the ether with a gentle heat.  (Ed.
Med. and Surg. Journ. for 1839-40.)   The conclusions of Dr. Wright  in
relation to the action of this oil upon  the system have been confirmed by the
experiments and observations of others;  and there  can scarcely be  a doubt
that its effects are identical with  those of  ergot.   It may however be said,  in
all  probability, rather to contain  the active  principle of ergot, than itself  to
     28 
314
Ergota.
PART I.
constitute that principle.  Thus, it is asserted that the oil obtained by simple
expression  produces on animals none of the effects which  constantly result
from  that obtained  by means of ether.  (Journ. de Pharm., N.^S., i. 183.)
The opinion of M. Bonjean, that there are two active principles in ergot, the
oil which is poisonous, and another resident in the watery  extract, and pos-
sessing anti-hemorrhagic properties without being in the least degree poison-
ous, requires confirmation.   That writer is certainly not warranted in giving
to his extract, however purified, the name of ergotin, until he can show that
it is  a characteristic proximate  principle.   The active  principle of ergot re-
mains yet to be isolated.
  Ergot, when perfectly dry and kept in well-stopped bottles,  will retain its
virtues for a considerable time; but exposed to air and moisture it speedily un-
dergoes chemical changes 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.  (Muller, Am. Journ. of
Pharm.,  x. 269.)  In the state of powder, the medicine still more readily dete«
riorates.  It is best, as a general rule, to renew it every year or two.
  Medical  Properties and Uses.  Given in small  doses, ergot produces, in
the system  of the male, no obvious effects ; but in the female, exhibits a strong
tendency to the uterus, upon the contractile  property of which it operates
with great energy.  It is perhaps the only medicine which specifically pro-
motes contraction in this organ.  In the quantity of half a drachm or a drachm
it often occasions nausea or vomiting, and in  still larger doses produces a
sense of  weight and pain in  the head, giddiness, dilatation of the pupils, deliri-
um, and  even  stupor, proving that it possesses  narcotic properties.  It is said
also to excite febrile symptoms  ; but our own observation coincides with that
of authors who ascribe to it the  power of reducing the frequency of the  pulse.
We have seen this effect produced by it in a remarkable degree, even with-
out  nausea.  Its long-continued and copious use is  highly dangerous, even
when no immediate effects are perceptible.   Terrible and devastating epi-
demics in different  parts of the continent of Europe, particularly in  certain
provinces of France, have long  been ascribed to  the use of  bread made from
rye contaminated with this degenerate grain.  Dry gangrene,  typhus  fever,
and disorder of the  nervous system  attended with convulsions, are the forms
of disease which have been observed  to follow the use of this  unwholesome
food.  It is true that ergot has been  denied  to be  the  cause;  but accurate
investigations made by competent men upon  the spot where the epidemics
have  prevailed, together with the result of experiments made  upon inferior
animals,  leave no room for reasonable doubt upon the subject.  Very large
quantities are  required for immediate poisonous effects.   From two to eight
drachms  have been  given at one dose  to a man without very serious results,
and three ounces, according to Dr. Wright, were required to kill a small dog.
Death from single doses, in inferior animals, is preceded by symptoms indi-
cating irritation of stomach and bowels, great muscular prostration, loss of
sensation, and sometimes slight spasms.
  The most important remedial application of ergot is founded on its  power
of promoting the contraction of the uterus.   On  the  continent of Europe,
in various  parts of Germany,  France,  and Italy,  it has long  been empiri-
cally 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, in  the state of  New York, addressed to
Dr. Ackerly,  A. D. 1807, and published in the eleventh volume of the New 
PART I.
Ergota.
315
 York Medical Repository.  Since that period the journals have teemed with
 communications attesting its efficacy in facilitating parturition; and, though
 it has failed in the hands of some physicians, the general opinion of the pro-
 fession is so decidedly in its favour, that it may now be considered among
 the established articles of the materia medica.  When it has proved wholly
 inefficient, the result is ascribable to peculiarity of constitution in the indi-
 vidual,  or to the inferior  character of the particular parcel employed.  In its
 operation upon the pregnant uterus it  produces a constant  unremitting con-
 traction and rigidity,  rather than that alternation of spasmodic effort and
 relaxation  which  is observable in the natural process  of labour.   Hence,
 unless the os uteri and external parts  are sufficiently relaxed, the medicine
 would  be  likely  to  produce injury  to the  child by  the incessant  pressure
 which  it maintains.   Such in fact has  been the  observation of numerous
 practitioners, and the death of the infant is thought not unfrequenfly to result
 from the injudicious employment of the medicine.  The cases  to which it
 is thought to be especially adapted are those of lingering labour, when the
 os uteri is sufficiently  dilated, and the  external passages  sufficiently relaxed,
 when no mechanical impediment is  offered to the passage of the "child, and
 the delay is ascribable solely to want of energy in the uterus.  Other cases
 are those in which the death  of the foetus has been  ascertained, and when
 great exhaustion or dangerous  constitutional irritation imperiously calls for
 speedy delivery.   The remedy may also be given to promote the expulsion
 of the  placenta,  to  restrain inordinate hemorrhage  after  delivery, and to
 hasten the discharge of the foetus in protracted cases of abortion.  In women
 subject to dangerous flooding, a  dose of ergot given  immediately before
 delivery is said to have the happiest effects.   It has also been recommended
 for the  expulsion of  coagula of blood,  polypi, and  hydatids  from  the uterine
 cavity.   It has been accused of producing puerperal convulsions, hour-glass
 contraction of the uterus, and  hydrocephalus in the  new-born infant. (Dr.
 Catlett, Ed. Med. 8/- Surg. Journ., Jan., 1842.) In menorrhagia and uterine
 hemorrhage, unconnected with pregnancy, the medicine  has long been em-
 pirically employed, and  is now found  highly useful in the  hands of regular
 practitioners.  Its use has even been  extended  to  hemorrhages from other
 organs, and with reputed good  effect.   Cases of hemorrhage from the lungs
 are recorded in which  ergot has proved highly beneficial.  We have seen it
 promptly effectual after all the usual means had failed.  May it not have the
 power of producing contraction in the  capillaries in general, or of interfering
 in some other way with  the circulation of the  blood  in these vessels, as by
 the exertion of a direct sedative or paralyzing influence upon them?   We
 might in this way account for the dry gangrene which results from its abuse,
 as well  as  for its  influence in restraining hemorrhage.   It has also  been
 employed in  amenorrhoea, but not with encouraging success.  Gonorrhoea,
 gleet, leucorrhoea, dysmenorrhea, chronic dysentery  and diarrhoea, paraple-
 gia, 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 in the propor-
 tion  of a drachm of ergot to  four fluidounces of water, one-third may be
given for a dose, and repeated with the same interval.   For other purposes
the dose of the medicine is ten or fifteen grains, repeated three times a day,
and gradually increased,  but not continued  for a great length of time.   In 
316               Ergota.—Erigeron  Canadense.             part i.

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, and should supersede  the tinctures  formerly used, which
are of uncertain strength. (See  Vinum Ergotx.)   The oil of ergot, pre-
pared by means of ether, as already described, was given by Dr. Wright in
the dose of from twenty to  fifty drops,  diffused in cold water, warm tea, or
weak spirit and water.  He employed it  not only as an aid  to parturition
and in uterine affeetions, but  also, with marked advantage, in  diarrhoea, in
the dose often drops every  three hours, and in gastric irritability and spasm.
It may be kept for a  long  time  unimpaired in a well-stopped  bottle, in a
cool, dark place.  Its  strength is diminished  by an elevated temperature, or
prolonged exposure to the  sun.   The  magnitude of the dose  is  sufficient
proof that the oil  is not the  active principle of ergot, but only holds that
principle in solution.
   Ergot has  been  employed  externally.   Dr. Miiller  found it to check the
bleeding from large divided arteries ; and Dr. Wright states that either in
powder or infusion it has a prompt effect in arresting hemorrhage.  It is re-
commended  by the latter practitioner as an injection in uterine hemorrhage.
It should be  used, however, with some caution; as the powder applied to
abraded surfaces has produced sloughing in the lower animals.
   Ergot should be powdered only when wanted for use.
   Off. Prep. Vinum Ergotae,  U. S.                                W.

     ERIGERON  CANADENSE.  U.S. Secondary.

                         Canada Fleabane.

   " The herb of Erigeron Canadense."  U. S.
   Erigeron. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia  Superflua.—Nat. Ord.   Co'mpositae-
Asteroideae,  De Cand.  Asteraceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx imbricated,  sub-hemispherical,  in fruit often reflected.
Florets of the ray linear, very narrow,  numerous. Receptacle naked. Pap-
pus double,  exterior minute, interior pilose, of few rays. Nut tall.
   Erigeron  Canadense. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1954.  This is an indigenous
annual plant, with a stem from two to six feet high, covered with stiff hairs,
and divided  into numerous  branches.  The leaves are linear, lanceolate, and
edged with hairs; those at the root are dentate.  The flowers are very small,
numerous, white, and arranged in terminal panicles.   They differ from those
of the other species of Erigeron in having  an oblong calyx, the rays very
minute and more numerous than  the florets of the disk, and the seed down
simple.  Hence by some botanists the plant is placed in a sub-genus with the
title Cxnolus.  Another variety of the E.  Canadense, which  Mr. Nuttall
makes  a distinct species, with the title E. pusilum, is not more  than from
four to six inches high, and has an erect smooth stem, less branched than the
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 sec-
tions of the United  States, and  has become naturalized in many parts of
Europe. It abounds in neglected fields, and blooms in July and August. 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, 
part i.     Erigeron Heterophyllum.—E. Philadelphicum.        317

somewhat astringent taste.  Among its  constituents,  according to Dr. De
Puy, are bitter extractive, tannin, gallic acid,  and volatile oil.   Both alcohol
and water extract its virtues.  Its acrimony is diminished by decoction, pro-
bably, in consequence of the escape of the oil.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   From  the observations of Dr. De Puy, it
appears to be diuretic, tonic, and  astringent; and has been found useful in
dropsical complaints and diarrhoea.  It may be given in  substance, infusion,
tincture,  or  extract.  The  dose of the  powder is  from thirty grains to a
drachm ;  of  an infusion prepared in the proportion of  an ounce of the plant
to a pint  of boiling  water, from two  to four fluidounces; of the  aqueous
extract from five to ten  grains.   In each case the dose  should be  repeated
every two or three hours.                                         W.
      ERIGERON HETEROPHYLLUM. U.S. Secondary.

                          Various-leaved Fleabane.

       " The herb of Erigeron heterophyllum." U. S.

      ERIGERON PHILADELPHICUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                          Philadelphia Fleabane.

•      "The herb of Erigeron Philadelphicum." U.S.
       Erigeron.  See ERIGERON CANADENSE.
       1. Erigeron heterophyllum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  iii. 1956;  Barton, Am.
     Med. Bot. i. 231.  This  is a biennial  herbaceous  plant, belonging both to
     North America and Europe.  It has  a branching root, from which proceed
     several erect, roundish, striated, pubescent stems, much divided near the top,
     and rising two or three feet in height.  The lower leaves are ovate, acute,
     deeply toothed, and supported upon  long-winged footstalks ;  the  upper  are
     lanceolate, acute, deeply serrate in the middle, and  sessile ; the floral leaves
     are  lanceolate and entire;  all, except those from the root, are  ciliate at the
     base.   The flowers are in terminal  corymbs.   The florets of the disk  are
     yellow, those of the ray numerous, very slender, and of a white,  pale blue,
     or pale purple colour.  The flowering period is from June to October.
       Erigeron Philadelphicum. Willd. Sp.  Plant, iii. 1957;  Barton, Med.
     Bot. i.  227.   The Philadelphia fleabane is perennial and herbaceous, with
     a branching yellowish root, and from  one to five erect stems which rise two
     or three feet in height, and are  much branched at top.  The whole plant is
     pubescent.  The lower leaves are ovate lanceolate, nearly obtuse, ciliate on
     the  margin, entire or marked with a  few serratures, and supported on very
     long footstalks;  the upper are narrow, oblong, somewhat wedge-shaped,
     obtuse, entire, sessile, and slightly embrace the  stem ; the floral leaves  are
     small and lanceolate.   The flowers  are  numerous, radiate, and disposed in
     a panicled corymb, with long peduncles  bearing from one to  three flowers.
     They  resemble  those of the preceding  species in colour, and make their
     appearance about the same period.
       We include these two  species under one head, because they grow toge-
     ther, possess identical medical properties, and are indiscriminately employed.
     They are  found  in various parts of  the United Stales, and abound in the
     fields about Philadelphia, where they are known and used under the common
     though inaccurate name of scabious.  The whole herb is used, and should
                                      28* 
318                 Eryngium.—Erythronium.               part i.

be collected while the plants are in flower.  It has an aromatic odour, and a
slightly bitterish taste, and imparts its properties to boiling water.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Fleabane is diuretic, without being offensive
to the stomach.  It has been a favourite remedy with some highly respectable
practitioners of  Philadelphia in gravel and other nephritic diseases, and has
been employed with advantage in dropsy.   By the late Dr. Wistar it was
recommended in hydrothorax complicated with  gout.   When the obstinate
character and long continuance  of certain dropsical affections are considered,
the advantage must appear obvious, of having numerous remedies calculated
to mitigate the symptoms without exhausting the strength of the patient;  so
that when one has lost its power from repetition, we  may appeal to another
with some prospect of benefit.   On this account it is that fleabane is worthy
of the notice of  the profession.  It cannot be relied on  for the cure of dropsy.
  It is most conveniently administered in infusion  or decoction, of which a
pint, containing the virtues of an ounce of the herb,  may be given in twenty-
four hours.                                                       W.

                ERYNGIUM. US.  Secondary.

                         Button  Snakeroot.

  " The root of Eryngium aquaticum." U. S.
  Eryngium. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Apiaceae or Um-
belliferae.
   Gen. Ch.  Flowers capitate. Involucrum  many-leaved.   Proper  Calyx
five-parted,  superior, persistent.  Corolla of five  petals.  Receptacle folia-
ceous, segments acute or cuspidate.  Fruit bipartile. Nuttall.
  Eryngium aquaticum.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1357. The button snakeroot
or water eryngo, is an indigenous herbaceous plant, with a perennial tuber-
ous root, and a  stem  two or three  feet high, sometimes, according to Pursh,
six feet, generally branching by forks, but trichotomous above.   The leaves
are very long, linear-lanceolate on the upper  part of the stem, sword-shaped
below, with bristly spines at distant intervals upon their margin.  The floral
leaves are lanceolate and dentate.    The flowers are  white or pale, and dis-
posed in globose heads,  with the leaflets of the involucrum  shorter than the
head, and, like  the scales of the receptacle, entire.  This plant is found in
low wet  places,  from  Virginia to  Carolina.   Its period  of  flowering  is
August.
   The root, which is the  medicinal  portion, has a bitter, pungent, aromatic
taste, provoking, when chewed, a flow of saliva.   It is diaphoretic, expecto-
rant, in large doses occasionally emetic; and is used by some physicians in
decoction as a substitute for seneka. (Bigelow.)   We are  told in Barton's
" Collections," that it is nearly allied to the contrayerva of the shops.
                                                                 W.

             ERYTHRONIUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                           Erythronium.

   " The root and  herb of Erythronium Americanum."  U. S.
   Erythronium.  Sex.  Syst.  Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Liliaceae.
    Gen. Ch. Calyx none.  Corolla inferior, six-petalled;  the three inner petals
 with a callous  prominence on each  edge near the base.  Bigelow.
   Erythronium Americanum. Muhl. Catalogue  84;  Bigelow, Am. Med. 
part i.              Erythronium.—Eupatorium.                 319

Bot. iii. 151.—E. lanceolatum. Pursh, p. 230.   This is an indigenous pe-
rennial bulbous plant, sometimes  called,  after the European species, dog's
tooth violet. The bulb (cormus), which is brown externally, white and solid
within, sends up a single naked slender flower-stem, and two smooth lanceo-
late nearly equal leaves, sheathing at their base, with an obtuse callous  point,
and of a brownish-green colour diversified by numerous irregular spots. The
flower is  solitary, nodding, yellow, with  oblong lanceolate petals  obtuse at
the point, a club-shaped undivided style, and a three-lobed stigma.
   The Erythronium grows in woods and other shady places throughout the
Northern and  Middle States.   It flowers  in the  latter part of April or early
in May.   All  parts of it are active.
   In the dose of twenty or thirty grains,  the recent bulb acts as an emetic.
The leaves are said to be  more powerful.  The activity of  the  plant is di-
minished by drying.  So far as we are at  present acquainted  with its virtues,
it may be considered a useless addition  to  the Materia Medica.   Having,
however, been adopted in  the original edition of the  Pharmacopoeia,  it was
deemed best,  upon the  revision of that  work,  not to expunge  it from the
catalogue till it had undergone a longer period of trial.               W.

                     EUPATORIUM.   U.S.

                           Thoroughwort.

   " The  tops and leaves of Eupatorium perfoliatum." U. S.
   Eupatorium.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat. Ord.  Compositae-
 Eupatoriaceae, De Cand. Asteraceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx simple or imbricate, oblong, Style long and semi-bifid.
 Receptacle naked. Pappus pilose, or more commonly scabrous. Seed smooth
 and glandular, quinquestriate. Nutlall.
   Of this numerous genus, comprising not less than thirty species  within
 the limits of the  United States, most of  which probably possess  analogous
 medical properties, the E. perfoliatum  alone  now holds  a  place  in our
 national  Pharmacopoeia.   The E.  purpureum and E.  teucrifolium were
 originally in the  Secondary List, but were  discarded at the last revision  of
 the work.  They merit,  however, a brief notice  here, if  only from their
 former officinal rank.
   Eupatorium purpureum, or gravel root, is a perennial herbaceous  plant,
 with a purple stem, five or six feet in height, and furnished with  ovate lan-
 ceolate,  serrate, rugosely  veined,  slightly scabrous, petiolate  leaves,  placed
 four or five together in  the  form of whorls.   The flowers are purple, and
 consist of numerous  florets contained in an eight-leaved calyx.  It  grows
 in swamps and other low grounds, from  Canada to Virginia, and  flowers  in
 August and September.   The root,  which is the  part used,  has, according
 to Dr. Bigelow, a bitter, aromatic, and astringent  taste, and is  said to ope-
 rate 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. verbenxfolium (Mich. Flor. Am. ii. 98), com-
 monly  called wild horehound,  is  also  an indigenous  perennial, with an
 herbaceous stem,  which is about  two feet  high, and supports sessile, dis-
 tinct, ovate, acute, scabrous leaves, of which  the lower are  coarsely ser-
 rate  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 
320
Eupatorium.
PART I.
Georgia, and is very abundant in the Southern States.  It is in  flower  from
August to November.  The whole herb is  employed.   In sensible proper-
ties it corresponds with the E. perfoliatum, though less bitter and disagree-
able.   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 re-
mittent fevers.   Dr. Jones, formerly president of the Georgia Medical Soci-
ety, was the first to make its properties known to the profession.  It is usually
administered infused  in water.  One quart of the infusion, containing the
virtues of an ounce of the plant, may be given in separate portions during
the day.
   The E. Cannabinum  of Europe, the root of which was formerly  used
as a purgative;  and the E. Aya-pana, of Brazil, the  leaves of  which at one
time enjoyed a very high reputation as  a remedy in numerous diseases,
have fallen into entire  neglect.   The Aya-pana is an  aromatic bitter,  with
the medical properties of the E. perfoliatum in an inferior degree.
   Eupatorium perfoliatum.   Willd. Sp.  Plant, iii. 1761; Bigelow,  Am.
Med. Bot. i. 33; Barton, Med. Bot. ii.  125.   The thoroughwort, or,  as it
is perhaps more frequently called, boneset,  is  an indigenous perennial plant,
with numerous herbaceous stems, which  are erect,  round, hairy, from two
to five feet high, simple below, and trichotomously branched near the sum-
mit.   The character of the leaves is peculiar, and serves to  distinguish the
species at the first glance.  They may be considered either as  perforated by
the stem, perfoliate, or as consisting each of two leaves joined  at the  base,
connate.   Considered  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 proportion to
their length, broadest at the base where  they  coalesce,  gradually tapering to
a point, serrate, much wrinkled, paler on the under than the upper  surface,
and beset with whitish hairs which give  them a grayish-green colour.   The
uppermost pairs are sessile, not joined at the base.   The flowers are white,
numerous, supported on hairy  peduncles, in dense corymbs, which form a
flattened summit to the plant.   The calyx, which is cylindrical and composed
of imbricated, lanceolate, hairy scales, encloses from twelve to  fifteen tubu-
lar florets, having their border  divided into five spreading segments.   The
anthers are five in number, black, and united into a tube, through which the
bifid filiform  style projects above the flower.
   This species  of Eupatorium inhabits meadows, the banks of  streams, and
other moist places, growing generally in bunches, and  abounding in almost
all parts of the United States.   It  flowers  from the middle of summer to
the latter end of October.   All parts of  it  are active ; but the  herb only is
officinal.
   It  has a faint odour, and a strongly bitter somewhat  peculiar taste.   The
bitterness and probably the medical virtues of the plant reside in an extrac-
tive  matter, which is  readily taken up  by water or alcohol.   No accurate
analysis of thoroughwort has been made since the recent improvements in
vegetable chemistry.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Thoroughwort is tonic, diaphoretic, and
in large doses emetic and aperient.   It is said to have  been employed by
the Indians  in  intermittent fever, and has   proved successful in the hands
of several regular practitioners.  The general experience, however, is not
in its  favour, in  that complaint.   We have seen  it  effectual in  arrest-
ing intermittents  when given  freely in  warm  decoction, immediately be-
fore the expected recurrence of the paroxysm; but it operated in this  instance 
part i.          Eupatorium.—Euphorbia Corollata.             321

by its emetic rather than its  tonic power.  The medicine 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 in the commence-
ment of catarrh, it will frequently arrest that complaint.  It has  even been
recommended as a diaphoretic in inflammatory rheumatism ; and  may prove
serviceable, if administered  in the  absence of  general arterial excitement.
As a tonic it has been given with advantage in  dyspepsia, general  debility,
and other cases in which the simple bitters are employed.
   With a view to its tonic effects, it is best administered in substance, or  in
cold infusion.  The dose  of the powder is twenty or  thirty grains, that  of
the infusion a fluidounce, frequently  repeated. (See  Infusum Eupatorii.)
When the diaphoretic  operation is required in addition to the tonic, the
infusion  should be administered  warm, and the patient remain  covered  in
bed.  As an  emetic and cathartic, a strong decoction, prepared by boiling an
ounce with three half pints of water to a pint, may be given in doses of one
or two gills,  or more.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Eupatorii, U. S.                            W.

      EUPHORBIA COROLLATA. U. S. Secondary.

                     Large-flowering  Spurge.

   " The root of Euphorbia corollata." U. S.
   Euphorbia.  Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Trigynia, Linn.; Moncecia Mona-
delphia, Michaux.—Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Involucrum caliciform, eight to ten toothed, exterior  alternate
dentures  glanduloid or petaioid.  Stamina indefinite, twelve or more, rarely
less ; filaments articulated.  Receptacle squamose.   Female flower solitary,
stipitate,  naked.  Capsule three-grained. Nuttall.
   In  the  flower  of the Euphorbiae, the stamina are arranged two or more
together, in distinct parcels,  which correspond in number with the inner seg-
ments of the calyx.  These parcels were considered by Michaux as distinct
male florets;  while the central stipitate germ, with its three bifid styles, was
considered as a distinct female  floret, and the calyx  took the name of an
involucre.  He accordingly placed the  genus in the class and order Moncecia
Monadelphia, and  in this respect  has been  followed by most American
botanists.   The  genus  Euphorbia contains very numerous species,  which
have the  common property of yielding a milky juice.  They are herbaceous
or shrubby,  with  or without  leaves;  and the leafless species,  which are
chiefly confined to the African deserts, have fleshy, naked, or spiny stems,
resembling the genus Cactus.   They nearly  all afford products which act
powerfully as emetics  and cathartics,  and  in  over-doses  give rise to dan-
gerous if not fatal prostration, with symptoms of inflamed gastro-intestinal
mucous membrane. Their  milky juice, which concretes on exposure  to
the air, usually possesses these properties in a high degree, and, in addition,
that of powerfully irritating the skin when externally applied.  Two species
only are acknowledged in our national Pharmacopoeia, the E. corollata and
E. Ipecacuanha, which  are both indigenous.  The E. hypericifolia, which
is  also indigenous, has been very highly commended as a remedy in dysen-
tery  after due depletion, diarrhoea, menorrhagia, and leucorrhoea, by Dr. W.
Zollickoffer, of Baltimore.  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 
322
Euphorbia Corollata.
PART I.
diarrhoea, and two fluidounces morning, noon, and night in monorrhagia and
fluor albus.   The herb, according  to Dr. Zollickoffer,  is at first  sweetish,
afterwards harsh and astringent  to  the taste, and  from  his  experiments
appears to contain tannin.   Its effects upon the system  are  those  of an
tringent and  feeble narcotic.   It  differs, therefore, considerably, both in
sensible and medicinal properties, from most of the other species of Euphor-
bia. (Am. Journ. of the Med. Sciences, xi.  22.)   In a subsequent commu-
nication  by the  same author, it is stated that the  E.  maculata  possesses
similar properties with the E. hypericifolia.   (Ibid., N.  S., iii.  125.)
  Euphorbia corollata.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 916 ; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
iii. 119.   The  blooming or large-flowering spurge, in common  language
frequently called milk-weed, is  a tall 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  segments,
which  are described as nectaries by many systematic writers,  while the
larger are considered as belonging to a real corolla.  The stamens are twelve,
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 Maryland and Virginia.  It prefers a dry, barren,
and sandy soil, seldom  growing in woods or on the borders of  streams.   Its
flowers appear in July and August.   The root is  the only part  used.
  This, when full grown, is sometimes an inch in thickness, and two feet in
length.  It is without  unpleasant taste, producing  only  a sense  of  heat a
short time after it has been taken.   The medical virtues are said to reside in
the cortical portion, which is thick, and constitutes  two-thirds  of  the whole
root.   They are taken up by water  and alcohol, and remain in the extract
formed by the evaporation of the decoction or tincture.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  In a full dose, the root of the E. ^corollata
operates actively and with sufficient certainty as  an emetic, producing ordi-
narily  several discharges from the stomach,  and not unfrequenfly acting with
considerable energy upon the bowels.   In quantities  insufficient to vomit, it
excites nausea, almost  always followed by brisk  purging.   In still smaller
doses it is diaphoretic and expectorant.  It cannot, however, like ipecacuanha,
be given largely in  cases of insensibility of stomach, without endangering
hypercatharsis  with inflammation of the mucous coat of the  stomach and
bowels.  It is in fact greatly inferior to this emetic in mildness,  while it is no
less inferior to the tartarized antimony in  certainty.   It is objectionable as a
purge,  in consequence of  the nausea  which it occasions,  when given in
cathartic doses.   Dr. Zollickoffer, of Baltimore, was the  first to introduce  it
to the  particular notice  of the medical profession.   It is little prescribed, and
seldom kept in the shops.   The dose of  the dried root as an emetic  is from
ten to  twenty grains, as a cathartic from three to ten grains.  The recent root,
bruised and applied to the skin, produces vesication.                 W. 
PART I.
Euphorbia Ipecacuanha.
323
   EUPHORBIA  IPECACUANHA. U.S.  Secondary.

                      Ipecacuanha  Spurge.

  " The root of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha." U. S.
  Euphorbia.  See EUPHORBIA COROLLATA.
  Euphorbia Ipecacuanha.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 900; Barton, Med. Bot.
i. 211;  Bigelow, Am. Med.  Bot. iii. 108.  The ipecacuanha  spurge, or,
as it is sometimes called, American ipecacuanha, is a singular plant, vary-
ing 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 real
specific  difference.   The root is perennial, of a yellowish colour, irregular
and very large, penetrating sometimes to the depth of six or seven feet in  the
sand,  and in its thickest part  measuring, when full  grown, from three-quar-
ters of an inch to one inch and a half in diameter.   The stems are numerous,
herbaceous, erect or procumbent, smooth, dichotomous, jointed at the forks,
white under the ground, red, pale-green, or yellow above,  sometimes  almost
buried in the sand, usually forming thick low bunches upon its surface. The
leaves are opposite,  sessile, entire, smooth, generally oval, but sometimes
round, obovate, or even lanceolate, or linear.   They are small early in  the
spring, and increase  in size with the age of the plant.   Their colour varies
from green to crimson.  The  flowers are solitary, and stand on long axillary
peduncles.  The calyx is spreading, with five exterior obtuse segments, and
the same number of inner, smaller segments or nectaries.  The fertile flowers
have a roundish, drooping, pedicelled germ, crowned with six revolute stig-
mas.  The capsule is three-celled, and contains three seeds.
  The E. Ipecacuanha is  indigenous, growing  in pine barrens and other
sandy places in the Middle and Southern States, especially  along the sea-
board, and abundant in New Jersey on the bank of the Delaware.  It blooms
from May to August.  The root, which is the officinal portion, is, according
to Dr. 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 prin-
ciple  has not been isolated.   Dr. Bigelow inferred from his experiments
that it contained caoutchouc, resin, gum,  and probably starch.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Ipecacuanha spurge is an energetic, tole-
rably  certain emetic, rather milder than  the E.  corollata, but like it, dis-
posed to act upon the bowels, and liable, if given in over doses, to produce
excessive nausea and vomiting, general  prostration, and alarming hyper-
catharsis.  It is  therefore wholly  unfit to supersede ipecacuanha.  In small
doses it is diaphoretic.  The  specific name of the plant  indicates that  the
emetic property of the root has been  long known.  The late professor Bar-
ton 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.  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 Penitentiary proved it  to be advantageously available for
all the purposes of an emetic; while, in consequence of its want of nauseous
taste,  it seemed  to  answer even better than ipecacuanha as an  expectorant
and diaphoretic.   The dose of the powdered root is from ten to fifteen  grains. 
324
Euphorbiitm.
PART I.
                  EUPHORBIUM.  Lond., Ed.

                            Euphorbium.

   " Euphorbia officinarum.  Gummi-resina." Lond.  " Concrete resinous
juice  of undetermined species of Euphorbia." Ed.
   Off. Syn. EUPHORBIA CANARIENSIS.  Gummi-resina. Dub.
   Euphorbe, Fr.; Euohorbium, Germ.; Euforbio, Ital., Span.
   Euphorbia.  See EUPHORBIA COROLLATA.
   Euphorbium is obtained from one or more species of Euphorbia;  but its
precise source is somewhat uncertain.   It has been ascribed to  the E. offi-
cinarum, which grows in the  North of Africa  and at the Cape of  Good
Hope, the E.  Canariensis,  a  native  of the Canary Islands and Western
Africa,  and the E. antiqitorum,  inhabiting Egypt, Arabia, and the East
Indies, and supposed to be the plant from which the ancients derived this
resinous product.   These species of Euphorbia  bear  a considerable  resem-
blance in their general 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 give out an acrid milky juice,
which concretes upon the surface of the plant, and, being removed, constitutes
the euphorbium of commerce.
   This occurs  in the  shape of tears, or  in oblong or roundish masses, about
the size of a pea or larger,  often forked,  and  perforated with one or two
small conical holes, produced by the prickles of the plant, around which the
juice  has concreted, and which sometimes remain in the holes.   The masses
are occasionally large and mixed with impurities.   The surface is dull and
smooth,  bearing some resemblance to  that of  tragacanth;  the consistence
somewhat friable ;  the colour light yellowish or reddish ; the odour scarcely
perceptible ; the taste at first slight, but afterwards excessively acrid and burn-
ing.   The  colour of the powder is yellowish. The sp. gr. of euphorbium is
1*124.  Triturated with water it renders  the liquid  milky, and is partially
dissolved.  Alcohol dissolves a larger portion, forming a yellowish tincture,
which becomes milky on the  addition of water.   Its constituents, according
to Pelletier, are resin, wax, malate of lime, malate of potassa, lignin, bas-
sorin,  volatile oil,  and  water.   Brandes  found  caoutchouc.  Euphorbium
contains  no soluble gum, and  is  therefore  incorrectly called a gum-resin.
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 ex-
cessively acrid, is soluble in alcohol, and when  exposed to heat, melts, in-
flames, and burns with a brilliant flame, diffusing an agreeable odour.  It is
upon  this principle that the acrimony of euphorbium chiefly depends.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Euphorbium  taken internally is emetic
and cathartic, 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 abandoned.   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 neces-
sity 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 
part i.         Euphorbium.—Extractum Glycyrrhizce.            325

the continent of Europe is sometimes used as an ingredient of epispastic pre-
parations.  It is employed in veterinary practice, with a view to its vesicating
power.  As  an article of the materia medica,  however, it may well be dis-
pensed with, and it has been very properly omitted in the  Pharmacopoeia of
the United States.
   Off. Prep. Acetum Cartharidis, Ed.                             W.


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

                              Liquorice.

   " The extract of the root  of Glycyrrhiza glabra." U.  S.
   Extrait de reglisse, Fr.; Stissholzsaft, Germ.; Sugo di liquirizia, Ital.;  Regaliza  en
bollos, Span.
   For an account of the Glycyrrhiza glabra, see article GLYCYRRHIZA.
   The British College direct this  extract to be made in the same manner
as Extract of Gentian; but, as it is never prepared in  this country, it very
properly occupies, in the United States Pharmacopoeia, a place in the cata-
logue of the Materia Medica.
   Liquorice is an  article of export from the  North of Spain, particularly
Catalonia, where it is obtained in the following manner.   The roots of the
G. glabra having been dug  up, thoroughly cleansed, and half dried by expo-
sure to the air, are cut into  small pieces,  and boiled in  water till the  liquid
is saturated.  The decoction is then allowed to rest, and, after the  dregs have
subsided, is decanted, and evaporated to the proper consistence. The extract
thus prepared is formed into rolls from five to six inches long by an inch  in
diameter, which are dried in the air, and wrapped in laurel leaves.
   Much liquorice is also prepared in Calabria, according to M. Fee, from
the G. echinala 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.
   Crude liquorice is in cylindrical rolls, somewhat flattened, and often covered
with bay leaves.   When good, it is very  black, dry, brittle, breaking with a
shining fracture, of a very sweet, peculiar, slightly acrid  or  bitterish taste,
and almost entirely  soluble in water.  It is frequently, however, very impure,
either  from adulteration or improper preparation.  Starch,  sand, the juice  of
prunes, &c, are sometimes  added;  and carbonaceous matter,  and  even parti-
cles of copper are found in it, the latter arising from the  boilers in which the
decoction is evaporated.  Four pounds of the extract have  yielded two drachms
and a half of metallic copper. (Fee.)  It is rarely quite soluble in water.  Neu-
mann  obtained 460 parts of watery extract from 480 of Spanish liquorice.
A bitter and empyreumatic taste are signs  of inferior quality.   Before  being
used internally it generally requires to be  purified.
   The refined liquorice, kept in  the  shops in  small  cylindrical  pieces not
thicker than  a pipe stem, is prepared by dissolving the impure  extract  in
water without boiling, straining the solution, and evaporating.   The object
of this process is to separate not only  the insoluble impurities, but also the
acrid oily substance, which  is  extracted by long boiling from  the liquorice
root, and is  necessarily  mixed with the unrefined extract.  It is  customary
to add  during the process a portion of sugar, and sometimes  perhaps muci-
lage or  glue;  and flour or starch is a  frequent  adulteration.  Excellent
liquorice is prepared, in some parts of England, from the root cultivated  in
     29 
326              Extractum Glycyrrhiza.—Ferrum.           part i.

that country.   The  Pontefract  cakes  are small lozenges of liquorice of a
very superior quality, made in the vicinity of Pomfret.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.   Liquorice  is a useful demulcent, much
employed as an addition to cough mixtures, and frequently added to infu-
sions or decoctions, in order to  cover the  taste or obtund the acrimony of
the principal medicine.  A piece of it held in the mouth and allowed slowly
to dissolve, is often found to allay cough by sheathing the irritated membrane
of  the fauces.   It is used in pharmacy to  impart  consistence to pills and
troches, and to modify the taste  of other medicines.
   Off'. Prep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura
Aloes, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S.; Trochisci
Glycyrrhizae, Ed.; Trochisci Glycyrrhizae  et Opii,  U. S., Ed.       W.


                            FERRUM.

                                 Iron.

   Fer, Fr~; Eisen, Germ.; Ferro, Ital.; Hierro, Span.
   Iron is the most abundant and useful of the metals, and so interwoven
with the wants of mankind,  that the extent of its consumption by a  nation
may be taken as an  index  of its progress in civilization.  It is  universally
diffused throughout  nature, not  only in the mineral kingdom, but also in
vegetables and animals.  There  are very few minerals in which  traces of it
may not be found, and it is an essential constituent in many parts  of animals,
but particularly in the  blood.  It is one of the few metals which  are devoid
of deleterious action  on the animal economy.
   Iron occurs, 1. native; 2. sulphuretted, forming magnetic and cubic pyrites;
3. oxidized, embracing the magnetic, specular, red, brown, and argillaceous
oxides of iron; 4. in  saline combination, forming the carbonate, sulphate,
phosphate, arseniate, and chromate of  iron.   Those minerals of  iron which
admit of being worked to advantage are called iron ores.   These  include  the
different native oxides, and the  carbonate (sparry iron.)   The best iron is
obtained from those varieties of the native oxide, usually called magnetic iron
ore  and specular iron ore.   These occur very abundantly in Sweden, and
furnish the superior iron of that  country.  As a general rule, those ores yield
the best iron which occur in primitive formations.
   Extraction.  The mode of extracting iron from  its ores varies somewhat
with the nature of the ore ; but the general principles of the operation  are
the  same for all.  The ore, previously roasted and coarsely pulverized, is
exposed to  the action  of a strong heat in contact with carbonaceous matter,
such as charcoal or coke, 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 lime or clay; lime being employed when the ore is
argillaceous, clay when it is calcareous. The flux, whatever it may be, enters
into fusion with the  impurities,  and forms what is called the slag; while the
carbonaceous matter, aeting  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 oblong triangular moulds,
where it solidifies in  masses, known  in  comraerce by the name of pig or
 cast iron.   In this state the metal is brittle  and far from being pure ;  as  it is
 contaminated with a portion  of  charcoal, unreduced  ore, and  earthy impuri- 
part i.                        Ferrum.                            327

ties.  It is purified', and thus brought to the state of malleable iron, by being
fused, and subjected to the action of a current of air on its surface.  By these
means the undecomposed ore is reduced, the earthy impurities are made to
rise to the surface as a slag, and the carbon is burnt out.   As the metal ap-
proaches to purity, it becomes less and less fusible, and at last consolidates,
though the temperature of the furnace continues  the  same.  The metal is
then taken out, and its particles, by means of ponderous hammers, or rollers,
are beaten or pressed together so as to form one tenacious mass.  It is finally
drawn out into bars of a convenient  size, when it constitutes the malleable
iron of commerce.
   Iron mines occur in most countries, but more particularly in northern ones.
In Spain the principal  mines furnish sparry iron, and the red and brown
oxides.   The chief iron ores of France are the  sparry iron, and the specular,
brown, and argillaceous oxides; and of Germany,  the sparry iron and brown
oxide.   The island of Elba is celebrated for its rich and abundant specular
iron ore.   The ores which furnish the celebrated Swedish iron have already
been indicated.
   In the United States iron is abundant. The principal ores that are worked
are the magnetic, brown, and argillaceous oxides.  They occur in the greatest
abundance in the  states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.   The ores of the
three last-mentioned states rival the best Swedish in quality.
   Properties. Iron is a hard, malleable,  very ductile and tenacious metal, of
a grayish-white colour and fibrous  texture, and having a slight  styptic taste,
and a sensible  odour  when rubbed.  Its sp. gr. is about 7-7, and its fusing
point very high.   It  possesses the magnetic and  welding properties.   It is
combustible, and when heated to  whiteness, burns in atmospheric air, and
with brilliant scintillations in  oxygen gas.  At  a red heat, its surface is
converted into black oxide, and at  common temperatures, by the combined
agency of air and moisture, it becomes covered with a reddish matter, called
rust, which consists of the hydrated  sesquioxide.   It combines with all the
non-metallic bodies, except  hydrogen and nitrogen, and with most of the
metals, its equivalent being 28.  It forms three principal combinations with
oxygen, a protoxide and sesquioxide, which, by their union, form the native
black oxide, and  a teroxide, possessing  acid  properties, called ferric  acid.
The protoxide is of a dark-blue colour, attracted by the magnet, and sponta-
neously 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  par-
tially 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  pure by dissolving  iron in nitromuriatic  acid, precipitating by am-
monia, 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=S0.   The
native black oxide, the magnetic oxide of mineralogists, consists of one eq. of
protoxide 36, and one of sesquioxide 80 = 116.  The medicinal black oxides
have a different composition. (See Ferri Oxidum Nigrum.)   The teroxide
or ferric  acid  was recently discovered by Fremy, and may be formed, in
union with potassa, by passing chlorine through a  very concentrated solution
of the alkali, holding hydrated sesquioxide of iron in suspension.  It has
also been obtained by  Poggendorff by a galvanic combination of platinum in
nitric  acid, with cast iron  in a solution of potassa.  It forms as  a ferrate of
potassa, of a fine wine-red colour, becoming darker,  around  the  cast iron. 
328
Ferrum.
PART I.
This acid consists of one eq. of iron 28, and three of oxygen 24=52.  Iron,
combined with  minute portions of carbon, and, perhaps, of the radicals of
silica and alumina, forms steel, a modification of iron formerly used in medicine,
but now very properly laid aside.  It also forms a number of important salts,
several of which, as the sesquichloride, iodide, carbonate, subcarbonate, sul-
phate,  phosphate, ferrocyanuret, tartrate, and acetate, are officinal.
   Iron is readily detected, even in minute quantities, by bringing  it to  the
state of sesquioxide in solution, and testing it with ferrocyanuret of potassium
or tincture of galls;  the former of  which will strike a deep blue,  the latter a
black colour.  The object of bringing it to the state of sesquioxide is readily
effected by boiling the solution containing it with a little nitric acid.
   Medical Properties.  The preparations of iron are powerfully tonic, rais-
ing the pulse, promoting the secretions, and increasing the colouring matter
of the  blood.   They are useful in diseases characterized  by debility and
relaxation of fibre, and a languid circulation, more  especially when the con-
sequence  of inordinate  discharges.  The diseases  in  which  they  are usu-
ally  employed  are  chlorosis,  hysteria, fluor albus, gleet, scrofula, rickets,
chorea, and all  passive hemorrhages.   Chalybeates are  also proper in palsy
after the inflammatory excitement has subsided, in dyspepsia dependent upon
deficient energy of the digestive functions, and in neuralgia.   They are con-
tra-indicated  in  all inflammatory  diseases,  producing, when injudiciously
prescribed, heat, thirst, headache, difficulty of breathing, and  other symptoms
of an excited circulation.  The medicinal effects of iron, as modified in its
different combinations, will be noticed under the head of each preparation.
   The following table embraces all the  preparations of iron to be  found in
the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, together with  the synonymes.
Besides these preparations some others will be noticed which  are not offici-
nal ;  namely, tartrate of protoxide of iron, under the head of " Ferri et Potassae
Tartras,"  in Part II., and bromide, citrate, ammonio-citrate, lactate, and
sesquinitrate of iron, in the Appendix.

     Iron is officinal —
   I. In its metallic state.
         Ferri  Filum, U. S„ Ed.; Ferrum. Fila, Dub.
         Ferri  Ramenta, U. S.;  Ferrum. Ramenta, Lond.;  Ferri Limatura,
                  Ed.; Ferrum. Scobs, Dub.
           Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub.
 II. Oxidized.
         Ferrum. Oxydi Squama?, Dub.
           Ferri Oxydum Nigrum, Dub.
         Ferri  Oxidum Nigrum, Ed.
         Ferri  Rubigo, Dub.
         Ferri  Oxydum  Rubrum, Dub.
           Emplastrum Thuris, Dub.
         Ferri  Oxidum Hydratum, U. S.; Ferrugo, Ed.
 III. Sulphuretted.
         Ferri  Sulphuretum, Ed., Dub.
 IV. In saline  combination.
         Ferri  Iodidum, U.  S., Lionel., Ed.
           Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed.
           Liquor Ferri Iodidi,  U. S.
         Ferri Ferrocyanuretum, U. S.;  Ferri Percyanidum, Lond.; Ferri
                  Cyanuretum, Dub.; Anglice, Prussian blue. 
part r.        Ferrum.—Ferri Filum.—Ferri Ramenta.          329
          Ferri Acetas, Dub.
            Ferri Acetatis Tinctura, Dub.
            Tinctura Acetatis Ferri cum Alcohol, Dub.
          Ferri Carbonas  Saccharatum, Ed.
            Pilulas Ferri  Carbonatis,  U. S, Ed.; Anglice, ValleVs ferru-
                   ginous pills.
            Mistura Ferri Composita,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
            Pilulae Ferri Compositae, U. S., Lond., Dub.
          Ferri  Subcarbonas, U.S.; Ferri Sesquioxydum,  Lond.;  Ferri
                   Oxidum Rubrum, Ed.; Ferri Carbonas, Dub.; Anglice,
                   Precipitated subcarbonate of iron.
            Emplastrum Ferri, U. S., Ed.
            Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Ferri Ammonio-Chloridum, Lond.
              Tinctura Ferri Ammonio-Chloridi, Lond.
          Ferri  et  Potassae  Tartras, U.S.; Ferri Potassio-Tartras, Lond.;
                   Ferrum  Tartarizatum, Ed.; Ferri Tartarum, Dub.
          Ferri Phosphas, U. S.
          Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
            Pilulae Aloes  et Ferri, Ed.
            Ferri Sulphas Exsiccatum, Ed.
              Pilulae Ferri Sulphatis, Ed.
              Pilulae Rhei et Ferri, Ed.
          Tinctura Ferri  Chloridi,  U.S.;  Tinctura  Ferri Sesquichloridi,
                   Lond.; Ferri Muriatis  Tinctura,  Ed.; Muriatis Ferri
                   Liquor, Dub.
   In the foregoing table, the more complex  preparations are  arranged as sub-
 heads to the simpler ones from which  they are  derived, or  with which they
 are most closely  connected.                                         B.


                   FERRI FILUM.   U.Si,Ed.

                             Iron Wire.

                  FERRI RAMENTA.   U.S.

                            Iron Filings.

   Off. Syn. FERRUM. Ferrum. Ramenta. Lond.; FERRI LIMATURA.
 Iron filings. Ed.; FERRUM. Fila. Scobs. Dub.
   Fil defer, Fr.; Eisendraht, Germ.; Fil di ferro, Ital.; Hilo de hierro, Span.
   Limailles de  fer, Fr.; Eisenfeilicht, Germ.; Limatura di ferro, Ital;  Limadura de
 hierro, Span.
   Iron, when employed  in  pharmaceutical operations,  should be  of the
 purest kind ; and hence the  different Pharmacopoeias direct  it, when wanted
 in small masses, to  be in the form of  iron wire, which  is necessarily made
 from the softest  and most malleable iron, and is readily cut into  pieces of
 convenient size.   The metal, however, for  internal  exhibition and for some
 preparations, requires to be finely subdivided, and hence it is officinal also in
 the form of filings.
   Medical Properties of Iron Filings.  Iron, in its uncombined  state, has
no action on the animal economy; and hence iron filings would  prove inert,
were it not that  they meet with acid in the stomach, or some other  agent,
whereby they become oxidized and dissolved. That this change  really takes
place, is proved by the black stools to which they invariably  give rise.  Dur-
                                 29* 
330          Ferri Filum.—Ferri Ramenta.—Ferrum.        part i.
ing 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 generally obtained from the work-
shops of the blacksmith; but, as furnished from this  source, they are gene-
rally very impure, and unfit for medicinal use.  Neither can they be purified
by the magnet, as they often have attached  to them certain impurities, which
are carried up  with them.  The only way to obtain  pure iron filings, is to
file a  piece of pure iron with a clean file.  The French Codex directs iron
in an  impalpable  powder, prepared  by porphyrizing bright and clean iron
filings without water.   A dull  black powder is formed, which must be care-
fully preserved from moisture.  An impalpable powder of the metal, obtained
by chemical means, has been prepared  by MM. Quevenne and Miquelard,
and found very useful by M. Raciborski in anaemia  and other diseases in
which the ferruginous preparations are usually given.  It is made either by
reducing the sesquioxide of iron  in a gun-barrel by means of  hydrogen at a
low red  heat, or by igniting in a crucible the oxalate of protoxide of iron.  It
is a blackish powder, with a slight metallic lustre, and without  taste or smell.
On account of its great liability to oxidation, it must be kept in a dry bottle,
well stopped.  It may be given in lozenges, made with chocolate, sugar, and
gum,  and each containing  five grains.   Of these from six to twelve may be
given  in the  course of the day.
   The dose of iron filings is from five to twenty grains, given in molasses, or
made  up into an electuary with honey, or into pills with  some bitter extract.
   Iron is used to  prepare Potassii Bromidum, Lond., and Potassii Iodidum,
U. S., Lond., Ed.
   Off Prep. Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed.; Ferri Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.;
Ferri  Rubigo, Dub.; Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Ferri Sulphuretum,
Ed., Dub.;  Ferri Tartarum, Dub.;  Liquor  Ferri  Iodidi, U.S.; Mistura
Ferri  Aromatica, Dub.                                            B.


              FERRUM.  Oxydi Squamce. Dub.

                   Scales of ihe  Oxide of Iron.

   Batitures de fer, Fr.; Eiscnschlag, Germ.; Scaglia di ferro, Ital; Escamas de hierro,
Span.
   This form of oxidized iron is obtained when iron is heated to redness and
subjected to the blows of a hammer  on an anvil.  The heat causes the iron
to be  covered with a thin crust of oxide, which is detached in scales during
the hammering.    These  are  formed abundantly in the operations of the
blacksmith, and collect around the anvil.
   Scales of iron consist of small, black, brittle masses, attracted by the mag-
net, and without taste  or smell.   When reduced to powder, they have a dull
grayish-white colour.   Their precise composition is not well settled ; but it
is certain that they are not identical with the native  black oxide.  (See Fer-
rum.) The results of Mosander seem to show that they consist of two distinct
layers ;  the inner,  of uniform composition,  consisting  of six eqs. of protoxide
to one of sesquioxide, and  the outer, of  a variable mixture of these two
oxides,  the  sesquioxide  predominating on  the  surface,  and  diminishing
gradually inwards.
   Medical Properties.   These scales have the general medical properties  of
the ferruginous preparations, but are not fit for medicinal use until they have
been reduced to fine powder.  The Dublin College has given a formula for
this purpose, and  designates the powdered scales by the name of Ferri  Oxy-
dum Nigrum.  This is the only officinal preparation of the scales    B. 
PART I.
Ficus.
331
                           FICUS.  U.S.

                                Figs.

  "The dried fruit of Ficus Carica." U. S.
  Off. Syn. FICI.  Ficus Carica. Fructus siccus. Lond.; FICI.  Dried fruit
of Ficus Carica, Ed.; FICUS  CARICA. Fructus siccatus.  Dub.
  Figues, Fr.; Feigen, Germ.; Fichi, Ital.; Higos, Span.
  Ficus. Sex. Syst. Polygamia Dicecia.—Nat.  Ord. Urticaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Common receptacle  turbinate, fleshy,  converging,  concealing
the florets either in  the same or distinct  individuals.   Male.  Calyx three-
parted.  Corolla none. Stamens three. Female.  Calyx five-parted.  Corolla
none. Pistil one.  Seed one, covered with  the closed, persistent, somewhat
fleshy calyx. Willd.
  Ficus Carica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1131; Woodv. Med. Bot.  p. 714. t.
244.    The fig-tree, though  usually not more than twelve feet in height,
sometimes rises in warm climates to twenty-five or  even thirty feet.   Its
trunk, which  seldom  exceeds  seven inches in  diameter, is  divided  into
numerous spreading branches,  covered with a brown or  ash-coloured bark.
Its  large, palmate leaves, usually divided  into five  obtuse lobes, are deep
green and shining upon their  upper surface, pale green and downy beneath,
and stand alternately on strong  round footstalks.   The flowers are  situated
within a common receptacle, placed solitarily  upon a  short peduncle in the
axils of the upper leaves.  This receptacle, the walls of which become thick
and fleshy, constitutes what is commonly called the fruit;  though this term
is,  strictly speaking, applicable  to the small seeds found in great numbers on
the internal surface  of the receptacle, to which  they are attached by fleshy
pedicels.   Cultivation has produced in the fig, as in the apple and peach, an
almost  infinite  diversity in shape, size, colour, and  taste.   It is usually,
however, turbinate or top-shaped, umbilicate  at  the large extremity, of-the
size of a small pear, of a whitish, yellowish, or reddish colour, and  of a
mild, mucilaginous, saccharine  flavour.
   The fig-tree is supposed to have come originally from the Levant.  It was
introduced at a very early period into various parts of the South of Europe,
and is now very common throughout the whole basin of the  Mediterranean,
particularly in Italy and France.  To hasten the maturation of  the fruit, it is
customary  to puncture it with a sharp-pointed instrument  covered with olive
oil.   The ancient process of 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 larvae of which, as  soon as they are hatched, spread
themselves over the cultivated fruit, and, by conveying the pollen of the male
organs over which they pass to  the female florets, hasten the impregnation of
the latter, and cause the fig to come quickly to perfection, which might other-
wise  ripen very  slowly, or wither and drop  off before maturity.  Some
authors attribute the effect to the piercing of the fruit by the  young insects.
  The figs, when perfectly ripe, are dried by the heat of the sun or in ovens.
Those brought to the United States come  chiefly from Smyrna, packed in
drums  or  boxes.   They are  more or  less compressed, and are  usually
covered in  cold weather  with  a whitish  saccharine efflorescence, which
melts  in the middle  of summer  and renders them  moist.   The best are
yellowish or brownish,  somewhat translucent when  held to  the light, and
filled  with a sweet viscid pulp,  in which are lodged  numerous  small yellow 
332
Ficus.—Filix Mas.
PART I.
 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 demul-
 cent.  In the fresh state they are considered in the countries  where they
 grow a wholesome and agreeable aliment, and have been employed from
 time immemorial.  As we obtain them, they are apt, when eaten freely, to
 produce flatulence, pain in the bowels, and diarrhoea.   Their chief medical
 use is as a laxative article of diet in cases of constipation.  They occasion-
 ally enter into demulcent decoctions;  and when roasted or boiled, and split
 open, may be applied as a suppurative cataplasm  to parts  upon which an
 ordinary poultice cannot be conveniently retained.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Sennae, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Decoctum Hordei Com-
 positum, Lond., Ed., Dub.                                        W.


                 FILIX  MAS.  U. S.  Secondary.

                              Male Fern.

   "The rhizoma of Aspidium Filix mas." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  ASPIDIUM. Aspidium Filix  mas.  Radix.  Lond.;  FILIX.
 Rhizoma  of Nephrodium Filix  mas.  (Richard.)  Male Shield Fern. Ed.;
 FILIX  MAS. ASPIDIUM FILIX MAS. Radix. Dub.
   Fougere male, Fr.; Jolianniswurzel, Germ.;  F£lee maschio, Ital.; Helccho, Span.
   Aspidium.  Sex. Syst.  CryptogamiaFilices.—Nat. Ord. F\\\ces, Jussieu.
 Filicales,  Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Fructification in roundish points, scattered, not  marginal.  In-
 volucre umbilicated, open almost on every side.  Smith.
   Aspidium Filix mas. Willd. Sp. Plant, v. 259; Smith, Flor. Britan.—
 Nephrodium Filix mas.  Lindley,  Flor. Med. 619.—Polypodium  Filix
 mas. Linn.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 795.  t. 267.   The  male fern has a pe-
 rennial, horizontal root or rhizoma, from which numerous annual fronds or
 leaves arise, forming tufts from  a foot to four  feet in height.   The stipe
 or footstalk, and  midrib, are thickly  beset with brown, tough, transparent
 scales ; the frond itself is oval lanceolate, acute, pinnate, and of a bright green
 colour.   The pinnae or leaflets are remote below, approach more nearly as
 they ascend, and run together at the summit of the leaf.   They are deeply
 divided  into lobes, which are of an  oval shape, crenate at the  edges, and
 gradually  diminish from the  base of the pinna to the apex.  The fructifica-
 tion is in small dots on the back of each lobe, placed in two rows near the
 base, and  distant from the edges.
  The male fern is  indigenous, growing  in shady pine forests from New
 Jersey to Virginia. (Pursh.)  It is a  native  also of Europe,  Asia, and  the
 North of Africa.  In the American plant, the leaflets are said by Pursh to
be more obtuse, and oftener doubly serrated than in the European'.
  The proper period for collecting the root is  during  the  summer, when,
according  to M. Peschier,  of Geneva, it abounds more in the active principle
than at any other season.  The same writer informs us that it  deteriorates
rapidly when kept, and in about two years becomes entirely inert.  The
roots of other species of fern are frequently substituted for the  officinal; and
in the dried state it is difficult to distinguish them.
  Properties, fyc.  As  taken from the ground, the  root consists of a long
cylindrical caudex,  around which are closely arranged,  overlapping each
other like the shingles  of a roof, the remains  of  the leafstalks or  stipes,
which are an inch or two in length, from  two to four lines thick, somewhat 
PART I.
Filix Mas.
333
curved and directed upwards, angular, brown, shining, and  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 radi-
cal fibres.  The whole root, thus constituted, presents  a somewhat flexible,
cylindrical mass, one or two inches thick, and a foot or more in length.  In
this  form, however, it is not  usually found in our shops.   The whole  is
ordinarily broken up into fragments, consisting of the separated remains  of
the leafstalks before described, with a small portion of the  substance of the
root  attached to their base,  where they are  surrounded by  the silky scales.
These fragments ordinarily present the appearance of having been long kept,
and are probably, as a general  rule, much deteriorated by time.  The male
fern  root  is brought to us from Europe, but might perhaps be more advan-
tageously collected in this country.  The following observations are made by
Geiger in relation to its collection and preservation.   The inner parts of the
fresh root and  of the  portions of stalk attached to  it, are  fleshy and of a
light  yellowish-green colour.  In collecting  them, all the black 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 reduced to powder; and the powder should  be  kept in small
well stopped glass bottles.  The powder thus prepared has  a pale yellowish
colour with a greenish tinge.
   Dried fern root is externally of a brown colour, internally yellowish-white
or reddish, with a peculiar  but feeble odour, which is  most obvious in the
powder and  decoction, and a sweetish, bitter, astringent, nauseous taste.
From the analysis of  M. Morin, an apothecary  of Rouen, it appears to con-
tain  a volatile oil, a fixed oil, gallic and  acetic acids, uncrystallizable sugar,
tannin, starch,  a gelatinous matter insoluble in water and alcohol,  lignin,
and various earthy and saline substances.  Geiger found also resin and gum.
Peschier ascertained that its active properties reside in the  ethereal extract,
which is the fixed oil in an impure state, containing volatile oil, resin, colour-
ing matter, &c.   It is a thick dark liquid, having the odour of the fern, and
a nauseous, bitterish, somewhat acrid taste.
   Medical Properties  and Uses. Male fern is slightly  tonic and astringent;
but produces, when taken internally, no very obvious effects upon the sys-
tem.   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 treating taenia employed by Madame Nouffer.
This  lady, who was the widow of  a surgeon in Switzerland,  had acquired
great celebrity in the cure of tape-worm by a secret  remedy.   Her success
was  such  as to  attract the  attention of the medical profession  at Paris; and
some of the  most eminent physicians of that  city,  who were deputed  to
examine into the subject, having  reported  favourably of  the  remedy, the
secret was purchased by the King of France, and published  by his order.
The outlines of  her plan were to give a dose of the powdered root of the
male fern, and two hours afterwards a powerful cathartic, to  be followed, if it
should not operate in due time, by  some purging salt; and  this process was
to be repeated with proper intervals, till the worm should be evacuated.   A
German physician,  of the name of Herrenschwand, had used the  male fern
in a manner somewhat similar  before Madame  Nouffer's secret was  known.
The remedy became very popular  for a time, and  was found  successful  in
numerous instances; but the profession  has now generally settled  down  in 
334                   Filix Mas.—Fceniculum.                part i.

the opinion that the good which resulted was owing  more to the purgatives
than to the  fern.  Instances, however,  are recorded, in which  cures were
effected by the root without the use of cathartics ; and, amid the general scep-
ticism  on the subject, physicians are  still found who warmly advocate  the
anthelmintic powers of the medicine.  Dr. Peschier assures us, that, in the
course  of nine months, one hundred and fifty tape-worms had been expelled
by the  ethereal extract of the male fern root.  Dr. Ebers has found the same
preparation completely  successful in curing eight cases of taenia. (Journ. de
Chimie Medicate, Fev., 1829.)  He states that the medicine acts specifically
against the worm, which it  speedily destroys, and*thus favours its expulsion
from the body, without  producing any severe or unpleasant symptoms. The
testimony of  Brera is also strongly in  favour of the  remedy, which  he  has
found effectual even against the armed  taenia.  M. Ronzel has cured with it
more than a hundred cases of taenia, and never found it  to  fail.  (Journ. de
Pharm., 3e ser., iv. 474.) Perhaps the different results obtained by different
practitioners may in part be ascribed to the variable strength  and character of
the root, dependent upon the season  at which  it may have been collected,
and the length of time it may have been kept.  It is also said  that the remedy
proves  more effectual against the  tape-worm of the Swiss (Bothriocephalus
latus) than against the Txnia solium,  which is more frequent in France  and
England.  (Bremser.)
  The  medicine  may  be given in powder, or,  as recommended by  Dr.
Peschier, in ethereal extract.  The dose of the powder is from one to three
drachms, to  be given  in the  form of electuary or emulsion, and repeated
morning and evening for one or two  days successively.   M. Ronzel gives
half an ounce to adults, made into boluses, and swallowed within the space of
fifteen  minutes, in  the  morning,  on an empty stomach.   The dose of  the
ethereal extract (oil of fern) is  from twelve to  twenty-four  grains. The
decoction has also been employed in the proportion of an ounce of the root
to a pint  of  water.  It is customary to follow the medicine by some brisk
cathartic, though Dr. Peschier does not consider this  essential.  Dr. Mayor,
of Geneva, recommends the oil  of fern, in the dose of from thirty to fifty
drops,  one half to  be  taken  at  night, the other half in  the  morning,  and
followed at the interval  of an hour, by an ounce and a half of castor oil.
                                                                W.


           FCENICULUM.  U.S,  Lond., Ed,, Dub.

                            Fennel-seed.

  "The fruit of Fceniculum vulgare."  U.S. "Fceniculum vulgare." ifywc-
tus."   Lond.  "Fruit of Fceniculum officinale."  Ed. "Anethum  Fcenicu-
lum. Semina." Dub.
  Fenouii, Fr.; Fenehel, Germ.; Finnocchio, Ital;  Hinojo, Span.
  The plant producing fennel-seed was attached by  Linnaeus to the genus
Anethum, but was separated from it by De Candolle, and placed, with three
or four others, in a new genus styled Fceniculum, which has been generally
adopted by  botanists.   The Anethum  Fceniculum 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 Fceni-
culum  vulgare and Fceniculum duke.   In the U.S.  and  London Pharmaco-
poeias, the former of these is recognised as the source of the medicine ; the
Edinburgh College adopts the F.  officinale of Allioni.  The latter De Candolle 
PART I.
Fceniculum.
335
considers  as  belonging  to his F. vulgare (see Prodromus, iv. 142); while
Merat treats of it as a distinct species, differing both from the F. vulgare and
F. dulce of De Candolle (Diet, de Mat. Med.); and Dr.  Christison, in his
Dispensatory, is disposed to unite it with the last-mentioned plant.   In  this
confusion, it is impossible to arrive at any definite and satisfactory conclusion
as to  the botanical  history of the drug under consideration.  One thing, how-
ever,  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 corres-
ponds closely with the description given of the fruit of the F. vulgare, while
the other is undoubtedly produced by the plant cultivated under the name of
sweet fennel, whether that be the F. dulce of De  Candolle, or F. officinale
of Allioni and  Merat.
   Fceniculum. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria  Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Umbelliferae
or Apiaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx a tumid obsolete rim. Petals  roundish, entire, involute,
with  a squarish blunt lobe. Fruit  nearly taper.  Half-fruits with five  pro-
minent bluntly keeled  ridges, of which the lateral  are  on the edge, and
rather broadest. Vittx single in the channels, two  on the commissure. Invo-
lucre none. (Lindley.)
   Fceniculum  vulgare. De Cand. Prodrom. iv.  142.—Anethum Fcenicu-
lum.  Linn.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 127. t. 49.  Commonfennel has a  bien-
nial or perennial tapering root, and an  annual, erect, round, striated, smooth,
green, and copiously branching -stem,  which usually rises three  or  four
feet in height.  The leaves,  which stand alternately at the joints of the stem,
upon 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.  Merat and De Lens, Diet, de  Mat. Med., iii. 270;  Ed.
Pharm.; Allioni.   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  more
aromatic  and sweeter than common  fennel-seed.   The plant  is a native of
the South of Europe; but is cultivated elsewhere in gardens, and is probably
the source of much of the fennel-seed of the shops. Whether it is a distinct
species, or a mere variety of the F. vulgare, is not determined.   Some con-
found it with the following.
   F. dulce.   De Cand. Prodrom., iv. 142.  This plant  is  eminently enti-
tled  to  the name  of sweet fennel.   It bears a general resemblance to the
F. vulgare, but differs in having its stem somewhat compressed at the base,
its radical leaves somewhat  distichous, and the number of rays in the umbel
only  from  six to eight.  It is also a much smaller  plant, being  only  about  a
foot in  height, its  flowers  appear earlier, and its  young shoots or turiones
are sweeter and edible.   It  is a native of Portugal, 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 pot
herbs.  The fruit is described by Merat and De  Lens as " being globular- 
336
Fceniculum.—Frasera.
PART I.
ovate, twice the size of that of common fennel, and with prominent ridges."
This description does not  answer to the character of any of the fennel-seed
we have seen  in the shops.
   In all these species or varieties, the whole plant has  an aromatic  odour
and taste, dependent on a  volatile oil  by which it is pervaded.  The roots
were formerly employed in medicine, but are greatly inferior in virtues to
the fruit, 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 Ger-
many.   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 unfrequenfly connected
by their flat  surfaces, straight or  slightly curved, of a dark grayish-green
colour, with longitudinal yellowish ridges  on the convex  surface.  There
are two  varieties, one of them from one to  two  lines long, dark-coloured,
rather flat, almost always separate, and without footstalks;  the other three
or four lines, sometimes even five lines in length, lighter-coloured, with much
more prominent ridges, often  conjoined  by  their  flat surface, and very fre-
quently 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 imparts its  virtues to hot water, but  more abundantly
to alcohol.  The essential oil may be separated  by distillation with water.
(See  Oleum Fceniculi.)   The seeds contain  also fixed oil.  From 960 parts
of them, Neumann obtained 20 parts of the former, and 120 of the latter.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Fennel-seed was used  by the  ancients, is
among our most grateful aromatics, and  in this country is  much employed
as a carminative, and as  a corrigent  of other less pleasant medicines, par-
ticularly 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 fre-
quently employed as an enema to produce the expulsion of  flatus.
   Off. Prep.   Aqua  Foeniculi, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Confectio Piperis Nigri,
Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Decoctum Chamaemeli Comp., Dub.; Oleum Foeniculi,
U.S., Ed., Dub.;  Spiritus Juniperi Comp.,  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Sy-
rupus Sennae,  U. S., Lond.; Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S.         W.


                 FRASERA. U.S. Secondary.

                       American  Columbo.

   " The root of Frasera Walteri." U. S.
   Frasera.  Sex. Syst.  Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianacese.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  deeply  four-parted. Corolla four-parted, spreading; seg-
ments oval, with a bearded, orbicular gland in the middle of each. Capsule
compressed, partly  marginated,  one-celled.   Seeds  few, imbricated, large,
elliptical, with a membranaceous margin. Nuttall.
   Frasera Walteri. Michaux, Flor. Bor. Americ. i. 96; Barton, Med. Bot.
ii. 103.—F. Carolinensis. Walter.  This is  one of our  most elegant indi-
genous plants, and the only one of  its genus hitherto discovered.   From  the
root, which is  triennial, long, spindle-shaped, horizontal, fleshy, and of a yel-
low colour, a strong, succulent, solid, smooth stem rises, from five to ten feet in 
PART I.
Frasera.
337
height.   The leaves are sessile, entire, glabrous, of a deep-green colour, and
disposed in whorls, which commence at the root, and ascend to the summit
with 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  upon the  stem are successively smaller as  they
ascend—the lowest oblong lanceolate, the upper lanceolate  and pointed.
The flowers are numerous, large, of a yellowish-white colour, and disposed
in a beautiful  terminal pyramidal  panicle,  from one to five feet  lornr, the
branches of which spring from the axils of the upper leaves.   The  segments
of the calyx are  lanceolate,  acute, and somewhat shorter  than those of the
corolla.  The filaments are  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 terminates in a bifid  stigma.  The fruit is  an
oval, acuminate, compressed, tvvo-valved, one-celled, yellow  capsule, con-
taining 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
Missouri.  It  prefers  rich woodlands  and moist meadows.  The period of
flowering is from May to July ;  but the stem and flowers are produced only
in the third  year, the radical leaves  being the only part of the  plant which
previously appears  above ground.   From this  manner of growth it is  in-
ferred that the  root  should be collected in the  autumn of  the second, or the
spring of the third year.  Before being dried, it should be cut into transverse
slices.
   As formerly found  in the market, frasera was  in  pieces irregularly cir-
cular, 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 bore
some resemblance to columbo, but were easily distinguishable by the greater
uniformity of  their internal structure, the absence of concentric and radiating
lines, and their purer yellow colour without a greenish tinge.   We have
recently  met with a parcel of the root sliced longitudinally, so as somewhat
to resemble gentian, though not likely to be  confounded with it by an expe-
rienced  person.  It was  called American gentian.   The taste of  frasera is
bitter and sweetish.  Water and diluted alcohol extract its virtues, and the
tincture throws down a precipitate upon the  addition of water, but is not dis-
turbed by tincture of galls ; thus affording  additional means of distinguishing
the root from columbo.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Frasera is a mild tonic, calculated to meet
the same indications with the other simple bitters.   It has been thought to
resemble columbo in medical properties as well as  in appearance, and hence
has  received the popular name of American columbo ;  but  experience has
not confirmed the high estimate which was at one time formed of its virtues;
and though, perhaps, still occasionally employed in some  parts of the coun-
try, it has failed to  supplant the  tonic of Mozambique.  It may  be given in
powder or infusion.   The  dose  of the former  is  from  thirty  grains to a
drachm,  that of  an  infusion, made  in the  proportion of an ounce  of the
bruised  root to  a pint of boiling  water, is  one or two  fluidounces, to  be
repeated several times a day.
   The  fresh root is said to operate as  an emetic  and  cathartic, and has
sometimes been given with a view to the latter effect.                 W.
     30 
338
Galbanum.
PART I.
            GALBANUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Galbanum.

   " The  concrete juice of an unknown plant."  U. S.  " Galbanum offici-
 nale. Gummi-resina."  L,ond.   " Concrete gummy-resinous juice of an im-
 perfectly  ascertained  umbelliferous  plant, probably a species of Opoidia."
 Ed.  " Bubon Galbanum. Gummi-resina." Dub.
   Gulhanum, Fr.; Mutterharz, Germ.; Gnlbano, Ital., Span.
   It is not certainly known from what plant galbanum is  derived.   At one
 time it was supposed  to be the  product of the Bubon Galbanum, an umbel-
 liferous plant growing on the eastern coast of Africa, from Nubia to the Cape
 of Good Hope; and this is still recognised as the source of it by the Dublin
 College.  It has  also been referred  to the Ferula ferula go of Linnceus, the
 Ferula galbanifera of Lobel, which inhabits the coasts of the Mediterranean,
 and is found  also in Transylvania and the Caucasus.   But no part of either
 of these plants possesses the odour of galbanum ; and it is, therefore, scarcely
 probable that they yield the drug.   Mr. Don, having found the seeds taken
 from a parcel of galbanum to belong  to an undescribed genus of umbelliferous
 plants, and concluding that they came from the same source as  the gum-resin
 itself, gave the title of Galbanum to the new genus, and named the  species
 Galbanum officinale.  This has been rather hastily adopted by the London
 College; as it is by no means certain,  however  probable it may be, that the
 same plant produced the  seeds  and the gum-resin.   Specimens  of a plant
 were  recently sent to England  by Sir John M'Neill, collected in 1838 near
 Durrood, in the Persian province of Chorassan.  The plant was supposed to
 yield a variety of ammoniac, and portions of a pale yellow gum-resin were
 adhering to the specimens received.   Dr. Lindley ascertained  that the plant
 belonged to an undescribed genus, which he named Opoidia, and under the
 impression that the adhering concrete juice was identical  with  galbanum,
 designated the  particular species O. galbanifera.   Dr.  Pereira, "however,
 found the  substance to be unlike galbanum or any other product of the Um-
 belliferae.   This supposed origin of the drug, therefore, though admitted as
 probable by the Edinburgh College, must be considered as more than doubtful.
 In this state of uncertainty, it is scarcely necessary to describe particularly
 any one of the plants referred to.
   Galbanum is said to be obtained  from the plant by making  incisions into
 the stem, or cutting it off a short distance above the root.   A cream-coloured
juice exudes, which concretes upon  exposure to the air.   A small portion of
juice also  exudes spontaneously from the joints,  and hardens in the shape of
 tears.  The drug is  brought from the Levant, and, according; to Lindley, also
 from India.                                             °         J
   Properties.    The  form in which galbanum  usually  appears  is  that of
 masses, composed of  whitish, reddish, or yellowish tears, irregularly agglu-
 tinated 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 very rarely, if at all, in our mar-
 kets,  in the state of distinct roundish  tears, about as laro-e as a pea  of a
 yellowish-white or pale brownish-yellow  colour, shining* externally' as  if
 varnished, and often adhering together.  Galbanum has in cool weather the
 consistence  of  firm wax;  but softens  in summer, and by  the heat of the
 hand is rendered ductile and adhesive.   At the temperature of boilino- water
 it 1S sufficiently liquid to admit of being strained; and it generally requires to 
part i.                       Galbanum.                          339

be strained before it can be used.  A dark-brown or blackish colour, a con-
sistence always soft, the absence of whitish grains, and the intermixture of
earthy impurities, are signs of inferiority.
   The odour of galbanum is peculiar and disagreeable, but not alliaceous
like that  of sagapenum.   Its taste is bitterish, warm, and acrid.  Its specific
gravity is 1-212.  When triturated with water it forms an imperfect milky
solution, which upon standing deposits the greater portion of what was taken
up.  Wine and vinegar act upon it in a similar manner.  Alcohol dissolves a
considerable proportion,  forming a yellow tincture, which has the smell and
taste of galbanum, and becomes milky by the addition of water, but affords
no precipitate.   In dilute alcohol  it is wholly soluble, with the exception of
impurities.   One hundred parts of it yielded to Pelletier 66-86 parts of resin,
19*28 of gum, 6-34 of volatile oil including the loss, 7-52 of wood and im-
purities,  with traces of the supermalate of lime.  A small proportion of bas-
sorin was found by Meissner.  The medicine  is, therefore, entitled to rank
with  the  gum-resins.  By distillation at the temperature of about 250 F.,
the essential oil is obtained of a fine indigo blue colour, which it imparts to
alcohol.   Procured  by distillation with water, it is colourless, and becomes
yellowish by age.  It is lighter than water.
   According to Ludewig, a gum-resin, designated as Persian galbanum, is
received  in Russia by the way of Astracan  or Orenburg,  and is the  kind
used  in  that country.  It comes enclosed in skins,  and is  in  masses of a
reddish-brown  colour with whitish streaks,  of a disagreeable  odour some-
what like that of assafetida, and of an unpleasant, bitter, resinous taste.  It
is so soft as to melt with a slight elevation  of temperature.  It differs from
common galbanum in its  odour, in its colour which  is never  greenish, and
in the absence of tears, and is probably derived from  a  different plant.  It
abounds  in impurities. (Journ. de Pharm., N S., i. 117.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Galbanum is stimulant, expectorant, and
antispasmodic;  and may be  considered  as intermediate  in  power between
ammoniac and assafetida.  It is, however, much less employed than either
of these gum-resins, and in the United States is seldom or never  prescribed
internally.  The complaints  to which it was  formerly thought applicable,
were chiefly chronic affections of the bronchial mucous  membrane, amenor-
rhoea, and chronic rheumatism.  It is occasionally applied externally in the
shape of plaster to indolent swellings, with the  view of promoting resolution
or suppuration.   Galbanum was known to the ancients.  The dose is from
ten to twenty grains, and may be given in pill, or triturated with gum Arabic,
sugar, and water, so as to form an emulsion.
   Off.Prep.  Emplastrum Assafoetidae,  U.S., Ed.; Emplastrum Galbani,
Dub.; Emplastrum  Galbani Compositum, U.S., Lond.; Emplastrum Gum-
mosum, Ed.; Pilulae  Galbani Compositae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinc-
tura Galbani, Dub.                                                W. 
340                            Galla.                         fart i.



                          GALLA.  U.S.

                                Galls.

  " Morbid excrescences upon Quercus infectoria." U. S.
  Off. Syn. GALLtE.  Quercus infectoria.  Gemmx morbidse. Lond.  GAL-
LiE.   Excrescences of Quercus infectoria, formed by Diplolepis gallae tinc-
torum. Ed.; GALLjE. QUERCUS INFECTORIA. Dub.
  Noix de galle, Fr.; Gullapfel, 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  the  production of excrescences, which, as they are de-
rived from  the proper juices of the plant, partake more or less of its  predo-
minant chemical character.   Most species of oak are susceptible of this kind
of action  ; and the resulting  excrescences, having  in a high degree the astrin-
gency  of the plant on  which they grow, have been  employed for various
practical  purposes.  They are known by the name of galls, a term which,
as well as their employment in medicine, has  been handed down to us from
the  ancients.   The  Quercus infectoria, Q. JEgilops, Q. excelsa, Q. Ilex, Q.
Cerris, and Q. Robur,  have all  been particularized as  occasionally  affording
this product; but it is now generally admitted, upon the authority of Olivier,
that the  officinal galls  are  derived  chiefly, if not  exclusively, from  the Q.
infectoria;  and this is recognised as  their source in the  Pharmacopoeias of the
United States and Great Britain.
  Quercus. See QUERCUS ALBA.
  Quercus infectoria.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 436; Olivier, Voy. Or. t. 14 et
15.   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 dowmy, and  scaly.   This species of Quercus grows, according to
Olivier, throughout Asia Minor, from the Archipelago to the  confines of
Persia.   Captain M. Kinneir found it also in Armenia and Kurdistan ; Gene-
ral  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 qucrcusfolii of Lin-
naeus,  the Diplolepis gallx linctorix of Geoffroy, a hymenopterous insect
or  fly, with a fawn-coloured body, dark  antennae,  and upper part of its
abdomen shining brown.  The insect pierces the shoots and young boughs,
and deposits its egg in the wound.   This irritates the vessels of  the part,
and a small tumour very speedily rises, which appears to be the result of  a
morbid secretion, and upon examination by the microscope exhibits no signs
of proper vegetable fibre.  The egg  grows with the gall, and is soon  con-
verted into a larva, which  feeds upon the vegetable matter  by which  it is
surrounded, and thus forms  a  cavity in the centre of the tumour.   The insect
at length assumes the form  of a fly,  and escapes by eating its way out of the
excrescence.   The  galls are in perfection  when they have attained their full
size, and before  the egg has been hatched, or the fly has escaped.   Collected
at this period, they are called, from their dark colour, blue,  green, or black
galls, and are most highly esteemed.   Those which are gathered  later, and
which have been injured by the insect, are  called white galls.   They are
usually larger, less heavy and compact,  and of a lighter colour than the
former;  and are considered much inferior. 
PART I.
Galla.
341
  The galls collected in Syria and Asia  Minor  are brought to this  country
chiefly from the ports of Smyrna and Trieste.   As they are  produced abun-
dantly in the vicinity of Aleppo, it has been customary to designate them by
the name of that city;  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 quanti-
ties of galls, very closely resembling those from the Mediterranean, have been
brought to  the United States from Calcutta.   Whether they are the produce
of Hindostan, or taken thither from other countries, we are unable to decide
with certainty.  Ainslie is  inclined to think that most of the  galls found in
the markets of India are imported from Persia by the  Arab merchants.  We
are, nevertheless, informed that they are among  the  products of Moultan.
The galls of France and other southern countries of Europe have a smooth,
shining, reddish surface, are little esteemed, and are seldom or never brought
to the United States.
   Properties.  Galls are  nearly round, from the size of a pea to that of a
very large  cherry, with a surface usually studded with small tuberosities, in
the intervals of which it is smooth.  The best are externally of a  dark bluish
or lead colour, sometimes with a greenish tinge, internally whitish or brown-
ish, hard, solid, brittle, with a flinty fracture, a striated texture, and a small
spot or cavity in  the centre, indicating the  presence  of the  undeveloped or
decayed insect.   Their powder  is of a light yellowish-gray.  Those  of an
inferior quality are of a lighter colour, sometimes reddish or nearly white, of
a loose texture, with a large cavity in the  centre, communicating externally
by a  small hole through  which  the  fly has escaped.    Galls are  inodorous,
and have a bitter, very astringent taste.  From  500 parts  Sir H. Davy ob-
tained 185 parts of matter soluble in water, of which, according to his analysis,
130 were tannin, 31 gallic acid with a little extractive, 12 mucilage and mat-
ter rendered  insoluble by evaporation, and 12 saline  matter and calcareous
earth.  Other chemists have found a larger  proportion of  tannin  and gallic
acid.  Braconnot discovered the  presence of a small quantity of another 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. Pelouse, how-
ever, 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.  All their soluble matter 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 satu-
rated decoction of galls deposits upon cooling a copious pale-yellow pre-
cipitate.  The infusion or tincture  affords precipitates with sulphuric and
muriatic acids, lime-water, carbonate of ammonia, and carbonate  of potassa;
with  solutions of acetate and subacetate of lead, the sulphates of  copper and
iron,  the nitrates  of silver and mercury, and tartrate of antimony and potassa;
with  the infusions of Peruvian bark, "columbo, opium, and  many  other vege-
tables, especially those containing proximate alkaline  principles, with  most
of  which  tannin  forms insoluble compounds.  The solution of gelatin also
produces a'precipitate.  The infusion of galls reddens litmus paper, is ren-
dered orange by nitric acid, milky by the corrosive chloride of mercury, and
has its own colour deepened by ammonia; but  throws down no precipitate
with  either of these reagents.  Sulphate  of zinc  is said by Dr. A. T. Thom-
son to occasion a slow precipitate, but  this  result was not obtained by Dr.
Duncan.
                                   30* 
342
Galla.— Gambogia.
PART I.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  As might be inferred from the quantity of
tannin they contain, galls are powerfully  astringent.  They  are little em-
ployed as an internal remedy, though  occasionally prescribed in  chronic
diarrhoea.  They have been recommended as  an  antidote to  tartar emetic,
and  those vegetable  poisons  which depend for their activity upon organic
alkalies ; but, though the insoluble compounds which these principles form
with galls are probably less active than their soluble native compounds, they
cannot be considered as  inert.   In the form of infusion  or decoction, galls
may be  advantageously used as an astringent gargle, lotion, or injection;
and, mixed with simple ointment, in the  proportion of one part of galls, in
very fine powder, to eight parts of the unguent, they are  frequently applied
to the anus and rectum in hemorrhoidal affections.   The dose of powdered
galls is from ten to twenty grains, to be repeated several times a day.
  Off. Prep. Acidum Tannicum, U. S.; Tinctura Gallae,  U. S., L>ond., Ed.,
Dub.; Unguentum Gallae, U.S., Dub.;  Unguentum Gallae  Compositum,
Lond., Ed.                                                       W.


                       GAMBOGIA. U.S.

                             Gamboge.

  " The  concrete juice of an uncertain tree."  U. S.
  Off. Syn.  CAMBOGIA.  Stalagmitis   Cambogib'ides.  Gummi-resina.
Lond.; CAMBOGIA (Siamensis). Gum-resin from an  unascertained plant
inhabiting Siam, probably a species of Hebradendron. CAMBOGIA  (Zey-
lanica).  Gummy-resinous exudation of Hebradendron cambogioides. Ed.;
GAMBOGIA.  STALAGMITIS  CAMBOGIA. Dub.
  Gomme gutte, Fr.; Gummigutt, Germ.;  Gomma-gotta, Ital.; Gutta gamba, Span.
  Several plants belonging  to the  natural family of the Guttiferx, growing
in the equatorial regions, yield on incision a yellow opaque juice, which
hardens on exposure to the air, and bears a close  resemblance to gamboge;
but it is not certainly known from which of these  plants  the  officinal gum-
resin is procured.  Until recently the  United States  and all  the British
Pharmacopoeias  ascribed it to the  Stalagmitis Cambogioides.   This  genus
and species were established by Murray, of Gottingen, in 1788, from dried
specimens belonging to Konig, procured  in the island of Ceylon ; and from
information  derived from the same source, it was conjectured  by  Murray
that the tree yielded not only the gamboge  of Ceylon, but that also collected
in Siam.   It was  on this  authority that the British  Colleges made  the
reference alluded to.   But it has been ascertained  by Dr.  Graham, of Edin-
burgh, that  there is no such plant as the Stalagmitis  Cambogioides;  the
description of Murray having been drawn up from  accidentally conjoined
specimens of two distinct trees  belonging  to  different genera.  By several
botanists  the gum-resin has been ascribed  to  the  Garcinia Cambogia, also
a tree of Ceylon belonging to  the  family of Guttiferae, and yielding  a
yellowish concrete juice;  but a specimen  of  the product  of this tree
sent to Edinburgh was found by  Dr. Christison to  be  different from gam-
boge  both in composition  and  appearance,  being of a  pale  lemon-yellow
colour.   Thus  it appears that neither  of  these references is  correct;  and
besides, the important  fact seems to  have been  overlooked, that commer-
cial gamboge is never obtained  from Ceylon, but  exclusively from Siam
and Cochin-china.   It is true that a gum-resin from Ceylon  has recently
been examined, and found similar in  composition  to  the  gamboge of com-
merce ; that  the tree which  produced  it,  having been  ascertained  by Dr. 
PART I.
Gambogia.
343
Graham to belong to a new genus, has been named by him Hebradendron
Cambogioides, and is one  of the two confounded by Murray in his Stalag-
mitis ;  and that the Edinburgh College, in the  last edition of their Pharma-
copoeia, have adopted this  Ceylon gamboge as officinal.  But, as this variety
is never found in commerce, and exists  only in the cabinets of the curious,
it scarcely seems worthy of a place  in an officinal catalogue;  and though,
from its resemblance  to the Siam gum-resin, the two may possibly  be
derived from the same or closely analogous plants, yet the fact is not proved;
and it would be altogether premature at present to ascribe the  latter to this
or any other species of Hebradendron.
  On  the whole, therefore, it  must be admitted that we are uncertain, not
only as to the precise tree which affords the officinal gamboge, but also
whether it is derived from any one tree exclusively, or from several.  In this
uncertainty, it seems hardly necessary to crowd our pages with botanical de-
scriptions, which may possibly have no  relation to the subject.
  Gamboge is collected in Siam  and Cochin-china.   Similar  products are
obtained in  Ceylon; but  they do not appear to be sent out of the island.
Milburn does not  mention  gamboge among the exports.  The tree from
which it is obtained in Siam has not been examined by any botanist.  It  is
said to be procured by breaking off the leaves and young shoots, from which
the juice issues in drops, and being received in suitable vessels  gradually
thickens,  and at length becomes solid.   When it has attained the requisite
consistence, it is rolled into cylinders, and wrapped in leaves.  The juice is
sometimes received into the hollow  joints of  the bamboo,  which give it  a
cylindrical form ; and, as it contracts during the process  of solidification, the
cylinder is often hollow in the centre.  The name gummi gutta,  by which
it is generally known on the continent of Europe, probably originated from
the circumstance that the juice escapes from the plant by drops.  The offi-
cinal 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 seventeenth 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  in which  the original form is
not always readily distinguishable.  The pieces sometimes appear as if rolled,
but are in general  striated longitudinally from the impression made by the
inner surface of the bamboo.   They are externally of a dull orange colour,
which is occasionally displaced by greenish stains, or concealed by the bright
yellow powder of the drug, which slightly adheres to the surface.  In this
form the  drug is sometimes called pipe gamboge.  Another  variety is im-
ported under the name of cake or lump gamboge. It is in  irregular masses
weighing two or three pounds or  more, often mixed  with sticks  and other
impurities, containing many air-cells, less dense, less uniform in texture, and
less brittle than the  former variety, and  breaking with a dull and splintery,
instead of a shining and conchoidal fracture.   The worst specimens of this
variety, as well as  of the  cylindrical, are sometimes called  by the  London
druggists  coarse  gamboge.   They differ, however, from the preceding,
only in containing a greater amount of impurities.  Indeed,  it would appear,
from the experiments of Christison, that all the commercial varieties of this
drug have a common origin, and  that cake or lump  gamboge differs from 
344
Gambogia.
PART I.
 that which comes in the cylindrical form, only from the circumstance  that
 the latter is the pure concrete juice  of the  plant, while, in the former,  fari-
 naceous matter and other impurities have been  mixed with  the  pure juice
 for the  purpose of adulteration.   The inferior kinds of gamboge may be
 known by their greater hardness and coarser fracture; by the brownish or gray-
 ish colour of their broken surface, which is often marked with black spots;
 by their obvious impurities ;  and by the green colour which their decoction,
 after  having been  cooled, gives with tincture  of iodine.   When  pure,  the
 gum-resin is  completely  dissolved by the successive action of ether  and
 water.*
   Properties.   Gamboge, in its  pure form, is brittle, with a* smooth con-
 choidal, 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, and, unlike
 most other substances of the same class, contains no essential oil.  In 100
 parts of it Braconnot found 19-5 parts of gum, 0*5 of impurities, and 80 of
 a red, insipid, transparent resinous substance, becoming  yellow by pulveri-
 zation,  and supposed to consist  of  resin  united with a yellow colouring
 principle.   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.   His results approach
 nearly to those of Braconnot.   In one experiment, out of  100-8 parts he
 obtained 74-2 of resin, 21-8  of gum, and 4-8 of  water.  The gum is quite
 soluble  in water and  of  the variety denominated arabin.   In a specimen of
 cake gamboge he found 11"2 per cent, of fecula  and  lignin, and in a very
 bad sample of coarse gamboge, no less than 41 per cent, of the same impu-
 rities. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 133.) In addition to gum  and  resin, Ph.
 Biichner has found  a small  and variable proportion of a peculiar reddish-
 yellow colouring matter, soluble both in alcohol and water.  (Journ. de Pharm.
 et de  Chim., 3e ser.,  iii. 303.)  Gamboge is readily and entirely diffusible in
 water, forming a yellow opaque emulsion, from which  the resinous matter is
 very slowly deposited.  It is dissolved  by alcohol, with the exception  of
 about 8 or 10 per cent, of gum ;  and a golden yellow tincture  results, which
 is rendered opaque and bright yellow by  the addition of water.  Its solution
 in ammoniated alcohol is not disturbed by water.   Sulphuric ether dissolves
 about four-fifths of it, taking up  only the  resin, which  is obtained by the
 evaporation of  the  ethereal  solution.  It  is wholly  taken  up by alkaline
 solutions, from which it is partially precipitated by the acids.  The strong
 acids dissolve it; but the solution  when diluted with water deposits a yellow
 precipitate.   The colour as  well  as the acrimony and medicinal power of
 gamboge  resides in  the resinous portion;  but,  as pure  resins are usually

  * Ceylon gamboge, derived from the Hebradendron Cambogioides of Graham (Combo-
gia gutta, Linn., Garcinia Morella, DeCand.), is procured by incisions,or by cutting away
 a portion of the bark, and scraping off the juice which exudes. The specimens sent to
 Dr. Christison are in flatfish 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 is that of coirse gamboge ; but  the
individual tears  have the characters of the best kind, and its chemical composition is
identical.  It is used  as a  pigment and purgative in Ceylon, but is  not an article of
commerce. (Christison's Dispensatory.) 
PART I.
Gambogia.— Gaultheria.
345
destitute of these properties, it is not improbable that they may belong to a
distinct principle not yet separated from the resin.   So intense is the colour
of the resin that one part of it communicates a perceptible yellowness to ten
thousand  parts of water  or spirit.  It has the property of combining with
salifiable bases, and belongs, according to Ph. Buchner,  to the class of fatty
acids.  It has been called gambogic acid.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Gamboge is a powerful, drastic, hydra-
gogue cathartic,  very apt to produce nausea and vomiting when given in the
full 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 bitar-
trate  of potassa or jalap.   It is also  prescribed in cases of obstinate con-
stipation,  and has frequently  been  found effectual in the expulsion of  the
tapeworm.   It is often combined with other and milder cathartics, the action
of which it promotes and accelerates, while its own is moderated.   The full
dose  is from  two to six grains, which in cases of taenia has been raised to ten
or fifteen  grains.  As  it  is apt to occasion much sickness and griping, the
best plan, under ordinary circumstances,  is to give it in small doses repeated
at short intervals till it operates.  It  may be given in  pill or emulsion, or
dissolved in an alkaline solution.  The last method of administration has been
recommended in dropsical complaints.
   Off.Prep. Pilulae Catharticae  Compositae, U.S.;  Pilulae Gambogiae Corn-
posits, Dub., Lond., Ed.                                         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.  Cap-
 sule  five celled, invested with the berried calyx. Pursh.
   Gaultheria procumbens. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 616;  Bigelow, Am. Med.
 Bot. ii. 27;  Barton, Med. Bot. i. 171.   This is a small, indigenous, shrub-
 by, evergreen plant, with a long, creeping horizontal root, which sends  up
 at intervals one  and sometimes  two erect, slender, round, reddish stems.
 These are naked  below, leafy at the summit, and usually less than a span
 in height.  The leaves  are  ovate or obovate,  acute, revolute at the  edges
 with  a few mucronate serratures, coriaceous, shining, bright green upon the
 upper surface, paler beneath, of unequal size, and supported irregularly on
 short red  petioles.   The flowers, of which not more than from three to  five
 are usually found upon  each stem, stand on curved, drooping, axillary pe-
 duncles.  The calyx is  white, five-toothed, and  furnished at  its  base  with
 two  concave cordate bractes, which are by some authors described  as an
 outer calyx.  The  corolla is white,  ovate or urceolate,  contracted  at its
 mouth, and divided at its border into five small acute segments.   The  sta-
 mens consist of  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  sur-
 mounted  by an  erect filiform style, terminating in an obtuse stigma.   The
 fruit  is a small, five-celled, many-seeded  capsule, enclosed in a fleshy cover-
 ing, 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 
346
Gaultheria.— Gentiana.
PART i.
mountainous tracts, or in dry barrens and sandy plains, beneath the shade of
shrubs and trees, particularly of other evergreens, as the  Kalmiae and Rho-
dodendra.  It is abundant in the  pine barrens of New Jersey.  In different
parts of the country, it is known  by the various names of partridge-berry,
deer-berry, tea-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 employed, and  which is  found  in
several other plants, particularly  in the bark of  the Betula lenta, or sweet
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  favourite article  of
food with partridges, deer, and other wild animals.
   To the very peculiar and agreeably aromatic odour and  taste which  belong
to the whole plant, the leaves add  a marked astringency, dependent  on the
presence  of tannin.  The aromatic properties reside in a volatile oil,  which
may be separated by distillation.  (See Oleum Gaultherix.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.    Gaultheria has the usual stimulant  opera-
tion of the  aromatics, united with  astringency; and  may, therefore, be used
with advantage in some forms of chronic diarrhoea.  Like other substances
of the same class, it has been  employed as an emmenagogue, and with the
view of increasing the secretion of milk; but its chief use is to impart an
agreeable flavour to mixtures and other preparations.  It maybe conveniently
administered in the form of infusion, which  in some parts of  the country is
not unfrequenfly used at the tables as a substitute for common tea.  The oil,
however, is more  used  in regular practice  than the leaves.   Instances  of
death are on record, resulting from the use of  the oil,  by mistake,  in the
quantity of about a fluidounce.  On examination after death, strong marks
of inflammation  of the  stomach were discovered.  (Journ. of Phil.  Col.  of
Pharm.,  vi. 290.)
   Off.Prep.  Oleum Gaultheriae.  U.S.                             W.


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

                              Gentian.

   " The  root of Gentiana lutea."  U. S., Ed.   " Gentiana lutea.  Radix."
Lond.
   Off. Syn. GENTIANA LUTEA. Radix.  Dub.
   Gentiane jaune,  Fr.; Rother Enzian,  Germ.; Genziana, Ital.; Genciana, Span.
   Gentiana.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Orel.  Gentianaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla one-petalled.  Capsule two-valved, one-celled, with two
longitudinal receptacles.  Willd.
   Gentiana lutea.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1331; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p. 273.
t. 95.  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  mono-
phyllous, 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 
part i.                        Gentiana.                           347

are five or six and shorter than the corolla.  This plant grows among the
Appenines, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and in other  mountainous  or elevated
regions of Europe.  Its root is the only part used in medicine.
   Several other species of the genus possess analogous medicinal properties,
and are  used for similar  purposes.  The roots  of the G. purpurea and G.
punctata, growing in the same regions as the G. lutea, and of the G. Pan-
nonica, growing  in  the Austrian dominions, are said  to be frequently min-
gled with the officinal gentian, from which they are scarcely distinguishable.
The G. macrophylla of Pallas is used in Siberia;  and one indigenous spe-
cies, the G. Catesbxi, has found a place in the  secondary catalogue of the
U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
   Gentian is imported from  Germany.
   Properties.  As found in the shops, it is in pieces  of various dimensions
and shape, usually of considerable length, consisting  sometimes of longitu-
 dinal slices, sometimes of the  root cut transversely, twisted, wrinkled exter-
 nally, sometimes marked with close  transverse rings, of a  grayish-brown
 colour  on the outside, yellowish  or  reddish within,  and  of  a soft spongy
 texture.  The odour is feeble, but decided and peculiar. The taste is slightly
 sweetish, and intensely bitter, without being nauseous.   The  powder is of
 a yellowish colour.  Water and alcohol extract the taste and medical virtues
 of the root.  Examined by  MM. Henry and Caventou, it was found to con-
 tain, 1. a peculiar crystallizable  principle which  they supposed  to be  the
 chief active  ingredient of the root,  and,  therefore, named gentianin, 2. a
 volatile  odorous  principle,  3. a substance identical with  birdlime (glu), 4.
 a greenish fixed  oil, 5. a  free organic acid, 6. uncrystallizable sugar, 7. gum,
 8. yellow colouring matter, and 9. lignin.   Mr. Denis  has  since detected
 in the root the  existence of pectic acid;  and the gentianin of Henry and
 Caventou has been proved by Trommsdorff and by M. Leconte to be,  when
 quite pure, wholly destitute both  of bitterness and of medicinal power;  so
 that it would appear no longer to merit the name which it bears. M. Leconte
 proposes, accordingly, to call it gentisin;  and, as it possesses  the property
  of 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
 allowing  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, which  has a strono-
 odour of the root.   Professor Dulk of Konigsberg gives  the following pro-
 cess for  isolating  the bitter principle.   The alcoholic extract is  macerated
 in water, and the solution,  having been subjected to the vinous  fermentation
 in order to  separate the  sugar, is treated first with acetate  of lead, and then,
  after filtration, with  subacetate of lead and a very  little ammonia, in order to
 precipitate the combination of the vegetable principle with  oxide  of lead; care
 being  taken not to use too much ammonia, lest by its stronger basic powers
 it should separate the  vegetable principle from  the oxide.  The precipitate
 thus obtained is washed  with a little  water, then mixed with a large propor-
 tion of the same fluid, and decomposed by hydrosulphuric acid.   The liquid
  having been filtered, is evaporated with a gentle  heat to dryness, and the resi-
  due treated with alcohol of  0-820.   The alcoholic solution being evaporated
  yields the  bitter  principle, which ought to receive the  name of gentianin.
  It is a brownish-yellow, uncrystallizable  substance, having in a high degree
  the  bitter taste of the root.  It is almost insoluble in absolute alcohol,  but 
348
Gentiana.— Gentiana Catesbaei.
PART I.
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 fermenta-
tion, in  consequence, probably, of the  presence of its saccharine principle.
From the fermented infusion a spirituous liquor  is obtained  by distillation,
which, though bitter and unpleasant to the smell, is  much relished by the
Swiss and Tyrolese.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Gentian possesses, in a high degree, the
tonic powers  which characterize the simple bitters.  It excites the appetite,
invigorates the powers of digestion, moderately  increases the temperature
of the body and the force of the circulation, and acts in fact as a general
corroborant of the system.  In  very large doses, however, it is  apt to load
and oppress the stomach, to irritate the bowels, and even to occasion nausea
and vomiting.  It has been known as a medicine from the highest antiquity,
and is said to have derived its name from Gentius, a king of Ulyria.  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 cases of
disease  dependent on pure  debility of the digestive  organs,  or requiring a
general tonic  impression.  Dyspepsia, gout, amenorrhoea, hysteria, scrofula,
intermittent fever, diarrhoea, and worms, are among the many forms of dis-
ease 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 single complaint
in which it can be advantageously administered under all circumstances.  Its
powder has been applied  externally to malignant and sloughing ulcers.   It is
usually given in the form of infusion or tincture.   A syrup may be prepared
by forming a saturated infusion  by means of percolation, and incorporating
this  at a boiling temperature with simple syrup.   The dose of the powder is
from ten to forty grains.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Gentianae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Gen-
tianae Compositum,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Gentianae Comp.,
U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura  Rhei et Gentianae, U.S., Ed.; Vinum
Gentianae  Compositum, Ed.                                       W.


       GENTIANA  CATESBAEI.  U.S.  Secondary.

                              Blue Gentian.

   "  The root of Gentiana Catesbaei."  U. S.
   Gentiana. See GENTIANA.
   Several indigenous species of gentian approach more or less nearly to the
Gentiana  lutea in the bitterness and medicinal  virtues  of their roots ; but the
G. Calesbxi, which resembles it most closely in these respects, is the only
one  which has attracted the particular attention of the medical profession.
   Gentiana  Catesbaei.  Walter, Flor.  Car. 109; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
ii. 137; Nuttall, Gen. of Am. Plants, i. 172. The blue gentian has a peren-
nial,  branching, somewhat  fleshy root, and  a simple,  erect,  rough stem,
rising eight or ten inches in height, and  bearing  opposite leaves, which are
ovate lanceolate, acute and rough on  their margin.  The flowers, which are
of a  palish-blue colour, are crowded,  nearly sessile,  axillary and terminal.
The divisions of  the  calyx  are  linear  lanceolate, and longer than the tube.
The  corolla is large, ventricose, plaited, and divided at its border into ten
segments, of which the five outer are more or  less acute, the five  inner bifid 
part i.         Gentiana Catesbxi.— Geoffroya Inermis.           349

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.
  The G. Catesbxi grows in the grassy swamps of North and South Caro-
lina,  where it  flowers from September  to December.   It was  named  by
Walter and  Elliott in honour of Catesby, by whom it was  imperfectly  de-
lineated upwards of seventy years ago.  Pursh confounds  it with the  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 decoGtion
are even more bitter than the root in substance.   Blue gentian has not been
satisfactorily analyzed.
   Medical  Properties.  As a  medicine it is little  inferior to the European
gentian, and may be employed for similar purposes.  In the Northern and
Middle States it is not used; but it is said to be occasionally prescribed  by
the practitioners of the South in dyspepsia, and other cases of stomachic and
general debility.   It may be given in powder in the dose of  fifteen or thirty
grains, and  may be substituted  for the  foreign gentian in the preparation of
the officinal extract, infusion, wine, and tincture.                    W.


          GEOFFROYA INERMIS. Cortex. Dub.

                        Cabbage-tree Bark.

   Geoffroya de Jamaique, Fr.; Jamaieanische VVurmrinde, Germ.; Geoffrcea, Ital.
   The tree  producing this bark was Yormerly placed in the genus Geoffroya,
from which, however, it has been  separated,  and with a few others erected
into  a distinct  genus entitled Andira, which  is now generally admitted  by
botanists.
   Andira.  Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord.   Leguminosae or
Fabaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx turbinate-campanulate, five-toothed;  teeth nearly equal,
acute, erect.   Corolla papilionaceous;  the vexillum roundish,  emarginate,
longer than the  keel.   Stamens diadelphous.   Ovary  with three ovules.
Legume stipitate, roundish, rather hard, one-celled,  one-seeded, when ripe
divisible into two valves. (De Cand.)
   Andira inermis.  DeCand. Prodrom. ii. 475.— Geoffroy a inermis.  Willd.
Sp. Plant, iii.  1130;  Woodv. Med. Bot., p. 416. t. 151.  The stem of this
tree,  which  rises to a considerable  height, is branched towards the  top, and
covered with a smooth gray bark.  The leaves are  pinnate, consisting of six
or seven pairs of ovate lanceolate, pointed, veined, smooth, petiolate leaflets,
with  an odd one at the end.  The flowers are rose-coloured, and arranged in
terminal panicles, with very short pedicels.   The cabbage-tree is a native  of
Jamaica and other West India islands.   The bark is the  part used.
  On the continent of Europe the bark of the  Andira retusa (Geoffroya
Surinamensis), which grows in Surinam, has also been employed.  It is
considered more powerfully vermifuge, without being equally liable to pro-
duce  injurious effects.
  Cabbage-tree bark is in long pieces, thick, fibrous,  externally of a brownish-
ash colour,  scaly and covered with lichens, internally yellowish, of a resin-
ous fracture, a  disagreeable smell,  a sweetish, mucilaginons, bitterish taste,
and affording a powder resembling that of jalap.  Huttenschmidt  obtained
     31 
 350                Geoffroya Inermis.— Geranium.             part i.

 from  it a crystallizable, very bitter  substance, having the composition and
 neutralizing properties of the vegetable alkaloids, and named very inappro-
 priately jamaicina.  Two grains of  it produced violent purging in pigeons. I
   The bark of the A. retusa has a  grayish epidermis, beneath which it  is
 reddish-brown, laminated,  compact, very  tenacious,  and when  cut  trans-
 versely, exhibits a shining  and variegated surface.  In the dried state it  is
 inodorous, but has an austere bitter taste.  The powder is of a pale cinnamon
 colour.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Cabbage-tree bark is cathartic, and in large
 doses is apt to occasion vomiting, fever, and delirium.  It is  said that these
 effects are more liable to result if cold water is drunk during its operation,
 and are relieved by the use of warm water, castor  oil, or a vegetable acid.
 In the West Indies the bark is esteemed a powerful vermifuge, and is much
 employed for expelling lumbrici; but it is dangerous if incautiously adminis-
 tered, and instances of death from its use have occurred.  It is almost  un-
 known in this country, and does not  enter into our officinal catalogues.  The
usual  form of administration is that of decoction, though the medicine is
 also given in powder, syrup,  and extract.   The dose of the powder is from
 a scruple to half a drachm, of the extract three  grains, of the decoction two
 fluidounces.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Geoffroyae, Dub.                          W.


                       GERANIUM. U.S.

                             Cranesbill

  " The  root of Geranium maculatum."  U. S.
  Geranium.   Sex. Syst.  Monadelphia  Decandria.—Nat.  Ord.  Gerani-
aceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved.  Corolla five-petalled,  regular.  Nectary five
melliferous glands united to  the base of the longer filaments.  Arilli five,
one-seeded, awned, at the base of a beaked receptacle; awns simple, naked,
neither spiral nor bearded. Willd.
   Geranium maculatum. Willd. Sp. Plant,  iii.  705; Bigelow, Am. Med.
Bot. i. 84; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 149.   This plant has a  perennial, horizon-
tal, fleshy root, which is  furnished with short fibres, and sends up annually
an herbaceous stem, with several radical leaves.   The stem is erect, round,
dichotomously branched, from one  to two feet  high, of a  grayish-green
colour, and thickly covered,  in  common  with  the  petioles and peduncles,
with reflexed hairs.  The leaves are  deeply divided into three, five, or seven
lobes, which  are variously incised at their extremities, hairy, and of a pale
green colour, mottled with still paler  spots.  Those  which rise immediately
from the  root are supported on footstalks eight  or ten inches long; those of
the stem  are opposite, the lower petiolate, the upper nearly sessile, with lan-
ceolate or linear stipules.  The flowers  are large, and usually of a  purple
colour.   The peduncles  spring  from the forks of the stem, and  severally
support two flowers upon short  pedicels.  The calyx is composed of five
oblong, ribbed, cuspidate leaves;  the petals are five, obovate, and entire; the
stamens  ten, with  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 stigmas.   The fruit consists  of five aggregate, one-seeded  capsules,
attached by a beak to the persistent style, curling up and scattering the seeds
 when ripe. 
parti.                   Geranium.— Geum.                      351

   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 Jul}'.   The root should be collected  in autumn.
   This,  when dried, is in pieces from one to three inches long, from a quar-
ter to half an inch in thickness,  somewhat flattened, contorted, wrinkled,
tuberculated, and beset with  slender fibres.  It is externally  of an umber-
brown colour, internally  reddish-gray, compact, inodorous, and of an astrin-
gent 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 most powerful
indigenous astringents, and may be employed for  all the  purposes to which
these medicines are applicable.   The  absence of unpleasant taste and  all
other offensive  qualities renders  it  peculiarly serviceable in the cases of
infants,  and  of  persons  with very delicate stomachs.   Diarrhoea, chronic
dysentery, cholera infantum in the latter stages,  and the various hemorrhages,
are  the  forms of disease  in which  it  is  most commonly  used and  with
greatest  advantage; but care should be taken, before  it is administered, that
the condition of the system and of the part  affected is such as not to contra-
indicate  the use of astringents.  As an application to  indolent  ulcers, an in-
jection  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 foreign remedies of similar character.  It is  a popular
domestic remedy in various parts  of the United  States,  and is said to  be
employed by the Indians in numerous disorders.   It may be given in  sub-
stance, 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 aquatiqne, Fr.; Wiesen-Benediktcnwurzel, Germ.
   Geum. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord.  Rosacea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx ten-cleft. Petals five.  Seeds with a bent awn. Willd.
   Several species belonging to this genus have been medicinally employed ;
but two  only are deserving of particular notice—the  Geum  rivale, which
has a place in the secondary list of the  United States Pharmacopoeia, and
the G. urbanum, recognised by the Dublin College.
   Geum rivale. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii.  1115; Engl.  Bot. 106.  The water
avens has a  perennial, horizontal, jointed,  scaly, tapering root,  about six
inches long, of a reddish-brown colour externally, white  internally, and fur-
nished with numerous descending yellowish fibres.   Sometimes one, some-
times several stems rise from  the same root, which also sends up  numerous
leaves.  The stems are about a foot and a half high, simple, erect, pubescent,
and of a  purplish colour.   The radical leaves are interruptedly pinnate,  with
large terminal leaflets, and stand on long,  hairy footstalks ; those of the stem
are petiolate, and divided  into  three serrate, pointed segments.  The flowers
are few,  solitary, nodding, yellowish-purple, and supported on axillary and
terminal  peduncles.   The colour of the stems and flowers has given rise to
the name of purple avens, by which  the plant is sometimes called.   The
calyx is  inferior, with ten lanceolate pointed  segments,  of which the  five
alternate are smaller than the  others.   The petals are five, and of the same 
352
Geum.— Geum  Urbanum.
PART I.
length as the calyx.  The seeds are oval, and furnished 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 Eng-
land, New York,  and Pennsylvania.  Its flowers appear in June and July.
  The dried root  is hard, brittle, easily  pulverized, of a reddish or purplish
colour, without smell, and of an astringent, bitterish  taste.   Boiling water
extracts its virtues.
  Medical  Properties and  Uses.   Water avens  is  tonic  and powerfully
astringent.   It may be used with  advantage in chronic .or passive  hemor-
rhages, leucorrhoea, and diarrhoea; and  is said  to  be beneficially employed,
in the Eastern States, as a popular remedy in the debility of phthisis pulmo-
nalis, in simple dyspepsia, and in  visceral diseases consequent on disorder
of the stomach.   In Europe it is  sometimes  substituted for the root of the
common avens, or Geum  urbanum, but  is less esteemed.   The dose of the
powdered root is  from a scruple to a drachm, to be  repeated  three times a
day.  The decoction, which is  usually preferred, may be made by boiling
an ounce of the root in a  pint of water, and given in the quantity  of one or
two fluidounces.    A weak decoction is  sometimes used by invalids in New
England as a substitute for tea and coffee.                           W.


              GEUM   URBANUM.  Radix. Dub.

                           Root of  Avens.

  Benoite, Fr.; Benediktenwurzel, Germ.,- Cariofillata, Ital; Cariofilata, Span.
  Geum. See GEUM.
   Geum urbanum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1113 ; Woodv. Med. Bot.  p. 502.
t. 181.   Avens is an herbaceous perennial plant, with slender, erect,  branch-
ing hairy stems, about two feet in height.  The leaves are petiolate,  serrate,
hairy; those on the upper part of the stem, simple, trifid and pointed; those
nearest the root, pinnate and lyrate, with two pairs of unequal leaflets, and
a larger terminal leaflet  which is usually three-lobed.   The flowers are
small, of a bright yellow  colour, and solitary upon erect terminal peduncles.
The seeds, which are hairy  and  collected in  a  roundish head,  have  at their
summit a naked awn, bent like a hook at the apex.
  This species of Geum is a native of Europe, where it grows  in  woods
and shady uncultivated places.  The flowers appear in June and July. The
root, which is the part employed, should be dug up in March,  when its sen-
sible properties are in greatest perfection, and should be dried by a moderate
heat.  The large roots are preferred to  those which are very small,  and the
cultivated to the wild.
  The avens root consists of a short oblong body or caudex, from a quarter
to half an inch in  thickness, externally brown, internally white towards the
circumference and reddish at the centre, and sending forth  numerous long
brown descending fibres.  When quite dry it is nearly  inodorous, but in
the recent state it has a smell resembling that of cloves, whence it is some-
times called radix caryophyllatx.   Its  taste  is bitterish and astringent.   It
imparts its medicinal virtues to water and alcohol, which it tinges red.   Dis-
tilled with water it yields a thick, greenish-yellow volatile oil, and  gives a
pleasant flavour to the liquid.   Tannin is an abundant constituent.   It con-
tains, moreover, according to Trommsdorff, an insipid resin, gum, bassorin,
and lignin. 
PART I.
Geum  Urbanum.— Gillenia.
353
  Medical Properties and Uses.   This root has been largely used on the
continent of Europe as a tonic and astringent in numerous diseases.  Among
these are chronic and passive hemorrhages, chronic dysentery and diarrhoea,
leucorrhoea,  congestions of the  abdominal viscera, and  intermittent fever.
The dose  of the powdered root  is from  thirty grains to  a drachm  three or
four times a day, and the same quantity may be given at  a dose in  the form
of decoction.  The medicine is scarcely used in the United States.    W.


                       GILLENIA.  U.S.

                               Gillenia.

  " The root  of Gillenia trifoliata." U. S.
  Indian physic, American ipecacuanha.
  Gillenia.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord.  Rosaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx tubular campanulate, border five-toothed.  Corolla partly
unequal.  Petals five, lanceolate, attenuated at the base.   Stamens few, in-
cluded. Styles five.   Capsules five, connate at the base, opening on the in-
ner side, each two-seeded.  Torrey.
  This genus was  separated by Moench  from  the  Spirxa, but  was not
generally acknowledged till after  the publication of Barton's Medical Botany.
It is exclusively North American,  and includes only two  discovered  spe-
cies—the  G. trifoliata and G.  stipulacea—of which the former only has
been adopted in our Pharmacopoeia, though the  two are identical in medical
character.
   1. Gillenia trifoliata. Bigelow,  Am.  Med. Bot.  iii.  10;  Barton, Med.
Bot. i. 65.  This is  an herbaceous plant with a perennial  root, consisting of
numerous long, slender, brown branches, proceeding  from a thick tuber-like
head or caudex.  The stems, several of which usually rise from the same
root, are  two or three feet  in  height,  erect,  slender,  smooth, flexuose,
branched, and commonly of a reddish colour.  The leaves are ternate, with
very short petioles, and small linear lanceolate stipules.   The leaflets are
ovate lanceolate, sharply  serrate, and acuminate.  The  flowers grow in  a
loose terminal nodding panicle, with long  peduncles.  The calyx is tubular
campanulate, ventricose, and terminates  in five pointed segments.   The
corolla is composed of five linear lanceolate, recurved  petals, the two upper
separated from the three lower,  white, with a reddish tinge on their border,
and of three times the length of the calyx.  The stamens are twenty, the
filaments short, the anthers small and yellow. Each flower is succeeded by
five  capsules,  connate at  their  base,  oblong, acuminate, gibbous  without,
acute within,  two-valved,  one-celled, opening inward, and containing each
one or two oblong seeds.
  This species of Gillenia grows throughout the United  States, east of the
Alleghany ridge, and in Pennsylvania may also be found abundantly west of
these mountains.  Pursh found  it in Florida, and it extends as far  north as
Canada.   It frequents light soils, in shady and moist  situations, and flowers
in June and  July.  The root should be gathered in  September.
  2. G. stipulacea. Barton, Med. Bot. i. 71.  This  species is  also herba-
ceous 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
                                  31* 
354
Gillenia.— Glycyrrhiza.
PART r.
species  at the first glance.  The flowers are  smaller than  those of the G.
trifoliata, and grow on long slender peduncles in a lax corymb.
  In the valley of the Mississippi this plant  occupies the  place of the 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 Mis-
souri, and probably into the states south of the Ohio, as it has been found in
Western Virginia.  Its root is precisely similar to that of the eastern species,
and is reputed to  possess the same properties.
  The  dried root of  Gillenia is not  thicker  than  a quill,  wrinkled longi-
tudinally, with occasional  transverse  fissures, and in  the  thicker pieces
presenting in some places an irregular undulated somewhat knotty appear-
ance, arising from indentations on one side corresponding with  prominences
on the other.  It  is externally of a light brown colour, and consists of a thick,
somewhat reddish, brittle, cortical portion, with an interior slender, tougher,
whitish ligneous  cord.  The bark, which is easily separable, has a bitter, not
disagreeable taste ;  the wood is  nearly insipid and  comparatively inert, and
should be rejected.  The powder is of alight brownish colour, and possesses
a feeble odour, which is scarcely perceptible in the root.   The bitterness is
extracted by boiling water, which acquires the red colour of wine.  The root
has not  been accurately analyzed.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Gillenia  is a mild  and efficient emetic,
and, like most other substances belonging to the same class, occasionally acts
upon the bowels.   In  very small doses it has been  thought to  exert a tonic
influence.  It  is much used by some  practitioners in the  country, as a sub-
stitute 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.  Linnaeus  was  aware of its  reputed virtues.
The dose of the powdered root is from twenty to thirty grains, repeated at
intervals of twenty minutes till it vomits.  '                          W.


                GLYCYRRHIZA.  U.S., Lond.

                          Liquorice Root.

  " The root of Glycyrrhiza glabra."  U. S.  " Glycyrrhiza glabra.  Radix
recens." Lond.
   Off. Syn. GLYCYRRHIZiE RADIX.  Root of Glycyrrhiza glabra.
Ed.; GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA.  Radix. Dub.
  Bois de reglisse, Fr.; Siissholzwurzel, Germ.;  Liquirizia, Ital.; Regaliza, Span.
  Glycyrrhiza.   Sex. Syst.  Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Legumi-
nosae or Fabaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx bilabiate; upper  lip  three-cleft, lower  undivided.  Le-
gume ovate, compressed. Willd.
   Glycyrrhiza glabra.   Willd. Sp.  Plant, iii. 1144; Woodv. Med.  Bot. p.
420. t. 152.  The liquorice plant has a perennial root, which is round,  suc-
culent, tough, and pliable, furnished with  sparse fibres, rapid in its growth,
and in a sandy soil penetrates  deeply into the ground.  The stems are her-
baceous, 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 pur-
ple,  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. 
PART I.
Glycyrrhiza.
355
  The plant is a native of the South of Europe, Barbary, Syria, and Persia ;
and is cultivated in England, the North of France, and Germany.  Much of
the root imported into this  country comes from  the ports  of Messina and
Palermo in Sicily.  It is also largely produced in  the northern provinces of
Spain, where  it forms an important article of commerce.   It is not improba-
ble that a portion of the liquorice root from Italy and Sicily is the product of
the G. echinata, which grows wild in Apulia.  This  species is also abun-
dantly produced in the  South  of Russia, where, according to Hayne, suffi-
cient extract is prepared from it to supply the whole Russian empire.
  A species  of Glycyrrhiza, the G. lepidota, grows  abundantly about St:
Louis, in the state of Missouri, and flourishes along the  banks  of the Mis-
souri river to  its source in the  mountains.   It is probably the same with the
liquorice plant mentioned by Mackenzie as growing on the northern coast of
this continent.  Mr. Nuttall states that its root possesses in no inconsiderable
degree the taste of liquorice.
   Properties.  The liquorice root of the shops is in long pieces, varying in
thickness from a few lines to more than an inch, fibrous, externally grayish-
brown, and wrinkled by desiccation, internally yellowish, without smell, and
of a sweet  mucilaginous taste, which  is sometimes mingled with a slight
degree of acrimony.   It is often worm-eaten and more or less decayed. The
best pieces are those which have the brightest yellow colour internally, and
of which the layers are distinct.   The powder is of a grayish-yellow colour
when  the root is  pulverized without being deprived of its epidermis, of  a
pale sulphur  yellow,  when the  epidermis has  been removed.   Robiquet
found the following ingredients in liquorice root:—1. A peculiar transparent
yellow substance, called glycyrrhizin or glycion, of a sweet saccharine taste,
scarcely soluble in cold water, very soluble  in boiling water with which  it
gelatinizes on cooling, thrown down from its aqueous solution by acids, readily
soluble in cold alcohol,  insusceptible of the vinous fermentation,  yielding no
oxalic acid  by the action of the nitric, and therefore wholly distinct from
sugar; 2. a crystallizable principle, named agedoite  by Robiquet, but subse-
quently 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, precipitat-
ing with acetic acid, and washing the precipitate  with cold water to remove
any adhering acid.  Berzelius considers the matter thus obtained as  a com-
pound of glycyrrhizin with acetic acid.  He procures the principle in a pure
state by precipitating with sulphuric acid an infusion of the root previously
concentrated by a gentle heat, washing  the precipitated sulphate to remove
the free acid which adheres to it,  then dissolving it in alcohol, which leaves
the albumen, and adding  carbonate  of  potassa to the alcoholic solution to
perfect neutralization.   The sulphate  of potassa is precipitated,  and the
glycyrrhizin is obtained by evaporating the alcohol.  The sweetness of this
principle is retained in the  compounds which it  forms both with acids and
alkalies.
   An extract  of liquorice root is brought from  Spain and Italy, and much
used under the name of liquorice. (See Extractum  Glycyrrhizx.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Liquorice root  is an excellent demulcent,
well adapted to catarrhal affections, and to irritations of the mucous mem-
brane of the bowels and urinary  passages.  It is  best given in the form of
decoction, either alone,  or combined with other demulcents. It is frequently
employed as  an  addition to the decoctions  of acrid or irritating vegetable
substances, such, for example, as  seneka  and mezereon, the acrimony of 
356                  Glycyrrhiza.— Gossypium.               part i.

which it covers and conceals, while it renders them more acceptable  to the
stomach.  Before being used, it should be deprived of its cortical part, which
is somewhat acrid, without possessing the peculiar virtues of the root. The
decoction may be prepared by boiling an ounce of the bruised root for a few
minutes in a pint of water.   By long boiling, the acrid principle is extracted.
The powder is used in the preparation of pills, either to give them due con-
sistence, or to cover their surface and prevent them from adhering together.
  Off. Prep.    Aqua  Calcis Composita, Dub.; Confectio  Sennae,  U. S.,
Lond.,  Ed.; Decoctum  Glycyrrhizae, Dub.; Decoctum  Guaiaci  Comp.,
Dub., Ed.; Decoctum  Hordei Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Me-
zerei, Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Electuarium Piperis,  Ed.;  Extractum  Glycyrrhizae,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;
Infusum Lini, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Pilulae Ferri  Sulphatis, Ed.;  Pil.
Hydrargyri, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Syrupus Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S.;
Tinctura Rhei Comp., Lond., Dub.                                W.


                       GOSSYPIUM. Ed.

                           Raw Cotton.

  " Hairs attached to the seeds of Gossypium herbaceum, and other species
of the genus."  Ed.
  Coton,Fr.,- Baumwolle, Germ.; Cotone, Ital.; Algodon, Span.
  Gossypium. Sex. Syst. Monadelphia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord.  Malvaceae.
  Gen.  Ch.  Calyx cup-shaped, obtusely five-toothed, surrounded by a three-
parted involucel, with dentate-incised, cordate leaflets, cohering at the base.
Stigmas three to five.   Capsule three to five-celled, many-seeded.   Seeds
surrounded by a tomentose wool.  De Cand.
  In consequence of changes produced in the plants of this genus by culti-
vation, botanists have found great difficulty  in  determining which  are  dis-
tinct species, and which  merely varieties.  De  Candolle  describes thirteen
species  in  his Prodromus, and mentions six others; but considers them all
uncertain.   Royle describes eight and admits others.  Swartz thinks they
may all be 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
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
  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 lance-
olate and acute.  The  flowers are pretty, with yellow petals, having a purple
spot near the claw.   The leaves of the involucel or outer calyx are serrate.
The capsule opens when ripe, and displays a loose white tuft of long slender
filaments, which surround the seeds, and adhere firmly  to the outer^coating.
The plant is a native of Asia, but is  cultivated in most tropical countries
both of  the old and new continents.  It requires a certain  duration of warm
weather to perfect its seeds, and in the United States cannot be cultivated for
practical purposes north of Virginia.
  The herbaceous part of the plant contains  much mucilage, and has been
used as  a demulcent.  The seeds yield  by expression a fixed oil of the dry-
ing kind, which has been occasionally employed.   The root  has been sup-
posed to possess medical virtues.  But the only officinal portion, and that for
which the plant is cultivated, is the filamentous matter surroundino- the seeds.
This  when separated constitutes the cotton of commerce. 
 part i.         Gossypium.— Granati Fructus Cortex.            357

   Cotton consists of the filaments, which, under the microscope, appear to
 be flattened tubes, with  occasional joints  indicated by transverse lines.  It
 is  without smell  or taste, insoluble in water,  alcohol,  ether, the oils, and
 vegetable acids, soluble in strong alkaline solutions, and decomposed  b'v the
 concentrated mineral acids.  It has not been  analyzed, but bears  a dose
 analogy to lignin.  For medical use it should be carded  into thin sheets ;  or
 the wadding of  the  milliners may be employed, consisting of sheets some-
 what stiffened and glazed on the surface by starch.  In the latter case, the
 sheets should be split open when applied.
    Uses.  Cotton  has been used from time immemorial for the fabrication of
 cloth ; but it is only recently that it has entered the catalogue of medicines.
 It is chiefly employed in the treatment of recent burns and scalds ; an appli-
 cation of it which was adopted by surgeons from  popular  practice.   It is
 said to relieve the pain, diminish the  inflammation, prevent vesication, and
 very much to hasten the cure.   Whatever advantages result from it are pro-
 bably ascribable to the absorption of effused liquids, and the protection of the
 part affected from the air.  It is applied in thin and successive layers; and
 benefit is said  to  result from the application of a bandage when the  skin is
 not too much  inflamed.  We have, however,  seen cotton do much harm  in
 burns, by becoming consolidated over  a vesicated surface, and acting  as a
 mechanical irritant.  It is also recommended in  erysipelas, and as a dressino-
 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 affecting the general health injuriously.
 To assist labour, he employs a decoction made by boiling four ounces of the
 inner bark of  the root in a quart of water to a pint, and gives a wineglassful
 every twenty  or thirty minutes.  (West. Journ. of Med. and Surg., Aug.,
 1840.)  These statements need confirmation.                       W.


          GRANATI  FRUCTUS  CORTEX. U.S.

                        Pomegranate Rind.

   " The rind of the fruit of Punica Granatum."  U. S.


          GRANATI  RADICIS  CORTEX.  U.S.

                   Bark of Po?negranate Root.

   " The bark of the root of Punica Granatum." U.S.
   Off. Syn.  GRANATUM.  Punica  Granatum.  Fructus Cortex. Lond.;
 GRANATI RADIX.  Root-bark  of Punica  Granatum.  Ed.;  PUNICA
 GRANATUM.  Baccae tunica exterior. Radicis cortex.  Flores.  Dub.
  Ecorce de grenade, Fr.; Granatapfel-Echalin, Germ.; Malicorio, Scorza del melogra-
nati, Ital.; Corteza de granada, Span.
  Punica.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-cleft, superior. Petals five. Pome many-celled, many-
seeded.  Willd.
  Punica Granatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 981; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 531.
t. 190.   The pomegranate is a small  shrubby tree, attaining in favourable
situations the height of twenty feet, with a very unequal trunk, and numerous 
358      Granati Fructus Cortex.—Granati Radicis Cortex,   part i.

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 colour-
ing by cultivation.  Doubts have been entertained as  to its original country.
The name of "Punicum malum," applied by the ancients to its fruit, implies
that it was abundant at an early age in  the neighbourhood of Carthage.   The
fruit of the pomegranate, for which  the plant is cultivated in tropical climates,
varies much in size  and flavour.   It is  said to attain greater perfection, in
both these respects, in the West  Indies than in its native country.  The pulp
is red, succulent,  pleasantly acid, and sweetish, and  is used for the same
purpose as the orange.   The  rind  of the fruit, and the bark of  the  root are
the parts indicated in  the United States Pharmacopoeia. The flowers also are
recognised by the  Dublin College, and the seeds are officinal in  France.
   Rind of the Fruit.  This  is presented in commerce under the  form of
irregular fragments, hard, dry, brittle, of a yellowish or reddish-brown colour
externally, paler within, without smell, and  of an astringent slightly bitter
taste.  It contains a  large proportion of  tannin, and in countries where the
tree abounds has been employed for tanning leather.
   Flowers.  The flowers, which are sometimes  called balaustines, are ino-
dorous, have  a bitterish strongly  astringent taste, and impart  a violet-red
colour to the saliva.   They contain tannin and gallic acid,  and were  used by
the ancients in dyeing.
   Bark of the Root.  The roots of the pomegranate are hard, heavy, knotty,
ligneous, and  covered with a bark  which is  yellowish-gray, or  ash-gray on
the outer surface, and yellow on the inner.  As found in the shops,  the bark
is in quills or fragments, breaks with a short fracture, has little or no smell,
when chewed colours the saliva yellow, and leaves in the mouth an astrin-
gent taste, without any  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 Chim. et de Pharm., 3e ser., v. 298.) The infusion
of the bark yields a deep blue precipitate with the salts of iron, and a yel-
lowish-white precipitate with  a solution  of gelatin.   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 entirely sepa-
rated from the ligneous  portion of the root, as the latter is inert. 
part i.      Granati Fructus Cortex—Guaiaci Lignum.         359

  Medical Properties and  Uses.   The  rind of the  fruit is astringent, and
in the form of decoction  may be given in diarrhoea from weakness of the
secreting vessels, and in  the colliquative sweats of  hectic  fever or simple
debility.   But the decoction is more frequently used as an  injection in leu-
corrhoea, and as a gargle in  sorethroat  in the earliest stages, or after the
inflammatory action  has  in some measure subsided.  The powdered rind
has  also been recommended  in intermittent  fever.   The flowers have the
same medical properties, and are  used for the same purposes as the rind.
The bark of the root  was used by the ancients as a vermifuge, and is recom-
mended in the writings of Avicenna; but  it was unknown in modern practice
till brought into notice by Dr. F. Buchanan, who obtained his knowledge of
its powers in India.  The Mahometan physicians of Hindostan consider it a
specific in cases of tape-worm.  One of  these practitioners, having speedily
relieved an English  gentleman in 1804,  was  induced to disclose  his secret,
which was then made public.   Numerous cures have been subsequently
effected in Europe;  and there can be  no doubt of the  occasional efficacy of
the remedy.  The French medical writers prefer the bark of the  root of the
wild pomegranate, or that which grows on the borders of the Mediterranean,
to the product of the imperfect tree cultivated for ornamental purposes in the
gardens of colder countries.   It may be administered  in powder or decoc-
tion ; 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 down to a pint.  Of this a wineglassful
may be given every half hour, hour, or two hours, until the whole is taken.
It often occasions nausea  and vomiting, and usually purges.   Portions of the
worm often come away a short time after the last dose.  It  is recommended
to give a dose of castor oil, and to diet the patient strictly on the day  preced-
ing  the administration of the remedy; and if it should not operate on the
bowels, to follow it  by an enema, or  a dose of castor oil.   If the remedy
should not succeed upon the first trial, it should be  repeated every day for
three or  four days, until the  worm is discharged.  It appears to  have been
used by  the negroes  of St. Domingo before it was introduced into Europe.
Taenia is comparatively rare  in this country; and the pomegranate root has
been little used.
   The dose  of the  rind and flowers in powder is from twenty to thirty
grains.  A decoction may be prepared in the proportion of an ounce of the
medicine to a pint of water, and given in the dose of a fluidounce.  The seeds
are demulcent.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Granati, Lond.                            W.


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

                        Guaiacum  Wood.

   " The wood of Guaiacum officinale."  U. S., Ed.  "  Guaiacum  officinale.
Lignum." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.  Lignum.  Dub.
   Bois de gayac, Fr.,- Pockenholz, Germ.; Legno guaiaco, Ital.; Guayaco, Span.
   Guaiacum.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Zygophylla-
ceae.
   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.  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. 
360
Guaiaci Lignum.
part i.
 The  branches are knotted, and covered with an  ash-coloured striated bark.
 That of the  stem is of a dark-gray colour, variegated with greenish or pur-
 plish spots.   The leaves  are  opposite, and  abruptly  pinnate, consisting of
 two,  three, and sometimes four pairs of leaflets,  which are  obovate, veined,
 smooth, shining, dark green, from an  inch to an inch and a half long, and
 almost sessile.  The flowers are of a rich blue colour, stand on long pedun-
 cles,  and grow to the number of eight or ten  at the axils of the upper leaves.
 The seeds are solitary, hard, and of an oblong shape.
   The  G. officinale grows in  the West Indies, particularly in Hayti and
 Jamaica, and is found also in  the warmer parts  of  the neighbouring conti-
 nent.  All parts of the  tree are possessed of medicinal properties, but the
 wood and  the concrete juice only are officinal.   The bark, though much
 more efficacious than the  wood, is  not kept in  the shops.   It is  said that
 other species of Guaiacum contribute to the  supplies  brought into the mar-
 ket.  The G. sanctum of  Linnaeus, and the G. arboreum of De Candolle,
 are particularly specified.  The former, however, is said  by Woodville not
 to be sufficiently characterized as a  distinct species from the G. officinale.
 Fee states  that the wood of the G. sanctum is paler, and less heavy and hard
 than the officinal.
   Guaiacum wood is imported from Hayti and other West India islands, in
 the shape of logs or billets, covered  with a thick gray bark,  which presents
 on its inner  surface, and upon its edges when  broken, numerous shinin^
 crystalline  points.   These are supposed  by M. Guibourt to be benzoic
 acid,  by others a resinous exudation from the vessels of the plant.  These
 billets are used by the turners for the fabrication of various instruments and
 utensils, for  which the wood is well adapted by its extreme hardness and
 density.   It  is kept by the druggists  and apothecaries only in the state of
 shavings or raspings, which they obtain from the turners,  "it is commonly
 called lignum vitx, a name which obviously  originated from the supposition
 that the wood was possessed of extraordinary remedial powers.
   Properties.  The colour of  the alburnum  or sap-wood  is  yellow, that of
 the older and central layers greenish-brown, that of the shavings a mixture
 of the two.  It is said that when the wood is brought into a state of minute
 division, the  colour is rendered green by exposure to the air (Richard), and
 bluish-green by the action  of nitric acid fumes;  and the latter change may
 be considered as a test of the genuineness of the drug. (Duncan).  Guaiacum
 wood is almost without smell unless rubbed or heated,  when it becomes
 odorous.   When burnt it emits an agreeable  aromatic odour.  It is bitterish
 and slightly pungent; but requires to be chewed for some  time before the
 taste is developed.  It contains, according to Trommsdorff, 26  per cent, of
 resin, and 0-8 of a bitter pungent extractive,  upon both of which probably,
 though  chiefly on the former, its medical virtues depend.   (See  Guaiaci
 Resina.) It yields its virtues but partially to water.   One pound of the wood
 afforded to  Geiger two ounces of extract.  In this extract M. Thierry  disco-
 vered a  volatilizable acid, which he supposed to be peculiar, though resem-
 bling  benzoic and cinnamic  acids.   He obtained it  by treating the extract
 with  ether, evaporating  the  ethereal tincture, and carefully subliming the
 residue.  The  acid condenses  in  small, brilliant needles.  If the  heat  be
 pushed too far, an oil is also  produced which colours the crystals.   To this
 acid M. Thierry gave the name of guaiacic acid (acide gayacique).  He pro-
 cured the same acid  more abundantly from  the guaiac of the  shops, by a
somewhat complicated process.  (See Journ.  de Pharm., xxvii.  381.)  Ac-
cording  to  Jahn, however,  this  substance is nothing more than benzoic acid,
rendered impure by obstinately adhering volatile oil and  resin.  (Pharm. Cen-
tral Blatt,  1843, p. 309.)                                  v 
part i.           Guaiaci Lignum.— Guaiaci Resina.             361

  Medical Properties and  Uses.  Guaiacum wood ranks among the stimu-
lant diaphoretics.   It is said to have-been introduced to the notice of Euro-
pean  practitioners  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, in which it  was long considered a
specific.   More extended experience, however, has  proved it to be wholly
inadequate to the cure of that disease;  and it is now employed simply to
palliate the secondary symptoms,  to assist the operation  of other and more
efficient remedies,  or to obviate the unpleasant effects sometimes resulting
from a mercurial course in syphilitic cases.  It is thought to be useful also
in chronic rheumatism and gout, scrofulous  affections, certain cutaneous
eruptions, ozaena, and other protracted diseases  dependent on  a depraved or
vitiated condition of the  system.   It is  always exhibited  in decoction, and
generally in combination with other medicines, as in the compound decoc-
tion of sarsaparilla.  As but a small proportion of the guaiac which it con-
tains is soluble in water, the probability is that its virtues have been greatly
overrated; and that the good wdiich has in many instances followed its em-
ployment resulted  rather from the more active  medicines with which it was
associated, or from the attendant regimen, than  from the wood itself.  The
simple decoction may be prepared by boiling an ounce  in a pint and a half
of water down to a pint, the whole of which maybe administered in divided
doses during the twenty-four hours.  An  aqueous extract of guaiacum wood
is directed by the French Codex.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Calcis  Composita, Dub.;  Decoctum  Guaiaci  Compo-
situm, Dub., Ed.; Decoctum Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S„ Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Syrupus Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S.                                W.


               GUAIACI  RESINA. U.S., Lond.

                               Guaiac.

   "The  concrete juice of Guaiacum officinale." U.S. "Guaiacum offici-
nale. Resina." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  GUAIACUM. Resin obtained by heat  from  the wood of
Guaiacum officinale. Ed.;  GUAIACUM OFFICINALE. Resina. Dub.
   Resine de gayac, Fr.; Guajakharz, Germ.,-  Resina de guajaco, Ital; Resina de guayaco,
Span.
   For a description of  the Guaiacum  officinale, see  GUAIACI  LIGNUM.
   Guaiac is the concrete juice of this tree, obtained either by spontaneous
exudation, or by incisions made into the trunk.   It is also  procured by saw-
ing 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.  Another mode,  occasionally practised, is  to  boil  the
wood in the state of chips or saw-dust, in a solution of common salt, and skim
off the matter which rises to the surface.   Guaiac is brought to  this market
from the West  Indies.   It is usually in large irregular pieces of various size,
in which small  fragments of bark, sand, and other earthy impurities are mixed
with the  genuine guaiac, so as to give to the mass a diversified appearance.
Sometimes we  find it in small  roundish  portions, separate or agglutinated
together, and evidently the  result of exudation; sometimes in homogeneous
masses, prepared by melting and straining the  drug in its  impure state.  It
is probable that the guaiac,  obtained from the billets  of wood  in the manner
above described, is also of uniform consistence.
     32 
362
Guaiaci Resina.
PART I.
   Properties. The pieces are of a deep greenish-brown or dark-olive colour
 on their external surface, and internally wherever the air has  been able to
 penetrate.   The predominant hue of those parts  not  exposed to the air is
 reddish-brown or hyacinthine, diversified, however, with shades  of various
 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, which is at first
 of a light-gray colour, becomes green on exposure to the light.   Its specific
 gravity varies from  1-2  to 1-23.   It softens in the mouth, and melts with a
 moderate heat.  It is commonly, though  erroneously, called gum guaiac,
 as it  does not essentially contain gum.  According to  the analysis of Mr.
 Brande, it consists of 91 per cent, of a peculiar substance analogous to the
 resins,  and  9 per cent,  of  extractive.  Buchner  found 79-8 parts of pure
 resin,  and 20-1 of bark consisting of 16-5 of lignin, 1*5 of gum, and 2-1 of
 extractive; but he must have operated on the unstrained guaiac.   The acid
 discovered by M.Thierry in guaiac 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 exception
 of impurities.  The tincture is  of a  deep-brown colour, is  decomposed by
 water, and affords blue, green, and brown precipitates with the mineral acids.
 Guaiac is soluble also in ether, in alkaline solutions, and in sulphuric acid.
 The solution in sulphuric acid is of a rich claret colour, deposits, when diluted
 with water, a lilac  precipitate, and when  heated, evolves charcoal.  Nitric
 acid converts it into oxalic acid.   Exposed to air and light it  absorbs oxygen
 and becomes green, and the change of colour  takes place rapidly in the sun-
shine.   Either in substance  or tincture, it imparts a blue colour to gluten and
substances containing it, to  mucilage  of gum Arabic, to  milk, and to various
 freshly cut roots, as  the  potato, carrot, and  horseradish.  The tincture is
 usually coloured blue by spirit of nitric ether, and a similar change of colour
 takes   place when it  is  treated successively by dilute hydrocyanic acid and
 solution of sulphate of copper.
   Guaiacin  is a name which has been  given to the pure  resinoid princi-
 ple of guaiac.  It is insoluble in water, but is dissolved readily by alcohol,
 and less readily by ether.   It has the  acid property of combining with the
 alkalies, forming soluble compounds, which are decomposed  by the mine-
 ral acids and by several salts.  Hence it has been called guaiacic acid.   It
 differs from most of the resins in being converted by nitric  acid into oxalic
 acid instead of artificial tannin.   It is also  peculiar in the changes  of colour
 which it undergoes  under the influence of  various reagents, and which have
 been already mentioned.  By nitric acid and chlorine  it is made  to assume
 successively  a green, blue, and brown colour.   These changes are ascribed
 by Mr. Brande to the absorption of oxygen, which forms variously coloured
 compounds according to the quantity absorbed.  According to Jahn,  the
 resin of guaiac consists of three distinct bodies, viz:   1, a soft resin soluble
 in  ether and  ammonia, and constituting  18-7 per cent, of the guaiac; 2,
 another soft resin, soluble in ether, but with difficulty dissolved by'ammonia,
 amounting to 58-3 per  cent., and 3, a hard resin insoluble in  ether, but
 soluble in ammonia in  the  quantity of 11*3 per  cent.   The  same chemist
 found  in guaiac  traces of benzoic acid,  and 11-7 per  cent, of impurities.
 (Arch, der Pharm., xxxiii. 269; from Pharm. cent. Blatt, 1843, p. 317.) 
part i.             Guaiaci Resina.—Hcematoxylon.               363

   It will be inferred from what has been said, that the mineral acids are
incompatible with  the solutions of guaiac.
   This drug is sometimes adulterated with the resin of the pine.  The fraud
may be detected by the terebinthinate odour exhaled when the  sophisticated
guaiac is thrown upon burning coals, as well as  by its partial solubility in
hot 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.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Guaiac is  stimulant and alterative, pro-
ducing, 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 antimonials, and assisted by warm drinks, it often excites
profuse perspiration; and hence has been usually ranked among the diapho-
retics.  If the patient be kept cool during its  administration, it  is sometimes
directed to the kidneys, the  action of which it promotes.  In large doses it
purges ; and it is thought by some practitioners  to be possessed of emmena-
gogue 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 very often given in combination with opium, ipecacuanha,
nitre, and the  antimonials; and in the chronic  form is frequently useful with-
out accompaniment.  It is also advantageously prescribed in gouty affections;
and is occasionally used in secondary syphilis, scrofulous diseases, and cuta-
neous eruptions, though the  guaiacum wood is more frequently resorted to in
these latter complaints.   It was much relied upon  by the late Dr.  Dewees in
the cure of amenorrhoea and dysmenorrhoea.
   The medicine is given in  substance or tincture.   The dose of the powder
is from ten to  thirty grains,  which may be exhibited in pill  or bolus, or in
the shape of an emulsion formed with  gum Arabic, sugar, and water.  An
objection  to the form of powder is that it quickly aggregates.  Guaiac is
sometimes administered in combination with  alkalies, with which it readily
unites. Several of the  European Pharmacopoeias direct a soap of  guaiac,
under the  name of sapo guaiacinus, to  be prepared by diluting the  Liquor
Potassae with  twice its weight of water, boiling lightly, then adding guaiac
gradually, with continued agitation, so  long as it continues to be dissolved,
and finally filtering, and evaporating to the pilular consistence.   Of this pre-
paration one scruple may be  taken daily in divided doses.
   Off. Prep.   Mistura Guaiaci,  Lond., Ed.; Pilulae  Hydrargyri Chloridi
Composite, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis  Aloes Comp., Lond., Dub.; Tinc-
tura Guaiaci, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, U. S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.                                                 W.

                HAEMATOXYLON.  U.S., Ed.

                              Logwood.

   " The wood of Haematoxylon Campechianum." U. S., Ed.
   Off. Syn. HiEMATOXYLUM. Haematoxylon campechianum. Lignum.
Lond.; HIEMATOXYLUM CAMPECHIANUM. Lignum.  Dub.
   Bois de Campeche, Fr.; Blutholz, Kampeschenholz, Germ.; Legno di Campeggio, Ital.;
Palo de Campeche, Span.                                            0
   Haematoxylon. Sex. Syst.  Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceee
or Leguminosae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-parted.  Petals  five.   Capsule lanceolate,  one-celled,
two-valved, with the valves boat-form. Willd. 
364
Haematoxylon.
PART I.
   Hxmatoxylon Campechianum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 547;  Woodv. Med.
Bot. p. 455. t. 163.  This  is a tree of middle  size, usually not more  than
twenty-four feet high, though under favourable  circumstances, it sometimes
attains an elevation of forty or fifty feet.   The trunk, which seldom exceeds
twenty inches in diameter, is often very crooked, and is covered with a dark
rough bark.  The branches  are also crooked, with numerous smaller rami-
fications, which are beset with sharp spines.   The  sap-wood is yellowish,
but the interior layers are of a deep red colour.  The leaves are alternate,
abruptly pinnate, and composed of three or four pairs of sessile, nearly ob-
cordate, obliquely nerved leaflets.  The flowers, which are in axillary spikes
or racemes near the ends of  the branches, have a brownish-purple calyx, and
lemon-yellow petals.  They exhale an agreeable odour, said to resemble that
of the jonquil.
   The tree is  a native of Campeachy, the  shores of Honduras  Bay, and
other parts of tropical America; and  has been introduced  into  Jamaica,
where  it has become naturalized.  The  wood,  which is the part used in
medicine, is a valuable article of commerce, and largely employed in dyeing.
It comes  to us  in logs,  deprived  of the  sapwood, and  having a blackish-
brown  colour 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, be-
coming dark by exposure, of a slight peculiar odour, and a sweet, somewhat
astringent taste.  It imparts its colour to water and to alcohol.  The infusion
made with cold  water, though red, is less so than that with  boiling  water.
It affords  precipitates with sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, and acetic acids, with
alum, sulphate  of copper, acetate  of lead, and  sulphate  of iron, striking a
bluish-black colour with the last-mentioned salt.  (Thomson's Dispensatory.)
Precipitates are also produced with it by lime-water  and gelatin.   Among
the constituents of logwood,  according to Chevreul,  are a volatile oil, an
oleaginous or resinous matter, a brown substance the solution  of  which is
precipitated by gelatin (tannin), another brown substance soluble in alcohol
but insoluble in  water  or ether, an  azotized substance  resembling gluten,
free acetic acid, various saline matters, and a peculiar principle, called hematin
or hematoxilin, 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 becomes thick, then adding a little water, and submitting the liquid
to a new but gentle  evaporation.    Upon allowing it to rest, hematin is
deposited in the  state of crystals,  which may be purified by washing with
alcohol and drying.  Thus procured, the crystals are shining,  of a yellowish
rose colour, bitterish, acrid,  and slightly astringent to the taste, readily solu-
ble in boiling water, forming  an orange-red solution which becomes yellow on
cooling, and soluble also in alcohol and ether.   According to Erdmann,  who
obtained  hematin by the process of Chevreul, substituting ether for alcohol,
its crystals, when quite pure, are yellow without a tinge of redness; its taste
is sweet like that of liquorice, without either  bitterness or astringency; and
of itself  it is not a colouring substance, but affords beautiful  red, blue, and
purple colours by the joint action of an alkaline base and the oxygen of the
air.  It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. (Journ. de  Chim. et de
Pharm., 3e ser. ii. 293.)  It is sometimes found in  distinct crystals in the
crevices of the wood.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Logwood  is a mild astringent, devoid of
irritating properties, and well adapted to the treatment of that°relaxed condi-
tion of bowels which is apt to succeed cholera infantum.   It is much used in
the United States in this disease, and is occasionally employed with  advan- 
PART I.
Hedeoma.—Helleborus.
365
 tage  in  ordinary chronic diarrhoea, and  in chronic dysentery.  It  may be
 given in decoction or extract, both of which are officinal.
   Off.Prep.  Decoctum  Haematoxyli, U.S., Ed.; Extractum  Hsematoxyli,
 U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.                                         \y#


                        HEDEOMA. U.S.

                            Pennyroyal.
   " 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 the
 Mentha Pulegium, or European pennyroyal.
   Hedeoma.  Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord.   Lamiaceae or
 Labiatae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx bilabiate, gibbous at  the base, upper lip three toothed,
 lower two; dentures all subulate. Corolla ringent.  Stamens two sterile ; the
 two fertile stamens about the length of the corolla. Nuttall.
   Hedeoma pulegioides. Barton, Med. Bot.  ii. 165—Cunila pulegioides.
 Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 122.  This is an indigenous  annual plant, from nine to
 fifteen inches high, with a small, branching, fibrous, yellowish root, and a
 pubescent stem,  which sends off  numerous  slender erect  branches.  The
 leaves are opposite, oblong lanceolate  or oval, nearly acute, attenuated at the
 base, remotely serrate, rough or pubescent, and prominently veined on the
 under surface. The flowers are very small, of a pale blue colour, supported
 on short peduncles, and arranged in axillary whorls, along the  whole length
 of the branches.
   The plant  is  common in all parts of the  United  States, preferring dry
 grounds and pastures, and, where it is abundant, scenting the air for a con-
 siderable distance with its grateful odour.
   Both in the recent and dried  state it has a pleasant aromatic smell, and a
 warm, pungent,  mint-like  taste.  It  readily  imparts its virtues  to  boiling
 water.   The  volatile oil  upon which they depend may be separated by dis-
 tillation, and employed instead of the herb itself.
   Medical Properties  and Uses. Pennyroyal is a  gently stimulant aromatic,
 and may be given in flatulent colic and sick stomach, or to qualify the action
 of other medicines.  Like most of the aromatic herbs, it possesses the pro-
 perty, when administered in warm  infusion, of promoting perspiration, and
 of exciting the menstrual flux when the system is  predisposed  to  the effort.
 Hence it  is much used as  an emmenagogue in popular practice, and fre-
 quently with success.   A large  draught of the warm tea is given at bed-time,
 in recent cases of suppression  of the  menses, the feet  having been previ-
 ously bathed in warm  water.
   Off Prep.   Oleum Hedeoma;, U.S.                             W.


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

                          Black Hellebore.
   " The root  of  Helleborus  niger."  U. S., Ed.  " Helleborus officinalis.
Radix." Lond.
   Off. Syn. HELLEBORUS NIGER.  Radix. Dub.
  Ellebore noire, Fr.; Schwarze Niessvvurzel, Germ.; Elleboro nero, Ital; Heleboro negro,
Span.
                                 32* 
366
Helleborus.
PART I.
  Helleborus.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygyria.—Nat. Ord. Ranuncu-
laceae.
  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.   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, reddish towards the base, and bears one or
two large,  pendent, rose-like flowers, accompanied with floral leaves,  which
supply  the place  of  the calyx.   The  petals, five  in  number, are  large,
roundish, concave, spreading,  and of a white or pale rose colour, with oc-
casionally a  greenish  tinge.   There are two varieties of  the  plant—the
Helleborus niger humilifolius, and Helleborus niger altifolius—in the former
of which the leaves are shorter  than the flower  stem, in the latter longer.
  This  plant is a native of the  mountainous regions of southern and tem-
perate Europe.   It is found  in Greece, Austria, Italy,  Switzerland, France,
and  Spain.   It is cultivated  in gardens  for the beauty of its  flowers,  which
expand in the middle of winter, and have, from  this circumstance, given rise
to the name of  Christmas rose, by which the black  hellebore is sometimes
called.
  Till  the  publication  of Tournefort's travels in the Levant, this species of
hellebore was regarded as identical  with  that  so well known, under the same
title, to the ancient Greeks and Romans.  But in  the island of Anticyra, and
various parts of continental  Greece, in which it appears  from the testimony
of ancient writers  that  the  hellebore abounded, this  traveller discovered a
species entirely distinct from  those before described, and particularly from
the 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 the  H. niger is also found in some parts of
Greece, it is not impossible  that the  two species  were  indiscriminately em-
ployed.  It is, indeed,  highly probable that they possess similar properties;
and  a third—the H. viridis—which grows in the west  of Europe, is  said to
be frequently substituted for the H. niger, which  it closely  resembles, if it
does not equal  in medicinal  power.  The London College  has adopted H.
orientalis, under Salisbury's name of H. officinalis.   The roots of various
other plants not belonging to  the same  genus are said to be  frequently sub-
stituted for the black hellebore.   They  may  usually be readily distinguished
by  attending to the characters  of the genuine  root.*

  * The following minute description of the root, which  we copy from Geiger's Hand-
buck 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 tron?-
verse^ 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.  Inter- 
PART I.
Helleborus.—Hepatica.
367
  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 Praetus  by giving them the milk of goats
which had been fed on hellebore.
  Properties.   Though the whole  root is kept in  the shops, the fibres are
the portion usually recommended.   They are about as thick as  a straw,
when not broken from four inches to a foot in length, smooth, brittle, exter-
nally 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.  Water and alcohol extract its virtues, which are  impaired
by long boiling.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Black hellebore is  a  drastic hydragogue
cathartic,  possessed  also of  emmenagogue  powers,  which  by some are
ascribed to a  specific  tendency to the uterus, by others  are supposed  to
depend solely on the purgative property.   In overdoses  it  produces inflam-
mation of the gastric and intestinal mucous membrane, with violent vomit-
ing, 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, amenorrhoea, dropsy,  epilepsy,
various cutaneous affections, and verminose diseases.  By the  earlier modern
physicians it was also much used.  Backer's pills,  celebrated for the cure of
dropsy, consisted chiefly of black hellebore.  It is at present little employed,
except as an emmenagogue, in which capacity it is very highly esteemed by
some  practitioners.   Dr. Mead  considered it superior to  all other medicines
belonging to  this class.  It  may be given in substance, extract, decoction,
or tincture.  The dose of the powdered root is from ten to twenty grains as
a drastic purge, two or three grains as an alterative.  The  decoction is 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. Prep.  Extractum Hellebori, U.S.,  Dub.; Tinctura Hellebori, U. S.,
Lond., Dub.                                                       W.

                 HEPATICA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                              Liverwort.

    "The leaves of Hepatica Americana."  U. S.
   Hepatica.   Sex.  Syst.   Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord.   Ranuncu-
 Iaceae.
    Gen. Ch.  Calyx three-leaved. Petals six to nine.  Seeds naked. Nuttull.
   Hepatica Americana.  De Cand.;  Eaton, Manual  of Botany, p. 241.—

nally 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 cerltre.  The odour of the dried root
is feeble, somewhat like that of seneka, but more nauseous, especially when the root is
rubbed with water.  The taste  is at first sweetish, then nauseously acrid and biting, but
not very durable, and slightly bitterish."  Hand. ii. s. 1181. 
368
Hepatica.—Heracleum.
PART I.
  H. triloba. Willd. Emm.; Figured in Rafinesque's Med. Flor. i. 238. Bota-
  nists generally admit but one species of Hepatica, the //. triloba, and consider
  as accidental the difference of structure  and colour  observable in the plant.
  Pursh speaks of two varieties, one with the lobes of the leaf oval and acute,
  the  other with the lobes rounded and obtuse.  These are considered as dis-
  tinct species  by  De  Candolle,  and the latter is the  one  which  has  been
  adopted by the Pharmacopoeia, 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 supported upon  hairy  footstalks from
  four to eight inches long, which spring directly from the root.  The  scapes
  or flower-stems are several in number, of the same length with the petioles,
  round, hairy, and terminating in a single white, bluish, or  purplish flower.
  The calyx is at a little distance below the corolla,  and  is considered by some
  an involucre, while the corolla takes the name of the calyx.  In the H. aculi-
  loba the leaves are cordate, with from three  to five  entire, acute  lobes; and
  the leaflets of the  calyx are acute.  In the 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 and mountains; the former, according  to Eaton, preferring the
 northern, the latter the southern exposure.   The leaves resist the  cold of the
 winter, and the flowers make their appearance early in spring.  The whole
 plant is used.
   It is without smell, and has a mucilaginous, somewhat astringent, slightly
 bitterish taste.  Water extracts all its active properties.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Liverwort is  a very mild,  demulcent tonic
 and astringent, supposed by some to possess diuretic and deobstruent virtues.
 It was formerly used to some extent in Europe in  various complaints, espe-
 cially in chronic  hepatic affections; but has fallen into entire neglect.  In
 this country, some  years since, it attracted  much attention  as a  remedy in
 haemoptysis and chronic coughs, and acquired for a time great popular con-
 fidence.   Its credit,  however, has declined.   It may  be used in infusion and
 taken ad libitum.   The  term liverwort properly belongs  to the cryptogamous
 genus Marchantia.                                                \v\


               HERACLEUM. U.S. Secondary.

                             Masterwort.

   " The root of Heracleum lanatum." £71 S.
 tt ^E^CLEUM-  Sex- s!/st.  Pentandria  Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Apiaceae or
 Umbelhferae.                                                 r
   Gen.  Ch.  Fruit  elliptical, emarginate, compressed, striated,  margined.
 Corolla 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,  send-
ing up annually a hollow pubescent stem, from  three to five  feet  high, and
often  more than an inch  in  thickness.   The leaves  are ternate, downy on
their under surface, and supported on downy  footstalks ;  the leaflets petiolate,
roundish cordate, and lobed.  The flowers  are white, in large umbels, and
followed by orbicular seeds.
  Like the European species this is sometimes called cow-parsnep.  It grows
in meadows and along fences or hedges, from Canada to Pennsylvania, and
flowers in June. 
part i.           Heracleum.—Heuchera.—Hirudo.               369

  The root, which is the officinal part, bears some resemblance to that  of
common parsley in appearance.  It  has a strong disagreeable odour, and a
very acrid taste.   Both the  leaves and root excite redness and inflammation
when applied to  the skin.   Dr. Bigelow considers the plant poisonous, and
advises caution in its use, especially when it is gathered from a damp situa-
tion.
  Medical Properties,  fyc.   Masterwort appears to be somewhat stimulant
and carminative, and was used successfully by Dr. Orne, of Salem, Massa-
chusetts, in cases of  epilepsy,  attended with  flatulence and gastric disorder.
He directed two or three drachms of the pulverized  root to be taken daily,
for a long time, and a strong infusion of the leaves to be  drunk at bed-time.
(Thacher's Dispensatory.)                                       W.


                HEUCHERA. U.S.  Secondary.

                             Alum-root.

   " The root of Heuchera Americana."  U. S.
   Heuchera. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Saxifragaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Petals five, small. Capsule bi-rostrate, bi-locu-
lar, 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 peren-
nial, herbaceous plant,  the leaves of which are  all radical, petiolate,  cordate,
with rounded lobes, furnished with obtuse  mucronate teeth.  There is  no
proper stem; but numerous scapes or flower-stems are sent up by the same
root, from one to three feet in height, very hairy in their upper part, and
 terminating in long, loose,  pyramidal, dichotomous panicles.   The  calyx is
 small, with obtuse segments;  the petals lanceolate, rose-coloured, and of the
 same length with the calyx; the filaments much longer, yellowish,  and sur-
 mounted by small, red, globose anthers.  The whole plant is covered with
 a viscid pubescence.
   It  is found in shady, rocky situations, from New England to Carolina,
 and flowers in June and July.  The root is the medicinal  portion.   It is
horizontal, somewhat  compressed, knotty,  irregular, yellowish, and  of a
strongly styptic  taste.
  Medical Properties.   Alum-root is powerfully astringent, and may be em-
ployed in similar cases with other medicines belonging to the same class.
It has hitherto, however, been little used.  We are informed in Dr. Barton's
"Collections," that  it is applied by the Indians to wounds  and obstinate
ulcers, and that  it is the basis of a  powder which, when the  author wrote,
enjoyed some reputation as a cure for cancer.                       W.

                         HIRUDO.  Lond.

                             The Leech.

   Off. Syn. HIRUDO MEDICINALIS. Dub.
   Sangsue, Fr.; Blutegel, Germ.; Mignatta, Ital; Sauguijuela, Span.
  Hirudo. Class 1, Annelides. Order 3, Abranchiatae.  Family 2, Asetigeroe.
 Cuvier.
   The leech belongs to that class of invertebrated articulated animals called
Annelides. This class contains the worms with red  blood, having soft 
370
Hirudo.
PART I.
retractile bodies  composed of numerous segments  or rings, breathing gene-
rally by means of branchiae, with a nervous system consisting in  a  double
knotted cord, destitute  of feet, and  supplying  their place  by the contractile
power of their segments or rings.   The third order of this  class—Abran-
chiatx—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 Asetigerx, or those not having setae to enable them to crawl—
the leech belongs.
   It is an aquatic worm with a flattened body, tapering towards each end,
and terminating in circular flattened  disks, the hinder one being the larger of
the two.  It swims with a vertical undulating  motion, and moves when out
of the water by means  of these disks or suckers, fastening itself first by one
and then by the  other,  and alternately stretching out and contracting its body.
The mouth is placed in the centre of the anterior disk, and is furnished with
three cartilaginous lens-shaped jaws at the  entrance of the alimentary canal.
These jaws are lined at their edges with fine sharp teeth, and meet so as to
make a triangular incision  in the flesh.  The head is furnished with small
raised points, supposed by some to  be eyes.  Respiration  is carried on
through  small apertures ranged along  the  inferior surface.   The nervous
system consists of a cord extending the whole length, furnished with nume-
rous ganglions.  The intestinal canal is straight and terminates in the anus,
near the posterior disk.  Although hermaphrodite, leeches mutually impreg-
nate each other.  They are oviparous, and the eggs, varying from  six to
fifteen, are contained in a sort of spongy, slimy coccoon, from half an inch
to an inch  in diameter.  These are deposited near the edge of the water,
and hatched by the heat of the sun. The leech is torpid during the  winter,
and casts off from time to time a thick slimy coating from its skin.   It can
live a  considerable  time in  sphagnous moss, or  in moistened earth, and is
frequently transported  in this manner to great distances by the dealers.
   Savigny has divided the genus Hirudo of  Linnaeus  into  several  genera.
The true leech is the Sanguisuga of this author, and is characterized by its
three lenticular jaws, each armed with two rows of teeth, and by having ten
ocular points.
   Several species are used for medicinal purposes, of which the  most com-
mon are the gray and the green leech of Europe, both of which are varieties
of the Hirudo  medicinalis of Linnaeus;  and the  Hirudo  decora  of this
country.
   1.  Hirudo medicinalis,  Linn. Ed.  Gmel.  I. 3095.—Sanguisuga offici-
nalis. Savigny, Mon.  Hir.p. 112. t. 5./. 1.  The green leech.—Sanguisuga
medicinalis. Savigny, Mon. Hir.p. 114, t. 5.f. 2.  The gray leech. Many
of the best zoologists  regard the Sanguisuga officinalis and S. medicinalis
of Savigny as mere varieties.  They are both marked with six longitudinal
dorsal ferruginous stripes, the four lateral ones being  interrupted or tesse-
lated with black spots.  The colour of the back varies from  a blackish  to a
grayish-green.  The belly in  the first variety is of a yellowish-green colour,
free from spots, and bordered with  longitudinal black stripes.  In the second
it is of a green colour, bordered and maculated with black. This leech varies
from two to three or four inches in length.  It inhabits marshes and running
streams, and is  found  abundantly throughout Europe.
   The great use made of leeches in  the  modern  practice of medicine has
 occasioned them to become a considerable article of commerce.  They are
 collected in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, and carried in large numbers
 to London and  Paris.   They are also  frequently brought to this country; as
 the practitioners in some of our  large cities use  only the foreign leech, 
PART I.
Hirudo.
371
although our  own  waters  furnish  an inexhaustible supply of this useful
worm.
   2. Hirudo decora. Say, Major Long's Second Expedition,  ii. 268.  The
medicinal leech of America  has been described by Say under the name of
Hirudo decora, in the Appendix to  the Second Expedition of  Major Long.
Its back is of a deep pistachio green colour, with three longitudinal rows of
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, vari-
ously 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 use of the indigenous leech  is nearly restricted to the city of Phila-
delphia.  The practitioners of New York and Boston depend  for their sup-
plies upon foreign countries, and leeching is seldom resorted to in the south-
ern or western states.  Those which are  used in Philadelphia are generally
brought from Bucks and Berks county  in  Pennsylvania, and occasionally
from other parts of the State.  It is estimated that from 200,000 to 250,000
are annually consumed.
   The proper preservation of leeches is an object of importance to the prac-
titioner as they are liable to great and sudden mortality.   They are usually
kept in jars in clear, soft water,  which should be changed twice a week in
winter, and every other day in summer.   The jar  must be covered with a
linen cloth, and placed in  a situation  not liable to sudden changes of  tempera-
ture.   They will live a long time and continue active and healthy, without
any other attention than that of frequently changing the water in which they
are kept.  M. Derheims  has proposed the following excellent method of pre-
serving them.   In the bottom of a large basin or trough of marble he places
a bed,  six or seven inches deep,  of a mixture of moss, turf, and fragments of
wood.  He strews pebbles above, so as to retain them in their place  without
compressing them too much, or preventing the water from freely penetrating
them.   At one end of the trough and  about  midway of its height, is placed
a  thin slab  of marble  or earthenware, pierced  with  numerous  holes  and
covered with a bed of moss  which is  compressed by a thick layer  of peb-
bles.   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 recom-
mends that, when kept in jars, they  should be cleansed by means of a whisk
of very fine broom or willow, when the water is changed.
   Medical Uses.—Leeches afford the least  painful, and in many instances
the most effectual means for the local abstraction of  blood.   They are often
applicable to parts which, either from  their situation or  their  great tender-
ness 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 inflamma-
tions ; 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 natu-
ral progress  of the complaint. 
372
Hirudo.—Hordeum.
PART I.
  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 afterwards with pure water.   If the leech does not bite readily, the skin
should be moistened with a little blood, or milk and water.   Sometimes the
leech is put into a large  quill open at both ends, and applied with the  head
to the skin until it fastens itself,  when the quill is withdrawn.   If it  be de-
sirable that the leech shall bite in a particular spot, this end may be attained
by cutting a small hole in a piece of blotting paper, and then  applying this
moistened to the  skin, so  that the hole  shall be  immediately over  the spot
from  which the  blood  is  to  be  taken.  Leeches continue to draw  blood
until  they are  gorged, when  they drop  off.  The  quantity of blood which
they draw varies  according to the part to which  they are  applied, and the
degree of inflammation existing in it.  In the loose and  vascular textures
they will abstract more than in those which are firm and compact, and more
from an inflamed  than a  healthy  part.   As a general rule our leechers apply
six for every fluidounce  of blood.  A single European leech will draw from
half  an ounce  to an ounce.  The quantity may often be much  increased by
bathino- the wound with  warm water.   Leeches will continue to suck  after
their tails are cut  off, which is sometimes done, although  it is a barbarous
practice.  It is said that they will draw better if  put into cold beer, and
allowed to remain until  they become very lively.   They may be separated
from the skin at any time by sprinkling a little salt upon them.  After  they
drop off, the same application will make them  disgorge the blood they have
swallowed.   Some  leechers draw the  leeches  from the tail to the head
through their fingers, and thus squeeze out the blood, after which all that is
necessary is to put them in clean water,  and change it frequently.  Leeches
which are gorged with blood should be  kept in  a vessel  by themselves, as
they are more  subject to disease, and often occasion a great mortality among
the others.  They should not be again used until they have recovered their
activity.
  In cases where the bleeding from leech-bites continues longer than  is de-
sirable it may be stopped  by continued pressure,  with  the application of
lint,  or by touching the wounds with lunar  caustic*  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.

                                Barley.

  "The decorticated seeds  of Hordeum  distichon." U.S.,  Ed.  "Hor-
deum distichon. Semina integumentis nudata." Lond.
  Off. Syn. HORDEUM DISTICHON. Semina decorticata. Dub.
  Orge, Fr.;  Gerstengraupe.n, Germ..; Orzo, Ital; Ccbnda, Span.
  Hordeum. Sex. Syst. Triandria Digynia.—Nat.  Ord.  Graminaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx lateral, two-valved, one flowered, three-fold. Willd.
  Several species of Hordeum are cultivated in different parts of the world.
The most common  are the 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

  * A little cotton, impregnated with a saturated solution of alum, will sometimes be
found an effectual application. 
PART I.
Hordeum.
373
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 sup-
ports three sessile flowers.  The calyx or outer chaff  has two valves.   The
corolla  or inner chaff is also composed of two valves,  of  which the exterior
is larger than  the other, and  terminates  in a long, rough, serrated awn or
beard.  The seeds are arranged in four rows.
   2.  II. distichon. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 473;  Loudon's  Encyc. of Plants,
p. 73.  This species is distinguished by its flat spike or ear, which on each
flat side has  a  double row of  imperfect or male  florets without beards, and
on each edge, a  single row  of bearded perfect  or hermaphrodite florets.
The seeds therefore  are in two rows, as indicated by the specific name of
the plant.
   The  original country of the cultivated barley is unknown.   The plant
has been found growing wild  in  Sicily, and various parts of the interior of
Asia; but it  may have  been introduced  into these places.  The H. vulgare
is said  by Pursh to grow in some parts of the United States, apparently in
a wild state.   The seeds are used in various forms.
   1.  In their natural state they are oval, oblong, pointed  at one end, obtuse
at the other,  marked with a longitudinal furrow, of a yellowish colour exter-
nally, white  within,  having a  faint odour when in mass, and a mild sweetish
taste.   They contain, according to  Proust, in 100 parts,  32  of starch, 3 of
gluten,  5 of sugar, 4  of gum, 1 of yellow resin, and 55 of hordcin, a prin-
ciple 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, 5-21 of uncrystallizable sugar, 4-62 of gum, 3-52 of gluten,
1*15 of albumen, 0*24 of phosphate of lime, and  7*29 of vegetable fibre;
the 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 starchy 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 has  been  discovered  by MM.
Payen and Persoz in the seeds of barley, oats, and wheat,  and in the potato.
It is found, however, only  after these have undergone germination, of which
process  it appears to be a product.   Germinated barley seldom contains  it in
larger proportion than  two parts  in  a thousand.  It is  obtained by bruising
freshly germinated barley, adding about half its weight of  water, expressing
strongly, treating the viscid liquid  thus obtained with sufficient  alcohol  to
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  redissolved as often as  three times in water,
and precipitated by alcohol.   It is  solid, white,  tasteless, soluble  in water
and weak alcohol, but insoluble  in  the latter fluid  in a concentrated state.
Though without  action upon  gum  and sugar, it has the extraordinary  pro-
perty, 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 con-
verting  this principle into dextrine and the sugar  of grapes.  The  whole of
     33 
374
Hordeum.—Humulus.
PART I.
the starch undergoes this change, with the exception of the teguments of the
granules, amounting to about 4 parts in 1000.
  3. Hulled barley is merely the grain deprived of its husk, which, accord-
ing to Einhoff, amounts to 18*75 parts in the hundred.
  4. Barley meal is formed by grinding the seeds  previously deprived of
their husk.  It has a grayish-white colour, and contains, according to Four-
croy and Vauquelin, an oleaginous  substance,  sugar, starch, azotized matter,
acetic acid, phosphate of lime and magnesia, silica, and iron.   It may be
made into a coarse, heavy, hard bread, which in some countries is much used
for food.
  5, Pearl barley—hordeum perlatum—is the seed deprived of all its in-
vestments, 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.
  Medical Properties.  Barley is  one of the mildest and least irritating of
farinaceous substances; and, though not  medically used in its solid state,
forms by  decoction with water a drink admirably adapted to febrile and in-
flammatory complaints, and much  employed from the times of Hippocrates
and Galen to the present.  Pearl barley is the form usually preferred for the
preparation of the decoction, though the hulled grain  is sometimes used, and
malt affords a liquor more  demulcent and nutritious,  and therefore better
adapted to cases of  disease which require a supporting  treatment.  (See
Decoctum Hordei.)   The decoction  of malt may be  prepared  by boiling
from two to  four ounces in a quart  of water and straining the liquor. When
hops are added, the decoction takes the  name of wort, and  acquires tonic
properties, which render it useful  in  debilitated conditions of the system,
especially those which attend the suppurative  process.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Hordei,  U. S.,  Lond.,  Dub.; Decoctum Hordei
Compositum,  Lond., Ed., Dub.                                   W.


                        HUMULUS.  US.

                                Hops.

  " The strobiles of Humulus Lupulus." U. S.
   Off. Syn.   LUPULUS. Humulus  Lupulus.  Strobili exsiccati. Lond.;
LUPULUS. Catkin of Humulus Lupulus. Ed.; HUMULUS LUPULUS.
Strobili siccati. Dub.
   Houblon, Fr.; Hopfen, Germ.; Lnppolo, Ital; Lupulo, Hombrecillo, Span.
   Humulus.  Sex. Syst.  Dioecia  Pentandria.—Nat. Ord.  Urticaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx five-leaved. Corolla none.  Female.  Calyx  one-
leafed, obliquely spreading, entire.   Corolla none.   Styles two.  Seed  one,
within a leafy calyx.  Willd.
   Humulus 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 direction, 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.  At the base of the footstalks are two or four smoo°th, 
PART I.
Hamulus.
375
ovate reflexed stipules.   The flowers are numerous, axillary, and  furnished
with bractes.  The male flowers are yellowish-white, and  arranoed in pa-
nicles ;  the female, which grow on a separate plant, are pale green, and dis-
posed 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 their
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 New England
it is extensively cultivated, and  most of the hops consumed in  the United
States are supplied by that district of country.   The part of the plant used,
as well in the preparation of malt liquors as in medicine, is the fruit or stro-
biles.   These when fully ripe are  picked from the plant, dried  by artificial
heat, packed in bales, and sent into the  market, under the name of hops.
  They consist of  numerous thin, translucent, veined, leaf-like scales, which
are of a pale greenish-yellow colour, and  contain near the  base  two small,
round, black seeds.  Though brittle when quite dry,  they are  pulverized
with great  difficulty.  Their  odour is  strong, peculiar, somewhat narcotic,
and fragrant; their taste  very bitter,  aromatic, and slightly astringent.  Their
aroma, bitterness, and  astringency are imparted to water by decoction; but
the first-mentioned  property is dissipated by long boiling.  The  most active
part of hops is a substance secreted by the scales, and in the  dried  fruit
existing upon their surface in the form of a powder composed of  very small
granules.  This substance was  called  lupulin  by the late Dr. A. W. Ives,
of  New York,  by whom its properties  were  first investigated  and made
generally known;  though it appears to have been previously noticed by Sir
J.  E. Smith, of England, and M. Planche, of France.   It enters into the
officinal catalogue of the United  States  Pharmacopoeia. The scales  them-
selves, however, are not  destitute of  virtues, and contain, as  shown by MM.
Payen and Chevallier, the same active principles as  the  powder upon their
surface,  though in smaller proportion.
   Lupulina.  L/iipulin.  U. S.  This is  obtained separate by rubbing or
threshing and sifting the  strobiles, of which it constitutes from one-sixth  to
one-tenth by weight.   It is in the state  of a yellowish powder, mixed with
minute particles of the  scales, from which it cannot be entirely freed when
procured by  a mechanical process.   It has the peculiar flavour of  hops, and
appeared to MM. Lebaillif and Raspail, when examined by  the microscope,
to consist of globules filled  with a yellow matter, resembling in this respect
the pollen  of vegetables.  It  is inflammable, and when moderately heated
becomes somewhat adhesive.  MM. Chevallier  and Payen obtained from
200 parts, 105 of resin,  and 25 of a peculiar bitter principle, besides volatile
oil, gum, traces  of fixed oil, a small quantity of an  azotized substance, and
various salts.   Dr. Ives  found in 120 grains, 5 of tannin, 10 of  extractive,
11  of bitter principle, 12 of wax, 36 of resin, and 46 of lignin.  The virtues
of the powder probably  reside in the volatile oil and  bitter principle, and are
readily imparted to alcohol.   By boiling in water the bitterness is  extracted,
but the  aroma is  partially driven  off.  The volatile oil, which  may be ob-
tained by distillation  with water, is yellowish, of the odour of hops, of an
acrid taste, and lighter than water.   It is said to have narcotic properties.
  The bitter principle, which is called lupidite or lupuline, may be procured
by  treating with alcohol the  aqueous extract of lupulin previously  mixed 
376
Humulus.
PART T.
with a little lime, evaporating the tincture thus formed, treating the resulting
extract with water, evaporating  the solution, and washing the residue with
ether.   In  a  state of purity it is yellowish or orange-yellow, inodorous at
common temperatures, but of the smell of hops when heated, of the peculiar
bitter taste of hops, slightly soluble in water which takes up  five percent, of
its weight, readily soluble in alcohol, almost insoluble in  ether, neither acid
nor alkaline in its reaction, and without nitrogen in its composition.  It is
scarcely affected by the weak acids or  alkaline solutions, or by the metallic
salts.   It is probably the tonic principle of  the medicine.
  Medical  Properties and  Uses.  Hops are tonic  and moderately narcotic,
and have been highly recommended in  diseases of  general or  local debility,
associated with morbid vigilance, or other nervous derangement.  They have
some tendency to produce sleep and relieve pain, and  may be used for these
purposes in cases where opiates, from their  tendency to constipate, or other
cause, are inadmissible. Diuretic properties have also been ascribed to them,
but are  by no  means very obvious.   The complaints in which  they have
been found most useful are  dyspepsia, and the  nervous tremors, wakefulness,
and delirium  of drunkards.   Dr. Maton found the  extract advantageous in
allaying the pain of articular  rheumatism.
  The medicine may be given in  substance,  infusion, tincture, or extract.
From three to twenty grains  are mentioned as a dose of the powder; but
the quantity is too small to produce any decided effect; and this mode of
administration  is in  fact scarcely ever resorted to.   An  infusion prepared
from half an ounce of hops and a pint of boiling water, may be given in the
dose of two fluidounces three or four times a day.   The extract and tincture
are officinal. (See  Extractum Humuli L,upuli and Tinctura  Humidi.)  A
pillow of hops has been found useful in allaying restlessness and  producing
sleep, in cases of  nervous  derangement.  They should be  moistened with
some spirituous liquor previously to  being placed under the head  of the
patient in order to prevent their rustling noise.   Fomentations with hops,
and cataplasms made by mixing them with some  emollient  adhesive sub-
stance, are  often beneficial in local  pains and tumefactions.   An ointment
of the powder  with lard is recommended by  Mr.  Freake as an application
to cancerous sores, the pain of which it has relieved when other means have
failed.
  All the effects of the preparations  of hops may be  obtained with  greater
certainty and convenience by the use of lupulin.  The dose of this  in sub-
stance is from six  to twelve grains, given in the form of pills, which may be
made by simply rubbing the powder in a warm  mortar till it acquires the
consistence of a ductile mass, and then moulding it into the  proper  shape.
A tincture is directed by the United States Pharmacopoeia.  (See  Tinctura
Lupulinx.)  Lupulin may be incorporated  with poultices or formed into an
ointment with lard, and used  externally for the same purposes as the hops
themselves.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Humuli Lupuli, Dub., Lond., Ed.; Infusum Hu-
muli, U.S., Lond.;  Tinctura Humuli, U.S., Dub., Lond.; Tinctura Lupu-
linae, U.S., Ed.                                                  W. 
part i.                     Hydrargyrum.                        377
         HYDRARGYRUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Mercury.

  _ Quicksilver; Mercurius, Lat.; Mercure, Vif argent, Fr., Quecksilber, Germ.; Mercu-
 no, Ital; Az6gue, Span, and Port.
   This metal is found  pure, combined with sulphur, united with silver, and
 in the form of protochloride (native calomel);  but of all  its combinations,
 the  most abundant is  the  bisulphuret, or  native cinnabar.  Its  most im-
 portant mines  are  found at Almaden in  Spain, at Idria in Carniola, in the
 Duchy of Deux-ponts, at Durasno in Mexico, near Azogue in New Granada,
 and  near Huancavelica in  Peru.   It also occurs  in the  Philippine Islands
 and China.  The most ancient and productive mine is that of  Almaden.
   Extraction.  Nearly all  the  mercury consumed in  medicine and  the arts
 is obtained  from  the  bisulphuret, or native cinnabar.  It is extracted by two
 principal processes.  According to one process, the mineral is picked, pound-
 ed, and  mixed with  lime.  The mixture is then introduced into cast iron
 retorts, which  are  placed in  rows, one above the other, in an oblong fur-
 nace,  and   connected with  earthenware receivers, one-third full  of water.
 Heat being  applied, the lime combines with the sulphur, so as to form sul-
 phuret of calcium and sulphate of lime; while the mercury distils over, and
 is condensed in the receivers.  The other process is  practised at Almaden
 in Spain.   Here a square furnace is employed, the floor of which  is  pierced
 with many  holes, for the passage of the flame from the fireplace underneath.
 At the upper and lateral part of the furnace, holes  are made, which commu-
 nicate with  several rows of aludels * which terminate in a small chamber
 that serves  both as  condenser 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.   The heat being ap-
 plied, the sulphur undergoes  combustion, while the mercury,  being volatil-
 ized, passes through the aludels to  be condensed in the chamber.  This pro-
 cess economizes fuel, but is wasteful of the mercury.
   Commercial History. Mercury is imported into this country generally in
 cylindrical wrought-iron bottles, called flasks, each containing 76s pounds,
 and  comes  principally from the Atlantic ports of Spain, particularly Cadiz.
 A portion also  is received from the Austrian port of Trieste, from which it
 generally comes tied up in whole skins of white leather, forming bags, each
 containing 31  pounds,  and  four of which  are usually  packed together with
 straw in a rough flattened keg.  In both Spain and Austria, the produce of
 the quicksilver  mines is a  government monopoly.  In Spain all the metal
 is brought from the mines to Seville, whence, after  paying an export duty,
 it is carried by small vessels down  the  river  Guadalquivir to Cadiz and
 Gibraltar, which  are  the chief places of  its  depot  for foreign commerce.
 The quantity imported into  the United States varies in different years.  Its
 value for the year ending in  Sept.,  1832, exceeded two hundred and sixty-
 three thousand  dollars.   The greater part received is  exported again, prin-
cipally to Mexico, Chili, and  China.  Its principal consumption  is  caused
by its employment in  the extraction of silver and gold from their ores, and in
the preparation of vermilion. In the United States it is consumed for making
thermometers and barometers, for  silvering looking-glasses, and for pre-

  * Aludels resemble earthen pots with  their bottoms  removed, and, in  consequence of
their  tnpering towards one  end,  admit of being adjusted to one another, so as to form a
Eort of tube.
                                   33* 
378
Hydrargyrum.
part i.
paring various pharmaceutical compounds.   Of late  the home consumption
has increased, in consequence of its employment in the mining operations of
the gold region of the Southern States.
  Properties.  Mercury is a very brilliant liquid, of a silver-white colour,
and without taste or smell.  When perfectly pure it undergoes no alteration
by the action of air or  water, but in  its ordinary state suffers a slight tar-
nish.   When heated  to near  the  boiling point, it gradually combines with
oxygen, and  becomes converted into deutoxide; but at the temperature of
ebullition, it  parts with the oxygen which  it had absorbed, and is  reduced
again to the  metallic  state.   Its sp. gr.  is 13*5, and its equivalent  number
202.   Liquid at  ordinary temperatures, it  freezes at 39°  below zero,  and
boils at 656°.  When frozen it forms 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 dissolves it,  generating either  a  sulphate  or nitrate of the
deutoxide, with the extrication, in the  former  case, of sulphurous  acid, in
the latter, of nitric oxide becoming nitrous acid  red fumes.   Its combina-
tions are numerous, and several of them constitute important medicines.  It
forms  two oxides, two sulphurets, two chlorides, three  iodides, and  one
cyanuret,  all  of which, excepting the protosulphuret and sesquiodide, are
officinal, and will be noticed elsewhere under separate  heads.  Both the
oxides are capable  of uniting with acids so as to form salts, of which the
nitrate, sulphate, bisulphate, and acetate of the deutoxide are officinal, or enter
into officinal  combinations.
   Mercury,  as  it  occurs in  commerce, is generally  sufficiently  pure for
pharmaceutical purposes.  Occasionally it contains foreign metals,  such as
lead,  bismuth, and tin.  Mr.  Brande informs  us that in examining large
quantities of  this metal in  the  London  market, he found it only in one in-
stance intentionally adulterated.   When  impure,  the metal has a  dull ap-
pearance,  easily tarnishes, is deficient in due fluidify and mobility, as shown
by  its not forming round globules, is  not totally dissipated by heat,  and
when rolled  over white paper leaves a  trace.   If agitated with strong  sul-
phuric acid,  the adulterating  metals  become oxidized, and in  this manner
the mercury may  in part be purified.  Lead  is detected by  shaking the
suspected metal with  equal  parts of acetic acid  and water, and  then testing
the acid by sulphate of  soda, or iodide of potassium.  The former will pro-
duce a white, the latter  a yellow precipitate, if lead be present.   Bismuth is
discovered by dropping a nitric solution of the mercury, prepared without
heat,  into  distilled  water, when  the  subnitrate of bismuth will  precipitate.
The solubility of the  metal  in nitric acid shows that tin is not present; and
if sulphuretted hydrogen does not act  upon muriatic acid previously  boiled
upon the metal, the absence of the usual contaminating metals is  indicated.
   Mercury may be purified, according  to Berzelius, by digesting it with a
small portion of nitric acid, or with a solution of bichloride of mercery (cor-
rosive sublimate);  whereby  all the  ordinary  contaminating metals will be
removed.  It  is, however, usually purified by distillation; and the  Dublin Col-
lege has given directions for  conducting the process.   (See Hydrargyrum
Purificatum.)
   Medical Properties.  Mercury, in its  uncombined state, is deemed inert;
but in a state of combination, it acts as a peculiar and  universal stimulant.
When exhibited in a  state of  minute  division, as  it exists in several  prepa-
rations, it produces its peculiar  effects; but this does not prove  that the
uncombined  metal  is active, but only that the condition of minute division
is favourable to its entering  into combination in the stomach.   Its combina- 
PART I.
Hydrargyrum.
379
tions  exhibit certain  general medical  properties and effects, which  belong
to the whole as a class;  while  each individual preparation is  characterized
by some peculiarity in its operation.   Our business, in the present place, is
to consider generally the physiological action of mercury, and the principles
by which its administration should be  regulated; while its effects, as modi-
fied in its different combinations, will more properly be noticed under the
head of each preparation individually.
  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 in their stead. This
alterative power is sometimes exerted, without  being attended with any other
vital phenomenon than the removal of the disease; while at other  times it
is attended with certain obvious effects, indicative of the agency of a potent
stimulus.  In the latter case, its  operation is  marked by a quickened  circu-
lation, with  a  frequent, jerking pulse, by an increased activity imparted to
all the secretory functions, particularly those of the salivary glands  and the
liver, by an exaltation of nervous sensibility,  and, in  short,  by a general
excitement of the  organie  actions of the system.
  When mercury  acts insensibly as an  alterative,  there is  not the  least
apparent disturbance of the circulation ; but 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 con-
stituting the condition denominated  ptyalism  or salivation.   Under these
circumstances, to  the alterative  effects  of the  mineral  are  added those of
depletion and  revulsion.   In the saliva, discharged as a consequence of its
action,  mercury has  been detected by chemical tests.  (Journ.  de Pharm.
xxiii. 625.)  Occasionally its depletory action is exhibited in an increased
secretion of urine, or an immoderate flow of the bile;  and, where ptyalism
cannot be induced, and either of  these secretions becomes  considerably aug-
mented, the circumstance may  be held as equally conclusive of the constitu-
tional impression of the  mercury, as if the mouth had been  affected.  Mer-
cury has been found  in the urine of those  under the  influence of corrosive
sublimate, by M. Audouard. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., vii. 235, from the
Journ. de Chim. Med.)   Indeed, the metal has been detected in most of the
solids and fluids of the body.
  Mercury has been  used in almost all  diseases, but too often empirically,
and  without  the guidance of any recognised therapeutic principle.   Never-
theless, its efficacy in certain classes of diseases is universally acknowledged.
In functional derangement of the digestive organs, mercurials in minute doses
exert a salutary operation, subverting the morbid action, and that too by their
insensible alterative  effect, without affecting the mouth.   In these cases no
decided  disturbance of the vital functions takes place;  but the alvine dis-
charges, 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  obstructed as in jaundice, or  pouring out a
redundancy of morbid bile as in melaena, 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 almost a
specific;  but here its use  must be generally preceded by bleeding, and car-
ried to  the  extent of exciting ptyalism.   In chronic inflammation of the
mucous  and serous membranes,  the alterative  effects of mercury are some- 
380
Hydrargyrum.
PART I.
 times attended  with much benefit.  In many  of  these cases effusion  has
 taken place; and under these circumstances the mercury often proves useful,
 by promoting the absorption of the effused fluid, as well as by removing the
 chronic  inflammation  on which the effusion depends.  Hence it is  that the
 remedy  is often given with advantage in chronic forms of meningitis, bron-
 chitis, pleuritis, pneumonia, dysentery, rheumatism, &c, and in hydroce-
 phalus, 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 par-
 ticular stage of its course is marked by a dry tongue, torpor of the  bowels,
 scanty urine, and  an arid state  of the surface.   Here depletion by the lancet
 or leeches is often inadmissible, and the remedial measure most to be relied
 on is the judicious employment of mercury. It acts in such cases by  increas-
 ing the secretions, and promoting  the action of the  exhalent capillaries, and,
 perhaps, by producing a new impression, incompatible with the action of the
 disease.
   In syphilitic affections, mercury, until of late years, has been held to be an
 indispensable specific.   Of 'its mode of action in these affections we know
 nothing, except that it operates by substituting its own peculiar action for
 that of the disease.  Without entering upon the question of the necessity or
 non-necessity of  mercury in venereal complaints,  as  out of place in  this
 work, we are free to admit that the discussion which has grown out of it has
 shown that this remedy  has sometimes been unnecessarily  resorted to in
 affections resembling syphilis,  though of a different character; and that the
 disease in question  ought to be  treated less empirically,  and more on the
 general  principles of  combating  morbid  action occurring in other parts.
 Mercury also appears  to exert  a peculiar control over the  morbid effects of
 lead;  and hence in  colica pictonum, it is  accounted by some writers to act
 almost as a specific.
   For inducing the specific effects of  mercury on the constitution, blue pill
 or calomel is generally resorted to.  In order to produce what we have called
 the insensible alterative effects of the metal, a grain or two of blue pill may
 be given in the twenty-four  hours, or from a sixth to a fourth of a grain of
 calomel;  or if  a gentle ptyalism be our object, from three to five grains of
 the former, or a grain  of  the latter, two or three times a  day.  Where the
 bowels are peculiarly irritable, it is often necessary to introduce the metal by
 means of frictions with mercurial  ointment; and where a speedy effect is
 desired, the internal  and external use of the remedy may be simultaneously
 resorted  to.
   The first observable effects of mercury in inducing ptyalism are a coppery
 taste in the mouth, a slight soreness of the gums, and an  unpleasant sensa-
 tion in the sockets of the teeth when  the  jaws are firmly closed.  Shortly
 afterwards the  gums begin to  swell, a line of whitish matter is seen along
 their edges, and the  breath is infected  with a peculiar and  very disagreeable
 smell, called  the mercurial fetor.   The saliva at the  same  time begins to
 flow;  and if the affection proceeds, the gums, tongue, throat, and face are
 much  swollen;  ulcerations attack  the lining  membrane of  the mouth  and
 fauces; the jaws  become  excessively painful;  the tongue is coated with a
 thick whitish fur;  and  the saliva flows in streams from the  mouth.  It occa-
sionally happens, that the affection thus induced  in  the mouth proceeds  to a
dangerous^ extent, inducing extensive ulceration, gangrene  and even  hemor-
rhage.  The best remedies are the various  astringent and detergent gargles,
used sufficiently weak, as the parts are extremely tender.   In ca°ses attended
 with swelling and protrusion of the tongue,  the wash is best applied  by 
part i.                     Hydrargyrum.                         381

injection, by means of a large syringe.   We have found lead-water among
the best local applications in these cases; and dilute solutions of chlorinated
soda or of chlorinated lime, while they correct the fetor and add to the com-
fort of the patient, will be found to exert a curative influence on the ulcerated
surfaces.
   While the  system  is under the specific action of mercury, the  blood is
more watery, less charged with albumen, fibrin, and red globules, and loaded
with  a very fetid fatty matter. (Dr.  S.  Wright, as  quoted by Christison.)
When drawn from a vein, it exhibits the same appearance as in inflammatory
diseases.
   In  the foregoing  observations we  have described the  ordinary effects of
mercury; but occasionally, in peculiar constitutions,  its operation is  quite
different, being productive of a dangerous disturbance  of the vital functions.
Mr. Pearson, of London, has given a detailed account of this occasional  pecu-
liarity in the operation of mercury  in his work on the venereal disease.   The
symptoms which characterize it are  a  small  frequent pulse, anxiety  about
the praecordia, pale and contracted countenance,  great  nervous agitation, and
alarming general  debility.  Their appearance is  the signal for discontinuing
the mercury; as a further perseverance with it might  be attended with fatal
consequences.  Mercury is also productive of a peculiar eruption on the skin,
which will be found described by systematic writers under the various names
of hydrargyria, eczema, mercuriale,  and lepra mercurialis.
   Those who work in mercury, and are, therefore, exposed to its  vapours,
such  as water-gilders, looking-glass  silverers, and  quicksilver  miners, are
injured seriously in their health, and not unfrequenfly affected with shaking
palsy, attended with vertigo  and other cerebral disorders.
   Mercury is sometimes given  in  the  metallic state, in the quantity of a
pound or  two in obstructions of the bowels,  to act by its weight: but  the
practice is of doubtful advantage.
   Pharmaceutical Preparations.   We shall close our account of  mercury
by presenting a tabular view of all the officinal  preparations of this metal,
to be found in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias.  Mercury is
officinal:—
       I. In the metallic state.
           Hydrargyrum,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
              Hydrargyrum Purificatum, Dub.
              Emplastrum Hydrargyri, U. S., Lond., Ed.
             Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, Lond., Dub.; Em-
                  plastrum Ammoniaci et  Hydrargyri, Ed.
             Hydrargyrum cum Creta,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
             Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia, Dub.
             Pilulae  Hydrargyri, U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Anglice,  Blue
                  pill.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri, U. S.,  Ed.,  Dub.; Unguentum Hy-
                  drargyri  Fortius,  Lond.; Anglice,  Mercurial ointment.
                Unguentum Hydrargyri Mitius, Lond., Dub.
                Ceratum Hydrargyri Compositum,  Lond.
                Linimentum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lionel.
       II. Protoxidized.
           (By the action of solution of potassa on calomel.)
             Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Oxydum Ni-
                     grum,  Dub.
           (By the action of lime-water on calomel.)
             Hydrargyri Oxydum, Lond. 
382
Hydrargyrum.
PART I.
 III. Deutoxidized.
     (By the action of heat and air.)
       Hydrargyri  Oxydum Rubrum, Dub.;  Anglice, Red precipitate
              per se; Calcined mercury.
     (By the action of nitric acid.)
       Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum, U.S., Ed.;  Hydrargyri Nitrico-
              Oxydum, Lond.; Hydrargyri Oxydum Nitricum, Dub.;
              Anglice, Red precipitate.
          Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri, U. S.; Unguentum Hy-
              drargyri Nitrico-Oxydi, Lond.;  Unguentum Hydrargyri,
              Ed.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxydi Nitrici, Dub.
     (Obtained by precipitation.)
       Hydrargyri Binoxydum, Lond.
 IV. Sulphuretted.
       Hydrargyri  Sulphuretum  Nigrum,  U.S., Dub.; Hydrargyri
              Sulphuretum cum  Sulphure, Lond.;  Anglice,  Ethiops
              mineral.
       Hydrargyri  Sulphuretum  Rubrum, U.S., Dub.; Hydrargyri
              Bisulphuretum, Lond.; Cinnabaris, Ed.;  Anglice,  Cin-
              nabar.
  V. As A PROTOCHLORIDE.
     (Obtained by sublimation.)
       Hydrargyri  Chloridum  Mite, U. S.;  Hydrargyri Chloridum,
              Lond.;  Calomelas, Ed.; Calomelas Sublimatum, Dub.;
              Anglice, Calomel.
          Pilulae Calomelanos Compositae, Ed., Dub.; Pilulae  Hydrar-
              gyri Chloridi Compositae, Lond.
          Pilulae Calomelanos et Opii, Ed.
          Pilulae Catharticae Compositae,  U. S.
          Pilulae Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis, U. S.
     (Obtained by precipitation.)
       Calomelas praecipitatum, Dub.
 VI. As A BICHLORIDE.
       Hydrargyri Chloridum Corrosivum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Bichlo-
              ridum, I^ond.; Sublimatus  Corrosivus, Ed.; Hydrargyri
              Murias  Corrosivum,  Dub.;  Anglice,  Corrosive subli-
              mate.
          Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi, Lond.
       Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum,  U. S.; Hydrargyri Ammonio-Chlo-
              ridum, Lond.;  Hydrargyri Precipitatum  Album, Ed.;
              Hydrargyri Submurias Ammoniatum,  Dub.;  Anglice,
              White precipitate.
            Unguentum  Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U. S.; Unguentum
              Hydrargyri Ammonio-Chloridi, Lond.; Unguentum Pre-
              cipitati Albi, Ed.; Unguentum  Hydrargyri" Submuriatis
              Ammoniati, Dub.
VII. Combined with iodine.
       Hydrargyri Iodidum, U. S., Lond.
          Pilulae Hydrargyri Iodidi,  Lond.
          Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi,  Lond.
       Hydrargyri  Iodidum Rubrum, U. S.;  Hydrargyri Biniodidum,
              Lond., Ed.
          Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi, Lond. 
part i.       Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen.              383

   VIII. Combined with cyanooen.
            Hydrargyri Cyanuretum, U. S.,Dub.; Hydrargyri Bicyanidum,
                    Lond.
     IX. Oxidized and combined with acids.
            Hydrargyri Acetas, Dub.
            Hydrargyri Persulphas, Dub.
            Hydrargyri Sulphas Flavus, U.S.; Hydrargyri  Oxydum Sul-
                    phuricum, Dub.; Anglice,  Turpeth mineral.
            Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis,  U. S.,  Lond.; Unguentum
                    Citrinum, Ed.; Unguentum  Hydrargyri Nitratis, vel
                    Unguentum Citrinum,  Dub.; Anglice,  Citrine oint-
                    ment.                                       B.


            HYOSCYAMI FOLIA. U.S., Lond.

                          Henbane Leaves.

   "The leaves of  Hyoscyamus  niger,"   U.S.   " Hyoscyamus niger.
 Folia." Lond.
   Off. Syn HYOSCYAMUS.  Leaves  of Hyoscyamus niger. Ed.;  HY-
 OSCYAMUS NIGER. Folia. Dub.

                HYOSCYAMI SEMEN. U.S.

                           Henbane Seed.

   " The seeds of Hyoscyamus niger." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  HYOSCYAMI  SEMINA.  Hyoscyamus  niger.   Semina.
 Lond.
   Jusquiame noire, Fr.; Schwarzes Bilsenkraut, Germ; Giusquiamo nero, Ital; Beleno,
 Span.
   Hyoscyamus. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla funnel-form, obtuse. Stamens inclined.  Capsules covered
 with a lid,  two-celled.  Willd.
   Hyoscyamus  niger.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  1010 ;  Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.
 204. t. 76; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 161.  Henbane is  usually a biennial
 plant, with a long, tapering,  whitish,  fleshy,  somewhat branching  root,
 bearing considerable resemblance to that of parsley for which it has been
 eaten by mistake.   The stem is erect, round, branching, from one to three
 feet in height, and  thickly furnished  with leaves.  These  are  large, oblong,
 ovate, deeply sinuated, with pointed segments,  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 obscure  yellow, beautifully varie-
 gated 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  separation  of  the lid.   The
 whole plant has a rank offensive smell.
   The H. niger seems to be susceptible of considerable diversity of cha-
 racter, giving rise to varieties which have by some been considered as dis- 
  384           Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen.           part i.

  tinct species.  Thus the plant is sometimes annual, the stem simple, the leaves
  more  deeply  incised and less  hairy than  in  the  common variety, and the
  flowers yellow without the purple streaks. It has not been determined whether
  any difference of medical properties is connected with these diversities of
  character.   The plant is  found iu the northern and eastern  sections of the
  United States, occupying waste  grounds in the vicinity of the older settle-
  ments, particularly graveyards, old gardens, and  the foundations of ruined
  houses.   We have seen a specimen brought from the ruins of Ticonderoga.
  It is rare, however, in this country, of which  it is not a native, having been
  introduced from  Europe.   In  Great  Britain,  France, Germany, and other
  parts of Europe, it grows abundantly along the roads, around villages, amidst
  rubbish, and in uncultivated places.   It flowers in June and July.
    The //. albus, so named from the whiteness of its  flowers, is  used in
  France indiscriminately with the  former species, which it resembles exactly
  in medicinal properties.
    AH  parts of  the  Hyoscyamus niger are  possessed  of activity.  The
  leaves are the part usually employed, but both these and the seeds are  re-
  cognised in the U.S. and London Pharmacopoeias.  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  biennial
  plant,  those of the second year  are asserted  by Dr. Houlton to be greatly
  preferable to those of the  first.   The latter, he informs us, are less  clammy
  and fetid, yield less extractive matter, and are medicinally much less efficient.
  As the plant is sometimes destroyed  by the severe winters in England, no
  leaves of the second year's growth are obtainable, and the market is  on these
  occasions supplied with the medicine  of inferior quality.  This is, perhaps,
  one of the causes of its great inequality of strength and uncertainty of ope-
 ration.  The root also is said to be much more poisonous in the second year
 than the first.
   Properties.  The recent leaves have, when bruised, a strong, disagreeable,
 narcotic odour, somewhat like that of tobacco.  Their taste is mucFlajrinous
 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 have 'been analyzed
 by Lindbergsen, who obtained  from  them a narcotic principle.   The seeds
 are very small, roundish, compressed,  somewhat  kidney-shaped,  a little
♦ wrinkled, of a gray or yellowish-gray colour, of the  odour of the plant, and
 an oleaginous  bitterish taste.  Analyzed by  Brandes,  they  yielded 24-2
 per cent, of fixed oil, 1-4  of a solid  fatty substance, traces of sugar, 1-2 of
 gum,  2-4 of bassorin,  1*5 of starch,  3-4 of a substance soluble in water,
 insoluble in alcohol, and  precipitated by infusiflm  of galls (phyteumacolla,
 Brandes), 4-5  of albumen soluble or coagulated, 26-0 of vegetable fibre,
 24*1  of water, and  9-7  of saline matters,  including an  alkaline principle
 called  hyoscyamin or  hyoscyamia,  combined with malic acid.    But  the
 process employed by Brandes  for separating  this principle,  has not suc-
 ceeded in oiher hands; and it was doubtful whether the  substance obtained
 by that experimentalist 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 conse-
 quence of its strong tendency to undergo a change by the contact of alkaline
solutions,  which  render  it very soluble in  water.   The following is  the
process of the  last-mentioned  chemists.   The  seeds  of the plant are mace- 
part i.         Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen.            385

rated in alcohol; the tincture thus 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 evapora-
tion; 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 char-
coal,  and evaporated by a very gentle heat.   If the hyoscyamia  now depo-
sited  should  still be coloured, it will be necessary to combine it anew with
an acid,  and to treat as before, in order to  obtain it quite pure.  The product
is very small.
   Hyoscyamia  crystallizes in colourless, transparent, silky needles, which
are without odour, of an acrid disagreeable taste, slightly soluble  in water,
very soluble  in alcohol and ether, and volatilizable with little change if care-
fully distilled.   It is  quickly altered by contact  with water and an alkali,
and  when  heated with potassa or soda is completely  decomposed, with the
disengagement of ammonia.  It neutralizes the acids, forming  with them
crystallizable salts.   The  infusion of galls precipitates it from its  aqueous
solution.  Both the alkali and its salts are very poisonous ;  and the smallest
quantity, introduced into the eye, produces a dilatation of the pupil, which
continues for a long time.
   Henbane leaves yield, by destructive distillation, a very poisonous empy-
reumatic oil.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Hyoscyamus ranks among  the narcotics.
In moderate quantities it  gently accelerates  the  circulation,  increases  the
general  warmth, occasions  a sense of heat in the throat, and after  a short
period induces sleep.   This action is sometimes attended with vertigo, pain
in the head, and dilated  pupils; and the  medicine  occasionally acts  as  a
diaphoretic or diuretic, and even produces a pustular eruption.  It does not
constipate like opium, but,  on the contrary, often  proves laxative.  In over
doses it powerfully irritates the brain and  alimentary canal, causing dilatation
of the pupil, disordered vision, loss of speech, delirium  or stupor, convul-
sions, paralysis, pain in  the bowels,  diarrhoea,  great arterial prostration,
petechias, and other  alarming  symptoms, which sometimes  end in death.
Dissection exhibits marks of inflammation of the stomach and bowels.  The
poisonous  effects are  to  be counteracted in  the same manner as those of
opium.  Acid drinks, such as lemon-juice and  vinegar, are recommended
after the evacuation of the stomach.   Numerous instances might be adduced
from authors to  prove the deleterious influence of all  parts of  the H. niger,
when taken  in large  quantities.   Upon inferior  animals  its effects are  not
always the same.   While it proves fatal to birds and dogs, the leaves  are
eaten with entire impunity by horses, cows, sheep, goats, and  swine.   It is
not impossible that  injury has in some cases  resulted  from the use of milk
derived from cows or goats  which had been feeding on henbane.
   The remedial operation of hyoscyamus is  anodyne  and soporific.  The
medicine was known to the ancients, and was employed by some of the
earlier modern practitioners; but had fallen into disuse, and was  almost for-
gotten, when Baron Storck again introduced  it into  notice.   By this cele-
brated physician and  some of his successors it was  prescribed in numerous
diseases, and, if we may credit their testimony, 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
      34 
386            Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen.          part i.

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 appli-
cable it would be useless to enumerate, as there  are few complaints in  which
circumstances might not be  such as to call for its employment.   Neuralgic
and  spasmodic affections, rheumatism, gout, hysteria,  and  various  pectoral
diseases, as catarrh, pertussis, asthma, phthisis, &c, are  among those  in
which it is most frequently prescribed.  In Europe, where the fresh  leaves
are readily obtained, it  is often  applied  externally in  the  shape  of lotion,
cataplasm, or fomentation, to allay pain and irritation, in scrofulous or can-
cerous 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.
The effect of henbane in dilating the  pupil, when applied to the conjunc-
tiva, has already been noticed.  For  this purpose  it  is used by European
oculists, previously to the operation for cataract.  An infusion of the leaves,
or a solution of the  extract,  is dropped into the  eye.  The effect is usually
greatest at the end of four hours  from  the time of application, and in twelve
hours ceases entirely.   Vision is not impaired during its continuance.   Rei-
singer recommends a solution 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 five to ten grains;  that of the seeds  somewhat
smaller.   The common extract, or inspissated juice of the fresh  leaves
(Extractum Hyoscyami, U.S.), is exceedingly variable and precarious in
its operation, being sometimes active, sometimes almost inert.  The usual
dose is two or three grains,  repeated and gradually increased till the desired
effect is  obtained.  Cullen  rarely procured the anodyne operation of the
medicine till he had carried  the dose to eight, ten, or even fifteen or twenty
grains.   Collin pushed it to  thirty-six  grains ; and Professor Fouquier, who
experimented largely with hyoscyamus in the Hopital de la Charite, gave
two hundred and fifty grains of the extract during twenty-four  hours, with-
out any specific or curative impression.  (Richard, Elem. Hist. Nat.  Med.)
The alcoholic extract prepared from the recently dried leaves (Extractum
Hyoscyami Alcoholicum, U. S.) is said to be more certain and effectual.
The dose of this to begin with is one or two grains, which may be increased
gradually to twenty or even thirty grains.  The dose of the  tincture  is one
or two fluidrachms.  A good plan in administering any of the  preparations
of hyoscyamus is to repeat  the  dose  every hour or two till its influence is
felt.
   Off. Prep. Extractum Hyoscyami,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Extractum
Hyoscyami Alcoholicum, U. S.; Tinctura Hyoscyami, U. S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.                                                             -\ftt 
PART I.
Ichthyocolla.
387
                   ICHTHYOCOLLA. U.S.

                              Isinglass.

   " The swimming bladder of Acipenser Huso, and other species of Aci-
penser." U. S.
   Fish-glue; Ichthyocolle, colic de poisson, Fr.; Hausenblase, Fischleim,  Germ,- Colla
di  pesce, Ital; Cola de pescado, Span.
   Isinglass is a gelatinous substance, prepared chiefly from the sounds or
swimming  bladders of fishes,  especially those  of  different  species of stur-
geon.   Though no longer retained by any of the British  Colleges in their
officinal catalogues, it still has a place  in the Pharmacopoeia of the United
States,  and being universally kept in the shops, requires at least a brief
notice in the present work.
   In most  fishes there is a membranous bag, placed  in the anterior part of
the abdomen, communicating frequently, though not always, by means of a
duct,  with  the  oesophagus  or  stomach,  and  containing usually a mixture of
oxygen and nitrogen gases  in various proportions.   From the  supposition
that it was intended by its expansion or contraction to enable  the fish to
rise or sink  in the water,  it  has been denominated 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 pro-
cured ;  but three others, the A. Ruthenus, or sterlet, A. Sturio,  or common
sturgeon, and A. stellatus, or  starred  sturgeon, also furnish large  quantities
to  commerce.   All these fish inhabit the interior waters of Russia, especially
the Wolga, and  other streams  which empty into the Caspian Sea.  Immense
quantities are annually taken and consumed as  food by the Russians.  The
air-bags are removed from  the fish, and, having been slit open  and washed
in  water in order to separate the blood, fat, and adhering extraneous mem-
branes, are spread out, and when sufficiently stiffened  are formed into cylin-
drical rolls, the ends of which  are brought together and secured  by pegs.
The shape  given to  the roll is that of a staple, or more accurately that of a
lyre,  which it  firmly retains when dried.   Thus  prepared it is known in
commerce  by the name  of staple isinglass, and  is distinguished into the
long and short staple.  Sometimes the  membranes are dried in  a flat state,
or simply folded, and then receive the name of  leaf ox book isinglass.  The
scraps or fragments of these varieties, with various other  parts of the fish,
are boiled in water, which dissolves the  gelatin, and upon evaporation leaves
it in a solid state.  This is called cake isinglass, from the shape which it is
made  to assume.   It is sometimes, however,  in globular masses.  Of these
varieties the long staple is said to be the best;  but the finest book isinglass
is  not  surpassed by any brought  to this country.   It is remarkable  for its
beautiful iridescence by transmitted light.  One hundred grains  of this isin-
glass dissolve in ten  ounces of water,  forming a tremulous jelly  when cold,
and yield but two grains of membranous insoluble residuum.  The price of
it is from three dollars and a half to four dollars a pound.   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.
   Isinglass little inferior to the Russian is  made in Iceland from the sounds
of the cod  and ling. 
388
Ichthyocolla.
PART I.
   Considerable quantities of isinglass are manufactured  in  New England
from  the intestines of the cod—Morrhua Americana (Storer, Report on
Fishes of Mass., 1839)—and of some of  its  allied fishes.   This sort is in
the form of thin ribbons several feet  in  length, and from  an inch and a half
to two inches in width.  It sells at from seventy-five to ninety cents a pound.
One hundred grains dissolve  almost entirely in water, leaving but two grains
of insoluble membrane,  and form a  tremulous jelly when  cold with eight
ounces of water.  It is, therefore, as  pure and nearly as strong a gelatin as
the Russian  isinglass, but retains a fishy taste and odour, which  render it
unfit for  culinary or medicinal purposes.
   We receive from Brazil the air-bladders of a large fish, prepared by dry-
ing them in their distended state.  They are oblong, tapering and pointed at
one end, bifid with the remains of their pneumatic duct at the other,  and of
a firm consistence.
   Isinglass of a good  quality is also made, in  New York, from the sounds of
the weak fish—Otolithus  regalis of Cuvier (Storer, Rep. on Fishes of Mass.,
p. 33.)—and perhaps  of other fishes caught  in the neighbourhood.  The
sounds are dried whole, or merely split open, and vary much in  size and
texture, weighing from a drachm up to an ounce.
   An article called "refined or transparent isinglass," is made by dissolv-
ing 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.  It sells at about two-thirds the price
of the Russia isinglass.
   A preparation called Cooper's gelatin, has been introduced as a substitute
for isinglass  in the making  of jellies.   It appears to be the  dried froth of a
solution  of pure bone glue.*
   Isinglass is  sometimes kept in the  shops cut into fine shreds, and is thus
more easily acted on by boiling water.
   In its  purest form it is  whitish, semi-transparent, of a shining, pearly ap-
pearance, and destitute of smell and taste.  The inferior kinds are yellowish
and more opaque.  In cold water it softens, swells up, and becomes opales-
cent.   Boiling water entirely dissolves  it, with the  exception  of a minute
proportion of impurities,  amounting,  according to Mr.  Hatchet, to less than
two parts in  the  hundred.   The  solution  on cooling assumes the  form
of a jelly, which consists of pure gelatin and  water.   Isinglass  is in fact the
purest form of gelatin with which we are acquainted, and maybe used when-
ever this principle is  required as a test.  It  is insoluble in alcohol, but is
dissolved readily by most of the diluted  acids, and by solutions of the alka-
lies.  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.   Its aqueous solution speedily putrefies.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Isinglass has no peculiar  medical proper-
ties.  It  may be given internally, in the  form of jelly, as a highly nutritious
article of diet;  but  it has no advantages  over the jelly prepared  from calves-
feet.  Three drachms impart sufficient consistency to a pint  of  water.  It is
employed in the arts for clarifying liquors,  and imparting lustre to various
woven fabrics.   Added in small quantities to vegetable jellies, it gives them
a tremulous appearance, which they want when unmixed.  As  a test of tan-
nin it is used in solution, in the proportion of a drachm to ten fluidounces of
distilled  water.  It  forms  the basis of the English court-plaster.        W.

  * We have derived  the above facts in relation to American isinglass from  Mr. D. B.
Smith.  (See also a paper by this author in the Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iii. 17
and 92.)                                                     J 
part i.                         Inula.                             389
                INULA. U.S.  Secondary, Lond.

                            Elecampane.

   " The root of Inula Helenium." U. S.  "Inula Helenium. Radix." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  INULA HELENIUM. Radix. Dub.
   Aunee, Fr.; Alantwurzel, Germ.; Enula campana, Ital., Span.
   Inula.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae-Aste-
roideae, De Cand.  Asteraceaa, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Receptacle naked. Seed-down simple.  Anthers  ending in two
bristles at the base. Willd.
   Inula Helenium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2089; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 64.
t. 26. Elecampane has a perennial root, and an annual stem, which is round,
furrowed, villous, leafy, from three to six feet high, and branched near the
top.  The leaves  are large, ovate,  serrate, crowded with reticular veins,
smooth and deep green upon  the  upper  surface, downy on the under, and
furnished  with a fleshy midrib.  Those which spring directly from the  root
are petiolate, those of the stem  sessile  and embracing.   The flowers are
large, of a golden-yellow colour, and stand singly at the ends of the stem
and branches.  The calyx exhibits several  rows of imbricated ovate  scales.
The florets of the  ray are numerous, spreading, linear, and tridentate at the
apex.   The  seeds are striated, quadrangular, and furnished with a simple
somewhat chaffy pappus.
   This large and handsome plant is a native of Europe, where it is  also
cultivated for medical use.  It has been introduced  into our gardens, and
has become naturalized in some parts of  the country, growing in low* mea-
dows, and on the roadsides, from  New England to Pennsylvania. It flowers
in July and August.   The roots, which are the officinal part,  should be dug
up in autumn, and in the second  year of their growth.   When  older they
are apt to be  stringy and woody.
   The  fresh  root of elecampane is very thick and branched, having  whitish
cylindrical ramifications  which are furnished with thread-like fibres.   It is
externally brown, internally whitish and fleshy;  and the transverse sections
present radiating lines.   The dried root, as found in  the shops, is usually in
longitudinal or transverse slices,  and of a grayish colour internally.  The
smell is slightly camphorous, and,  especially in the dried root, agreeably
aromatic.   The  taste, at first glutinous and said to resemble  that of rancid
soap, becomes upon chewing, warm, aromatic, and bitter.   Its medical vir-
tues are extracted by alcohol and water, the former becoming  most strongly
impregnated with its bitterness and pungency.   A peculiar principle resem-
bling starch was -discovered in elecampane by Rose, a chemist  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 un-
changed from its solution in boiling water when the liquor  cools, and in
giving a yellowish instead of a blue colour with iodine.  It has been found
in the  roots  of  several other plants.  Besides  this  principle, elecampane
contains, according to John, a white, concrete substance, called  helenin,
intermediate in its  properties  between the  essential  oils and  camphor, and
separable  by  distillation  with  water; a  bitter  extractive, soluble in water
and alcohol; a soft, acrid, bitter resin, having an aromatic odour when heated;
gum ; albumen ; lignin ; traces of volatile oil; a little wax ; and  various saline
substances.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Elecampane is tonic and gently stimulant,
                                 34* 
390
Inula.—Iodinum.
PART .
and has been  supposed to possess diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant,  and
emmenagogue properties.  By the ancients  it was  much employed, espe-
cially in the complaints peculiar to females; and it is still occasionally resort-
ed to in cases of retained or suppressed  menstruation.  In this  country  it is
chiefly used in chronic diseases of the  lungs, and is sometimes beneficial
when the  affection of the chest is attended with  weakness of the digestive
organs,  or with general debility.  From a belief in its deobstruent and  diu-
retic virtues, it was formerly prescribed in chronic engorgements of the abdo-
minal viscera,  and the dropsy to which they so often  give rise.  It has  also
been highly recommended both as an internal and external remedy in tetter,
psora, and  other  diseases of the skin.   The usual modes of administration
are in powder and decoction.   The dose of  the former is from a scruple to
a drachm.  The decoction may be prepared by boiling half an ounce of the
root in a pint of water, and given in the dose of one or two fluidounces.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Piperis Nigri, Lond., Dub.                 W.


                         IODINUM. US.

                               Iodine.

   Off. Syn. IODINIUM. Lond., Dub.; IODINEUM. Ed.
   lode, Fr.; Iod, Germ.; iodina, Ital., Span.
   Iodine is an  elementary non-metallic  body, having many  analogies to
chlorine.   It was discovered  in 1812  by Courtois, a soda manufacturer of
Paris.   Some years after  its discovery, its  therapeutic  powers were tried;
and these having been found valuable, it has gradually come into general use,
so that at the present day it is  universally recognised as a standard remedy.
   Natural State and  Preparation.  Iodine  exists in certain marine vege-
tables, particularly the  fuci or common  sea-weeds; in the animal kingdom,
in sponge,  the oyster, various  polypi, and cod's liver oil; and, in the mineral
kingdom, in  sea-water in minute  quantity,  in certain  salt springs, united
with silver in a rare Mexican mineral, and in a zinc ore from Silesia.  It
was first discovered in  the United States in the water of the Congress Spring,
at Saratoga, by Dr. William  Usher; and afterwards in the same  water by
Dr. J. H. Steel, who ascertained it to be in the state of iodide of sodium.
(See p. 114.)   It was  also detected in small  quantity in the Kenhawa saline
waters, by the late Professor  Emmet of the University of Virginia; and it
exists in the bittern of the saltworks of western Pennsylvania, in the amount of
about eight grains to the gallon. In sea-weeds, the iodine probably exists in
the state of iodide of sodium.  In  both England and France, sea-weeds are
burned for the  sake  of their ashes ; the  product being a dark-coloured fused
mass called kelp.  This substance contains, besides  carbamate of soda and
iodide of sodium, more or less common salt, chloride of potassium, sulphate
of soda, <fec.
   Preparation.  It is from kelp that iodine is obtained, and that procured in
Great Britain  is exclusively manufactured in  Glasgow.  The  kelp, which on
an average, contains a 224th part of iodine, is lixiviated  in water, in which
about half dissolves.   The solution is concentrated to a pellicle, whereby all
the salts, except the  iodide of sodium, are almost completely separated, either
during the concentration, or the subsequent cooling, being less  soluble than
the iodide.  The remaining  liquor, which  is dense and dark-coloured, is
rendered sour by sulphuric acid, whereby carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydro-
gen and sulphurous  acid are evolved, and sulphur is  deposited.  The liquor
is now introduced into a leaden still, and distilled with a portion of deutoxide 
PART I.
Iodinum,
391
of manganese into a series of glass  receivers, inserted into one another, in
which the iodine is  condensed.  In this process  the  iodide of sodium is
decomposed, and the  iodine evolved;  and the sulphuric acid, deutoxide of
manganese, and  sodium  unite, so as to form the sulphate of protoxide of
manganese and sulphate of soda.
  Properties.  Iodine is a soft, friable,  opaque substance, in the form of
crystalline scales of a bluish-black colour  and metallic lustre.   It  possesses
a strong  and peculiar odour, somewhat resembling that of chlorine, and a
hot acrid taste.  Applied to the skin, it produces an evanescent yellow stain.
Its sp. gr. is  a little less than  5.   It is a  volatile substance, and  evaporates
even  at  common temperatures,  provided it be  in  a  moist state.  When
heated it evaporates more rapidly, and when the temperature reaches 225°,
it fuses, and  rises in a  rich purple  vapour, a property which suggested its
name.  Its vapour has the sp. gr. of 8-7, and is the heaviest aeriform sub-
stance known.   If inhaled mixed with air, it excites cough and irritates  the
nostrils.   When it comes in  contact with  cool surfaces, it condenses in
brilliant steel-gray crystals. Iodine  is soluble in 7000 times its  weight of
water, and in a much smaller quantity of alcohol or ether.  Its solution in
water has no taste, a  feeble odour, and a light brown colour; in alcohol or
ether, a  nearly black hue.  Its solubility in water  is  very much  increased
by the addition of certain salts, as the chloride of sodium, nitrate of ammonia,
or iodide  of  potassium.   In  chemical habitudes it resembles chlorine;  but
its affinities are weaker.   Its equivalent number is 126*3.   It combines with
most of the non-metallic, and  nearly all the metallic bodies, forming, when
the combination is not acid, the class of  compounds called iodides.  Some
of these, as the iodides of iron, mercury, lead, potassium, and sulphur,  are
officinal.   It forms with oxygen one oxide, and three acids, the  iodous,
iodic, and hyperiodic acids, and with hydrogen, a  gaseous acid,  analogous
in properties and constitution to the muriatic, called hydriodic or iodohydric
acid.
   Iodine  may,  in most cases, be recognised by  its  characteristic purple
vapour;  but where this  cannot be made  evident, it is detected  unerringly
by starch, which produces with it an  insoluble  combination of a deep blue
colour.  This test was discovered by Colin and Gaultier de Claubry, and,
according to.Stroraeyer,  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 in a free state, and the  solutions cold.  To ren-
der it free when it happens to  be in  combination, a  little nitric acid must be
added to the  solution  suspected to contain it.
  Adulterations.  Iodine is said to be occasionally adulterated with mine-
ral  coal,  charcoal, plumbago,  and black  oxide  of  manganese;  but neither
Dr. Pereira nor  Dr. Christison has found  any of these substances in samples
of iodine  which they have examined.  They  are  easily detected by their
fixed nature,  while pure iodine is wholly vaporizable, or by their insolubility
in alcohol.   An  impurity which is almost  always present in  commercial
iodine is  water.   Several years ago  Dr.  Christison called attention to this
fact, and  until within a recent  period he had  not met with any British iodine
which did not contain from fifteen to  twenty per cent, of moisture.   This
impurity is of consequence, as it interferes with uniformity in  the iodine
preparations.  If considerable, it is  easily detected  by the iodine adhering
to the inside  of the bottle.  The Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia 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  clear solution with a certain
proportion of quicklime.   Accordingly, an  amount  of quicklime is directed 
392
Iodinum.
PART I.
which is not  quite sufficient to  form a colourless solution with iodine con-
taining two per cent, of impurity; and, hence, if the sample  contain more
impurity, the lime is competent to produce this effect.   With this explana-
tion,  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  perfect
solution, which is yellowish or brownish if the iodine be pure,  but colourless
if there be above two per cent, of water or  other impurity."
  The Edinburgh College, in view of the almost uniform presence of water
in commercial iodine, and of its  consequent unfitness " for making pharma-
ceutical preparations  of uniform  strength,"  directs it to " be dried by being
placed in a shallow basin  of earthenware, in a small confined space of air,
with  ten or  twelve  times its weight of  fresh-burnt  lime, till it scarcely
adheres to the inside of a dry bottle."
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Iodine was first employed as a medicine
in 1820, for the cure  of goitre, by Dr.  Coindet, Senior, of Geneva.  It
operates as  a general excitant  of the  living actions, but  particularly of the
absorbent and glandular systems.  Its special actions 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 is deemed capable of acting
as a  corrosive, irritant, desiccant, tonic, diuretic, diaphoretic,  and emmena-
gogue.   It probably  acts by entering into the circulation; at least it has been
proved  by  Dr.  A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, that  it enters a number of the
secretions, particularly the urine and  saliva, not, as he believes, in  an un-
combined state, but in that of hydriodic acid.  Cantu detected it not only in
the urine and saliva,  but also in  the  sweat, milk, and blood, and always as
hydriodic acid or an  iodide.   Its tonic operation  is evinced by its strength-
ening the digestive organs, and increasing  the appetite, which are the most
constant effects of its  use.   Salivation is  occasionally produced by it, and
sometimes soreness of  mouth only.   In some cases, pustular  eruptions  and
coryza have been produced; effects  most apt to occur when  the remedy is
given in the form of iodide of  potassium.   When taken in an overdose it
acts as an irritant poison.   In doses  of two drachms, administered to dogs,
it produced irritation of  the stomach, and death in seven days;  and the
stomach on  dissection was found studded with numerous little-ulcers of a
yellow colour.   In the dose of  from  four to six grains in man, it produces a
sense of constriction in the throat, sickness and pain at the stomach, and at
length vomiting and colic.   These  facts demonstrate the activity of iodine,
and show the necessity of caution in  its exhibition.   Even when given in
medicinal doses, especially if these  be rather large, it sometimes produces
dangerous symptoms;  such  as restlessness, palpitation, a sense of burning
along the gullet, excessive thirst, acute pain in the  stomach, vomiting and
purging, violent cramps, rapid and extreme emaciation, and frequent pulse.
The  condition of the system, in which the poisonous effects of iodine are
developed, is called ioclism.   Though it may be produced by incautious doses
of the medicine, too long continued, still it must be admitted that it some-
times arises,  under  other circumstances,  from causes not well explained.
On the  other hand, large doses  have been given for a long time with  per-
fect impunity.   This variable operation of iodine may in some measure be
accounted for  by the variable  condition of the  stomach, and the more or
less amylaceous character of the food; starch having the power of uniting
with  iodine and rendering it mild.   Upon the appearance  of the first  symp-
toms  of fever  or general nervous disturbance, indicating the approach of
iodism, the remedy should be instantly laid aside.  Dr. Lugol, of Paris,  who 
PART I.
Iodinum.
393
has used iodine more  methodically than  any other practitioner, has  never
observed these alarming effects to arise from the remedy, given in the small
doses and in the state of dilution  in which he is in the habit of prescribing it.
He has not found it to  cause emaciation, haemoptysis, pulmonary tubercles,
or other bad effects.   On the contrary,  in the hospital  of St. Louis, the
theatre  of his extensive  trials of the  remedy in scrofulous diseases,  many
of the patients gained flesh and improved in general health.
   Notwithstanding this testimony, we have indubitable evidence that rapid
emaciation is occasionally produced  by  iodine ;  and a long course  of the
remedy, as  when  administered for the cure of bronchocele,  has  in some
instances produced absorption of the mammae.  The wasting of the testicles,
under similar circumstances, is comparatively rare.  Dr. R. Coates, of this
city, reports  a case in the Medical Examiner, of the complete  absorption of
the female  breast from  iodine ;  but  the  mammae  recovered  their original
development after  the lapse of a  year.
   Iodine has been principally employed in diseases of the absorbent and
glandular systems.  In ascites it has been used with success by Dr. Baron.
It is said not to act efficaciously  while the abdomen is tense, and the absorb-
ents consequently  compressed, but operates after this condition  is removed
by tapping.   Dr. Bardsley recommends it  in that form of ascites  which is
connected  with diseased liver.  It  has  been  used successfully by some
British practitioners  in ovarian tumours, but failed  in  the  hands of others.
In glandular enlargements and morbid growths, its use has  proved more
efficacious  than, perhaps, in  any other class of diseases.   Dr. Coindet dis-
covered its  extraordinary power in  promoting the  absorption of the thy-
roid gland in bronchocele; and it has  been used with more or less success in
enlargements of the  liver, spleen, mammae, testes, and uterus. When used in
bronchocele, its good effects are commonly shown in three weeks, but often
not until the treatment has been continued for a longer time.   In induration
and enlargement of  the liver, where  mercury has  failed or is  inadmissible,
iodine forms our best resource.  In chronic diseases of the uterus, attended
with  induration and enlargement, and in  hard  tumours of the cervix,  and
indurated puckerings of the edges of the  os tincae, iodine has occasionally
effected a cure, administered internally, and rubbed into  the  cervix  in the
form  of ointment  for ten or twelve minutes every  night.  The emmena-
gogue power of iodine has  been noticed  by several practitioners ; and Dr.
Lugol mentions instances, among his  scrofulous patients, in which it cured
obstructed  and painful menstruation.   It  has been recommended in gleet,
and  also in  gonorrhoea and  leucorrhoea, after the inflammatory symptoms
have  subsided.   In pseudo-syphilis  and  cachexy arising from the  abuse
of mercury,  it  is one of our best  remedies; but to the  treatment of these
cases iodide of potassium is considered to be best suited.  (See Potassii
Iodidum.)   In chronic rheumatism it  is a  favourite remedy with some, par-
ticularly in the form of iodide of potassium ; and  by Gendrin  it  has been
employed in the  acute forms of gout, with the effect, as he supposed, of
cutting short the fits.  Dr. Manson, of Nottingham, England, in his work
published in 1825, on  the medical effects of iodine, has recorded  cases of
its efficacy in several nervous diseases, such as chorea and paralysis.   In
various scaly cutaneous diseases, the  internal and external use  of the pre-
parations of iodine is very much relied on.
   It  is in scrofulous diseases that  the  most interesting  results have been
obtained by the use of iodine.  Dr. Coindet first directed public attention to
its effects in scrofula, and Dr. Manson reported  a number of cases  of this
disease in the form of enlarged glands, ulcers, and ophthalmia, occurring in 
394
Iodinum.
PART I.
his practice between 1S21 and 1824, in a large  proportion of which the dis-
ease was either cured or meliorated, and the general  health much improved.
But we are indebted to  Dr. Lugol for the  most extended  and valuable re-
searches in relation to  the use of iodine in the different forms of  scrofula.
This physician began his trials with the remedy in the hospital Saint Louis
in 1827, and made known  his results in three Memoirs  published  in 1829,
1830, and 1831. These memoirs give the detail of a success which would stag-
ger belief,  were not the results substantiated by committees of distinguished
physicians  of the French  Royal Academy of Sciences.   The  scrofulous
affections in which  Dr. Lugol succeeded  by  the administration of iodine
were  glandular tubercles,  especially of the neck, ophthalmia, ozaena, noli
me tangere (dartre rongeante scrophuleuse), and fistulous and carious ulcers.
He also obtained  favourable results in some  cases of scrofulous  syphilis by
the use of  the iodide of mercury.   In connexion with Dr. Lugol's results in
scrofulous  affections, it may be proper to mention  that Dr. Manson derived
benefit from the use of iodine in white swelling, hip-joint  disease,  and  dis-
tortions of the spine, diseases generally admitted to be more or less depend-
ent on the  scrofulous taint.
   Iodine is employed both internally and externally.   Internally  it is some-
times used in the form of tincture; but Dr. Lugol objects to this preparation
as of unequal strength, and as being liable  to have  the  iodine precipitated
by water on the surface of the stomach, where it is  apt to produce too  irri-
tating an action. (See Tinctura lodini Composita.)  This  physician prefers
a mixed solution  of iodine and iodide of potassium  in distilled water.  He
employs three strengths, namely, three-fourths of a  grain, one grain, and a
grain and a quarter of iodine to half a pint of distilled water ; the quantity of
iodide  of potassium being in each solution double the quantity of the iodine.*
These  solutions  are permanent, perfectly  transparent,  and of  an orange
colour.  The London College has imitated this combination in a new officinal
formula. (See Liquor  Potassii Iodidi Compositus.)   The mode of admin-
istration employed by Dr. Lugol  for his solutions, is  to give two-thirds of
the weakest solution, or half  a grain of iodine daily  for  the first fortnight;
the weakest solution entire for the second and third  fortnight;  the  medium
solution during the fourth and fifth fortnight; and lastly, in some cases, the
strongest  solution for  the remainder of the treatment.   In the majority of
cases, however, he had not occasion to resort to the strongest solution.   He
gives  half the  daily quantity  in the  morning fasting, and the other half, an
hour before dinner ; each portion being slightly sweetened at the  moment of
taking it.   For the convenience of making  the weak iodine  solution, or of
administering  the remedy by drops,  Dr.  Lugol  prepares a  concentrated
solution, consisting of  a scruple of  iodine  and two scruples  of iodide of
potassium  dissolved in  seven fluidrachms of water.t   Of this solution the
dose is six  drops twice a day, (in the  morning fasting, and an hour before
dinner,) in  a glass of sweetened  water, gradually increasing weekly by two
drops  at a time,  until the  dose  reaches to thirty or thirty-six  drops.  For
children under seven  years, the dose is two drops  twice a day, gradually
increased to five.   This solution has been  made officinal in the  last edition
of the United States  Pharmacopoeia.  (See Liquor lodini Compositus.)  It

  * In the  original Memoir of Dr. Lugol, the grains are French, and the quantity of
water eight French ounces ; but to facilitate prescription we have supposed them English
grains, and have substituted half a pint for the eight French  ounces of water ; changes
which will not make the solutions  materially stronger.
  t In the original it is seven ounces;  but from the context of the author, this is evidently
a misprint for seven drachms. 
PART I.
Iodinum.
395
will be observed that these doses are considerably smaller than those usually
employed by Dr. Coindet.
  The external treatment by iodine may be divided into  local and general.
By its use in this way it does not merely create a topical effect on the skin;
but by its absorption  produces  its  peculiar constitutional  impression.   Dr.
Lugol has given a number of formulae for preparations for the local use of
iodine, a short account of which may be usefully  inserted here.  His iodine
ointment varies  in strength from six to twelve grains of iodine, mixed with
from two  to four scruples of iodide of potassium, to the ounce of lard.   (See
Unguentum lodini Compositum.)  It has a mahogany colour, and is  em-
ployed in frictions to scrofulous tumours, and as a dressing to  scrofulous
ulcers.  The ointment of protiodide of mercury which he recommends, con-
sists of from one to two scruples of the mercurial  iodide to an ounce of lard.
(See Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi.)   Its proper colour is canary yellow;
but occasionally it has a decided greenish tint,  derived from the presence of
protoxide of mercury, or an orange colour, when it contains the biniodide.
This  ointment,  which has  the advantage of producing very little pain, is
used by Dr. Lugol in noli me tangere, and in scrofulous ulcers which  have
a syphilitic  aspect.  The ointment of biniodide of mercury,  which is much
more  powerful, has also been used with apparent advantage in similar cases.
(See Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi.)  Dr. Lugol's iodine lotion  con-
sists of from  two to four grains of iodine to  a  pint of distilled water, the
solution being rendered complete by the addition of double  the quantity of
iodide of potassium.   This is  used by injection, principally in  scrofulous
ophthalmia, ozaena, and fistulous ulcers.  His rubefacient solution is formed
by dissolving half an  ounce of iodine and an ounce of iodide of potassium in
six fluidounces of distilled water.   This  is useful for exciting  scrofulous
ulcers, for touching the eyelids, and as an application  to recent  scrofulous
cicatrices, to render them smooth and less prominent.   A certain quantity of
the rubefacient solution added to warm water, makes a convenient  local  bath
for the arms, legs, feet, or  hands; and mixed  with linseed  meal, or some
similar substance, it forms a cataplasm, useful in  particular cases,  especially
where the object is to promote the falling off of scabs.   The only remaining
preparation  for local use is what Dr. Lugol calls iodine caustic.  It consists
of iodine and iodide of potassium, each an ounce, dissolved  in two ounces
of distilled water, and is used to stimulate or destroy soft and  fungous granu-
lations.    Its employment in this way has been  attended  with particularly
good  effects in noli me tangere.
   The  external application of  iodine, when  general, consists in the use
of iodine baths, a mode  of applying the remedy  which  originated with
Dr. Lugol.   This mode is  considered very valuable by this  physician, on
account of the great extent of the skin, which furnishes the means of intro-
ducing  a considerable  quantity of iodine into the circulation without de-
ranging the digestive functions, an object of great importance,  where the
medicine  produces irritation of the stomach.  The iodine bath  for adults,
according to  the formula  of Dr.  Lugol, should  contain  from two to  four
drachms of iodine, with double that  quantity of iodide of potassium, dissolved
in water, in a wooden bath tub, the proportion  of the water being about a
gallon for every three grains of iodine employed.  The  quantity of  ingre
dients for the baths of children is  one-third as  much as for adults, but dis-
solved in about  the same  proportional quantity of water.   The quantity of
iodine and iodide for  a bath being determined on, it is best to dissolve them
in a small quantity of water, (half a pint for example,) before they are added
to the water of the bath; as this mode of proceeding facilitates their thorough 
396                           Iodinum.                        part i.

diffusion.  In the composition of these baths, the iodide of  potassium is
used by Dr. Lugol merely to promote the solubility of the iodine, and  not
as  a  medicinal  agent;  as,  upon trial, a bath containing the iodide alone
proved nearly inert.
  The iodine baths, which may be directed  three or four times  a  week,
usually produce  a slight rubefacient effect; but, occasionally, a stronger im-
pression, causing the epidermis to peel off, particularly of the arms and legs.
The skin at the  same time contracts a deep yellow tinge, which usually dis-
appears in the interval between the baths.
  Iodine has been used as a local application in erysipelas and chilblains.
In these cases the tincture is recommended, brushed over and a little beyond
the seat of inflammation,  by means of a camel's hair pencil.   The efficacy
of the remedy in the former disease has been confirmed in two cases by Dr.
Robert Burns, of Frankford, Pa.  (Med. Exam., iv. 709.)  We have tried
it in one case  with the effect of apparently cutting short the disease; but its
application produced  very severe pain, and we  regretted that we had used
the tincture  undiluted.  In cutaneous scrofula, the tincture has been  found
beneficial by  Dr. Pereira, applied in  the same  way, having  the effect of
drying up the  discharge and  promoting cicatrization.  The  same topical
application has been found useful in various scaly cutaneous diseases, such as
lepra, psoriasis,  &c.
  Sir Charles Scudamore, Sir James Murray, and Dr. Corrigan have  re-
commended the  inhalation of iodine  vapour in  phthisis.   The plan of Sir
Charles is to inhale from a glass inhaler for ten minutes, two or three times
a day, a small portion of a solution of ioduretted iodide of potassium, mixed
with a saturated  tincture  of conium.   The  ioduretted solution  is made  by
dissolving six grains, each, of iodine and iodide of potassium, in five ounces
and three-quarters of distilled water and a quarter of  an  ounce of alcohol.
The dose for each inhalation  is  from half a drachm to  a drachm of the
iodine  solution,  gradually increased,  with half  a  drachm of the  tincture,
added to  a portion of  water of the temperature of 120°, nearly sufficient to
half fill the inhaler.   We have no disposition to discourage the trial of new
methods  of treatment in  phthisis by regular  practitioners; but  we cannot
conceive of this  inhaling treatment having any other than a palliative effect.
  Since the publication  of Dr.  Lugol's memoirs, detailing his  success with
iodine in the treatment of scrofulous affections, his practice has been imitated
and  extended by several  practitioners, and generally with encouraging  re-
sults.  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, the
iodine  treatment 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 opiate  preparations with
the iodine.  In the case of ophthalmia which he treated, the collyrium em-
ployed consisted of tincture of iodine thirty drops, laudanum thirty-six drops,
to four fluidounces of distilled water.  When the  local  application of  the
iodine  created much pain or rubefaction, he found advantage from combining
extract of opium with it.   A plaster which proved efficacious as an appli-
cation to an enlarged parotid, in one of his  cases, consisted of lead plaster
(diachylon) and  iodide of potassium, each, four parts; iodine  and extract of
opium,  each,  three parts.  In confirmation of Dr. Bermond's  views,  M.
Lemasson, one of the house pupils of  the hospital St. Louis,  has published
a number of cases, proving the efficacy of a combination of iodine and opium 
PART I.
Iodinum.
397
 in the local  treatment of  scrofulous ulcerations.   He concludes  from his
 experience that the union of opiate  preparations with iodine imparts to the
 latter, in many cases, new and valuable  powers.  One of the combinations
 which he employed consisted offifteen grains of iodine, a drachm of iodide
 of potassium, and two drachms of Rousseau's  laudanum, made up into an
 ointment with two ounces of fresh lard.
   The protiodide and biniodide of mercury, besides being used in the form
 of ointment as already mentioned,  are employed internally, especially in the
 treatment of scrofulous syphilis.   They are  both recognised as officinal in
 the different  Pharmacopoeias.  (See Hydrargyri Iodidum, and  Hydrargyri
 Iodidum Rubrum.)   For the  iodides of iron, lead, potassium,  and sulphur,
 see Ferri Iodidum, Plumbi  Iodidum,  Potassii Iodidum, and Sulphuris
 Iodidum.
   The results obtained by Dr. Lugol and others in the treatment of scrofu-
 lous diseases  by  the iodine preparations are  so diversified, as to leave  no
 doubt of their superiority over all other  remedies in the same class of affec-
 tions.  A considerable number  of practitioners in  the United States  have
 employed them in the same  diseases with encouraging success; but at the
 same time, there has been a number of failures.  To judge fairly, however,
 of Dr. Lugol's results, it  is not sufficient for our practitioners to give  iodine;
 but they should use it in the  peculiar manner, and with  the observance of
 all the rules, which are so fully laid down in the published memoirs of that
 physician.  Reasoning on the  subject, we can readily conceive that a dilute
 aqueous solution  of iodine may act differently from the tincture;  and that
 a therapeutical agent  may  be  introduced gradually and imperceptibly into
 the  current of the circulation  in one form of administration,  and  thus  be
 capable of producing important alterative effects; while in another, it may
 create irritation and even  ulceration of the stomach without being absorbed,
 and thus prove mischievous. A case in point is furnished by mineral waters,
 which, though generally  containing a minute  portion of saline matter, often
 produce remedial effects which cannot  be obtained  by their  constituents
 given in larger doses.                 *
   The views  here presented are supported and extended by the observations
 and experiments of Dr. A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, who contends that iodine
 is divested of its irritant qualities in certain states of combination, in  which
 it may be given in large doses without risk, and with the effect of pervading
 nearly all the  secretions, and, under certain circumstances, even the  blood.
 The combinations which he prefers, enumerated in the order of their relative
 efficacy, are iodide of starch, hydriodic  acid, and iodide of potassium, the
 first and last of which he supposes to act  as  hydriodic acid, the iodine in
 them being, agreeably to  bis view, converted into that acid in the  stomach
 and  bowels. (See. Potassii Iodidum in  Part II., and  hydriodic acid  and
 iodide of starch in the Appendix.*)
   The following is a list of all the officinal preparations of  iodine, contained
 in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias.
   Iodine is officinal:—
       I. In solution in alcohol.
           Tinctura lodini, U. S.;  Tinctura Iodinei, Ed.;  lodinii Tinctura.
                   Dub.

  * For further details the reader is referred to the work of Dr. Lugol, " Sur 1'Emploi de
Plode dans les Maladies Scrofuleuses," or its Translation, with valuable additions, by Dr.
O'Shaughnessy,  formerly of London, now  of Calcutta.  For notices of the iodides of
ammonium and zinc, and of the iodohydrargyrate of potassium, see Appendix.
     35 
398
Iodinum.—Ipecacuanha.
PART I.
    II. In solution in alcohol with iodide of. potassium.
           Tinctura lodini Composita, U.S.; Tinctura Iodinii Composita,
                 Lond.
   III. In the form of ointment.
           Unguentum lodini, U. S.; Unguentum Iodinii, Dub.
   IV. In the form of ointment with iodide of potassium.
           Unguentum  lodini  Compositum,  U. S.;  Unguentum Iodinii
                 Compositum, Lond.; Unguentum Iodinei, Ed.
    V. In solution in water with iodide of potassium.
           Liquor lodini Compositus, U. S.; Iodinei  Liquor Compositus,
                 Ed.
           Liquor Potassii Iodidi Compositus, Lond.
   VI. Combined with sulphur.
           Sulphuris Iodidum,  U. S.
  VII. In sAline combination.
           Ferri Iodidum, U.S.,  Lond., Ed.
             Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed.
             Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S.
           Hydrargyri Iodidum,  U. S., Lond.
             Pilulae Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.
           Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U. S.;  Hydrargyri Biniodidum,
                 Lond., Ed.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi, Lond.
           Plumbi Iodidum, Lond., Ed.
             Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond.
           Potassii Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Potassae Hydriodas, Dub.
             Unguentum Potassa? Hydriodatis, Dub.               B.


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

                           Ipecacuanha.

  " The root of Cephaelis Ipecacuanha." U. S., Ed.   " Cephaelis Ipecacu-
anha.  Radix." Lond.
  Off. Syn.   CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. Radix. Dub.
  Ipecacuanha, Fr.; Brechwurzel, Ipecacuanha, Germ.; Ipecacuana, Ital, Span. .
  The term ipecacuanha, derived from the language  of the aborigines of
Brazil, has  been applied  to various emetic roots of South American origin.
The British Colleges and our  national Pharmacopoeia recognise only that
of the Cephaelis Ipecacuanha;  and no other  is known by the name in the
shops of  this country.   Our chief  attention will, therefore, be confined to
this root, and the plant which yields it; but as others are employed in South
America, are occasionally exported, and may possibly reach our markets
mingled with the  genuine drug, we shall,  in a note, give a succinct account
of those which have attracted most notice.
   The botanical.character of the plant which yields  genuine ipecacuanha
was long unknown.  Pison and Marcgrav, who  were the first to treat of
this medicine, in their  work on  the natural history of Brazil, published at
Amsterdam, A.D. 1648, describe in  general terms two plants; one producing
a whitish root, distinguished by the name of white ipecacuanha, the other, a
brown root which answers in their description precisely to the officinal drug.
 But their account was not sufficiently definite to  enable botanists to decide
 upon the character of the plants; and much uncertainty existed on the sub- 
part i.                      Ipecacuanha.                         399

ject.  The medicine was generally thought to be  derived from a species of
Viola, which Linnaeus designated by the title  of V. Ipecacuanha.   Opinion
afterwards turned in favour  of a plant sent to  Linnaeus  by the  celebrated
Mutis from New Granada, as affording the  ipecacuanha of that country and
of Peru.  This was described in the  Supplementum of  the  younger Lin-
naeus, A. D.  1781,  under the name of Psycholria  emetica, and  was long
erroneously considered as the source of the true ipecacuanha.   Dr. Gomez,
of Lisbon, was the first who accurately described and figured the genuine
plant, which he had seen in Brazil, and specimens  of which he  took with
him to Portugal; but Brotero, professor of botany at Coimbra, with whom he
had left specimens, having drawn up a description, and had it inserted with
a figure in the Linnean  Transactions,  without acknowledgment, enjoyed for
a time the credit due to his  fellow countryman.  In the paper  of Brotero
the plant is named Callicocca Ipecacuanha; but the  term  Callicocca, having
been  applied by Schreber,  without sufficient reason, to a genus  previously
established and named,  has been universally abandoned by botanists for the
Cephaelis of  Swartz; though this, also, it appears, is a usurpation upon the
previous rights of  Aublet.
   Cephaelis.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord.  Rubiaceae,
Juss. Cinchonaceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Flowers in an  involucred head. Corolla tubular. Stigma two-
parted.  Berry two-seeded.  Receptacle chaffy. Willd.
   Cephaelis Ipecacuanha. Richard, Hist. Ipecac, p.  21. t. i.; Martius,  Spec.
Mat. Med. Brazil, p. 4. t.  i.; Curtis's Bot. Mag. N. S. vol. xvii. pi. 4063,
A.  D. 1844.—Callicocca Ipecacuanha.  Brotero, Linn.  Trans,  vi.  137.
This  is a small shrubby plant, with a root from four to six inches  long,
about as thick as a  goose-quill, marked with annular .rugae, simple or some-
what 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, 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 base  of each pair of  leaves are deciduous stip-
ules,  embracing the stem, membranous at .their 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 bead,  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.
   Tbe  plant is a  native of Brazil, flourishing in moist, thick,  and  shady
woods,  and abounding most within the limits of the eighth and twentieth
degrees of south latitude.  According  to Humboldt, it grows also in  New
Granada.   It flowers  in January and February, and ripens  its fruit in May.
The root is usually  collected during the period of flowering, though equally
good at other seasons.  By this  practice the plant is speedily extirpated in
places where it is most  eagerly sought.  Were  the seeds allowed to ripen,
it would propagate  itself rapidly and thus maintain a constant supply.   The
root is collected chiefly  by the Indians, who prepare  it by separating it from 
400
Ipecacuanha.
PART I.
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.   The  chief
places of export are Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco.  It is brought to
the United States in large bags or bales.
   Genuine ipecacuanha is in pieces two or three lines in thickness, variously
bent and contorted, simple  or  branched,  consisting of an interior slender,
light  straw-coloured, ligneous cord, with a thick cortical covering, which
presents on its surface a succession  of circular,  unequal, prominent rings or
rugae, 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 in
the French  works  on Pharmacy.   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  sepa-
rated before pulverization.   Pereira has  met, in the  English market, with
distinct bales composed of  these fragments of stems,  with occasionally por-
tions  of the root attached.  Much stress has  been laid in works on the
materia medica upon the colour of  the external surface of the ipecacuanha
root, and diversity in this respect has  even led  to the formation  of distinct
varieties.   Thus the epidermis  is sometimes deep brown or even blackish,
sometimes reddish-brown or reddish-gray, and sometimes light-gray or ash-
coloured.  Hence  the distinction 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 dif-
ference in age, or place of growth, or  mode of  desiccation.  The colours in
fact are often so intermingled, that it would be impossible  to decide in which
variety a particular  specimen should  be  placed.  The brown is the  most
abundant in the  packages which reach our market.   The red, besides the
colour of its epidermis,  presents a rosy tint when broken, and is said  to be
somewhat more bitter than  the preceding variety.  The gray is much lighter
coloured externally, usually rather larger,  with less  prominent rings and
wider  fissures,  and is still  more decidedly bitter.   We  have seen, in this
market, bales of gray ipecacuanha, with very imperfectly developed rings,
which were said to have come from Caracas.  At  present, however, this is
very rare, if to  be  found at all.   When the bark in either  variety is opaque,
with a dull amylaceous aspect, the root is  less active as a  medicine.  As the
woody part is nearly inert, and much more difficult  of  pulverization than
the cortical, it  often  happens that,  when  a  particular  parcel of the root is
powdered,  the portion which remains  last  in the mortar  possesses scarcely
any emetic power;  and care should be taken to provide  against any defect
from this cause.   The colour of the powder is a light grayish-fawn.
   Ipecacuanha  has little smell  in  the aggregate state, but when powdered
has a peculiar nauseous odour, which  in some persons excites  violent sneez-
ing, in others dyspnoea resembling an attack of asthma.   The taste is bitter,
acrid, and very nauseous.    Water  and alcohol  extract its  virtues, which are
injured by decoction.   Its emetic property resides  in  a peculiar  alkaline
principle called emetin, or  more  properly emetia, discovered by Pelletier in
the year 1817.  The cortical portion of the brown  ipecacuanha, analyzed
by this chemist under the erroneous name of Psychotria emetica, yielded
in the hundred  parts, 16 of an impure salt of emetia,  which was  at first con-
sidered 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 
PART I.
Ipecacuanha.
401
was found  to, contain  only 1-15  per cent,  of the impure emetia.   M.  A.
Richard obtained, from the cortical  part, the same proportion of emetia as
found by Pelletier, but detected some principles not noticed by that chemist,
among  which were traces of gallic acid.   The bark of the red ipecacuanha
was found by Pelletier to contain but fourteen per cent, of the impure emetia.
The gray variety has not been analyzed.  One hundred parts of good ipeca-
cuanha  contain about 80 of cortical and 20 of ligneous matter.
  Emetia when perfectly pure is whitish, inodorous, slightly bitter, pulveru-
lent, unalterable  in the air, very fusible, sparingly soluble in cold water and
ether, more soluble in  hot water, and very soluble-in alcohol; is hot 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  con-
tains nitrogen among its  ingredients.   It  is, however, very difficult to  pro-
cure it  in this  state of purity, and  the proportion 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 Co-
dex  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 matter, 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  separate  the  acid, the  watery solution is treated  with
carbonate of  magnesia,  filtered, and then evaporated.   If pure  emetia is
required, magnesia is used instead of the carbonate.  The salt is thus decom-
posed,  and  the organic alkali, being insoluble, is precipitated" with the excess
of the  earth.  The  precipitate  is washed with  cold water, and digested in
alcohol, which dissolves the emetia; the alcoholic  solution is then evaporated,
the residue  redissolved in a dilute  acid, and the alkali again precipitated  by a
salifiable  base.   To deprive it of colour it  is necessary to employ animal
charcoal.  Berzelius has obtained emetia by treating the powdered root  with
very dilute  sulphuric acid, precipitating  With magnesia, and treating the pre-
cipitate 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 em.etid roots derived from America.
Several of these.are stHl occasionally met with, and retain the name originally applied to
them.  The two most worthy of notice are the ipecacuanha of New Granada and Peru, '
and the  white ipecacuanha of Brazil.  Oh each of these we shall offer a few remarks.
  1.  Peruvian Ipecacuanha,   Striated Ipecacuanha. Black Ipecacuanha.—-This is the
root of the Psychotria emetica, formerly supposed to produce the genuine Brazilian ipe-
cacuanha.  The plant, like the Cephaelis, belongs to the  class and order  Pentandria Mo-
nogynia, and to the natural order Riibiacese.of Jussieu, ■  A description of it sent by ,\Tntis
was published by Linnams the younger in hjs  supplement.  It has since  been described
in the Plant. Mquin. 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  Med'ical 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
6tipules.  The flowers are small, white, and supported in small clusters towards the erid
of an axillary peduncle.   The plant flourishes in Peru and New Granada, and was Been
                                   35* 
402
Ipecacuanha.
PART I.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Ipecacuanha is in  large doses emetic, in
smaller, diaphoretic and expectorant, and in  still  smaller, stimulant to the
stomach, exciting  appetite and facilitating digestion.   In quantities insuffi-
cient to vomit, it produces nausea and frequently acts upon the bowels.  As
an emetic it is mild but tolerably  certain in its operation, and, being usually
thrown from the stomach by one  or two efforts, is  less  apt to produce dan-

by Humboldt and Bonpland growing in abundance near the river Magdalena.  The dried
root  is said to be exported from Carthagena.
   It is cylindrical, somewhat thicker than the  root of the Cephaelis, usually simple, but
sometimes  branched, not much contorted, wrinkled longitudinally, presenting here and
there deep circular  intersections, but without  the annular rugae of the true ipecacuanha.
The longitudinal direction of the wrinkles has given origin to the name of striated ipe.
cacuanha, by which it is known in French Pharmacy.   It consists of an internal woody
cord and an external  cortical  portion; but the former is usually larger  in proportion to
the latter than in the root of the Cephaelis.  The bark is soft and  easily cut with a knife,
and  when broken exhibits a brown slightly resinous fracture.  The epidermis is of a dull
reddish-gray colour,  which darkens with  age and  exposure, and ultimately becomes
almost black.  Hence the root has sometimes been called black ipecacuanha.  The ligne-
ous portion is  yellowish, and perforated with  numerous small holes visible  by  the micro-
scope.  The Peruvian ipecacuanha is nearly inodorous, and  has a flat taste, neither bitter
nor acrid.  Out of 100 parts Pelletier obtained 9 of impure  emetia, 12 of fatty matter,
with an abundance  of starch,  besides gum and lignin.  The  dose, as an emetic, is from
two  scruples to a drachm.
   2.  White  Ipecacuanha.   Amylaceous  Ipecacuanha.   Undulated  Ipecacuanha.—This
variety was noticed in the work of Pison, but the vegetable which  produced  it was not
satisfactorily ascertained till a recent date.   Gomez, indeed, in  the memoir which lie
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
lias been obtained ; and the white ipecacuanha is now confidently referred to different
species of Richardsonia, the Richardia  of Linnaeus.  The R. scabra, or R. Braziliensis
of Gomez, and the R. emetica  are particularly indicated by Martius.  For the root usually
called white ipecacuanha, Guibourt has  proposed the  name of undulated ipecacuanha,
derived from the peculiar character of the surface, which presents indentations or con-
cavities 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 frac-
ture, 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 ipecacuanha;
but  we have discovered none in the bales which we have examined.
   According to Martius, different species of Ionidium (Viola, Linn.) produce also whatia
called white ipecacuanha.  The  roots of all  the species  of Ionidium possess emetic or
purgative properties,  and some of them have been  reported  to be equal to the genuine
ipecacuanha.  The root of the I. Ipecacuanha is described by Guibourt as being six or
seven inches long, as thick as a quill, somewhat tortuous, and exhibiting at the points of
flexion semicircular fissures, which give it some resemblance  to the  root of the Cephaelis.
It is often  bifurcated at both extremities, and  terminates at top in a great number of small
ligneous stalks.  It is wrinkled longitudinally, and of a light yellowish-gray colour. The
bark is thin, and the interior ligneous  portion very thick.   The root has  little taste or
smell.  According to Pelletier, it contains  in 100 parts 5  of an  emetic substance, 35 of
 gum, 1 of azotized matter, and 37 of lignin. (Hist. Abreg. des Drogues Simples, i. 514.)
   The root.of a species of Ionidium growing in  Quito has attracted some attention as a
 remedy in elephantiasis, under the South American name  of cuichunchulli.  The plant,
 being considered an undescribed species by Dr. Bancroft, was named by  him I.Marcucci;
 but Sir W. Hooker found the specimen, received from Dr. Bancroft, to  be identical with
 the J. parviflorum of Ventenat.   Lindley thinks a specimen  he  received under the same
 name from Quito, to be the /. microphyllum  of Humboldt.   If useful in elephantiasis, it
 is so probably by its emeto-purgativo action.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  vii. 186.)*
   *  See a paper on ipecacuanha by R. E. Griffith, M. D., in the Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., Vol.
 3. p. 181, tor a more extended account of the roots which have been used under the name of ipecacuanha. 
part i.                      Ipecacuanha.                         403

gerous effects when taken in an overdose than some other substances of the
same class.  It is also recommended  by the absence  of corrosive and nar-
cotic properties.
   It was employed as an emetic by the natives of Brazil, when that country
was first settled by the Portuguese; but, though described in the work of
Pison, it was  not known in Europe  till the year 1672, and  did  not come
into use till some years afterwards.   John Helvetius, grandfather of the
celebrated author of that name, having been associated with a merchant who
had imported a  large quantity of ipecacuanha  into Paris, employed it as a
secret remedy,  and  with so much success in  dysentery and other bowel
affections, that general attention was attracted to it; and the fortunate physi-
cian received from Louis XIV a large  sum of money, and public honours, on
the sole condition that he should make the remedy public.  From this period
it has  maintained its standing among the most useful articles of the materia
medica.
   As an emetic it is peculiarly adapted by its mildness  and efficiency  to all
cases in which the  object  is  merely to evacuate the stomach, or a gentle
impression only is desired; and in most other cases  in which emetics are
indicated, it may be advantageously combined with the more energetic medi-
cines, the action of  which it renders safer by insuring their discharge.  It is
especially useful where narcotic poisons have been swallowed, as under
these circumstances  it may be given  in almost indefinite doses, with little
comparative risk of injury to  the  patient.  In dysentery it has been sup-
posed to exercise peculiar powers ;  but is at present less used than formerly
in doses sufficient to excite  vomiting.   As a nauseating remedy it is used in
asthma, hooping cough,  and the  hemorrhages; as a diaphoretic, combined
with opium, in a wide circle of diseases.  (See Pulvis Ipecacuanhse et Opii.)
Its expectorant properties render it beneficial in catarrhal and other pulmonary
affections.  It has been given also, with  supposed advantage, in very minute
doses, in dyspeptic cases,  and in chronic disease of the  gastro-intestinal
mucous membrane.
   Ipecacuanha  is most conveniently administered as an  emetic in the form
of powder suspended in water.  The dose is about twenty grains, repeated if
necessary at intervals of twenty minutes till it operates.  In some individuals
much smaller quantities prove emetic,  and we know one person who is gene-
rally vomited by the fraction of a grain.  The operation of the  medicine may
be facilitated, and rendered  milder, by copious  draughts of warm water, or
warm chamomile tea.  An infusion in boiling water, in the proportion of two
drachms of the powder to six fluidounces of menstruum, maybe given in the
dose of a fluidounce repeated as  in the former case.   With  a view to the
production of  nausea, the dose in  substance may be two grains, given  more
or less frequently according to circumstances.    As a diaphoretic  it may be
given in the quantity of a grain; as an alterative, in diseases of the stomach
and bowels, of a quarter or half a grain two or  three times a day.
   Emetia has  been used on the continent of  Europe  as a substitute, but
with no  great advantage.  Its operation on the stomach is apt to be  more
violent and  continued than  that of  ipecacuanha  itself;  and, if  given  in over-
doses, it may  produce dangerous and even fatal consequences.   From the
experiments  of Magendie,  it appears to  have  a  peculiar direction to the
mucous  membranes of the alimentary canal and the  bronchial tubes.  Ten
grains of the  impure  alkali, administered to dogs, were generally found  to
destroy  life in  twenty-four  hours,  and  the mucous membranes mentioned
were observed  to be  inflamed throughout their whole  extent.  The  same
result took place when emetia was  injected into the veins, or  absorbed from
i 
404                Ipecacuanha.—Iris Florentina.             part i.

any part of  the body.   The  dose of impute  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.   Magendie  found that dogs
slept much after being vomited with emetia, and concluded that the medicine
was narcotic;  but other emetic  medicines produce the same/effect, which is
to be ascribed  rather to exhaustion than to any direct operation on the  brain.
   Dr. Turnbull recommends  the external use of ipecacuanha as a counter-
irritant.  An ointment made  with one  part of the powder, one of olive oil,
and two of  lard, rubbed once or twice a day, for a few minutes upon the
skin, produces a copious eruption,  which continues  out for  many  days,
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. Pilulae  Conii Composita?, Lond.; Pulvis Ipecacuanhas et Opii,
U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Syrupus Ipecacuanha?, U.S.,  Ed.; Trochisci
Ipecacuanha?,  U. S.; Trochisci Morphia? et Ipecacuanha?, Ed.;  Vinum
Ipecacuanha?,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.                              W.


          IRIS FLORENTINA.  U, S. Secondary.

                         Florentine Orris:

   "The rhizoma of Iris Florentina." U.S.
   Iris de Florence, Fr.; Florentinische Violenwurzel, Germ.; Ireos, Ital.; Lirio Floren-
tina, Span>
   Iris.  Sex. Syst. Triandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord.  Iridaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla six-parted; the alternate segment reflected. Stigmas
petal-shaped. Willd.                                               ,
   In all the  species  belonging to this genus, so far as  examined, the  roots
are more or  less acrid, and-possessed of cathartic and emetic  properties.  In
Europe,  the I.foztidissima, I. Florentina, I.  Germanica, I. pseudo-acorus,
and 7. tuberosa have at various times been admitted into use.  Of these the
I.  Florentina is the only one  officinal in this country.
   7m 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
numerous seeds.
   This  plant is  a native of Italy, and other, parts of the South of Europe.
The root, which is the officinal  portion, is dug up in spring, and prepared
for the market by the removal of its cuticle  and fibres.   It is  brought from
Leghorn in large casks.
   Properties.   Florentine orris is in pieces of various  form  and size, often
branched, usually  about as thick  as  the  thumb, .knotty, .flattened,  white,
heavy, of a  rough though not fibrous fracture, a  pleasant odour resembling
that of the violet, and a bitterish acrid  taste.   The acrimony is greater in
the recent than in the dried root; but the  peculiar smell is more decidedly 
PART I.
Iris  Versicolor.—Jalapa.
405
 developed in the latter.   The  pieces are brittle and  easily powdered, and
 the powder is of a dirty white colour.   Vogel obtained from Florentine orris
 gum, a brown  extractive, fecula, a bitter and acrid fixed oil or soft resin, a
 volatile crystallizable oil, and vegetable fibre.
   Medical Properties. This medicine is cathartic, and in large doses emetic,
 and was  formerly employed to a considerable extent on the continent of
 Europe.   It is said also to be diuretic, and to have proved useful in dropsies.
 At present it  is highly  valued for its  pleasant odour.   It  is occasionally
 chewed to conceal an offensive breath, and enters  into the  composition of
 numerous tooth-powders.  In the  form of small round balls, about the size
 of a pea,  it is much  used by the French for maintaining the discharge from
 issues, a purpose to which it is adapted not only by its odour, but also by the
 slight degree of 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.
   Iris versicolor. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 233; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 155.
 This indigenous species of Iris has a perennial, fleshy, horizontal, fibrous
 root or rhizoma, and a stem two or three feet high, round on one side, acute
 on the  other, and  frequently branching.   The leaves are sheathing at the
 base, sword-shaped, and striated.   The flowers are from two to six in number,
 and are usually blue or purple, though varying much in colour.  The capsule
 has three  valves, is divided into three cells, and when  mature is oblong, three-
 sided,  with obtuse angles, and contains numerous flat seeds.
   The blue flag is found in all parts of the United States, flourishing in low
 wet places, in meadows, and on the borders of swamps, which it serves to
 adorn with its large and beautiful flowers.   These make their appearance in
 June.   The root is  the  medicinal  portion.  The flowers afford a fine blue
 infusion, which serves as a test of  acids and alkalies.
   The  recent root is without odour,  and  has a nauseous, extremely acrid
 taste, which is imparted to water  by  decoction, and still more  perfectly to
 alcohol.   The acrimony  as well as medicinal activity is impaired by age.
   Blue flag possesses the cathartic,  emetic, and diuretic properties com-
 mon to  most of the species of this  genus.   It is said by Mr. Bartram to be
 held in much esteem by the Southern  Indians ; and Dr. Bigelow informs us
 that he has found it efficacious as a purgative, though inconvenient from the
 distressing nausea and prostration which it is apt to occasion.  Dr. Macbride,
 of Carolina, found it useful in dropsy.   It is, however, very little employed
 by the profession at large, and is seldom  if ever kept in the shops.  It may
 be given in substance, decoction, or tincture.  The dose  of the dried root is
 from ten to twenty grains.                                        W.


               JALAPA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Jalap.

   "The root of Ipomasa Jalapa, (Coxe, Am. Journ. of Med.  Sciences)."
 U.S.   "Ipomaea Jalapa.  Radix."  Lond.  " Root of Ipomasa Purga, (Nees
von Esenbeck)." Ed.  "Convolvulus  Jalapa. Radix." Dub. 
406
Jalapa.
PART I.
  Jalnp, Fr.; Jalappen-Wurzel, Germ; Sciarappa, Ital; Jalapa, Span.
  It is only within a few years that the precise botanical origin of jalap has
been known.  It was at first  ascribed by Linna?us to a Mirabilis, but after-
wards to a new species of Convolvulus, to which he gave the name of C.
Jalapa.   The correctness of  the latter reference was  generally admitted;
and, as the Ipomxa macrorhiza of Michaux, growing in f loridaand Georgia,
was believed to be identical with the C. Jalapa of Linn., it was thought that
this valuable drug, which had been obtained exclusively from Mexico, might
be collected within the  limits of the  United States.   But the error of this
opinion  was soon demonstrated; and botanists now universally concur in the
belief, that jalap is the product of a plant first made known to the scientific
world-by Dr. John R. Coxe, of Philadelphia, and described by Mr. Nuttall
under the name of  Ipomasa  Jalapa.   When  this Dispensatory was  first
published, opinion in relation to the botanical  history of the  drug was un-
settled, and it was deemed proper to enter at some length into the consideration
of the  subject;  but. the subsequent general  admission  of the views then
advocated renders an equal  degree  of minuteness now unnecessary.  It is
sufficient to state, that Dr. Coxe received living roots of jalap from Mexico
in the year 1827, and succeeded in producing a perfect flowering plant, of
which  a description, by Mr. Nuttall, was  published  in the  Am. Journ. of
Medical Sciences  for January, 1830 ; that the same plant was  afterwards
cultivated  in  France  and Germany from roots transmitted to  those countries
from the jalap region of Mexico; and! that one of the authors of  this work
has produced, from roots obtained in the vicinity of Xalapa, and sent to him
by the late Dr. Marmaduke Burrough, then United States consul at Vera Cruz,
luxuriant plants, which he was  enabled to compare with  others- descended
from the plant of Dr. Coxe, and found to be identical with them.*  In the
United  States, London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, this origin of jalap
is now  admitted ;  but the London College has quoted as authority for.their
Ipoma?a Jalapa an unpublished manuscript by Don, and the Edinburgh College
has adopted Hayne's and Wenderoth's name  of I. Purga, thus overlooking
the prior claims of the American authorities.
  Ipomsea.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia—Nat. Ord. Convolvulacese.
   Gen. Eh. Sepals five. Corolla campanulate.  Stamens included.  Style one.
Stigma two-lobed ;  the lobes capitate.  Ovary two-celled; cells two-seeded.
Capsule two-celled.  Lindley.
  Ipomsea Jalapa. Nuttall, Am. Journ. Med. Sciences,  v.  300. Ipomsea
Purga.  Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &,c. xii. 33 and 34;  Lindley, Flor.
Med. 396.   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;  Each1 peduncle supports two,  or more rarely

  * They who may wish to investigate more fully the botanical history of jalap are re-
ferred to former editions of this Dispensatory, to  a  paper by Dr. John  Redman Coxe in
the American Journal of the  Medical Sciences (vol. v. p. 300), to another paper by Mr.
Daniel  B. Smith, in the Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (voh ii. p. 22),
and to Dr. Chrislison's  Dispensatory. 
part i.                         Jalapa.                            407

three flowers.   The calyx is without bractes, five-leaved, obtuse, with two of
the divisions external.   The corolla is funnel-form.   The stamens are  five
in number, with oblong, white, somewhat exserted anthers.   The stigma is
simple and capitate.   The above description is taken from that drawn up by
Mr. Nuttall, and  published in Dr. Coxe's paper in the American Journal pf
the Medical Sciences.
   The jalap plant is a native of Mexico, and derived its name from the city
of Xalapa, in the state of Vera Cruz, in the neighbourhood of which it grows,
at a height of about 6000  feet above the ocean.  It might probably be culti-
vated in the southern section of the United  States.  The drug is brought
from the port of Vera Cruz in bags containing usually between one hundred
and two hundred pounds.
   Properties.  The tuber comes either whole, or divided l6ngitudinally into
two parts, or in transverse circular slices.   The entire tubers are irregularly
roundish, or ovate and pointed, or pear-shaped, usually much smaller than
the fist, and  marked with  circular or vertical incisions,  made  to  facilitate
their drying.   In this state, the root is preferred,  as  it is less apt to be de-
fective, and is more easily distinguished  from the adulterations  than when
sliced.   A much larger proportion  comes in this shape than formerly, indi-
cating 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, dis-
tinctly visible with the microscope.   It is externally brown and .wrinkled,
internally of  a grayish colour, diversified by concentric darker circles, in
which the matter is denser and harder than in the  intervening spaces. Jalap»
is always kept in the shops in  the state of powder, which is of a yellowish-
gray colour, ^nd when inhaled irritates the nostrils and throat, and provokes
sneezing and  coughing.  The  odour of the  root, when  cut or broken,  is
heavy, sweetish, and rather nauseous; the taste is sweetish, somewhat acrid,
and disagreeable.  It  yields its active properties  partly to water, partly to
alcohol, and completely to diluted alcohol.   M. Cadet  de Gassicourt obtained
from 500 parts of jalap,  24 of water, 50 of resin, 220  of gummy extract,
 12-5 of fecula, 12-5 of albumen, 145  of lignin, 16*3 of saline matters, 2*7
of silica, with a loss  of 17 parts.  The resin of jalap consists of two  por-
tions, one of which, amounting to seven parts out of ten, is hard and insoluble
in ether, the  other is soft and soluble  in diat  menstruum.   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
carbonates, 1*9 of uncrystallizable sugar, 15-6 of gum mixed with some saline
matters, 3*2 of bassorin,  3*9 of albumen, 6-0 of starch, 8*2 of  lignin,  with
 some water, and  various  salts.  For  the method of obtaining the resin of
jalap pure,  see Extractum sive Resina Jalapoe.
    Jalap is apt to be attacked by worms, which, however, are  said to devour
 the amylaceous or softer parts, and to leave the resin, so that the worm-eaten
 drug is  more powerfully purgative  than that which is sound.   Thus, out of
 397 parts of the former,  M. Henry obtained  72  parts of resin, while  from
 an equal quantity of the  latter he procured only 48 parts.   Hence worm-
 eaten jalap should be employed for obtaining the resin, but should not be
 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 
408
Jalapa.
PART I.
have attracted  particular attention  are mentioned in a note below.*   Jalap
should be rejected when it is light, of a whitish colour internally, of a  dull
fracture, spongy, or  friable.   Powders of^calomel and jalap, taken  on long

  * Adulterations, d>c.  Jalap is said to be sometimes adulterated with bryony root; but
no instance of the kind has come under our notice ; and the two drugs tire so widely dif.
ferent that the fraud would be instantly detected.  (See Briony in the  Appendix.)   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.  The mechoacan is a pro-
duct of Mexico, which was taken to  Europe even before the introduction of jalap.   The
plant which produces it has been  conjectured to be the Ipomaa macrorhiza of Michaux,
which  is  believed to grow in Mexico near Vera Cruz, as well as in  our Southern States,
and the root of which, when of full size, is said to weigh from fifty  to sixty pounds, and,
according to Dr. Baldwin, has little or no purgative power.  But this origin is altogether
uncertain.  Mechoacan is in circular  slices, or fragments  of various shape, white and
farinaceous within,  and, as  found  in European  markets,  generally  destitute,  of bark, of
which, however, portions of a yellowish colour sometimes continue to adhere.   The larger
pieces are sometimes marked with faint concentric striae;  and, upon the exterior surface,
When any portion of this.remains, are brown spots and ligneous points left by  the radicles
which have been removed.  (Guibourt.)  Though tasteless when first taken into the mouth,
it becomes after a time  slightly acrid.   It is very feebly purgative.   We have  seen flat
circular  pieces of root, mixed  with  jalap, altogether answering this description, except
that the cortical portion  still remained, between  which  and  the amylaceous parenchyma
there was a very  evident line of division.
  A drug formerly known in our markets as spurious jalap, sometimes comes mingled
with the genuine, and has been imported, unmixed, in  mistake for  that root.  It is pro-
bably the same with that referred to  by French writers as  the product of a plant denomi-
nated male jalap  in Mexico, and named by M. Ledanois Convolvulus  Orizabensis, from
the city of Orizaba, in the neighbourhood of which it grows abundantly.  In the shops of
Paris the drug is called light jalap, and, in the  last edition of Guibourt's Hisioire des
Drogues, is described under the title offusiform jalap.   A description of it was first  pub-
lished in this country by Mr. D. B. Smith, in a valuable paper upon the Ipomsea Jalapa,
in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., vol. ii. p. 22.   For an account of the plant, the reader is
referred to the  same  Journal, vol. x. p. 224.  The recent root is large, spindle-shaped,
sometimes as much as twenty inches in length, branched at  its  lower extremity, of a yel-
low colour on its outer surface, and white and milky within. The drug, as described by
Guibourt, is in  circular  pieces, two or  three inches in  diameter, or in longer and more
slender sections.  As we have seen it, the shape  of the pieces is often such as to indicate
that the root was  sliced transversely, and each circular slice divided into quarters.   The
horizontal cut surface is dark from exposure, unequal from the  greater shrinking in the
drying process of some parts than others, and presents the  extremities of numerous fibres,
which are often concentrically arranged, and run in the  longitudinal direction of the  root.
Internally the colour is whitish, and  the  texture, though much less  compact than that of
jalap, is sometimes almost ligneous.  The taste is at firet slight, but after a time becomes
somewhat acrid and nauseous.   The dried root of the  Convolvulus Orizabensis or male
jalap, analyzed by M. Ledanois, yielded in 1000 parts, 80 of resin, 256 of gummy extract,
32 of fecula, 24 of albumen, and 580 of lignin.  From experiments made with it in Paris,
it appears to have cathartic properties  similar to those of the true  jalap, but to be  con-
siderably more feeble, requiring to be given in  a dose of from thirty to sixty grains in
order to operate effectively. The proportion of  resin, which in both is the  most active
purgative principle, is considerably less in  the male jalap, while that of lignin, which is
wholly inert, is about double.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 166; also Am.  Journ. of Pharm.,
x. 223.)
  A false jalap was a few years since brought into  the United States, different from any
thing before seen  in our market.  It was said to  have  been imported  from  Mexico into
New York in considerable quantities, and was offered for sale under the name of overgrown
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, sometimes uniformly amylaceous, of
a dull rough fracture, a loose texture, a slight, peculiar, and  sweetish odour, and a feeble 
PART I.
Jalapa.
409
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 in the powder. (Arch, der Pharm., xxxiv. 289.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Jalap is  an  active  cathartic,  operating
briskly and  sometimes painfully upon  the  bowels, and  producing copious
watery stools.   The  aqueous  extract  purges moderately,  without  much
griping, and is said to increase the flow of urine.   The portion not  taken up
by water gripes severely.   The  watery extract  obtained from Jalap pre-
viously 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 appears, that the virtues of this cathartic  do  not depend
exclusively upon any one principle.  Jalap was introduced  into Europe in
the latter part of the sixteenth,or beginning of the seventeenth century, and
now  ranks among  the  purgative medicines  most  extensively employed.  It
is applicable to  most cases in which an  active  cathartic is required,  and from
its hydragogue  powers is especially adapted to the treatment of  dropsy.   It
is generally given in connexion with other medicines, which assist or qualify
its operation.  In dropsical complaints it is  usually combined with the bitar-
trate  of potassa; and the same mixture is much employed in the  treatment
of the hip disease and scrofulous affections of other joints.   With calomel
it forms a cathartic  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, which is much used on the continent of  Europe, and is
now  directed by the Edinburgh  College, from four  to eight grains.   The
latter is usually given rubbed up with  sugar, or  in emulsion, by  which its
tendency  to irritate painfully the  mucous membrane of the bowels is thought
to be in  some  measure obviated.   The  extract  of the United Slates and
London Pharmacopoeias is preferable to the  alcoholic, as it  more completely
represents the jalap itself.  The dose of calomel and jalap is ten  grains of
each, that of the bitartrate of potassa and jalap, two drachms of the former
and ten or fifteen grains of the latter.
   Off. Prep. Extractum Jalapa?,  U. S., Lond., Dub.;  Extractum  sive Resina
Jalapa?, Ed.; Pulvis Jalapa?  Compositus, U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinc-
tura Jalapa?, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura  Senna?  et  Jalapa?, U. S.,
Ed.                                                                W.

jalap-like taste.  The powder was of a light-gray colour, and did not irritate the  nostrils or
throat during pulverization.  The  root differed from mechoacan by the 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 ex-
tractive, 28 of starch  and  inulin,  10  of gum  and  albumen, 232 of lignin, and 14 8 of
saccharine  matter and salts of lime, including  loss.  In doses of from fifteen to twenty
grains it produced no  effect on the system, and cannot, therefore, be used  as  jalap.  A
similar root was described by Guibourt in the Journal  de Chiinie Medicate, and afterwards
in the London Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (ii. 331.), by the name of rose-
scented jalap.  It was  taken to France from Mexico mixed with genuine jalap.  It proved
equally inefficacious as a purgative,  and probably had the same origin. This spurious drug
is probably the product of a Convolvulus or Ipomsea.  See a report by Messrs.  Duhamel,
Ellis, and Ecky, in the American Journal of Pharmacy, xiv. 289.
36 
410
Juglans.
PART I.
                         JUGLANS.  U.S.

                              Butternut.

   " The inner bark of the root of Juglans cinerea."  U. S.
   Juglans. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Juglandaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Male. Amentum imbricated. Calyx a scale.  Corolla six-parted.
Filaments four  to eighteen.  Female.  Calyx four-cleft, superior.  Corolla
four-cleft. Styles two. Drupe coriaceous with a furrowed nut.  Willd.
   Several products of the 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 is deemed by some
practitioners efficacious against the tape-worm, and is  also used as a laxative
injection.  The leaves, long occasionally employed for various purposes both
in regular and domestic practice, have recently been found by Professor Ne-
grier, 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 the syrup  prepared from the  extract, two,
three, or four times a day ; and at the same time  applied a strong decoction
to the ulcers, and as  a collyrium when the eyes were  diseased.  No injury
was ever experienced from a long-continued use of the remedy.  It appears
to act as a moderately aromatic bitter and  astringent. (Archives Gen., Se Serie,
x. 399 and xi. 41.)   The leaves of our J. nigra or common black  walnut,
or those of the  J. cinerea, which  is the only officinal species, would pro-
bably answer as  good a purpose.
   Juglans cinerea.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  iv.  456; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
ii. 115.—J. cathartica. Michaux, N. Am. Sylva.  i. 160.  This is an indi-
genous forest tree, known in different sections of the country by the various
names of butternut, oilnut, and white  walnut.  In favourable situations it
attains a great size, rising  sometimes fifty feet in height, with a trunk three
or four feet in diameter at the  distance  of five feet from  the ground.   The
stem divides, at  a small distance from the ground, into numerous nearly hori-
zontal branches, which spread  widely, and form a large tufted head, giving
to the tree a peculiar  aspect.   The young branches are smooth  and of a
grayish colour,  which  has given origin to the specific name  of the  plant.
The leaves  are  very long, and consist of seven or  eight pairs of sessile
leaflets, and a single  petiolate leaflet at the extremity.   These  are  two or
three inches in  length, oblong-lanceolate, rounded at the base, acuminate,
finely serrate, and somewhat downy.   The male and female flowers are dis-
tinct upon the same tree.   The  former are in large aments, four or five inches
long, hanging down from the  sides  of  the shoots of  the preceding year's
growth near their extremity. The fertile flowers are at the end of the shoots
of the same spring.  The germ is surmounted by two large, feathery, rose-
coloured stigmas.  The fruit is sometimes single, suspended by a thin pliable
peduncle; sometimes several are attached to the sides and 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-coloured, oblong, pointed nut, with a  rough  deeply and irregu-
larly furrowed surface.  The  kernel is thick, oily, and pleasant to the taste.
   The butternut grows in Upper and  Lower  Canada, and throughout the
whole northern, eastern, and western sections of the United States.   In the
Middle States, the flowers appear in May, and the fruit ripens in September. 
PART I.
Juglans.—Juniperus.
411
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 com-
pact, is useful for some purposes on account of its durability, and exemption
from  the  attacks of worms.   The  fruit, when half grown, is sometimes
made into pickles, and when ripe, affords, in  its kernel, a grateful article of
food.  The bark is used for dyeing wool a dark-brown colour, though inferior
for this purpose to that of the black walnut.   It is said, when  applied to the
skin, to have  a rubefacient effect.   The inner bark is the  medicinal portion,
and that  of the root, being considered most  efficient,  is directed  by  the
national 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 beautiful lemon colour, and  ulti-
mately changes to  deep brown.  It has a fibrous texture, a feeble odour, and
a peculiar, bitter, somewhat acrid taste.   Its medical virtues are entirely ex-
tracted by boiling water.  Dr. Bigelow could detect no resin among  its con-
stituents ;  and the  presence of tannin was not evinced  by the test of  gelatin,
though a brownish-black colour was produced by the sulphate of iron.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Butternut is a mild cathartic, operating
without pain  or irritation, and resembling rhubarb in the property of evacuat-
ing without debilitating the alimentary canal.  It was much employed during
our revolutionary war  by Dr.  Rush  and other physicians attached to  the
army,  and was highly esteemed.  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 becomes more active, and is  sometimes used in our intermittent and remit-
tent fevers, and other complaints attended with congestion of the abdominal
viscera.  It is given in the form of decoction or extract, never  in substance.
The extract is officinal, and is almost always  preferred.   The dose of it is
from twenty to thirty grains as a purge,  from five to ten grains  as a laxative.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Juglandis, U.S.                           W.


                       JUNIPERUS.   U.S.

                               Juniper.

   " The fruit of Juniperus communis."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  JUNIPERI  CACUMINA. JUNIPERI  FRUCTUS. Juni-
perus communis.  Cacumina.  Fructus.  Lond.; JUNIPERI CACUMI-
NA.   Tops of Juniperus communis.   JUNIPERI FRUCTUS. Berries of
Juniperus communis. Ed.; JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS.  Bacca?. Cacu-
mina.  Dub.
   Genevrier commun, Baies de Genievre, Fr.; Gemeiner Wachholder, Wachholderbeeren,
Germ.; Ginepro, Ital.; Encbro, Bayas de enebro, Span.
   Juniperus.   Sex. Syst. Dioecia Monadelphia.—Nat.  Ord.  Pinacea? or
Conifera?.
   Gen. Ch.  Male. Amentum ovate.   Calyx a scale. Corolla none.  Sta-
mens three.   Female.  Calyx three-parted.  Petals  three.   Styles three.
Berry three-seeded, irregular,  with the three tubercles of the calyx.  Willd.
   Juniperus  communis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 853 ; Woodv. Med.  Bot. p.
13. t.  6.   This is  an  erect evergreen shrub, usually small, but  sometimes
attaining a height of twelve or fifteen feet, with numerous very close branches.
The leaves are narrow, longer  than the  fruit, entire, sharply pointed, chan-
neled, of  a deep green colour, somewhat glaucous  on  their upper surface, 
412
Juniperus.
PART I.
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 American Medical  Botany under the title of /. communis, and
very common in some parts of New England, deserves, perhaps, to be con-
sidered a distinct species.   It is  a  trailing shrub, seldom more  than two or
three  feet in height, spreading in all directions,  throwing out roots from its
branches,  and forming  beds  which are often many rods in circumference.
The name of J. depressa has been proposed  for it.  The common juniper
flowers in May; but does not ripen its fruit till late in the following  year.
All parts of 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,
which is in  fact the product of the  Thuya articulata.  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 mar-
ket from New Jersey.   But, though equal  to the  European in appearance,
they are inferior in strength, and are not much used.   The best come  from
the South of Europe, particularly from Trieste and the Italian ports.   They
are 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; covered with  a  glaucous bloom, beneath which  they are of a
shining blackish-purple colour;  and containing a brownish-yellow pulp, and
three  angular  seeds.  They  have  an  agreeable somewhat aromatic odour,
and a sweetish, warm,  bitterish, slightly terebinthinate  taste.   These  pro-
perties,  as  well as  their medical  virtues, they owe chiefly to an essential oil
which may be separated by distillation. (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 according to the greater or less maturity of the berries.  The volatile
oil is  most abundant in  those which have attained their full growth and are
still green,  or in those which are  on  the point of ripening.  In the  latter,
Trommsdorff  found one per cent, of the oil.  In  those which are perfectly
ripe it has  been partly changed into resin, and in those  quite black, com-
pletely 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 London  and Dublin Colleges.
Their odour is balsamic, their taste resinous and bitterish; and they possess
similar virtues with the berries.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Juniper berries are gently stimulant and
diuretic, imparting to the urine the  smell of violets, and producing occasion-
ally,  when very largely taken, disagreeable irritation in the urinary passages.
They are chiefly used as an adjuvant to more  powerful diuretics in dropsical
complaints ; but have been  recommended also  in scorbutic and cutaneous dis-
eases, catarrh  of the bladder, and  atonic  conditions of the alimentary canal
and uterus.   They may be given  in substance triturated  with sugar, in the
dose of one or two drachms  repeated  three or four times a day.  But the
infusion is  a more  convenient form.   It is prepared by macerating an ounce 
part i.           Juniperus.—Juniperus Virginiana.              413

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, Lond., Ed.; Oleum Juniperi,
U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Juniperi Compositus, U. S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.                                                           W.

      JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                            Red Cedar.

  " The tops of Juniperus Virginiana."  U. S.
  Juniperus.  See JUNIPERUS.
  Juniperus  Virginiana. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 853; Bigelow, Am.  Med.
Bot. in. 49; Michaux, N. Am. Sylv. iii. 221.  This  species of  juniper,
known commonly by the  name of red cedar, is an  evergreen tree  of slow
growth, seldom attaining a very large size, though sometimes rising forty or
fifty feet in height, with  a stem twelve  or thirteen inches in  diameter.  It
has  numerous very close branches, which,  in the  young tree, spread out
horizontally near the ground ; but, as the tree advances, the lower branches
slowly  decay, leaving the  trunk  irregular with knots and  crevices.   The
leaves are very small, fleshy, ovate,  concave, pointed, glandular on  their
outer surface,  either ternate  or in pairs, and closely imbricated.  Those of
the young shoots are often much longer, and spreading.   The leaves closely
invest the extreme twigs, increasing with their growth, till ultimately lost in
the encroachments of the bark.  " The barren flowers are in oblong aments,
formed by peltate scales  with  the anthers concealed within  them.   The
fertile flowers have a proper perianth, which coalesces with the germ, and
forms a small, roundish berry, with two or three seeds, covered on its outer
surface with a bright blue  powder." (Bigelow.)
   The red cedar grows in all latitudes of the United States, from that of
Burlington, in Vermont, to the Gulf of Mexico; but it is most abundant and
of most vigorous growth in the  southern section, and within a  short distance
of the ocean.  The interior wood  is of a reddish colour, and highly  valuable
on account of its great durability.   Small  excrescences which are sometimes
found on the branches of the tree, are popularly used as an anthelmintic  under
the name of cedar apples, in  the dose of from ten to twenty grains three times
a day.  The tops or leaves only are officinal.
  They have a peculiar not unpleasant odour, and a strong, bitterish, some-
what pungent taste.  These  properties reside chiefly in  an essential oil, and
are readily imparted to alcohol.   The  leaves, analyzed by  Mr.  Wm.  J.
Jenks, were found to  contain volatile  oil, gum, tannic acid, albumen, bitter
extractive, resin, chlorophylle, fixed oil,  lime, and lignin. (Am. Journ.  of
Pharm., xiv. 235.)
  The leaves of the J. Virginiana  bear a close resemblance to those of the
J. Sabina, from which they can be certainly distinguished only by the dif-
ference of odour.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The resemblance of red cedar to savine is
said also  to extend to their medical properties ;  the former being considered,
like the latter, stimulant, emmenagogue,  diuretic,  and, under certain cir-
cumstances, diaphoretic.  It is,  however,  much less energetic ; and, though
advantage may, as has been asserted, have accrued  from its use in  amenor-
                                  36* 
414                Juniperus Virginiana.—Kino.             part i.

rhoea, chronic rheumatism, and dropsy, it has not acquired the confidence of
the profession generally.   Externally applied  it acts as  an irritant;  and an
ointment prepared by boiling the fresh leaves for a  short time in twice their
weight of lard, with the addition of a little wax, is employed as a substitute
for savine cerate in maintaining a purulent discharge from blistered surfaces.
Sometimes the dried leaves in powder  are mixed with six times their weight
of resin cerate, and used for a similar purpose.  But neither of these prepa-
rations is as effectual as the analogous preparation of savine.          W.
                 KINO. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                 Kino.

   "An extract obtained from an uncertain plant."  U. S.  "Pterocarpus erina-
ceus. Extractum."  Lond.  " Concrete  exudation of Pterocarpus  erinaceus,
and of other undetermined genera and species." Ed.
  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 their appearance
and  properties,  afterwards received the same  name ; and much  confusion
and  uncertainty have existed, and  to  a considerable degree still exist, in
relation to  the botanical and commercial history of the drug.  We shall first
give an account  of the general properties which at present entitle a medicine
to the name of kino, and shall then treat of the  several varieties.
   General Properties.  Kino, as found in the shops, is usually in small, 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
reddish powder, much lighter coloured than the  drug in its aggregate state. If
in larger masses, it may be reduced without difficulty into these minute frag-
ments.   It is without odour, and has  a bitterish, highly astringent taste,
with a somewhat sweetish after-taste. It burns with little flame,  and does not
soften with heat.  It imparls  its virtues and a  deep-red colour  to water and
alcohol.  Cold water forms with  it a clear infusion.   Boiling water dissolves
it more largely ;  and the saturated decoction becomes turbid  on  cooling,  and
deposits a reddish sediment.  The tincture is not disturbed by water.  When
long  kept it  often gelatinizes, and loses its astringency.   (See Tinctura
Kino.)  Kino consists chiefly of a modification of tannic acid or tannin, with
extractive, gum, and sometimes probably a little resin ; but we need a careful
analysis of the  different well-ascertained varieties.  The aqueous  solution
of kino is  precipitated  by gelatin, the soluble  salts of iron,  silver, lead,  and
antimony, the bichloride of mercury, and the sulphuric, nitric,  and muriatic
acids.  The  precipitate with  iron is of an olive or greenish-black  colour.
The alkalies favour the solubility of kino in  water, but essentially change its
nature, and destroy its astringency.
   1. East India or Amboyna  Kino.   This is the variety at  present pro-
bably most used, and most highly esteemed.   It is apparently an  extract;
but  its origin is altogether unknown.   It has been  ascribed by some to the
Nauclea  Gambir of  Mr. Hunter (Uncaria  Gambir of Roxburgh);   but
the  reference is  altogether incorrect; as the product of this tree, now well
known under the name of gambir, bears  no resemblance  to  kino, and is
generally ranked among the varieties of catechu.  (See  Catechu, page 194.) 
PART I.
Kino.
415
The name of Amboyna kino would seem to imply that it comes in part at
least from that island.  But Pereira states that all the  importations he could
trace were from Bombay and Tellicherry; and he therefore conjectures that
it is collected upon the  Malabar coast.   Roxburgh suggests that it may be
derived from the Pterocarpus Marsupium, an East India tree, the juice of
which is strongly  and simply astringent, and hardens into a dark red very
brittle  mass, which  assumes a lighter colour when  powdered.  (Lindley,
Flor. Med. p. 256.)  It is sometimes imported  into this country directly
from the East Indies, but more commonly from London.  It comes from the
East in boxes.
  East India kino is in small, angular, glistening fragments, of a uniform
consistence, appearing as if formed by the breaking down of larger masses.
The larger fragments are opaque  and nearly black;  but minute  splinters are
sometimes translucent, and of a deep  garnet redness when viewed by trans-
mitted light.  This variety of kino is very brittle, readily breaking between
the fingers, and easily pulverized, affording a dark reddish powder, a portion
of  which, resulting from  the  mutual attrition of the fragments, is  often
found  interspersed among them.   When chewed, it  softens in the mouth,
adheres somewhat to the  teeth, and tinges the saliva of  a blood-red colour.
In  odour, taste, and chemical relations,  it corresponds with  the account
already given of kino in general.   It was analyzed by Vauquelin, and found
to contain 75 per cent, of tannin and peculiar extractive, 24 of red  gum, and
1 of insoluble  matter.  Pereira states that it  has been  shown by A. W.
Buchner to contain catechuin, or catechuic acid. (See Catechu,  p.  194.)
  2.  West India  or Jamaica Kino.  This is believed to be the product of
the Coccoloba uvifera,  or sea-side grape, a  tree twenty feet or more  in
height, bearing beautiful broad  shining leaves, and large bunches  of purple
berries, to which it owes its vernacular name.  It grows  in the  West Indies
and neighbouring  parts of the continent.   The kino is said to be obtained
by  evaporating a decoction of the wood and bark, which are  very astringent.
Many years since, a thick  reddish-brown liquid was imported into Phila-
delphia 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, within a few years, a considerable quantity of West India kino has been
brought into this market, and now enters into the consumption of the country.
It is contained in large gourds, into which it has evidently been poured while
in a liquid or seini-liquid state, and then allowed to harden.
   When  taken from the  gourd, it breaks into fragments of various  sizes,
upon an average about as large  as a hazelnut, and having some tendency to
the rectangular form.   The  consistence of these fragments is uniform, their
surface smooth and shining, and their colour a dark reddish-brown, approach-
ing 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 fragments, are easily pulverized, and yield a dull reddish pow-
der, considerably  lighter-coloured  than  that of  the former variety.   The
West  India kino is without odour, and has a very astringent bitterish taste,
with  a scarcely observable sweetish after-taste.  It adheres  to  the  teeth
when  chewed, though rather less  than the East  India variety, and colours
the saliva red.  The solubility of Jamaica  kino was very carefully exa-
mined, at  our request, by Dr.  Robert Bridges, of this city, who found that
cold water dissolved 89 per cent., and ordinary officinal alcohol 94 per cent.
The portion dissolved by alcohol  and not by water was probably of a resin- 
416
Kino.
PART I.
ous nature; as it appeared to be viscid, and very much impeded the filtration
of the  watery solution.  Guibourt, who  states that Jamaica kino  is but
slightly dissolved by cold water, must have operated on a different product.
According to Bostock, it contains 41 per cent, of tannin.
   3.  South American  Kino.—Caracas Kino.   In 1839, when  the  fourth
edition of this Dispensatory was published, an astringent extract had recently
been introduced into our market, derived, as we were informed, from Caracas,
and known by that name to  the  druggists.  Since that  period it has come
much more into use, and now constitutes a considerable  portion of the con-
sumption of the  country.  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 seve-
ral 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 trans-
lucent in thin  splinters, very brittle, and  of  a fracture always shining, but
in some masses  wholly rough and  irregular, in others  rough only in the
interior, while the outer portion,  for an inch  or two  in depth, breaks with a
rather smooth and uniform surface like that of the West India kino.  This
outer portion is easily broken into fine  angular fragments, while the interior
crumbles quite irregularly.  Some of the  masses are very impure, contain-
ing pieces of bark, wood, leaves, &c.;  others are more  homogeneous, and
almost free from  impurities.   The masses are broken up  by means of  a
mill  so as to resemble  East India kino, from which, however, this variety
differs in being more irregular,  less sharply angular, more powdery, -and  «
less  black.   On  comparing  the  finer  and more angular portions  of  the
masses  with the  West India  kino,  we  were  strongly struck  with their
resemblance;  and  in fact could  discover no difference  between the two
varieties either in colour, lustre,  taste, the colour of the powder, or other
sensible  property.  South American kino was found by  Dr.  Bridges  to
yield  93*5  per cent,  to cold  water, and  93  per cent, to alcohol; so that,
while it has almost the same solubility as Jamaica kino in alcohol, it is
somewhat more soluble in cold water.   The  aqueous solution, in this case,
was  not embarrassed by the adhesive  matter which impeded the filtration
in the former  variety; and the want of  a minute  proportion of resinous
matter in the South  American kino is the  only difference we  have dis-
covered between the two drugs.   It is not improbable  that they are derived
from the same plant;  and there is no difficulty in supposing that this may
be the Coccoloba uvifera, as  that tree grows  as well upon the continent as
in the islands.
  4. African  Kino.  The original kino  employed by Dr.  Fothergill was
known to be the produce of a tree growing in Senegal, and  upon the  banks
of the Gambia, on the western coast of Africa; but the precise character of
the tree  was not  ascertained, until a specimen, sent home by Mungo Park
during his last journey, enabled the  English  botanists to  decide  that it was
the Pterocarpus erinaceus of Lamarck  and Poiret.   The London College
accordingly refers  kino to this plant; but in  so doing has overlooked  the
fact that  not one  of the varieties now  used  is brought from Africa.   The
importation of African  kino  has long  ceased,  and the  most  experienced
pharmacologist cannot  speak with  certainty  of having  seen a  specimen.
That described by Guibourt has turned  out to be the Butea gum;* and the

  * Butea gum is the concrete juice of the Butea frondosa or Dhak-lree 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 
PART I.
Kino.
417
    description in Christison's Dispensatory evidently applies to the common
    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 appear-
    ance 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
    astringent 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 spontaneously or  from wounds in the bark, and  hardens  in the  air.
    (See Med. Obs. and Inq., i. 358.)
      5. Botany Bay kino.   This  is the concrete  juice of the Eucalyptus re-
    sinifera, or brown gum tree of New Holland, a  lofty tree, belonging to the
    class and order Icosandria  Monogynia, and the natural order  Myrtaccse.
    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 five
    hundred pounds  of kino in  one year.  (White's  Voyage.)  Duncan states
    that  specimens of the  juice  have reached Great Britain in  the  fluid form,
    and that when he  first examined  kino in  1802, it was common, and was the
,    finest kind in commerce.   According to  information received by  Dr.  Thom-
    son,  its importation into Great  Britain must have  ceased soon after that
    period (Thomson's Dispensatory, 1826, p. 506);  but Dr. Pereira speaks of
    it as  imported in  boxes,  and  has himself met with a parcel  of it from Van
    Diemen's Land.  Ainslie informs us that he  has met with it in the markets
    of Hindostan.  Parcels may occasionally reach this  country; but by such
    complicated routes that their origin is  unknown.
      The specimen  examined by  Pereira  was in irregular masses, many of
    them in the form  of tears as large as those of Senegal gum.  " The purer
    pieces  were  vitreous, almost  black in the mass,  but transparent and  of a
    beautiful  ruby-red in small and  thin fragments.   Some of the pieces, how-
    ever, were opaque and dull, from the intermixture of wood and other  im-
    purities."   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 spirij it also becomes gelatinous, and  forms a red tincture which is

    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 con-
    tains, according to Mr. E. Solly, 73-26 per cent, of tannin, 505 of soluble extractive, and
    2167 of gum and other soluble substances.  It is used in the arts in  India, and might
    undoubtedly be  employed as  kino in  medicine. It is,  however, very seldom imported
    into En«l<md, 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. 
418
Kino.—Krameria.
PART I.
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  ex-
ception of foreign matters;  and Dr. Thomson informs  us that water at 60°
dissolves .more than one-half.  These gentlemen must have experimented
with different  substances.   According to  Dr. Duncan, alcohol dissolves  the
whole except impurities ; and the tincture, with a certain proportion of water,
lets fall a copious red  precipitate, but with a large proportion only becomes
slightly turbid.
  It is said that catechu, broken into  small  fragments, has sometimes been
sold as kino.  Fortunately little injury can  result from the substitution, as
the medical virtues of the two extracts are very nearly the same.
  Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Kino is   powerfully  astringent, and in
this  country is much  used  for the  suppression of morbid discharges.  In
diarrhoea not attended  with febrile excitement or inflammation, it is often an
excellent 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 hemor-
rhages, particularly that from the uterus.   It was formerly used in intermit-
tent fever, but has given way to more  efficient remedies.
  It may be given in powder, infusion, or dissolved in diluted alcohol.  The
dose of the powder is  from ten to  thirty  grains.  The infusion, which is a
very convenient form  of  administration,  may be made by  pouring eight
fluidounces of boiling  water on two drachms of the  extract, and  straining
when cool.  Aromatics may be added if  deemed advisable.   The  dose is a  ,
fluidounce.  The proportion of alcohol in a dose of the tincture renders it
frequently an  unsuitable preparation.
  Locally applied, kino is often productive of benefit.   Its infusion is useful
as an injection in leucorrhoea and obstinate  gonorrhoea, and thrown up  the
nostrils we have found it very  efficacious in suppressing hemorrhage from
the Schneiderian membrane.   A case  of obstinate hemorrhage from a wound
in the palate, after resisting various  means, yielded to the application of
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 in-
dolent and flabby ulcers.
   Off. Prep.  Electuarium Catechu, Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Aluminis Composi-
tus, Ed.;  Pulvis Kino Comp., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Kino, Lond., Ed.,
Dub.                                                            W.


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

                              Rhatany.

   " The root  of Krameria triandra." U. S.,  Ed.  " Krameria triandra. Ra-
dix." Lond.
   Off. Syn. RHATANIA.  KRAMERIA  TRIANDRA.  Radix et  extrac-
tum. Dub.
   Ratanhie, Fr.; Ratanhiawurzel, Germ.; Ratania, Ital, Span.
   Krameria.   Sex. Syst.  Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Polygalea?,
De Cand. Krameriacea?, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx none. Corolla four-petalled ; the superior nectary three-
parted, and inferior two-leaved.  Berry dry. echinated, one-seeded.  Willd.
   Krameria triandra.  Ruiz and Pavon, Flor. Peruv. i. 61.  The rhatany
plant is a shrub having a long, much branched,  and spreading root, of a
blackish-red colour;  with  a round, procumbent, very  dark-coloured stem, 
PART I.
Krameria.
419
 divided into numerous branches, of which the younger are leafy and thickly
 covered with soft hairs, giving them a white, silky appearance.  The leaves
 are few, sessile, oblong-ovate,  pointed, entire, presenting on  both surfaces
 the same silky whiteness with the young  branches, on the sides  of which
 they are placed.  The flowers  are lake-coloured, and stand singly on short
 peduncles at the axils of the upper leaves.   There are  only three stamens.
 The nectary consists of four  leaflets, of which the two  upper  are  spatulate,
 the lower roundish and much shorter :  it does not correspond with the gene-
 ric character 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.
   This species of Krameria is  a native of Peru, growing in dry argillaceous
 and sandy places, and abundant about the city of Huanuco.   It flowers at
 all seasons, but is in  the  height of its bloom  in October  and November.
 The root is dug up after the rains.
   The K. Ixina, growing in Hayti, and in Cumana on the South  American
 continent, is said to afford a root  closely analogous in appearance and pro-
 perties to that of the Peruvian species ; but the latter only is officinal.
   The name  rhatany is  said  to express, in  the language of the  Peruvian
 Indians, the creeping  character of  the plant.
   We receive rhatany  in pieces of various  shapes and dimensions, some
 being simple, some more or less branched, the largest as much as an  inch in
 thickness, being derived from  the main body of the root, the smallest not
 thicker than a small quill, consisting of the minute  ramifications.   The
 pieces are often nearly cylindrical, and as much as two or three  feet  in length.
 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.
 The root is without smell, but has  a bitter, very  astringent, slightly sweetish
 taste, which is connected with  its  medical virtues, and is  much stronger in
 the cortical than the ligneous  part.  The smallest pieces are therefore pre-
 ferable, as they contain the largest proportion of the bark.  The powder is of
 a reddish colour. The virtues of the root are  extracted by water and alcohol,
 to which it imparts a deep reddish-brown colour.   From  the  researches of
 Vogel, Gmelin, Peschier,  and Trommsdorff', it appears to contain  tannin,
lignin, and minute quantities of gum, starch,  saccharine matter, and an acid
 which Peschier considered  as peculiar,  and named krameric acid.   The tan-
nin is in three states;  1st, in that of purity, in which it  is without colour;
2d, that of apotheme,  in which  it has lost its  astringency and been rendered
insoluble by the action of the  air,  and 3d, that of extractive, which is a
soluble combination of tannin and its apotheme, and is  the substance which
imparts their characteristic reddish-brown colour to the infusion and tincture
of rhatany.  (Soubeiran, Journ. de Pharm., xix. 596.)  The proportion  of
red astringent matter obtained by Vogel was 40 per cent.  The  mineral acids
and most of the metallic salts  throw  down precipitates with  the  infusion,
decoction, and tincture of rhatany, and are incompatible in prescription.
   Cold water, by means of displacement or percolation,  extracts  all the
 astringency  of rhatany, forming  a clear deep-red infusion,  which, upon
 careful evaporation, yields an almost perfectly  soluble extract.  The root
 yields its virtues also to boiling water by maceration ; but the resulting infu-
 sion becomes turbid upon cooling, in consequence of the  deposition of apo-
theme taken up by the water when  heated.   By boiling with  water a still
larger proportion of the apotheme is dissolved, and a considerable  quantity 
420
Krameria.—Lacmus.
PART I.
of the pure tannin becomes insoluble  in cold water, and medicinally inert,
either by combining with the starch which is  also dissolved, or by conver-
sion 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  absolute  weight  than that from the cold infu-
sion, contains much less soluble and  active matter.    Alcohol  dissolves a
larger proportion of the root  than  water, but this excess is owing to  the
solution of apotheme;  and the alcoholic extract contains little  if any more
of the astringent principle  than  that prepared by cold water,  while it is
encumbered with much  inert matter.  (See Extractum Kramerise.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Rhatany is gently tonic and powerfully
astringent; and  maybe advantageously given in chronic diarrhoea, passive
hemorrhages, especially menorrhagia, some forms of leucorrhoea, and in all
those cases in which kino and  catechu are beneficial.   It has long been used
in Peru as a remedy in  bowel  complaints, as a corroborant in cases of  en-
feebled  stomach, and as a local application to spongy gums.  Ruiz, one of
the  authors of the  Peruvian Flora, first made it known in Europe.   It was
not till after the  year 1816 that it began to come into general use.   In this
country it is now extensively employed.   It has the  advantage over  the
astringent extracts imported, that, being brought in the  state of the  root, it
is free from 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, and
is usually preferred.  The proportions  are an ounce of the bruised or pow-
dered root to a  pint  of  water,  and the dose  one or two fluidounces.  The
extract, tincture, and syrup are officinal preparations; and may be given, the
first  in the dose of fifteen  or  twenty grains, the  second  in that of two or
three fluidrachms,  and the third in that  of half a fluidounce for an adult.  In
the  form of infusion, tincture,  and extract, rhatany has  been highly recom-
mended as a local remedy in fissure of  the anus, prolapsus ani, and leucor-
rhoea.   (See a paper by Drs. Johnston and Biddle, in the Medical Exa-
miner, iv. 293.)
  Off. Prep.  Extractum Krameria?, U.S., Ed.; Infusum Krameria?, U.S.,
L,ond.;  Tinctura Krameria?, U. S.                                  W.


                     LACMUS. Lond., Ed.

                               Litmus.

  " Roccella tinctoria.  Thallus praeparatus." Lond.  " A peculiar colouring
matter from Roccella tinctoria." Ed.
  Off. Syn.  LITMUS.  Roccella tinctoria. Dub.
  Turnsol, Orchill; Tournesol, Fr.; Lakmus, Germ.; Oricello, Ital.; Orchilla, Span.
  Various species  of lichens afford, wben macerated with alkaline liquors,
a purple colouring matter much esteemed in  dyeing.   That most  used at
present is the cudbear, prepared from the Lichen tartareus, which grows on
limestone rocks in  the North of Europe.   The orchill or litmus is a  similar
dye-stuff, prepared from the Roccella tinctoria of Acharius, a lichen which
grows on maritime  rocks, and  is especially  abundant  in the  Canary and
Cape Verde Islands.
  Litmus is prepared by coarsely powdering the lichen, and macerating and
fermenting it in close wooden vessels, for several weeks, with urine and
either potash or soda.  The colouring  matter  is thus evolved, and the pre-
pared mass is taken out, dried, and cut  into small squares for use. 
part i.          Lactuca Elongata.—Lactuca Virosa.             421

  Litmus,  as  thus  prepared, is  in  friable, violet-coloured,  finely granular
pieces, from a quarter of an inch to an inch in diameter, scattered over with
white saline points.   It has an alkaline smell,  tinges the saliva  of a deep
blue, and is somewhat pungent and  saline to the taste.  It is much used as
one of the  most delicate tests of uncombined  acids, which change its blue
colour to red;  and  of alkalies, which restore the  original hue.   The most
convenient mode  of preparing litmus for use as a test, is to stain paper with
it.  For this  purpose the watery infusion made  with one  part of powdered
litmus and four of  water, is applied by means of a  brush to white unsized
paper.  The sheets when dried must be kept in  close vessels in the dark.
                                                           D. B. S.

       LACTUCA  ELONGATA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                           Wild Lettuce.

  " The herb of  Lactuca elongata."  U. S.
  Lactuca. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat. Ord.  Composita?-Ci-
choracea?, De  Cand.  Cichoracea?, Lindley.
  Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Calyx imbricated, cylindrical, with a mem-
branous margin. Pappus simple, stipitate.  Seed smooth. Willd.
  Lactuca elongata.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1525.   This indigenous spe-
cies of lettuce is biennial, with a stem from three to six feet in height, and
leaves of which  the  lower  are runcinate, entire, and clasping, the lowest
toothed, and the  highest lanceolate.  They are all  smooth  on their under
surface.  The flowers are  in corymbose panicles, small, and of a pale yel-
low colour.   The stem  and leaves yield, when wounded, a milky juice in
which the virtues of the plant reside.  The wild lettuce grows in all latitudes
of the United  States, from Canada to the Carolinas.  It is found  in woods,
along roads, and in  fertile soils, and flowers in June and July.
  It was introduced into the  secondary list of  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia as a
substitute for the  Lactuca  virosa of Europe, which it is  said  to resemble
somewhat in medical properties.  Dr. Bigelow was informed by physicians
who had employed  it, that it acts  as  an anodyne, and promotes the secretion
from the skin  and kidneys.   It is seldom used in regular practice.  Accord-
ing to M. Aubergier, who made  numerous experiments with different spe-
cies  of Lactuca,  in order  to ascertain from  which lactucarium  might  be
most advantageously obtained, the milky juice of the L. elongata is of a flat
and sweetish  taste without bitterness, contains much mannite, but no bitter
principle, and is consequently destitute of narcotic properties. (Annuaire de
Therap., 1843, p. 18.)
  An extract prepared by expressing and  inspissating the juice of the fresh
plant may be given in doses of from five to fifteen grains. (Bigelow.) W.


             LACTUCA VIROSA.  Folia. Dub.

                     Strong-scented Lettuce.

  Laitue vireuse, Fr.; Gift-Lattig, Germ.; Lattoga salvatica, Ital.
  Lactuca. See LACTUCA ELONGATA.
  Lactuca virosa. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii.  1526;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 75.
t. 31.  The strong-scented  lettuce is biennial, with a stem from two to four
feet  high,  erect,  prickly near the  base, above  smooth and  divided into
branches.   The lower leaves are large, oblong obovate, undivided, toothed,
    37 
422          Lactuca Virosa.—Lactuca.—Lactucarium.       part i.

commonly prickly on the under side of the  midrib, sessile, and horizontal;
the upper are smaller, clasping, and often lobed ;  the bractes are cordate and
pointed.   The flowers are numerous, of a sulphur-yellow colour, and dis-
posed in a panicle.   The  plant is lactescent, and has a strong disagreeable
smell like that  of opium,  and a bitterish  acrid taste.  The inspissated
expressed juice  is the part usually employed in medicine.   It should be
prepared while the plant is  in  flower;  as the milky  fluid, upon  which its
virtues depend,  is then most  abundant.  Mr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, has
prepared lactucarium from this species, which is said  to yield it  in greater
quantity,  and of better quality than the garden lettuce.   Mr. Schutz, of
Germany, obtained only 17 grains of lactucarium,  on the average, from a
single plant  of the garden lettuce, while a plant of the L. virosa yielded 56
grains.   The strong-scented lettuce is a  native of Europe.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The  extract or inspissated juice  is a seda-
tive narcotic, said also to be gently laxative, powerfully diuretic, and some-
what diaphoretic.  It is  employed in  Europe, particularly in Germany, in
the treatment of dropsy, and is especially recommended in cases attended
with visceral obstruction.  Dr.  Collin,  of Vienna, was very successful with
it in the cure of  that disease.  It is usually, however, combined with squill,
digitalis, or some other diuretic; and it is  not easy to decide how much of
the effect obtained is justly ascribable to the lettuce.  The medicine is never
used in this country.  The dose is eight or  ten grains, which may be  gra-
dually increased  to  a  scruple  or more.  The  Lactuca Scariola,  another
European species, possesses similar properties, and is used for  the same
purposes.                                                        W.

                        LACTUCA. Lond.

                              Lettuce.
   " Lactuca sativa." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  LACTUCA SATIVA.  Herba.  Dub.
  Laituc, Fr.;  Garten-Lattig, Germ.; Lattuga, Ital.; Lechuga, Span.
   Lactuca.  See LACTUCA  ELONGATA.


             LACTUCARIUM.  U S., Lond., Ed.

                           Lactucarium.
  "The inspissated juice of  Lactuca  sativa."  U.S.  "Lactuca  sativa.
Succus spissatus." Lond.  " Inspissated juice of Lactuca virosa and sativa;
Lettuce-opium."  Ed.
  Lactuca sativa. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1523.  The  garden  lettuce is an
annual plant.  The  stem, which rises  above two feet in height, is erect,
round, simple below, and branching  in  its  upper part.  The  lower leaves
are obovate,  rounded at the end, and undulating;  the upper are smaller, ses-
sile, cordate,  and toothed; both are shining, and of a yellowish-green colour.
The flowers  are pale yellow, small,  and disposed in  an irregular terminal
corymb.   Before the flower-stem begins to shoot, the plant contains a bland,
pellucid juice, has little taste or smell, and is much used as a  salad for the
table ; but during the period  of inflorescence  it abounds in a peculiar milky
juice, which  readily escapes from incisions in the stem, and has been found
to possess decided medicinal as well as sensible properties.  A similar juice
is  produced by other species of lettuce,  and has in fact served as the origin of
the title by which the genus  is designated.  This juice is more abundant in
the wild than in the cultivated plants.  That of the L.  sativa, inspissated by 
PART I.
Lactuca.—Lactucarium.
423
exposure to the air, has been adopted as officinal in the U. S., London, and
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, under the name of  Lactucarium.  The Edin-
burgh College admit also the L. virosa as a source of the medicine.  In the
edition of the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836, lettuce has been omitted from
the Materia Medica; but we have retained it here; as an extract of lettuce is
directed, in the same edition, among the Preparations.
  The original native country of the garden lettuce is unknown.   The plant
has been cultivated from time immemorial, and is now employed in all parts
of the civilized world.  It flourishes equally well in hot and temperate lati-
tudes.   Some botanists suppose that the L. virosa of the old continent is the
parent of  all the varieties of the cultivated plant.
  The milky juice undergoes little alteration, if  confined in closely stopped
bottles from which the air  is excluded.   But, when  exposed to  the air, it
concretes  and assumes a brownish colour somewhat like that of opium.  Mr.
Young, of Edinburgh, recommended the following mode of collecting it.
When  the stem is about a foot high, the top is cut off,  and the juice which
exudes, being absorbed by cotton or a piece of  sponge, is pressed out into
a cup or other small vessel, and exposed till it concretes.   In order to obtain
all  the juice which the plant is capable of affording, it is necessary to cut off
five or six successive slices  of the stem at short  intervals,  and to repeat the
process two or three times a day.   The juice may also be  collected by the
finger as it flows from  the incisions.
  A plan  proposed by Mr. Probart, of London, is to colleet 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,
differing from the concrete juice chiefly in being  destitute of caoutchouc.
  Another method of  extracting the virtues of the lettuce  has been recom-
mended by Mr. Probart.  When the plant begins to assume a  yellow hue,
the white juice concretes in the bark of the stem, and in the old leaves,
which  become very bitter.  These parts being separated, are macerated for
twenty-four hours in water, then  boiled for two hours;  and the clear decoc-
tion, after having been allowed to drain off through a sieve without pressure,
is evaporated in shallow vessels by simple 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 direct an extract to be prepared by inspissating the
expressed juice of the leaves; but this must be exceedingly uncertain, from the
variable quantity of the milky juice contained in the plant; and as  the young
leaves, which contain little or none of it, are often employed, the preparation
is liable to be quite inert.
  It has been  asserted that  the thridace of Dr. Francois is the  inspissated
milky juice of lettuce, and therefore identical with lactucarium ; and a state-
ment to this effect was made in some former editions  of  this work, upon
what was  deemed sufficient  authority.   In an article,  however, in the Jour-
nal  de  Pharmacie for December 1836, it is asserted  that thridace strongly
attracts moisture from the air, is without narcotic odour,  and instead of being
bitter, like lactucarium, has  a saline and extractive taste.   It is, therefore,
in all probability, the inspissated expressed juice, and, indeed, is directed as
such in the last French Codex, the leaves being rejected,  and the stalks alone,
near the flowering period, being subjected to pressure.
  M. Aubergier, of Clermont, in a treatise presented to the French Academy
of Sciences in November, 1842, states  that lactucarium, identical with  that
of the  garden lettuce, is  yielded by 'several other species of Lactuca, and 
424
Lactuca.—Lactucarium.
PART I.
can be abundantly and cheaply procured from the Lactuca altissima, which
is a large plant, with a stem more than nine feet high, and an inch and a half
in diameter.  (Annuaire de Therap.,  1843, p. 18.)
   Lactucarium is in small irregular lumps, of a reddish-brown colour exter-
nally, and of a narcotic odour and bitter taste.  As prepared  near Edinburgh
it is commonly in  roundish, compact, and rather hard masses,  weighing
several ounces.  (Christison.)   In colour, taste, and smell, it bears  consider-
able 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  none such has been
discovered.   Analyzed by M. Aubergier,  it  yielded 1.  a bitter crystallizable
principle, 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  sesquisalts of  iron, 5.  an  electro-negative
resin, combined with  potassa, 6. a  neuter  resin,  7. ulmate of potassa, 8.
cerin, myricin, pectin, and albumen,  9. oxalate, malate, nitrate, and sulphate
of potassa, chloride of potassium, phosphate of lime and magnesia,  oxides of
iron and  manganese, and silica.   The lactescence of the juice is  owing to
a mixture of wax and resin, and not to caoutchouc, as previously supposed.
(Annuaire de  Therapeutique,  1843, p.  19.)   Dr. Walz,  in an  inaugural
thesis published at Heidelberg in 1839, gives the following constituents of
lactucarium from the L. virosa;  viz.,  a peculiar principle denominated lactu-
cin, volatile oil, a fatty matter easily dissolved by ether,  and  another of diffi-
cult 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 is  obtained by exhaust-
ing lactucarium with alcohol acidulated with  a fiftieth of acetic acid, diluting
the tincture with an equal bulk of water, adding acetate of lead so long as a
precipitate is produced, washing the precipitate with weak alcohol acidulated
with vinegar, filtering the liquors, freeing them from lead by hydrosulphuric
acid, evaporating to dryness at a heat of  from  135° to  145° F., exhausting
the extract  thus obtained with  absolute  alcohol, evaporating  to  dryness,
treating the residue again with ether, and allowing  the ether to evaporate
spontaneously.  Lactucin is thus obtained  in  yellow  crystalline  needles,
without smell, 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 possessing neither alkaline nor acid reaction.
(Annul,  der Pharm.,  xxxii. 97.)  The  lactucin of  Walz  differs  from the
bitter principle obtained by Aubergier, in its  greater solubility in cold water.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  That lettuce  possesses soporific  proper-
ties, is a fact  which was known to  the  ancients; but  Dr. J. R. Coxe, of
Philadelphia, enjoys the  credit of having first proposed the employment of
its inspissated  milky juice as a medicine.  From  experiments with a tinc-
ture  prepared  from lactucarium, Dr.  Coxe obtained  the same  results as
usually  follow the  administration of  common  laudanum.   Dr.   Duncan,
senior, of Edinburgh, afterwards paid  particular attention to  the subject,
and, in his treatise on pulmonary consumption, recommended lactucarium
as a substitute for  opium, the anodyne  properties of   which it possesses,
without being  followed by the same  injurious  effects.   In  consequence of
this recommendation the medicine came "into  extensive use, and  was adopted
as officinal in several of the Pharmacopoeias.  Dr. Francois, a French phy- 
PART I.
Lauri Baccce.—Lauri Folia.
425
sician, also investigated, with great care,  the  medicinal  properties of the
inspissated juice of lettuce.  According to this author, it is sedative in its
action,  diminishing  the  rapidity of the circulation,  and  consequently the
temperature of the body, without producing that disturbance of the functions
which often follows the use of opium.   The general inference which may
be drawn from the recorded experience in  relation to lactucarium  is,  that it
has, in a much inferior degree, the anodyne and calming properties of opium,
without its disposition to excite the  circulation,  to produce headache and ob-
stinate constipation, and  to derange the digestive organs.   In this country
the medicine is habitually employed by some practitioners  to allay  cough,
and quiet nervous irritation.  It  may be given in all cases in which opium is
indicated in reference to its  anodyne  or soothing influence, but  cannot be
administered from idiosyncrasy of the  patient.   It is, however, a very uncer-
tain medicine.  The dose of lactucarium has usually been stated at two grains,
to be repeated if necessary; but this is  too small.  From five to twenty grains
may be given.
   Water  distilled from lettuce (eau de laitue) is used in France  as  a mild
sedative,  in the quantity of  from two to  four  ounces.   The fresh  leaves
boiled in water are  sometimes employed in the  shape of cataplasms.  It is
said that in Egypt a mild oil  is derived from the seeds* fit for culinary use.
   Off Prep. Of Lactucarium.   Tinctura  Lactucarii, Ed.; Trochisci Lac-
tucarii, Ed.—Of Lactuca.   Extractum Lactuca?, Lond.              W.


        LAURI  BACOE.   LAURI  FOLIA. Land.

               Berries  and Leaves of the  Bay Tree.

   " Laurus nobilis.  Baccse.  Folia." L,ond.
   Off. Syn.  LAURUS NOBILIS. Folia.  Bacca?. Dub.
   Laurier, Fr.; Lorbeer, Germ.; Allorg, Ital.; Laurel. Span.
   Laurus.   Sex. Syst.  Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lauracea?.
   Gen. Ch. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite, involucrated.  Calyx four-
parted; segments equal, deciduous.  Fertile stamens  twelve  in three rows;
the outer  alternate with  the  segments  of the calyx; all with two glands in
the middle or  above it.   Anthers  oblong, two-celled, all  looking inwards.
Fertile flowers with two  to four  castrated males surrounding  the  ovary.
Stigma capitate. Fruit succulent, seated in the  irregular base of  the  calyx.
Umbels axillary, stalked.  (Lindley, Flor Med., 340.)
  Laurus nobilis. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 479 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 678. t.
235.   This  species of laurel is an evergreen  tree, attaining in  its  native
climate the height of twenty or thirty feet.  Its  leaves are alternate, on short
petioles, oval lanceolate,  entire, sometimes  wavy, veined, of a firm texture,
smooth, shining,  deep green upon their upper surface, paler beneath.  The
flowers are dioecious, of a yellowish-white colour, and placed in small clusters
of three or four together upon a common peduncle in the axils of the leaves.
The corolla is divided into four oval  segments.   The fruit is an oval berry, of
the size of a small cherry, and when ripe of a dark purple, nearly black colour.
  The bay tree, so famous among the  ancients, is a native  of the  countries
bordering on the Mediterranean.   Its leaves and fruit, and an oil  expressed
from the latter, are the officinal parts.
  The leaves  have a fragrant odour, especially when bruised, and a  bitter,
aromatic, somewhat astringent taste.  They yield by distillation a  greenish-
yellow volatile  oil, upon which their properties  chiefly depend.   Water dis-
tilled from them has their peculiar odour.
                                  37* 
426        Lauri Baccce.—Lauri Folia.—Lauro-cerasus.     part i.

  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 aroma-
tic odour and taste as  the leaves, but are  more pungent.  Besides an essen-
tial oil, they contain also a  fixed oil,  which may be separated by expression
or decoction.
  The expressed oil,  which is obtained from the fresh fruit, is concrete, of a
greenish  colour, and retains a portion of the volatile oil, which  renders it
agreeably aromatic.   Lard  impregnated with the odorous principle of  the
berries, and coloured  green, is said to be  often substituted  for  the genuine
expressed oil.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  The leaves, berries,  and oil of the bay
tree possess exciting  and narcotic  properties, but at present are never used
internally as medicines, and in this  country are scarcely employed in any
manner.   Their chief use  is  to communicate a pleasant odour to external
stimulant remedies.  Dr. A. T. Thomson says that he has  found an infusion
of the berries useful in impetigo.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Ruta?, Lond.                               W.

                   LAURO-CERASUS. Ed.

                           Cherry-laurel.

  " Leaves of Primus lauro-cerasus." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  PRUNUS LAURO-CERASUS. Folia. Dub.
  Laurier cerise, Fr.; Kirschlorbeer, Germ.; Lauro-ceraso, Ital.
  Cerasus. Sex. Syst.  Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Amygdalea?.
   Gen. Ch. Differing from  Primus 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 in  height, with
long spreading branches, which, as  well  as the trunk,  are  covered with a
smooth blackish bark.   The leaves, which stand alternately on short strong
footstalks, are oval oblong,  from five  to seven inches in  length,  acute,  finely
toothed, firm, coriaceous, smooth, beautifully green and shining,  with oblique
nerves, and yellowish glands  at the base.  The flowers  are small, white,
strongly odorous, and disposed in  simple  axillary racemes.   The fruit con-
sists of oval drupes, very similar to small black  cherries, both in their  shape
and internal structure.
   The cherry-laurel is a native of  Asia Minor, but has been introduced into
Europe, throughout which  it is cultivated, both for medical use and for the
beauty of its shining  evergreen foliage.   Almost all  parts of it  are  more or
less impregnated with the odour supposed to indicate the presence of hydro-
cyanic acid.  The leaves only are  officinal.
   In  their recent  and entire state they have scarcely any  smell, but  when
bruised they emit the characteristic  odour  of the plant in a high.degree.
Their taste is  somewhat astringent and  strongly bitter, with  the  peculiar
flavour of  the  peach  kernel.   By drying they lose their odour, but  retain
their  bitterness.  They yield  a peculiar volatile  oil and hydrocyanic acid
by distillation with water, which they strongly impregnate with  their flavour.
The oil resembles that  of  bitter almonds, for which it  is  said  to be  some-
times sold  in the shops in Europe, where it is  employed to flavour liquors
and various culinary preparations ;  but, as it is  highly poisonous, dangerous 
PART I.
Lauro-cerasus.—Lavandula.
427
consequences may result from its careless use.  It  has  not yet been deter-
mined how far  the  mode of production of this oil  resembles  that of bitter
almonds (see  Amygdala Amara);  but chemists  have not  succeeded  in
obtaining amygdalin from the leaves;  and that the oil  exists  already formed
to a certain extent, in the fresh leaves, is rendered probable by the fact, stated
by Winkler, that they yield it in considerable quantity when distilled without
water. (Journ.  de Pharm., xxv. 195.)   The  fresh  leaves are occasionally
used to flavour  milk, cream, &c; and more safely than the oil; though they
also are poisonous when too largely employed.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The leaves of the cherry-laurel possess
properties similar to those of hydrocyanic acid; and the  water distilled from
them is much employed in various parts of Europe for the  same purposes
as that active medicine.   But it is deteriorated by age; and therefore, as kept
in the shops, must be of variable strength.  Hence, while Hufeland directs
only twenty drops for a dose every two hours, to be gradually increased  to
sixty drops, M. Fouquier has administered several ounces  without  effect.
Another source of inequality of strength must be the variable quality of the
leaves, according to the time they have been kept after separation from the
tree, and probably also  to their age and  degree of development.   It  is not,
therefore, to  be regretted, that  the want of the plant in this country has
prevented the introduction of  the distilled water into our  shops.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Lauro-cerasi, Ed., Dub.                         W.


               LAVANDULA.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed,

                              Lavender.
   "The flowers of Lavandula vera." U.S.  "Lavandula Spica. Flores."
Lond. " The flowering  heads of Lavandula vera." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  LAVANDULA  SPICA. Flores. Dub.
   Lavande, Fr.; Lavandelblumen, Germ.; Lavandola, Ital.; Espliego alhucema, Span.
   Lavandula.  Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat.  Ord, Lamia-
cea? 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 Linna?us 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 Linnaeus,
has  been denominated  by De  Candolle L. vera, while the  broad-leaved
variety still retains the title of L. Spica.  The  latter  is scarcely cultivated  in
Great Britain or the United States.
   The common lavender is a small shrub, usually rising not more than two
or three feet, but sometimes attaining  an elevation of six feet.  The stem is
woody below, and covered with a brown bark ;  above, is divided  into nu-
merous slender, straight, herbaceous, pubescent, quadrangular  branches, fur-
nished with opposite, sessile,  narrow, nearly linear,  entire,  and green  or
glaucous leaves.  The flowers are small, blue, and  disposed in interrupted
whorls around the young shoots, forming terminal cylindrical spikes.  Each
whorl is accompanied with two bractes.  The  corolla  is tubular and labiate,
with the lower lip  divided into  three segments,  the upper larger and bifid.
The filaments are within the tube.
   The plant  is a native of Southern  Europe, and covers vast tracts of dry 
 428           Lavandula.—Limon.—Limonis Cortex.        part i.

 and barren land in Spain, Italy, and the South of France.  It is cultivated
 abundantly in our gardens, and in this country flowers in August.   All parts
 of it are endowed with properties similar to those for which the flowers are
 used ; but these only are officinal.   The spikes should be cut when they
 begin to bloom.
   Lavender flowers have a strong fragrant odour, and an aromatic, warm,
 bitterish taste.   They retain their fragrance a long time after drying.  Alco-
 hol 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 Lavandulae.)  Hagen obtained
 from a pound of the fresh flowers sometimes  two drachms, sometimes only
 half a drachm of the oil.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Lavender is an aromatic stimulant and
 tonic, esteemed useful in certain conditions of nervous debility, but very sel-
 dom given in its crude state.   The products  obtained  by its distillation are
 much used in perfumery, and as grateful  additions to other medicines, which
 they render at the same time more acceptable to the palate and  cordial to the
 stomach.
   Off. Prep. Oleum Lavandulae, U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Pulvis Asari
 Compositus, Dub.;  Spiritus Lavandulae,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.     W.


                          LIMON.  U.S.

                               Lemons.

   " The fruit of Citrus Limonum (De Candolle)." U. S.
   Off Syn. LIMONES.  Citrus Limonum.  Fructus.  LIMONUM  SUC-
 CUS. Succus.  JjOnd.; LIMONES.  Fruit  of Citrus medica and Citrus
 Limonum ; Lemons and Limes. Ed.; LIMONES.  CITRUS MEDICA.
 Fructus succus. Dub.

                  LIMONIS CORTEX.  US

                            Lemon Peel.

   " The outer rind of the fruit of Citrus  Limonum."  U. S.
   Off. Syn. LIMONUM CORTEX.  Fructus  cortex  exterior. Lond.;
 Rind of  the fruit  of Citrus medica. Ed.; CITRUS MEDICA.  Fructus
 tunica exterior. Dub.
   Limons, Citrons, Fr.; Limonen, Citronen, Germ.; Limoni, Ital.; Limones, Span.
   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 in its general aspect the C. Aurantium
 before described.  The leaves,  however,  are larger, slightly indented at the
 edges, and  stand upon footstalks which are destitute of the winged appen-
 dages 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 the Citrus medica,
 which some botanists consider entitled to  the rank of species, but which are
 scarcely distinguishable, except by the character of their fruit.  Those which
 are 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 
PART I.
Limon.—Limonis Cortex.
429
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 preparation of conserves, to which it is adapted by its great thickness.
This  fruit is called  cedrat  by the  French.   2. The lemon—C medica,
variety limon of Linnaeus—the  Citrus  Limonium of Risso—is smaller than
the preceding variety, with a smoother and  thinner rind, a pointed  nipple-
shaped  summit, and a very juicy  and acid pulp.   In  other respects it bears
a close  resemblance to the citron, to  which,  however, it is usually preferred
in consequence of the greater abundance of its juice.  3. The lime is  still
smaller than  the lemon, with a sVnoother and thinner rind, of an oval shape,
rounded at the extremities, of a pale-yellow or greenish-yellow colour, and
abounding in a very acid juice, which  renders it highly useful for  all the
purposes to which the lemon is applied.  It is the product of the variety C.
acris of Miller.
   The  Citrus medica, like the orange-tree, is a native of Asia.  It was intro-
duced into Europe from Persia or  Media, was first cultivated in Greece, after-
wards in Italy, so early as the second century, and has now spread over the
whole civilized world, being raised by artificial heat, where the climate is too
cold to  admit of its exposure with safety during winter to the open air.
   We are supplied with lemons and  limes chiefly from the West Indies and
the Mediterranean.   Though the former of these fruits only is directed by
the United States Pharmacopoeia,  both  kinds are  employed indiscriminately
for most medicinal  purposes; and the  lime  affords a  juice at least equal in
proportional  quantity, and in acidity, to that  obtained from the lemon.
   Properties.  The exterior  rind of the lemon has a fragrant  odour, and a
warm, aromatic, bitter taste, somewhat similar to that of the  orange, though
less agreeable.  It contains a bitter principle, and yields, by expression or
distillation, an essential oil which is  much used "for its flavour.  Both  this
and the  rind itself are recognised as officinal  in all the Pharmacopoeias. (See
Oleum Limonis.) Lemon-peel yields its virtues to water,  wine, and alcohol.
   But the juice is the part for which this fruit is  most esteemed.   It is very
sharply  acid, with a  peculiar grateful flavour, and consists chiefly of citric
acid, mucilage, 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  substitute for lemon-juice, when the fresh fruit is not
attainable, 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.    The juice may also be preserved by
concentrating it either by means of evaporation with a gentle heat, or by ex-
posure  to a  freezing temperature, which  congeals the  watery portion,  and
leaves the acid much stronger than before.   When wanted for use it may be
diluted  to the former strength ;  but though the acid properties are retained,
the flavour of the juice is found to have been deteriorated.
  * 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. 
430             Limon.—Limonis Cortex.—Linum.          part i.

  Medical Properties and Uses.  The rind of the lemon is sometimes used
to qualify the taste  and increase the power of stomachic infusions and tinc-
tures.  The juice is refrigerant, and properly diluted forms a refreshing and
very 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,  which
are usually administered in fevers.   It is also  much employed in the forma-
tion of those diaphoretic preparations known generally by the names of
neutral mixture, and effervescing draught.  (See Liquor Potassse  Citratis,
in the second part of this work.)   One of the most beneficial  applications
of lemon-juice is  to the prevention and cure of scurvy, for which it may be
considered almost a specific.   For this  purpose,  ships destined  for long
voyages should always be provided with  a supply of the concentrated juice,
or of crystallized citric acid with the oil  of lemons.  Lemon-juice is some-
times prescribed in  connexion  with opium and Peruvian bark, the effects of
which it is thought  in some  instances to  modify favourably, by substituting
the citrate of their respective alkalies for the native salts.  It has been used
with advantage as a local application in pruritus of  the scrotum, and in ute-
rine hemorrhage after delivery.
   Off. Prep.  Of the  rind,  Infusum Aurantii Compositum,  Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Infusum  Gentiana?  Comp., Lond., Dub.;  Spiritus Ammonia? Aro-
maticus, U. S., Lond.:—Of the juice, Acidum Citricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Liquor Potassa? Citratis,  U. S.; Syrupus Limonis,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
                                                                 W.


                          LINUM.  U.S.

                              Flaxseed.

   "The seeds of Linum usitatissimum."  U. S.
   Off. Syn. LINI SEMINA. Linum usitatissimum.  Semina. Lond.; LINI
SEMINA.  Seeds of Linum usitatissimum.  LINI FARINA.   Meal  of the
seeds deprived of their fixed oil by expression. Ed.  LINUM  USITATIS-
SIMUM. Semina.  Dub.
   Linseed; Grains de lin, Fr.; Leinsame, Germ.; Semi di lino, Ital.; Linaza, Span.
   Linum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord.  Linacea?.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved. Petals five.  Capsule five-valved, ten-celled.
Seeds solitary.  Willd.
   Linum usitatissimum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1533; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.
565, t. 202.  Common flax is an annual plant with an erect, slender, round
stem, about two feet in height, branching at  top, and, like all other parts of
the plant, entirely smooth.   The leaves  are small, lanceolate, acute, entire,
of  a pale-green colour, sessile, and scattered  alternately over the  stem and
branches.   The  flowers are terminal and of a  delicate blue colour.   The
calyx is persistent,  and composed of  five ovate, sharp-pointed, three-nerved
leaflets,  which  are  membranous on their  border.  The petals are  five, obo-
vate, striated, minutely scolloped 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
 gome to have been  originally derived from Egypt, by others from the great 
PART I.
Linum.
431
elevated plain of central Asia.  It flowers in June and July, and ripens its seeds
in August.  Both the seeds, and an oil expressed from them, are officinal.
   The seeds are  oval, oblong, flattened on the sides with acute edges, some-
what pointed at one end, about a line in length, smooth, glossy, of a brown
colour externally,  and  yellowish-white within.  They  are without smell,
and have  an oily mucilaginous taste.  Meyer found them  to contain fixed
oil, wax,  resin, extractive, tannin, gum, azotized  mucilage, starch, albumen,
gluten, and various salts.   Their investing coat or husk abounds  in  a pecu-
liar gummy matter or mucilage, which is readily imparted to  hot water, form-
ing a thick viscid  fluid,  which lets fall white flakes  upon the addition of
alcohol, and affords a copious dense precipitate with  subacetate of lead.  By
Berzelius the term mucilage is applied  to a  proximate vegetable principle,
distinguished from  gum by being insoluble in cold,  and but slightly soluble
in boiling water,  in which it swells up and forms a mucilaginous, viscid body,
which loses its water when placed upon filtering paper, or other porous sub-
stance, 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 principle ;
as it embraces  a  number  of different bodies, such as bassorin, cerasin, &c.
According to Guerin, the  mucilage of flaxseed, obtained at a temperature of
from  120° to 140°, and evaporated to dryness, by means of a salt water bath,
contains in 100 parts, 52*70 of a principle soluble in cold water,  29*89 of a
principle  insoluble  in that liquid, and 10-30  of water, and  yields 7*11 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 succeed in isolating. (An. de Chim. et de
Phys., xlix. 263.)  Vauquelin found among its constituents free acetic acid,
silica, and various salts of  potassa and  lime.
   The interior part of the seed, or nucleus, is  rich in a peculiar oil, which is
separated by expression, and very extensively employed in the  arts. (See
 Oleum Lini.)  The ground seeds are kept in the shops under the name of
flaxseed meal.  This is of a dark gray colour, highly oleaginous, and when
mixed with hot water forms a soft adhesive mass, which is  much employed
for luting by practical chemists.  The  cake which remains after the expres-
sion of the oil,  usually called oil-cake, still retains  the mucilaginous matter of
the envelope, and  affords  a highly nutritious food for cattle.  This is the
Lini  Farina of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
   Flaxseed is sometimes accidentally or fraudulently mixed with other seeds,
especially of plants which grow among the flax.   We  have seen a parcel
containing a considerable proportion  of  the seeds of an indigenous  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 pro-
portion of half an ounce to the pint, is much and very advantageously em-
ployed in catarrh, dysentery, nephritic and calculous complaints,  strangury,
and other inflammatory affections  of the  mucous membranes of the lungs,
intestines, and  urinary passages.   By decoction water extracts also a por-
tion of the oleaginous matter, which renders the mucilage less fit  for admin-
istration by the mouth, but superior as a laxative enema.  The meal mixed
with hot water  forms an excellent emollient poultice.
   Off Prep.  Cataplasma Conii, Lond.; Cataplasma Lini, J^ond.; Cata-
plasma Sinapis,  Lond., Dub.; Infusum  Lini,  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.;
Oleum Lini, Dub.,  Ed.; Pulvis pro Cataplasmate, Dub.              W. 
432             Linum Catharticum.—Liriodendron.          part i,
                LINUM CATHARTICUM. Ed.

                           Purging Flax.
   " Herb of Linum catharticum." Ed.
   Lin cathartique, Fr.;  Purgirflacks, Germ.; Lino purgativo, Ital.; Cantilagua, Span.
   Linum.  See LINUM.
   Linum  catharticum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  i.  1541 ;  Smith,  Flor.  Brit.
 344.  This is an annual plant, about six or eight inches high, having  erect,
 slender stems, dichotomous near the summit, furnished with opposite, obo-
 vate lanceolate, entire leaves,  and  bearing  minute white flowers, the petals
 of which are obovate and acute.   It is a native of Europe, and not found in
 the United States, where it is never employed as a medicine.
   The whole plant is very bitter and  somewhat acrid, and imparts its vir-
 tues 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 \he plant after the flower  has fallen.
 (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1844, p. 110.)   Purging flax formerly enjoyed  some
 reputation  in Europe as  a  gentle cathartic, but has  fallen into  disuse.  A
 drachm of the powder, or an infusion containing the virtues of two or  three
 drachms of the herb, may be taken for  a dose.                     W.


            LIRIODENDRON. U.S. Secondary.

                          Tulip-tree Bark.
   "The bark of Liriodendron tulipifera."  U. S.
   Liriodendron.  Sex. Syst.  Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Magno-
 liaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx three-leaved.  Petals six.  Samarse sublanceolate, one or
 two-seeded, imbricated in a cone. Nuttall.
   Liriodendron tulipifera. Willd. Sp.  Plant, ii. 1254; Bigelow,  Am. Med.
 Bot.  ii. 107; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 92.  This  noble  tree is  both from  its
 magnitude and beauty the boast of American landscape.  Rising on an erect,
 straight, cylindrical stem, which is often of nearly equal thickness for the
 distance of forty feet, it attains, in favourable situations, an elevation seldom
 less than fifty and sometimes more than one hundred feet, with a diameter of
 trunk varying from eighteen inches to three feet;  and individuals are occa-
 sionally met  with which  greatly exceed these  dimensions.   The branches,
 though not very numerous, are thrown  out in a somewhat regular order, and
 give the tree  a symmetrical aspect.  The bark is of a brown or grayish-
 brown colour, except in the young branches,  on which  it is bluish or  of a
 reddish tinge.  The leaves, which stand on  long footstalks, are alternate,
 somewhat fleshy, smooth, of a beautiful shining green  colour, and divided
 into three lobes, of which the upper one  is truncated and horizontally notched
 at its summit, so as to present  a two-lobed appearance, and the  two lower
 are rounded at the base and usually pointed.   In the larger leaves, the lateral
lobes have  each a tooth-like  projection  at some  distance below their apex.
 This peculiar form of the leaf serves to distinguish the tree from all others
inhabiting the American forests.  On  isolated  trees  the  flowers are  very
 numerous.   They are large, beautifully variegated with different colours,
 among which yellow predominates, and in their general appearance  bear
some resemblance to the tulip, which has given a name to the species.  Each
flower stands  on a distinct  terminal peduncle.   The  calyx is double, the
outer being two  leaved and  deciduous, the inner consisting of three large, 
PART I.
Liriodendron.
433
 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 anthers.  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
 fertility of the banks of the Ohio and its tributary streams.  Throughout the
 United States it is known by the inappropriate name of poplar, for which
 that of tulip-tree is beginning to be substituted.  When in full bloom, about
 the middle of May, it presents in its  profusion of flowers, its rich, shining,
 luxuriant foliage, its elevated  stature, and  elegant outline, one of the  most
 magnificent  objects which the vegetable kingdom  affords.   The interior or
 heart wood, which is yellowish, of a fine  grain, and compact without being
 heavy, is much employed in the making of furniture, carriages, door-panels,
 and for other useful purposes.   It is recommended by its property of resist-
 ing the influence of atmospheric moisture and the attacks of worms.  The
 bark  is the officinal portion.  It is taken for use indiscriminately from the
 root, trunk, and branches, though that derived from the root is thought to be
 most active.
   Deprived  of the epidermis, it is of a  yellowish-white  colour,  the  bark of
 the root being somewhat darker than that of the stem or branches.  It  is
 very  light and brittle, of a feeble, but  heavy and rather disagreeable odour,
 which is  stronger in the fresh bark, and of a bitter, pungent, and aromatic
 taste.  These properties are weakened by age, and  we have found speci-
 mens of the bark which have  been long kept in the shops,  almost insipid.
 The  peculiar properties of liriodendron  appear to reside in a volatile prin-
 ciple, 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 decom-
 posed at 270°, of a slightly aromatic odour, and a bitter warm pungent taste.
 It is incapable of uniting with alkalies, which precipitate it from the infusion
 or decoction of the bark  by combining  with the  matter which renders it
 soluble in the water.   Neither does it unite with acids.   Water precipitates
 it from its alcoholic solution.  It is obtained by macerating the root  in alco-
 hol, 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. cf Pharm., iii. 5.)   The  virtues of  the  bark are extracted
 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 intermit-
 tent 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 infusion and decoction are  also used, but are less efficient.
 They may be prepared in the proportion of an ounce of the bark to a pint of
water, and given in the quantity of one or two fluidounces.  The dose of the
saturated tincture is a fluidrachm.                                    W.
    38 
434
Lobelia.
PART I.
                  LOBELIA. U.S., Lond.,  Ed.

                               Lobelia.

   " Lobelia inflata."  U. S„ Lond.  " Herb of Lobelia inflata." Ed.
   Loeelia. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lobeliacea?.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla irregular, five-parted, cleft on the upper
side nearly to the base.   Anthers united into  a  tube.   Stigma two-lobed.
Capsule inferior or semi-superior, two or three-celled, two-valved at  the
apex.  Torrey.
   Lobelia inflata.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  i. 946;  Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i.
177 ; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 181.   This species of Lobelia, commonly called
Indian tobacco,  is an annual or biennial indigenous  plant, usually a foot or
more in height, with a fibrous root, and a solitary, erect, angular, very hairy
stem, much branched about midway, but rising considerably above the sum-
mits of the highest branches.   The leaves are scattered, sessile, oval, acute,
serrate, and hairy.  The flowers are numerous, small,  disposed in  leafy
terminal racemes, and supported on short axillary footstalks.  The segments
of the calyx are linear and pointed.  The corolla, which is of a delicate blue
colour, has a labiate border, with the  upper lip divided into  two, the lower
into three segments.  The united anthers are curved, and enclose the stio-ma.
The fruit  is an  oval, striated, inflated  capsule, crowned with the  persistent
calyx, and containing, in two cells, numerous very small, brown seeds.
   The  Lobelia inflata is a very common weed, growing  on the road-sides,
and in neglected fields,  throughout the  United  States.  Its flowers begin to
appear towards the end  of July, and continue to expand in succession till the
occurrence of frost.   The plant when  wounded  or  broken  exudes a milky
juice.   All parts of it are possessed of medicinal  activity;  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 numer-
ous, and should be carefully dried.  It may be kept whole or  in  the state
of powder.  As found in the shops, it is often in  oblong compressed cakes,
prepared by the Shakers.
   Dried lobelia has a slight irritating odour, and when chewed, though at
first without much taste, soon produces a burning acrid impression  upon  the
posterior  parts of the tongue and  palate, very closely resembling  that occa-
sioned by tobacco, and  attended, in like manner, with a flow of  saliva and a
nauseating effect upon the stomach.   The  powder is of a greenish colour.
The plant yields its active properties readily to water and alcohol.  Water
distilled from it, according to Mr.  Procter, has  the odour of the  plant, with-
out its acrimony.   Mr. Procter found the plant to contain an odorous vola-
tile principle, probably volatile  oil;  a peculiar alkaline  principle named
lobelina;  a peculiar acid first  noticed  as distinct by Pereira, called lobelic
acid; besides  gum, resin, chlorophylle, fixed  oil, lignin, salts of lime and
potassa, and oxide  of iron.  The seeds contain  at  least twice as much of
lobelina, in proportion, 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 degree.   Lobelina was
obtained by Mr. Procter from the seeds by the following process.  The seeds
were treated with alcohol acidulated with acetic acid, until deprived of their
acrimony, and the tincture was  evaporated;  the  resulting  extract was tritu-
rated with magnesia and water, and, after repeated agitation for several hours,
the liquor, holding  lobelina in solution, was filtered; this was  then shaken 
PART I.
Lobelia.
435
repeatedly with ether until deprived of acrimony; and the ethereal solution,
having been  decanted, was allowed to evaporate spontaneously.   The resi-
due, which had a  reddish-brown colour, and the consistence of honey, was
deprived of colouring matter by dissolving it in water, adding a slio-ht excess
of sulphuric acid, boiling with animal  charcoal, saturating with "magnesia,
filtering, agitating with ether  until this  fluid had deprived the water of acri-
mony, and finally decanting,  and allowing the ether to evaporate.   Thus
obtained, lobelina  is a yellowish liquid, lighter than water, of a  somewhat
aromatic odour, and  a very acrid  durable taste.  It is soluble in  water, but
much  more  copiously in alcohol  and ether, and the latter fluid readily re-
moves it from its  aqueous solution.  It has a decided alkaline  reaction," and
forms  soluble  and crystallizable  salts  with  sulphuric, nitric,  and muriatic
acids,  and  a very soluble but not crystallizable salt with acetic acid. It forms
an insoluble  compound with tannic acid, which instantly precipitates it from
its solution.   By  a boiling heat it  is entirely decomposed, losing  all its acri-
mony; but,  when combined  with acids, it maybe subjected to ebullition
with water without change.    Mr. Procter  introduced a grain of it  diluted
with water into the stomach of a cat, which became immediately prostrate,
remained for an hour nearly motionless, with  dilated pupils, and had not
recovered wholly  from  the prostrating  influence of  the poison at the end of
fifteen hours.  It did not occasion vomiting or purging.  There can be little
doubt that  it  is the narcotic principle of lobelia.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix.
105, and xiii. 1.)   The late  Dr. S. Colhoun, of Philadelphia, was  the first
to announce the existence of a peculiar  active principle in lobelia, capable of
forming salts with the acids; but he did  not obtain it in an isolated state.  An
important inference from the  effects of heat upon lobelina is that, in  any of
the preparations of lobelia, the plant should never be heated in connexion
with a salifiable base.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Lobelia is emetic, and like other medicines
of the same  class is  occasionally  cathartic, and in small doses diaphoretic
and  expectorant.  It is also  possessed  of narcotic properties.   The leaves
or capsules, chewed for a short time, occasion giddiness, headache, general
tremors, and ultimately nausea and vomiting.   When swallowed in the full
dose, the medicine produces speedy and  severe vomiting, attended with con-
tinued  and distressing nausea, copious  sweating, and great general  relaxa-
tion.   Its effects in doses too large or too  frequently repeated, are extreme
prostration, great  anxiety and distress,  and ultimately death  preceded by
convulsions.   Fatal results have been experienced  from  its empirical use.
These  are  more apt to occur when the poison, as sometimes happens, is not
rejected by vomiting.   In its operation upon the system, therefore, as well  as
in its sensible properties, lobelia bears a close resemblance  to tobacco.  It is
among the medicines which were employed by the aborigines of this country;
and was long in the hands of empirics before it was introduced into regular
practice.  The Rev.  Dr. Cutler, of Massachusetts,  first attracted to  it the
attention of the profession.
  As an emetic it is too powerful, and too distressing as 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 produce active vomiting.   It was from  the  relief obtained from an
attack of this complaint in his own person, that Dr. Cutler was  induced  to
recommend the medicine.   It  has also been used in catarrh, croup, pertussis,
and other laryngeal and pectoral affections ;  and we have  seen it apparently 
436                Lobelia.—Lupulina.—Lycopus.             part i.

advantageous in some of these complaints, especially in severe croup; but it
should always be used with caution.   Administered by injection it produces
the same distressing sickness of stomach, profuse perspiration, and universal
relaxation, as result from a similar use of tobacco.   Dr. Eberle administered
a strong decoction of it successfully by the rectum, as a substitute for  this
narcotic in a case of strangulated hernia.  It has been employed effectually,
in small doses repeated so  as to sustain a slight nausea, for producing relaxa-
tion of the os uteri.   (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xvii. 248.)
  It may be given  in substance, tincture,  or infusion.  The dose of the
powder as an emetic is from five to twenty grains, to be repeated if necessary.
The tincture is most frequently administered.  The full  dose of this prepara-
tion for an adult is half a fluidounce, though in asthmatic cases it is  better
administered  in the quantity of one or two  fluidrachms, repeated every two
or three hours till its effects are experienced.
  Two other species of Lobelia have attracted some attention from medical
writers.  The L. cardinalis or cardinal flower, distinguished for its showy
red  flowers, is supposed to possess anthelmintic properties ;  but is seldom or
never used.  The L. syphilitica is  said to  have been  used by the Indians
in the  cure of  the venereal disease, but has upon trial been found wholly
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 Lobelia?, U. S., Ed.; Tinct. Lobelia? iEtherea, Ed.
                                                                 W.
                       LUPULINA.  U.S.

                              Lupulin.

  " The powder attached to the strobiles of Humulus Lupulus." U. S.
  Lupulina is described under HUMULUS, page 374.

                 LYCOPUS.  U. S. Secondary.

                             Bugle-weed.

  " The herb of Lycopus Virginicus."  U. S.
   Lycopus.  Sex. Syst. Diandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Lamiacea? or
Labiata?.
  Gen. Ch. Calyx tubular, five-cleft or five-toothed. Corolla tubular, four-
lobed,  nearly equal; the upper segment  broader, and emarginate. Stamens
distant. Seeds four, naked, retuse. 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
glandular dots on their under surface.   The flowers are  minute, in small 
part i.             Lycopus.—Lythrum Salicaria.                437

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.
  The L. Europxus is  said to  be frequently collected and  sold for  the L.
 Virginicus.  The former  may be distinguished by its acutely quadrangular
stem, its narrow-lanceolate leaves of which the lower are somewhat pinna-
tifid, its more crowded flowers,  and  the acute segments of its calyx, armed
with short spines.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   According to Dr. A. W. Ives, the bugle-
weed is a very mild narcotic.  It was  introduced into notice  by Drs. Pen-
dleton and Rogers, of New  York, who obtained favourable  effects from its
use in incipient phthisis and  hemorrhage from the lungs.  (N. Y. Med. and
Phys. Journ., i. 179.)   In these complaints it is useful by diminishing the
frequency of the  pulse, quieting irritation, and  allaying cough.   It is most
conveniently taken in the form of infusion, which may be prepared by mace-
rating an ounce of the herb in a pint of boiling water,  and drunk ad libitum.
                                                                W.


           LYTHRUM  SALICARIA. Herba.  Dub.

               Loosestrife.   Purple Willow-herb.

  Salicaire, Fr.; Rother Weiderich, Germ.; Salicaria, Ital.
  Lythrum. Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lythraceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx twelve-toothed.  Petals  six, inserted into  the calyx.
 Capsule two-celled, many-seeded. Willd.
  Lythrum Salicaria. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 865.  Loosestrife is an elegant
perennial plant,  two or three  feet  high, with  an erect,  quadrangular  or
hexagonal, downy, herbaceous stem, bearing  opposite, ternate, sessile, lan-
ceolate leaves, cordate at the base, and downy on the under surface and at
the margin.  The flowers are  axillary, forming a leafy  verticillate spike.
The calyx is red, with  unequal segments, the petals purple  and undulate,
the fruit a small elliptical capsule.
  The  plant grows wild in all parts of Europe, and is found in  New Eng-
land and Canada.   It prefers meadows, swamps, and the banks of streams,
which it adorns in July and August  with  its showy  purple flowers.   The
whole herbaceous part is medicinal, and is dried for use.
  In this  state it is inodorous, and has an herbaceous somewhat astringent
taste.  It  renders  boiling water very mucilaginous, and its decoction is
blackened by the sulphate  of iron.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Loosestrife is demulcent and astringent,
and may be advantageously  given in diarrhoea and  chronic  dysentery after
due preparation by evacuating treatment.   It has long been  used in Ireland
in these complaints, and is said to be a popular remedy in  Sweden.   The
dose of the  powdered herb is about a drachm two or three times a day.   A
decoction of the root, prepared by boiling an ounce in a pint of water, may
be given in the dose of two fluidounces.                            W.
38* 
438
Magnesia Carbonas.
PART I.
   MAGNESLE CARBONAS.  U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                      Carbonate of Magnesia.

   Magnesia alba, Lot.,- Carbonate de magnesie, Fr.; Kohlensaure Magnesia, Germ.; Car-
bonato di magnesia, Ital.,- Carbonalode magnesia, Span.
   Carbonate of magnesia sometimes though rarely occurs  as a native mine-
ral.  That which is sold in  the shops is prepared  on  a large scale by the
manufacturer, and the article is, therefore, very properly placed in  the list of
Materia Medica of the United States Pharmacopoeia.  The British Colleges
still retain it  among the preparations, and the London and  Edinburgh Col-
leges direct it to be prepared by decomposing the sulphate of magnesia with
carbonate of  soda; and the Dublin College, by  decomposing the  same salt
with carbonate of potassa.   The  London College dissolves  four pounds
eight ounces  of carbonate of soda, and four pounds of sulphate of magnesia,
separately, in two  gallons (Imp. Meas.) of distilled  water;  then mixes the
solutions, boils for fifteen minutes, constantly stirring with a spatula;  and
lastly,  pours  off the  liquor,  washes the  precipitated powder  with boiling
distilled water, and dries  it.   The Edinburgh  formula is  substantially the
same.   The  directions differ  only  in using water, instead of distilled water,
and in  collecting  the precipitate on a filter of calico or linen.   The Dublin
College dissolves  twenty-five parts of  sulphate of  magnesia and fourteen
parts of carbonate of  potassa, each in two hundred  parts of boiling water,
mixes the solutions, boils, filters, and washes the precipitate well with boil-
ing water.
   The carbonate of potassa is not as  advantageously used as the  carbonate
of soda for  the preparation of carbonate  of magnesia.  It is difficult to sepa-
rate the last portions of sulphate of potassa  from the  precipitate, and the
carbonate of  potassa usually contains silica, which is thrown down with the
magnesia.  The  consequence is that, when prepared with that salt, the car-
bonate of magnesia is liable  to be gritty to the touch and to have a  saline
taste.   The following is said to be the method pursued by some of the best
manufacturers.  To a saturated solution of one hundred parts of sulphate of
magnesia, a solution of one hundred  and twenty-five parts  of crystallized
carbonate of  soda is gradually added, the solutions being constantly stirred.
The mixture is then heated to ebullition, to complete the precipitation of the
magnesia, which is afterwards washed with tepid and finally with cold water,
until the washings no  longer give a precipitate with the barytic salts.  When
it is sufficiently washed, the  carbonate  is allowed to drain for one or two
days on 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 the square  and compact form into which it is usually wrought.
   The density of carbonate of magnesia is said to depend upon the strength
of the  solutions from which it is first precipitated, and its fineness  and soft-
ness to the touch, upon the use of carbonate of soda  in its preparation.
   The principal  part of the  carbonate  of magnesia  used in this country is
imported from Scotland.  In the  New England States it is prepared from
the bittern of salt works, which consists chiefly of sulphate of magnesia and
chloride of magnesium ; and it is  manufactured in  Baltimore from the  sul-
phate of magnesia prepared in that city.   The Scotch magnesia is  generally
put up in cases of one  hundred and twenty pounds  each,  the  American in
boxes containing fifty pounds.
   We  have spoken of the impurities which carbonate of magnesia prepared 
PART I.
Magnesice Carbonas.
439
by the officinal process is apt to contain.   When made from  the bittern of
salt works, it is contaminated with carbonate of lime, salts of that earth being
contained in sea  water; and when it is prepared from magnesite, or from
magnesian schist, iron is almost always present.  The only way in which
these impurities can be avoided, is to prepare  pure sulphate of magnesia by
repeated 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
a strong heat, by all the acids, by potassa, soda, lime, baryta, and  strontia,
and  by acidulous and metallic salts.
  Two kinds of  carbonate of magnesia are distinguished,  the  light  and the
heavy.   The light carbonate is the kind  manufactured in Scotland.  The
heavy, according to Dr. Pereira, may be manufactured as follows:—" Add
one  volume of a  cold  saturated solution 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 precipitate with hot water on a linen
cloth : afterwards dry it by heat in an iron  pot."
  A solution in carbonic acid water, prepared by passing carbonic acid gas
into  a reservoir containing  the  carbonate of magnesia suspended  in water,
has been introduced into use as a cathartic and antacid.  Dinneford's mag-
nesia is a solution of this nature.  According to Dr. Christison's analysis,
it contains only nine grains of carbonate in the fluidounce, though it is alleged
to contain twice that quantity.   Its taste is more disagreeable than that of
the undissolved carbonate.
  Adulterations and Tests.  Carbonate of magnesia may contain an alka-
line  carbonate, or an alkaline sulphate, or  both, from  insufficient washing;
also  chloride of sodium, alumina, and carbonate of lime.   If water boiled
on it changes turmeric, an  alkaline  carbonate is indicated.  If chloride of
barium  produces  a precipitate  in  the water, the presence of  a  sulphate or
carbonate, or both,  is shown, and if nitrate  of silver produces the same effect,
a chloride is indicated.  When dissolved in an  excess of  muriatic  acid, an
excess of ammonia will throw down alumina, which is scarcely ever absent
in minute quantity; and oxalate of ammonia, afterwards added to the filtered
muriatic solution, will throw  down lime as oxalate of lime, if that earth be
present.
  Composition.   According  to Berzelius, the carbonate of magnesia of the
shops  (magnesia alba) is a  combination of three equivalents of carbonate
of magnesia with one of hydrate of magnesia.   Each eq.  of carbonate con-
tains an eq. of water, and the composition of the salt may be thus stated:—
three equivalents  of carbonate (acid 66, magnesia 62*1, water 27) = 155*1 -f
one equivalent of hydrate (magnesia 20*7, water 9) = 29*7 =184*8.  This
theoretic composition agrees very nearly with the analysis  of Berzelius, who
fixes it at 44*75 magnesia, 35-77 acid, and  19*48 water. According to Phil-
lips, whose analysis agrees  with that more recently made by George Fownes,
four equivalents of the carbonate  are combined with one of the bihydrate,
and  four of water.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii. 480.)
  The composition of this salt varies with  the mode of preparation.  Thus
Buchholz, by decomposing the sulphate of magnesia with 170 per cent, of 
 440           Magnesia  Carbonas.—Magnesia Sulphas.        part r.

 carbonate of soda,  and using only cold water throughout, obtained a very
 light, spongy, somewhat coherent  magnesia,  containing 32  acid, 33 base,
 and 35 water.  By using  120 per cent, of the carbonate, and boiling the
 water for fifteen minutes, he obtained a heavy granular precipitate containing
 35 acid, 42 base, and 23 water.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.  Carbonate  of magnesia is  antacid,  and
 by combining with  acid in  the stomach, becomes generally cathartic.  When
 it undergoes no change in the alimentary canal, it  produces no  purgative
 effect.  Under these circumstances, it  may usually be  made to operate by
 following it with  draughts of lemonade.  It is  useful in all  cases which
 require a laxative antacid;  and, though apt to produce flatulence  in conse-
 quence of the extrication of its carbonic acid in the stomach and bowels, and
 therefore in ordinary cases inferior to  calcined magnesia, it sometimes ope-
 rates  favourably, in consequence of  this very property, in sick stomach
 attended with acidity.   Carbonate of magnesia is also an excellent antilithic
 in those cases in which uric acid is  secreted in too great abundance.
   The dose is  from half  a drachm to two drachms, which may be given
 suspended in water or milk.   In order that it may be accurately diffused
 through water, it should be previously rubbed down with simple  syrup or
 ginger syrup.*
   Carbonate of magnesia  is a useful  agent  for diffusing camphor and the
 volatile oils through water, in  preparing several of the  medicated waters.
 (See Aquae.  Medicatse.)
   Off. Prep. Hydrargyrum cum  Magnesia, Dub.; Magnesia, U.S., LjOnd.,
 Ed.,  Dub.;  Magnesia? Sulphas  Purum, Dub.; Mistura Camphorae  cum
 Magnesia, Ed.; Trochisci  Magnesia?, Ed.                      D. B. S.


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

                      Sulphate of Magnesia.

   Epsom salt; Sulfate de magne^sie,  Fr.; Schwefelsaure Magnesia, Germ.; Solfato di
 magnesia, Ital.; Sulfato de magnesia, Span.
   Sulphate of magnesia is one of the constituents of sea-water,  and of some
 saline  springs.  It  also occurs native, either  crystallized in long, slender,
 prismatic, adhering crystals, or as an efflorescence on certain rocks and soils,
 which contain magnesia and a sulphate or sulphuret.  In the United States
 it is found abundantly in the great caverns, so numerous to the west of the
 Alleghany mountains.   In  one of those caves, near Corydon in Indiana, it
 forms a stratum  on  the  bottom several  inches  deep; or appears in masses
 sometimes weighing ten pounds ; or is disseminated in the earth of the cavern,
 one bushel of which yields  from four to twenty-five  pounds of this sulphate.
 It also appears  on the walls of the cavern, and, if it  be removed, acicular
 crystals again appear in a few weeks. (Cleaveland.)
   Sulphate of magnesia was originally procured  by evaporating the waters
 of some saline springs at Epsom in  England.   Dr. Grew prepared it in  this
 manner in 1675.  It was afterwards discovered that the brine remaining after
 the crystallization  of  common  salt from  sea-water, furnished by careful
 evaporation  precisely the same salt; and as this was a much cheaper product
 it superseded the former.  This residual  brine or bittern consists of sulphate

  * Daily's Carminative consists of carbonate of magnesia 9ij, oil of peppermint Tf|j, oil
 of nutmeg n|ij, oil of aniseed TT[iij, tincture of castor TTlxxx, tincture of assafetida tf[xv,
 tincture of opium TT[v, spirit of pennyroyal TT[xv, compound tincture of cardamom TTlxxx,
peppermint water f§ij. 
PART I.
Magnesia Sulphas.
441
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 being contaminated with the chloride of magnesium.  It may be puri-
fied from this mixture by washing the crystals with its own saturated solution.
It was from this source that the greater part of the  Epsom salt of commerce
was long obtained in  Europe.  The salt works of New England  supplied
our own markets with an  impure and deliquescent sulphate.  With the im-
provements of chemistry, other  and  better  processes have latterly been
adopted.  In the neighbourhood of Genoa and of Nice, in Italy,  sulphate of
magnesia is prepared  in large quantities  from a schistose rock, which con-
tains magnesia and sulphuret of iron.   The mineral is roasted and exposed
in heaps for some months to the  combined action of air and water.  It is
then lixiviated, the sulphate of iron decomposed by lime-water, and the salt
is obtained pure by repeated  solution and crystallization.
   William Henry of Manchester, whose calcined magnesia has become
famous throughout the  world, took out a patent for a mode of preparing
magnesia and its salts from the double  carbonate of magnesia and lime—the
dolomite of mineralogists.   His process was to drive off the carbonic acid
by heat, and to convert  the remaining earths into hydrates.   He  treated
these with  a sufficient quantity of muriatic acid to dissolve out the lime, and
then  converted  the magnesia into a sulphate either by sulphuric acid  or
sulphate of iron.
   This salt  is  extensively manufactured at Baltimore  from the  siliceous
hydrate of magnesia, or magnesite.  This mineral occurs  in veins in  the
serpentine  and other  magnesian rocks which abound in the neighbourhood
of that city, and in the  southern counties of Pennsylvania.  The advantage
which it possesses over the dolomite, in the  preparation of this salt, is the
almost entire absence of lime, owing to which circumstance there is little or
no waste of acid, and the operation  is much  simplified.  The mineral is
reduced to  a fine powder, and saturated with sulphuric acid.  The mass is
then dried  and 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 remaining portion of iron.  The
salt is crystallized and dissolved a third time, in  order to purify it.  The sul-
phate prepared at the  Baltimore works by this process is generally very pure
and clean, although it sometimes contains sulphate of iron.
   Properties, fyc.  Sulphate of  magnesia is a colourless transparent salt,
without 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.  It slowly effloresces
in the air.   At 32° of Fahrenheit, 100 parts  of water dissolve  25*76 parts
of the anhydrous salt, and for every increased  degree of heat 0*8597 parts
additional are taken up.  The crystals contain 51*22  per cent, of water of
crystallization, and dissolve in  their own weight  of water  at 60°,  and  in
three-fourths of their  weight of boiling water.   They melt in their water of
crystallization, and at a  high temperature fuse into an enamel. (Berzelius.)
This  salt consists of one equivalent of acid. = 40*1, one of base = 20*7, and
seven of water = 63 ; and its combining number is 123*8.
   Sulphate  of magnesia is  completely decomposed by potassa, soda, and
their carbonates; by lime, baryta, and strontia, and their soluble salts. Am-
monia partially decomposes it, and forms with the remaining salt  a  double
sulphate.   The bicarbonates  of potassa and soda do not decompose the sul-
phate of magnesia, except by the aid of heat. 
442                 Magnesia Sulphas.—Magnolia.           part i.

   Sulphate of magnesia is liable to contain iron and chloride of magnesium,
the former of which may be detected by ferrocyanuret of potassium, and the
latter by its rendering the salt moist.   If the addition of  sulphuric acid pro-
duce no extrication of muriatic acid gas, the  fact proves the absence of all
chlorides.  One hundred  grains of an aqueous solution of the salt  should
yield, when  completely decomposed  by a boiling solution  of carbonate of
soda, thirty-four grains of dry carbonate of magnesia.   If the dry precipitate
be less, the specimen tested  is not all sulphate of magnesia,  and  probably
contains sulphate of soda.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Sulphate of magnesia is a  mild and safe
cathartic, operating with little pain or nausea, and producing watery stools.
It is more  acceptable to the  stomach  than most medicines of  its  class, and
will often  be retained when  others are rejected.  Like  many of the other
neutral salts it is refrigerant, and may be  made to act as a diuretic, by keep-
ing  the skin cool, and walking about after it has been taken.  It  is well
adapted to the treatment  of  fevers and  inflammatory affections, especially
after a previous thorough evacuation  of the bowels by a  more energetic
cathartic.   It is also useful in colic and obstinate constipation, and may be
employed in  most cases which require the use of a cathartic, without being
attended  with  debility  or relaxation of the  stomach and bowels.  The
medium dose is an ounce; but advantage often results from its administration
in divided  doses  frequently  repeated.  It is  often  given  in  combination
with other medicines, especially with  senna, the griping effect of which it
tends to  obviate.  The pleasantest form for administering the  salt, and that
in which it usually agrees  best with the stomach, is  a solution in carbonic
acid water with lemon syrup.   By Dr. Henry, of Dublin, it is highly recom-
mended in connexion with sulphuric acid.   To seven ounces of the saturated
aqueous solution of the salt he adds an ounce of the diluted sulphuric acid
of the Pharmacopoeias, and gives a tablespoonful of the mixture for a dose,
in a  wineglassful of water.
   Off. Prep.  Enema Catharticum, Ed., Dub.; Magnesia? Carbonas, Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Salinus Compositus, Ed., Dub.             D. B. S.


                MAGNOLIA. U.S. Secondary.

                             Magnolia.

  "  The bark of Magnolia glauca, Magnolia acuminata, and  Magnolia  tri-
petala."  U.S.
  Magnolia. Sex. Syst.  Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Magnoliaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx threedeaved. Petals six or more.  Capsules two-valved,
one-seeded, imbricated  in  a cone. Seeds berried, pendulous. Bigelow.
  The medicinal  properties which have rendered the bark of  the Magnolia
officinal, are common to most, if not all of the species composing this splen-
did genus.  Among the numerous trees which adorn the American landscape,
these are  most conspicuous for the beautiful  richness of their foliage, and
the magnificence  as well as delicious odour of their  flowers; and the M.
grandiffora of the Southern  States  rivals in  magnitude the largest inhabit-
ants  of our  forests.  The Pharmacopoeia designates the  M. glauca,  M.
acuminata, and M. tripetala, each of which we shall briefly describe.
  1. Magnolia 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 
PART I.
Magnolia.
443
leaves are  scattered, 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 dis-
tance.  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 inserted on a conical receptacle; the
germs are collected into a cone, and each is surmounted by a linear recurved
style.   The fruit is conical, about an inch in length, consisting of numerous
imbricated cells, each  containing a single scarlet seed.  This escapes through
a longitudinal opening in the cell, but remains for some time suspended from
the cone by a slender thread to which it is attached.
   The M.  glauca  extends along the  seaboard of the United States,  from
Cape Ann, in Massachusetts, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is abun-
dant  in  the Middle and  Southern  States, usually growing in swamps and
morasses;  and is seldom  met with in the interior of the country west of the
mountains.   It begins to flower in May, June, or July, according to the
latitude.  It is known by the name of  magnolia simply in the Northern and
Middle States, by that of white bay or sweet bay in the South, and is occa-
sionally  called swamp sassafras, beaver tree, fyc.
   2.  M. acuminata.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii.  1257;  Michaux, N. Am. Sylv.
ii. 12.   This species is  much larger than the preceding, often  growing to
the height of seventy or eighty feet.  The leaves  are six or seven inches
long, by three  or four  in breadth, oval, acuminate, and pubescent  on  their
under surface.   The  flowers  are five or six  inches  in diameter, bluish or
cream-coloured, slightly odorous, with obovate rather obtuse petals from six
to nine in number.   Mingled with  the splendid foliage, they give a magni-
ficent aspect to the tree when large and in full bloom.  The tree grows in
the mountainous regions in the interior of the United States, extending along
the Alleghanies from the state of New York to their termination in Georgia,
and seldom existing in the low country far either to the east or the west of
this range.  Wherever it is found, it is called cucumber tree, from the resem-
blance of its fruit in shape and size to  this product of the  gardens.
   3.  M. tripetala.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  ii. 1258; Michaux, N. Am. Sylv. ii.
18.   This is a small tree, sometimes though rarely  reaching an  elevation of
thirty feet, and almost always having an inclined trunk.  It is remarkable for
the size of its leaves and flowers.  The former are eighteen or twenty inches
long by  seven or eight  in breadth, thin, obovate, somewhat wedge-shaped,
entire, acute at both extremities, pubescent when young, and often disposed
in rays at the extremity of the shoots, displaying a surface thirty inches in
diameter. Hence has arisen the name of umbrella tree, by  which this species
is distinguished.  The flowers are terminal, seven or eight inches in diameter,
white, with from five  to twelve oval acute petals, of  which  the three outer are
reflexed.  This species  extends  from the northern parts  of New York to
the southern limits of the United States.  It is found only in situations which
are shady, with a strong, deep, and fertile soil. It is common in some of the
islands of the Susquehanna, and still  more so in  the Southern  and  South
Western States. (Michaux.)
   The bark and fruit of all the species of Magnolia are possessed of similar
medicinal properties; but the  bark only is officinal; and  that of  the root is
thought to  be  most efficient.  It has an aromatic  odour, and a bitter, pun-
gent, spicy taste.  The aromatic property, which  resides in a volatile  prin-
ciple, is diminished by desiccation, and entirely lost when the  bark is long
kept.   The bitterness, however, remains.   The bark is  destitute of astrin- 
444
Magnolia.—Malva.
PART I.
gency.   The bark  of the Magnolia grandiflora, examined by Dr. Stephen
Procter,  was found to contain volatile oil, resin, and a principle  analogous
to the liriodendrin of Professor Emmet. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 95.)
It is probable that the bark of the other species contains similar ingredients.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  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  cones in  brandy, is a
popular remedy in chronic rheumatism.                             W.


                       MALVA. Lond.,  Ed.

                          Common Mallow.

   " Malva sylvestris." Lond.  " Herb of  Malva sylvestris."  Ed.
   Mauve  sauvage, Fr.; Waldmalve, Germ.; Malva, Ital., Span.
   Malva.  Sex. Syst.  Monadelphia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Malvaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx  double, the exterior  three-leaved.  Capsules very many,
one-seeded. Willd.
   Malva sylvestris. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 787; Woodv. Med.  Bot. p. 554.
t. 197. This is a  perennial, herbaceous plant, with a round, hairy, branching,
usually erect  stem, from one to three feet high, bearing alternate, petiolate,
cordate, roughish  leaves, which are divided  into five or seven crenate lobes,
and on the upper part of the stem are almost  palmate.  The flowers are large,
purplish, and placed from three to five together at the axils of the leaves, upon
long slender peduncles, which, as well as the petioles, are  pubescent.  The
petals are five, inversely cordate, and three times as  long as the calyx.  The
capsules  are disposed compactly in a circular form.
   This species of mallow is a native of Europe, where it grows abundantly
on waste grounds and by the way-sides, flowering from May to August.  It
is  sometimes cultivated in our gardens.  Other species, indigenous  or natura-
lized in this country, are possessed of the same properties, which are in fact
common  to the  whole genus.   The M. rolundifolia is one of the most com-
mon, and may be substituted for the M.  Sylvestris.
   The herb and flowers, which are  the officinal parts, have a weak, herba-
ceous, slimy taste, without  odour.   They abound in  mucilage, which they
readily impart to  water ; and the  solution is precipitated by acetate of lead.
The infusion and  tincture of the flowers are blue, and serve as a test of acids
and alkalies, being reddened by the former, and rendered green by  the latter.
The roots and seeds are also mucilaginous.
  Medical  Properties and  Uses.   Common  mallow is  emollient and de-
mulcent.   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 external inflammation.  It was formerly among  the culinary
herbs.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Malva? Compositum, Lond.                 W.
i 
PART I.
Manganesii  Oxidum.
445
                MANGANESII  OXIDUM. Ed.

                       Oxide of Manganese.

   Off. Syn.   MANGANESII  BINOXYDUM.  Lond.;  MANGANESII
 OXYDUM.  Dub.
   Manganese, Peroxide of manganese, Deutoxide of manganese, Black oxide of manga-
 nese; Oxide noir de manganese, Fr.; Braunstein, Germ.; Manganese, Ital., Span.
   Black oxide of manganese is the deutoxide or binoxide of a peculiar metal
 properly called  manganese;  though this name is  commonly applied to the
 oxide itself.   Metallic manganese was discovered by Scheele  and Gahn in
 1774, and is obtained from the native black oxide by intense  ignition with
 charcoal.  It is  hard, brittle,  granular, of a grayish-white colour, and emits a
 disagreeable odour in a moist atmosphere.   It oxidizes readily  by the action
 of the air, first  tarnishing, then assuming a yellowish or violet colour, and
 finally becoming converted into a black powder.   Its  sp. gr.  is  8, melting
 point 160° of Wedgwood, and equivalent number 27*7.  With oxygen it
 forms five combinations, three regular oxides and two acids.  The protoxide
 is of a light green colour, and is the oxide present  in the salts of manganese.
 The sesquioxide is black or dark brown, and the deutoxide black.   The two
 acids are formed by the action of potassa  on the deutoxide, and are called
 manganic and hypermanganic acids.  Assuming one eq. of manganese in
 each of these combinations, the protoxide is found  to contain one,  the sesqui-
 oxide one and  a half, the deutoxide two, manganic  acid three, and hyper-
 manganic acid three  and a half equivalents of oxygen.* (Berzelius.) Besides
 these, there exist a  double oxide, of a brownish-red colour, called the red
 oxide, consisting of one eq. of protoxide and one of  sesquioxide,  and invari-
 ably formed when any one of the other oxides of manganese is exposed to a
 white heat;  and a native oxide, called Varvicite, composed  of two eqs. of
 deutoxide, and  one  of sesquioxide.  Metallic manganese is an  occasional
 constituent of organic  matter.  It  was detected in minute quantity  in bones
 by Fourcroy and Vauquelin, and is often present in the ashes of plants.  In
 the mineral kingdom, it occurs sometimes as a sulphuret, rarely  as a phos-
 phate, but very  abundantly as the black or deutoxide.  It is this latter mine-
 ral which constitutes the officinal oxide.
   Properties. Deutoxide of  manganese, as it occurs in nature, is very vari-
 able in  its appearance.  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 powder, of a black colour, insoluble in water,  and con-
 taining as impurities  more or less  oxidized iron, carbonate of lime,  sulphate
 of baryta, and earthy matter.  Iron, which  is rarely absent, is detected by
 the production of a greenish  or blue  tint on  the addition  of ferrocyanuret of
 potassium.  When exposed to a red heat it yields  a considerable quantity of
 oxygen, and is reduced to the state of sesquioxide.  Hence its use in obtain-
 ing that gas.   When dried, and afterwards  heated to whiteness,  good sam-
 ples lose'twelve  per  cent, of  oxygen. (Lond. Pharm.)   It is distinguished
 from the sulphuret of antimony by its infusibility,  and  by its  causing the
 evolution of chlorine  on being heated with muriatic acid.   When of a brown
 colour, it is not of good quality.  Its composition has  been given above.

  * In order to avoid fractional equivalents, the sesquioxide is generally stated  to consist
of two eq*. of metal and  three of oxygen, and the hypermanganic acid, of two eqs. of metal
and seven of oxygen.
    89 
446                Manganesii Oxidum.—Manna.             part i.

   But few mines of deutoxide of manganese exist, though the metal itself is
very  generally diffused throughout the mineral kingdom.   It occurs most
abundantly in Bohemia, Saxony, the Hartz, France, and Great Britain.  In
the United States no  mines have been  opened, except  in  Vermont, from
which state  an  inferior brown ferruginous manganese is supplied through
Boston.   Besides this  source of supply,  the mineral is received from Nova
Scotia,  France,  Germany, England, and  occasionally Scotland.   It comes
packed in casks  or barrels, generally in lumps  and coarse powder, just as it
is dug out of the mines;  though occasionally it is received from  England
ready 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 Vermont;  but that received from Germany and England is
the best, and commands the highest price in the  market.  The Scotch man-
ganese is also of good quality.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The physiological effects of the prepara-
tions of manganese  are but imperfectly known.   Manganic  acid given to a
rabbit, seemed to increase  the urine.   C. G. Gmelin found the sulphate of
the protoxide to  produce an extraordinary secretion of bile  when  exhibited
to animals.   According to Dr. Thomson, of Glasgow, it acts on  man as a
purgative, resembling sulphate of soda both in  taste and  effect.  The black
oxide is deemed a tonic by some experimenters.   When slowly introduced
into the system,  as happens to those engaged in grinding the mineral, it acts,
according to Dr. Coupar,  of Glasgow, as a  cumulative  poison, inducing a
disease which first shows itself by  a staggering gait, and ends in paraplegia.
It has been used in syphilis, chlorosis, scurvy, and  various skin  diseases,
especially itch and porrigo.  The dose is from three to twenty grains, three
times a day, given in the  form of  pill.   For external use, the ointment is
made of one or two drachms of the oxide to an ounce of lard.
   Black oxide of manganese is used in the arts for obtaining chlorine for the
purpose of bleaching, to give a black glazing to pottery, and  for freeing glass
from the colour which it derives from the sesquioxide of iron.  According to
Berzelius, a few pounds of it added to each  cask ^f water intended for sea-
voyages, will preserve it sweet.  In the laboratory, it is employed to obtain
oxygen and chlorine, and to form the salts of manganese.  Pharmaceutically
it is used, in conjunction  with sulphuric  acid, for liberating chlorine from
common salt, in the processes for preparing  Aqua  Chlorinii, Dub., Calx
Chlorinata, Lond., and  Liquor Sodae Chlorinatae, Lond.              B.


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

                               Manna.

   "The concrete juice of Ornus  Europaea."  U.S.   " Ornus Europa?a.
 Succus concretus." Lond.   " Sweet concrete  exudation  probably from
several species of Fraxinus and Ornus."  Ed.
   Manne, Fr~; Manna, Germ., Ital.; Mana, Span.
   Manna is not the product of one plant exclusively.   Besides the Ornus
Europaea indicated  by the Pharmacopoeias, it is said to be obtained  also from
several other trees, belonging to the  genera Ornus and Fraxinus, among which
the 0. rotundifolia, F. excelsior, and F. parvifiora have been particularly de-
signated.  Burkhardt states that a  species of manna,  which exudes from the
tamarisk of the  North of Africa, is used by the Bedouin Arabs of the neigh-
bourhood of Mount Sanai with their food.   It is, however, chemically different
from common manna*,  as according to Mitscherlich, it contains no mannite, 
PART I.
Manna.
447
but consists wholly of mucilaginous sugar.  Dr. Ehrenberg found the tree
which produces it to be a variety of the Tamarix Gallica.   The manna used
in India is said to be the product of the Hedysarum Alhagi of Linn., the
Alhagi Maurorum of De Candolle, a thorny shrub which grows abundantly
in the deserts of Persia and Arabia.   It is, however, much inferior to that
obtained  from the Ornus or Fraxinus.    We  are  told by  Dr.  Richardson
that a substance, exactly resembling manna, is procured by exudation from
a species of Eucalyptus called the E. mannifera, growing in New South
Wales.   The substance known in France by the name of Brianpon Manna,
is an exudation upon  the surface  of the common European  larch—Larix
Europsea or Pinus Larix—and differs  chemically from ordinary manna in
containing no mannite.
   Ornus. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Oleacea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx very small, four-cleft.  Corolla  divided to the  base into
linear segments. Pericarp a winged key not dehiscing.  Lindley.
   This genus  was separated by Persoon from the Fraxinus of Linnaeus, and
is now admitted by the best botanists.
   Ornus Europaea. Persoon, Synops. i.  9; Lindley, Flor. Med.  547.—
Fraxinus Ornus. Willd. Sp. Plant,  iv.  1104; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 589.
t. 209.  The flowering ash is  a tree of  moderate  height, usually from
twenty to twenty-five feet, very branching, with  opposite, petiolate, pinnate
leaves, composed of three or four pairs  of leaflets, and an  odd one at the
extremity.  The leaflets are oval, acuminate, obtusely serrate, about an inch
and a half in length, smooth, of a  bright  green colour, and  stand on short
footstalks.   The flowers are white, and  usually expand at the  same time
with the  leaves.   They grow in close  panicles  at the extremity of the young
branches, and have a very short calyx with four teeth, and a corolla composed
of four linear lanceolate petals.
   Both this species of Ornus and  the O.  rotundifolia are natives  of Sicily,
Calabria, and Apulia ; and both contribute  to supply the manna of commerce.
During the hot months, the juice exudes  spontaneously from  the  bark,  and
concretes upon its surface; but, as the exudation is slow, it is customary to
facilitate  the process by making deep  longitudinal  incisions on  one side of
the trunk.   In the following season these are repeated on the other side, and
thus alternately for  thirty or forty years, during which the trees are said to
yield manna.  Straws or clean chips are frequently placed so as to  receive
the juice, which concretes upon them.   The manna varies much in its cha-
racter according to the mode of collection  and  nature  of the season, and the
period of the year in which  the exudation takes  place.  That  procured in
Sicily is  said to be the best.  Three varieties are distinguishable in commerce.
   1. The purest is that usually known by the  name of flake manna, called
also manna cannulata.  It exudes spontaneously, or by incisions, during the
hottest and dryest weather in the months of July and August. It  is in irregu-
lar, unequal pieces, often several inches long,  somewhat  similar in appear-
ance to stalactites, rough, light,  porous, brittle, of a  whitish  or  yellowish-
white colour, 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 frag-
ments, 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
concrete  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 
448
Manna.
PART I.
 solid masses, which  require to be further dried  in the sun.  The common
 manna consists of whitish  or yellowish  fragments  similar to the pieces of
 flake  manna, but much smaller, mixed  with a soft, viscid, uncrystallized
 brownish matter, identical with  that which  constitutes the following variety.
   3. Fat  manna  is collected  in the latter part of October and November,
 when the weather is  cooler and  rains more common.   The juice is now still
 less disposed to concrete, and flowing down the  trunk is  received in a small
 excavation  at its base.  As found in commerce it is in the  form of a soft,
 viscous mass, containing few crystalline fragments,  of a  brown  or yellow-
 ish-brown colour, and full of impurities.
   Manna may be found in the shops of every grade, from the  most impure of
 the third variety to the purest of the first; but the worst kind  is not often
 imported into this country.
   Attempts have sometimes been made to counterfeit it;  but the facility of
 detection renders frauds of this kind unprofitable, and  they are not often
 practised.   Baume describes a method in which  common  manna is purified
 so as to resemble flake manna.   It consists in dissolving  common manna in
 a little  water, allowing the  liquid to settle, decanting it in order  to separate
 the 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 contains less mannite than
 flake manna, and  less of the nauseous principle; but is said not to operate
 less effectively as a laxative. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 45.)
   Properties. Manna has a slight, peculiar  odour, and a sweet taste, which
 in the  impure kinds  is also very nauseous, but  in  the  finest flake marina,
 scarcely so  much  so as to be disagreeable.  It melts with heat, and takes
 fire, burning with a blue flame.   When pure  it is  soluble in three parts of
 cold, and in its own  weight of boiling  water.   From  a boiling saturated
 aqueous solution, it separates in  partially crystalline  masses.   Alcohol also
 dissolves it, and, if saturated by  means of heat, deposits upon  cooling a large
 proportion of the manna in a  beautifully  crystalline form.  Analyzed by
 Fourcroy and Vauquelin, manna was found to consist of, 1. a peculiar crys-
 tallizable saccharine principle, called mannite, which constitutes seventy-five
 percent.; 2. true sugar; 3. a yellow nauseous matter, upon which the pur-
 gative  property  is thought  chiefly to depend;  and 4. a  small quantity  of
 mucilage.  It is owing to the presence of true sugar that  manna  is capable
 of fermenting.   Mannite is white, inodorous, crystallizable  in  semi-trans-
 parent 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
 precipitated  when it cools.   Unlike sugar, it is  incapable of undergoing the
 vinous  fermentation.    It   may  be obtained by  boiling  manna  in alcohol,
 allowing the solution to cool, and redissolving  the  crystalline  precipitate.
 Pure mannite is now  deposited.   This principle has been found in numerous
 vegetables. It is said to be gently laxative, in the dose of one or two ounces.
   Manna, when long  kept,  acquires a deeper colour, softens  and ferments.
 That  which  is  dryest resists this change  the  longest.    It  is said, when
recently gathered, to be less purgative than it afterwards becomes.
   Medical Properties and  Uses. Manna is a gentle laxative, usually ope-
 rating mildly, but in  some  cases producing flatulence and pain.   Though
peculiarly adapted  to  children and pregnant women, it may  be  given with
advantage in ordinary  cases  of piles from constipation, unattended with dys-
peptic symptoms.   It is usually,  however, prescribed with other purgatives,
particularly  senna,  rhubarb, magnesia,  and the  neutral  salts, the taste of
 which it conceals, while it adds to the purgative effect. 
PART I.
Manna.—Maranta.
449
  The dose for an adult is from one to two ounces;  for children, from one
to four drachms.   It is usually given  dissolved  in water or some aromatic
infusion; but the best flake manna may be conveniently  administered in
substance.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Cassia?, Lond., Dub.; Enema Catharticum, Dub.;
Syrupus  Senna?, Lond.                                           W.


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

                            Arrow-root.

  " The fecula of the rhizoma of Maranta arundinacea."  U. S.  " Maranta
arundinacea.  Rhizomatis Faecula." Lond.   " Fecula of the tubers of Ma-
ranta arundinacea and Maranta indica." Ed.
  Arrow-root, Fr.; Amerikanisches Starkmehl, Arrowmehl, Germ.
  Maranta.  Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Marantaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Anther  attached to  the petal-like filament. Style petal-shaped.
Stigma three-sided.  Flowers panicled. Loudon's Encyc.
  Maranta arundinacea.   Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  13;  Loudon's Encyc.  of
Plants, p. 2.  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 seve-
ral 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  ramification of which  is a solitary linear bracte...
The calyx consists of three small lanceolate leaves.   The  corolla is whites
and  monopetalous, with a  tube longer than  the calyx, and a double border,-;
of which the three  outermost segments are smallest,  and the  two inner
obovate, and slightly emarginate.
  The arrow-root  plant is a native of the  West Indies, where it  is largely"!
cultivated.   It has been cultivated  also in our Southern States, but not very"
extensively, as we still derive our supplies of its product from abroad.  Thes
plant is easily propagated by cuttings  of the root.  In the West Indies, thes
fecula, so well known by the name of arrow-root, is prepared in the follow-
ing manner.  The roots are dug up when a year old, washed, and then beat
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.   This milky fluid  is strained  through coarse linen, and allowed to
stand that the fecula may subside, which is then washed with a fresh portion
of water, and afterwards dried in the  sun.   We obtain the officinal arrow-
root  chiefly, if not exclusively, from the West Indies, and that from the
Bermudas is most highly esteemed.
  But other plants contribute to furnish the  arrow-root of commerce.  Lind-
ley states that it is procured in  the West Indies from the Maranta Allouya
and M. nobilis, besides the M. arundinacea.  Under the name of M. Indica,
Tussac describes a distinct species which  he says was  originally brought
from the East Indies, and  is now cultivated  in Jamaica.   This, however, is
generally considered as a mere variety of the M.  arundinacea, from which it
differs chiefly in having leaves more elongated at the point, and smooth  on
                                  39* 
453
Maranta.
PART I.
both sides .   Very fine arrow-root  is obtained in  the  East Indies from the
root of the Curcuma angustifolia,  of Roxburgh, which is abundantly culti-
vated in Travancore.   Parcels  occasionally reach this  country, but from the
length  of the voyage  are apt to be musty.  The East India arrow-root is
lighter than ours, and does not so quickly make a jelly.  Ainslie states that
the M. arundinacea has been introduced from the West Indies into Ceylon,
where  good arrow-root is prepared  from it.  A fecula closely resembling that
of the  Maranta, is said by Guibourt to be  prepared in the  West Indies from
the root of the cassava plant, Jatropha Manihot;  and it is not improbable
that a variety of arrow-root brought to this  country from Brazil has a similar
origin.  In fact, it often contains small lumps, as large as a pin's head, identi-
cal with tapioca, which is a product of the  /. Manihot.  A variety of arrow-
root has been imported from the Sandwich Islands.  It was supposed to be
identical with that said to be procured from  the root of the Tacca pinnatijida,
which  grows abundantly in Tahiti and other  islands  of the South Pacific;
but Mr. Nuttall, during his visit to the Sandwich Islands, found that it was
the product of another species of Tacca, which he has described under the
name of Tacca  oceanica.  (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., ix. 305.)   The
fecula called tous-les-mois has already been noticed. (See Canna, page 159.)
Arrow-root is  occasionally brought into the market from  Florida, prepared
in the neighbourhood  of St. Augustine from  the  root of  the Zamia  inte-
grifolia, by a process similar to that  employed  in the preparation of the
fecula of the Maranta.  (See a paper by Dr. Joseph Carson in the Am. Journ.
 of Pharm., xiv. 22.)
   Attempts have  been made to substitute  finely prepared  potato  starch for
 arrow-root; and there is no doubt that, medically considered, it is quite equal;
 but patients complain  of an 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, identical  in  chemical properties with  that of  wheat and the potato.
 It is very  apt  to be musty,  and should then  be  rejected.  The  odour and
 taste  are the  best criteria of its purity.   It  should be perfectly  free  from
 smell and unpleasant  flavour.   Mr. Procter has rendered musty  arrow-root
 quite sweet  and  fit for use  by washing it thoroughly with two  successive
 portions of cold water, and then drying it upon frames of muslin  in a warm
 place. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 188.)   Arrow-root is said to be some-
 times  adulterated with common starch, and that of the potato.   These may
 be detected by the aid of the microscope.   Muriatic acid has been proposed
 as a test of their presence.  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. et de Chim., 3e ser., ii. 246.)
    As  the microscope affords the best means  of distinguishing the different
  varieties  of fecula sold as arrow-root, or used for its adulteration, it is proper
  to indicate the form of their granules as exhibited by this instrument.  Those
  of the proper officinal  or  Maranta arrow-root  are rarely  oblong,  some-
  what  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; 
PART I.
Maranta.—Marmor.
451
and their breadth is generally two-thirds of their length.  (Christison.)  The
granules of the East India arrow-root are, according to Pereira, of unequal
size, ovate or oblong-ovate, flattened, and often furnished with a very short
neck  or nipple-like projection.  The rings  are  numerous, close, and very
fine;  and the hilum,  which is  situated at the  narrow extremity, is  circular,
small, and indistinct.  The  microscopic appearance of the Tapioca fecula
will be described under the head of Tapioca, to which the reader is  referred.
The Tacca fecula  from  the  South  Sea  Islands,  examined by Pereira, con-
sisted  of  circular, muller-shaped, or polyhedral granules, with few and  not
very distinct rings, and a small, circular  hilum, which cracked in a linear or
stellate manner.  The Florida arrow-root was found by Dr. Carson to con-
sist 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,
 affording a light, very mild, and easily digested  article of diet, well adapted
 for the sick and  convalescent,  and peculiarly suited, from its demulcent  pro-
 perties, 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 tablespoonful will communicate sufficient consistence
 to a pint of water.   It should first be formed  into a paste with a small quan-
 tity of cold  water, and the boiling water then  gradually added with brisk
 agitation.  The preparation may be rendered more palatable by the addition
 of lemon-juice and sugar, or  in low forms  of disease by that of  wine and
 spices, if the latter are not contra-indicated.   For  children the arrow-root is
 usually prepared with milk.
    Off. Prep.  Trochisci Ipecacuanha?, U.S.                         W.


                   MARMOR.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                                Marble.

   " White granular carbonate of lime." U. S.   "  Carbonas calcis  (dura)."
 Lond.  "Massive crystalline  carbonate of lime."  Ed.
    Off. Syn.  CALCIS  CARBONAS.  MARMOR ALBUM. Dub.
    White marble;  Marbre, Fr.; Marmor, Germ; Marmo, Ital; Marmol, Span.
    Marble is used for obtaining carbonic acid, and for making several officinal
 preparations.   For the  former purpose, common marble  is sufficiently pure ;
 but for the latter,  the purer varieties must be selected.
    The officinal  marble is a white granular substance, having a specific gravity
 varying  from 2*7  to 2*8.   It  is brittle, pulverizable, and insoluble in water.
 It is wholly dissolved in dilute muriatic acid with effervescence.  If magnesia
 be  present, the  neutral muriatic solution will be  precipitated by ammonia ;
 and if baryta or strontia be an impurity, a similar effect  will be produced by
 a solution of sulphate of lime.  When  marble is exposed to a full red heat, it
 loses about 44 per cent, of  carbonic acid, and is converted into lime.  (See
  Calx.)  In composition it agrees with chalk.
    The purest kind of marble is that of Carrara, sometimes called statuary 
452
Marmor.—Marrubium.
PART I.
 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
 dolomitic marbles,  which contain a considerable proportion of magnesia.
   Marble is used by the Edinburgh  College, merely to get rid  of excess of
 acid by saturating it, in the processes for preparing muriate of morphia, and
 the sulphates of potassa and soda.
   Off. Prep. Aqua  Acidi Carbonici,  U.S.; Calcis Murias, Ed.;  Calx, Ed.;
 Liquor Calcii  Chloridi, U. S.; Potassa? Bicarbonas, U. S., Dub.;  Soda?
 Bicarbonas, U. S., Ed., Dub.                                      B.


            MARRUBIUM. U. S. Secondary, Lond.

                             Horehound.

   " The herb of Marrubium vulgare."  U. S.  " Marrubium vulgare." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  MARRUBIUM V ULGARE. Dub.
   Marrube blanc, Fr.,- Weisser Andorn, Germ.; Marrubio, Ital., Span.
   Marrubium. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat.  Ord. Lami-
 acea?  or Labiata?.
   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.  The white horehound has a perennial fibrous root, and nume-
 rous 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 footstalks.  The flowers are white, and  disposed 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 slighly scol-
 loped. The seeds are four, and lie in the bottom of the calyx.
   This plant is a native of Europe, but has been naturalized in this country,
 where it grows on the roadsides, and flowers in July and August. It is also
 cultivated in our gardens.
   The herb has a  strong rather agreeable odour,  which  is diminished by
 drying, and is lost by keeping.   Its taste  is bitter  and durable.   The bitter-
 ness 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 laxa-
 tive, and  may be so given as to increase the  secretion from the skin, and
 occasionally from the kidneys.  It was formerly considered a  valuable deob-
 struent, and recommended in chronic hepatitis, jaundice,  menstrual obstruc-
 tions, phthisis,  and various cachectic  affections.  By its gently tonic powers
it may undoubtedly  have proved advantageous  in some of these complaints ;
but it exerts no specific influence over  any ;  and has now passed  almost
 entirely from the hands of physicians  into  domestic use. It is employed
chiefly in  catarrh, and other chronic affections of the lungs attended with
 cough and  copious  expectoration. The  infusion made in the proportion of
 an ounce of the herb to a pint of boiling water may be given in wineglass-
ful 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. 
PART I.
Mastiche.
453
                MASTICHE.  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Mastich.

  " Pistacia Lentiscus.  Resina."  Lond., Dub.   " Concrete resinous exu-
dation of Pistacia Lentiscus."  Ed.
  Mastic, Fr.; Mastix, Germ.; Maslice, Ital.; Almastiga,  Span.; Sakes,  Turk.; Arah,
Arab.
  Pistacia. Sex. Syst.  Dioecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord. Anacardiaceae.
  Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx five-cleft.  Corolla none. Female. Calyx three-
cleft.  Corolla none.  Styles three.  Drupe one-seeded.  Willd.
  Pistacia Lentiscus.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv.  753; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
26. t. 11.  The lentisk is a shrub or small tree, seldom rising more than
twelve feet in height, much branched towards the  top, and furnished with
petiolate, abruptly pinnate leaves.   The leaflets  are from eight to twelve in
number, usually alternate, with the exception of the  two upper which are
opposite.   They are ovate lanceolate, entire,  obtuse, often  mucronate, and
sessile upon  the common  footstalk, which is winged, or furnished with a
narrow foliaceous  expansion on each side.  The flowers are dioecious, and
very small.  The male are in an axillary ament;  the female are arranged
alternately upon a common peduncle, which is also  axillary.
  This tree is a native of the countries which border upon the Mediterra-
nean ;  but does not yield mastich in all places.   The island of Scio  in the
Grecian Archipelago is the place whence the drug is chiefly obtained.   Inci-
sions are made in the trunk  and  principal branches, from which  the juice
slowly exudes, and either hardens in tears upon the  bark, or drops on the
ground,  where it  is sometimes received upon cloths, sometimes  upon the
bare earth, and 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 are composed of yellowish tears agglutinated toge-
ther, 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 v$ becomes
fragrant.   Its  taste is weak but   agreeably terebinthinate,  and^ after long
chewing, very slightly acrid.   It is at first friable under the teetri,  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 dissolved by alcohol, softens and swells up in it, as gluten does
in water.  According to Berzelius, it enjoys the same general properties as
copal, and should be considered as a variety of resin.   Mastich is wholly
soluble in ether and in oil of  turpentine, scarcely soluble in the fixed oils,
and insoluble  in water.  It consists  chiefly of resin, with masticin, and a
minute proportion of volatile  oil,  which can scarcely be said to have been
obtained in a separate state, though  it imparts flavour to alcohol and water
distilled from  the mastich, especially when this has been previously triturated
with an equal weight of carbonate  of potassa.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Mastich was  formerly thought to possess
properties analogous to those of the  turpentines, and was used in debility of
the stomach,  haemoptysis from ulceration, leucorrhoea, chronic  diarrhosa, 
454
Mastiche.—Matricaria.
PART I.
&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.
Dissolved in alcohol  or  oil of turpentine, it serves for the formation of a
brilliant varnish.
   The following mode of applying it to carious teeth is highly recommended.
Dissolve four parts of mastich in one part of sulphuric ether, in a bottle well
stopped.  With the solution thus formed, which is of a yellow colour and
oily consistence, saturate a small piece  of  cotton of the size of the  carious
cavity, and having well cleansed and dried the cavity, introduce  the cotton,
without painful pressure, so as to fill  it exactly.   The ether is soon evapo-
rated, and the  resin, remaining soft and adhesive, attaches itself to the dis-
eased surface of the tooth, which it protects  from the action of the air, and
of the food  taken into  the mouth. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 597.)
   Off.  Prep. Tinctura Ammoniae  Composita, Lond.                 W.
               MATRICARIA.  U. S. Secondary.

                        German Chamomile.

   "The flower of Matricaria Chamomilla."  U. S.
   Matricaria. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae-
Senecionideae, De  Cand. Asteraceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch,  Calyx flat, imbricate,  with  scales  having  scarious margins.
Receptacle naked, terete.  Pappus none.
   Matricaria Chamomilla. Linn.  Sp.  1256.  This  is  an  annual  plant,
with a branching stem a foot or two in height, bearing alternate leaves about
two inches long, the lower ones tripinnate, the upper  bipinnate or simply
pinnate,  and all of them very green,  and nearly or quite  smooth.  The
leaflets are linear  and  very small.  The flowers  appear singly at the ends
of the stem  and  branches.   They are  about three-quarters  of an  inch in
diameter, with the  ray spreading.   The scales of the calyx are obtuse, green
in the middle, and whitish, membranous, and translucent at the margin.
The ray florets are white, at first spreading,  and ultimately reflected.  The
disk is of a deep yellow colour, at first flat, but in the end convex, and even
somewhat conical.
   The plant is a native of Europe, and has been occasionally cultivated in
our gardens.  All  parts of it are  active;  but the flowers only are officinal
with us.   These shrink very much in drying, so  that they are scarcely half
as large as in their recent sfate.  Those found in our shops are imported
from Germany.
   The dried flowers of the Matricaria are considerably smaller than com-
mon chamomile, and exhibit a larger proportion of the disk florets compared
with those of the ray.  They have a strong,  peculiar, rather  unpleasant
odour, and  a disagreeable bitter taste.  Their active constituents are volatile
oil and bitter extractive, which are  readily extracted by water and alcohol.
The oil, which is obtained by distillation with water, is thick, somewhat
tenacious, of a dark-blue colour becoming  brown by age, and  almost opaque
in mass.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Matricaria is a mild tonic, very similar
to chamomile in  medical properties, and,  like it, capable, in  large doses, of 
PART I.
Matricaria.—Mel.
455
producing an emetic effect.   It is esteemed  also in Europe antispasmodic
and anthelmintic.  It is much employed in  Germany; but in this  country
scarcely at all unless by some German practitioners.  It  may be given for
the same purposes and in the same manner as chamomile.            W.


                  MEL.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Honey.

   " A liquid prepared from flowers by Apis  mellifica."  U. S.  " Apis  mel-
lifica. Humor efloribus decerptus, et ab ape paratus." Lond.  " Saccharine
secretion of Apis mellifica."  Ed.
   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 cha-
racter of honey are  very much affected by the nature of the plants which
predominate in the vicinity of the hive; so much so, that  when these plants
are poisonous, the fluid sometimes partakes of their noxious qualities.  Still,
it  probably undergoes some change in the organs of  the bee;  as  the saccha-
rine 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
obtained  from hives that have never swarmed, it is called virgin honey.
An inferior kind is procured  by exposing the comb to pressure,  and if heat
be employed previous to expression, the product is still more  impure.
   Much  honey is collected in different parts  of the  United States;  but that
with which  the  shops  of cities on the seaboard are supplied, is derived
chiefly from Cuba.
   In the recent state honey is fluid; but, on  being kept, it forms a crystal-
line deposit, and is ultimately converted into a soft  granular mass.  In the
shops it is found of every consistence, from  that of a viscid  liquid  like thin
syrup or oil, to that  of lard or soft suet.   Its  colour  is sometimes white, but
usually yellowish, and  occasionally of a brown or reddish tinge.   It  has a
peculiar 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  specific gravity
is about  1*333. (Duncan.)   Cold  water dissolves it readily, alcohol  with
less facility.  It  contains crystallizable sugar analogous to that of grapes,
uncrystallizable sugar, an aromatic principle, an acid, wax,  and, according
to Guibourt, a little mannite.  The  crystalline sugar may be obtained  by
treating granular  honey with a small quantity  of alcohol, which when ex-
pressed takes along with it the other ingredients, leaving the crystals nearly
untouched. The same ead 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.  Inferior honey usually
contains  a larger proportion of uncrystallizable sugar  and vegetable  acid.
Diluted with water, honey undergoes  the vinous fermentation;  and treated
with nitric acid, is converted  into oxalic acid.
   In warm weather, honey, if not very pure, sometimes ferments, acquiring
a  pungent taste, and a deeper colour.  Starch  is said to be occasionally added
to the inferior kinds to give  them a white  appearance.  The adulteration
may be detected by dilution with water, which dissolves the honey and leaves 
456
Mel.—Melissa.
PART I.
 the  starch at the bottom of the vessel.   The nature of the deposit may be
 tested by the  tincture  of iodine.   Water is said to be sometimes added to
 honey to increase its bulk.   Its presence may be suspected from the greater
 thinness of the liquid,  and  its want of disposition to crystallize.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Honey possesses the same medical pro-
 perties with sugar, but is  more  disposed to run off by the bowels, and to
 occasion  griping pain.   Though largely consumed as an article of food, it
 is seldom employed medicinally, except as  the  vehicle of more active sub-
 stances.  Its  taste  and demulcent  qualities render it a useful addition to
 gargles, and it is  sometimes employed as an application to foul ulcers, and
 in the form of enema.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Piperis Nigri,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Confectio Rutae,
 Lond., Dub.; Linimentum iEruginis, Lond.;  Mel  Boracis, Lond., Ed.,
 Dub.;  Mel Despumatum,   U.S.,  Dub.;  Mel  Rosa?, Lond., Ed., Dub.;
 Oxymel, Lond., Dub.; Oxymel Colchici, Dub.; Oxymel Cupri Subacetatis,
 Dub.; Oxymel Scilla?,  U. S., Lond., Dub.                          W.


               MELISSA.  U.S. Secondary, Ed.

                                Balm.

   " The leaves of Melissa officinalis."  U. S. " Herb of Melissa officinalis."
 Ed.
   Off Syn. MELISSA OFFICINALIS. Herba. Dub.
   Melisse, Fr.; Garten-Melisse, Germ.; Melissa, Ital.; Torongil, Span.
   Melissa'. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae
 or Labiatae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx dry, nearly flat above; with the upper lip sub-fastigiate.
 Corolla, upper lip somewhat arched, bifid;  lower lip with the middle lobe
 cordate. Willd.
   Melissa officinalis. Willd. Sp.  Plant, iii.  146; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 334.
 t.  119.   Balm has a perennial root, which sends up annually several erect,
 quadrangular stems, usually branched towards the base, and a foot  or two in
 height.  The  leaves are opposite, ovate or cordate,  deeply serrate, pubes-
 cent;  the  lower  on long  footstalks, the uppermost  nearly  sessile.  The
 flowers are white or yellowish, upon short peduncles, and in axillary whorls,
 surrounding only half the  stem.   The calyx  is tubular, pentangular, and
 bilabiate, with the upper lip tridentate  and flattened, the lower cut into two
 pointed teeth.   The corolla is also tubular and  bilabiate, the upper lip less
 convex and notched, the lower three-cleft.
   The plant is a native of the South of Europe.  It has been introduced into
 this  country, where it  is cultivated in  gardens, and grows wild along the
 fences of our roads and lanes. For medical use the herb should be cut before
 the appearance of the flowers, which begin to expand in July.
   In the fresh state, it  has  a fragrant odour  very similar to that of lemons;
 but is  nearly inodorous  when  dried.  The  taste is somewhat austere and
 slightly aromatic.  The herb contains a minute proportion of a yellowish or
 reddish-yellow  essential oil, which has  its  peculiar flavour in a verv hidi
 degree.  It contains also tannin, bitter extractive, and gum.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.   Balm scarcely produces  any  remedial
 operation  upon the system.  The quantity of oil which it contains is not
 more than sufficient to communicate a pleasant flavour to the infusion, which
forms an excellent drink in  febrile complaints, and  when taken warm  tends
to promote the operation of diaphoretic  medicines.                  W. 
PART I.
Mentha Piperita.
457
       MENTHA PIPERITA.  U.S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.

                             Peppermint.

   " The herb of Mentha piperita."  U. S., Ed.  " Mentha piperita." Lond.
   Menthe poivree, Fr.; Pfeff'ermunze, Germ.; Menta piperita, Ital.; Pimenta piperita,
 Span.
   Mentha.  Sex. Syst.  Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord.  Lamiaceae
 or Labiatae.
   Gen. Ch, Corolla nearly equal, four-cleft; the broader segment emarginate.
 Stamens upright, distant.  Willd.
   Mentha piperita.  Willd. % Plant, iii. 79 ;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 336.
 t. 120.  Peppermint is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a creeping  root,
 and quadrangular, channeled,  purplish,  somewhat hairy stems,  which are
 branched towards the  top, and about two feet in height.  The leaves are
 opposite, petiolate, ovate, serrate, pointed, smoother on  the upper than the
 under surface, and of a dark  green colour, which is paler beneath.  The
 flowers are  small, purple, and disposed in terminal obtuse spikes, which are
 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 con-
 cealed within the tube of the corolla; the style projects beyond it,  and termi-
 nates in a bifid stigma.  The  four-cleft  germ is  converted into four seeds,
 which are lodged in the calyx.
   This species of mint is a native of Great Britain, whence it has been con-
 veyed to the continent  of Europe and to this country.  In some parts of the
 United States, especially in New England, the western  part of New York,
 Ohio, and New Jersey, it is largely cultivated for the sake of its volatile oil.
 We occasionally find it growing wild along the fences of our villages.   The
 cultivators of this herb have observed that, in  order to maintain its flavour in
 perfection, it is necessary to transplant the roots every three years.  It should
 be cut for medical use  in dry weather, about the period  of the expansion of
 the flowers.  These appear in  August.
   The herb, both in the recent and dried state, has  a peculiar, penetrating,
 grateful odour.  The taste is aromatic, warm, pungent, glowing, camphorous,
 bitterish, and attended with a sensation of coolness when air is  admitted into
 the mouth.  These properties depend on  a volatile oil, which abounds in the
 herb, and may be separated by distillation with water.  (See Oleum Menthse
 Piperitae.)  The virtues of  the herb are imparted to water, and more readily
 to alcohol.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Peppermint is a very grateful aromatic
 stimulant, much used for all the purposes  to which medicines  of  this class
 are applied.   To allay nausea, to relieve spasmodic pains of the stomach and
 bowels, to expel flatus, to cover the taste or qualify the nauseating  or griping
 effects of other medicines, are among  the most common  of these  purposes.
 The fresh herb, bruised and applied over the epigastrium, often allays sick
 stomach, and is especially useful in the cholera of children.  The medicine
may be given in infusion ; but the volatile oil, either alone, or in some state
of preparation, is almost always preferred.
  Off. Prep. Aqua Mentha? Piperita?,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Oleum Menthae
Piperita?, U.S.,Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Menthae, Ed.           W.
40 
458            Mentha Pulegium.—Mentha Viridis.         part i.
           MENTHA PULEGIUM. Lond., Dub.

                      European Pennyroyal.

   " Mentha Pulegium." Lond.
   Menthe-pouliot, Pouliot, Fr.; Poleymunze, Germ.,- Puleggio, Ital.; Poleo,Span.
   Off. Syn. PULEGIUM. Herb of Mentha Pulegium. Ed.
   Mentha. See MENTHA PIPERITA.
   Mentha Pulegium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 82; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 342.
1.122.  This  species of mint is distinguished by its roundish prostrate stems,
its ovate obtuse somewhat  crenate leaves, and its verticillate flowers.  It is a
native of Europe, and neither cultivated nor employed in this country.  Our
native pennyroyal belongs  to a different genus. (See Hedeoma Pulegioides.)
The Pulegium possesses similar properties, and  is employed for the same
purposes with the other mints.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Menthae Pulegii, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Oleum Menthae
Pulegii, Lond., Ed., Dub.                                      W.
       MENTHA VIRIDIS.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                            Spearmint.

  " The herb of Mentha viridis." U. S„ Ed.  " Mentha viridis." Lond.
  Menthe a epi, Fr.; Grune Miinze, Germ.; Menta Romana, Ital.,- Yerba buena puntia-
guda, Span.
  Mentha.  See MENTHA PIPERITA.
  Mentha viridis. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii. 76;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 338. t.
121.  Spearmint, sometimes called simply mint, differs from the M.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 two preceding species,  it is a native of Europe.
In this country it is cultivated in gardens for domestic use, and in some places
more  largely for the sake of its  oil.   It also grows  wild in low grounds in
parts of the country which  have been long settled.  Its  flowering season is
August.  According to Thomson, it should be cut in very dry weather, and,
if intended for medical use,  just as the flowers appear;  if for obtaining the
oil, after they have expanded.
  The odour of spearmint is strong and aromatic, the taste warm and slightly
bitter, less pungent than that of peppermint, but considered by some as more
agreeable.  These properties  are retained for some lime  by the dried plant.
They depend on a volatile  oil which  rises on distillation with water, and is
imparted  to alcohol and water by maceration.  (See Oleum Menthae Viridis.)
  Medical Properties.  The  virtues and applications  of this plant are the
same  with those of peppermint.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Menthae Viridis, Lond., Dub.; Infusum  Menthae Com-
positum,  Dub.; Oleum Menthae  Viridis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.    W. 
PART I.
Menyanthes.
459
                 MENYANTHES. Lond., Ed.

                              Buckbean.
   " Menyanthes trifoliata." Lond.  "Leaves of Menyanthes trifoliata." Ed
   Off.  Syn. MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA.  Folia. Dub.
   Menyanthe, Trefle d'eau, Fr.; Bitterklee, Germ.; Trifoglio pulustre, Ital.; Trifolio pa-
 lustre, Span.
   Menyanthes. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentiana-
 cea?.
   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 stand upon long stalks, which proceed from the  end of
 the root, and are furnished at their base with sheathing stipules. The leaflets
 are  obovate, obtuse, entire or bluntly denticulate, very smooth, beautifully
 green on their upper surface, and paler beneath.  The  scape or flower stalk is
 erect, round, smooth, from six to twelve inches high,  longer than the leaves,
 and terminated by a conical raceme of whitish somewhat rose-coloured flowers.
 The calyx is five-parted;  the corolla funnel-shaped, with a  short tube, and a
 five-cleft, revolute border, covered on the upper side with numerous long,
 fleshy fibres. The anthers are red and sagittate; the germ ovate, supporting a
 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 which are always moist,  and occasionally
 overflowed with water.  It prevails, in the United  States, from  the northern
 boundary to Virginia.  In this country the flowers appear in  May, in England
 not till June or July.   All parts of it are medicinal.  The leaves are directed by
 the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges, the whole plant by the London College.
   The  taste of buckbean  is intensely bitter and  somewhat nauseous, the
 odour of the leaves faint and disagreeable.  The virtues of  the plant depend
 on  a bitter  principle, denominated  menyanthin,  which may  be  obtained
 sufficiently pure for use by treating the spirituous  extract of the plant with
 hydrated oxide of lead, removing the lead by hydrosulphuric  acid,  filtering
 and evaporating the liquor, exhausting the residue with alcohol, and  again
 evaporating  with a gentle heat.   It has a pure  bitter taste, is soluble in alco-
 hol and  water, but not in pure ether, and possesses neither  acid nor  alkaline
 properties.  (Pharm.  Cent. Blatt, A.D. 1843, p. 24.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  With the ordinary properties of the  bitter
 tonics, Menyanthes unites a cathartic power, and  in  large doses is apt to
 vomit.  It was formerly held in  high estimation in Europe as a remedy in
 numerous complaints, among which were  intermittents, rheumatism,  scro-
 fula, scurvy, dropsy, jaundice, and various cachectic and cutaneous affections.
 In most of these complaints it was administered under  a vague impression of
its alterative powers.   It is scarcely ever employed in  this country; but as it
is a native plant, capable of useful application in  cases where a combined
tonic and purgative effect is demanded, it is desirable that our country  prac-
titioners should be aware of its properties,  and prepared to take advantage of
them should occasion offer.
  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 
460
Mezereum.
PART I.
 repeated 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.  U.S.,  Lond.

                              Mezereon.
   " The bark of Daphne Mezereum and Daphne Gnidium." U. S.  " Daphne
 Mezereum. Radicis Cortex." Lond.
   Off. Syn. MEZEREON. Root-bark of Daphne  Mezereon. Ed.;  ME-
 ZEREON. DAPHNE MEZEREUM. Cortex. Dub.
   Bois gentil, Fr.; Kellerhals,  Germ.; Mezereo, Ital.; Mecereon, Span.
   Daphne. Sex. Syst. Octandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Thymelaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla four-cleft, withering, enclosing the stamens.
 Drupe one-seeded.  Willd.
   All the species of Daphne are possessed of active properties; but two only
 are officinal—the D. Mezereum and D. Gnidium—the former of which is
 recognised in the British Pharmacopoeias, the latter  in the French Codex,
 and both in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.
   1. Daphne Mezereum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 415;  Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.
 717. t. 245.  This is  a very  hardy shrub, three or four feet high, with a
 branching  stem, and a smooth dark-gray bark, which is very easily separa-
 ble from the wood.   The leaves spring from the ends of the branches, are
 deciduous, sessile, obovate  lanceolate, entire, smooth, of a pale green colour,
 somewhat glaucous beneath, and about two inches long. They are preceded
 by the flowers, which appear very early in  spring, and  sometimes bloom
 even amidst the snow.   These  are of a pale  rose colour, highly fragrant,
 and disposed in clusters, each consisting of two or  three flowers, forming
 together a kind of spike at the upper  part of the stem and  branches.  At the
 base of each cluster are deciduous floral leaves.  The fruit is oval, shining,
 fleshy, of  a bright  red colour, and contains a single  round seed.   Another
 variety produces white flowers and yellow fruit.
   This species of Daphne is a native of Great Britain and the neighbouring
 continent, in the  northern  parts of which it is particularly abundant.   It is
 cultivated in Europe  both  for  medicinal  purposes,  and  as  an ornamental
 plant, and is occasionally found in our own gardens. It flowers in  February,
 March, or April, according  to the greater or less mildness  of the climate.
   2. D. Gnidium. Willd.  Sp.  Plant, ii. 420.  In this species, called garou
 or sain-bois by the French, the leaves are linear lanceolate, acute, entire,
 smooth, and irregularly but closely set upon the branches.  The flowers are
 white, downy, odoriferous,  and disposed in terminal panicled racemes.  The
 fruit is globular, dry, at first green, but ultimately black.  The D. Gnidium
 grows in dry uncultivated places in the South of Europe, and flowers in June.
 In France its bark is used indiscriminately with that of the former species.
   Besides the officinal species  above described, the D. Laureola,  or spurge
 laurel, is  said to furnish a  portion of the mezereon of commerce; but its
 product is inferior in acrimony,  and consequently in medicinal activity.
   The bark of  the  root was the part  directed by the former U. S. Pharma-
 copoeia, as it now is by the British Colleges; and it is said to be exclusively
 employed  in Great Britain.  But the mezereon with which our markets
 are now supplied is evidently the bark of the  stem;  and the  present Phar-
 macopoeia, therefore, very properly directs the bark, without designating the
 part from  which it must be taken.   The British writers state that the °bark
 of the root is the most active.   The  berries and leaves of the plant are also
possessed of active  properties;  and the former have sometimes proved  fatal 
part i.                       Mezereum.                          461

to children who have been attracted by their beautiful colour.  Pallas states
that they are used as  a purgative  by the  Russian peasants, and  that thirty
berries are  required  to  produce this  effect.  The French authors observe
that fifteen are sufficient to kill a Frenchman.  Mezereon is brought to us
chiefly from Germany.
   Properties. Mezereon, as it comes to us, is usually in strips, from two to
four feet long and an inch Or less in breadth, sometimes flat, sometimes par-
tially rolled, and  always folded in bundles, or wrapped in the shape of balls.
It is covered externally with a grayish or reddish-brown wrinkled  epidermis,
very thin and easily separable from the bark.   Beneath the epidermis  is a
soft greenish tissue.  The inner bark is tough, pliable, fibrous, striated, and
of a whitish colour.   When  fresh  it  has  a nauseous smell, but  in the dry
state is nearly inodorous.  Its taste is at first sweetish, but afterwards highly
acrid and even corrosive.  It  yields its virtues  to water by decoction.  Vau-
quelin ascertained the  presence of  a peculiar principle in the bark of the D.
Alpina.  This has subsequently been discovered in  other species, and has
received the name of daphnin.   Gmelin and Bar found it in the bark of the
D. Mezereum  associated with wax, an acrid resin, a yellow colouring  mat-
ter, a reddish-brown extractive  matter, an  uncrystallizable and fermentable
sugar, a gummy matter containing azote, ligneous fibre, malic acid, and seve-
ral malates.   Daphnin is in prismatic crystals  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 alcoholic extract of the bark with water,
decanting the solution, precipitating with subacetate of lead, filtering, decom-
posing the excess of the subacetate  by sulphuretted hydrogen, again filtering,
evaporating  to  dryness, submitting the  residue to the action of  anhydrous
alcohol, and evaporating the alcoholic solution to the point of crystallization.
Though daphnin  is probably not inactive, it is not  the  principle upon which
the virtues of mezereon chiefly depend.  Vauquelin thinks that in  the recent
plant these reside in an essential oil, which by time and exposure is changed
into a resin, without losing its activity.  The acrid  resin observed by Gmelin
and Bar, is  probably the characteristic principle to which the bark owes its
vesicating properties.  It is obtained separate by boiling mezereon in alcohol,
allowing the liquor to  cool in  order that it  may deposit some wax which it
has taken up, then 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 com-
bined with the other principles of the  bark.  It appears, however, not to be
a pure proximate  principle, but rather a resinoid combination of an  acrid vesi-
cating fixed oil  with another substance.  The acrid principle of mezereon is
partially given off by decoction  with water, as proved by the irritating  cha-
racter of the vapour when inhaled ;  but none of it appears to escape when the
bark is boiled with alcohol. (Squire, Pharmaceutical Transactions, i. 395.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The recent bark applied to the skin pro-
duces inflammation followed by vesication, and has  been  popularly used as
an epispastic from time immemorial in  some of the  southern countries  of
Europe.  The  dried bark, though less active, is possessed of a similar pro-
perty, and is occasionally employed in France by regular practitioners for
the purpose  of forming issues,  in  cases which  do not admit of  the use of
Spanish flies.  A small square piece of the bark, moistened with vinegar,
is applied to the skin, and renewed twice  a day till a blister is formed, and
occasionally afterwards in order to maintain the discharge.   It is slow in its
                                  40* 
462
Mezereum.—Monarda.
PART I.
operation, generally requiring from twenty-four to forty-eight hours to vesi-
cate.  An irritant ointment is  prepared from mezereon, which answers for
application to blistered surfaces in order to maintain the discharge, and may
be applied advantageously to obstinate, ill-conditioned, indolent  ulcers.  (See
Extractum Mezerei.)   The alcoholic  extract of  mezereon has also  been
employed to communicate irritant properties to issue peas.
   Internally administered, mezereon is a stimulant capable of being directed
to the skin or kidneys, and in large  doses apt to excite purging, nausea, and
vomiting.   In overdoses it produces all the fatal effects of the acrid poisons,
and  a case  of  apparently severe narcotic effects has been  recorded. (Am.
Journ. of Med. Sci., xxi. 518.)  It had at one time  much reputation as a
remedy in  the secondary stages of  the  venereal disease, and still  enters  as
an ingredient into the officinal compound decoction of sarsaparilla.  It has
also been thought to act favourably as an alterative in scrofulous affections,
chronic rheumatism, and obstinate diseases of the skin.   For this purpose it
is usually  administered in decoction.  (See Decoctum Mezerei.) Dr. With-
ering cured a case of difficult swallowing, arising from paralysis, by direct-
ing the  patient to chew frequently small pieces  of the root.  The affection,
which had continued three years, was  removed in a month.   The dose of
the bark in  substance may be stated at ten grains, though  it is  seldom  used
in this way.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Mezerei, Ed., Dub.; Decoctum  Sarsaparilla? Com-
positum, U. S., Ijond., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Mezerei, U. S.      W.
                        MONARDA.  U.S.

                             Horsemint.

  " The herb of Monarda punctata." U. S.
  Monarda.  Sex. Syst.  Diandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Lamiaceae  or
Labiatae.
  Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed, cylindric, striate.  Corolla  ringent,  with a
long cylindric tube; upper lip linear,  nearly  straight and entire, involving
the filaments, 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 herba-
ceous, obtusely angled, downy, whitish, branching stems, which rise one or
two feet in height, and are furnished  with oblong lanceolate, remotely serrate,
smooth, punctate leaves.  The flowers are yellow, spotted with red or brown,
and are disposed  in numerous  whorls, provided with  lanceolate, coloured
bractes, longer than the whorl.
  The horsemint grows in light gravelly or sandy soils  from New Jersey to
Louisiana, and flowers from June to September.  The whole herb is em-
ployed.   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.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  Horsemint is  stimulant and carminative;
but is seldom used in  regular practice.  In the  state of infusion it  is occa-
sionally employed in families as a remedy for flatulent colic and sick stomach,
and for other purposes to which the  aromatic  herbs are applied.  It was  in-
troduced into the  primary catalogue  of the United States Pharmacopoeia on
account of the volatile oil which it affords.   (See Oleum Monardae.)
   Off. Prep. Oleum Monardae, U. S.                               W. 
part i.                    Mora.—Moschus.                       463
                          MORA. Lond.

                             Mulberries.
   " Morus nigra. Fructus."  Lond.
   Off. Syn. MORUS NIGRA. Bacca?. Dub.
   Muns,/•>.,- Schwarze Maulbeeren, Germ.; Morone, Ital.; Moras, Span.
   Morus.  Sex. Syst. Moncecia Tetrandria.—Nat. Orel.  Urticaceae.
   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, unequally 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 em-
ployed as a vermifuge, especially in  cases of the tape-worm, in the dose of
two drachms infused in eight ounces of boiling water.  But the fruit is the
only  portion directed by the Colleges.
   This is oblong oval, of a  dark  reddish-purple almost black colour, and
consists of numerous  minute  berries  united together and attached to a com-
mon  receptacle, each containing a single seed, the succulent  envelope of
which is formed by the calyx.   It is inodorous, has a sweet, mucilaginous,
acidulous  taste, and abounds in a deep red juice.  The sourish taste is owing,
according to Hermbstadt, to the presence of tartaric acid.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Mulberries  are refreshing  and  laxative,
and serve to prepare a grateful drink  well adapted to febrile cases.   A syrup
is made from them, and used  as  a  pleasant addition to  gargles in inflam-
mation of the throat.   They are,  however, more used as food than medi-
cine.   Our native mulberry, the fruit of the M. rubra, is  quite equal to that
of the imported species.   The M.  alba, originally from  China, and now
extensively cultivated as a source  of food for the  silk-worm, bears a white
fruit,  which is sweeter and less grateful than the others.
   Off. Prep.  Syrupus Mori,  Lond.                                W.


              MOSCHUS.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Musk.

   " A peculiar concrete substance obtained  from  Moschus moschiferus."
U. S.  " Moschus  moschiferus.  Humor in folliculo praeputii secretus."
Lond. " Inspissated secretion  in  the follicles of the  prepuce of Moschus
moschiferus." Ed.
   Muse, Fr.; Bisam,  Germ.; Muschio, Ital.; Almizcle, Span.
   Moschus.  Class  Mammalia.   Order Pecora.
   Gen. Ch.  Horns none.  Fore teeth eight in the lower jaw.  Tusks one on
each side in the upper jaw, projecting out of the mouth.
   Moschus moschiferus.  Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. 172; Rees's  Cyclopaedia.
This  animal bears a close resemblance to the deer  in shape and size.  It is
usually less than three feet in length, with haunches considerably more ele-
vated than the shoulders.  From its upper jaw two tusks project downwards
out of the mouth, each about two inches long, curved backwards, and serving
to extract the roots  which are used as food by the animal.   The ears are long
and narrow, and the tail very short.  The fleece, which consists of strong,
elastic, undulated hairs, varies in colour with the season, the age of the ani- 
464
Moschus.
part i.
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, commu-
nicating externally by a small hairy orifice at its anterior part, and  marked
posteriorly by a groove or furrow  which corresponds with the opening of the
prepuce.  It is lined internally by a smooth membrane, which is thrown into
a  number of irregular folds forming incomplete partitions.   In the vigorous
adult animal, the sac sometimes contains  six  drachms of musk; but in the
old seldom more than two drachms, and none in  the young.   The  musk is
secreted by the lining membrane,  and  in the living animal forms a consistent
mass, which on the outside is compact  and marked with the folds of the mem-
brane, but is less firm towards the centre, where  there is sometimes a vacant
space.   As first secreted it  is probably in the liquid state, and  a  portion is
occasionally forced out by the animal, to  which it communicates its odour.
   The  musk  deer inhabits the  vast  mountainous regions of central Asia,
extending from India to Siberia, and from the country  of the Turcomans to
China.   It is an active and timid  animal, springing from rock to rock with
surprising  agility, and frequenting the snowy recesses, and most inaccessi-
ble crags of the mountains.   Concealing  itself during the day, it chooses the
night for roaming in  search of food;  and, though said to be abundant in its
native regions, is taken with difficulty.  It is hunted for  its hide,  as well  as
for the musk.  As soon as  the animal is killed,  the sac is cut off, and dried
with its contents; and in this state is sent into the market.
   Musk varies in quality with the country inhabited by  the  animal.  That
procured from the mountains on the southern  borders of Siberia, and brought
into the market  through Russia, is comparatively feeble.   The best is im-
ported  from China, and is  said to be the product of Tonquin.  A  variety
intermediate  between  these is procured in  the  Himalaya Mountains and
Thibet, and sent to Calcutta.  We derive our chief supply from  Canton,
though, when the drug is scarce, portions are occasionally brought hither
from Europe.
   Two varieties are  distinguished in  the market, the Chinese and Russian.
Both come in sacs, convex and hairy on one side, flat and destitute  of hair
on the  other.   The hairs  are brownish-yellow, grayish, or whitish, stiff
and short, and arranged concentrically around the orifice of the sac.   The
Chinese, which is the  most highly valued, is in bags  of a rounder shape,
covered  with brownish-yellow  or reddish-brown hairs,  and containing at
most a drachm and a half of large-grained, dark, strong-scented musk, having
an ammoniacal  odour.   The  Russian, which  is  contained in longer and
larger bags, is small  grained, of a clear yellowish-brown  colour, of a weaker
and more fetid odour, with less smell of  ammonia.
   Properties.  Musk is in grains or lumps concreted together, soft and unc-
tuous to the touch, and of a reddish-brown or ferruginous colour, resembling
that of dried  blood.   Some hairs  of the  pod are generally mixed with it.
The odour is  strong, penetrating, and so powerfully diffusive, that one part
of musk communicates its smell to more than 3000 parts of inodorous pow-
der. (Fee.)   In some delicate individuals it produces  headache and other
disagreeable symptoms, and has even given rise to convulsions.  The taste
is  bitter, disagreeable, and somewhat  acrid.  The colour of the powder is
reddish-brown.   Musk is inflammable,  burning with a white flame,  and
leaving a light spongy  charcoal.   It  yields,  upon analysis, a great  number
of proximate principles.  Guibourt and  Blondeau obtained water, ammonia,
stearin,  olein, cholesterin,  an oily acid  combined with ammonia, volatile 
PART I.
Moschus.
465
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 principles Geiger and Rein-
man 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 Thei-
mann found from 80 to 90 per cent, of matter  soluble in water, Buchner,
only 54-5 per cent., and other chemists intermediate proportions.  The pro-
portion soluble  in alcohol, as ascertained by different experimenters, varies
from 25 to 62  per cent.   Sulphuric ether is a good solvent.   The watery
infusion has  a yellowish-brown colour, a bitterish taste, a strong smell of
musk, and an acid reaction.   The alcoholic tincture is transparent, and of
a reddish-brown colour, with the peculiar odour of the medicine. The action
of potassa upon musk  is accompanied with the extrication of  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 medicinal principles.  The correct-
ness, 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  said to be
very much diminished  by mixing  the  medicine with syrup of almonds.
(See Med. Exam. N. S., i.  541.)  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 solu-
tion of ammonia to the mixture.  (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1843, p.  406.)
   Adulterations.  The price of this medicine is so high, and the sources
of supply so  limited, as to offer  strong temptations to adulteration; and it is
said that little of the genuine unmixed musk is  to be found in  the market.
The  sophistication commences  with the  Chinese,  and  is  completed in
Europe and  this country.  A common practice in the East is  to open the
sac, and  to  supply  the place of the musk with an adulterated mixture.
Sometimes  the  scrotum of the  animal  is filled  with this mixture, and not
unfrequenfly the sacs are manufactured out of the skin.  Dried blood, from
its resemblance in appearance to musk, is among the most common adulte-
rations; but  besides this,  sand,  lead, iron-filings, hair, animal membrane,
tobacco,  the  dung  of birds,  wax,  benzoin, storax, asphaltum,  and  other
substances are introduced.   These are  mixed with  a portion of  musk, the
powerful odour of which is diffused  through the mass, and renders the dis-
covery of the fraud sometimes difficult.  It  is said that the Chinese some-
times  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. Musk which burns with difficulty, which has a feeble odour, and
a colour either pale or entirely black, which feels gritty to the finger, is very
moist, or contains obvious impurities, should be rejected.  It is asserted that 
466
Moschus.—Moxa.
PART, I.
the Russian musk is never adulterated before leaving Russia. (See Am Journ.
of Pharm., xv. 304.)
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Musk is  stimulant and  antispasmodic,
increasing the vigour  of the circulation,  and  exalting the nervous energy,
without producing, either as an immediate or secondary effect,  any con-
siderable derangement of  the purely  cerebral functions.   Its medical uses
are such as may be inferred  from its general operation.   In almost all spas-
modic diseases, so far as mere relaxation of spasm is desirable, it is more or
less efficacious ; but peculiar advantages may be expected from it in those
cases  in which a prostrate  condition of the  system,  attended with  great ner-
vous agitation, or irregular muscular action, calls for the united influence of
a highly diffusible  stimulant and powerful antispasmodic.   Such are very
low cases of typhous disease, accompanied with subsultus tendinum, tremors,
and singultus.  Such  also are many instances of gout in the stomach, and
other  spasmodic affections of this organ.  In very  obstinate hiccough we
have found it more effectual than  any other  remedy; and have seen great
advantage  from  its use in  those  alarming and dangerous  convulsions of
infants which have their origin in spasm of the intestines.   It is said to have
done much good combined with opium, and administered in very large doses
in tetanus.   Epilepsy, hysteria, asthma, pertussis, palpitations, cholera,  and
colic,  are among the numerous spasmodic affections  in which circumstances
may render  the employment of musk  desirable.   The chief obstacles to its
general  use are its very high price, and the great uncertainty as regards the
degree of its purity.  Musk was 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.  In the cases of children it
may be given with great advantage in the form of enema.  The tincture,  which
is an  officinal preparation, is sometimes prescribed.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Moschi, Lond.;  Tinctura Moschi, Dub.       W.


                           MOXA. Dub.

                               Moxa.

   "Artemisia Chinensis et A. Indica. Folia." Dub.
   The term moxa is employed to designate small masses of combustible
matter, intended, by being burnt slowly in contact with the skin, to produce
an eschar.  They are of various forms, and made of different materials. The
Chinese moxa is in small cones, from  eight to twelve lines in height,  and is
prepared from the  leaves  of one  or more  species  of Artemisia.   The A.
Chinensis and A. Indica are indicated by the Dublin College; but Lindley
states that it is the A. Moxa of De Candolle which is employed.  Accord-
ing to some authors, the part used is the down which covers the leaves and
stems;  but others, with greater  probability, assert that it is a fine lanuginous
substance  prepared  from the leaves by beating them in a mortar.  A coarser
and a finer product  are obtained, the former of which is used for tinder, the
latter  worked up into  moxa.  A similar moxa has been made in France, by
a similar process, from the leaves of the  A. vulgaris, or common European
mugwort.
   Various  substitutes have been proposed for the Chinese  moxa, all com-
posed of some light, porous, soft, inflammable substance, which burns slowly,
and thus allows the  heat to be regulated  according to  the effect desired.
Linen rolled into a  cylinder, cotton formed into the same shape and enclosed 
PART I.
Moxa.
467
in a piece of linen, cords of cotton in small masses of various shapes, and
even common spunk made from the agaric of  the oak, have been employed
by  different persons with the desired effect.  But  all  these bodies are sub-
ject to the inconvenience of requiring to be constantly blown upon in order
that their combustion may be sustained.
  To remedy this defect, cotton  impregnated  with nitre has been recom-
mended ; and the moxa usually employed is prepared from that substance.
It is important that the impregnation should be uniform, as otherwise differ-
ent parts of the cylinder, burning with  different degrees of rapidity, would
produce  unequal effects upon the skin.  The following process  is recom-
mended.  One pound of cotton is introduced  into a vessel containing  two
ounces of nitre dissolved in half  a  gallon  of  water,  and  a moderate heat
applied, till all the liquid is evaporated.  The cotton when perfectly dry is
formed  into thin, narrow  sheets, which are rolled round a central cord of
linen, so as to form a cylinder from half an inch to an  inch in diameter, and
several inches long.   This is  enclosed in a covering of silk or linen sewed
firmly around it; and when used may be cut by a razor into transverse slices
a few lines in length.  By leaving a hole in the centre of the cylinder, the
combustion will be rendered more vigorous, and a deeper eschar produced.
   The pith of the Helianthus annuus, or  common  sun-flower,  has  been
proposed by M. Percy for  the  preparation of moxa, for  which it is  well
adapted by the nitre  which it contains, and which enables it to burn without
insufflation.  The stem, when perfectly mature, is cut into transverse sections
about half an inch in thickness,  which must be carefully dried, and  kept in
a perfectly dry place.   They have this advantage, that, in consequence of
the retention of the cortical portion, they may  be held with impunity, while
burning, between the fingers of the operator.  They are, however, frequently
defective in consequence of  an insufficiency of nitre in  the pith, or of the
unequal inflammability of different parts of  it.
   M. Robinet has  perfected  the  preparation  of  moxa, by combining the
advantages of the two kinds last described.  He rolls cotton round a small
central cylinder of pith, and envelopes the whole in a piece of muslin, which
is more or less firmly applied, according to the degree of compactness required.
The  cylinders thus made  burn without assistance, uniformly, and with a
rapidity proportionate to their firmness.
   Dr. Jacobson, of Copenhagen, has proposed, as a substitute for the ordinary
forms of moxa, small cylinders formed  out of strips of paper imbued with a
solution  of chromate of potassa ;  and cotton, impregnated with the solution
of chlorate  of potassa instead of nitre, is said to answer an excellent purpose.
(Journ.de  Pharm., xix. 608.)  Small cylinders made  out of strips of coarse
muslin imbued with  the same solution are also employed.
   Lime in  the act of slaking has been employed by Dr. Osborne for the pur-
poses of moxa.  A portion of powdered quicklime, half an inch in thickness,
and of suitable lateral dimensions, is applied  to the  skin  and confined by
some convenient arrangement.   A  few drops of  water are then added, and
a degree of  heat is soon evolved sufficient for a caustic effect, if the lime be
allowed to remain as long  as the heat continues.   This may be increased or
diminished  by increasing  or diminishing  the  quantity  of lime employed.
The eschar formed is somewhat more than double the extent of the base of
the moxa.  (Dublin Journ., Jan., 1842.)
   Medical Use. Cauterization by fire, in the treatment of disease, has been
commonly practised among savage and half civilized nations from the earliest
periods of  history,  and has not been unknown  as a  remedy in  the  most
polished communities.   The ancient Egyptians and Greeks were acquainted 
468
Moxa.—Mucuna.
PART I.
with the  use of moxa; and in China, Japan, and other countries of Asia, it
appears to have been employed from time  immemorial.  From these coun-
tries the early Portuguese navigators introduced it into Europe; and the term
moxa is said to have been derived from their language, though supposed by
some to be of Chinese origin.  The true Chinese name is said to be kiew.
(Percy and Laurent.)  Some years since, the remedy became very popular
in France, and attracted some attention in this country.  It acts on the prin-
ciple of revulsion ; relieving deep-seated inflammation, and local irritation
whether  vascular or nervous, by  inviting the current of excitement to the
skin.  In some cases it may  also  operate advantageously by the propagation
of a stimulant impression to neighbouring parts in which the natural actions
are enfeebled.
   The celebrated Larrey was among those who  contributed  most to bring
this remedy into  repute.   The diseases  in which it was recommended by
this author were amaurosis, loss of taste, deafness, paralytic affections of the
muscular  system, asthma, chronic catarrh  and  pleurisy,  phthisis, chronic
engorgement of the liver and spleen, rachitis, diseased spine,  coxalgia, and
other forms of scrofulous and rheumatic inflammation of the joints. It has
also been used advantageously in neuralgia,  and is applicable to chronic com-
plaints generally, in which powerful external  revulsion is indicated.
   The parts of the body upon which, according to Larrey,  it should not be
applied are the cranium when protected only by the skin and  pericranium;
the eye-lids, nose, and  ears ; the skin over the larynx, trachea, and mammary
glands, over superficial tendons,  projecting  points of bones, and articular
prominences in which  the capsular ligament might be involved; the anterior
surface of the abdomen ;  and the  genitals.
   As a general rule it should be applied as near as possible  to the seat of
the disease ; and, in neuralgic  or paralytic cases, at the origin or over the
course of the nerves proceeding to the part affected.  Some advise that the
cylinder  be attached to the skin by some adhesive liquid;  but a more gene-
ral practice  is to retain it in the proper position by a pair of forceps or other
instrument.  Larrey recommends that the skin around it be covered with a
piece of  moistened lint, having a  hole in the centre to admit the base of the
cylinder.   The  moxa  should be  set on fire at the summit, and the combus-
tion sustained if necessary  by the breath, the blow-pipe, or the bellows.
The size of the  cylinder should  vary, according to the effect desired, from
half an inch to an inch or more in diameter, and from a few lines to an inch
in  height.   Any degree of effect  may be obtained, from a  slight  inflamma-
tion to the death of the skin, by regulating the time during which the  moxa
is allowed to  burn.  When  a  slough  is required, it  should  be  suffered  to
burn until consumed.  The first  sensation  experienced is not  disagreeable;
but the operation becomes gradually  more painful, and towards the close is
for a short time very severe.                                       W.


                   MUCUNA.  U. S.  Secondary.

                              Cowhage.
   " The bristles of the  pods of Mucuna  pruriens." U. S " Mucuna pru-
riens. Leguminis Pubes." Lond. " Hairs from the pod of Mucuna pruriens."
Ed.
   Off Syn. DOLICHOS PRURIENS. Pubes leguminis. Dub.
   Pois a gralter, Fr.;  Kuhkratze, Germ.; Dolieo Seottante, Ital.
   Mucuna.  Sex. Syst.  Diadelphia  Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae  or
Leguminosae. 
PART I.
Mucuna.
469
   Gen. Ch. Calyx campanulate, bilabiate; the lower lip trifid, with acute
segments,  the middle  one longest;  the upper lip broader, entire, obtuse.
Corolla with the vexillum ascending, shorter than the wings  and keel; the
wings oblong, equal to the keel in length; the keel oblong, straight, acute.
Stamens diadelphous, with five anthers oblong-linear, and five ovate, hirsute.
Legume oblong, torose, bivalvular, with cellular partitions.  Seeds roundish,
surrounded circularly by a linear hilum. (De Candolle.)
   Mucuna pruriens.  De Cand., Prodrom. ii. 405; Lindley, Flor. Med,
p. 254.—Dolichos pruriens.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  iii. 1041 ;  Woodv. Med.
Bot. p. 422.—Stizolobium pruriens. Persoon.  This is a  perennial climb-
ing 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 surface, and hairy beneath.  The lateral leaflets are oblique at
the base, the middle one somewhat rhomboidal.  The flowers, which resem-
ble those of the pea in  form, are large, of a  red or purplish colour,  usually
placed in threes on short peduncles, and hang from the axils of the leaves in
pendent spikes about a foot in  length.   The fruit is a coriaceous pod,  shaped
like the Italic lettery, about four inches long, and covered with brown bristly
hairs,  which  easily separate, and when handled  stick  in  the fingers, pro-
ducing 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 Mucuna prurita.   The part  usually imported
is the pod,  of which the hairs  are the officinal portion.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   These  spiculae are said  to be possessed
of 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 decoction is in the slightest degree anthel-
mintic.   Why the worms should be  injured, and the mucous membrane of
the stomach and bowels escape with impunity, is not satisfactorily explained.
The medicine was  first employed as a vermifuge  by the inhabitants of the
West Indies, and thence passed into British  practice.  The testimony  in its
favour is too strong to admit of any reasonable doubt as to its  efficiency.  It
has  been chiefly  employed against the  round worm ;  but all  the different
species which infest the alimentary canal have been expelled by its use.  It is
best administered mixed with  some tenacious vehicle.   The  usual mode of
preparing it is to dip the  pods into syrup or  molasses, and scrape  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  teaspoonful for a child three or four years old,
to be given every morning for three  days, and then  followed by a brisk
cathartic.
   The root of the  M. pruriens (M. prurita) is said by Ainslie to  be em-
ployed in the East Indies in the treatment of cholera ; and both this part and
the pods have been thought to  possess diuretic properties.            W.
41 
470            Myristica.—Myristica Adeps.—Macis.        part i.
                MYRISTICA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                              Nutmeg.

   " The kernels of the fruit of Myristica moschata."  U. S.   " Myristica
moschata. Nuclei." Lond. " Kernel of the fruit of Myristica officinalis." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  NUX  MOSCHATA.  MYRISTICA MOSCHATA.  Nu-
cleus.  Dub.
   Noix muscade, Fr.; Muskatnuss, Germ.; Noce moscata, Ital.; Nuez moscada, Span.

                 MYRISTKLE ADEPS.  Ed.

                     Concrete Oil of  Nutmeg.

   " Concrete expressed oil from the kernel of the fruit of Myristica offici-
nalis." Ed.

                          MACIS.  Dub.

                                Mace.

   " Myristica moschata. Involucrum MACIS dictum."  Dub.
   Macis, Fr.; MuskatblQthe, Germ.,- Macis, Ital; Macias, Span.
   Myristica. Sex. Syst. Dioecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Myristicaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx none.  Corolla  bell-shaped,  trifid. Filament co-
lumnar. 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.
   Myristica  moschata. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 869; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
698. t. 238.   M. officinalis. Linn.  Suppl. 265; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 21.
The nutmeg  tree is about thirty feet high, with numerous branches, and an
aspect  somewhat resembling that  of the  orange tree.   The leaves stand
alternately  on short footstalks, are oblong oval,  pointed,  entire, undulated,
obliquely nerved, bright green and somewhat glossy on their upper surface,
whitish beneath, and of an aromatic taste.  The flowers are male and female
upon different trees.   The former are disposed in axillary,  peduncled, soli-
tary clusters; the latter are single, solitary and  axillary ;  both  are minute
and of a pale yellowish colour.  The fruit, which appears on the tree min-
gled with the flowers, is round or oval, of the size of a  small peach, with a
smooth surface, at first pale green, but yellow when ripe, and marked with
a longitudinal furrow.  The external  covering, which  is at first thick and
fleshy, and abounds in an austere, astringent juice, afterwards  becomes dry
and coriaceous, and, separating  into two valves from the apex, discloses a
scarlet reticulated membrane or arillus, commonly called mace, closely invest-
ing a thin, brown, shining shell, which contains the kernel or nutmeg.  Not
less than eight varieties of this species are said by Crawford to be cultivated
in the East Indies;  but they have not been well defined.
   The Myristica moschata  is a native  of the Moluccas  and other neigh-
bouring islands, and abounds especially in that small cluster distinguished by
the name of Banda, whence the chief supplies of nutmegs  have°long been
derived.   The plant, however, is now cultivated  in Sumatra, Java, Penang,
and some other  parts of the East Indies;  and has been introduced into the
Isle of France and Bourbon, the French colony of  Cayenne, and some of
the West India islands. 
part i.             Myristica.—Myristica Adeps.                 471

  The tree is produced from the seed.  It does not flower till the eighth or
ninth year;  after which it bears flowers and fruit together, without intermis-
sion, and is  said to continue bearing for seventy or eighty years.  Little
trouble is requisite in its cultivation.  A branch of  the female tree is grafted
into all  the  young  plants when about two years old, so as to insure their
early fruitfulness. In the Moluccas the tree yields three crops annually. The
fruit is gathered by  the hand, and the outside covering is rejected as useless.
The mace is then carefully separated, so  as  to break it as little as possible,
is flattened, and dried in the sun, and afterwards sprinkled  with salt water,
with the view of contributing to its preservation.  Its fine red colour is much
impaired  by drying.  The  nuts  are dried  in the sun or  by ovens, and
exposed to smoke, till the kernel rattles in the shell. They  are then broken
open, and the kernels having been  removed, and steeped for a short time in
a mixture of lime and water, probably in order to preserve them from the
attack of worms, are next cleaned, and packed in casks or chests for expor-
tation.
  Nutmegs are brought to this  country either directly from the East Indies,
or  indirectly through England and  Holland.   They are also occasionally
imported  in very 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 sur-
face, varied  with reddish-brown, branching, irregular veins,  which give to it
a marbled appearance. These dark veins abound in oily matter, upon which
the medicinal properties depend.   The odour of nutmeg is delightfully fra-
grant, the taste warm, aromatic, and grateful.   Its virtues  are  extracted by
alcohol  and ether.   M.  Bonastre obtained from 500 parts, 120 of a white
insoluble oily substance (stearin), 38 of a coloured  soluble  oil (olein), 30 of
volatile  oil, 4 of acid, 12 of fecula, 6 of  gum, 270 of lignin; and 20  parts
were lost. (Journ. de  Pharm., ix. 281.)  The volatile oil is obtained by
distillation with water. (See  Oleum Myristicae.)   By pressure with heat an
oily matter  is obtained  from the kernels, which becomes solid on cooling,
and is commonly though erroneously called oil of mace.
  It is said that nutmegs are often punctured and boiled in  order to extract
their essential oil, and the orifice afterwards closed  so carefully as not to be
discoverable unless  by breaking the kernel.   The fraud may be detected by
their greater levity.  They  are also apt to be  injured by worms, which,
however,  attack preferably those parts which are least impregnated with the
volatile  oil.   We are told that the  Dutch heat them in a stove in order to
deprive them of the power of germinating, and thus prevent  the propagation
of the tree.   The small and round nutmegs are preferred to  those which are
large and oval.  They should  be rejected when very light, with a feeble
taste and smell, worm-eaten, musty, or marked with black veins.
  A kind of  nutmeg is occasionally met with, ascribed by some to a variety
of the M. moschata, by others to a different  species, which  is distinguished
from  that just described by its much greater length, its elliptical shape, the
absence of the dark brown  veins, and its comparatively feeble odour, and
disagreeable taste.  It has been called male or wild nutmeg, the other being
designated as the female or cultivated nutmeg.
  The  concrete  or expressed  oil  of nutmeg  (Myristice Adeps, Ed.),
commonly called oil of mace,  is  obtained by bruising nutmegs,  exposing
them in a bag to the vapour of  water, and then compressing them strongly
between heated plates.  A liquid oil flows out which becomes solid  when it 
472
Myristica.—Macis.
PART I.
cools.   Nutmegs are said to yield from ten to twelve 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 and ether; 43*75 of a white, pulverulent, inodorous
substance, insoluble in these liquids ; and 4-16  of volatile oil.
  An inferior kind of expressed oil of nutmegs is prepared in Holland, and
sometimes found in the shops.   It is in hard, shining, square cakes, of a
lighter colour than that from the East Indies, and with less smell and  taste.
It is supposed to be  derived from  nutmegs  previously deprived of most of
their volatile oil by distillation.  An artificial preparation is sometimes sub-
stituted for the genuine oil.  It is  made  by mixing together various fatty
matters, such as suet, palm oil, spermaceti, wax, &c, adding some colouring
substance, and  giving flavour to the mixture by the volatile oil of nutmeg.
  Mace (Macis, Dub.) is in  the  shape of  a flat membrane irregularly slit,
smooth, soft, flexible, of a reddish or  orange-yellow colour,  and  an  odour
and taste  closely resembling those of nutmeg.   It consists, according  to M.
Henry, of an  essential  oil in small quantity;  a fixed oil, odorous, yellow,
soluble in ether, insoluble in boiling alcohol; another fixed oil, odorous, red,
soluble in alcohol and ether in every proportion; a peculiar gummy matter,
analogous to amydin and gum, constituting one-third of the  whole mass; 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 nutmegs.   Mace is inferior
when it is brittle, less than usually divided, whitish or pale yellow, or with
little taste and smell.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Nutmeg unites with the medicinal proper-
ties 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 dangerous if not fatal consequences are said to have followed its free use
in India.  It is employed to cover the taste or correct the operation of  other
medicines, but more frequently as an  agreeable addition to farinaceous arti-
cles 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, but is less  used  as a medicine.  The dose of either is
from five to twenty grains.   As the virtues of  nutmeg depend chiefly  if not
exclusively on the volatile oil, the latter may be substituted,  in the dose of
two or  three  drops,  whenever a  liquid  preparation  is  desirable.  The
expressed oil of nutmeg is occasionally used as a gentle external stimulant,
and, though not admitted into the  Materia  Medica list of the  London  Phar-
macopoeia, is an ingredient in the Emplastrum Picis of that work.
   The ancients were  wholly unacquainted with nutmeg; and Avicenna is
said to be the first author by whom  it is noticed.
   Off.Prep.  Of Myristica.  Acetum  Opii, U.S.;  Confectio  Aromatica,
Lond., Dub.; Electuarium Catechu, Ed.; Pulvis Aromaticus, U. S.; Pulvis
Creta? Compositus, Ed.;  Spiritus  Ammoniae   Aromaticus, Dub.; Spiritus
Armoracia? Comp., Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Lavandula? Comp., U.S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Myristica?, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Syrupus Rhei
Aromaticus, U. S.;  Trochisci Creta?, U. S., Ed.; Trochisci Magnesia?,  U. S.,
Ed.                                                               W. 
PART I,
Myroxylon.
473
                    MYROXYLON.  U.S.

                         Balsam of Peru.

  "The juice of Myroxylon Peruiferum."  U. S.
  Off. Syn.  BALSAMUM  PERUVIANUM.   Myroxylon Peruiferum.
Balsamum  Liquidum.  Lond.;  BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM.  Fluid
balsamic exudation  of Myrospermum  Peruiferum.  Ed.;  MYROXYLUM
PERUVIANUM. Balsamum. Dub.
  Baume de Perou, Fr.;  Peruvianischer Balsam, Germ.; Balsamo del Peru, Ital.; Bal-
samo negro, Span.
  Myroxylon.   Sex. Syst. Decandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Legumi-
nosae, De Cand.  Amyridaceae, Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx bell-shaped, five-toothed.  Petals five, the  upper one
larger than the others.   Germen longer than the corolla.  Legume with one
seed only at the point. Willd.
  Myroxylon peruiferum. Willd.  Sp. Plant,  ii. 546; Lambert's Illustra-
tions, A. 1). 1821. p. 97. Myrospermum peruiferum. De Cand. Prodrom.
ii. 95; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 279.   This is a tall and very beautiful tree,
with a straight, smooth trunk, and branches nearly horizontal.  The bark is
of a gray colour, compact, heavy, and highly resinous;  and has the aromatic
flavour of the balsam.  The leaves are  alternate, and composed of two, three,
four, and sometimes five pairs of leaflets,  which  are nearly opposite, ovate
lanceolate, with a lengthened but somewhat blunt and emarginate apex, en-
tire, smooth and shining, hairy on the under surface, marked with numerous
transparent points, and placed on short footstalks.  Many leaves terminate
unequally, consisting of five, seven, or nine leaflets.  The common petioles
are  rather thick and hairy.  The  flowers  are white  or rose-coloured, aud
disposed in axillary  racemes, longer than the leaves.  The fruit is a pendu-
lous, straw-coloured legume, club-shaped, somewhat curved, terminating in
the  curved style, and  globular near the  extremity, where there is  a  single
cell, containing a crescent-shaped seed.
  The tree is a native of the warmer regions of South America, growing in
various parts of Peru and New Granada,  where it is called quinquino by the
natives.  The wood is employed  in building, and is valuable for its dura-
bility.  The bark and fruit  are used to perfume apartments.  The tree yields
by incision a balsamic juice, which, when received in bottles, may be pre-
served in a liquid state for some years.  This is called white liquid balsam.
When this juice is deposited in mats or calabashes, it becomes conctete, and
acquires 1,he name of dry white balsam, thought by some to be identical
with balsam of Tolu. By boiling  the bark in water, a dark-coloured liquid
is procured,  which retains its fluid consistence, and is called black Peruvian
balsam.  According to Ruiz, from whose  account the above details  were
derived, " there is no difference in these three balsams, excepting in the name,
colour and consistence."  It is only the  dark-coloured liquid that is  known
with us by the name of balsam of Peru, and to this the following  remarks
are confined.
  In stating that it is procured by boiling the bark in water, Ruiz does not
speak from his own knowledge.  A general opinion is, that it is prepared
by decoction from the smaller branches.  As brought into the United States,
it is usually in tin canisters, with a  whitish scum upon its surface, and more
or less deposit, which, however, is  dissolved with the aid of heat.
  In a communication by M. Guibourt to the Society of Pharmacy at Paris,
                                 41* 
474
Myroxylon.—Myrrha.
PART I.
 it is stated, on the authority of M. Bazire, that a product, exactly resembling
 the dark-coloured  Peruvian balsam  of  commerce,  is  collected largely  in
 Guatemala, and thence sent to Peru.  It is obtained from a tree belonging
 to the genus Myrospermum of Jacquin—Myroxylon of Linnaeus—but spe-
 cifically different from the M. Peruiferum.
    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*15.   When exposed to flame it takes fire,  diffusing a
 white smoke, and a  fragrant odour.   Consisting  chiefly of resin, essential
 oil, and benzoic acid, it is properly considered a balsam, though  probably
 altered by heat.  Alcohol in large proportion entirely dissolves it.   Boiling
 water extracts  the benzoic acid.  From 1000  parts of the  balsam, Stoltze
 obtained 24 parts of a brown nearly insoluble resinous  matter, 207 of resin
 readily soluble, 690 of oil, 64 of benzoic acid,  6 of extractive matter, and a
 small proportion of water.   The  oil he considers to be of a  peculiar nature,
 differing from the volatile,  the fixed, and the empyreumatic oils.  Results of
 a different character were obtained by Fremy, who maintains that the  acid
,contained in the balsam is  cinnamic and  not benzoic acid;  but  the experi-
 ments and inferences of this chemist require confirmation.
    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 rheumatism,  and palsy.  At present, however,  it  is little employed
 by American  physicians.   As  an  external application it has  been found
 beneficial in chronic  indolent ulcers.   The dose is half  a fluidrachm.   It is
 best administered diffused in water by means of sugar and the yolk of  eggs
 or gum Arabic.
    Off. Prep.  Tinctura Benzoini Composita, Ed.                   W.


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

                                Myrrh.

    "The concrete juice  of Balsamodendron Myrrha."  U.S.   " Balsamo-
 dendron Myrrha.  Gummi-resina."   Lond. " Gummy resinous exudation
 of Balsamodendron Myrrha." Ed.
    Myrrhe, Fr., Germ.,-  M irra, Ital., Span.; Mnrr, Arab.;  Bowl,  Hindoost.
    Though myrrh has been employed from the earliest periods of history,
 the plant which yields it has not  been certainly  known till a very recent date.
 The Amyris Kataf of Forskhal, seen by that traveller  in Arabia, was  sup-
 posed by him to be the myrrh tree, but without sufficient evidence.   More
 recently Ehrenberg, a German traveller,  met on the frontiers of Arabia Felix
 with a plant, from the bark of which he collected a gum-resin precisely simi-
 lar to the myrrh of commerce.   From  specimens of the  plant taken by
 Ehrenberg to Germany, Nees von Esenbeck referred it to the genus Balsamo-
 dendron of Kunth, and  named it Balsamodendron Myrrha.   This genus
 was formed by  Kunth from the Amyris, and includes the Amyris Kataf ot
 Forskhal,  which may possibly also produce a variety of myrrh.  The new
 genus differs from the Amyris, chiefly in having the stamens beneath instead
 of upon the germ.  It is not thought by De Candolle sufficiently distinct.
 For the generic character of Amyris, see Elemi.
    Balsamodendron  Myrrha.  Fee,  Cours d'Hist. Nat. Pharm., i. 641. 
PART I.
Myrrha.
475
 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 that 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 Acacia?  and Euphorbia?.  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 applica-
 ble; as myrrh of all qualities is now brought from the East Indies, whither
 it is carried from Arabia and probably from Abyssinia.  It is usually imported
 in chests containing between one and two hundred weight.  Sometimes the
 different qualities are  brought separate;  but sometimes also more or  less
 mingled, so that it is necessary to  assort them by the hand.  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 trans-
 lucent, 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 ex-
 hibits 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 specific gravity is stated at  1*36.   The inferior kind of myrrh,
 commonly called India myrrh, is in pieces much  darker than those described,
 more opaque, less odorous, and often abounding  with impurities.   We have
 seen  pieces of India myrrh enclosing large crystals of common salt, as if
 the juice might have fallen from the tree  and concreted  upon the ground,
 where this  mineral abounds.  Pieces  of  bdellium and  other gummy or
 resinous substances of  unknown origin  are  often mixed with it.   It is best
 to purchase myrrh in  mass; as in powder it is very liable  to  adulterations
 which are not easily detected.
   Myrrh is partially soluble in water, alcohol, and ether.   Triturated with
 water it forms an opaque yellowish or whitish emulsion, which deposits the
 larger portion of the myrrh upon standing.  Its  alcoholic tincture is ren-
 dered opaque by the  addition of water, but throws down no precipitate.
According to Neumann, alcohol and water severally extract the  whole of its
odour and  taste.   By  distillation  a volatile  oil  rises,  having  the  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 parts
of volatile oil and 23 parts of a bitter resin, 46 of soluble, and 12 of insolu-
ble gum  in  the hundred.  (Ann. de  Chim., lxvii., 52.)  Pelletier gives as the
result of his analysis, 34 per cent, of resin, with a small proportion of vola-
tile oil, and 66 per cent, of gum.  According to Brandes, it contains in one 
476
Myrrha.—JYux Vomica.
PART I.
hundred parts, 2*60 of volatile oil, 22*24 of a soft bitter resin, soluble in
ether, 5*56 of a tasteless resin, insoluble in ether, 54*38 of gum with traces
of various salts, 9*30 of tragacanthin (bassorin), besides salts of potassa and
lime, water, and impurities.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Myrrh  is a stimulant tonic, with some
tendency to the lungs, and perhaps to the uterus.  Hence it is employed as
an expectorant and emmenagogue, in debilitated states of the system, in the
absence of febrile excitement  or  acute inflammation.  The complaints in
which it is usually administered  are chronic catarrh, phthisis  pulmonalis,
humoral asthma, other pectoral affections in which the secretion of mucus is
abundant but not easily expectorated, chlorosis, amenorrhoea, and the various
affections connected with this  state of the uterine function.  It is generally
given combined with the chalybeates or other tonics, and in amenorrhoea
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 mix-
ture of Dr. Griffith,  which has been  introduced into the Pharmacopoeias
with the title  of Mistura Ferri Composita.   The watery infusion is also
sometimes given, and an aqueous extract has  been recommended as milder
than the medicine in substance.  The tincture is used chiefly as an external
application.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Aloes Compositum,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Mistura
Ferri Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Pilulae Aloe's  et Myrrha?,  U. S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Pil. Assafcetida?, Ed.; Pil. Ferri  Comp., U.S., Lond.,
Dub.; Pil. Galbani Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Pil. Rhei Comp.,
U. S.,Lond., Ed.;  Tinctura Myrrhae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.      W.


           NUX  VOMICA.  U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.

                           Nux  Vomica.

   "The seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica."  U.S., Ed.   " Strychnos nux
vomica. Semina." Lond.
   Noix  vomique, Fr.;  Krahcnaugen, Brechnflsse, Germ.; Noce vomica, Ital.; Nuez vo-
mica; Span.
   Strychnos.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Apocynaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla five-cleft.  Berry one-celled, with  a  ligneous  rind.
Willd.
   Strychnos Nux vomica. Willd. Sp. Plant, i.  1052; Woodv. Med. Bot.
p. 222.  t. 79.   This  tree is of a  moderate  size,  with numerous  strong
branches covered  with a smooth, dark gray bark.  The young branches are
long, flexuous, very smooth, dark green, and furnished with  oval  roundish,
entire, smooth, and shining  leaves, having three or  five ribs, and placed
opposite to each other on short footstalks.   The flowers  are small,  white,
funnel-shaped,  and  disposed  in  terminal corymbs.   The fruit is a round
berry, about as large as  an orange, covered with a smooth, yellow or orange-
coloured, hard, fragile rind, and containing numerous  seeds  embedded in a
juicy pulp.
   The tree is a native of the East Indies, growing in  Bengal, Malabar, on
the coast of Coromandel, in  Ceylon, in numerous islands  of the Indian
Archipelago,  in Cochin-china, and other  neighbouring countries.  The
wood and the  root  are very bitter, and employed in the East Indies for the
cure of intermittents.   The  radices colubrinae, and  lignum colubrinum, 
PART I.
Nux  Vomica.
477
of the older writers, which have been  long known in Europe as narcotic
poisons, are ascribed by some writers to this  species of Strychnos, under
the impression that it is identical with the S. Colubrina, to which Linnaeus
refers them.   They have been ascertained by Pelletier and Caventou to con-
tain a large quantity of strychnia.  The bark is said by Dr. O'Shaughnessy,
Professor of Chemistry in the Medical  College  of Calcutta, to answer ex-
actly to the description  given by authors of the false  angustura, and, like
that, to contain a large  quantity of brucia.   The identity of the two barks
has been confirmed by Dr. Pereira, who has had an opportunity of compar-
ing specimens of them together.  (See Angustura.)  The only officinal por-
tion of the plant is the seeds.
   These are circular, about three quarters of an inch in diameter, and two or
three lines in thickness, flat, or slightly convex on one side and concave on
the other.   They are thickly  covered with fine, silky, shining, ash-coloured
or yellowish-gray hairs,  attached  to a  thin fragile coating, which  closely
invests the interior nucleus  or kernel.  This is very hard, horny, usually
whitish and semitransparent,  sometimes dark-coloured and opaque, and  of
very difficult pulverization.  The powder is yellowish-gray, arid 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 mem-
brane.  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, strych-
nia 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.   Strychnia and brucia  are its active
principles.
   Strychnia was discovered  by Pelletier and Caventou, A. D. 1818, both
in the mix 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, asso-
ciated  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.   Concentrated nitric acid produces with brucia or its salts an
intense crimson  colour, which changes to yellow by heat,  and upon the
addition of protochloride of tin becomes violet.  These effects are  peculiar
to brucia, and, if produced with strychnia, evince the presence of the former
alkali.  According  to MM. Larocque and  Thibierge, the  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 operation to strychnia, but possesses,
according  to M. Andral,  only about one-twelfth of its  strength,  when the
latter principle is entirely pure.  It is therefore seldom employed ; and it is 
478
Nux Vomica.
PART I.
unnecessary to insert a process for its preparation.  It is sufficient to observe,
that it  may be procured from false Augustura bark, in  a manner essentially
the same with that in which strychnia is  procured from the 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
subsequently with a mixture of rectified alcohol and ether,  which take up
the colouring matter, leaving the oxalate of brucia.   This is decomposed by
magnesia, and the brucia is separated by alcohol, which by spontaneous eva-
poration, yields it in the state of crystals.   According  to Dr. Fuss, whose
experiments were repeated and confirmed by Professor Erdman, brucia is not
a distinct alkali, but merely a compound of strychnia and resin.  (Pereira's
Materia Medica.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Nux vomica is very peculiar in its operation
upon the system.   In very small doses, frequently repeated, it is tonic, and
is said to be diuretic, and occasionally diaphoretic and laxative.  When it is
given in larger doses, so as to bring the system decidedly under its  influence,
its action appears to  be directed chiefly to the 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 motion.   There seems to be a tendency to permanent
involuntary muscular contraction, as in tetanus; but at the same time frequent
starts or spasms occur,  as if  the patient had  received a shock of electricity.
These spasms are at first brought on by some exciting cause, as by a slight
blow or an attempt to move; but, if the medicine is persevered in, occur with-
out extraneous agency, and are sometimes frequent  and  violent.   In severe
cases there is occasionally general rigidity  of the muscles.  A sense of heat
in the stomach, constriction of the throat and abdomen, tightness of the chest,
and retention  of urine are frequently experienced, to  a  greater or less extent,
according to the quantity of the medicine administered.  It sometimes, also,
produces pain in the head, vertigo, contracted pupil, and dimness  of vision,
thus proving  that it is  capable of acting on  the brain as well as  the spinal
marrow.  Sensations analogous to  those attending imperfect palsy, such as
formication, tingling, &c, are experienced in some  cases upon the surface.
The pulse is  not materially affected,  though sometimes  slighly increased in
frequency.  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.   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
to its action.  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.
   Nux vomica  has long been  employed in India, and was  known as a  me-
dicine  to the Arabian  physicians.   On the  continent of Europe, it has at
various times been recommended as an  antidote  to  the plague, and as  a
remedy in intermittents, dyspepsia,  pyrosis, gastrodynia, dysentery, colica
pictonum, worms, mania,  hypochondriasis, hysteria, rheumatism, and hy-
drophobia.   It is said to have effectually cured obstinate spasmodic asthma.
Its peculiar influence upon the nerves of motion, to which the public atten- 
PART I.
Nux  Vomica.
479
tion was first called by Magendie, suggested to M. Fouquier, a French phy-
sician, the application of the remedy to paralytic affections;  and  his success
was such as to induce him to communicate  to the public the result of his
experience.   Others have  subsequently employed it with variable success;
but the experience in its  favour so much  predominates, that it may now be
considered a standard remedy  in  palsy.  It is  a singular fact  attested by
numerous witnesses, that its action is directed  more especially to the para-
lytic 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 by bleeding
or other depletory measures.  It has been found  more successful in general
palsy and paraplegia, than in hemiplegia, and  has frequently effected cures
in palsy of the bladder, incontinence of urine from paralysis of the sphincter,
amaurosis, and other cases of  partial palsy, and has been employed with
asserted success in prolapsus ani and impotence.  It has recently been recom-
mended in neuralgia.
   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 expe-
rienced.  In this form, however, it is very uncertain ; and fifty grains have
been given with little or no effect.   It is most readily  reduced to powder by
filing or grating, and the  raspings may be rendered finer by first steaming
them,  then drying them by stove heat, and lastly rubbing them in a mortar.
The Edinburgh College direct that the seeds should be first well softened
with steam, then sliced, dried, and ground in a coffee-mill.
   The alcoholic extract is more convenient and more certain in its operation.
From  half a grain to two grains may be given in the form of pill,  repeated as
above-mentioned, and gradually increased. (See Extractum Nucis Vomicae.)
The watery extract is comparatively feeble.
   Strychnia has recently been much used, and  possesses the advantage of
greater certainty and uniformity of action.  Its effects are precisely similar.
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-twelfth to one-sixth of a grain, repeated
twice  or three  times a day, and gradually increased.   Even  the  smallest
quantity mentioned  sometimes  produces spasmodic  symptoms, and these
generally occur when the dose is  augmented  to half a grain three times a
day.   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 unneces-
sary to go on increasing the dose.   Strychnia  has been applied externally
with advantage in amaurosis.  It should be sprinkled upon a blistered  sur-
face near the temples, in the quantity of half a grain or a grain, morning and
evening; and the quantity may be gradually augmented.  The best  form of
administration is that of pill, in consequence of the excessive bitterness of
the solution.  Strychnia may, however, be given, dissolved in alcohol, or in
water  by the intervention of an acid.
   Brucia may be used for the same purposes with strychnia in the dose of
one grain twice or three times a day.  Dr. Bardsley found that the quantity
of two grains three or four times a day, was  seldom exceeded  without the
occurrence of the characteristic effects of the medicine.  Magendie has found
this alkali very useful in small doses as a tonic.   He  employed for this pur-
pose one-eighth of a grain frequently repeated.
   Off. Prep. Extractum Nucis Vomicae, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Strychnia, U. S.,
Bond., Ed.                                                       W. 
480
Olea.— Olea Fixa.
part r.
                                OLEA.

                                  Oils.

   These are  liquid or solid substances, characterized by an unctuous feel,
inflammability,  and the  property  of leaving  a greasy  stain upon paper.
They are divided into  two classes, the fixed and volatile, distinguished, as
their names imply, by their different habitudes in relation to the vaporizing
influence of caloric.

                      1.  OLEA FIXA. Fixed Oils.

   These are termed Olea expressa, expressed oils, in the Dublin Pharma-
copoeia, in which alone they are designated as a class.
   The  fixed oils, though existing  in  greater or less  proportion in various
parts of plants, are furnished for use exclusively by the fruit; and, as a gene-
ral 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 part are  liquid at ordinary temperatures.
They are somewhat viscid, transparent, and usually of a yellowish colour,
which disappears when they are treated  with animal charcoal.   When pure
they  have little taste  or  smell.  They  are  lighter than  water,  varying in
specific gravity from 0*913 to 0*936. (Berzelius.)   They differ very much
in their point  of congelation, olive  oil becoming solid a little  above 32°  F.,
while linseed oil remains fluid at 4° below  zero.  They are not volatilizable
without  decomposition.   At  about  600° they  boil, and are converted into
vapour, which, when condensed, is  found  to contain  a large  proportion of
oleic  and margaric  acids, together with  benzoic acid,  another  volatile acid,
and an  empyreumatic  oil.   Exposed to a red heat, in close  vessels, they
yield, among  other products of the destructive distillation of vegetables,
a large  quantity of the combustible compounds of carbon and hydrogen.
Heated in the  open air they take fire, burning with a bright flame, and pro-
ducing water and carbonic acid.  When kept in air-tight vessels, they remain
unchanged for a great  length of time, but exposed to  the atmosphere, they
attract oxygen,  and ultimately become  concrete.  Some,  in  drying, lose
their  unctuous feel, and are  converted into  a transparent, yellowish, flexible
solid.  These  are called drying oils.   Others, especially such  as  contain
mucilaginous impurities, become rancid,  acquiring a sharp taste, and unplea-
sant smell.  This change is owing to the formation of an acid, from which
the oil may be freed by boiling it for a short time with hydrate of magnesia
and water.  The fixed oils are insoluble in water, but are  miscible with that
fluid by means of mucilage, forming mixtures  which are  called emulsions.
They are in general very sparingly soluble in alcohol, but readily dissolved
by  ether, which serves  to separate them  from other vegetable proximate
principles.  By the  aid of  heat they  dissolve sulphur and phosphorus.
Chlorine  and  iodine are  converted by  them into  muriatic  and hydriodic
acids, which reacting upon the oils increase their consistence, and ultimately
render them as hard as wax.   The  stronger acids decompose them, giving 
PART I.
Olea Fixa.
481
 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 vegeta-
 ble  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 converted into a peculiar
 substance called glycerin,  and into the  oleic and margaric acids, which unite
 with the base employed.  The  compounds of these  acids with  potassa  and
 soda are called soaps.  (See Sapo and Emplastrum Plumbi.) The fixed oils
 dissolve  many of the  vegetable alkalies,  the  volatile oils,  resin, and other
 proximate principles of plants. They consist of two  distinct substances, one
 of which is  liquid at  ordinary temperatures, and therefore  called olein,  the
 other solid, and called margarin.  The more solid ingredient of the vegetable
 oils was originally called  stearin, the name applied  to the  analogous  ingre-
 dient  of  the  animal oils, with which it was supposed by Chevreul, the dis-
 coverer of this complex constitution of oleaginous substances, to be identical.
 It has,  however,  been found to  be  essentially different, yielding margaric
 acid in the process of  saponification, while stearin yields stearic acid; and a
 new  name has accordingly been  conferred upon it.   For the mode of sepa-
 rating the liquid from  the  solid  principles of oils, as  well as for an account
 of their  distinctive  properties, the reader is  referred to the article Adeps.
 Margarin is  distinguished from  stearin  by its greater  fusibility, and  by its
 solubility in  cold  ether; and the two principles may  be  separated  by  the
 action of boiling ether, which dissolves both, but deposits  the  stearin upon
 cooling, while it retains the  margarin and yields  it by evaporation.  These
 principles, however, are thought by Berzelius  not to  be absolutely identical
 in the different oils; as they have different  points of congelation  and  lique-
 faction,  according  to the  substance from which they are derived.*  By  the
 action of nitric acid or nitrous acid  fumes, olein is  converted  into a deep-
 yellow butyraceous mass.   If this  be treated with  warm  alcohol, a deep
 orange-red oil is  dissolved, and a  peculiar  fatty  matter  remains,  called
 ela'idin.   It  is white, fusible at 97°,  insoluble in water, sparingly soluble
 in alcohol, readily  soluble in ether,  and  converted,  by saponification with
 the alkalies, into a peculiar acid, denominated ela'idic  acid, and into glycerin.
 (Kane's Chemistry.)  The view now taken of the nature of olein, margarin,
 stearin, ela'idin, and  other similar fatty matters, is that they are compounds
 of the oleic,  margaric, stearic, ela'idic acids, &c,  with glycerin;  and  in the
 process of saponification, the alkali takes the oily acid  and sets glycerin free.

  * Some interesting  results in relation to the fixed oils have been  obtained by MM.
 Pelouze and Boudet, and published in the Journal de Pharmacie, torn. xxiv. p. 385.  Ac-
 cordirfg to these chemists, the variable fusibility of the margarin and stearin of fixed oils,
 which has induced some chemists to believe that they are severally not entirely identical
 as obtained from different  oils,  is owing to the existence of definite combinations of mar-
 garin and stearin respectively with olein ; and each of these principles, in a state of purity,
 is probably the  same from whatever source derived;, whether from vegetable or from ani-
 mal 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 solubility in different
menstrua, and in the circumstances that one is drying and the other not so, that one re-
mains  liquid under the action of nitrous acid, while the other is  converted by it into a
solid substance called ela'idin, and finally that the former  contains much less hydrogen
than the latter.   Besides, the oleic acid  formed in the process  of  saponification by these
 two kinds of olein is decidedly different, inasmuch as, in the one  case,  it is converted by
nitrous acid into ela'idic acid, and in the other is not thus changed.—Note to Fourth Edi.
tion.
     42 
482
Olea Fixa.— Olea Volatilia.
PART I.
The ultimate constituents of the fixed oils are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen,
the hydrogen being in much larger proportion  than  is necessary to form
water with the oxygen.  Those which are least fusible contain most carbon
and least oxygen ; and, according to de Saussure, their solubility in alcohol
is greater in proportion to their amount of oxygen. (Berzelius.)   Some of
them contain a very  minute proportion of nitrogen.

                 2. OLEA VOLATILIA.  Volatile oils.
   These are  sometimes called distilled oils, from the mode  in which they
are usually procured;  sometimes  essential oils, from the circumstance that
they possess, in a concentrated state, the properties of the plants from which
they are derived.  In the Pharmacopoeias of the United States and London,
the former title  has  been adopted;  in that of Dublin, the  latter;  the  Edin-
burgh  College use the term volatile oils.
   They exist in all  odoriferous vegetables, sometimes pervading the whole
plant,  sometimes confined to a single part; in some instances contained in
distinct cellules, and preserved after desiccation, in others formed upon the
surface as  in  many  flowers, and  exhaled as soon as they  are formed.  Oc-
casionally two or more are found in  different parts of the same plant.   Thus
the orange tree  produces one volatile oil in its  leaves, another in its flowers,
and a third in the rind of its fruit.   In a few instances, when existing in dis-
tinct 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.)   Sometimes  the volatile oils obtained by distillation
are formed,  during  the  process, out of  substances of  a different  nature
pre-existing  in the  plant.   This  is the  case with the oils  of  bitter almonds
and  mustard.
   The volatile  oils are usually yellowish,  but sometimes brown, red, green,
or even blue, and occasionally colourless.   They have a strong  odour, re-
sembling 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 1*17.*   They par-
tially 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
congelation.  A few are solid at  ordinary temperatures, several  become so
at 32° F.,  and many remain liquid  considerably below this point.   Heated
in the  open air, the volatile oils  take fire, and burn with a bright flame at-
tended 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 un-
der the influence of light.  Before the alteration is  complete, the remaining
portion of oil may be recovered  by distillation.   Some of them, instead of
resin,  form well-characterized acids by combination with oxygen.
   The volatile  oils are very slightly soluble  in  water.   Agitated with this
fluid they render it milky; but separate  upon standing,  leaving the water
impregnated with their odour  and taste.   This impregnation is more com-
plete  when water  is  distilled with the oils, or from  the  plants containing

   * The oil of the Gaultheria procumbens, a native plant, is said to have the extraordi-
nay sp. gr. of 117. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iii. 1D9.) 
PART I.
Olea Volatilia.
483
them.  Trituration with magnesia or its carbonate renders them  much more
soluble, probably in consequence  of presenting, by their minute division, a
more extensive surface to the action of the  solvent.  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 alco-
hol, and in a degree proportionate to its freedom  from water.    The  oils
which contain no oxygen are scarcely soluble in diluted  alcohol, and, ac-
cording 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, unctuous,  fetid substances, formerly called balsams  of sulphur.
They absorb  chlorine,  which converts them  into resin, and then  combines
with the  resin.   Iodine produces a similar effect.  They are decomposed by
the strong mineral acids, and unite with several of those  from the  vegetable
kingdom.   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 vegetable alkalies.
   The volatile, like the fixed oils, consist  of distinct principles, which  are
congealed at different temperatures, and  may be  separated  by compressing
the frozen oil between the folds of bibulous paper. The solid matter remains
within the folds ; and the fluid is absorbed by the paper, from which it may
be separated by distillation with water.  The name of stearoptene  has been
proposed for  the  former, that of  eleoptene for the latter.  The solid crys-
talline substances deposited  by certain volatile oils  upon standing, usually
considered  as camphor, are examples of stearoptene.  Some of these  are
isomeric with the oils  in which they are formed, others are oxides.   Some
oils, under  the influence  of water, deposit  crystalline bodies which appear
to be hydrates of the respective oils.
   The ultimate constituents of the volatile oils are usually carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen.  Some, as the  oils  of turpentine and  copaiba, in their purest
state, contain only carbon and hydrogen.  Several, according to de Saussure,
have  nitrogen  in their composition;  and the oils of horse-radish and mustard
contain sulphur.
  The volatile oils are often sophisticated.   Among  the most common adul-
terations are fixed oils, resinous  substances, and  alcohol.   The presence of
the fixed oils may be known  by the permanent greasy stain which they leave
on paper,  while that occasioned  by a pure volatile oil  disappears entirely
when exposed to  heat.  They may also in general be detected by their com-
parative 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 has been proposed by  M. Beral.   Put
twelve drops of the suspected oil  in  a perfectly dry watch-glass, and add a
piece of potassium  about as large  as the  head of a pin.   If the potassium
remain for twelve or fifteen minutes in  the midst of the liquid, there is either
no alcohol present, or less than four per cent.  If it disappear in five minutes,
the oil contains more than four per cent, of alcohol;  if in less than  a minute
twenty-five per cent, or  more. M.  Borsarelli employs chloride of calcium for 
484              Olea Volatilia.— Oleum Amygdalce.          part i.

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 bot-
tom 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 re-
main unchanged. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 429.)  Sometimes volatile oils
of little value are mixed with those which are costly.   The taste and smell
afford  in this case  the best means  of detecting the fraud.   The specific
gravity of the oils  may also serve as a test of their  purity.  When  oils, of
which  one is lighter and one heavier than water, are mixed, they are sepa-
rated by long agitation with this fluid, and will take a place  corresponding
to their respective specific  gravities.  But  it sometimes  happens that an
unadulterated oil may thus be separated into  two portions.   When oil  of
turpentine is used as the adulteration, it may be known by remaining  in part
undissolved, when the mixture is treated  with three or four times its volume
of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0*84.
   Volatile oils may be preserved without change in  small well-stopped bot-
tles, entirely filled  with the oil, and excluded from the light.          W.


                OLEUM AMYGDALAE.   U.S.

                          Oil  of Almonds.

   " The fixed oil of the kernels  of Amygdalus communis." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  AMYGDALAE  OLEUM.  Amygdalus  communis.   Var. a.
Var. j3.  Oleum ab allerutriusque nucleis  expressum.  Lond.;  OLEUM
AMYGDALARUM, Dub.
   Huile d'amandes, Fr.; Mandelol, Germ.; Olio di mandorle, Ital.; Aceyte de almen-
dras, Span.
   See  AMYGDALA.
   This oil is obtained equally pure  from sweet and  bitter almonds.  In its
preparation, the almonds, after  having been deprived  of  a  reddish-brown
powder adhering to their surface, by  rubbing  them together in  a piece of
coarse  linen, are ground in a mill resembling a coffee-mill, or  bruised in a
stone  mortar, and  then submitted to pressure in  canvas sacks between
plates of iron slightly heated.  The  oil,  which is at  first turbid, is clarified
by rest and filtration.   The Dublin  College directs  the oil to  be prepared
by bruising the  almonds, and then  expressing without heat.   Sometimes
the almonds are steeped  in very  hot water, deprived  of their cuticle, and
dried in a  stove previously to expression.  The oil is thus obtained free
from colour, but in no other  respect better.  Bitter  almonds, when  treated
in this  way, are said to impart a  smell of hydrocyanic acid to  the oil.   With
regard  to these, therefore,  the process is objectionable.  M. Boullay obtained
fifty-four per cent,  of oil from sweet  almonds, Vogel twenty-eight per cent.
from bitter  almonds.
   The oil of almonds is clear  and  colourless, or slightly tinged of a green-
ish-yellow, is nearly inodorous, and has a bland  sweetish taste.   It remains
liquid  at temperatures considerably below the freezing point of water.  Its
sp.gr.  is from 0-917 to 0*92.  From  the statement of Braconnot it appears
to contain 76 per cent, of olein and 24 of margarin.
   It may be used for the same purposes with olive oil; and, when suspended
in water by means of mucilage or the yolk  of eggs  and loaf sugar, forms a 
part i.          Oleum Bergamii.— Oleum Bubulum.             485
 very pleasant emulsion, useful in catarrhal and other pulmonary affections
 attended with cough.   From a fluidrachm to a fluidounce may be given at a
 dose.
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Aquae Rosae, U. S.                        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.  BERGAMII OLEUM. Citrus Limetta Bergamium. Oleum e
fructus cortice destillatum.  Lond.; BERGAMOTiE  OLEUM. Volatile
 oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus Limetta. Ed.
   Huile de bergamotte, Fr.; Bergamottol, Germ.; Oleo di bergamotta, Ital.
   Citrus. See AURANTII CORTEX.
   Citrus Limetta.  De Cand. Prodrom. i. 539.  The bergamot tree has been
 ranked by botanists generally among the lemons, but is now considered  as a
 variety of the Citrus Limetta of Risso, and is so placed by De Candolle.  It
 has oblong ovate, dentate, acute or obtuse leaves, somewhat paler on the under
 than the upper surface, and with footstalks more or less winged or margined.
 The flowers are white, and usually small; the fruit pyriform or  roundish,
 pale yellow, terminated by an obtuse point, with a sourish pulp, and concave
 receptacles of oil in the rind.
   The pulp of the fruit is sourish, somewhat aromatic, and not  disagreeable
 to the taste.  The rind is shining, and of a pale yellow colour, and abounds
 in a very grateful volatile oil.  This may be obtained either by expression
 or distillation.  In the former case, it preserves the  agreeable flavour of the
 rind, but is somewhat turbid ; in the latter, it is limpid but less sweet.  The
 mode of procuring it by expression is exactly that used for the oil of lemons.
 (See Oleum  Limonis.)  It is brought from the South of France,  Italy, and
 Portugal.
   The oil of bergamot, often called essence of  bergamot, has  a  sweet, very
 agreeable odour, a bitter aromatic pungent taste, aud a pale-greenish yellow
 colour.   Its sp. gr. is  0*885, and its composition the same as that of the oil
 of lemons.   Though possessed of the excitant properties of the volatile oils
 in general,  it is employed chiefly, if not exclusively, as a perfume.
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Sulphuris, Lond.;  Unguentum Sulphuris Com-
 positum, U. S., Lond.                                             W.
                 OLEUM  BUBULUM.   U.S.

                          Neats-foot Oil.

  " The oil prepared from the bones of Bos domesticus." U. S.
  Huile de pied de boeuf, Fr.; Ochsenfussefett, Germ.
  Neats-foot oil  is obtained by boiling in water for a long time the feet of
the ox, previously deprived of their hoof.  The fat and oil which rise to the
surface are removed, and introduced into afresh 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
                                  42* 
486             Oleum Bubulum.— Oleum Cajuputi.          part i.

concretes, and the oil is removed and strained, or filtered through layers  of
small fragments of charcoal free from powder.
   This 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 United States Pharma-
copoeia as an ingredient of the ointment of nitrate of mercury.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, U. S.                W.


           OLEUM  CAJUPUTI.  U.S. Secondary.

                             Cajeput oil.

   " The volatile oil of the leaves of Melaleuca Cajuputi." U. S.
   Off. Syn. CAJUPUTI.  Melaleuca  minor. Oleum e foliis  destillatum.
Lond.; CAJUPUTI  OLEUM. Volatile  oil of the leaves  of Melaleuca
minor. Ed.;  MELALEUCA  LEUCADENDRON. Oleum  volatile Ca-
jeput.  Dub.
   Huile de cajeput, Fr.; Kajeputol, Germ.; Olio di cajeput, Ital.; Kayuputieh, Malay.
   Melaleuca. Sex. Syst.  Polyadelphia Icosandria.—Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-parted, semi-superior. Corolla five-petaled. Stamens
about forty-five, very long, conjoined in five bodies.  Style single.  Capsule
three-celled.  Seeds numerous.  Boxburgh.
   It was long supposed that the oil of cajuput was derived from the 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, upon which the trivial name of Cajuputi has been conferred.
It corresponds with  the  arbor alba  minor of Rumphius, and  is a smaller
plant than the M. leucadendron.  It is possible, however, that the oil may
be obtained from different species of Melaleuca; as M. Stickel, of Jena, suc-
ceeded in procuring from the leaves of the M. hypericifolia, cultivated in the
botanical garden of that place, a specimen of oil not distinguishable from the
cajuput oil of commerce, except by a paler green colour. (Annul, 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, like the birch tree.  The
leaves have short footstalks; are alternate, lanceolate, when young sericeous,
when full grown smooth, deep green, three and  five-nerved, slightly falcate,
entire, from three to five inches long, from one-half to three-quarters  of an
inch broad; and  when bruised exhale a strong aromatic odour.  The flow-
ers, which are small, white, inodorous, and sessile, are disposed in terminal
and axillary downy  spikes, with solitary, lanceolate, three-flowered bractes.
The filaments  are three or four times  longer than the petals, and both are
inserted  in the rim of the calyx.
   This species of Melaleuca  is a native of the  Moluccas, and  other neigh-
bouring 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 very costly. 
 part i.         Oleum Cajuputi.—Oleum Caryophylli.            487

   Properties.  Cajuput oil is very fluid, transparent, of a fine green colour, a
 lively and penetrating odour analogous to that of camphor and cardamom, and
 a warm pungent taste.   It is very volatile and inflammable, burning without
 any residue.   The sp. gr. has been  variously stated  from 0*914 to 0-980.
 Dr. Thomson  says it 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 which they  examined ; and M. Lesson, who witnessed
 the process for preparing the oil at Bouro, attributes its  colour to chlorophylle,
 or some analogous principle, and states that it is rendered  colourless by rec-
 tification.  Guibourt, moreover, obtained a green oil by distilling the  leaves
 of a Melaleuca cultivated at Paris.  A fair inference is "that the oil of cajuput
 is naturally  green;  but that, as  found  in commerce, it sometimes contains
 copper, either  accidentally 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 interfere with the internal use of  the oil; and the metal
 may be readily separated by distillation with water, or agitation with a solu-
 tion of  ferrocyanuret of potassium. (Guibourt.)
   The  high  price of cajuput oil has led to its occasional adulteration.   The
 oil of rosemary, or that of turpentine, impregnated with camphor and coloured
 with the resin  of milfoil, is said to be employed for the purpose.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This  oil is  highly stimulant, producing
 when swallowed a sense of heat, with an increased fulness and frequency of
 pulse, and exciting in some instances profuse perspiration.  It is very highly
 esteemed by  the  Malays and other people of the East, who consider it a uni-
 versal panacea. (Lesson, Journ.  de Chim. Med., 1827.)  They are  said to
 employ it with great success in  epilepsy and palsy.  (Ainslie.)  The com-
 plaints  to which it  is  best adapted are probably chronic rheumatism, and
 spasmodic affections of the stomach  and bowels, unconnected with inflam-
 mation.   It has been highly extolled as a remedy in spasmodic cholera, and
 has been used  also as a diffusible  stimulant in low  fevers.   Diluted with an
 equal proportion  of olive oil,  it  is applied externally to relieve  gouty and
 rheumatic pains.  Like most other highly stimulating  essential oils, it re-
 lieves toothache, if introduced  into the  hollow of  the carious  tooth.   It is
 little  used in the  United States.   The dose is from one to five  drops, given
 in emulsion,  or upon a lump of sugar.                              W.


               OLEUM CARYOPHYLLI.  U.S.

                            Oil of Cloves.

   " The volatile oil of the unexpanded flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus."
 L'. S.
   Off. Syn. CARYOPHYLLI OLEUM. Caryophyllus aromaticus. Oleum
efloribus destillatum. Lond.;  CARYOPHYLLI  OLEUM.  Volatile oil
of the undeveloped flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus. Ed.; EUGENIA
CARYOPHYLLATA. Oleum volatile. Dub.
   Huile  de girofle, Fr.; Nclkenol, Germ.; Olio di garofani, Ital; Aceyte de clavos,Span.
   See CARYOPHYLLUS.
   This  oil is obtained by distilling cloves with water, to which it is cus-
tomary 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 
 488           Oleum  Caryophylli.— Oleum Cinnamomi.       part i.

 completely to exhaust them.  The product of good cloves is said to be about
 one-fifth or  one-sixth of their weight.   The oil was formerly brought from
 Holland or  the  East Indies;  but since  the  introduction  of the  Cayenne
 cloves into our markets, the reduced price and  superior freshness of the drug
 have  rendered the distillation of oil of cloves profitable in this country; and
 the best now sold is of domestic extraction.   We have  been informed that
 from  seven to nine pounds of cloves yield to our distillers  about one pound
 of the oil.
   Properties. Oil of cloves, when recently distilled,  is very fluid, clear, and
 colourless, but  becomes  yellowish by  exposure, and  ultimately  reddish-
 brown.  It has  the odour of cloves,  and a hot, acrid, aromatic taste.  Its
 sp. gr. is variously stated at from 1*034 to 1*061, the latter  being  given by
 Bonastre as the sp. gr. of the rectified oil.  It is one of the least volatile of
 the 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 also
 with  oil  of pimento and  with copaiba.  When pure it  always sinks in distilled
 water.
   According to  Ettling, the oil of cloves consists of two distinct oils, one
 lighter, the  other heavier than  water.   They may be  obtained separate by
 distilling the oil from a solution of potassa.   The  lighter comes  over, the
 heavier remains combined with potassa, from which  it may be 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 the odour  and  taste of cloves, is of the sp. gr. 1-079, boils at
 470°, and forms soluble and crystallizable salts with the alkalies.   Hence
 it has been called eugenic or caryopliyllic. acid.   It  consists of carbon, hy-
 drogen, and oxygen; the formula, according to Ettling, being C24H1505.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Its medical effects are similar to those of
 cloves, and it is used for the same purposes ; but its  most common employ-
 ment  is as a corrigent of other medicines.  Like other powerful irritants, it
 is sometimes effectual in relieving toothache, when introduced into the cavity
 of a carious tooth.   The dose is from two to six drops.
   Off. Prep. Pilulae Colocynthidis Compositae,  Ed., Dub.          W.


                OLEUM CINNAMOMI.   U.S.

                         Oil of  Cinnamon.

  " The volatile oil of  the bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, and Cinna-
momum  aromaticum." U.S.
  Off Syn.  CINNAMOMI OLEUM.  Laurus Cinnamomum.  Oleum e
cortice destillatum. Lond.;  CINNAMOMI OLEUM.   Volatile oil of the
bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum.  CASSIiE OLEUM.  Volatile  oil of the
bark of Cinnamomum Cassia. Ed.; LAURUS CINNAMOMUM.  Oleum
volatile. Dub.
  Huile de cannelle, Fr.,- Zimmtol, Germ.,- Olio di cannella, Ital.,- Accyte de canela, Span.
  See CINNAMOMUM.
  The United  States Pharmacopoeia includes,  under  the  name of Oil of
Cinnamon, both the oil  procured from the Ceylon cinnan on,  and that from
the  Chinese  cinnamon or cassia.   As these oils, though very different in 
PART I.
Oleum Cinnamomi.
489
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 unfrequenfly
mixed together, there does not seem to be sufficient ground for maintaining
any officinal  distinction between  them.  Nevertheless, the Edinburgh  Col-
lege has given them distinct places in its officinal list, 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 the inferior
kinds of cinnamon, which are  of insufficient value to pay the export duty.
The following account of the method of extraction, as formerly practised, is
given by Marshall. The bark,  having been coarsely powdered, is macerated
for  two days in sea-water, and then submitted to distillation.  A  light and
a heavy oil come over with the water, the former of which separates in a few
hours, and swims upon the surface, the latter falls to the bottom of the re-
ceiver, and continues  to be precipitated for ten or twelve days.  In future
distillations the saturated cinnamon water is employed in connexion  with
sea-water to  macerate the cinnamon.  Eighty pounds  of the bark, freshly
prepared, yield about two and a half ounces of the lighter  oil, and five and
a half of the heavier.   From the same quantity of cinnamon which  has  been
kept for several years in store, about  half an ounce less of  each  oil is ob-
tained.   The two  kinds are probably united in the  oil of commerce.
  Recently prepared  oil of cinnamon is of a light yellow colour, becoming
deeper by age,  and ultimately red.  Pereira states that the London druggists
redistil the red  oil, and thus obtain two pale yellow oils, one lighter and the
other heavier than water, with a loss of about ten  per cent, in the  process.
The oil has the flavour of cinnamon in a concentrated state.   When applied
undiluted to the tongue it is excessively hot and pungent.   According to Dr.
Duncan, it sometimes has a peppery taste, ascribable to an admixture of the
leaves with the bark in the preparation of the oil.
  Chinese oil  of cinnamon (oil of cassia) is imported from Canton and
Singapore.   Like  the former  variety  it has a pale yellow  colour, which
becomes red with age; at least such is the case with the  specimens which
have  come under  our observation.  Its flavour is similar to  that  of oil  of
cinnamon, though  inferior;  and it commands a  much  smaller price.   The
following remarks  apply to both oils.
  Oil of cinnamon is  heavier than water, having the sp. gr. of about 1-035.
Alcohol completely dissolves it; and, as it does not rise in any considerable
quantity at the boiling temperature of that liquid, it may be  obtained by
forming a tincture of  cinnamon and distilling off the menstruum.   When
exposed  to the air, it absorbs  oxygen, and is said to be slowly converted
into a peculiar acid denominated cinnamic or cinnamonic acid, two distinct
resins, and water.   Cinnamic  acid is  colourless,  crystalline, of a sourish
taste, volatilizable, slightly soluble in water, readily dissolved by alcohol, and
convertible by nitric acid with heat into benzoic acid.  It is sometimes  seen
in crystals  in bottles of the oil  wdiich  have been long kept.   Like benzoic
acid, it is said when swallowed to occasion the elimination of hippuric acid
by urine.  (Journ. de  Pharm.,  3e ser., iii. 64.)  It may be obtained by dis-
tilling the balsam of Tolu.  (See Tolutanum.)  Of the  two  resins,  one is
soluble  both  in hot and cold alcohol,  the  other readily in the former, but
sparingly in the latter.   Oil of cinnamon is almost wholly converted  by nitric
acid slowly added to  it into  a crystalline  mass, which  is supposed to  be a
compound of the oil and acid.  The researches of Dumas and Peligot have
led  to the opinion that there exists in the oil a compound radical, named cin-
namulc, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (C18H702) which unites
with one equivalent of hydrogen to form oil of cinnamon, and one equivalent
of oxygen to form anhydrous  cinnamic acid.  Crystallized  cinnamic acid 
490              Oleum Cubeba.— Oleum Limonis.           parti.

contains, in addition, one equivalent of water.   The oil of cinnamon is said
to be frequently adulterated with alcohol and fixed oil.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  It  has  the cordial and carminative pro-
perties 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
prescribed in gastrodynia, flatulent colic, and langour from gastric debility.
The dose is one or two drops, and may be most conveniently administered
in the form of emulsion.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Cinnamomi, U. S., Lond.;  Mistura Spiritus  Vini Gal-
lici, Lond.; Spiritus Cinnamomi, Lond.                            W.


                OLEUM  CUBEBA.   U.S., Ed.

                           Oil of  Cubebs.

   " The volatile oil of the berries  of Piper Cubeba." U. S.
   See CUBEBA.
   This oil is obtained  from the fruit of Piper  Cubeba, by grinding it, and
then distilling with  water.   From ten pounds of cubebs Schiinwald pro-
cured  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 crystals, which are thought
to be  a hydrate of the oil.  It consists of carbon and hydrogen, and its
formula is stated to be  C15H13.
   The oil has  all the medicinal properties of cubebs, and may 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.
                                                                  W.
                   OLEUM  LIMONIS.  U.S.

                          Oil of Lemons.

  " The volatile oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus Limonum."  U. S.
  Off. Syn. LIMONUM OLEUM.  Citrus  Limonum. Oleum e  Fructus
Cortice exteriori destillatum. Lond.;  LIMONUM OLEUM.  Volatile oil of
the rind of the  fruit of Citrus medica. Ed.; CITRUS MEDICA. Fructus
tunica? exterioris oleum volatile.  Dub.
  Huile de citron, Fr.; CetronenOl, Germ.;  Olio di limone, Ital; Aceyte de limon, Span.
  See LIMON.
  The exterior rind of the lemon abounds in  an essential oil,  which, as it is
contained  in distinct cellules, may be separated by simple expression.   The
rind is first grated from the fruit, and then  submitted  to pressure  in a bag of
fine cloth.   The oil thus obtained  is  allowed to  stand till it becomes clear,
when it is decanted, and preserved in  stopped bottles.   By a similar process,
that delightful perfume, the essence of bergamot, is procured  from the  fruit
of the bergamot Citrus; and  the  oil called by the French huile de cedrat, 
parti.             Oleum Limonis.— Oleum Lini.                491

from  the citron. (See  Oleum Bergamii and Limon.)  All 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 expres-
sion is  generally preferred.  They are all  brought  originally from Italy,
Portugal, or the South of France.
  Properties.   The oil of lemons is a very volatile fluid, having the odour
of the fruit, and a warm, pungent, aromatic taste.  As ordinarily procured
it is yellow, and has the  specific  gravity 0-8517; but by distillation it is
rendered colourless; and, if three-fifths only are  distilled, its  sp. gr. is re-
duced to  0-847, at  71° F.  It is  soluble in  all proportions  in  anhydrous
alcohol.   When perfectly pure, it consists exclusively of  carbon and hydro-
gen, and is said to be identical in composition with pure oil of turpentine, or
camphene;  its formula  being C10H8.  In this state it is capable of absorbing
almost half its weight of muriatic acid  gas,  by which it  is converted into a
crystalline substance, and a yellow oily fuming liquid.   The crystals are
analogous to the artificial camphor which results from the action of muriatic
acid upon oil  of turpentine, and are a compound  of the oil and acid.  The
oil  of lemons  is said to consist of two isomeric oils.
  The oil of lemons is  often adulterated by the fixed oils and by alcohol, the
former of which may be detected by the permanent stain which they impart
to paper, the latter by the milkiness produced by  the addition of water.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  This oil has  the stimulant properties of
the aromatics; but is chiefly used to impart  a pleasant flavour  to other medi-
cines.  It has  recently been lauded as  an application to the  eye in certain
cases of ophthalmia.
   Off. Prep.  Liquor Potassa?  Citratis,  U. S.; Spiritus  Ammoniae Aroma-
ticus,  Ed., Dub.;  Trochisci  Acidi Tartarici, Ed.; Unguentum  Veratri
Albi, U. S., Lond.                                                W.


                   OLEUM  LINI.  U.S., Dub.

                            Flaxseed oil.

   " The oil of the seeds of Linum usitatissimum."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  LINI OLEUM.  Linum  usitatissimum.   Oleum e  Seminibus
expressum. Lond.;  Expressed oil of the seeds of Linum usitatissimum. Ed.
  Linseed oil; Huile de lin, Fr.; Leinol, Germ.;  Olio di lino, Ital.; Aceyte de linaza,
Span.
  See LINUM.
  This oil is obtained by expression from the seeds of the Linum usitatis-
simum, or common flax.  In  its preparation on a large scale,  the seeds are
usually roasted before being  pressed, in order to destroy the  gummy matter
contained in their exterior coating.   The oil is  thus obtained more free from
mucilage, but more highly coloured and more acrid than that procured by cold
expression.  Flaxseed  oil is of a yellowish-brown colour,  a disagreeable
odour, and nauseous taste; is  of the sp. gr. 0-932 ;  boils at  600° F.; does
not congeal at zero ; dissolves in forty parts of cold and five of boiling alcohol,
and in  one part and a  half of  ether (Christison's Dispensatory);  becomes
rancid with facility; and has the  property of drying, or  becoming solid on
exposure to the air.  On account of its drying property, it is highly useful in
painting, and the formation of printers'  ink.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   It is laxative in the dose of a  fluidounce,
but on account of its  disagreeable taste  is seldom  given internally.  It is 
492               Oleum Myristicce.— Oleum Oliva.           parti.

sometimes added to purgative enemata; but its most common application is
externally to burns, usually in combination with lime-water.
   Off. Prep.  Ceratum Resina? Compositum, U.S.;  Linimentum  Calcis,
U. S., Ed., Dub.                                                 W.

                OLEUM  MYRISTKLE. U.S.

                          Oil of Nutmeg.

   " The volatile oil of the kernels  of Myristica moschata."  U.S.
   Off. Syn.  MYRISTICCE  OLEUM.   Myristica moschata.   Oleum e
nucleis destillatum.  Lond.;  MYRISTICCE OLEUM. Volatile oil of the
kernels of the fruit of Myristica  officinalis.  Ed.;  MYRISTICA MOS-
CHATA. Oleum volatile. Dub.
   See MYRISTICA.
   This oil is  obtained from  powdered  nutmegs by distillation  with water.
It is colourless or of a  pale straw colour, limpid, lighter than water, soluble
in alcohol and ether, with  a  pungent spicy taste, and a strong smell of nut-
meg.  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 deposits a crystalline stearoptene, which is called by John myris-
ticin.  It may be used for the same purposes as nutmeg, in the dose of two
or three drops; but is not often employed.                          W.

                    OLEUM OLIV^E.  17".5.

                              Olive oil.

   " The oil of the fruit of Olea Europoea." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  OLIViE  OLEUM.   Olea  europoea.  Oleum e  drupis ex-
pression. Lond.;  Expressed  oil of the pericarp of  Olea europoea. Ed.;
OLEA EUROPOEA.  Oleum ex fructu. Dub.
   Huile d'olive Fr.;  Olivenol, Germ.; Olio delle olive, Ital.; Aceyte de olivas, Span.
   Olea.  Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Oleaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla  four-cleft, with subovate segments. Drupe  one-seeded.
Willd.
   Olea Europoea.   Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 44; Woodv. Med.  Bot.  p. 280. t.
98.   This valuable tree  is usually from  fifteen to twenty  feet in height,
though it sometimes attains a much greater size, particularly in Greece and
the Levant.   It has a solid,  erect,  unequal stem, with numerous straight
branches, covered  with a  grayish bark.  The leaves,  which stand opposite
to each other on short footstalks, are evergreen, firm, lanceolate, entire, two
or three inches in length, with the edges somewhat reverted, smooth and of
a dull  green colour on  their upper  surface, whitish and almost silvery be-
neath.  The flowers are small, whitish, and disposed  in  opposite axillary
clusters, which are about half as long  as the leaves, and accompanied with
small, obtuse, hoary bractes.   The  fruit or olive is a smooth, oval drupe, of
a greenish,  whitish, or violet colour, with  a fleshy pericarp, and a very hard
nut of a similar shape.   The flowers are not very fruitful,  as clusters con-
taining not less than thirty yield only two or three ripe olives.
   The olive tree, though  believed by some to  have been originally from the
Levant, flourishes at present in all the countries bordering on the Mediterra-
nean, and has been cultivated from  time immemorial in Spain, the South of
France, and Italy.   It begins  to bear fruit after the second year, is in full 
PART I.
Oleum Olivce.
493
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 variety
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
properties, but is not  now employed.  Analyzed  by Pelletier, it was  found
to contain  resinous matter, a small quantity  of benzoic acid, and  a peculiar
principle analogous to gum, which  has received the name of olivile.  But the
fruit is by far the most useful product of the tree.  In the  unripe state it is
hard  and insupportably acrid ;  but  when  macerated  in water, or an alkaline
solution, and afterwards introduced into a solution of common salt, it loses
these properties, and becomes a pleasant and highly esteemed article of diet.
The pericarp, or fleshy part of the ripe olive, abounds in a fixed oil, which
constitutes its greatest value, and for  which the tree is chiefly cultivated in
the South of Europe.  The oil is obtained by first bruising the olives in
a mill, and then submitting them  to pressure.   The product varies much,
according to the state of the fruit and the circumstances of the process.  The
best oil, called virgin oil, is obtained from the  fruit picked before it  has
arrived at perfect maturity, 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 to the surface.
An inferior kind, employed in the  arts, especially in the preparation of the
coarser soaps, plasters, unguents, &c, is afforded by fruit which  has  been
thrown  into heaps  and allowed to  ferment for several days, or by the marc
left after the expression of the finer kinds of oil, broken up, exposed to the
fermenting process, and  again introduced into the  press.
   Olive oil is imported in glass bottles, or in  flasks surrounded by a peculiar
kind of net-work  made  of  grass, and usually called Florence flasks.   The
best comes from the  South of France, where  most  care is exercised in the
selection of the fruit.
   Properties.  The  pure oil is an  unctuous liquid, of a pale  yellow or
greenish-yellow colour, with scarcely any smell, and a bland slightly sweet-
ish taste.   Its sp.gr. is 09153.  It is soluble in twice its volume of ether,
but is only partially soluble in  alcohol, at least unless this liquid be in very
large proportion.  It begins to congeal at 38° F.   At a freezing temperature
a part  of it becomes solid, and the remainder, retaining the liquid consist-
ence, may be separated by pressure, or by the agency of cold alcohol, which
dissolves  it.  The  concrete portion  has been found by MM. Pelouze and
Boudet  to be a definite compound  of margarin and olein; the liquid portion
is  uncombined olein.   According to Braconnot, the  oil contains 72 parts of
olein, and 28 of margarin in the hundred.   Olive oil is solidified by nitrous
acid and by nitrate of mercury, and converted into a  peculiar fatty substance,
which has received the name of ela'idin.  The olein of  all oils  which  have
not the drying 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
     43 
494
Oleum Olivce.— Oleum Ricini.
PART I.
into ela'idin, while the same principle in a state of purity is not affected by
it.   (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 391.)
   Olive oil when exposed  to the air is apt to become rancid, acquiring a
disagreeable smell, a sharp taste, a thicker consistence, and  a deeper colour;
and the change is  promoted by heat.   It is said to be frequently adulterated
with the cheaper fixed oils, especially with that of poppies ; but the adultera-
tion may be easily delected 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 indicated by the degree of concretion.  Another mode has been
indicated by M. Poutet, founded on the property possessed by the supernitrate
of  mercury of solidifying the oil of olives, without a similar influence upon
the other oils.  Six parts of mercury are dissolved at a low temperature in
seven parts and a half 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 contain a minute  proportion, even
so small as a twentieth of poppy oil, the resulting mass  is much  less firm;
and a tenth prevents a greater degree  of consistence than oils usually acquire
when they concrete by cold.  M. Gobel has  invented an instrument which
he  calls the elaiometer, by which the smallest quantity of poppy oil can  be
detected.   (See Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  xvi. 24.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Olive  oil is  nutritious and mildly laxative,
and is occasionally given in cases of irritable intestines, when the patient
objects  to more disagreeable medicines.   Taken into the stomach in large
quantities,  it serves to involve acrid and  poisonous substances, and mitigate
their action.  It has also been recommended as a remedy for worms, and is
a very  common  ingredient in laxative enemata.   Externally  applied, it is
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 sub-
stances.  In the  countries  bordering on the  Mediterranean, it is thought,
when smeared  over the  skin, to afford some protection against the plague;
and 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 pharmacy,  as  a constituent of liniments,  ointments,
cerates, and plasters.
  The dose as a laxative is from one  to two fluidounces.
   Off. Prep. Enema Catharticum, Ed.                             W.


                    OLEUM RICINI. U. S.

                             Castor Oil.

  " The oil of the seeds of Ricinus communis."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  RICINI  OLEUM.  Ricinus communis.  Oleum i seminibus
expressum. Lond.; RICINI OLEUM.  Expressed oil of the seeds of Rici-
nus  communis. Ed.; RICINUS COMMUNIS.  Oleum e seminibus. Bub.
  Huile de ricin, Fr.; Rieinusbl, Germ.; Olio di ricino, Ital.; Aceyte de ricino, Span.
  Ricinus. Sex.  Syst.  Monoeeia  Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Male.  Calyx  five-parte<l.  Corolla none. Stamens  numerous.
Female. Calyx  three-parted. Corolla none.  Styles  three, bifid.  Capsule
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 
PART I.
Oleum Ricini.
495
in height.  In the temperate latitudes of North America and Europe it is an
annual plant; though  it is stated by  M. Achille Richard, that in the South
of France, in the  vicinity of Nice, on the seacoast, he saw a small wood
consisting 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 nume-
rous  stamens, which are united into fasciculi at their base.   In the female
the calyx has three or  five narrow lanceolate segments ; and the ovary, which
is roundish and three-sided, supports three linear,  reddish  stigmas, forked at
their apex.   The fruit is a roundish glaucous  capsule,  with three projecting
sides, covered with tough spines, and divided into three cells, each containing
one seed, which is expelled by the bursting of the capsule.
   This species of Ricinus is  a  native of the East Indies and  Northern
Africa,  has  become naturalized in  the West Indies,  and is  cultivated  in
various parts of the world, in  no country perhaps more largely than in the
United States.  New  Jersey, Virginia, North  Carolina, and the States upon
the right bank of the Ohio, are the sections  in which it is most  abundant.
The  flowers appear  in July, and the seeds ripen successively in August and
September.   The part employed in medicine is the fixed  oil extracted from
the seeds.
   1.  The Seeds.   These are  about as large as  a small  bean, oval, com-
pressed, 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 proceeds to the opposite extremity, dividing  the sides upon which it is
situated  into two flattish surfaces.   In its general appearance the seed is
thought to resemble the insect called  the tick, the  Latin name of which has
been adopted as the generic title of the plant.  Its variegated colour depends
upon a  very thin pellicle, closely investing a hard, brittle,  blackish, tasteless,
easily 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 become rancid, and are then unfit for the extraction of the
oil, which is acrid and irritating.   In 100 parts of the seeds Geiger found,
exclusive of moisture, 23-82 parts of envelope, and 69-09 of kernel.  These
69-09 parts contained 46*19 of fixed  oil, 2*40  of  gum, 20*00 of starch and
lignin, and 0-50 of albumen.
   Taken internally the seeds  are powerfully cathartic,  and often emetic.
Two or  three  are sufficient  to purge, and  seven or eight  act with great
violence.  This property depends upon an acrid principle, which has by
some been thought to  exist exclusively in the integuments, by others in the
embryo.   But  it  is now satisfactorily ascertained that  the integuments are
inert"; and  Guibourt maintains that  the  principle alluded to  pervades the
whole kernel, in connexion with the oil.   This  principle is considered  by
some as  volatile, and  is said  to be dissipated by the heat of boiling water.
According to MM. Soubeiran and Mialhe,itis of a resinous character. (Journ.
de Pharm. et de  Chim., 3e ser., vi.  225.)   By a much greater heat the  oil
itself becomes altered, and acquires acrid properties. 
496
Oleum Ricini.
PART I.
  2. The Oil.  This may be extracted from the seeds in three ways ; 1. by
decoction, 2. by expression, and 3. by the agency of alcohol.
  The process  by decoction, which is practised in the  East and  West  In-
dies, consists in bruising the  seeds previously  deprived of their husk, and
then boiling  them  in water.   The oil, rising  to the surface, is skimmed or
strained  off,  and afterwards again  boiled with  a small quantity of water to
dissipate the acrid principle.   To increase the product it  is  said that  the
seeds are sometimes  roasted.  The oil is thus rendered brownish and acrid;
and the same result takes place in the second boiling,  if care is not taken to
suspend  the  process  soon  after the water has  been evaporated.  Hence it
happens  that the West India oil  has generally a brownish  colour, an acrid
taste, and 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  sufficiently liquid for easy expression.  The seeds  are  then introduced
into a powerful 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 process is completed by boiling  it with a minute  propor-
tion of water,  and continuing the application of heat  till  aqueous vapour
ceases to rise, and till a  small portion of the liquid, taken out in a vial, pre-
serves a perfect transparency 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 vola-
tile matter.   But much care is requisite not to push the heat too far, as  the
oil then acquires a brownish hue, and an acrid  peppery taste, similar to those
of the West India medicine.  After the completion  of the process, the oil is
put into  barrels, and thus sent into the market.   There  is reason, however,
to believe that much of the  American  oil  is prepared  by  merely allowing it
to stand  for some time after  expression, and then drawing off the supernatant
liquid.  One bushel of good seeds yields five or six quarts, or about twenty-five
per cent, of  the best oil.  If not very carefully  prepared,  it  is apt to deposit
a sediment upon  standing;  and the apothecary  frequently finds it  necessary
to filter it through coarse paper before dispensing  it.   Perhaps this may be
owing to the plan just alluded  to of purifying the oil by rest and  decantation.*

  * We find the following sentence in Christison's Dispensatory, p. 793.  " If the state-
ment made above on  the authority of  Boutron.Charlard, be correct [that  no margarin is
deposited  by castor oil previously heated to 212°], this circumstance [the  deposition  of a
crystalline matter by castor oil in cold weather], instead of being an objection, is strong
proof of the American oil  being  really cold drawn, and not  prepared by dry heat  and
ebullition as Drs.  Wood and B;iche have represented."  If it  be intended here to throw
discredit on our statement, we have only to reply, that we have  ourselves witnessed the
arrangements  above described, and had the account of the steps of the process from the
manufacturers, as it was at the time conducted in this city.   That American  castor oil is
also prepared by mere expression,  rest, and decantation, we  have stated in the text.  We
are disposed to give the preference to that prepared by  the  former process, as freer from
impurities, and therefore likely to keep better, and  as milder in its action in consequence
of the volatilization of a portion  of the acrid principle. 
PART I.
Oleum Ricini.
497
We have been told that the oil  in barrels occasionally deposits a copious
whitish sediment in cold weather, which it redissolves when the temperature
rises.   This substance is probably margarin, on an analogous principle.  A
large proportion of the drug consumed in the eastern section of the Union is
derived, by way of New Orleans, from Illinois and the neighbouring States,
where it is so abundant that it is sometimes used for burning in lamps.
   The process for obtaining castor oil by means of  alcohol has  been prac-
tised in France, but the product is said to become rancid more speedily than
that procured in the ordinary mode.
   Properties.  Pure castor oil is  a thick, viscid, colourless fluid, with  little
or  no odour, and a mild  though somewhat nauseous taste, followed  by a
slight sense of acrimony.   As found in the shops it is often tinged with yel-
low, 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 be-
coming 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 pro-
portions in  cold absolute alcohol.  Weaker alcohol, of the sp.  gr. 0-8425,
takes up about three-fifths of its weight.  Adulterations with other fixed oils
may thus be detected,  as the latter are much less soluble in  this fluid.  Such
adulterations, however, are seldom if ever practised in this country.   Castor
oil is also soluble  in  sulphuric ether.  Its  proximate composition is but
imperfectly understood.   When distilled it  yields, according to MM. Bussy
andLecanu, 1. a colourless, highly odorous volatile oil, which crystallizes by
cold, 2. two oleaginous acids, denominated  ricinic and ricin-oleic, which are
excessively acrid and nearly concrete, and 3. a solid spongy residue, amount-
ing to two-thirds of the oil employed. Supposing these acids to be developed
by  heat, we can readily account  for the injurious influence  of  too  high  a
temperature in the preparation of  the oil.   By the action of nitrous acid, it
is converted into a peculiar oleaginous body called palmin, which yields
palmic acid and  glycerin when saponified.    Alkalies unite with castor oil
forming soaps, and  determine the  formation of three acids, the ricinic, ricin-
oleic, and ricino-stearic  acids, which can  be obtained  separate.   Hence it
has been inferred that the oil consists of three principles, for which the names
of ricin, ricin-olein, and ricino-stearin have been proposed. (Kane's  Che-
mistry.) These principles, however, have not been isolated. The purgative
property of the oil is supposed by MM. Bussy and Lecanu  to be essentially
attached 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 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 cathartic, speedy
in its action, usually operating with little griping or  uneasiness,  and evacu-
ating the contents of the bowels without  much increasing the alvine secre-
tions.   Hence it is particularly applicable to  cases  of  constipation from
collections of indurated feces, and to those  cases in 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 the  cases of pregnant and puerperal
women; and is decidedly,  as a general rule, the  best and safest cathartic for
                                  43* 
498
Oleum Ricini.— Oleum Rosce.
PART I,
children.   Infants usually require a larger  relative dose than adults, proba-
bly because they digest a larger proportion of the oil.
   The dose for an adult is about a fluidounce, for  an infant from  one to
three or four  fluidrachms.  It is sometimes of exceedingly difficult admin-
istration, not  so much from any peculiarly disagreeable taste, as from  the
recollection of former nausea, or other uneasiness which  it may have pro-
duced, and from its  clamminess and unpleasant adhesiveness to the mouth.
In  a few cases the disgust which it excites is utterly unconquerable by any
effort of 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 on the surface of mint or cinnamon water; but that which  we
have found upon the whole the least offensive, is  to  mix it with a cup of
hot sweetened coffee,  by which it is rendered more fluid, and its taste con-
siderably disguised.   Some take it in wine or spirituous liquors;  but these
are generally  contraindicated in the cases to which the medicine is applica-
ble.   When the stomach is unusually delicate, the oil  may be  made into an
emulsion with mucilage or the yolk of an  egg, loaf sugar, and some aromatic
water.  To the mixture laudanum may be added in  cases of intestinal irri-
tation.   Castor oil may also be beneficially used as an enema, in the quan-
tity of two or three fluidounces, mixed  with some mucilaginous liquid.
  Though apt to become rancid by itself,  it loses much of this susceptibility
when mixed with  lard;  and some apothecaries are said to use it as a sub-
stitute  for olive oil in unguents and cerates.  But  the  slightly irritating
properties of even the mildest castor oil, render it inapplicable in those pre-
parations  which are intended rather to alleviate irritation than to produce it.
                                                                  W.

                     OLEUM  ROStE.  U.S.

                            Oil of Roses.

  " The volatile oil of Rosa centifolia."  U. S.
   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  the B. damascena in Northern India,
and the R. moschata in Persia.   It is furnished in very minute proportion;
not more  than three drachms having been  obtained  by Colonel Poller, in
Hindostan, from one hundred pounds of the petals.  It is  usually imported
in small bottles, and is very costly.
  Oil of roses is nearly colourless, or presents some shade  of green, yellow,
or red; but, according to Polier, the  colour is no criterion of its value.   It
is concrete below 80°, and  becomes liquid between 84° and 86°.  Its odour
is very powerful and diffusive.  At  90°  its sp.gr. is  0*832.  Alcohol dis-
solves  it, though not freely when cold.  It consists of two oils, one liquid,
the other  concrete at ordinary temperatures.   These may be separated  by
freezing the oil, and compressing it between folds  of blotting paper, which
absorbs the liquid  oil or eleoptene, and leaves the concrete or stearoptene.
The latter consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen ; the former, of these
and oxygen. 
part i.         Oleum Sesami.— Oleum Terebinthince.            499

  Sandal-wood oil, other volatile oils, fixed oils, spermaceti, &c, are said to
be added as adulterations. The volatile additions may be detected by not being
concrete; the fixed, by the greasy stain they leave on  paper when heated.
  Oil of roses may be added, as a very grateful perfume, to various spiritu-
ous preparations for internal use, and to cerates and ointments.        W.


             OLEUM  SESAMI.  U.S. Secondary.

                             Benne Oil.

  " The oil of the seeds of Sesamum orientale."  U. S.
  See SESAMUM.

         OLEUM  TEREBINTHINCE.  U.S., Dub.

                          Oil of Turpentine.

  " The volatile  oil of the juice of  Pinus  palustris  and  other species of
 Pinus." U. S.   "  Pinus Sylvestris. Oleum volatile." Dub.
   Off Syn.  TEREBINTHINCE OLEUM.  Pinus Sylvestris.   Oleum i
 resina destillatum. Lond.;  TEREBINTHINCE OLEUM. Volatile oil of
 the liquid resinous exudation of various species of Pinus and Abies. Ed.
  Huile volatile de terdbenthine, Fr.; Terbinthinol,  Germ.; Olio della trementina, Ital.;
 Aceyte do trementina, Span.
  See TEREBINTHINA.
  This is  commonly called spirits or spirit  of turpentine.  It is  prepared
 by  distillation  from  our  common turpentine, though equally afforded  by
 other varieties.   It  may be distilled either with or without water; but in
 the  latter case a  much higher temperature is required, and the product is
 liable to be empyreumatic.  To obtain it absolutely pure it should be redis-
 tilled from a solution of caustic  potassa.  The  Dublin  College gives the
 following  formula  for  its preparation.   " Take  of common turpentine
 [Terebinthina Vulgaris, Lond.], five pounds ; water, four  pints.   Draw off
 the oil in a copper alembic."  But it is at present never prepared by the apo-
 thecary, and in all the other Pharmacopoeias is placed in the catalogue of the
 Materia Medica.  The turpentine of the Pinus palustris is said  to yield about
 seventeen per cent, of oil;  while the common turpentine of Europe affords
 twenty-four  per cent.  Large quantities of  the  oil are distilled  in North
 Carolina for exportation.
   Pure oil of turpentine  is perfectly limpid and colourless, of  a  strong,
 penetrating, peculiar odour, and a hot, pungent,  bitterish  taste.  It is much
 lighter than water, having the specific gravity 0*86 at 72°  F.; is highly  vola-
 tife  and inflammable; boils at a temperature  somewhat  higher  than 300°;
 is very slightly soluble in water, less soluble in alcohol than most other vola-
 tile  oils, and readily soluble in  sulphuric ether.   Boiling  alcohol  dissolves
 it with facility,  but  deposits most of  the oil  upon cooling.   One hundred
 parts of alcohol of 0-84, dissolve  13-5 parts  of the oil at 72°.   As found in
 commerce, it always contains  oxygen ; but, when perfectly pure, it consists
 exclusively of  carbon and  hydrogen, and is thought  to be isomeric with the
 radical of camphor.   Hence it has been denominated camphene.   (See page
 155.)   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 
500
Oleum Terebinthincs.
PART I.
higher  than  that of the original oil.  The oil of turpentine absorbs muri-
atic acid, forming with it two compounds, one a red dense liquid, the other
a  white crystalline substance  resembling camphor, and hence  called arti-
ficial 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.  If the muriate of  camphene be distilled with  lime,  the  acid is re-
tained,  and  an oil  comes over, differing  from pure  oil of turpentine, in
having  no  action on polarized  light, and from the oil just mentioned in
forming a solid compound with muriatic acid.  These three oils are said to be
isomeric. (Soubeiran and Capitaine, Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 11.)   Nitric
acid converts the oil of turpentine into  resin, and,  by long  boiling, into  tur-
pentinic acid.  On  exposure to  the air  and light, oil of turpentine deposits
a  white  solid matter in  acicular  crystals, which are without taste or smell,
insoluble in cold  water, but soluble in ether and 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.
   Exposed to the air the oil absorbs oxygen, becomes thicker and yellowish,
and loses much of its activity, owing to the formation of resin.  A small  pro-
portion of formic acid is said also to be generated.   Hence  the British Col-
leges direct a process for the rectification of the oil, consisting in  distilling it
with about four measures of water.  But the process  is difficult, in conse-
quence of the great  inflammability of the vapour, and its  rapid  formation,
which causes the liquid to boil over.  In this country it  is scarcely necessary,
as the recent oil can be obtained at an expense less than that which would be
incurred by its redistillation on  a small  scale.   Another mode of purifying
the oil is to agitate it with one-eighth of alcohol, which dissolves the portion
that has  become resinous by the absorption of oxygen.  About one-fifth of
the alcohol  is retained by the oil, but is  readily separated by agitation with
water.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Oil of turpentine is  stimulant, diuretic,
occasionally diaphoretic, anthelmintic,  in large doses  cathartic,  and  exter-
nally rubefacient.   When swallowed  in  moderate quantities it produces
a  sense of warmth in the  stomach,  accelerates  the circulation, and increases
the  heat of the skin, without especially affecting the functions of the brain.
In small doses, frequently repeated, it stimulates  the  kidneys,  augmenting
the  secretion of urine, and often  producing, especially if  long continued,
painful irritation of the  urinary passages, amounting  sometimes to violent
strangury.   At the same time  it imparts the  odour of  violets to  the urine;
and this effect is  also  produced by its external  application,  or even  by
breathing the  air of an apartment impregnated with its vapours.  In large
doses  it occasions slight  vertigo, or a sense of fulness in the head, some-
times  amounting to intoxication, attended frequently with nausea, and  suc-
ceeded   generally,  though  not  always,  by  speedy  and  brisk  catharsis.
When this  effect is  experienced, the oil is carried out of the  bowels,  and,
no time being allowed for absorption, is less  apt to irritate  the  kidneys  and
bladder  than when  taken in small  and repeated doses.   In some constitu-
tions it  produces, even when taken internally, an  erythematic eruption on
the skin.
   The oil is employed in numerous diseases.   As a stimulant it is useful
in low forms of fever, particularly in  cases  where  there is reason  to  sus-
pect ulcerations of the mucous membranes.   There is a particular state of 
PART I.
Oleum Terebinthince.
501
fever  usually  attended  with  much danger,  in  which  we  have found this
remedy uniformly  successful.   The condition  of things alluded  to, is one
which occurs in the latter stages of typhoid fevers or lingering remittents,
in which the tongue, having  begun to throw off its load of fur in patches,
has suddenly ceased to clean itself, and has become dry and brownish.  The
skin is at the same time dry, the bowels distended with flatus, and the patient
sometimes affected with slight delirium.   Under the  use of small doses of
oil  of turpentine frequently repeated, the tongue becomes  moist  and again
coated, the tympanitic state of the bowels disappears, and  the  patient  goes
on to  recover as in a favourable  case of fever.  We are disposed to  ascribe
the effect to a healthy change produced by the oil in the ulcerated surface of
the intestines.  The medicine has also been recommended  as a counter-irri-
tant 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 enteritic inflammations,  which require  a resort to  stimulation;
but the highly favourable reports which have been  made of its effects in the
early  stages of puerperal peritonitis, have  probably originated in the confound-
ing of intestinal irritation  with that formidable disease.  In chronic rheuma-
tism,  particufarly  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 coun-
tenance, foul tongue, tumid abdomen, sour  or  fetid  eructation, and  general
depravation of health, in obstructions of the bowels, in some forms of chronic
dysentery and diarrhoea, in obstinate gleets  and leucorrhoea, in suppression
of urine, and in chronic nephritic and calculous affections.   We  have  seen
it very beneficial  in  haemoptysis.   As a vermifuge  also it is very highly
esteemed, especially in cases  of  taenia.  It appears, by its  poisonous opera-
tion, to destroy or  debilitate the  worm, which losing its hold upon the bowels
is then easily discharged.   In cases of worms in the stomach it is often very
useful.  The worms, in  this instance, are  destroyed and  digested  as any
other dead animal  matter.   In dropsies with feeble action, the oil may some-
times be advantageously given as a diuretic; and in amenorrhoea from torpor
of the uterine vessels it is  occasionally useful.  As a local  stimulant or car-
minative it may be given beneficially in some instances of flatulent colic, and
gout in the stomach.
  The  dose for ordinary purposes  is from five to  thirty drops, repeated
every hour or two  in  acute, and  three or four times a day in  chronic diseases.
In rheumatism it is recommended by some in the dose of a  fluidrachm every
four hours.  As a remedy for the  tape worm it is given in the quantity of
one or two fluidounces, and should be followed by castor oil if it do not ope-
rate in three or four hours.  It  has  also proved successful in  taenia in the
dose of half a drachm twice  a day continued for a  considerable  time.   In
ordinary cases of worms, the  usual dose may be given.   It may be adminis-
tered  dropped  on  sugar,  or  in  emulsion with  gum Arabic, loaf sugar, and
cinnamon  or mint water.
  In the form of enema, it has been employed in amenorrhoea, 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  tym-
panites than injections of the  oil of turpentine.  From  half a fluidounce to
two fluidounces may be administered in this way, suspended by the  yolk of
eggs in half a pint or a pint of water or some mucilaginous fluid.
  Externally applied, the oil of turpentine  irritates  and speedily inflames
the skin;  and in low forms of fever, with coldness of the  surface, is when
heated one of the most efficacious rubefacients.  It is also used as a liniment 
 502             Oleum Terebinthince.— Oleum Tiglii.         part i.

 in rheumatic and paralytic  affections, and various internal inflammations.
 It should generally, in mild cases, be diluted  with  olive oil;  and in some con-
 stitutions, even in this state,  produces such violent inflammation of the skin,
 with extensive eruptions, as to render its external use in any shape improper.
 Mixed with  some mild oil  and introduced on cotton into the ear, it is some-
 times beneficial in deafness arising from a deficient or  unhealthy secretion of
 wax.  Applied to recent burns it is thought by some  to be highly useful in
 allaying the  burning pain, and promoting a disposition  to heal.  For this pur-
 pose, however, it is usually mixed with the resin cerate (basilicon ointment),
 so as to  form a liniment capable of being  spread upon  linen rags. (See Lini-
 mentum Terebinthinx.)*
   Off. Prep.  Enema Terebinthinae, Lond., Ed.;  Linimentum Cantharidis,
 U. S.; Linimentum Terebinthinae,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Oleum Tere-
 binthinae Purificatum,  Lond., Ed., Dub.                            W.


                     OLEUM  TIGLII.  U.S.

                              Croton Oil.

   " The oil  of the seeds of Croton Tiglium." U. S.
   Off. Syn.   TIGLII  OLEUM.  Croton  Tiglium.   Oleum e seminibus
 expressum. Lond.;  CROTONIS OLEUM.  Expressed oil of the seeds of
 Croton Tiglium. Ed.   CROTON TIGLIUM.  Oleum ex  seminibus  ex-
 pressum. Dub.
   Huile de croton, i*V.; CrotonQl, 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
 spreading branches, bearing alternate petiolate leaves,  which are  ovate, acu-
 minate, serrate, smooth, of a dark green  colour on the upper  surface, paler
 beneath, and furnished with two glands at the base. The flowers are in erect
 terminal racemes, scarcely  as long as the  leaf—the lower being female,  the
 upper male,  with straw-coloured petals.   The fruit  is a  smooth capsule,
 about the size of a filbert,  with three cells, each containing  a single seed.
   The tree is a native of Hindostan, Ceylon, the  Moluccas, and other parts
 of continental and insular India.   It is pervaded throughout by an acrid pur-
 gative principle,  which  is  probably analogous to  that found in other plants
 belonging to  the family of  the Euphorbiaceae.  Rumphius says that the root
 is employed  in Ambpyna in  the  dose of a few grains  as a  drastic purge in
 dropsy; and, according to the same author, the  leaves are so acrid that,
 when chewed and swallowed, they excite painful  inflammation in  the lips,       I
 mouth, throat, and along  the whole course  of the alimentary canal.  The
 wood is said  in small doses to be  diaphoretic, in larger, purgative and emetic.
 But the seeds are the  portion in which the  active principle of the plant is
 most concentrated.   These have  been long employed  throughout the  whole
 of India as a powerful purgative, and were introduced so early as  the year
 1630 into Europe, where they were known by the names of Grana Molucca
 and  Grana Tiglia.   But in  consequence of  their violent effects they passed
 into neglect,  and  had ceased to be ranked  among medicines,  when, at a recent
 period, attention  was again called to them by the  writings  of some English

  * The following  is the formula adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy for
 the preparation of the rubefacient liniment, so much sold under the name of British Oil.
 R. Olei Terebinth.  f3viij, Olei  Lini  fSviij,  Olei Succini  f3iv, Olei Juniperi f3iv, Pe-
 trolei Barbadens. f 3iij, Petrolei American. (Seneca oil) f 3j. Misce. {Journ. of the Phil.
 Col. of Pharm., v. 29.) 
PART I.
Oleum  Tiglii.
503
physicians in India.   They are now imported for the oil which they afford,
and which is the only portion of the plant considered officinal.
   These seeds are rather  larger than a grain of coffee, of an oblong form,
rounded at the  extremities, with two faces, the external considerably more
convex than the  internal, separated from each other by longitudinal ridges,
and each divided by a similar longitudinal ridge, so that  the whole seed pre-
sents an irregular quadrangular figure.  Sometimes, as in the grain of coffee,
their internal surface is flat with a longitudinal groove, owing to the presence
of only two seeds in the capsule, the groove being produced by  the central
column or axis.  The shell  is  covered  with a soft yellowish-brown epider-
mis, beneath which the surface is black and smooth; and, as the epidermis is
often partially removed by friction  during their carriage, the seeds as they
come to  us are  frequently of a  mottled appearance, and sometimes nearly
black.  The kernel or nucleus is of a yellowish-brown colour, and  abounds
in oil.  In India the seeds are prepared for use by submitting them to slight
torrefaction, by which the  shell  is  rendered more  easily separable.  In the
dose of one or two grains the kernel  purges with great activity.
   The oil is obtained by expression from  the seeds,  previously deprived of
the shell.   It may also be  separated by decoction  in  water, or by the action
of ether,  which  dissolves  the oil,  and  leaves it behind when evaporated.
According to Dr. Nimmo,  the seeds consist of 64 parts of kernel, and 36 of
envelope, in the hundred ; and the cotyledons yield 60 per cent, of oil.  They
yielded to Brandes, upon  analysis, independently of the shell, traces of a
volatile oil, fixed oil, a peculiar fatty acid called  crotonic acid, an alkaloid
which he  called crotonin, resin, stearin,  wax, extractive,  sugar, starch, gum,
albumen,  gluten, lignin, and  salts.   Some doubts  are entertained as to the
existence  of crotonin.   The  crotonic acid  is the most interesting ingredient,
is thought to be the  active principle of the  seeds, and  is separated  along with
the oil in expression.   It  may be obtained by treating the oil with solution
of potassa, decomposing the  resulting soap by tartaric acid, filtering and dis-
tilling the  solution,  neutralizing  the product with  bary*a water, evaporating
to dryness, decomposing the salt of baryta with strong phosphoric acid, and
again distilling.  (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, proba-
bly, which causes the dust and exhalation from the croton seed sometimes to
excite excessive irritation in the mucous surfaces of those who prepare them
for expression, or otherwise work among them.
   Properties.   Croton oil, as found in the shops, is  often of an orange or
reddish-yellow colour, which  is owing to the roasting of the seeds  previously
to expression, or to their having  been kept too long.   When procured with-
out roasting from fresh seeds, it is yellowish or nearly colourless.   Its smell
is faint but peculiar,  its  taste hot and acrid, leaving in the mouth a disagree-
able sensation  which continues for  many hours.   The oil is wholly soluble
in sulphuric ether and  oil of turpentine, and partially so in alcohol.   Ac-
cording to Dr.  Nimmo, it consists of two  portions, one  acrid and purgative,
amounting to forty-five per cent., soluble in cold alcohol, and having an acid
reaction, the other a mild oleaginous substance like olive oil, soluble in ether
and the oil of turpentine, and very slightly soluble  in hot alcohol, by which
it is deposited  when  the  liquor  cools.  The  acrid  portion probably consists
of a resinous substance, and  the acrid volatile acid  before mentioned by the
name of crotonic acid.
   It is thought that croton  oil is  often adulterated  with  other  fixed oils.
The Edinburgh  College gives  the following test  of its purity.   "When
agitated with its own volume of pure alcohol  and  gently heated, it separates 
504
Oleum Tiglii.
PART I.
on standing, without having undergone any  apparent diminution."   This,
however, does not agree with the statement of Dr. Nimmo.
  We were told  by the late  Dr. M. Burrough, who was for some time in
India, that much of the  oil there prepared for  exportation, under the name of
croton oil, is derived from the seeds of a plant different from the Croton Tig-
lium.  From  a  parcel  of these seeds  presented  to him by Dr. Burrough,
Dr. R. E. Griffith produced a plant which proved to be the Jatropha Curcas,
the seeds of which are  known by the  name  of Barbadoes nuts.  (See Ta-
pioca.)  This oil, though weaker than the genuine, was said by Dr. Burrough
to be an  efficient cathartic in the dose of three or four drops.  It is  stated by
Dr. Hamilton that croton seeds are afforded by the Croton Pavana, growing
in Ava and the Eastern parts  of Bengal;  and it is  highly probable that  a
portion of the croton oil of commerce is obtained  from these seeds. (Trans.
Lin.  Soc, xiv. 257.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Croton  oil is a powerful hydragogue pur-
gative, acting, for the most part, when given in moderate doses, with ease to
the patient, but in large  doses apt to excite vomiting and severe griping pain,
and capable, if immoderately taken, of producing fatal effects.  It  acts with
great rapidity, frequently evacuating the bowels  in less than an hour, and
generally exciting a rumbling  sensation  in  half  that  period.   It possesses
also great advantage in the minuteness of the dose, on account of which it
may frequently be given when  we should fail with more bulky medicines, as
in mania, coma, and the cases of children.   A drop placed on the  tongue of
a comatose patient will  generally operate.  Though long used in India, and
known a century ago to  the Dutch physicians, it did not attract general notice
till about 1820, when it was introduced into  England by Mr. Conwell.  It
is chiefly employed in cases of obstinate constipation, in which it often pro-
duces the happiest effects  after the  failure of other  medicines; but it may
also be advantageously employed in almost all cases in which powerful and
speedy purging is  demanded.   Dropsy, apoplexy, mania, and visceral ob-
structions,  are among the complaints in which it has been particularly recom-
mended.  It has recently been employed with great asserted benefit  in neural-
gia, 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 amenorrhoea.  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 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 liniment twice  or oftener in the
twenty-four hours.  Sometimes the insusceptibility of the skin to its influence
is such as to  require  its application  undiluted.  For  further information on
this  subject the reader  is  referred to the Amer. Journ. of Med. Sciences
(xv. 240).  The oil may also be applied externally, in the form of  a plaster,
made by incorporating one part of it with four parts of lead plaster melted by
a very gentle heat.
  The dose for an adult is one  or  two drops, and is  most conveniently ad-
ministered in the form of pill.   A very safe and convenient plan is to make
two drops  into four pills with crumb of bread, and give one every hour till
they operate.  The oil may also be given in emulsion.  The form of tincture
may be  advantageously resorted to when a minute quantity of the  medicine
is required, as it affords the means of  readily dividing the  dose.  It is said
that four drops of the oil, applied externally by friction around the umbilicus,
will produce  a purgative effect. (Diet, des Drogues.)                 W. 
PART I.
Olibanum.
505
                   OLIBANUM. Lond., Dub.

                             Olibanum.

   " Boswellia serrata.  Gummi-resina." Lond., Dub.
   Encens, Fr.;  Wcihrauch, Germ.,- Olibano, IlaL; Olibano, Incienso, Span •  Koondir
Zuckir, Hindoo.; Cundur Looban, Arab.
   Olibanum, the frankincense of the ancients, was erroneously ascribed  by
Linnaeus to the Juniperus  Lycia.  There appear to  be two varieties of
olibanum, one derived from  the  countries  bordering on  the Red Sea, and
taken to Europe by way  of  the  Mediterranean, the  other brought directly
from Calcutta.   The tree producing the former has not been botanically  de-
scribed, though considered by some writers a species of  Amyris.  Captain
Kempthorne, of the E. India Company's Navy, saw the tree growing upon the
mountains, on  the African coast,  between Bunder Maryah and Cape Guar-
dafui.  According to his statement, it grows upon the bare marble rocks com-
posing  the  hills in that region, without  any soil or the  slightest fissure to
support it, adhering by means of a substance thrown out from the base of the
stem.  This rises forty feet, and sends forth near the summit short branches,
covered with  a bright green, singular foliage.  The juice,  which  exudes
through deep incisions made  into ihe inner bark, is at first of the colour and
consistence of milk, but hardens on exposure. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,
iv. 37.)  The India olibanum has been  satisfactorily ascertained  to be  the
product of the  Boswellia  serrata of Roxburgh, a large tree growing in the
mountains of India, and found by Mr. Colebrook abundant in the vicinity of
Nagpur.  The tree belongs to the class and order Decandria Monogynia,
and to the natural order Terebintaceae of Kunth.
   The Arabian or African frankincense is in the form of yellowish tears and
irregular reddish lumps or fragments.   The tears are generally small, oblong
or roundish, not very brittle,  with a dull and waxy fracture, softening in  the
mouth,  and bearing much resemblance  to mastich, from which, however,
they differ in their want of transparency.   The reddish masses soften in  the
hand, have a stronger smell  and taste than the tears, and are often mixed
with fragments of bark, and small crystals of carbonate of  lime.
   The  Indian frankincense, or  olibanum,  consists chiefly  of  yellowish,
somewhat translucent, roundish tears, larger than those of the African, and
generally covered with a  whitish powder  produced by  friction.  It has a
balsamic resinous smell, and an  acrid, bitterish, and  somewhat aromatic
taste.   When  chewed it softens in the mouth, adheres to  the teeth, and par-
tially dissolves in the  saliva, which it renders milky.  It  burns with a bril-
liant flame, and a fragrant odour.  Triturated  with water it forms a milky
imperfect solution.   Alcohol dissolves nearly three-fourths of it, and  the
tincture is  transparent.  From 100 parts,  Braconnot obtained 8 parts of
volatile  oil, 56 of resin, 30 of gum, and 5-2 of a glutinous  matter insoluble
in water or  alcohol, with  0*8 loss.  Various saline substances were found
in its ashes.   The oil may be separated by distillation, and resembles that of
lemons in colour and smell.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  Olibanum is stimulant like  the other gum-
resins ; but is now never used internally.   It is chiefly employed for fumi-
gations, and enters into the composition of some unofficinal plasters.  W.
44 
506
Opium.
PART I.
                OPIUM.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Opium.

  " The concrete  juice of the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum."
U.S.  "Papaver  somniferum.  Capsulae immaturae  Succus concrelus."
Lo)\d. " Concrete  juice from  the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum."
Ed.  " Papaver somniferum.  Capsularum succus proprius concretus." Dub.
  Opium, Fr.; Opium, Monshaft, Germ.,- Oppio, Ital.; Opio, Span.; Affioni, Turk.; Ufyoon,
Arab.,- Sheerikhaskash, Persian,- Uft-em, Hindoo.
  Papaver. Sex. Syst. Polyandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Papaveraceae.
  Gen. Ch. Corolla four-petaled.  Calyx  two-leaved.  Capsule one-celled,
opening by pores under the persistent stigma.  Willd.
  Opium is at present generally believed to be derived exclusively from the
Papaver somniferum, though every  species of  poppy is capable of yielding
it to  a greater or less extent, and some authors have  indicated  the Papaver
orientate as its real source.  The British and French Pharmacopoeias unite
with our own in recognising only the first-mentioned species.
  Papaver somniferum. Willd. Sp.  Plant, ii. 1147 ; Woodv. Med. Bot., p.
376. t. 138.  There are two varieties of this species, which 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 an annual plant, with a round, smooth, erect,
glaucous, often branching stem, risjng two or three feet in height, and some-
times attaining five or even six feet in favourable situations.  The leaves
are  large, variously  lobed  and toothed, and alternately disposed upon the
stem  which they closely embrace.   The  flowers are 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 composed of  two leaves, which fall when  the petals
expand.  These are usually four in  number; but there is a variety in which
the flower is double.  The germen, which is smooth and globular, supports
a radiated  stigma, and  is surrounded by numerous short and slender fila-
ments,  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 are  said to contain  a  white  opaque narcotic juice;
but the leaves, when analyzed by M. Blondeau, yielded none of those active
principles by which opium is  characterized. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 214.)
It is in the capsule that the juice most abounds, and the virtues of the plant
chiefly reside.   Hence this part is  sometimes  employed medicinally in Eu-
rope, where it is considered officinal. (See Papaveris Capsulae.)  The seeds
are  wholly destitute of narcotic properties, and  are even used  as  food in
many parts of the world.   The Romans employed them in the preparation
of various  dainties.  They abound with a bland oil, which may be extracted
by expression,  and  has most of the  useful properties of olive oil.  It is
an  article  of much importance on  the continent  of Europe, particularly in 
 part i.                         Opium.                             507

 France, in the northern departments of which the black poppy is very ex-
 tensively cultivated for  the  seed  alone.  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, which is  said to be frequently adul-
 terated with it.  The poppy does not  appear  to elaborate the milky fluid in
 which its narcotic properties reside, before a certain  period of its growth;
 for we  are told that in Persia, the young plants which are  pulled up  to pre-
 vent  too thick a crop, are  used as pot-herbs;  and the ^xtov of the Greeks,
 which  is believed to be identical  with  the  Papaver  somniferum, is said by
 Hippocrates to be nutritive.
   Though  generally believed to be a  native of Asia,  this species of poppy
 grows wild in the South of  Europe, and even  in England, whither its seeds
 are supposed to have been brought at a very early period.  It was cultivated
 by the  ancient Greeks, and  is mentioned by Homer as a garden  plant.   It is
 at present cultivated very extensively  in India, Persia, Egypt, and  Asiatic
 Turkey, for the opium which  it affords;  and in  several parts of Europe,
 especially in France, not  only for  this product, but also  for the  seed  and
 capsules.  In this country it is  found only  in  our  gardens as an ornamental
 flower.
   The process for procuring opium  from  the  poppy,  as practised  by the
 modern inhabitants of India and Persia,  according to the reports of Kerr
 and of Koempfer, is very nearly the  same with that described by Diosco-
 rides as employed in his  own times,  about eighteen  hundred years since ;
 and the accounts of Belon,  Olivier, and Texier, as  to  the modes of collec-
 tion in Asia  Minor,  are not materially different.  As the capsules abound
 most in the  narcotic juice,  it  is from these  that the opium  is procured.
 According to Texier, a few days after the  fall of  the  flower, men and wo-
 men  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 forms  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., xxi.  196.)   Considerable quantities of good
 opium have been obtained by different  individuals in England by scarifying
 the capsules  of the poppy.*   Similar success has been met with in France;
 and the drug obtained by incisions in both  countries  has been found  nearly
 if not quite  equal to that imported  from  the East.   In the Dictionnaire
 des Drogues it is  even stated, that a  specimen of opium  collected in this
 way in  the vicinity of Provins, gave sixteen per cent, of the active principle,
 while a good commercial specimen examined by M. Petit, afforded only eight
 per cent.

  * So early as the year 1796, a premium was awarded by the society for Ihe encourage.
ment 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 pop-
pies 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. Philosoph.
Journ., vol. i. p. 258, and the Quarterly Journal of Science, vol. iv. p. 69. 
508
Opium.
PART I.
   Another method of extracting the virtues of the capsules, is to select such
 as have ceased to yield their juice  by exudation, to beat them  with  a small
 proportion of water,  and inspissate the liquid  thus obtained  by artificial
 heat.   The ancient Greeks were acquainted with both processes, as  appears
 from the  writings of Dioscorides.   The term orttoy, derived from o-toj, juice,
 they applied to the substance procured by incisions, and answering precisely
 to the modern opium.  The inspissated expressed juice they called firtxu>viov,
 from p.7]Xuv, the  name of the plant.  Tournefort states that it  is the latter
 preparation which is  exported  from  Turkey as opium,  the  former being
 much more valuable, and therefore  retained in the country  for the use of  the
 great and wealthy.  This error has been  copied  by many writers  on  the
 Materia Medica ; and till within a comparatively few years, opium was gene-
 rally believed to be an extract obtained by evaporating either the expressed
 juice, or a decoction of the capsules.
   Commercial History.  Commerce  is supplied with opium chiefly from
 Hindostan, Persia, Egypt,  and the  Asiatic dominions  of Turkey.  Im-
 mense  quantities  are  produced in  the Indian provinces of  Bahar and  Be-
 nares, and in the more interior province of Malwa.  The  opium of Hin-
 dostan is distributed extensively  through continental and insular  India,
 where  it  is habitually employed in the  place of spirituous liquors.   Great
 quantities are also sent to China, into which it finds an  easy entrance, not-
 withstanding  prohibitory  laws.   Much was formerly imported by the East
 India  Company into England, through which a  small portion reached our
 own country; but at present India opium is considered so far inferior to that
 from Turkey, that it has been  almost entirely excluded from  our market,
 and  none  is brought  directly from the East.   The great  demand for it in
 the Indian Archipelago and in China, and  its consequent high price, have
 probably  contributed more even than its reputed inferiority to this  result.
 Indeed, Ainslie explicitly  states that India opium is inferior to none; and it
 is probable that the specimens  from which the  description  was drawn  up
 that has been current among authors upon the  Materia Medica, were the
 refuse of  the Eastern market.  We know that the drug was formerly very
 much  and  variously adulterated by the natives.   Among  the impurities
 mentioned by authors are the  extract of the poppy procured by decoction,
 the powdered leaves and stems of the plant  made  into a  paste with muci-
 lage, the  oil of sesamum, catechu,  and even  cow-dung.   But  a more care-
 ful superintendence  by the officers of the Company is said to have resulted
 in a great improvement of the India opium.  Of'that produced in  Persia,
 very little  is brought to this country ;  and it is scarcely known in our mar-
 kets 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.   It was in  fact for a long time generally known  by
 the name  of Opium  Thebaicum, and laudanum is still frequently directed in
 prescriptions as the Tinctura Thebaica.   Its  cultivation has recently been
 again introduced into Egypt; and considerable quantities  are now annually
 exported.
   Turkey opium is produced in Anatolia, and is shipped chiefly from  the
 port of Smyrna.   It is brought to the United States, either directly from
 the Levant, or indirectly through the Mediterranean ports of France.   From
 the treasury returns  for the  year 1829, it appears that  the value of  opium
 imported  from the Turkish  dominions was 92,924  dollars, from  France
on  the Mediterranean, 12,187  dollars,  and  from  all  other parts  of  the
world only 2,040 dollars.  None was imported from India.   Turkey  opium
usually comes to us in masses  of irregular  size and shape, generally more 
PART I.
Opium.
509
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 indi-
cation of the  purity of the drug.  We may account for this circumstance
upon the very probable supposition, that these capsules are removed  during
the operation which the masses sometimes undergo in  the hands of the  mer-
chants, after leaving those of the cultivators.   We are told by  the French
writers,  that extensive  frauds  are practised  at Marseilles in this branch of
commerce.   The opium brought  thither from the  Levant  is first softened,
and then adulterated with various matters,  which are incorporated in its sub-
stance.  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
beart his 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, the extracts  of the poppy, Lactuca virosa, Glycyr-
rhiza  glabra, and Chelidonium  glaucum,  gum Arabic, tragacanth, aloes,
even small stones, and minute pieces  of lead and iron, are mentioned  among
the substances employed in the sophistication of the drug.   Mr. Landerer,
of Athens, was informed by a person who had been engaged in  the extrac-
tion of opium, that grapes  freed from  their  seeds and crushed, were  almost
universally mixed  with  the poppy juice, and that another  adulteration  con-
sisted  of the epidermis of the  capsules  and stem of the plant  pounded in a
mortar with  the white  of eggs.  (Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xv. 238.)  In Eng-
land a sophisticated opium has been prepared, so nearly resembling good
Turkey  opium in  appearance that by the eye alone it would  be difficult to
detect the fraud, and yet wholly destitute of the active  principle of this drug.
Portions of it have been sent into the markets both of  France and this coun-
try.    It  is probably the  genuine drug, deprived of its morphia by some pro-
cess which does not materially  disturb the visible arrangement of its particles.*
(Am.  Journ. of Pharm., x. 261.)

  * The  great importance of opium renders it desirable  that all its commercial varieties
should  be accurately described, and  their relative value  so  far as possible ascertained.
The following statement has been drawn up from the most recent published accounts of
this drug, and from the personal observations of the author.  The papers of Guibourt in
France, Christison in  Great Britain, and Merck and Martius in  Germany, have been con-
suited.  (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
arc 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-
vincc 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.  O'.hers 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 iruth probably is, that most of the opium shipped at Constantinople is
produced  in the northern parts of Anatolia, while  that  from Smyrna is collected in the
provinces more convenient to the latter city; and  though it is possible that  an identical
drug may be occasionally brought from the  two ports, yet there seems to be  good ground
in general for arranjin? it under different varieties, as derived from these different sources.
  1. Smyrna Opium.  This is the variety which is, beyond all comparison, most abundant
in our markets; and it is from this that the  ordinary descriptions of opium are drawn  up.
It comes  to us in masses of various size, usually from half a pound or somewhat less to a
pound in  weight, sometimes, though rarely, as much as two or  even three pounds, origi-
nally perhaps of a globular form, but variously indented, and rendered quite irregular in
shape,  by the pressure to which they are  subjected, while yet soft, in the  cases which
contain them.   Sometimes they are even pressed out into flat  cakes. As brought into
market, the lumps are usually hard  on the outside, but still soft within. They are  covered
externally with the remains of leaves, ^nd with the reddish capsules of a species of Rumex,
                                     44* 
510
Opium.
PART I.
   Opium is regarded as inferior  when it is of a blackish colour;  a weak or
empyreumatic smell;  a sweet or slightly nauseous and bitter taste ; a soft,
viscid, or greasy consistence ;  a dull fracture ;  or an irregular, heterogeneous
texture, arising from the intermixture of foreign  substances.   It  should  not

which have no doubt been applied in order  to prevent  the  surfaces from adhering.  Not-
withstanding, however, this coating, the masses sometimes stick together, and two or more
become consolidated into one.  In this way the fact may be accounted for, that the seeds
of the Rumcx are  occasionally found  in the interior of the masses,  in the  finer parcels
of Smyrna opium, the colour internally is  light brown; in the inferior it is darker.   A
peculiar character  of this variety is, that when a lump of it is cut into and then  carefully
torn,  numerous  minute  shining tears are observable, particularly  under a microscope,
bearing some resemblance to small seeds, but readily distinguishable by pressure between
the fingers.   They are undoubtedly formed from the drops of juice which escape from  the
incisions in the capsules, and which, according to Belon, are  allowed to concrete before
they are removed.   From the account of the same author it appears that, after  the juice
has been collected, it is not subjected to the process of kneading or beating, as in the case
of other varieties of opium ; so that the tears preserve their original shape in the mass. It
is probably owing  to  the  peculiar mode of collecting  Smyrna  opium, that minute pieces
of the skin of the  poppy capsules are found intermingled in the mass;  these being sepa-
rated  in the process of removing the adhering tears.  In the  finer specimens of Smyrna
opium these fragments of the capsules are the only impurities.  This variety of the drug
is of  very different qualities, the finest kinds yielding, according to Merck, as much as 13
per cent, of pure morphia, while from some  very bad parcels  he could not procure more
than 3 or 4 per cent.  In these inferior specimens the  colour is darker, the smell is often
mus-ty, and there is very generally  more or less mouldiness both upon  the surface, and in
the interior of the  masses, indicating perhaps too much moisture in the opium originally,
or its subsequent exposure to an injurious degree  of dampness.  Good Smyrna opium
ought to yield 10 or 11 per cent, of morphia.
  2.  Constantinople Opium.  Most of the Constantinople  opium is in lumps from half a
pound to two and a half pounds in weight, and scarcely distinguishable in exterior appear-
ance from those of the former variety, being equally irregular in shape, and in like manner
covered with  the capsules of the Rusnex.  It differs, however, strikingly from the Smyrna
opium in its interior constitution, being, according to Merck, wholly destitute of the tears
which characterize that variety.  This  would indicate some difference in the  mode of
collecting and preparing the juice.   In the case  of the Constantinople opium, it is pro-
bably  either removed from the capsules before concretion, or  subjected to pressure alter-
wards.  Merck says that he has not discovered, in this variety, ihose minute portions of
the poppy capsules which are usually present in the Smyrna opium. The average quality
of the Constantinople opium, as above described, is about  equal to that of the drug from
Smyrna;  but it appears to be occasionally purer;  as Merck obtained  from one specimen
as much as 15 per  cent, of pure morphia.   Notwithstanding what has  been  above stated,
we are not yet in possession of facts to prove that this is not, as some have supposed it to
be, the better sort of Smyrna opium selected and sent to the capital.
  Guibourt describes another variety of Constantinople opium of much inferior character.
" It comes," he observes, "in small flattened cakes, sufficiently  regular and of a lenticular
shape, from two to two and a half  inches in diameter, and  always covered with a poppy
leaf, the midrib of which divides the surface into two equal parts.  It has an odour similar
to lhatof 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. Sleltner, of Trieste,
though well acquainted  with the opium commerce of that port, admits no such  Constan-
tinople opium as that described by  Guibourt. (Annul, der  Pharm.,xx.\v. 65.)
   II.  EGYPTIAN OPIUM.  This  is  in flat  roundish cakes, of various dimensions,
sometimes as much as six inches  in diameter and a pound in weight, usually, however,
much smaller, and sometimes not  weighing more than half an ounce.  The.-e  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 coverinir.  Occasionally the brown  colour of the
opium is seen through the leaf, and the surface appears as if uncovered, while the leaf ia
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 tl •
centre as at the surface  of the mass.  Its fracture is conchoidal and of a waxy lustre,  and 
PART I.
Opium.
511
impart a  deep brown  colour  to the  saliva, nor leave  a dark uniform trace
when drawn over paper, nor form with  water a thick viscid solution.
   Properties.   Good  opium  has a  peculiar,  strong narcotic odour, and a
bitter, somewhat acrid taste.   When long chewed it excites  much irritation

small fragments of it are translucent.  Its colour is usually redder than that of Smyrna
opium, though it is sometimes dark.  Some of the pieces, on exposure to the air, become
damp and sticky on  the outer surface, indicating  the  fraudulent addition  of some deli-
quescent substance.  The odour is similar  to that of Smyrna opium, but weaker.   There
can be little doubt that this  opium is, in some  way, sophisticated in its preparation • as it
yields only 6 or 7  per cent, of morphia.  {Merck.)  A specimen examined by Mr. J. Evans,
of Philadelphia, yielded only 355 per cent. Egyptian opium, therefore, should never be
dispensed by the apothecary, or employed in the preparation  of his tinctures; as the pre-
scription of the physician is based upon  the strength of good Smyrna opium, which is
about twice that of the Egyptian.
   III. INDIA OPIUM.  Little if any of this  opium reaches our market.  There appear
to be two chief varieties of it, one produced in Bahar and Benares, in  the Bengal Presi-
dency, and called  Bengal opium, the other in  the  interior provinces, and designated by
the name of Malwa opium.
   1. Bengal opium.  This appears to be identical with the variety sometimes called Patna
opium.  It is in round balls, weighing  three pounds and a half, invested by a coating half
an inch thick, composed  of agglutinated  leaves and  poppy-petals.  The interior of  the
mass is of a brownish-black colour, of the consistence of a stiff  paste, and possessed  in a
high degree of the characteristic odour and taste of opium.   Mr. Smyttan, inspector of
opium at Bombay, obtained  from two to three  and  a half per cent, of morphia from  this
variety of opium ; but, as he obtained  only from five  to six and a half per cent, from
Smyrna opium, we may conclude that the drug was  not exhausted  by his process, and
may estimate the proportion of its active principle at double that staled above.  Still, even
with this allowance, it must be subjected to great adulteration in its preparation ; as it is
by no means  probable that the poppies  cultivated  in India yield a product materially
weaker than those of  Turkey.  Yet  Christison states, that all the India opium which he
has seen is exempt from the mixture of leaves, seeds, and fragments of poppy capsules so
abundant in Smyrna opium.   Its inferior character is in some degree probably owing to
the juice, after collection, being kept  for some time before it is made up, and consequently
undergoing fermentation.
  The India opium examined by Dr. A. T. Thomson was apparently of inferior character.
As described by that author, it was in round masses, covered  with the petals of the poppy
in successive layers, to  the  thickness of nearly one-fourth of an inch.  It had a strong
empyreumatic smell, with little of the peculiar heavy odour of Turkey opium.  Its taste
was more bitter and  equally nauseous, but less  acrid.  Its  colour was blacker, and its
texture, though  as tenacious, was less  plastic.   It was more friable, and when triturated
with water,  was wholly suspended or dissolved, leaving none of that plastic residue which
is afforded  by the  other variety.  It yielded to Dr. Thomson more narcotina than Turkey
opium, but only about one-third the quantity of morphia.   All these are the  characters of
an extract of the poppy heads, rather than  of their inspissated juice.   The absence of the
plastic principle analogous to caoutchouc is strong  evidence  in favour of this view of its
nature;  for it  is obvious that water would  not extract this principle from  the capsules,
while it is hardly probable that the juice is destitute of it.  Besides, the strength indicated
by Dr. Thomson is very nearly the same with that of the  extract of the capsules prepared
in France.   The Bengal opium is at present a superior drug to that here described,  though
still inferior to the Smyrna opium.
  There is a variety of Patna or Bengal opium,  called garden  Patna opium, which was de-
scribed in the last edition of this work on ihe authority of Dr. Christison, as Malwa  opium.
Dr. Christison has subsequently ascertained its  true origin.   It is prepared in Bahar with
peculiar care, from juice which has not been suffered to undergo fermentation.   It is in
cakes three  or four inches square, and about half  an  inch thick, which  are packed  in
cases with a layer  of mica between them.   These cakes arc  without covering, hard, dry,
and brittle, of a  uniform shining fracture, and not unlike an extract in appearance.  The
colour is sometimes almost  black, and  sometimes  of a Iij-lit brown,  not  uidike  that of
Egyptian opium.  Dr. Christison states that it is much superior  to the globular  Bengal
opium, and that some specimens are little inferior to Turkey opium in the proportion of
morphia.
  2. Malwa Opium. This is in flat, roundish cakes, five or six  inches  in diameter, and
from four to eight  ounces  in  weight.  They are  commonly quite hard, dry, and  brittle, 
512
Opium.
PART I.
in the lips and tongue, and even blisters the mouth  of those  unaccustomed
to its use.  Its colour is a reddish-brown or deep fawn: its texture compact;
its  specific gravity 1-336.   When drawn  over paper  it usually leaves an
interrupted trace of a light brown colour.   It is often soft in the interior of
the  mass, and  in this  state  is  tenacious;  but  when exposed to the air it
gradually hardens, and  ultimately  becomes  brittle, breaking with a shining
fracture, and  affording,  when pulverized, a yellowish-brown powder, which
becomes adhesive upon a slight elevation of temperature.  It readily inflames
upon the application of a lighted taper.  It yields its virtues to  water, alcohol,
and diluted acids, but not to ether.  To all these menstrua it imparts a deep-
brown colour.   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;
and very interesting results have been obtained.  It was by their researches
into the nature of this  substance  that chemists  were led to the discovery of
those vegetable  alkaloids, which, as the active principles of the  plants in
which they  are  found, have recently  attracted so  much attention  among
physicians, and  been applied so advantageously in the treatment of disease.
To  Sertiirner, an apothecary at  Eimbeck, in  Hanover, certainly  belongs
the  credit of having opened this  new and most important field of experi-
ment.  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 following year, Se-
guin discovered another crystallizable body, which subsequent experience
has proved to be the true narcotic principle of opium ;  but he did not fully
investigate its nature, and no immediate practical advantage was derived from
his  excellent analysis.   About the same time, 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, attract-
ing general attention.   In this state the subject remained till the year 1817,
when Sertiirner  announced  the existence  of a saline  compound in opium,
consisting  of a  peculiar alkaline  principle united  with  a  peculiar acid, and
clearly demonstrated  the precise  nature   of  a substance,  which,  though
before discovered both by Seguin and  by himself,  had been hitherto  but

of a light-brown  colour, a  shining  fracture, a compact homogeneous  texture, and  free
from mechanical impurities. The quality is superior to that of common Bengal opium.—
{Christison''s Dispensatory.)
   IV. PERSIA OPIUM.  A variety of opium under this name has sometimes existed in
the markets of London, and has  even  found its way to this country, though  it is very
 rare.  It is described as being in cylindrical pieces, about three and a half inches long
and half an inch thick, wrapped in glossy paper, and  tied with a cotton thread.  It is
of a uniform consistence, but exhibits, nevertheless, under the microscope, small agglu-
tinated tears, much less than those of the Smyrna opium.  It has the liver-brown colour
 of Egyptian opinrn, a virosc, musty odour, and  a very bitter taste; and, like Egyptian
 opium, softens in a moist atmosphere.   It is said to have been brought to England from
. Trebizond on the'Black Sea; but its origin is not known.  It is of inferior quality. From
 the  report of a trial in the city  of New York, published  in the Journal of Commerce,
 it appears that a parcel of Persia opium imported into that city from London in August,
 1835,  was in small round balls, and contained only 3 per cent, of morphia.
   It is highly important that the real value of these commercial varieties of opium should
 be known to the physician and apothecary ; as otherwise, there can be no certainty in rela-
 tion to the strength of the  preparations which may be made from them. In the prepara-
 tion 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 inferior
 kinds should be used only  for the extraction of morphia. 
PART I.
Opium.
513
vaguely known.   To the alkali, in  which he  correctly conceived  the nar-
cotic  powers  of  the opium  to  reside, he  gave the  name of  morphium,
which has been subsequently changed to morphia by  English writers, in
order to render it analogous  to the titles of the  other alkalies.   The acid he
called meconic, a term  derived from the Greek name of the  poppy.  The
correctness of the statements of Sertiirner was  confirmed by  the  experi-
ments of Robiquet, who also satisfactorily demonstrated that  the substance
obtained by Uerosne, and called  by  him the salt of opium, was a principle
altogether distinct from  the morphia, though supposed  to possess very con-
siderable influence over the  system.  In the belief of its  narcotic  powers,
Robiquet  denominated  it narcolin,  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 pro-
cesses to  which opium  is submitted for  their extraction.   According to the
views of its constitution at present admitted, opium  contains, 1. morphia ; 2.
narcotina  or narcotin; 3. codeia ; 4. paramorphia;  5. narcein; 6. meconin ;
7. meconic and sulphuric acids ; 8. a peculiar acid, not yet fully investigated;
9. extractive matter; 10. gum;  11.  bassorin; 12. a peculiar resinous  body
insoluble  in  ether and  containing nitrogen;  13. fixed oil; 14.  a substance
resembling caoutchouc; 15.  an  odorous  volatile  principle; besides lignin,
and a small proportion  of acetic acid, sulphate of lime,  sulphate of  potassa,
alumina, and iron.   Besides these principles, Pelletier  announced  the  dis-
covery of another which he called pseudomorphia, but which  appears to be
only an occasional constituent of opium.  (See Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 575.)
   Of the  principles above mentioned morphia is by far the most important.
It is generally admitted to exist  in opium  united with  meconic acid in the
state of meconate, and to a  certain  extent also  as a sulphate.  Of  morphia
and the mode of procuring it, and of its salts,  we shall treat at large under
another head. (See Morphia.)
   Narcotina or narcotin receives one or the other of these names according
as it is considered alkaline  or neuter, they who rank it among  the alkalies
giving it the former, they who deny it such a position,  the latter.  It exists
in opium, chiefly at  least in the  free state, and is left behind in considerable
quantity when the drug is macerated with water.  It is  white, tasteless, and
inodorous ; and crystallizes in silky flexible needles, usually larger  than the
crystals of morphia, fusible at a moderate  elevation of  temperature, insolu-
ble in cold water, soluble  in 400 parts of boiling water, in 100 parts of cold
and 24 of boiling  alcohol which deposits it  upon cooling, and very soluble
in ether.   The fixed and volatile oils, and the  diluted acids also  dissolve it.
As it exerts no alkaline reaction  upon vegetable  colours,  and  does  not pre-
vent 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 form
a  permanent combination ; for,  though dissolved by cold acetic acid, it is
separated  by heating the solution.   Narcotina is composed, according to an
analysis conducted with great care  by Pelletier,  of 4*31  parts of nitrogen,
65-16 of carbon, 5-45 of hydrogen, and 25*08 of oxygen. (Journ. de Pharm.,
xviii. 624.)  According to Robiquet, its muriate consists of 4*585  parts of
narcotina, and 0*409 of dry  acid. (Ibid., xix. 63.)   Narcotina may be dis- 
514                             Opium.                         part i.

tinguished from morphia by its insipidity, solubility in ether, and insolubility in
alkaline solutions, by not affecting vegetable colours, by assuming a yellow-
ish instead of a blood-red colour under the action of strong nitric acid, and by
not producing a blue colour with the salts of iron.  It is, however, reddened
by a mixture of nitric  and sulphuric acids.   It gives a greasy stain to paper
when heated upon it  over a candle.   Heated with  an excess of sulphuric
acid and peroxide of manganese, it is converted into an acid called opianic acid,
and into a substance of feeble alkaline properties, which  has received the
name of  cotarnine (cotarnina).  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., vi.
99.) Water extracts it partially from opium, in consequence of the acid which
the latter contains, either free or combined with the narcotina.  It is usually
obtained  mixed  with morphia in  the processes for procuring that principle;
and may  be  separated by the  action of sulphuric ether, which dissolves it
without affecting the morphia, and yields it upon evaporation.   It may also
be obtained by  digesting opium  in  sulphuric ether, and slowly evaporating
the ethereal solution, which deposits  crystals of narcotina.  Another mode
of procuring it is to treat opium, which has been exhausted by previous mace-
ration  in  water, with  dilute acetic  acid, filtering the solution, precipitating
by an alkali,  washing the precipitate with water, and purifying 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 maybe repeated.
  Though narcotina itself is tasteless, its salts are very bitter, even more so
than those of morphia.   (Berzelius.)   Their solution  reddens  litmus, and
affords precipitates with the alkalies and  infusion of galls.   They have not
been very accurately investigated.   It has already been  stated that Robiquet
obtained  the sulphate and muriate crystallized.
  Different opinions have been advanced relative to the action of narcotina
on the system.   Derosne believed  it  to be the active  principle of opium;
though, upon experimenting with it, he obtained effects but little  stronger
than those produced by an equal dose of opium itself.   Magendie found it
to exercise a  powerful influence  upon  the  system of dogs.  One grain dis-
solved in oil  was sufficient to throw the animal  into a state of stupor,  which
terminated in  death in the course of twenty-four  hours.   This  stupor was
wholly different from the composed sleep  produced by morphia  and its  pre-
parations.  He inferred  that, while  the  latter principle  exercises the reme-
dial, anodyne, and soporific virtues of opium, the injurious excitant operation
of the medicine is ascribable to the narcotina.  Both Derosne and Magendie
found  its unpleasant effects  to be modified  or prevented by its  conjunction
with acetic acid.  According to  Magendie, twenty-four grains, dissolved  in
vinegar, may be given to a dog  without destroying life.   M.  Baily  pre-
scribed 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
slate, 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 is, that the solution  in acetic  or sulphuric
acid occasioned violent excitement; while the contrary condition uniformly
resulted from the use of that in olive oil.   On the whole, we may conclude
that narcotina, either in the solid form or dissolved in acids, is not possessed
of any considerable narcotic powers;  and that the effects of a  narcotic cha- 
PART I.
Opium.
515
racter which have been attributed to  it, have  probably arisen from the em-
ployment of a preparation not entirely freed from  other principles contained
in the opium.  Dr. O'Shaughnessy, Professor of  Chemistry in the Medical
College of Calcutta, recommends narcotina very highly in intermittent fever,
and believes that he has discovered in it even stronger  anti-periodical pro-
perties than those of quinia.  Should his reports in its favour be confirmed
by further experiments, it will  undoubtedly take  its place among the most
valuable  substances of the Materia Medica.   In the cases reported by him,
it  was  employed in combination with muriatic acid.   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 day.  Dr. O'Shaughnessy was  induced to recommend its employ-
ment to his medical friends in India, from a knowledge that it had  proved
effectual in mild agues, in the  hands of  Dr. Roots and Mr. Jetson in Eng-
land.
   Codeia was  discovered  in 1832 by Robiquet in the  muriate of morphia
prepared according to the process of Gregory.  It exists in opium combined
like morphia with  meconic acid, and is  extracted along with that alkali in
the preparation  of the muriate. (See  Morphia.)  When the solution of the
mixed muriates of morphia and  codeia  is treated with ammonia, the former
alkali is  precipitated, and the codeia,  remaining in solution, may be obtained
by evaporation  and crystallization.  It may be purified by treating the crys-
tals  with hot ether, which dissolves them and yields the codeia in colourless
crystals  by spontaneous evaporation.  This alkaline product  melts  at 300°
without  decomposition.  It is soluble in water,  which takes  up  1*26 per
cent, at 60°, 3*7 at 110°, and 5*9 at 212°.  When added in excess to boiling
water, the  undissolved portion melts and sinks to the  bottom, having  the
appearance of an oil.   It is soluble also  in alcohol and ether, but is insoluble
in alkaline  solutions.   Hence  it may be  separated from  morphia by a solu-
tion 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, particularly the nitrate.  Its capacity
of saturation is almost identical with  that of morphia.   According to Robi-
quet, 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
the sesquioxide of iron. (Journ. de Pharm., xix. 91.)  Tincture of galls pre-
cipitates 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 the
other vegetable alkalies, it consists of nitrogen, carbon,  hydrogen, and oxy-
gen. Its formula is N CgsHaoOs; and its combining number consequently 284.
Dr. Gregory tried the effects of nitrate of codeia upon himself and several of
his  pupils, and  found that, in a dose of three grains or  less, it produced  no
obvious effect, but in the quantity of from four to six  grains, accelerated the
 pulse, occasioned a sense of heat in the head and face, and  gave rise to an
 agreeable excitement of the  spirits  like that resulting  from intoxicating
drinks,  which was attended with a sense of itching upon the  skin, and, after
lasting  for several hours, was followed by an unpleasant depression, with 
516
Opium.
part i.
nausea  and  sometimes  vomiting.   No tendency to sleep was observed,
except in the state of depression.   In two or three cases the medicine pro-
duced  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  di-
rected especially to the great sympathetic;  as it relieved  painful affections
having their origin apparently in disorders of this nerve, while it exerted no
influence over pains of the back and extremities supplied by nerves from the
spinal marrow.   He did not find it to  affect the circulation, to disturb diges-
tion, or to produce constipation.   In sufficient  quantity,  it induced  sleep,
without occasioning  those marks of cerebral congestion induced by opium.
Dr. Miranda, of Havana, has employed it with great advantage in several bad
cases of dyspepsia.  On the whole, there can be no doubt that this principle
has a decided action on the  animal economy, and is among those upon which
opium depends for its  peculiar powers.
  Paramorphia  (thebaina)  is  the name given  by Pelletier to  a  principle
discovered  by him in  the precipitate thrown down from an infusion  of opium
treated  with  milk of lime.   The precipitate being washed with water  till
the liquid  came  away colourless, and then treated  with alcohol, instead of
affording morphia to this  solvent, as was anticipated, yielded a new alkaline
principle,  which was  obtained  separate by  evaporating the alcohol,  acting
on the residue with ether, allowing the ethereal  solution to evaporate spon-
taneously,  and then  purifying the  resulting crystalline  mass by dissolving
it  in  an acid, precipitating by ammonia, 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 soluble in  water, very
soluble in alcohol and ether even when cold, and still more so when heated,
and capable of combining with  the acids, with which, however, it does not
form crystallizable salts.  Alkalies precipitate it from its acid solutions, and,
unless in very concentrated  solution, do not  redissolve it when added  in ex-
cess.   It is not,  like  morphia, reddened  by nitric acid, nor does it become
blue with solutions of the salts of sesquioxide of iron.  From codeia it differs
in never being in large crystals,»in not forming crystallizable salts, in being
always precipitated from its acid  solutions by ammonia, and in not melting
in oily drops.  From  narcotina, which it most  resembles, it may be distin-
guished by its shorter crystals, which want the pearly  appearance of those
of narcotina,  by its  different taste, by its much greater  solubility in cold
alcohol of which 10 parts will  dissolve 1  of this principle, while  narcotina
requires 100 parts, and by  the  action of nitric acid which converts it into a
resin-like matter  before dissolving it, while the same  acid instantly dissolves
narcotina.  It consists  of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, its formula
being N C25H1403 (Kane), and its combining  number consequently 202.
The name  oithebain  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.   According to Magendie, it is 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 crys-
tals, inodorous, of a slightly bitter  taste, fusible  at 197° F., soluble  in 375
parts of cold and 220 of boiling water, soluble also in alcohol, and insoluble 
PART I.
Opium.
517
 in ether.  It is rendered blue by the action of mineral acids so far diluted as
 not  to decompose it; but does not, like morphia, become blue by the action
 of the salts of iron, nor red by that of nitric acid.   It is dissolved by the acids,
 but  does not combine with or neutralize them,  and, though at first thought
 to be alkaline by Pelletier, is not so considered at present.   It resembles  the
 vegetable alkalies, however, in its constitution,  consisting of nitrogen, car-
 bon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  Its formula is N C^H^O,,,.  Pelletier obtained
 it in the course of his analysis of opium.  Having formed an aqueous  ex-
 tract of opium, he treated  it with  distilled water, precipitated  the morphia
 by ammonia, concentrated the solution, filtered  it, threw down the meconic
 acid by baryta water, separated the excess of baryta by carbonate of  ammo-
 nia, drove off  the  excess of the ammoniacal salt by heat, evaporated  the
 liquor  to the consistence of syrup, set it aside  till a pulpy matter  formed
 containing crystals, separated and expressed  this pulpy  matter, then  treated
 it with alcohol, and concentrated the alcoholic solution.   This, upon coolino-,
 deposited  crystals of narcein, which were  easily purified by repeated  solu-
 tion and crystallization.   When mixed with meconin, which often crystal-
 lizes with  it, the latter may be separated by the agency of ether.   It has
 not  been ascertained to have any influence upon the system.   Two orains
 of it have  been introduced into the jugular  vein of a dog  without any  ob-
 servable effect.
   Meconin, the existence of which was announced in 1832 by M. Couerbe,
 is identical  with  a substance discovered several years  previously  by  M.
 Dublanc, jun.,  but of  which no account was published.  It  is perfectly
 white, in the form of acicular crystals, soluble  in  about 265 parts of cold
 and  18 of boiling water, very soluble  in  ether, alcohol, and the essential
 oils, fusible at 195°, volatilizable without change, and possessed of a degree
 of acrimony which favours the supposition that it may not be without action
 upon the system.   It is neither acid nor alkaline, and contains no nitrogen.
 Meconin is obtained by precipitating the aqueous infusion of opium with
 ammonia, washing the precipitate with  water  until the latter  nearly ceases to
 acquire  colour, mixing the watery fluids, evaporating  them  to  the consist-
 ence 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 alcohol  of 36° Baume, evaporating
 so as to obtain  crystals,  dissolving these in boiling water with animal char-
 coal, filtering the liquid  while hot,  and subjecting the crystals  which  form
 upon the cooling of  the solution to the action  of ether,  which dissolves
 the meconin, and  yields it in a state of purity by spontaneous evaporation.
 (Journ. de Pharm., Decemb., 1832.)
  Of pseudomorphia, as it is found  in  opium only as an accidental ingre-
 dient,  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 importance, is that it possesses two properties hitherto  con-
 sidered characteristic of morphia, those  namely of being reddened by nitric
 acid  and of striking a blue  colour with the  salts  of iron, and yet is without
 any  poisonous  influence upon  the  animal  economy.  (See Am. Journ. of
Pharm., viii. 77, or Journ. de  Pharm., xxi. 575.)  But it differs in not
forming salts with the acids, and in not decomposing iodic acid.   It consists
of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
  Meconic acid is in white crystalline scales, of a sour taste followed by
bitterness, fusible and volatilizable by heat, soluble in four parts of  boiling
     45 
518
Opium.
PART I.
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.  Meco-
nate 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 deposits pure  meconic acid when it cools.
It may be  freed  from colouring matter by neutralizing it with  potassa, de-
composing the  crystallized meconate thus obtained by muriatic  acid, and
again crystallizing.   Meconic acid has little or no action on the system, and
i.- not used separately in medicine; but its natural relation to morphia requires
that it should be  understood.
   Incompatibles. All the substances which produce precipitates with opium
do not necessarily affect its medical virtues; but the alkalies, and all  vege-
table  infusions containing tannin and  gallic acid, are strictly incompatible;
the former separating and precipitating the active  principle,  the latter  form-
ing with it an insoluble compound.
   The proportion of morphia which any particular  specimen of opium will
furnish, may be  considered as the best test of its value, except that of actual
trial upon the system.   Good opium  should  yield ten or twelve per cent.
of the  impure  morphia  precipitated  from the  infusion by  ammonia with
alcohol, according to the process of the United States Pharmacopoeia.  (See
Morphia.)   The Edinburgh College gives  the following test.   "A solution
from  100  grains of fine  opium macerated twenty-four  hours in  two fluid-
ounces 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  en-
tirely in solution of oxalic acid."
   Tests of Opium.   It is  sometimes  highly important to be able  to  ascer-
tain the presence or absence of opium in any suspected  mixture.  As me-
conic acid and morphia have been found only in the products of the poppy,
if either or both of  them be  shown to exist  in any substance, very strong
evidence is afforded of the presence of opium in that  substance.  Our tests
should, therefore, be applied in reference to the detection of  these two prin-
ciples.   If  an  aqueous infusion  of  the substance 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  diluted sulphuric acid, which forms the 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  heating the clear liquor so as to drive off  the  sulphuretted hydro-
 gen.   With the clear liquor thus obtained,  if  it contain meconic acid, the
 tincture of chloride of iron will produce  a striking red  colour, the  ammo- 
PART I.
Opium.
519
niated sulphate of copper a green precipitate, and acetate of lead, nitrate of
silver, and chloride of  barium, white  precipitates soluble in  nitric acid.  It
has been  ascertained that hydrosulphocyanic acid or a sulphocyanuret, and
consequently saliva which occasionally contains it, produce  a  red colour with
the salts of sesquioxide of iron resembling that produced by meconic acid; but,
according to Mr. Everitt, this colour is entirely and at  once  destroyed by a
solution of corrosive sublimate, which has no effect on the  red colour of the
meconate  of iron.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 88.)  On the contrary,
chloride of gold reddens a solution of hydrosulphocyanic  acid or a sulpho-
cyanuret,  but not of meconic acid.  Pereira says»the  acetates  also redden the
salts of sesquioxide of iron; but they do not afford the results above mentioned
with acetate of lead and chloride of barium.  To test the presence of morphia,
the liquid from which  the meconate of lead has been precipitated, and which
may be supposed to contain the  acetates of morphia and lead, must be freed
from the lead by a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, and then from the sulphu-
retted hydrogen by heat; after which, the following reagents may be applied:
—viz. 1,  nitric acid, which colours the  morphia red; 2 iodic acid which is
decomposed by the morphia with  the extrication of iodine,  which colours
the liquid  reddish-brown, and, if starch is present, unites with it  to  form a
blue compound;  3. solution of ammonia, which, if carefully added so as not
to be in  excess,  throws down a precipitate of morphia soluble in  a great
excess of that alkali or of potassa; and 4. tannic acid, which  precipitates an
insoluble  tannate  of morphia.  If the precipitate thrown down by ammonia
afford a deep red  colour, becoming yellow, with  nitric acid, and a blue colour
with the sesquichloride of iron, the proof may be considered as complete.
   The London College judiciously directs that opium, before being used, be
carefully  separated from all foreign substances,  especially those which are
external.   The College also directs  that it should be kept in two states—soft,
fit to form pills; and hard, by drying it with the aid of  a water-bath,  so that
it may be pulverized.
   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 excitation subsides; a calmness of the corporeal  actions,
and a delightful placidity of mind succeed ; and the  individual, insensible to
painful impressions, forgetting all sources of  care and anxiety, submits  him-
self to a current of  undefined and unconnected,  but pleasing  fancies; and is
conscious of no other feeling than that of a quiet and vague enjoyment.  At
the end of half an hour or an hour from the administration of the narcotic,
all consciousness  is lost in sleep.   The soporific  effect, after having  con-
tinued 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 consequences ultimately
result.  Such is  the obvious operation of opium when moderately  taken ;
but other  effects, very important  in a remedial point of view, are also expe-
rienced.   All the  secretions, with  the exception of that from the skin, are
either suspended or diminished ; the peristaltic motion of  the bowels is les- 
520
Opium.
PART I.
sened ; pain and inordinate muscular contraction, if present, are allayed ; and
general nervous irritation is composed, if not entirely relieved.
   When large doses are taken, the  period of excitement and exhilaration is
shorter;  the  soporific  and anodyne effects are more intense and of longer
duration; and the succeeding  symptoms of debility are  more obvious  and
alarming.
   In  quantities  sufficient  to destroy life, opium scarcely produces any sen-
sible increase of the general  powers of the  system, but almost immediately
reduces the frequency, though not the force of the pulse, diminishes mus-
cular  strength, and  brings ©n languor and drowsiness, which soon eventuate
in a deep apoplectic sleep.   A  stertorous respiration ; a dark suffusion  of the
countenance ; a full, slow, and labouring pulse;  an almost total insensibility
to external impressions; and—when a  moment of consciousness has been
obtained  by  violent agitation,  or  powerfully irritating applications—a con-
fused  state  of intellect, and an irresistible disposition to sink back into  coma-
tose sleep,  are symptoms which, for the first ksv hours, attend the operation
of  the poison.  Though  not signs of an elevated condition of the bodily
powers,  neither  do they imply a  state of  pure,  unmixed debility.   The
pulse  is, indeed, slow; but it  is  often  so full, and so powerful  in  its beat,
that the  practitioner feels himself obliged to use the lancet.  In the space,
however, of a few hours, varying  according  to  the  quantity of the  narcotic
taken, and  the  powers  of the  patient's constitution, a  condition  of  genuine
debility 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 removed
artificially from  the stomach.   Called  to an individual labouring under the
influence of a fatal dose of opium, at a period  from six to  eight hours after
it has been swallowed, the  practitioner  will  generally find  him with a cool,
clammy  skin ;  cold 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 by no means con-
stantly present, and is ascribable  rather to  the irritating substances pre-
scribed  as remedies, or to the spirituous vehicle in which  the  poison  has
been  swallowed, than to the action of the poison itself.  Such at least is the
inference drawn  by Nysten from  his  experiments and  observations;  and
Orfila states  that the stomachs of dogs  which he had killed by opium inter-
nally  administered, 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 conveyed into the circulation,  and operates upon
the brain,  and probably upon the nervous  system at large, by immediate
contact with  their interior structure.  It is an error to attribute  the anodyne,
sedative, and soporific effects  of  the medicine to  the  previous  excitement.
They are, as much as this  very excitement, the direct results of its  action
upon  the brain.  It is in the state  of exhaustion and collapse which  ensue
after the  peculiar influence of the opium has ceased, that we are  to  look for 
PART I.
Opium.
521
 an illustration of that principle of the system, by which any great exaltation
 of its  energies above  the natural standard  is followed by  a  corresponding
 depression.  We may be permitted to advance the  conjecture, that the  ex-
 citement  which  almost  immediately  supervenes  upon the  internal use of
 opium, is produced by means of nervous communication ;  while the succeed-
 ing narcotic  effects are attributable to its absorption and entrance  into  the
 circulation; and the prostration of all the powers  of the system  which ulti-
 mately takes place, is  a necessary consequence  of the  agitation  into which
 the various organs have been thrown.
   On  some individuals opium produces very peculiar  effects, totally differ-
 ing from the ordinary results  of its operation.   In very small  quantities it
 occasionally  gives rise to excessive sickness and  vomiting, and  even spasm
 of the stomach; in other cases it produces  restlessness, headache, and deli-
 rium ;  and we have  known  it,  even  in  large  doses, to  occasion  obstinate
 wakefulness.   The headache, want of appetite,  tremors, Sic.,  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 possible 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, in  fact, been  found
 that the operation of  opium may often be favourably modified by chang-
 ing 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 in-
 stances more pleasantly and effectually than in  substance, or in  the state of
 tincture, long before physicians had learned to explain  the  phenomenon by
 referring  it to  the  production of an acetate or  citrate  of morphia.   When
 upon the  subject of morphia, we shall take  occasion to treat of the medical
 properties of this principle in its  various combinations.
   An  occasional effect of opium, which has not  yet  been alluded to, is a
 disagreeable itching or sense of  pricking in the skin,  which is  sometimes
 attended with a species of  miliary eruption.   We  have  found the effect to
 result  equally from all the preparations of this narcotic.
   The general operation of  opium may be obtained by injecting  it into  the
 rectum, or applying  it to the  surface  of the  body, especially upon  a part
 denuded of the cuticle.  It  has appeared to us,  when  thus  applied, to pro-
 duce 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 of a similar character with those which fol-
 low 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 quan-
tity 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 those alcoholic drinks which are  interdicted by  the
precepts of their religion.  In India, Persia, and Turkey,  it is consumed in
immense  quantities; and many nations of the  East smoke opium as  those
                                 45* 
522
Opium.
PART I.
of the West smoke tobacco.   This is  not the place to speak of the fearful
effects of such a practice upon both the intellectual and bodily faculties.
  The use of opium as a medicine can be clearly traced back to Diagoras,
who was nearly cotemporary  with Hippocrates; and  it was  probably em-
ployed  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 calculated to fulfil.   1. It is  excitant in its primary action.  In low
or typhoid complaints, requiring a supporting treatment, it exalts the actions
of the arterial and nervous systems, and, in moderate doses frequently repeated,
may  be employed with  advantage in  conjunction or  alternation with  other
stimulants.  2. It relieves pain more speedily and  effectually than any other
medicine  with which we are acquainted.  If possessed of no other property
than  this, it would be entitled  to high consideration.  Not to mention cancer,
and those other incurable affections, which, if not alleviated by opium, would
render the remainder of  life one continued scene of torture,  we have  nume-
rous  instances of painful diseases  which are not only temporarily, 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 aggravate the
disorder, and protract if not  prevent a cure.   3.  Another very important
indication, which, beyond any other narcotic, it is capable of fulfilling, is the
production of sleep.   For this purpose it is  given in a great variety of dis-
eases—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,
in which  it is  frequently sufficient of itself  to effect  a cure.  Opium  pro-
duces sleep in two ways ;  first, by its direct operation on the brain, secondly,
by allaying that morbid nervous irritation upon which  wakefulness generally
depends.   In the latter  case it may frequently be advantageously combined
with camphor or Hoffmann's anodyne.   4. Opium is powerfully antispas-
modic.  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 attending gout, dyspepsia, and cholera; spasm of the ureters
in nephritis,  and of the  biliary ducts  during the passage of calculi;  and in
various convulsive affections.   5.  Probably dependent upon a similar influ-
ence over the nervous  system, is the property which it possesses of allaying
general and local irritations, whether exhibited in the nerves or blood-vessels,
provided  the action do  not amount to positive inflammation; and even in
this case it is sometimes prescribed with advantage.   Hence its use in com-
posing restlessness, quieting cough,  and relieving nausea, tenesmus, and
strangury.   6. In  suppressing  morbid discharges, it  answers another indi-
cation 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 use-
ful in diarrhoea, when  the  complaint consists  merely  in increased  secretion
 into  the bowels, without high action or organic derangement; in consump-
 tion, chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, and other cases of morbidly increased
 expectoration ; in diabetes, and in certain forms of hemorrhage, particularly
 that  from the uterus, in combination with other remedies.   7. It remains to
 mention one other indication—that of producing perspiration—in fulfilling
 which opium, conjoined with small doses of emetic  medicines, is pre-emi-
 nent.  No diaphoretic is so powerful  as a combination of opium and  ipeca- 
PART I.
Opium.
523
cuanha; and none is so extensively employed.  We shall speak more fully
of this application of the remedy under the head of Pulvis Ipccacuanhae et
Opii.  It is here  sufficient  to  say, that its beneficial  effects  are especially
experienced in rheumatism, the bowel affections, and certain forms of pul-
monary disease.
  From this great  diversity of  properties, and  the  frequent occurrence of
those morbid conditions in which opium affords relief, it is often prescribed
in the same disease  to meet  numerous  indications.  Thus, in idiopathic
fevers, we frequently meet with morbid vigilance and great nervous irritation,
combined with a low condition of the system.  In typhous pneumonia, there
is the same depression of the vital powers, combined with severe neuralgic
pains, and much nervous irritation.  In diarrhoea, besides the indications pre-
sented by the spasmodic pain and increased discharge, there is a strong call
for  the diaphoretic  operation of  the  opium.  It is unnecessary to  multiply
instances.  There is hardly a complaint which does not occasionally present
a complication of symptoms demanding the use of this remedy.
  But a medicine possessed of such extensive powers may do much injury
if improperly directed;  and conditions of the system  frequently occur, in
which, though some  one of the  symptoms  calls  for its use, others, on the
contrary, are incompatible  with  it.   Thus, opium is contra-indicated by a
high state of inflammatory excitement, which should be reduced before we
can with propriety  venture upon its employment; and, when there  is any
doubt as to the sufficiency  of the reduction, the  opium should  be given in
combination with  tartarized  antimony or  ipecacuanha, which  modify its
stimulant operation, and give it a more decided tendency to the skin.  It is
also contra-indicated by  inflammation of the brain  or strong determination of
blood to the head, by deficient secretion from inflamed mucous membranes,
as  in the early stages of bronchitis, and  generally by constipation of  the
bowels.  When, however, the constipation depends upon intestinal spasm, as
in colic, it is sometimes 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 in tincture.   In the former
state it is  given in the  shape of pill, which, as a general  rule, should be
formed out of powdered opium, as  it is thus more readily dissolved  in  the
liquors of the stomach, and therefore operates more  speedily and effectually
than when  made, as it  sometimes is,  immediately from the plastic mass.
There is no medicine of which the dose is more variable, according  to  the
habits of the patient, the nature  of his complaint, or the purpose  to be ef-
fected.  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 affec-
tions, it has been administered, without abating the violence of the symptoms,
in the enormous quantity of two drachms in twenty-four hours ; and in a case
of cancer of the uterus, under the care of the late Drs. Monges and La Roche,
of this city, the quantity is stated to have been gradually increased till  the
amount taken during one day, either in the shape of tincture or in substance,
was equivalent to more than three ounces.   The  medium dose,  in  ordinary
cases of disease, to  produce the  anodyne and soporific effects  of the medi-
cine, is one grain.
  Opium may often be applied with great advantage by the rectum.  In this
way it operates most advantageously in cases of obstinate vomiting, of pain-
ful  nephritic and uterine affections, of strangury from blisters, and of dysen-
teric tenesmus.  It  may be employed as a suppository, or in the form of
enema made with laudanum and  a small quantity of viscid liquid, as flaxseed 
524
Opium.
PART I.
 tea, mucilage of gum Arabic, or starch prepared with hot water.  The quan-
 tity, as a general rule, may be  three times  that administered by the mouth;
 but the relative susceptibility of the stomach and rectum in different persons
 is not always the same;  and the effects produced by the narcotic, given by
 injection, are sometimes much greater than was anticipated.  The practitioner,
 moreover, should take into consideration the previous habits of the patient.
 In  an individual who has long been accustomed to take opium internally, and
 whose stomach will receive large doses with impunity, it is possible that the
 rectum may not have lost, in a proportionate degree, its absorbing power or
 susceptibility; and  that serious consequences might result by adhering, in
 such a case, to the general rule as to the relative quantity to be given in the
 way of enema or suppository.
   In some one of its liquid preparations, opium is  often used externally as
 an  addition to collyria in ophthalmia, to injections in gonorrhoea, and to lotions
 in  various complaints of the skin, and  external  pains, as  those of  gout and
 rheumatism.  It is also used as a local anodyne in the state of powder, made
 into a plaster or cataplasm. But its external use requires some caution, espe-
 cially when the skin is deprived of the cuticle.   Death is said  to have re-
 sulted from the application of a cataplasm,  containing a very large  quantity
 of  laudanum, to the epigastrium. (Annuaire de Therap., 1843, p. 5.)
   When opium has  been  taken in an overdose, the only effectual  mode of
 relief is immediately to evacuate the stomach, either by means of the sto-
 mach-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 substance ;  as the capacity  of the tube is
 insufficient  to admit of the passage of the   masses  in which the poison is
 sometimes taken.   The operation  of the emetic should be  promoted by a
 very  free use of warm drinks, by irritating the fauces with a feather, by
 keeping the patient in motion, and, if  the  insusceptibility to the action of
 the remedy is very great, by dashing cold water upon the head and shoulders,
 thus counteracting,  for a moment, the narcotic influence of the  opium  upon
 the brain,  and enabling  this organ to receive and  transmit the necessary
 impressions.  For  the same purpose it has been recommended to pass a
 current of electricity through the brain.   After the evacuation of the poison,
 the chief indication  is to  obviate the debility which generally supervenes,
 and which,  in cases where the quantity of  the  narcotic has  been large, or
 has remained  long  in the  stomach, is  sometimes alarming and even  fatal.
 For this purpose, the carbonate of ammonia or  the  aromatic spirit of am-
 monia, with wine  whey,  may  be  employed internally,  and  sinapisms and
 stimulant frictions  applied  to the surface.   The  practitioner should not de-
 spair even if called at the last moment.   The stomach tube may.be applied
 at any period; and it is possible  that, even without an evacuation  of the
 stomach, a little assistance  may enable the  system to resist successfully the
 prostrating influence of the poison, if not taken  in an  overwhelming dose.
 The electro-magnetic battery was employed with great  advantage in°a case
 of prostration of this kind  by Dr. Page, of  Valparaiso;  and the practice has
 since been imitated  in Europe.  Should all other measures fail, resort may
 be had to  artificial respiration, by which the  functions of the lungs and heart
 may possibly be sustained till  the  brain has struggled  through ^its conflict
with the narcotic, and is  enabled  to resume its natural action.  Brodie has
demonstrated that death from many of the narcotics results from a suspension
of the cerebral influence necessary to sustain the respiratory function, and
that the heart  ceases  to act in  consequence   of the cessation of respiration. 
PART I.
Opium.— Opopanax.
525
If this can be restored artificially before the contractions of the  heart have
entirely ceased, the circulation may continue, and life be supported for a time
without aid from the  brain, which  now receives a supply of arterial blood,
and is thus better enabled to  rise above the repressing action of the opium.
As this narcotic does not produce a structural derangement,  but operates
chiefly upon the nervous  power, a favourable result is more likely to be ex-
perienced than in cases of  poisoning from some other articles of the same class.
Several cases are  on record, in which  patients, apparently in the very  last
stage, were saved by a resort to artificial respiration.*
   Off. Prep.  Acetum Opii, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Confectio Opii, U.  S., Lond.,
Ed.;  Electuarium  Catechu, Ed.,  Dub.; Emplastrum  Opii,  U.S., Lond.,
Ed.,  Dub.;  Extractum Opii, Ed., Lond., Dub.;  Linimentum Opii, Ed.;
Morphia,  U. S.; Morphia?  Murias,  Ed., Lond.; Pilulas  Calomelanos et
Opii, Ed.; Pilulae  Opii,  U.  S., Ed.; Pil. Plumbi  Opiatae, Ed.;  Pil. Sapo-
nis Compositae,  U. S., Lond., Dub.;   Pil. Styracis Comp.,  Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Pulvis  Cretae Compositus cum  Opio, Lond., Ed.; Pulvis Ipecacu-
anha? et Opii, U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Pulvis Kino  Compositus, Lond.;
Tinctura Opii, U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Tr. Opii Acetata, U. S.; Tr. Opii
Ammoniata,  Ed.; Tr. Opii  Camphorata, U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tro-
chisci Glycyrrhizae et Opii,  U. S., Ed.;  Vinum Opii, U. S., Lond., Ed.
                                                                  W.


                       OPOPANAX.  Lond.

                              Opopanax.

   " Opopanax Chironinm.  Gummi-resina." Lond.
   Off. Syn. OPOPONAX. Pastinaca Opoponax. Gummi Resina.  Dub.
   Opopanax, Fr.; Panax, Opopanax, Germ.; Opopanace, Ital.; Opopanaco, Span.; Jiwe-
sheer,  Arab.; Gawsheer, Pers.
   Pastinaca.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae.
   Gen. Ch. Fruit elliptical,  compressed, flat. Petals involute, entire.  Willd.
   Pastinaca Opopanax.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1466;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
122. t. 47.— Opopanax Chironium.  De Candolle.  This species of parsnep,
usually called rough  parsnep, has  a thick, yellow, fleshy, perennial root,
which sends up annually a strong branching stem, rough near the base,
about as thick as a man's  thumb, and from four to eight feet in height. The
leaves are variously pinnate,  with long sheathing petioles, and large, oblong,
serrate leaflets, of  which  the terminal one is cordate, others are deficient at
their  base  upon the upper side, and the whole  are hairy on their under
surface.  The flowers are small, yellow, and form large flat  umbels at  the
termination of the branches.
   The plant is a native of  the Levant, and  grows wild in  the South of France,
Italy,  and Greece.  When the base of the stem is wounded, a juice exudes,
which, when dried in the sun, constitutes the opopanax of commerce.  Some
authors state  that it  is obtained from the  root.   A warm climate appears
necessary for  the perfection of the juice, as that which has been collected

  * One case was that ofan infant, ten days old, who had received by mistake from twenty-
five to  thirty drops of laudanum intended for the mother, had completely lost the power
of deglutition, was comatose, and had had several convulsions.  Artificial respiration was
sustained two or three hours.   (See case by Dr. Ogilvie,  in the N. Am. Med. and Surg.
Journ., vol. iii.  p. 277.)  Another case was that ofan adult female, for a notice of which,
gee the American Journal of the Medical Sciences,  vol. xx. p. 450. 
526
Opopanax.— Origanum.
PART I.
from the plant in France, though similar to opopanax, is of inferior quality.
The drug is brought from Turkey.   It is  said to  come also from the East
Indies ; but Ainslie states that he has never met with it in any Indian medicine
bazaar.
  It is sometimes in tears, but usually in irregular lumps or fragments, of a
reddish-yellow colour, speckled with white on the outside, paler within, and
when broken, exhibiting white pieces intermingled with the mass.  Its odour
is strong, peculiar, and unpleasant; its taste bitter and acrid.  Its sp. gr. is
1*622.  It is inflammable,  burning  with a bright  flame.   In chemical con-
stitution it is a gum-resin,  with an admixture of  other ingredients in small
proportion.  The results of its  analysis by Pelletier were from 100 parts,
33*4 of gum, 42 of resin, 4*2  of starch, 1*6 of extractive, 0*3 of wax, 2-8 of
malic acid, 98 of lignin, 5*9  of volatile oil and  loss, with traces of caout-
chouc.   Water  by trituration  dissolves about one-half  of  the gum-resin,
forming an opaque milky solution, which deposits resinous matter on stand-
ing, and becomes yellowish.   Both alcohol and water distilled from it retain
its flavour ; but  only a very minute proportion  of oil can be obtained in  a
separate state.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Opopanax was formerly employed, as an
antispasmodic and  deobstruent,  in  hypochondriasis, hysteria, asthma,  and
chronic visceral  affections, and as an emmenagogue  in suppression  of the
menses;  but it  is  now  generally  regarded as a medicine of very feeble
powers, and in this  country is scarcely ever used.   Its dose is from ten to
thirty grains.                                                     W.
               ORIGANUM.  U S., Lond., Ed.

                             Origanum.

  "The herb of Origanum  vulgare."  U.S., Ed.   "Origanum  vulgare."
Lond.
  Off. Syn. ORIGANUM VULGARE.  Dub.
  Origan, Fr.; Gemeiner Dosten,  Wohlgemuth, Germ.; Origano,- Ital.; Oregano, Span.
  Origanum.  Sex. Syst.  Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord.  Lamia-
ceae or Labiatae.               /
  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.
  Origanum vulgare.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 135 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 344.
t. 123.  Origanum  or  common marjoram is a perennial  herb, with erect,
purplish, downy, four-sided, trichotomous stems, which rise  about eighteen
inches high, and bear  opposite, ovate, entire, somewhat hairy leaves, of a
deep  yellowish-green colour.  The flowers are numerous, of a pinkish-pur-
ple or rose colour, disposed in roundish, panicled spikes, and  accompanied
with ovate reddish bractes, longer than the calyx.  This is tubular, and five-
toothed, with  nearly equal segments.   The corolla is funnel-shaped, with
the upper lip erect, bifid, and  obtuse, the  lower trifid, blunt, and spreading.
The anthers are double, the stigma bifid, and reflexed.
  The  plant is a native of Europe and America.   In this country it grows
along the  road sides, and in dry stony fields and woods, from Pennsylvania
to Virginia, and  is in flower from June to October ; but it is not very abun-
dant,  and  is seldom collected for use.   The oil,  which is the part chiefly
employed, is imported from  Europe. 
part i.         Origanum.— Origanum Majorana.— Os.           527

  Properties.  Common marjoram has a peculiar agreeable aromatic odour,
and a warm,  pungent taste.  These properties it owes to a volatile oil, which
may be separated by distillation. (See Oleum Origani.)
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  It is gently tonic and excitant, and has
been used in the form of infusion as  a diaphoretic and emmenagogue, and
externallv as a fomentation ; but it is at present scarcely employed.
   Off. Prep. Oleum Origani,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.               W.


          ORIGANUM  MAJORANA. Herba. Dub.

                          Sweet Marjoram.

   Marjolaine, Fr.; Majoran, VVurstkraut, Germ • Maggiorana, Ital; Mejorana, Span.
   Origanum.  See  ORIGANUM.
   Origanum Majorana.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 137; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
 345. t. 124.   This species of Origanum has a perennial root with numerous
 stems, which are woody, branching, four-sided, and a foot and a half high.
 The leaves are sessile,  in pairs, ovate, obtuse, entire, downy, and of a  pale
 green colour.  The flowers are small,  white, and appear successively between
 the  bracteal leaves, which are  numerous, and form round compact spikes, of
 which three or four are placed at the extremity of each peduncle.   The
 corolla is  funnel-shaped, with the upper lip erect and roundish, the under
 divided into  three pointed segments.                                    ■
   Sweet marjoram grows wild in Portugal and Andalusia, and is cultivated
 as a garden  herb in other parts of Europe and in the United States.  Some
 authors, however, consider the 0. Majoranoidcs, which is a native of Bar-
 bary, and closely allied to the 0. Majorana, as  the type of  the sweet  mar-
 joram of our gardens.
   This plant has  a pleasant odour, and a warm, aromatic, bitterish  taste,
 which it imparts to water and alcohol.  By distillation with water it yields
 a volatile  oil,  which is directed by the Edinburgh College among their pre-
 parations, though the plant has been rejected.
   It is tonic and gently excitant, but is used more as a condiment in cookery
 than as a medicine.  In domestic practice, its infusion is much employed by
 the vulgar to hasten the tardy eruption in measles and other exanthematous
 diseases.
   Off. Prep. Oleum Volatile  Origani Majoranae. Ed.                W.


                               OS.  U.S.

                                 Bone.

    Off. Syn. OSS A. Dub.
   Os, Fr.; Knochen, Germ.; Ossa, Ital;  Huesos, Span.
   Bones are employed in several  pharmaceutical  processes, and those de-
 rived from the domestic quadrupeds, especially the ox, may be assumed as
 the  kind  intended  for officinal use.  They have been expunged from the
 officinal list of the Edinburgh College, though used by the  College for pre-
 paring phosphate of soda.
    Properties, fyc.  They are solid  white  substances, of a  lamellated tex-
 ture, constituting the  skeleton of the superior orders of animals, of  which
 they form the hardest and densest  parts.   They consist of a cellular gela-
 tinous tissue, the  cavities of which are  filled up with certain earthy salts,
 to  be mentioned presently.   When subjected to destructive distillation, in 
528
Os.
PART I.
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 consist of the  usual  ammoniacal products derived from
animal matter.  (See Ammoniae  Murias.)   When calcined in open vessels
they lose more of their weight, and are converted into a white friable sub-
stance, consisting of the incombustible part, and commonly called bone-earth
or bone-ash ; and a similar residue is obtained by calcining horn.  (See Cornu
Ustum.)  Treated with boiling  water, a small portion of the gelatinous matter
is dissolved; but when acted on by water in a Papin's digester, the whole
of it is taken up, and the earthy salts, deprived of their cement, crumble into
powder,  and become diffused through the solution.  When subjected to the
action of  dilute muriatic acid, the  earthy salts are dissolved, and the bone
softens without losing its shape, and  becomes semi-transparent 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
nutritious, and has been prepared so as  to form a wholesome aliment by
M. d'Arcet.  His process for  obtaining  it  consists in digesting bones in
weak muriatic acid for seven or eight days, occasionally renewing the acid,
plunging them for a few moments in boiling water, and then subjecting them
to a strong  current of  cold water.   The pure animal matter  thus procured
is made into cakes called portable soup (tablettes de bouillon), by dissolving
in water, concentrating the solution until it gelatinizes, and drying the matter
obtained.
   Composition.   The bones of different animals, and of the same animal at
different  ages, vary somewhat in  their composition.  Dry ox-bones, accord-
ing to Berzelius, consist of animal matter 33-3, bone-phosphate of lime 55*45,
carbonate of lime  3-85, fluoride of calcium 2*90, soda, chloride of sodium,
water, &c. 2*45, phosphate  of  magnesia 2-05 = 100.  Fourcroy and Vau-
quelin's results give a larger quantity of animal matter and carbonate of lime,
and a smaller of bone-phosphate.   Fluoride of calcium  is not always present
in recent bone, but is invariably found in fossil bones.   Human bones differ
somewhat in the proportions of their constituents, and in containing traces
of iron and manganese.   Bone-phosphate of lime, so called to distinguish it
from  the  other calcareous  phosphates, consists of three eqs.  of phosphoric
acid and  eight of lime.
   Uses.   Bones  are applied to numerous uses.   Burnt to whiteness, they
furnish bone-phosphate of lime,  from which phosphorus  and all its  com-
pounds are either directly or indirectly obtained.   (See Phosphorus.)   Sub-
jected to  destructive  distillation, they yield  impure carbonate of ammonia,
and empyreumatic oil; and a carbonaceous  residue is left, called bone-black.
Calcined, pulverized, and washed, they form the material of which  cupels
are made.   As bone-dust, they  form an excellent manure.   Deprived of their
earthy portion by weak acids, they furnish  a  nutritious article of diet.  By
proper treatment with water they furnish gelatin, applicable not only to the
purposes of size  and  common glue, but  also to those of  the finer sorts of
gelatin, called isinglass, in making animal jellies, and for the fining of wines.
(See Ichthyocolla and Cornu.)   The hoof-bones of the ox, when boiled with
water, furnish a  peculiar oil, called neats-foot oil.  (See Oleum Bubulwn.)
   Off. Prep. Calcis Phosphas Praecipitatum, Dub.:  Sodae Phosphas,  U. S.,
Ed., Dub.                                                         B. 
part i.                         Ovum.                            529


                        OVUM.  Lond., Ed.

                                Egg-
   " Phasianus Gallus. Ovum." Lond. " Egg of Phasianus gallus." Ed.
   (Eut, 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
covering called the shell; 2. a white, semi-opaque membrane, lining the in-
ternal surface of the shell; 3. the white ; 4. the yolk.  Other distinct  parts
are  recognised by the  comparative  anatomist, but  they have no peculiar
interest for the practical physician or pharmaceutist.
   1. The shell—testa ovi or putamen ovi—consists, according to Vauque-
lin,  chiefly of carbonate  of lime, with animal matter, and a minute propor-
tion of phosphate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, oxide of iron, and sulphur.
When exposed to a high degree of heat in the open  air, the carbonic acid is
driven off, the animal matter consumed,  and lime is left nearly pure.
   2. The membrane lining the shell appears to be of an albuminous nature.
   3. The white—albumen ovi—is a glairy viscid liquid contained in very
delicate membranes, without odour or taste, readily soluble in water, coagu-
lable by the stronger acids, by alcohol, and by a heat of 160° F.   Exposed
in thin layers to a current  of  air it becomes solid, retaining its transparency
and  solubility in water.  By coagulation it is rendered sapid,  white, opaque,
and  insoluble.  At a temperature of  212°, one part of it renders  one  thou-
sand parts of water in which it has  been dissolved opaque.  It contains,
according to Dr. Bostock, in one hundred parts, 85 of water,  12 of pure
albumen, 2-7 of mucus or uncoagulable matter, and 0-3 of saline substances,
including soda with traces of  sulphur.   The white of egg is precipitated by
chloride of tin, chloride  of gold, subacetate of lead, corrosive sublimate, and
tannin.   When kept in the  fluid state  it soon  putrefies ; but  if carefully
dried without  coagulation, it may be  long preserved without change, and
may be applied in a state of solution to the same purposes as in its original
condition.
   4. The yolk—vitellus ovi—is inodorous, of a bland oily taste, and forms
an opaque emulsion when agitated with water.  It contains water, albumen, a
mild fixed oil, and a colouring matter.   By heat it is coagulated into a gra-
nular solid which yields  the oil by expression.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Eggs  are applied  to various purposes in
medicine and pharmacy.  The shells powdered  and levigated may be used
beneficially as an antacid in diarrhoea.  In common with oyster shells, they
possess  the advantage of uniting intimately animal matter with the carbonate
of lime, the particles of which are thus more thoroughly isolated, and prove
more acceptable to the stomach than  chalk in the finest state of division to
which the latter can be brought by mechanical means.   The dose and mode
of preparation are the same with those of oyster shell. (See I'csta.)
   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 antidote for corrosive sublimate and  sulphate of copper,  with  which it
forms insoluble and comparatively inert  compounds.  It is sometimes also
used for the suspension of  insoluble  substances in water, but  is inferior for
this  purpose to the yolk, and even to mucilage of gum Arabic.   Agitated
     46 
530
Ovum.—Panax.
PART I.
briskly with  a  lump of alum it coagulates, at the same time dissolving a
portion of the alum, and thus forming an astringent poultice, which may be
advantageously applied between folds of gauze over the eye, in some states
of ophthalmia.  (See Cataplasma Aluminis.)
  The yolk in its raw state is thought to be laxative, and is a popular remedy
in jaundice.   If beneficial in this complaint, it is probably in consequence of
affording a mild nutritious diet, acceptable to the stomach, and easily digested.
In dyspepsia it is, from  this cause, highly useful.   The late Dr. Parrish, of
Philadelphia, found much  advantage from  recommending to his dyspeptic
patients the  habitual use of the yolk of egg beat up  with water and a little
ginger.   In pharmacy, the  yolk is highly useful as  an intermedium between
water and insoluble  substances,  such as the  balsams, turpentine, oils, &c.  It
is a mistake to employ the white, instead of the yolk of eggs, in the prepara-
tion of emulsions.
  Off. Prep.  Cataplasma Aluminis, Dub.; Enema  Terebinthinae, Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici, Lond.                    W.


                   PANAX.  U S.  Secondary.

                              Ginseng.

  " The root of Panax quinquefolium." U. S.
  Ginseng, Fr., Germ., Span.,- Ginsen, Ital.
  Panax. Sex. Syst. Pentandria  Digynia. (Polygamia  Dicecia, Linn.)—
Nat. Ord. Araliaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Blowers 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. Med. 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  com-
pound leaf, consisting of five, or  more rarely of three  or seven petiolate, oblong
obovate, acuminate, serrate leaflets.  The flowers  are  small, greenish, and
arranged in a simple umbel, supported  by a peduncle, which rises from the
top of the stem in the centre of the petioles.  The fruit consists of kidney-
shaped, scarlet  berries,  crowned with the styles  and calyx, and containing
two and sometimes three seeds.
  The plant  is indigenous, growing in the hilly regions of the Northern,
Middle, and  Western  States, and  preferring  the  shelter of  thick, shady
woods.   The root is  the part employed.  This is  collected in considerable
quantities in Ohio  and  Western Virginia, and brought to Philadelphia and
other cities on the sea-board for the purpose of exportation to China, where
it is highly valued.   Some suppose the ginseng plant of Chinese Tartary to
be the same as ours;  others believe it  to be the Panax Schinseng of  Nees
von Esenbeck; while by others, again, though acknowledged to be a Panax,
it is thought to  be a different species from either of  those mentioned.  While
supplied with this   drug exclusively from  their own native sources, which
furnished the root only in small quantities, the Chinese entertained the  most
extravagant notions of its virtues, considering it as a remedy for all diseases,
and as possessing almost miraculous powers in preserving health, invigorating
the system, and prolonging life.  It is said to have  been worth  its weight in
gold at Pekin; and the first shipments made from North America to Canton,
after the discovery of the root in this country, were attended  with enormous 
PART I.
Panax.—Papaver.
53i
profits.   But the subsequent abundance of supply has greatly diminished its
value, and, though it still occasionally forms a  part of the  investments for
Canton, it has become an object of less importance than formerly.
  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, con-
nected at their upper extremity, and bearing  a supposed, though  very re-
mote resemblance to  the human figure, from which  circumstance it is said
that the  Chinese name  ginseng originated.   When dried, the root is yel-
lowish-white and wrinkled  externally, and within consists usually of a hard
central portion, surrounded by a soft whitish bark.  It has a feeble odour,
and a sweet, slightly aromatic taste, somewhat analogous to that of liquorice
root.   It has not been accurately analyzed, but is said to be rich in gum and
starch.   It is sometimes submitted, before being dried, to a process of clarifi-
cation, 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.


                 PAPAVER.  U. S.t Lond., Ed.

                            Poppy-heads.

   "The ripe capsules of Papaver  somniferum."  U.S.  "Papaver somni-
ferum.   Capsulae maturae." Lond. " Capsules  of Papaver somniferum, not
quite ripe." Ed.
   Off. Syn. PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM. Capsulae maturae. 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 Edin-
burgh  College properly direct them to be collected before they are quite
ripe, as they contain  at that  period  more of the active milky juice.   They
are 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
preparations, they are little employed.
  The dried poppy capsules vary  in size  from the  dimensions of a small
egg to those of the  fist.  They are of a spheroidal shape, flattened below,
and 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, pro-
ceeding 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 cap-
sules of the black poppy are smaller and more globular than those of the
white, and contain dark  instead of light-coloured seeds.  There  appears to
be no essential 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, have a consistence somewhat like that of
paper, are without smell, and have little taste, unless long  chewed, when 
532                     Papaver.—Pareira.                  part i.

they are decidedly bitter.  Submitted to  analysis, they are found to contain
principles similar to those of opium, which they yield to water by decoction.
They have been employed in France for obtaining morphia.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Dried poppy-heads, though analogous to
opium in medical properties, are exceedingly feeble.  They are sometimes
employed in  the  form  of decoction,  as an external emollient  and  anodyne
application; and in the shape of emulsion, syrup, or extract, are often used
internally by  European practitioners to calm irritation, promote rest, and pro-
duce generally the narcotic effects of  opium.
  Off. Prep.  Decoctum   Papaveris,  Lond.,  Ed.;   Extractum  Papaveris,
Lond., Ed.;  Syrupus Papaveris, Lond., Ed., Dub.                 W.


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

                           Pareira Brava.

  " The root of Cissampelos Pareira."  U.S., Ed. " Cissampelos Pareira.
Badix." Lond.
  Cissampelos.   Sex. Syst. Dioecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Menisper-
maceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx four-leaved.   Corolla  none.  Nectary  rotate.
Stamens four, with connate  filaments.  Female 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
stems, and roundish, entire leaves, indented at the top, covered with soft hair
upon their under surface, and supported  upon downy footstalks, which are
inserted into  the back of the leaf.   The flowers are very small, and disposed
in racemes, of which those  in the female plant are longer than the  leaves.
The plant is  a native of the West Indies  and South America, and is supposed
to be the source  of the root, introduced into  Europe from Brazil, under the
name of pareira brava, and now recognised in the United States, London,
and Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeias.   According to Auguste St.  Hillaire, how-
ever, the 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, belonging to the same natural family.
  The root comes in pieces  from  the thickness of the finger to that of the
arm, from a few inches to two or more feet in  length, cylindrical, sometimes
contorted or forked, and covered with a thin, firmly adhering, grayish-brown
bark.   The outer surface is marked with longitudinal and annular  wrinkles,
and sometimes, in the larger pieces, with kuotty excrescences.   The interior
is ligneous, yellowish, very porous, marked  by irregular concentric  circles,
inodorous, and of a sweetish, nauseous, bitter taste.  The root imparts its
virtues readily to water.   M. Feneulle found in it a soft resin, a yellow bitter
principle, a brown substance, an azotized substance, fecula, acidulous malate
of  lime, nitrate of potassa, and various other salts.  M. Feneulle  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 a vegetable alkali, for
which he proposed  the name of cissampelina.  He procured  it by boiling
the root with water acidulated with sulphuric acid, precipitating by carbo-
nate  of potassa,  dissolving the  precipitate  again  in water acidulated with
sulphuric acid, treating the solution with animal charcoal, precipitating anew
with  carbonate of potassa, drying and pulverizing the precipitate, treating it 
part i.                  Pareira.—Petroleum.                     533

repeatedly  with ether, and evaporating the ethereal solution.  The alkali
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.)  Wiggers  did not describe
this alkali.  It is  probably the chief ingredient of the bitter substance ob-
tained by Feneulle.  Peretti of Rome and Pelletier afterwards separated an
alkali from the root, which was characterized by assuming a beautiful purple
colour by contact with  strong  nitric acid.  (Journ.  de Pharm., xxvi. 162.)
In Christison's Dispensatory 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 ulcer-
ation of the kidneys  and bladder, leucorrhoea, dropsy,  rheumatism, and
jaundice.   The purpose for which it is at present chiefly employed is the
relief of chronic diseases of the urinary  passages.   Sir  Benjamin Brodie
has found it very useful, in chronic inflammation of the bladder, in allaying
irritability of that  organ, and correcting the disposition to profuse mucous
secretion.   Dr.  T. F.  Betton, of Germantown, near Philadelphia, has also
employed it successfully in a case  of irritable bladder.  (Am. Journ. of Med.
Sci.,  xvii.  259.)  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  Pareirae.)  A  tincture made by macerating one part of the
root in five parts of alcohol has been given in the dose of a fluidrachm.  The
aqueous extract may be given in the dose of from ten to thirty grains.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Pareirae, Lond., Ed.; Infusum Pareirae, Lond.,
Ed.                                                             W.


                   PETROLEUM. Lond.,  Ed.

                              Petroleum.

  " Petroleum (Barbadense)." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  PETROLEUM.  BITUMEN  PETROLEUM.   PETRO-
LEUM BARBADENSE. Dub.
  Barbadoes tar, Rock oil; Petrole, Huile deGabian, Fr.; Steinol, Germ.; Petrolio, Ital;
Petroleo, Span.
  Petroleum belongs to the class of native inflammable substances, called
bitumens.   These are liquids  or  readily fusible solids, which emit, when
heated, a peculiar  smell, burn  easily, and leave  a  very small carbonaceous
residue.   They are of two kinds,  one liquid, called naphtha, the other solid,
denominated asphaltum.  Naphtha is a transparent,  yellowish-white, very
light and  inflammable limpid  liquid,  which is found abundantly in Persia.
It consists  exclusively of carbon and hydrogen.  As oxygen  does not enter
into its composition, it  may  be  advantageously employed  for preserving
potassium.  During the formation of coal gas,  an artificial  naphtha is ob-
tained, which by rectification is rendered equally light and limpid with the
                                  46* 
534
Petroleum.
part i.
natural substance.  Thus purified, it was discovered, by Mr. James Syme,
of Edinburgh,  to  possess  the  property of dissolving caoutchouc, and the
solution has been usefully applied to the purpose of forming various surgical
instruments of that material.  This solution has also  been employed, at the
suggestion of Mr. Macintosh,  of Glasgow,  for rendering  cloth and other
fabrics water-proof.  They are varnished with the solution  on one side, and
the varnished  surfaces are applied to each other, and made  to  adhere  by
powerful pressure.  Asphaltum is solid, black, dry, friable, and  insoluble in
alcohol.   These two varieties of bitumen often exist in a state of mixture in
nature.   When the asphaltum  predominates it takes the name of maltha or
mineral tar; when the naphtha is in the larger proportion it is called petro-
leum.
  Localities.  Petroleum is found principally at Amiano in Italy, at Gabian
in France, upon the borders of the Caspian  Sea, near Rangoon in the Bir-
man empire, and  in Barbadoes, Trinidad, and other West India  islands.
The wells of petroleum in Birmah are  said to produce  four hundred thou-
sand hogsheads annually.  The  petroleum from Barbadoes is indicated as the
officinal variety by the London  and Dublin Colleges.   The  kind is not spe-
cified by the Edinburgh College.
  In the United States, petroleum is found in various localities, the princi-
pal 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 native sources are known by the same name.
  Properties.   Barbadoes petroleum is a black, nearly opaque, inflammable
liquid, of the consistence of molasses, unctuous to the  touch, and possessing
a bituminous taste, and strong and tenacious odour.  Its sp. gr.  varies from
0*730 to 0*878.  When subjected to distillation, it yields naphtha, and leaves
a solid residue of asphaltum.  It is little  affected by alcohol, acids, or alka-
lies, but dissolves  in ether  and in the  fixed  and volatile oils.   It consists
chiefly of carbon and hydrogen, associated with a little nitrogen and oxygen.
Rangoon petroleum has a dark reddish-black colour, a strong, rather fragrant
odour, and the consistence of lard in summer.   When heated to 90°, it be-
comes a reddish-brown  very  mobile liquid. (Christison.)   Dr. Christison
obtained from it by distillation, first, a large  quantity of naphtha, and after-
wards a crystalline principle, which he ascertained to be identical  with pa-
raffin.  In the naphtha Dr. Gregory subsequently discovered eupione.  It is
probable, as Dr. Christison remarks, that this petroleum is  more active than
the Barbadoes.
   Medical 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  as  a  stimulating embrocation in chilblains, chronic rheumatism,
affections of the joints,  and paralysis.   It is an  ingredient in  the  popular
remedy called British  oil.  The dose  of  petroleum is from thirty drops to
a small teaspoonful, given  in any convenient vehicle.
   The native petroleum called Seneca oil is used to a considerable  extent as
an external application in domestic practice.  It is lighter coloured, thinner
in consistence, and less sapid and odorous than the Barbadoes petroleum, and
probably contains more naphtha.                                    B. 
part i.              Petroselinum.—Phosphorus.                 535
           PETROSELINUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                           Parsley Root.

  " The root of Apium Petroselinum."  U. S.
  Persil, Fr.; Petersilie, Germ.;  Prezzemolo, Ital; Perexil, Span.
  Apium. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiaceae or Umbel-
life rae.
  Gen. Ch.  Fruit ovate, striated. Involucre one-leafed. Petals equal. Willd.
  Apium Petroselinum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1475; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
118. t. 45. Betroselinum Sativum. Hoffman,  Umb. i. t. 1.  f. 2.;  Lindley,
Flor. Med. p. 35.  Parsley  has  a biennial root, with an annual, round, fur-
rowed, jointed, erect, branching stem, which rises about two feet in height.
The radical leaves  are  compound,  pinnated in ternaries,  with  the leaflets
smooth,  divided into three lobes, and notched at the margin.  In the cauline
leaves, the segments of the  leaflets are linear and entire.  The  flowers are
small, pale yellow,  and disposed in terminal compound umbels,  with  a one
or two-leaved general  involucre,  and partial ones composed of six or  eight
leaflets.   The petals  are five, roundish, and  inflexed  at their apex.   The
seeds (half fruits) are small,  ovate,  flat on one side, convex on the other, of
a dark-green colour, and marked with five longitudinal ridges.   They have
a strong, terebinthinate odour, and a warm aromatic taste.
  The plant is a native of Sardinia,  and other parts of Southern Europe, and
is cultivated everywhere in gardens.  All parts of it contain an essential oil,
to which it owes its medicinal virtues, as well as its use in seasoning.   The
root is  the part directed by the Pharmacopoeia,  though the fruit is at least
equally efficient.
  The root is spindle-shaped, about as thick as  the finger, externally white,
and marked with close annular wrinkles, internally fleshy and white, with a
yellowish central portion.   It has a pleasant smell, and a sweetish slightly
aromatic taste; but  loses these properties by long boiling, and by the  action
of time.   It should  be employed in the recent state.
  Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Parsley root is said to be aperient and
diuretic, and  is occasionally used in nephritic and dropsical affections, in
connexion with more active  medicines.   It  is highly recommended by Pro-
fessor Chapman.  The usual form  of administration is that  of strong infu-
sion.   The juice  of the fresh  herb has been employed as a substitute for
quinia in intermittents.                                            W.


                    PHOSPHORUS.  Lond.

                            Phosphorus.

  Phosphore, Fr.; Phosphor, Germ.; Fo^foro, Ital, Span.
  This substance was discovered in 1669 by Brandt, an alchemist  of  Ham-
burg; and the process by which  it was made  remained a secret until 1737.
At first it was obtained  from putrid urine, and was  exceedingly scarce and
costly.   In 1769, Gahn discovered it in  bones,  and  shortly afterwards pub-
lished a process by  which it  might be extracted  from them ; and his method
has been followed, with but slight modifications, up to the present time.
  Preparation.  Powdered calcined bones,  which consist principally of that
variety of phosphate of lime called bone-phosphate, are digested for twenty-
four hours with two-thirds of  their weight of strong sulphuric acid, previously 
536
Phosphorus.
PART I.
diluted with twelve times its weight of water.  The sulphuric acid separates
a part of the lime from the phosphoric  acid, and precipitates as sulphate of
lime; while a superphosphate of lime remains in solution.  The whole is then
strained through a linen cloth to separate the sulphate of lime, and afterwards
submitted to evaporation, which causes  a  fresh precipitation of sulphate,
requiring  to  be separated by a new straining.  The  strained solution of
superphosphate is evaporated to a  syrupy consistence, and then thoroughly
mixed with half its weight of powdered charcoal, so as to form a soft mass,
which is dried by being heated to dull  redness in an iron pot.  The mass
when cool is  quickly transferred to a coated earthenware retort, furnished
with an adopter of copper, bent downwards  at right angles, so as to enter a
bottle with a large neck containing water, which  should rise about two lines
above the orifice of the adopter.  The  bottle is closed round the adopter by
a cork, which is traversed by a small glass tube, to give exit to the gaseous
products.   The retort is heated  in  a furnace, furnished with a dome, in the
most gradual manner, so as to occupy about four hours in bringing it to a red
heat.  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 super-
phosphate is decomposed; its oxygen combining with the charcoal, and the
liberated phosphorus distilling over.   A quantity of the  materials sufficient
to fill a quart retort  will yield about a pound of phosphorus.
   Properties.  Phosphorus  is a semitransparent solid,  without taste,  but
possessing 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  alcohol and  the oils, and  more freely in  ether.   Its sp. gr. is
1*77, and its equivalent number 31*4.*  It takes fire at 100°, melts at 108°,
and  boils  at 550°, air being excluded.   During its combustion, it combines
with the oxygen of the air, and forms phosphoric acid.   On  account of its
great inflammability, it requires to be kept under water.  When exposed to
the air it  undergoes a slow combustion, emitting white vapours, which are
luminous  in  the dark.  It forms with oxygen the hypophosphorous, phos-
phorous,  and phosphoric acids, and two isomeric varieties  of phosphoric
acid, called pyrophosphoric and metaphosphoric.  With hydrogen it forms
three combinations; one  solid, a second gaseous, not spontaneously inflam-
mable when pure, and  a third, not yet isolated, generally present as an impu-
rity  in the second, which it renders spontaneously inflammable.   The  only
officinal combinations containing phosphorus are diluted phosphoric acid, and
the phosphates of iron, lime, and soda.   These  will be noticed under  their
several officinal titles.
   Medical Properties.   Phosphorus, exhibited  in  small doses, acts  as a
powerful  general stimulant; in large doses, as a violent irritant poison.  Its
action seems directed particularly to the kidneys  and genital organs, pro-
ducing diuresis, and excitation  of the venereal appetite.  The latter effect
has been conclusively  proved  by the  experiments of Alphonse Leroy, Che-
nevix, and Bertrand-Pelletier.  From its peculiar physiological action, it is
considered applicable to diseases  attended with  extreme prostration of the
vital powers.   It has been recommended in dropsy, impotency, typhus fever,
phthisis, marasmus, chlorosis, paralysis, amaurosis, mania, &c.  The usual

   » Following the example of Kane and others, we have here doubled the usually received
equivalent number for phosphorus.  The old number made it necessary to suppose the
presence of two equivalents of phosphorus in nearly all its compounds. 
part i.        Phytolaccce Baccce.—Phytolacca Radix.           537

form for exhibition is an ethereal solution, as directed by the Paris Codex,
under the title of  Tinctura Mtherea cum Phosphoro.  It is formed by ma-
cerating for a month, in a well-stopped bottle, covered with black  paper, 4
parts of phosphorus, cut in small pieces, in 200 parts of sulphuric ether, and
decanting into small bottles, prepared in a similar manner.  The proportion
of phosphorus dissolved is about four grains to the ounce of ether.  The
dose of this solution  is  from five to ten drops, repeated every two or four
hours, according to circumstances, in a small portion of  some bland drink.
It has been objected  to  the ethereal solution, that, upon  the evaporation of
the ether, the phosphorus is  liable to be set free, and may inflame in the
stomach.  It is on this account that oil  is preferred as a solvent.  The Oleum
Phosphoratum 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 mucilaginous liquid.   An  aromatic flavour may be  given to the
phosphorated oil by the addition of a few drops of oil of  bergamot.
   Great caution is necessary in  the exhibition of phosphorus, and its effects
should be closely watched.   It ought never  to  be given  in substance; as,
when thus administered, it is apt to produce violent irritation of the stomach.
When taken  in substance in a poisonous dose, two or three grains  of tartar
emetic should be  given to dislodge it.  If swallowed  in the state of  solution,
copious draughts  of cold water, containing magnesia in suspension, should
be administered, in order to arrest the further  combustion of the phosphorus,
and to neutralize any acid which may have been formed.
   Off. Prep. Acidum Phosphoricum Dilutum, Lond.                B.


       PHYTOLACCA  BACCA. U.S. Secondary.

                           Poke  Berries.

  " The berries of Phytolacca decandra." U. S.

        PHYTOLACCA  RADIX. U.S.  Secondary.

                            Poke Root.

  " The root of Phytolacca decandra." U. S.
  Phytolacca.   Sex. Syst.  Decandria Decagynia.—Nat. Ord. Phytolac-
caceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx none.  Petals five, calycine.  Berry superior, ten-celled,
ten-seeded.  Willd.
  Phytolacca decandra. Willd. Sp. Plant,  ii. 822; Bigelow,  Am. Med.
Bot. i. 39; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 213.  This is an indigenous plant with a
very large perennial root, often  five or six inches in diameter,  divided into
two or three principal  branches, soft, fleshy, fibrous, whitish  within, and
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, of a  green  colour when young,
but purple after the berries  have ripened.  The leaves are scattered, ovate
oblong, entire, pointed, smooth, ribbed  beneath, and  supported  on short
footstalks.   The flowers are  numerous,  small, and grow  in long racemes,
which  are sometimes erect, sometimes drooping. The  corolla consists of 
538           Phytolacca Baccce.—Phytolaccce Radix.        part i.

five ovate, concave, petals, folding inwards, and of a whitish colour.   The
germ  is green.  There are ten stamens, and  the  same number of  pistils.
The  raceme of flowers becomes a cluster of dark purple, almost black,
shining berries, flattened above and below, and divided into ten cells,  each
of which contains one seed.
   The poke is abundant in all parts of the United States, flourishing along
fences, by the borders of woods, and especially in newly-cleared and uncul-
tivated fields.  It also  grows spontaneously in the North of Africa and the
South of Europe, where, however,  it is supposed to  have been introduced
from America.  Its flowers begin to appear in July, and the fruit ripens in
autumn.   The magnitude of the poke-weed, its large  rich leaves, and its
beautiful 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 dried stems and leaves contain a very large proportion of potassa,
yielding, according to  Braconnot, not  less  than forty-two  per cent, of the
pure  caustic alkali.  In the plant  the potassa is  neutralized by an  acid
closely resembling  the  malic, though  differing from it in some respects.
The leaves, berries, and root are used in  medicine, but the two latter  only
are mentioned in the Pharmacopoeia.   The  root abounds most in the active
principles of the plant.  It should be dug up late in  November, cut into
thin transverse slices,  and dried with  a  moderate  heat.   As its virtues are
diminished by keeping, a new supply should be procured 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
quantity of fine  purplish-red juice.  They  have a  sweetish,  nauseous,
slightly acrid taste, with  little  odour.  The  colouring principle of  their
juice  is evanescent, and cannot  be applied to  useful purposes in dyeing,
from  the difficulty  of fixing it.  Alkalies render it yellow; but the original
colour is restored by acids.   The juice contains saccharine  matter, and,  after
fermenting,  yields  alcohol by distillation.
   The dried root is of a light yellowish-brown  colour externally, very much
wrinkled, and, when in transverse  slices, exhibits on the cut surface nume-
rous  concentric  rings,  formed  by  the projecting ends of fibres, between
which the intervening matter has  shrunk in the drying process.  The struc-
ture  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 lignin, besides various inorganic
principles.  (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  com-
mencing in  less  than  one or two hours after  it has been taken, and  then
continuing to  act for a long time upon  both the stomach and bowels.  The
vomiting  produced by it is  said not  to be attended with much pain or spasm;
but narcotic effects have been observed by  some physicians, such as  drowsi-
ness, vertigo, and  dimness of vision.  In  over-doses it produces excessive
vomiting  and purging, attended  with great  prostration  of strength, and
sometimes  with convulsions.  It  has been  proposed as a  substitute  for
ipecacuanha; but  the  slowness and long  continuance of  its action, and its 
PART I.
Pimenta.
539
tendency to purge, wholly unfit it for the purposes which that emetic  is
calculated to fulfil.  In small doses it acts as  an alterative, and has been
highly recommended in the treatment of chronic rheumatism.  The dose  of
the powdered root, as an emetic, is from ten to thirty grains ;  as an alterative,
from  one to five  grains.   A saturated tincture of  the berries prepared with
diluted alcohol may be given in rheumatic cases, in the  dose  of a fluidrachm
three times a day.  A strong infusion of the leaves or root has been recom-
mended in piles.
  An ointment prepared by mixing a drachm of the powdered root or leaves
with an ounce of lard, has been used with advantage in psora, tinea capitis,
and some other forms of cutaneous  disease.   It occasions at first a sense  of
heat and  smarting in  the  part to which it is  applied.   An extract made by
evaporating the expressed juice of the recent leaves has been  used for the
same purpose, and acquired at  one time  considerable repute as a remedy  in
cancer.                                                          W.

              PIMENTA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                               Pimento.
   "The  unripe  berries  of  Myrtus  Pimenta."  U.S.   " Myrtus  Pimenta.
Baccae immaturae exsiccatae." Lond.   "Unripe berries of Eugenia Pimen-
ta." Ed.  "  Myrtus Pimenta. Fructus." Dub.
   Allspice, Jamaica pepper; Piment, Poivre de  la Jamaique, Fr.; Nelkenpfeffer, Germ.;
Pimenti, Ital;  Pimienta de la  Jamaica, Span.
   Myrtus. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Myrtaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft, superior.  Petals five. Berry two to five-celled,
many-seeded. Willd.
   Myrtus Pimenta. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 973; Woodv. Med.  Bot. p. 541.
t. 194.  Eugenia Pimenta. De Cand. Prodrom. iii. 285;  Lindley, Flor.
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 m*6nths,
when it is in flower.
   It is a native of the West Indies, Mexico, and South  America, and is par-
ticularly abundant in Jamaica, whence its fruit received the name of Jamaica
pepper.   The  berries are the  officinal  portion  of the plant.   They are
gathered  after having attained their full  size, but while yet green, and are
carefully dried in the sun.  When  sufficiently dry, they are put into bags
and casks for exportation.
   Properties.  The berries, as they reach us, are of different sizes, usually
about as large as  a small pea, round, wrinkled, umbilicate at the summit, of a
brownish colour,  and when broken present two cells, each containing a black
hemispherical seed.   They have a fragrant  odour, thought to resemble that
of a mixture  of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg:  hence the name of allspice,
by which they are best known in  this country.  Their taste is warm, aro-
matic, pungent, and slightly astringent.   They impart their flavour to water,
and all their  virtues to alcohol.   The infusion is of  a brown colour, reddens 
540
Pimenta.—Piper.
PART I.
litmus paper, and affords a black  precipitate with the salts of iron.   They
yield a volatile oil by distillation.  (See  Oleum  Pimentae.)   By a minute
analysis,  Bonastre obtained  from them  a volatile oil, a  green fixed  oil,  a
concrete oleaginous substance in yellowish flakes, tannin, gum, resin, un-
crystallizable sugar, colouring matter, malic and gallic acids, saline matters,
moisture, and lignin.   The green  oil has  the  burning aromatic taste  of
pimento, and is supposed to be  the  acrid principle.  Upon this, therefore,
together with the volatile oil, the  medical properties of the berries depend;
and as these two principles exist  most largely in the shell or cortical portion,
this  part  is  most efficient.  According  to Bonastre, the shell contains 10
per cent, of the volatile, and  8 of the fixed oil, the seeds only 5 per cent,  of
the former, and 2*5 of the latter.  Berzelius considers  the  green  fixed oil
of Bonastre  as a mixture of volatile oil, resin, fixed oil, and perhaps a little
chlorophylle.
  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
with  much  flatulence.   It is, however, much  more largely employed as a
condiment than as a medicine.  The dose is from  ten to forty grains.
  Off. Prep.  Aqua  Pimentae, J^ond., Ed., Dub.; Oleum Pimentae,  U. S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus  Pimentae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus
Rhamni, Lond., Ed., Dub.                                         W.

                           PIPER.   U.S.

                            Black Pepper.
  " The berries of Piper nigrum."  U. S,
  Off. Syn.  PIPER NIGRUM.  Piper  nigrum. Baccae. Lond.;  PIPER
NIGRUM. Dried unripe berries of Piper nigrum.  Ed.; PIPER NIGRUM.
Semina.  Dub.
  Poivre, Fr.;  Schwarzer  Pfeffer, Germ.; Gemeine  peper, Dutch;  Pepe nero,  Ital; Pi-
mienta ncgra, Span.; Fifil uswud, Arab.; Lada, Malay,- M.aricha, Javan.; Sahan, Palem-
bang.
  Piper.  See CUBEBA.
  Piper nigrum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 159; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 721. t.
246.  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 of a red colour when ripe.
  The plant grows wild in Cochin-china and various parts of India.   It is
cultivated on the coast of Malabar, in  the peninsula  of  Malacca, in Siam,
Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and many other places in the  East.
We are told by Crawford, that the best pepper is  produced in Malabar; but
Europe and  America derive their chief supplies  from  Sumatra and  Java.
The plant is propagated by cuttings, and  is supported by props, or by trees
of various kinds planted for the purpose, upon which it is trained.   In  three
or four years from the period of planting,  it begins to bear fruit.  The ber-
ries are  gathered  before they are all  perfectly ripe, and  upon being  dried,
become black and wrinkled.
  White pepper is the  ripe berry deprived of its  skin  by maceration in 
PART I.
Piper.
541
 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, exter-
 nally blackish  and  wrinkled, internally whitish, of an aromatic smell, and a
 hot, pungent, 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, a portion of bassorin,  uric and malic  acids, lignin, and
 various salts.  Piperin was discovered by  professor GErsted, of Copenhagen,
 who considered it  a vegetable  alkali, and  the  active principle of  pepper.
 Pelletier,  however, utterly denied its alkaline nature and medical activity,
 and ascribed all the effects supposed to have been  obtained from  it to a por-
 tion of the acrid concrete oil with which it is mixed when not very carefully
 prepared.   When  perfectly pure, piperin is in colourless  transparent crys-
 tals, 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.   It is obtained by  treating pepper with alco-
 hol, evaporating the tincture to the consistence of an  extract, submitting the
 extract to the action of an alkaline solution by which the oleaginous matter
 is converted into soap, washing the undissolved portion with cold water, sepa-
 rating the liquid by nitration, treating the matter left on the filter with alcohol,
 and allowing the solution thus  obtained to  evaporate spontaneously, or by
 a  gentle heat.   Crystals of piperin  are deposited, and maybe purified by
 alternate  solution in alcohol or  ether, and crystallization.   The  taste  of
 pepper depends on the peculiar concrete oil  or  resin before  alluded to, and
 on the volatile oil.   The former is of  a deep green colour, very acrid, and
 soluble in  alcohol and ether.  The volatile oil is limpid, colourless, becoming
 yellow by age, of  a strong odour, and of  a taste less acrid than  that of the
 pepper.  It consists of ten equiv. of carbon, and eight of hydrogen, and forms
 a liquid but not a concrete compound  with muriatic acid.   The  medicinal
 activity of pepper probably depends on these two ingredients.
   Medical  Properties  and  Uses.   Black pepper  is a  warm  carminative
 stimulant, capable of producing general arterial excitement, but acting with
 greater proportional energy on the part to which it is  applied.   From the
 time of Hippocrates  it has been employed  as a condiment and  medicine.
 Its culinary uses at present are too well known to require notice. - Its  chief
 medicinal application is  to excite the  languid stomach,  and correct flatu-
 lence.   It  was long  since occasionally administered  for  the cure  of inter-
 mittents ;  but its employment for this purpose  had passed from the hands
 of the  profession into those of the vulgar, till  a few  years since revived by
 an Italian physician, to be again consigned  to  forgetfulness.   Piperin has
 also been  employed in the same  complaint, and has been recommended as
 superior even to the sulphate of  quinia; but experience has  not confirmed
 the first reports in its favour.   That  in its impure state, when mixed with
 a portion of the acrid principle, it will occasionally cure intermittents, there
 can be no doubt; but it is not  comparable to the preparations of bark, and
is  probably less active than the alcoholic extract of pepper.  When per-
 fectly pure it is inert.  In those cases of intermittents in which the stomach
     47 
542             Piper.—Piper Longum.—Pix Abietis.         part i.

is not duly susceptible to the action of quinia, as in  some instances of drunk-
ards, pepper may be found a useful adjuvant to the  more powerful febrifuge.
  The dose of pepper is from five to twenty grains.  It may be given in the
state of the berry or in powder ;  but is more energetic in the latter. Piperin
has been given in doses varying  from one to six or  eight grains.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Piperis  Nigri, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Confectio Rutae,
Lond., Dub.;  Emplastrum Cantharidis  Compositum, Ed.; Unguentum
Piperis Nigri, Dub.                                              W.
            PIPER  LONGUM. Lond., Ed., Dub.

                           Long Pepper.

   " Piper longum. Fructus immaturus exsiccatus." Lond. "Dried spikes
of Piper longum." Ed.  " Semina." Dub.
   Poivre longue, Fr.; Langer Pfeffer, Germ.; Pepe lungo, Ital; Pimienta larga, Span.
   Piper.  See CUBEBA.
   Piper longum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 161; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.  724.
t. 247.  This species of Piper differs from its congeners in having its lower
leaves cordate, petiolate, seven-nerved, its upper oblong cordate, sessile, and
five-nerved;  its  flowers in dense, short, terminal, and  nearly cylindrical
spikes ; and its fruit, consisting of very small one-seeded  berries or grains,
embedded in a pulpy matter.   It is a  native of South-eastern  Asia, and is
produced abundantly  in Bengal and many parts of Hindostan.   The fruit is
green when immature, and becomes red as it ripens.   It is gathered in the
former state, as it is then hotter than when perfectly ripe.  The whole spike
is  taken from the plant and dried in the sun.
   Long pepper  is cylindrical, an inch or more in length, indented on its
surface, 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 as ascertained by  Pelletier.  Like that it contains
piperin, a concrete oil or soft resin upon  which its burning acrimony de-
pends, and a volatile  oil to which it probably owes its odour.   Its medical
virtues are essentially the  same  with  those of the black  pepper; but it is
considered inferior to that spice, and is seldom used.
   Off.Prep. Confectio Opii, Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Aromaticus, Dub., Lond.;
Pulvis Cretae Compositus, Lond., Dub.;  Tinctura Cinnamomi  Composita,
Lond., Ed.                                                     W.
                      PIX ABIETIS. U.S.

                         Burgundy Pitch.

  " The prepared concrete juice of Abies excelsa."  U. S.
  Off. Syn. PIX ABIETINA.  Pinus Abies.  Besina praeparata.  Lond.;
PIX BURGUNDICA.  Conciete resinous exudation, probably in  a great
measure from Abies excelsa. Ed.; PIX BURGUNDICA.  PINUS ABIES.
Resina.  Thus. Dub.
  Poix de Bourgogne, Poix jaune, Poix blanche, Fr.; Burgundisches Pech, Germ.
  The genus Pinus of Linnaeus has been divided into three genera, which
are  now acknowledged by most botanists, viz., Pinus, Abies, and  Larix;
the  first including the pines, the second the firs and  spruces,  and the third 
PART I.
Pix Abietis.
543
the larches.  In former editions of this work we followed the United States
Pharmacopoeia in adhering to the Linnean arrangement;  in the present, we
follow the  same authority in adopting the new division.
   Abies. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Pinaceae or Coni-
ferae.
   Gen. Ch. Male  flowers.  Catkins solitary, not racemose ;  Scales sta-
miniferous at  the apex. Stamens two, with one-celled  anthers.  Females.
Catkins simple.  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 Cand.—A. communis. Lindley, 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  hun-
dred and fifty feet in height, with a trunk from three to five feet in diameter.
The leaves, which stand thickly upon the branches, are short, obscurely
four-cornered,  often curved, of a dusky green colour, and shining on  the
upper  surface.   The male aments are purple and axillary, the female of the
same colour, but usually terminal.   The  fruit is in pendent, purple, nearly
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 ; and the
same fact is stated by Fee.  According to Geiger, who is  probably correct, it
is procured from both species.  To obtain the pitch, portions of the bark are
removed so as to lay bare the wood, and the flakes of concrete resinous matter
which form upon the surface  of the wound, having been detached by iron
instruments, are melted with water in large  boilers, and then strained through
coarse cloths.   It is called Burgundy pitch  from the province of that name
in the  East of France.    We  are told  that  the greater portion is collected in
the neighbourhood of Neufchatel.
   From other species of pine,  in different parts of Europe, a similar product
is obtained and sold by the same name.   It is prepared by removing  the
juice which concretes upon the bark of the tree or upon the surface of inci-
sions, called galipot by the French, and purifying it by melting and straining,
either through cloth or a layer of straw.
   A factitious Burgundy pitch is also made by melting  together  common
pitch, resin, and turpentine, and  agitating the  mixture  with water, which
gives it the  requisite yellowish colour.  Its odour  is different from  that of
the genuine.
   As brought to this  country, Burgundy pitch  is generally mixed with
impurities, which require that it should be melted and strained before being
used.  In its pure state  it is hard, brittle,  quite opaque,  of a yellowish  or
brownish-yellow colour, and  a weak  terebinthinate  taste and odour.  It is
very fusible, and  at the heat of the body softens and becomes adhesive.   It
differs  from turpentine  in containing a smaller proportion  of essential oil.
   Under the name of Abietis Resina, the London  College directs the con-
crete juice of the spruce fir, as taken immediately from the bark of the tree,
without any preparation.  It  is the  Thus  or  Frankincense of the former
London and present Dublin Pharmacopoeia.  It is  in  solid brittle tears, of
a  brownish-yellow  colour on the  outside, and paler within, and emits an
agreeable odour when  burned.  It softens  and becomes adhesive at the tem-
perature of the body.   Though ascribed to the Abies excelsa, it is probably 
544
Pix Abietis.—Pix Canadensis.
PART I.
obtained also from other sources; and we have been told by an  apothecary
from London, that an article exactly resembling our common white turpen-
tine when perfectly dried, is sold as frankincense in the shops of that city.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Applied to the skin in the shape of a plas-
ter, Burgundy pitch acts as a gentle rubefacient, producing a slight degree of
inflammation and serous effusion without separating the cuticle.   Sometimes
it excites a papillary or vesicular eruption; and we have known it to act upon
the surface as a violent poison, giving rise to excessive pain, tumefaction, and
redness, followed by vesication and  even  ulceration.   It is used chiefly in
cases of slight chronic pains of a rheumatic character, or in chronic affections
of the chest  or abdominal viscera, which call for a gentle but long-continued
revulsive action upon the skin.
  The resin of the spruce fir (Abietis Besina) is used only as  an ingredient
of plasters.
  Off.Prep. Emplastrum Cantharidis Comp., Ed.;  Emplast.  Ferri, U.S.;
Emplast. Galbani Comp., U. S.; Emplast. Opii, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Emplast.
Picis, Lond., Ed.; Emplast. Picis cum Cantharide, U. S., Dub.
  Off. Prep, of Abietis Besina.  Emplast. Aromaticum, Dub.; Emplast. Gal-
bani, Lond.; Emplast. Opii, Lond.; Emplast. Picis, Lond.          W.
                  PIX  CANADENSIS.  U.S.

                           Canada Pitch.

   "The prepared concrete juice of Abies Canadensis."  U. S.
   Abies.  See PIX BURGUNDICA.
   Abies Canadensis.  Michaux, N.Am. Sylv. iii. 185.—Pinus Canadensis.
Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 505.  This is the hemlock spruce of the United States
and  Canada.  When of full growth it  is often seventy or eighty feet  high,
with a trunk two or three  feet in diameter, and of nearly uniform dimensions
for two-thirds of its length.   The branches are slender, and dependent at
their extremities.  The leaves are very numerous, six or eight lines  long,
flat, denticulate,  and irregularly arranged in  two rows.  The strobiles  are
ovate, little longer than the leaves, pendulous, and situated at the ends of the
branches.
   The  tree is abundant in Canada, Nova Scotia, and the more northern
parts of New England; and is found in the  elevated and  mountainous re-
gions of the Middle States.  Its bark  abounds in the  astringent principle,
and  is  much used for tanning  in the  northern parts of  the United States.
It contains much less juice than some other of the Pinaceae;  and very little
flows from incisions made into its trunk.  But in the trees which have at-
tained  their full  growth, and are about or have begun to  decay, the juice
exudes  spontaneously, and hardens upon  the bark in consequence of  the
partial evaporation or oxidation of its essential oil.  The bark thus incrusted
is stripped from  the  tree,  broken  into pieces  of convenient size, and boiled
in water.   The  pitch melts, rises to the surface, is skimmed off, and is still
further  purified  by a second boiling  in water.  It is brought to Philadel-
phia from the north of Pennsylvania, in dark-coloured brittleDmasses, which,
on being broken, exhibit  numerous minute fragments of bark, interspersed
through their substance.   From these it is purified in the shops by melting
and straining through linen or canvas.  (Ellis, Journ. of Phil. Col. of Pharm.,
ii. 18.)                                           J           J
  Thus prepared it is hard, brittle, quite opaque, of a dark  yellowish-brown 
 part i.             Pix Canadensis.—Pix Liquida.                545

 colour, which becomes still darker by exposure to the air, of a weak pecu-
 liar 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 essential oil.   It is  most generally known by the incorrect
 name of hemlock gum, and in the former edition of the U. S. Pharmaco-
 poeia was named hemlock pitch.
    Medical Properties and Uses.  Canada pitch is a gentle rubefacient, closely
 analogous  to Burgundy pitch  in its  properties, and employed for precisely
 the same purposes.                                                yy#



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

                                  Tar.

    " The  impure  turpentine procured by burning  from  the wood  of Pinus
 palustris and other species  of Pinus." U. S.   " Pinus sylvestris.  Besina
 praeparata^ liquida."  Lond.   " Tar  from various species  of  Pinus  and
 Abies." Ed.  " E speciebus Pini diversis."  Dub.
    Goudron, Fr.; Thcer, Germ.,- Pece liquida, Ital.,- Alquitran, Span.
    The tar used in this country is prepared from the wood of various species
 of pine, particularly the Pinus palustris of the Southern States, the P. aus-
 tralis of Michaux.  (See Terebinthina.)  The dead wood is usually selected,
 because, when vegetation ceases, the  resinous matter becomes concentrated
 in the interior layers.  The wood is  cut into billets  of a convenient size,
 which  are placed together so as to  form  a  large stack or pile,  and then
 covered with earth as in the process for making charcoal.   The stack  is built
 upon a small circular mound of  earth  previously prepared, the  summit of
 which gradually declines from the circumference to the centre, where a small
 cavity is  formed, communicating by a conduit with a shallow ditch surround-
 ing the mound.  Fire is applied through an opening  in the  top of the pile,
 and  a slow combustion is maintained, so that the  resinous matter may be
 melted by the heat.   This runs into  the cavity in the  centre of the mound,
 and passes thence by the conduit into the ditch, whence it is transferred into
 barrels.   Immense quantities of tar are thus prepared  in North Carolina and
 the south-eastern parts of Virginia,  sufficient, after  supplying our own con-
 sumption, to afford a  large surplus for exportation.
   Considerable quantities of tar are also prepared in the lower parts of New-
 Jersey, in some portions of New England, and in Pennsylvania west of the
 Alleghany mountains, from the Pinus rigida, or  pitch pine, and perhaps
 from some other species.
   Properties.  Tar has a peculiar empyreumatic odour, a bitterish, resinous
 somewhat acid taste,  a colour almost  black, and  a  tenacious consistence
 intermediate between  that of a liquid and solid.  It  consists of resinous mat-
 ter, united with acetic acid, oil of turpentine, and various volatile empyreu-
 matic products, and coloured with  charcoal.   By  distillation it yields  an
 acid liquor called pyroligneous acid  (see  Acidum Pyroligneum), and  an
 empyreumatic oil called oil of tar; and What is left behind is pitch.  The
 empyreumatic  oil has been ascertained by Dr. Reichenbach, of Moravia, to
 contain, besides oil of turpentine, six distinct principles, which he has named
paraffine, eupione, creasote, picamar, capnomor,  and pittacal.   Of these
 only  picamar and creasote merit particular attention; the former as  the prin-
 ciple to which tar owes its bitterness,  the latter as the one upon  which it
 probably  depends  chiefly for its  medical virtues.  (See  Creasotum.)  Tar
                                  47* 
546            Pix Liquida.—Pix Nigra.—-Plumbum.         part i.

yields a small proportion of its constituents to water, which  is thus rendered
medicinal, and is employed 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 sometimes used in chronic coughs, and,
when the disease  depends on  chronic bronchial inflammation,  with occa-
sional advantage.  Little benefit can be expected from it in genuine phthisis,
in the treatment  of which it was formerly highly recommended.  Dr. Bate-
man employed it advantageously as an internal remedy in  ichthyosis.   Its
vapour, inhaled into the lungs, has been found serviceable  in numerous cases
of bronchial  disease.   Externally applied, in the state of ointment, it is a
very efficient remedy in tinea  capitis, or scaldhead, and in some cases of
psoriasis; and has been used with advantage in  foul or indolent ulcers, and
some other affeclions of the skin.
   It may be used in the form of tar water (Aqua Picis Liquidae), or in sub-
stance made into pills with wheat flour, or mixed with sugar in the form of
an electuary.  The dose is from  half a drachm to a drachm, and may be
repeated so as to amount to three or four drachms daily.
   Off.Prep.  Aqua Picis Liquidae, Dub.; Unguentum Picis Liquidae,  U.S.,
Lond., Ed., Dub.                                                 W.

                      PIX  NIGRA.  Lond.

                            Black Pitch.

   " Pinus sylvestris. Besina praeparata solida."  Lond.
   Off. Syn.   PIX ARID A.  Pitch: from  various  species of Pinus  and
Abies.  Ed.
  This is the solid black mass  left  after  the evaporation  of the liquid parts
of tar. (See Pix Liquida.)  It has  a shining fracture, softens  and becomes
adhesive with a  moderate heat, melts  in boiling water, and consists of the
resin of the pine unaltered, and of various empyreumatic resinous products
which have received the name of pyretine. (Berzelius, Trait, de Chim., vi.
641 and 680.)  It appears to be very gently stimulant or tonic, and has been
used internally in ichthyosis and other  cutaneous diseases, and recently with
great advantage in piles.  The dose is  from  ten grains to a drachm given in
pills.  Pitch is also used externally in  the form of ointment.  (See Unguen-
tum Picis Nigrae.)
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Picis Nigrae, Lond.                       W.


                           PLUMBUM.

                                Lead.

   Plomb, Fr.; Blei, Germ.;  Lood, Dutch; Plombo, Ital; Plomo, Span.; Chumbo, Port.
   Lead is not officinal in its metallic state ; but enters into  a number of im-
portant medicinal preparations.   It occurs in nature  in three principal states
—as an oxide, as a sulphuret called galena, and  in saline combination, forming
the native sulphate, phosphate, carbonate, chromate, molybdate, tungstate,
and arseniate of lead.  The oxide is  rare, but galena is exceedingly abun-
dant and diffused, and  is the ore from which all the lead of commerce is
extracted.  The process of extraction  consists merely in melting the ore in
contact with  charcoal.   Mines of galena occur in different parts of the world,
but the richest and most extensive are found  in our own country.  The lead 
PART I.
Plumbum.
547
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.  It is only of latter years that these mines have
been extensively worked.
  Properties.  Lead is a soft, bluish-gray, and very malleable metal, present-
ing a bright surface  when newly melted or cut.  It has a perceptible taste,
and a peculiar smell when rubbed.  It undergoes but little change in the air,
but is corroded  by the combined action of air and water.  Its sp. gr. is 11*4,
melting point about 612°, and equivalent  number 103-6.   Exposed 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 compounds which these
acids form with the metal.  Lead forms five oxides, a dinoxide, protoxide,
sesquioxide, deutoxide, and red  oxide.   The dinoxide  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 sub-
nitrate of lead, formed by precipitating a solution of the nitrate by ammonia.
On a large scale it is manufactured by exposing melted lead to the  action of
the air.   Its surface becomes encrusted with a gray pellicle, which, being
scraped  off, is  quickly succeeded  by another; and the whole of the  metal,
being in this way successively presented to the air, becomes converted  into
a greenish-gray powder, consisting of protoxide  and metallic lead.  This,
by exposure to a moderate heat, absorbs  more  oxygen, and is converted
entirely into protoxide.   This oxide  has  a yellow colour, and is the  one
present in the salts of lead.  As  a hydrate it is  officinal with the London
College.  (See Plumbi Oxydum Hydratum.)  It consists of one eq. of  lead
103-6,  and one  of oxygen  8 = 111-6.  A variety of the  protoxide called
litharge is very much used in pharmacy, and is officinal in all the Pharma-
copoeias.  (See Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum.)   The  sesquioxide, disco-
vered by Winkelblech, is unimportant.   The deutoxide,  called also puce
oxide from its flea-brown colour, may be obtained by treating  red lead with
nitric  acid.  The acid  takes  up the  protoxide, and leaves the  deutoxide,
which may be purified by washing with  boiling  water.  It  is a tasteless
powder, of a dark-brown colour.   When heated  to redness it loses half its
oxygen and becomes protoxide.  It consists of one eq. of lead, 103-6, and
two of oxygen 16 = 119-6.   The red oxide, called  in commerce minium or
red lead, is described under another head.  (See Plumbi  Oxidum Bub rum.)
Lead combines with chlorine and iodine, forming  officinal  preparations.
(See  Plumbi Chloridum and Plumbi Iodidum.)   The acetate, carbonate,
and nitrate are also  officinal.
   The best tests  of this metal  are  sulphuretted hydrogen,  and a  solution of
iodide of potassium.  The former produces a black precipitate of sulphuret
of  lead,  the latter, a yellow  one of iodide of lead.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The effects of lead in its  various combina-
tions are those of a sedative and astringent.  It  is used internally for the
purpose of reducing vascular action, and restraining inordinate  discharges;
and externally as  an abater of inflammation.   When introduced into the
system in a gradual manner, either by working in the metal, or  by taking
it in  small  and frequently repeated  doses,  it acts injuriously on the nervous
system, producing  a peculiar colic, called lead colic, sometimes apoplectic
symptoms, and  palsy which is almost  always partial and incomplete, and
affects for the  most part the  upper extremities.   Occasionally salivation is
produced, and, according to Dr.  Henry  Burton, the constitutional effects of 
548
Plumbum.
PART I.
the metal  are indicated by a narrow lead-blue line at the  edge of the gum,
round two or more of the teeth, as a constant and early sign.  The treatment
necessary  in  lead colic  is given under carbonate of lead.   Lead palsy is
usually attended with dyspepsia,  constipation, tendency to colic, lassitude,
and gloominess of mind; and is best treated  by tonics, aperients, exercise,
and avoidance of the cause of the disease.  The poisonous effects of an
overdose of the lead preparations are  to be  combated by  emetics, if  free
vomiting has not previously occurred, by the exhibition of the  sulphate of
magnesia or sulphate of  soda, to act as an antidote by forming the inert  sul-
phate of lead, and by opium.
   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 while 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  membrane,
they are instantly blackened. (Archives Gen., Seme Serie, iv. 244.)
   According to  M.  Gendrin, sulphuric acid, prepared like lemonade,  and
used both internally and externally, is a prophylactic against the poisonous
effects of lead, especially the lead colic. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xv. 528.)
It may be supposed  to act  by forming  the  inert sulphate with  the  poison.
Mr. Benson, a  manager of  white  lead works  at Birmingham, has tried  this
acid, and finds it an  effectual preventive of lead  colic in  his establishment,
where it  was exceedingly prevalent before  its employment.   He uses it as
an addition  to gino-er beer, to which bicarbonate of soda is  also added to
                                                        .....
render it brisk, but not in sufficient quantity to prevent a considerable portion
of the acid remaining in  excess. (London Lancet, Dec, 1842.) On the other
hand, the powers  of sulphuric  acid in preventing the poisonous effects of
lead are  positively denied  by Dr. A. Grisolle.  This writer recommends
that workmen employed in lead  manufactories should use frequent baths,
avoid intemperance, and always eat before they enter upon  their  work in
the morning.   He supposes that in the great majority of cases the  metal is
introduced into the  system through the stomach  by means of the  saliva or
food.
   Pharm. Preparations.   The following  table embraces  a  list of all the
officinal preparations containing lead in the United States and British Phar-
macopoeias.
   Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum, U.S., Ed.
   Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum, U.S.; Plumbi Oxydum, Lond.; Lithargy-
                rum, Ed.; Plumbi-Oxydum  Semivitreum, Dub.   Anglice,
                Litharge.
       Ceratum  Saponis, U. S., Lond.
       Emplastrum  Plumbi,  U. S., Lond.; Emplastrum Lithargyri, Ed.,
                Dub.   Anglice, 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.
            Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis Dilutus, U. S.; Liquor Plumbi Dia-
                cetatis Dilutus, Lond.; Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor Compo-
                situs, Dub.  Anglice, Lead-water.
* This plaster forms the basis of a number of other plasters. 
part i.              Plumbum.—Plumbi Acetas.                 549

            Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, U. S.;  Ceratum Plumbi Compo-
                situm,  Lond.  Anglice,  Goulard's cerate.
  Plumbi Oxydum Hydratum, Lond.
  Plumbi Chloridum, Lond.
  Plumbi Iodidum, Lond., Ed.
       Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond.
  Plumbi Acetas,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
       Ceratum Plumbi Acetatis, Lond.; Unguentum Plumbi Acetatis,Ed.,
                Dub.
       Pilulae Plumbi Opiatae, Ed.
  Plumbi Carbonas, U. S., Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.
       Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis, U.S., Ed., Dub.
  Plumbi Nitras, Ed.                                              B.


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

                          Acetate  of Lead.

   Sugar of lead ; Saccharum Saturni, Cerussa acetata, hat.; Acetate de plomb, Sucre de
plomb, Sci de Saturne, Fr.; Essigsaures  Bleioxyd, Bleizucker, Germ.; Zucchero di Su-
turno, Ital; Azucar de plomo, Span.
  Directions are given by  the three British Colleges for preparing  acetate
of lead;  but as it is seldom or never prepared by the apothecary, and may
be obtained  in the  greatest perfection, and at a cheap rate, from the manu-
facturing chemist,  it is more properly placed, in the United  States Pharma-
copoeia, in the catalogue of the Materia Medica.
  Preparation.  Sugar of lead  is  obtained by two methods.   By one me-
thod, 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  they are  turned from time to time, so as to bring different
portions of the metallic  surface in contact with the air.   The metal becomes
protoxidized, and 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  ob-
tained by  calcination,  in an excess of distilled vinegar or purified pyrolig-
neous acid, contained in leaden boilers.  The oxide is quickly dissolved,
and, when the vinegar has become saturated, the solution is transferred to
other vessels to cool and crystallize.   The crystals  having formed, the mother
waters are decanted, and, by a new evaporation, made to yield a new crop.
These are generally of a yellow colour, but  may  be purified  by repeated
solutions and crystallizations.
  The London College  directs this salt to be formed by dissolving litharge,
by the aid of a gentle heat, in dilute acetic acid.   The Edinburgh process is
substantially the same as the London; the pyroligneous acid directed by  the
Edinburgh College being in fact acetic acid of medium strength.  The pro-
cess  of the Dublin College consists in the solution of carbonate of lead
(white lead) in the acid, but is ineligible on account of its expense.
   Sugar of  lead is  extensively manufactured in Germany, Holland, France,
and England, as well as in the United States.  It is  principally consumed in
the arts of dyeing.and calico-printing, in  which it is employed to form with
alum the acetate of alumina, which is used as a mordant.
  Properties.   Acetate of lead is a white salt, crystallized in brilliant needles,
which have the shape of long prisms, terminated  by dihedral summits.  Its 
550
Plumbi Acetas.
PART I.
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  common water is turbid, in consequence of the  formation of car-
bonate of lead with the  carbonic  acid which such water always  contains.
This turbidness may be removed by the addition of a small portion of vine-
gar, or of dilute acetic acid.  In pure distilled  water, free from carbonic acid,
it ought to  dissolve  entirely, and form a clear solution.   Sulphuric acid, when
added to a solution of acetate of lead, produces instantly a precipitate of sul-
phate of lead;  and the disengaged acetic acid gives rise  to vapours having the
smell of vinegar.  The salt, when  heated, first fuses and parts with  its water
of crystallization, and afterwards is  decomposed, yielding acetic acid and pyro-
acetic spirit (acetone), and  leaving a. residue of charcoal and reduced lead.
An'important  property of sugar of lead is its power of dissolving a large
quantity of protoxide of lead.  (See  Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis.)   It con-
sists of one eq; of acetic acid 51,  one of protoxide of  lead 111*6, and  three
of water 27 = 189*6.
   Incompatibles.  Acetate of lead is decomposed by all acids, and by those
soluble salts, the acids of which produce with protoxide of lead  insoluble or
sparingly  soluble compounds.  Acids of this character are the sulphuric,
muriatic, citric, and tartaric.   It is also decomposed by lime-water, and  by
ammonia, potassa, and soda; the last two, if  added in excess, dissolving the
precipitate  at first formed.  It is decomposed  by hard water, in consequence
of the sulphate of lime and common salt which such water usually contains.
With sulphuretted  hydrogen, it gives a  black precipitate  of sulphuret of
lead, with  iodide of potassium, a  yellow  one  of iodide of lead, and with
carbonate of soda, a white one of carbonate of lead.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Acetate of lead, in  medicinal doses, is a
powerful astringent  and  sedative; in large ones,  an  irritant poison.  The
danger, however, from over-doses of  sugar  of lead is not so  great  as is
generally supposed.   It has sometimes been given in pretty large  doses in
regular practice, without any bad effects, and cases are on record  where a
quarter of an ounce  has  been  swallowed  without  proving fatal.   It may be
remarked,  however, that the  immediate  effects  of  an over-dose are  often
escaped by prompt and spontaneous vomiting;  and that the remote constitu-
tional effects are not apt to occur, so long as the evacuations from the bowels
are not materially diminished.  The principal diseases in which it  has been
exhibited are hemorrhages, particularly from the lungs, intestines, and uterus.
Its effect in restraining the discharge of blood is admitted to be very power-
ful.  It has also  been used with  advantage  in certain forms of dysentery
and diarrhoea,  and  has been recommended in particular  stages of cholera
infantum.   Combined with  opium it is well suited to  the  treatment of the
diarrhoea occurring in phthisis.  It sometimes  proves  a valuable' remedy in
checking vomiting.   Dr. Irvine, of Charleston, recommends it  to  compose
the irritability  of  the stomach  in yellow fever;  and Dr. Davis, of Columbia,
S. C,  used it with benefit in the  irritable  stomach  attendant on bilious
fever.  It has  been  much extolled  by the German  practitioners  in dothinen-
teritis, or  the  typhoid fever 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 aneu-
rism of  the  aorta, and  Dupuytren,  on their  report  of  its  efficacy, tried
it  in several cases, and with marked results  in diminishing the size of the
aneurismal tumour.   (Archives Gen.,  Seme Serie, v. 445.)   One of the
authors of this Dispensatory  has  imitated the practice in aneurism of the 
part i.          Plumbi Acetas.—Plumbi Carbonas.              551

aorta, and in enlargement of the  heart, and with encouraging results.  In
mercurial salivation, M. Brachet,  of Lyons, found  sugar  of lead very effi-
cacious, administered in grain pills, night and morning.   Several  cases of
severe salivation of several months' duration, which had  resisted the use of
opium, purgatives, &c, were speedily relieved by the remedy.   The solu-
tion 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 inflam-
mation.   For the latter purpose,  the dilute solution of subacetate of lead is
generally preferred. (See Liquor  Plumbi Subacetatis  Dilutus.)
   When employing this medicine, the practitioner should always bear in
mind that, when  long continued  in small doses, it is  apt  to produce dan-
gerous constitutional effects.   These effects 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, charac-
terized  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  constitutional symptoms
is said to be  indicated by a narrow lead-blue line at the edge of the gums.
(Seepage 548.)
   The dose of sugar of lead is from one to three grains, in the form of pill,
repeated every two or three  hours.   It is  generally  given combined with
opium.   The solution for external use may be made by dissolving from two
to three drachms of the salt in a pint of water;  and if it be wanted clear, a
fluidrachm of vinegar or dilute acetic acid may be added, which immediately
dissolves the carbonate of lead, to  wdiich its turbidness  is owing. The usual
strength of the  solution as a collyrium is from one to two grains to the  fluid-
ounce of distilled  water.
   Off.Prep. Acidum Aceticum,  Ed.;  Liquor  Plumbi Subacetatis,  U.S.,
Lond.,  Ed.;  Pilulae  Plumbi  Opiatae,  Ed.;  Plumbi  Chloridum, Lond.;
Plumbi Iodidum,  Lond.; Unguentum Plumbi Acetatis, Ed., Dub., L,ond.
                                                                  B.


         PLUMBI  CARBONAS.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                        Carbonate of Lead.

   Off. Syn. PLUMBI CARBONAS.  CERUSSA. Dub.
   White lend, Ceruse; Ceruse, Carbonate de plomb, Blanc de plomb, Blanc de ceruse, Fr.;
Bleiweiss, Germ.; Cerussa, hat., Ital; Albayalde, Spun.
   Preparation.  Carbonate of lead is prepared by two principal methods.
By one  method it is obtained by  passing a stream of carbonic acid  through
a solution of subacetate (trisacetate) of lead.  The carbonic acid combines
with the  excess of protoxide  and  precipitates as carbonate of lead, while a
neutral acetate  remains  in solution.   This,  by  being boiled with a  fresh
portion of protoxide, is again brought to the state of  subacetate, when it is
treated with carbonic acid as before.   In this  way the same portion of ace-
tate repeatedly  serves the purpose of being converted into subacetate, and
of being decomposed by carbonic  acid.  The carbonate obtained is  washed,
dried by a gentle heat, and thrown into commerce.   This process, which
produces white lead of the first quality, was invented and  made public by
Thenard, about the year 1802, and is that which is usually pursued in France
and Sweden.
   A modification of the process of Thenard is now pursued by some manu- 
552
Plumbi Carbonas.
PART I.
 facturers in England.  Litharge is mixed with a hundredth part of acetate of
 lead, and the mixture, previously moistened with very little water, is sub-
 jected 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 pursued in England and  the United
 States; but in England, with some modifications which are not well known.
 We shall describe the process as pursued by our own manufacturers.   The
 lead is cast into thin sheets, made by pouring the melted lead over an oblong
 sheet-iron shovel, with a flat bottom  and raised edges on its  sides,  which is
 held in  a  slanting direction over the  melting-pot.   As many of these sheets
 are then loosely rolled up as may be sufficient to form a  cylinder five or six
 inches in  diameter, and seven or eight high, which is placed in an earthen
 pot containing about half a pint of vinegar, and having within, a few inches
 from the bottom, three equidistant projecting portions in the earthenware, on
 which the cylinder of lead  is supported, in order to keep it from contact with
 the vinegar.   The pots thus prepared are placed  side by side, in horizontal
 layers, in a building roughly constructed of boards, with  interstices between
 them.   The  first layer is covered with boards, on which a stratum of tan or
 refuse straw from the stables is  strewed; and fresh  layers of pots, boards,
 and straw are successively placed until the whole building is  filled.  The
 sides also are enclosed with straw.  The pile of pots, called abed, is allowed
 to remain undisturbed for about six weeks, at the end of which time it is
 taken down, and the cylinder of 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, usually heated by steam.
   Pelouze has succeeded in explaining all these processes on the same gene-
 ral principles.  In Thenard's process it is admitted, that the same portion
 of acetate of  lead repeatedly unites with  protoxide, and gives it  up again to
 carbonic acid to form the carbonate.   In the modified English  process, 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 it 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.
 Here he supposes that the heat, generated by the fermentation of the straw
 or tan, volatilizes the vinegar, the acetic acid  of which, with the assistance
 of the oxygen of the air, forms with  the lead a small portion  of subacetate.
 This, by reacting with the carbonic acid resulting from the decomposition of
 the straw or tan,  or  derived from the  atmosphere, forms  carbonate  of lead,
 and is reduced to the state of neutral acetate.  The  neutral acetate returns
 again to the  state of subacetate, and, by alternately combining with  and
 yielding up the protoxide, causes the whole of the  lead to be finally con-
 verted into carbonate. (Journ. de Pharm., Seme Serie, i.  51 and 443.)  The
 views of Pelouze have been fully confirmed by Hochstetter. (Ibid., ii. 428.)
   The temperature of the beds of pots in the Dutch  process is  about 113°.
If  it falls below 95°, a part of the lead  escapes  corrosion, and if it rises
above  122°, the product  is  yellow.   The form of acetic acid usuallv em-
ployed in this process is  common  vinegar; but the  variable  nature of that 
PART I.
Plumbi Carbonas.
553
 liquid as to strength and purity is an  objection to its use; and, accordingly,
 other forms of the acid have been substituted for it with advantage, as,°for
 example, the purified acetic acid from wood in a diluted state.  For further
 information in relation to the different processes proposed or pursued for
 making white lead, the reader is referred to a paper by Prof. J. C. Booth, in
 the Journal of the Franklin Institute for Jan., 1842.
    Properties.  Carbonate of lead is a heavy, opaque substance, in powder or
 friable lumps, insoluble in water, of a fine white colour, inodorous and nearly
 insipid.   Its beauty as a pigment depends  in a great measure on the purity
 of the lead from which it is manufactured.   It is  wholly soluble, with effer-
 vescence, in dilute nitric acid.  Exposed to heat it becomes yellow, and with
 charcoal is reduced to the metallic  state.   It is sometimes adulterated with
 the sulphates of baryta, lime, and lead.   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.   Commer-
 cial white lead is generally a mixture, in varying proportions, of the carbonate
 and hydrate of lead.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  White lead is ranked in the Materia Medica
 as an astringent and sedative.  It is employed externally only, being used as
 an application to ulcers, and  to inflamed and excoriated  surfaces.  It has been
 recommended also in facial  neuralgia. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 603.)  It is
 applied either by sprinkling the  powder on the part,  or in the form of oint-
 ment. (See Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis.)   Its external use, however,  is
 viewed by many practitioners as dangerous, on account  of the risk of absorp-
 tion ;  but the danger is certainly overrated, as we have the testimony of re-
 spectable physicians that they frequently use it in this way, without the least
 unpleasant result.
   Of the different preparations of lead, the carbonate  is  generally considered
 to  be the most poisonous.   Being very extensively manufactured  for the
 purposes of  the arts, it is  that preparation  also which  most frequently pro-
 duces the peculiar spasmodic colic, called colica pictonum.  This disease is
 characterized by pain about  the  region of the navel, and 'by obstinate con-
 stipation, 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  as a counterpoison, by forming
 the inert sulphate of lead with any  preparation of  the  metal which it  may
 meet  with in the bowels.   Calomel is often useful  in particular  states of
the disease; and if it happen to induce ptyalism, the complaint immediately
yields.
   Off. Prep.   Plumbi Acetas, Dub.;  Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis,  U. S.,
Ed., Dub.                                                        j>
48 
554                   Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum.                part i.
        PLUMBI  OXIDUM RUBRUM.  U. S., Ed.

                        Red  Oxide of Lead.

  Red lead, Minium;  Deutoxide de plomb, Oxide rouge de plomb, Minium, Fr.; Men-
nig, Germ; Minio, Ital, Span.
  Preparation.   Red lead is prepared on the large scale in a furnace, with
the floor slightly concave and the roof arched, presenting a general resem-
blance to a baker's  oven.   The lead is  placed on the floor, and gradually
raised to a red heat, whereby it melts and becomes covered with a pellicle of
protoxide, which is removed by means of a long iron scraper ; and the pelli-
cles, as they successively form, are scraped off, until the whole of the metal
has been converted  into them.  The product is subjected to further calcina-
tion with occasional stirring, for some time, with a view to oxidize  any par-
ticles  of metallic lead.   It is thus rendered yellow, and constitutes the prot-
oxide 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 furnaee, 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 combined
with an additional quantity of oxygen, and become  the red oxide.   This is
taken out, and having been  passed through  a fine wire  sieve, is packed in
barrels for the purposes of commerce.
   The above is an outline of the French process for  making red lead.  In
England and the United  States, the  calcination of the protoxide is not per-
formed in tin  boxes, but by returning it to the furnace in which it  was first
calcined.   To save the first calcination, litharge is generally used  for making
the red lead of commerce, which consequently is liable to  contain the im-
purities of that substance, consisting of iron, copper, a little silver, and silica.
Copper is hurtful in red lead when used for making glass, to which it com-
municates colour.  In order to have  red lead of good quality, it should be
made in large quantities at a time.  It is also important that  it be slowly
cooled ; for,  as the absorption  of oxygen by which it is formed takes place
during  a  particular interval  of temperature only,  it  is necessary that the
heat within that  interval  should be maintained sufficiently long to allow all
the protoxide to absorb its appropriate  dose  of oxygen.  It is said that the
finest red lead is procured by calcining the protoxide obtained from the car-
bonate.
   Properties, cy-c.  Red  lead is in the  form  of a heavy, scaly  powder, of  a
bright  red colour,  with a slight shade of orange.  Its sp. gr.  is  about 9.
When  exposed to  heat it gives off oxygen, and is reduced to  the state of
protoxide.  It is sometimes  adulterated with red oxide of iron, or  red bole,
substances which may be detected by dissolving the  suspected red lead in
nitric acid, and  testing with  tincture of galls.   This  reagent will produce  a
black precipitate, in consequence of the iron present in  the substances men-
tioned.   If brick-dust be present, it will be  left undissolved upon treating
the suspected specimen with muriatic acid.   When free from impurities,  it
is completely reduced on charcoal, by means of the blowpipe, into a globule
 of metallic lead.  It is  completely soluble in highly fuming  nitrous acid.
 (Ed. Pharm.)   The resulting solution is one of the nitrate of the protoxide,
 formed by a transfer of the excess of oxygen in the red lead to the nitrous 
PART I.
Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum.
555
 acid, which is thus converted into the nitric.  When treated with nitric acid,
 it is resolved into protoxide which dissolves, and deutoxide which remains
 in the form of a deep-brown powder.
    The red lead of commerce may be considered as a mixture of what may
 be  called  the true red  oxide, and variable proportions of protoxide   That
 this is  its nature is proved by the action of  cold dilute acetic acid, not used
 in excess, which takes  up a variable quantity of protoxide, leaving a portion
 unchanged in colour,  which may be deemed  the pure  red oxide   This
 latter, when analyzed  by nitric  acid, has  been proved, by the coincident
 results of Dalton, Dumas, and Phillips,  to consist of two eqs. of protoxide,
 and one  of deutoxide, corresponding with three eqs. of lead,  and four of
 oxygen.
   Red lead enters into  no officinal preparation.  It is employed in preparing
 Acidum Aceticum, U. S., Ed., and Chlorinei Aqua, Ed.  It is used in the
 arts chiefly as a paint, and as an  ingredient in flint glass.             B.



       PLUMBI  OXIDUM  SEMIVITREUM.  U.S.

                   Semivitrifed  Oxide of Lead.

   Off  Syn.  PLUMBI  OXYDUM.   Plumbi Oxydum  (semivitreum).
 Lond.; LITHARGYRUxM.  Ed.; PLUMBI OXYDUM  SEMIVITRE-
 UM. LITHARGYRUM. Dub.
   Litharge; Oxide de plomb fondu, Litharge, Fr.; Bleiglatte, Germ.,- Litargirio Ital ■
 Almartaga, Span.                                                   '   ''
   When  the protoxide of lead is rendered  semi-crystalline  by incomplete
 fusion, it becomes the semivitrified oxide, or litharge.   Almost all the litharge
 of commerce is obtained, as a secondary product, in the process for extract-
 ing  silver from argentiferous galenas.  After  extracting the argentiferous lead
 from the ore, the alloy  is calcined in  the open air ;  whereupon the lead be-
 comes oxidized, and  by fusion passes into the state  of litharge, while  the
 silver remains behind.  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-earth formed into  a  paste  with water, into a mould, the
 sides of which are formed of an elliptical band  of iron, and  the bottom, of
 strips of sheet iron, placed a short distance apart.  The test is of such a size
 as exactly to fit an opening in the floor of a reverberatory furnace, where it
 is placed,  and adjusted to the level of the floor.   On one side of the  test the
 fire-place is situated, and exactly opposite, the chimney ; while at one extre-
 mity of it the pipe of a  strong bellows is placed, and  at the other a vertical
 hole is  made, communicating with  a gutter  leading from the centre of the
 test.  The furnace is  now lighted, and shortly afterwards the  bellows is put
 in motion.   The lead fuses and  combines with oxygen, and the resulting
 oxide melting also, forms a stratum which swims on the surface,  and which
 is  driven by the blast of  the bellows along the gutter, and through the vertical
 hole into a recipient below, where, upon solidifying, it crystallizes in small
 scales, which form the litharge.   In proportion  as the lead is oxidized and
 blown off the test, fresh portions  are  added, so  as to keep it always suffi-
 ciently 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 
556        Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum.—Podophyllum.     part i.

by its brilliant appearance in the fused state, alone remains.  This is then
removed, and the process repeated  on a fresh portion of argentiferous lead.
  Properties.   Litharge  is  in the form  of small, brilliant,  vitrified scales,
some presenting a red, and others a yellow colour.  In mass it has a foliaceous
structure.   It is devoid of taste  or smell.   It slowly attracts carbonic  acid
from the air, and contains more of  this acid the longer it has been prepared.
It is on this account that it commonly effervesces  slightly with the dilute
acids.   It has the property of decolorizing wines, when agitated with them.
When  heated with the fats and oils,  in connection with water, it saponifies
them. (See Emplastrum Plumbi.)   In dilute nitric acid it should be almost
entirely soluble.   As it occurs in commerce, it usually contains iron, copper,
and a little silver and silica.  The English  litharge is  most esteemed ;  that
from Germany  being  generally contaminated with iron and  copper.  In
choosing litharge, samples should be selected which are free from  copper,
and from  fragments of vegetable matter.  This  metal is detected,  if upon
adding ferrocyanuret of potassium to  a nitric solution of the litharge, a brown
instead of a  white precipitate is produced.  Two  varieties of litharge are dis-
tinguished in commerce, named from their colour, and dependent on differ-
ences in the process for making it.  Sometimes it has a  pale yellow colour
and  silvery  appearance, and  is then  denominated silver litharge, or yellow
litharge; at other times  it is of a red colour, and is known under the name
of gold litharge, or red litharge.  The latter owes its colour to the presence
of a portion of red lead.  In  composition, litharge is essentially identical with
the protoxide of lead. (See Plumbum.)  The carbonic acid which it contains
is variable, dependent  on the length of  time it  has been prepared ; but its
average amount is about four per cent.
   Pharmaceutical  Uses, 8rc.   Litharge  is never used internally, but is
employed in several pharmaceutical  operations,  and forms  an ingredient in
various external applications, which are used for abating inflammation, and
for other purposes.   Combined with olive  oil  it  forms the Emplastrum
Plumbi, which is the  basis  of many of the  preparations technically called
Plasters.  (See Emplastra.)  In the arts it is extensively employed in the
glazing of pottery,  in painting to render oils drying, and as an ingredient in
flint glass.
   Off. Prep. Ceratum Saponis, Lond.; Emplastrum Plumbi, U.S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis, U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Plumbi
Acetas, Lond., Ed.; Plumbi Nitras,  Ed.                            B.


                    PODOPHYLLUM.   U.S.

                             May-apple.

   " The  rhizoma of Podophyllum peltatum." U. S.
   Podophyllum.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Ranun-
culi, Juss.; Podophylleae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  three-leaved.  Corolla  nine-petalled.  Berry one-celled,
crowned  with the stigma. Willd.
   Podophyllum peltatum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 1141; Bigelow, Am. Med.
Bot. ii. 34; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 9.  The may-apple, known also by the
name of mandrake, is an indigenous herbaceous plant, and  the only species
belonging to the genus.  The root (rhizoma) is  perennial,  creeping, usually
several feet in length, about one quarter of  an inch thick, of a brown colour
externally, smooth, jointed, and furnished with  radicles at the joints.   The
stem is about a foot  high,  erect, round,  smooth, divided at  top into two 
PART I.
Podophyllum.
557
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  leaves.  The
corolla has from six to nine white, fragrant petals, which are obovate, obtuse,
concave, with delicate transparent veins.  The stamens are from thirteen to
twenty, shorter than the petals, with oblong  yellow anthers of twice  the
length of the filaments.  The stigma is sessile, and rendered irregular on its
surface  by numerous folds or convolutions.   The fruit is a large oval berry,
crowned with the  persistent stigma, and containing a sweetish fleshy pulp,
in which about twelve ovate seeds are imbedded.   It is, when ripe, of a
lemon-yellow colour, diversified by round brownish spots.
   The  plant is extensively diffused throughout the  United States, growing
luxuriantly in moist shady woods, and in low marshy grounds.  It is propa-
gated by its creeping root, and is often found in large patches.  The flowers
appear  about the end of May and  beginning of June; and  the fruit ripens in
the latter part of September.  The leaves  are said to be  poisonous.  The
fruit has a subacid,  sweetish, peculiar taste, agreeable to  some  palates, and
may be eaten freely with impunity.   From its colour and shape it is some-
times called wild lemon.  The root is the officinal portion, and is said to be
most efficient  when  collected after the falling of the leaves.  It shrinks con-
siderably in drying.
   Properties.  The dried root is in pieces about two lines in thickness, with
swelling, broad, flattened joints at short  intervals.  It is much wrinkled
lengthwise, is  yellowish or reddish-brown externally, and furnished with
fibres of a similar, but somewhat paler colour.  The fracture is short and
irregular, and  the internal colour whitish.   The  powder  is light yellowish-
gray, resembing that of jalap.   The  root in  its  aggregate  state is nearly
inodorous; but in powder has a sweetish not unpleasant  smell.  The taste
is at first sweetish, afterwards bitter, nauseous, and slightly acrid.   The  de-
coction and tincture are bitter.   A peculiar bitter principle was  discovered
in the root by William Hodgson, jun., of Philadelphia.   It is  in pale brown
shining scales, unalterable in the  air, very sparingly soluble in  cold water,
much more soluble in boiling water,  soluble also in  ether, and freely so  in
boiling  alcohol.  It has  neither acid nor  alkaline properties.  Nitric acid
dissolves it with effervescence, producing a rich deep red  colour.   Its taste,
at first  not  very decided, in  consequence of its sparing solubility, becomes
at length very bitter and  permanent;  and its  alcoholic  solution is intensely
bitter.  Should  it be found to be  the purgative principle of the plant, it would
be entitled to the name of podophytlin.   It may be  obtained by boiling  the
root with quicklime in water, straining the decoction, precipitating the lime
with sulphate of zinc, evaporating the clear solution to the consistence of an
extract, treating this with cold alcohol of 0*817, filtering and evaporating the
alcoholic solution, and  treating the  residue  with boiling distilled water,
which deposits the bitter principle on cooling.  (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of
Pharm., iii. 273.)
   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 operation  resembles that of jalap;  but is rather  slower, and
is thought by some to be  more drastic.  It is applicable to most inflamma-
tory affections which require brisk purging; and is much  employed in vari- 
558          Polygala Rubella.—Polygonum Bistorta.       part i.

ous parts of the country, especially combined with calomel, in bilious fevers
and hepatic  congestions.   It is also frequently used in connexion with the
bitartrate of potassa in dropsical, rheumatic, and scrofulous complaints.
  The dose of the  powdered root  is about twenty grains.   An extract is
prepared from it possessing all its virtues in a smaller bulk. (See Extractum
Podophylli.)  In minute doses frequently repeated, podophyllum is  said to
diminish the frequency of the pulse,  and to relieve  cough;  and  for these
effects is sometimes  used in haemoptysis,  catarrh, and other pulmonary
affections.
  Off. Prep. Extractum Podophylli, U. S.                         W.

        POLYGALA  RUBELLA.  U.S. Secondary.

                          Bitter  Polygala.

  " The root and herb of Polygala rubella."  U. S.
  Polygala.  See SENEGA.
  Polygala rubella.   Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 875;  Bigelow, Am. Med.  Bot.
iii.  129.—P. polygama.  Walter, Flor.  Car. 179 ; Pursh, Flor. Am. Sept.
465.   This  species of Polygala is  an indigenous, perennial  plant,  with a
branching, somewhat fusiform root, which sends up annually numerous sim-
ple, smooth, and  angular stems,  from  four to eight inches in  height.   The
leaves are scattered, sessile, obovate or linear lanceolate, attenuated towards
the base, obtuse, and mucronate.   The flowers are purple, and in elongated
terminal racemes. From the base of the stem proceed other racemes, which
lie upon the ground, or are partially buried under  it, and bear incomplete but
fertile flowers, the calyx of which is without wings.
  This plant is found in many parts of  the United States, preferring a dry
sandy or gravelly soil, and flowering in June and July.  The whole plant is
officinal.   It has a strong and permanent bitter taste, which it yields to water
and alcohol.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  In small doses it is tonic, in larger laxative
and diaphoretic.   The infusion of the dried plant has been usually employed
to impart tone to  the digestive organs.  (Bigelow.)  It  appears to be  closely
analogous in medical virtues to  the Polygala amara of Europe, which is
used for a similar purpose.                                        W.


         POLYGONUM  BISTORTA. Radix. Dub.

                            Bistort Root.

  Bistorte, Fr.; Natter-Wurzel, Germ..; Bistorta, Ital, Span.
  Polygonum. Sex. Syst. Octandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Polygonaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla five-parted, calycine. Seed one, angular.  Willd.
  Besides the bistort, some  other plants belonging to  this genus have been
Used  as  medicines.   Among these are the  P. aviculare, or knot-grass, a
mild astringent formerly employed as a vulnerary and styptic; the P. Persi-
caria (Persicaria mitis), of a feebly astringent saline taste, and at one time
considered antiseptic; and the P. Hydropiper or water-pepper (Persicaria
urens), the leaves of which have a burning and biting taste, inflame the skin
when rubbed upon  it, and are  esteemed diuretic.  The water-pepper or
smart-weed  of this country—P. punctatum (Elliott), P. Hydropiperoides
(Michaux)—which  grows abundantly in moist places, possesses properties
similar to those of the European water-pepper, and is occasionally used as 
part i.      Polygonum Bistorta.—Porrum.—Potassium.         559

a detergent in chronic ulcers, and internally in gravel.  Dr.  Eberle very
strongly recommended it in  amenorrhoea, in which  complaint  he found no
other remedy equally effectual.  He gave a fluidrachm of the saturated tinc-
ture of the plant, or from four to six grains of the extract, three  or four times
a day.  He found it  to produce a warmth and  peculiar tingling sensation
throughout the system, with slight aching pains  in  the hips and  loins, and
a sense of weight and tension within the pelvis.   (Eberle's Mat. Med., 4th
ed., vol. i. p. 441.)  The P. Fagopyrum is the common buckwheat.
  Polygonum Bistorta. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 441; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.
668. t. 232.  This plant has a perennial root, and  an annual herbaceous stem,
which is simple, erect, jointed, and rises one or  two feet in height.  The
lower leaves are cordate lanceolate, and supported  on long-winged foot-stalks ;
the  upper  are ovate, almost sessile,  amplexicaule,  and sheathing.   The
flowers are of a pale rose colour, and form a close terminal spike.  The plant
is a native of Europe and the North of Asia.
  The root, which is the officinal portion, is cylindrical, somewhat flattened,
about as thick as the little finger, marked with annular or transverse wrinkles,
furnished with numerous fibres, and folded or bent upon itself, so as to give
it the tortuous appearance from  which its name was derived.  When dried
it is solid, brittle, of  a deep brown colour externally, reddish  within, desti-
tute of smell, and possessed of a rough, astringent taste.  It contains much
tannin, some gallic acid and  gum, and a large proportion of  starch.
  Medical Properties.   Bistort resembles the other vegetable astringents,
such as galls, kino, &c, in medical properties, and is applicable to the same
complaints  ; but in this  country is seldom  or  never used.   It may be em-
ployed in  the form  of decoction or of powder.   The  dose of the latter is
twenty or thirty  grains, three or four times a day.                    W.

                        PORRUM.  Lond.

                             Leek  Root.

  "Allium Porrum.  Bulbus."  Lond.
  Poireau, Fr.; Gemeiner Lauch, Germ.; Porro, Ital.; Puerro, Span.
  Allium.  See ALLIUM.
  Allium Porrum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 64.  " Stem flat-leaved, umbelli-
ferous. Stamens  tricuspidate. Root truncated."
  The leek is a biennial bulbous  plant, growing wild  in  Switzerland, and
cultivated in the  gardens of Europe and this country for culinary purposes.
All parts of it have an offensive pungent odour, and an acrid taste, dependent
on an essential oil, which is in a great measure dissipated by decoction, and
may be obtained separate by distillation.  The bulb, which is the officinal
portion, consists  of concentric layers,  like  the onion, which  it  resembles in
medical properties, though somewhat  milder.  It is gently  stimulant, with
a peculiar direction to the kidneys.  The expressed juice may be given in
the dose of a fluidrachm, mixed with syrup.  This species of  Allium is not
used medicinally in the United  States.                             W.


                          POTASSIUM.

                            Potassium.
  Potassium, Fr.;  Potassium, Kulimetall, Germ.; Pottassio, Ital; Potasio, Span.
  Potassium is a peculiar metal, forming the radical  of a number of import-
ant  medicinal preparations.   It was  discovered in   1807  by Sir H.  Davy, 
560
Potassium.—Potassce Bitartras.
PART I.
who obtained it by decomposing  hydrate of potassa by galvanic  electricity.
It was afterwards obtained 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
modified by Wohler, which consists in decomposing  potassa in the state of
carbonate, mixed  with charcoal.   The mixture of carbonate and  charcoal is
obtained by heating cream of tartar to redness in a covered crucible.
  Potassium is solid, softer and  more ductile  than wax, easily  cut with a
knife, and of a silver-white colour.  A newly-cut surface is brilliant; but the
metal quickly tarnishes by combining with the oxygen of the air, and assumes
the appearance of lead.  It possesses a remarkably strong affinity for oxygen,
and is capable of taking that element from  every other substance.  On ac-
count of this property it must be kept in  liquids, such as naphtha, which are
devoid of oxygen as a constituent.   Its sp.gr. is  0*865, its melting  point
136°, its equivalent number 39*15, and symbol  K.  When thrown  upon
water it swims, takes fire,  and burns with a rose-coloured flame, combining
with oxygen, and generating potassa which dissolves  in the  water.  It forms
numerous combinations, uniting with most of the non-metallic bodies, and
with several of the metals.  It combines in two proportions with oxygen,
forming a protoxide (dry potassa) of a gray, and a teroxide  of a  yellowish-
brown colour; the former containing one, and the latter three equivalents of
oxygen to  one of metal.  It unites also with  chlorine, and forms officinal
compounds  with  iodine, bromine,  sulphur, cyanogen, and ferrocyanogen,
under the names  of iodide, bromide, sulphuret, cyanuret,  and ferrocyanuret
of potassium.   Its  protoxide (dry potassa) is  a very strong salifiable  base,
existing in  nature always in combination, and forming with acids a numerous
and important class of salts.  Of these,  the  acetate,  carbonate, bicarbonate,
chlorate, citrate   (in solution),  hydrate (caustic  potassa), nitrate, sulphate,
sulphuretted sulphate, bisulphate, tartrate,  and bitartrate are officinal, and
will be described  under their respective titles, to which, for  their  properties,
the reader is referred.                                               B.


        POTASSCE BITARTRAS.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed.

                       Bitartrate of Potassa.

   Off. Syn.  POTASS.E BITARTRAS.   TARTARI  CRYSTALLI.
Dub.
  Supertartrate of potassa, Cream of tartar, Crystals of tartar; Cremor tartari, hat.;
Tartrate acide de potasse, Creme de tartre, Fr.; Doppelt weinsaures Kali, Weinsteinrahm,
Germ.; Cremore di  tartaro, Ital; Cremor de tartaro, Span.
  During the  fermentation of wines, especially those that  are  tart, a  pecu-
liar matter  is deposited on the  bottom and  sides of the  casks, forming a
crystalline  crust,  called  crude  tartar or argol.   That deposited from red
wines  is of a reddish  colour,  and  called  in commerce  red tartar;  while
that derived from white wines is of a dirty white  colour, and  denominated
white  tartar.   Both kinds consist  of  potassa, united with an excess  of
tartaric acid, forming  bitartrate of potassa, rendered impure by tartrate  of
lime, more  or less colouring matter, and the lees and other matters which
are deposited  during the clarification of the wine.   The deposition of the
tartar is thus explained.  The bitartrate  exists naturally in the juice of the
grape, held  in solution by saccharine  matter.   When  the juice is sub-
mitted to fermentation  in the process for converting it into wine, the sugar
disappears, and is replaced by alcohol, which, not being competent to dis- 
PART I.
Potasses Bitartras.
561
solve the salt, allows it to  precipitate  as  a crystalline  crust.   It  is from
this substance that cream of tartar is obtained by a process of purification.
   The process is conducted on a large scale at Montpellier, in France, and
is founded upon  the  greater solubility of bitartrate of  potassa in hot than in
cold water.  The tartar, previously pulverized, is boiled  with water  in
copper  boilers.   The solution, when saturated,  is transferred to  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 solution, as
it cools, deposits white crystals  in  crusts, which, upon being  exposed to
the air on linen for several days,  acquire an increased degree of whiteness.
These constitute the crystals of tartar of pharmacy.  The salt, however,»as
met with in the shops, is generally, for  greater  convenience, in  the form of
powder;  and it is to the substance in this form that  the name of cream of
tartar is properly applied.
   Properties.   Bitartrate of potassa  occurs  in  commerce in white  crystal-
line 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, ofan acid, not ungrateful taste, soluble'in  184 parts of cold,  and
18 of boiling water, but insoluble in  alcohol.  When  exposed to a  red heat
it is decomposed,  exhales a peculiar odour, gives  rise  to a solid pyrogenous
acid, and  the usual products of the destructive distillation of vegetable matter;
and carbonate of  potassa, mixed with charcoal, is left.  Its  solution is pre-
cipitated by solutions of baryta, strontia, and lime, which form insoluble tar-
trates, and by acetate of lead, forming tartrate of lead.  If chloride of barium
throws down a precipitate not entirely soluble in nitric  acid, the fact indicates
the presence of a  sulphate; for the tartrate of baryta is soluble in this acid,
but not the sulphate.  With salifiable bases which form soluble tartrates, it
gives rise to double salts, consisting" of neutral tartrate of potassa,  and  the
tartrate of the base added.   Several  of  them are important medicines,  and
will be  described under their respective  titles.  Cream of  tartar, though
sparingly soluble  in water, becomes  abundantly so by  the addition of borax
or boracic acid.   These combinations are  sometimes used in medicine,  and
will be described under  borax.  (See Sodse Boras.)
   The cream of  tartar of commerce  is not a pure bitartrate of potassa.   It
usually contains from two to five  per cent,  of tartrate of lime; and is some-
times adulterated with sand, clay,  and similar substances.  The fraud may
be easily detected by the salt not  being entirely soluble in boiling water, or
by treating it with a hot solution of potassa, which will dissolve the cream of
tartar, and leave the adulterating substances.
   Composition.   Cream of tartar consists  of  two  eqs.  of tartaric  acid
132, one of potassa 47*15, and one of water 9= 188-15..   The water cannot
be expelled  without decomposing  the salt, and is supposed to act the part of
a base.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Bitartrate of potassa is cathartic, diuretic,
and refrigerant.   In small doses  it acts as a cooling aperient,  in large ones
as a hydragogue cathartic, producing copious watery stools;  and from this
latter property, as well  as its tendency to excite the action of the kidneys,
it is  very  much used in  dropsical  affections.   It is frequently prescribed in
combination with  sulphur or jalap.  (See Pulvis Jalapae Compositus.)  Its
solution in boiling water, sweetened with sugar  and allowed to cool, forms 
562       Potasses Bitartras.—Potasses Carbonas Impurus.    part i.

an  acid, not unpleasant, refrigerant drink, advantageously used  in  some
febrile affections, and frequently employed as a  domestic remedy.   The
beverage called imperial 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 com-
plaints.  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.
Saturated by means of chalk, its second eq. of acid is converted into tartrate
of lime, which, decomposed by sulphuric acid, yields tartaric acid.  Defla-
grated with  nitre, it is converted  into a  pure form of carbonate  of potassa,
called salt of tartar.  (See Potassse Carbonas Purus.)   In the laboratory it is
used to procure potassa in a pure state, and in making black and  white flux.
Black flux is prepared by deflagrating cream of tartar with half its weight of
nitre;  and white flux, by  a similar process,  with twice its weight of the
latter salt.
  Off. Prep. Acidum Tartaricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Antimonii et Potassae
Tartras, U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Decoctum  Scoparii, Ed.; Ferri et Po-
tassae Tartras,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae Carbonas Purus, U.S.,
Ed., Dub.; Potassae Tartras, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Jalapae Com-
positus,  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Pulvis Scammonii Compositus,  Ed.;
Sodae et Potassae Tartras, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.                  B.


       POTASSA  CARBONAS IMPURUS.  U.S.

                 Impure Carbonate of Potassa.

  " The impure carbonate of potassa known  in commerce by the name of
pearlash."  U. S.
  Off. Syn.  POTASS^  CARBONAS  IMPURA.  Lond.;  LIXIVUS
CINIS.  Dub.
  Pearlash, Peirlashes, Impure potassa, Impure subcarbonate of potassa; Potasse du
commerce, Fr.,- Rohe Pottasche. Germ.; Potnsch, 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 com-
bination and purity.  In its most impure state, it is  the common potash of
commerce.  This, subjected  to calcination, becomes  somewhat purer, and is
then called pearlash, the form of the alkali intended  to be designated by the
officinal name at the head of this article.
  Natural State and Preparation.  Potash and pearlash of commerce are
procured from  the ashes of wood, by lixiviation and the subsequent evapo-
ration of the solution obtained.  The alkali exists in the wood, principally
in the state of acetate; and being of a fixed and incombustible nature,  is left
behind after the incineration.  The wood is burnt on the ground, in a place
sheltered from the wind.   The ashes consist of a soluble and insoluble por-
tion.   The  soluble  part is  made  up of carbonate  of potassa, together with 
part i.               Potassa Carbonas Impurus.                  563
the sulphate, phosphate, and  silicate of potassa, and the chlorides of potas-
sium and sodium; and the insoluble portion, of carbonate and subphosphate
of lime, alumina, silica, oxidized iron  and manganese, and a little  carbona-
ceous matter that had  escaped combustion.   The  ashes are lixiviated in
barrels with the addition of a portion of lime, and the soluble  substances
above mentioned are taken up.  The  lixivium is then evaporated in  iron
kettles, which for  several days are kept  constantly  full.  The evaporation
is continued until the mass  has  become  of a black  colour, and of the  con-
sistence of brown sugar.   It is now subjected to as powerful a heat as can
be raised by the best wood fire for a number of hours, by  which it is fused.
During  the progress of the  fusion, the combustible impurities are for the
most part burnt out, and a 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. (Dr. G. A. Bogers,
in Silliman's Journal.)
   If it be  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
manufacturers,  instead of being  fused, is transferred  from the kettles  to a
large  oven-shaped furnace, so  constructed that the  flame  may be  made to
play over the alkaline mass,  which in the mean time is  stirred by means of
an iron  rod.  The ignition is in  this  way continued,  until the 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, fur-
nish variable quantities of ashes.   Ligneous plants furnish less than herba-
ceous, 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 different plants.
Pine,   -
Poplar,  -
Birch,  -
Beech,  -
Oak,   -
Oak bark,
Box,   -
Willow,
Linden,
Elm,   -
Maple,  -
Wheat straw,  -
Flax,   -
Rush,  -
Common thistle,
Vine branches, -
045	Barley straw,
0-75	Beech bark,
1-29	Fern, -
1-45	Stalks of Indian corn, -
2-03	Sun-flower stalks,
2-08	Dry oak leaves,
2-26	Common nettle,
2*85	Black elder,
3-27	Vetch, -
39	Poke, -
39	Wheat stalks, young, .
4-18	Dried stems of potatoes,
50	Wormwood,
508	Fumitory,
5-37	Angelica,
5-5	
 5-8
 6-0
 62
17-5
19-4
240
250
25-5
27*5
456
470
55-0
730
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, 
564                  Potasses Carbonas Impurus.              part i.

especially in  Russia,  and on the shores  of the Baltic.   It is of different
qualities as it occurs in commerce, being more or less pure; and is generally
distinguished by the country  or place  of manufacture, as American, Bus-
sian, Dantzic potash, &c.
  Properties.  Potash is in the form of fused masses of a stony appearance
and hardness,  and caustic burning taste.   Its  colour is variegated, but red-
dish 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 commerce, it is in tight casks, containing about three
hundred and fifty pounds, in which it forms one entire hard concrete  mass.
In the  shops it is found in coarse powder, intermingled with lumps as dug
out of  the casks, presenting  an opaque  granular  appearance, like salt or
Havana sugar.  It is a deliquescent salt, and has a  burning alkaline  taste,
but no smell.   It is soluble in water, with the exception of impurities, which
are more or less in quantity according to the quality of the alkali, of which
three  sorts exist in the  market.  One hundred grains of that 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 po-
tassa ;  but this  is associated with certain salts and with insoluble impurities.
Several varieties of potash found in commerce were analyzed by Vauquelin,
whose results  are contained in  the following table.   The quantity examined
of each kind was 1152 parts.
	Caustic	Sulphate	Chloride of	Insoluble	Carbonic
Kinds or Potash.	Hydrate of	of Potassa.	Potassium.	Residue.	Acid and
	Potassa.				Water.
American potash,	8.57	154	20	2	119
Russian potash,	772	65	5	56	254
Pearlash,	754	80	4	6	308
Potash of Treves,	720	165	44	24	199
Dantzic potash,	603	152	14	79	304
Potash of Vosges,	444	148	510	34	16
  By the above table it is perceived that the American  potash contains 74
per cent, of pure  hydrated alkali, and  the  Russian 67 per cent.  Pearlash,
it is seen, is more rich in carbonic acid than potash ;  and this result of ana-
lysis corresponds  with the qualities of the two substances as prepared in the
United States; potash being known to be far more caustic than pearlash.
The greater causticity of the American potash compared with  most of the
varieties of Europe, probably depends upon the use of lime  with us, which
is not  mentioned, as being employed in the preparation of  the commercial
alkali,  in the best European works.   The usual saline impurities are shown
by the  table to be sulphate of potassa and  chloride of potassium.   Silicate
of potassa is also present.   The insoluble residue  consists principally of
carbonaceous matter, which has escaped incineration.  Sometimes, however,
insoluble matters  are fraudulently added, such as brick-dust, sand, and  other
substances.
  As the potash  of commerce is valuable  in the  arts in proportion  to the
quantity of real alkali which it contains, it becomes important, in so variable 
 part i.    Potasses Carbonas Impurus.—Potasses Chloras.        565

 a substance, to possess an easy method of ascertaining its quality in that
 respect.  The process  by which this is accomplished is called alkalimetry,
 and the instrument used an alkalimeter.  The best mode of conducting the
 assay, which is applicable to the commercial forms of soda as well as those
 of potassa, is  that proposed by Faraday, and described by Turner as follows.
 Take a cylindrical tube, sealed at one  end, nine and a half inches long, and
 three-quarters of an inch  in  diameter, and pour into it one thousand grains
 of water, marking with a file the point at which the water stands.  Divide
 the space occupied by the water into  one hundred equal  parts, graduating
 from above downwards ;  and, opposite to the numbers 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  tube so as to reach to any one of the heights denoted by the
 above  numbers, will be just sufficient to neutralize one hundred grains of
 the  alkali written opposite 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 question.   All that is now necessary, in order
 to ascertain  the quality of any  commercial  sample of this carbonate,  is to
 dissolve one hundred grains of it  in warm  water, filter  the solution to re-
 move  insoluble impurities, and add by degrees the dilute acid from the tube
 until the  solution is  exactly neutralized, as  shown by litmus  paper.   The
 number of divisions of acid, expended in attaining this point, may be read off
 from the tube; and for each division one grain of real carbonate is indicated.
   Pharmaceutical Uses.   Pearlash is never used  as a  medicine in regular
 practice, being considered as too impure ; but it is employed  pharmaceutically
 in several processes.  The Dublin College uses it for depriving rectified spirit
 of water, in the process for strengthening it;  and it is directed to be purified
 in all the Pharmacopoeias, in  order to form the carbonate of potassa.  This
 remark is applicable to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia; for although pearlash
 has been  expunged from  the officinal list of that work, yet it is mentioned
 under the name of " potashes of commerce," as the proper material for making
 the carbonate.
   Off.Prep. Potassae Carbonas, U.S., Lond., Dub.                 B.


               POTASS^  CHLORAS.  Lond.

                       Chlorate of Potassa.

  Oxymuriate of potassa, Hyperoxymuriate of potassa ; Chlorate de potasse, Fr.; Chlor-
saures Kali, Germ.
  Chlorate of potassa may be  prepared by passing an  excess of chlorine
through a solution of either caustic hydrate, or carbonate of potassa.  At first
two eqs. of  chlorine react  with two eqs. of potassa, so as to form one eq. of
chloride of potassium, and one eq. of hypochlorite of potassa (2Cl-j-2KO =
KC1 + KO,C10). Afterwards, by the further action of the chlorine, more chlo-
ride of potassium is formed, and the oxygen  separated from the potassa  con-
verts the hypochlorous acid into the chloric, and consequently the hypochlorite
into chlorate of potassa.   Thus, 4Cl+4K0+K0,C10=4KCl-f-K0,C10s.
     49 
566
Potasses Chloras.
part i.
The chlorate, being but sparingly soluble in water, is separated from the
chloride  of potassium by  priority of crystallization.   When carbonate of
potassa is used, the carbonic acid is first transferred from a part of the alkali
to the remainder, and finally evolved.
   Graham has devised  an improved  process for obtaining  this salt.  It
consists in mixing the 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+6Cl=5KCl-f KO,C105.)  The products are, therefore, carbonate of
lime, chloride of potassium, and chlorate of potassa.  The chloride and chlo-
rate  are separated from the carbonate by solution in hot water, and the chlo-
rate  from the chloride by priority of crystallization  as before.
   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  sixteen parts of water at 60°, and in two and a half
parts of  boiling water.   When thrown on burning coals, it augments their
combustion remarkably.   This  property is due  to the presence of oxygen,
which  may be evolved from the salt in  the proportion of nearly 39  per cent.,
by heating it a little above its point of fusion.   The  residue is  chloride of
potassium.
   Chlorate of potassa is characterized by giving out oxygen upon fusion, and
leaving a residue of chloride  of potassium ; by becoming first yellow and
then red  by admixture with a little sulphuric acid,  and by the action of  that
acid  evolving chlorous acid gas (quadroxide of chlorine), known by its yellow
colour, and explosive property when heated ; by  its bleaching power when
mixed  first with muriatic acid and then with water;  and by its property of
exploding violently when triturated with a small portion of sulphur or phos-
phorus.   Its usual impurity is chloride of potassium, which may be detected
by a precipitate of chloride of silver being produced on  the addition of nitrate
of silver.  It consists of one eq. of chloric acid 75*42, and one of potassa
47*15 = 122*57.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Chlorate of potassa is ranked  as a refri-
gerant and diuretic.   From experiments  made  by Dr. O'Shaughnessy and
others, it gives a bright  scarlet colour to  the venous blood, and passes un-
decomposed into the urine.   The first trials made with it as  a medicine were
founded  upon the  supposition  that it would  prove an oxygenating remedy;
and  hence it was employed in scurvy,  which was  supposed  to  depend upon
a  deficiency of oxygen in the system, and in syphilis and liver complaint as
a  substitute for  mercury, which mineral was held by some to act in these
affections by imparting oxygen.  In scurvy it appears to have acted benefi-
cially, but not on the principle which induced its trial; as it would seem not
to be decomposed in  the system.  It has been employed by Dr. Stevens and
others as a remedy for certain  fevers, and for  malignant cholera, to supply
a  supposed deficiency of saline matter in the blood. Dr. Henry Hunt recom-
mends it strongly in cancrum oris, given in solution, in divided doses, to the
amount  of from twenty to sixty grains in twenty-four hours, according to the
age  of the child.  It lessens the fetor and salivation attendant on the disease, and
promotes the granulation of the sores. With this treatment Dr. Hunt conjoins
the use ofan aperientof rhubarb and sulphate of potassa with a grain of calomel,
sometimes repeated  occasionally during the  progress of the cure. (Braith-
waite's Retrospect, viii. 148.)  For an account of the physiological effects of
chlorate of potassa, and  the trials which have been made with it as a medi- 
part i.           Potasses Chloras.—Potasses JYitras.              567

cine, the reader is referred to Pereird's Elements of Materia Medica, 2d ed.,
1842.   The dose is from ten to thirty grains,
   Chlorate of potassa is used to obtain pure oxygen ; to make matches which
take fire by friction, or  when dipped in sulphuric acid; and to prepare prim-
ing for cannon and fire-arms.                                         B.


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

                         Nitrate of Potassa.

   Nitre, Saltpetre; Nitrate de potasse, Azotate de potasse, Salpetre, Fr.,- Salpetersaures
Kali, Sidpeter, Germ.; Sulpeter, Dutch, Dan., Swed ,■ Nitro, Ital, Span., Port.
   Nitre or saltpetre is both a natural and artificial production.  It is found
ready  formed in many countries,  existing in  the  soil on  which it forms a
saline  efflorescence, in  the fissures 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, from  which the
principal  part  is furnished for the demands  of  commerce.  In the United
States it  is found  in Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia,  Maryland,  Ohio, and
Kentucky.   It exists, in  these States, for  the most part, in caverns situated
in limestone rock, called saltpetre caves, and 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.  These
caves are  particularly numerous in Kentucky, and furnished a large portion
of the nitre consumed  in the United States during the late war.   It exists
also in the vegetable kingdom, having been  found in borage,  tobacco, bug-
loss, 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, im-
pregnated with saltpetre, consisting principally of old plaster,  derived  from
the demolition of old buildings.
   Preparation from its Natural Sources.   In India the saline  earth, which
on an  average contains  seven parts of nitre in a thousand,  is placed in  large
mud filters lined with stiff clay, on which  wood-ashes  have been previously
laid.   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
evaporated in earthen  pots, filtered, and set aside  to crystallize.   The im-
pure nitre thus obtained  contains from 45 to  70  per cent, of the  pure  salt.
It is redissolved 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-beds 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 them from the rain;  while the sides are left open to permit
the free access  of air.  The  matter  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 repeatedly thrown upon fresh  por- 
568
Potasses JYitras.
PART I.
tions  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,  which, by  furnishing potassa, 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 nitre crystallizes  in  dirty white crystals,  called
crude nitre.
   When  obtained from  old  plaster  rubbish, the  material  is  reduced to
powder and lixiviated, in order to  exhaust it of every thing  soluble.   The
solution  is found to contain the  nitrates  of  potassa  and lime, and common
salt, and is 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 contains from 85 to 88 per cent, of pure nitre; the re-
mainder being made up of chloride of sodium, and certain deliquescent salts.
The details of this process, as  practised in Paris, are given with minuteness
by Thenard.
   Purification.   Nitrate of potassa, as  first obtained,  either from natural
or artificial sources, is called in commerce  crude saltpetre, and requires to
be purified or refined  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 common salt in hot water,  is conducted  in the follow-
ing manner in France.   Thirty parts of the saltpetre  are boiled with six
parts  of  water, and the portion which remains undissolved, or  is deposited,
consisting  of common salt, is carefully  removed.   As the  ebullition pro-
ceeds, 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, includ-
ing that previously added, to ten parts.   The  clear solution is now trans-
ferred to large,  shallow  copper  coolers,  where it is  agitated with wooden
instruments to hasten  the cooling, and to cause the nitre to crystallize 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
permitted to  drain off  by taking  out the pegs.  The salt being now dried, its
purification 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 crystallizes upon cooling.  The crust being  removed, the solution is
filtered,  and  diluted with l-48th  of water, with  a view  to retain in solution
the common salt, which, being  somewhat less soluble in cold than in boil-
ing water, would otherwise 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 from ten  to twenty pounds.  The preparation of nitre in this
manner  by fusion  is,  according  to Berzelius, attended with several  advan- 
PART I.
Potasses JVitras.
569
tages; such as its occupying less space, its losing nothing by waste in trans-
portation, and in 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 the radiated  struc-
ture, or causes this structure to disappear entirely.   On the other  hand, the
process by fusion has the disadvantage of converting  the  salt  in  part  into
hyponitrite when  heated too high,  and of rendering it difficult to pulverize.
   Commercial History.  Nitre is received in  this  country  from Calcutta  in
the state of crude saltpetre, packed in grass cloth bags, containing  from one
hundred and fifty to  one hundred and seventy-five  pounds.   The greater
portion of it arrives in 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 saltpetre is at  present prepared in the United
States, on  account of the low price of that from  India.   The  refined salt-
petre 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
quantities of which have been received within a few years from  Peru.   It
is the 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  pre-
paring 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.
   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
undergoes no alteration in the  air, unless this be very moist.  It contains no
water of crystallization; but is apt to hold 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-waters  in which
they were formed.  It is  on this  account that  Berzelius  recommends that
the solution of the purified salt should  be agitated,  so as to  cause it to  shoot
into small crystals.  When exposed to heat, nitre fuses at about 662°.  The
fused mass, when cast in moulds, or formed  into little circular cakes, con-
stitutes that  form of nitre kept in the shops under  the   name of crystal
mineral or salprunelle.*  If the heat be increased, the salt is decomposed,
evolves pure oxygen, and is  reduced to  the state of hyponitrite, 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

  * 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
l-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 oxy-
gen from a part of the nitre, becomes sulphuric acid, which  then unites with the potassa
of this salt, and forms sulphate of potassa.
                                  49* 
570
Potassee Nitras.
PART I.
quantity  of oxygen  is evolved, contaminated, however,  with  more or less
nitrogen.  The residuum, after the gaseous matter has ceased to come over, is,
according to Berzelius, a compound of potassa with nitric oxide; but, some-
times at least, it is the teroxide  of potassium, as was observed about the same
time by Mr. Phillips, of London, and Dr. Bridges, of this city. On account of
the large quantity of oxygen which it contains, nitre increases the combus-
tion of many substances in a remarkable degree.   When  thrown on burning
coals, it  deflagrates with bright scintillations.  Nitre may be readily recog-
nised 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 is  readily detected by nitrate of silver.   If a sulphate
be present it will cause a precipitate to  be formed with chloride of barium.
Lime is  indicated by a  precipitate being produced by oxalate of ammonia.
The refined or purified  saltpetre of commerce may be deemed the officinal
nitre, and is sufficiently pure  for medical use.   Nevertheless,  the Dublin
College, with needless  refinement, has  given a formula for  its purification.
(See Potassae Nitras Puriflcatum.)  Nitrate of potassa is composed of one
eq. of nitric acid 54, and one of potassa 47*15=101*15.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Nitre is considered refrigerant, diuretic,
and diaphoretic, 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.  It 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 advan-
tageously 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 a fourth to half of a grain of calomel, exhibited
every two or three hours.   Nitre is frequently given in active hemorrhages,
particularly haemoptysis, and is useful as an ingredient in gargles, in certain
stages of inflammatory sorethroat.  Dr. Frisi, an Italian physician, has found
it very efficacious  in a case of obstinate spasmodic asthma, in giving speedy
relief, and in cutting short the attack as often  as it was  repeated.  In the form
of sal  prunelle, it is rubbed with advantage on chapped lips.   The dose is
from ten to fifteen grains, dissolved in water or some mucilaginous fluid, and
repeated  every  two or three hours.   From one to three drachms may be
exhibited in the course of the day.  If given too freely, or for  too long a
period, it is  apt to excite  pains 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, con-
vulsions, and sometimes  death.  On dissection,  the stomach  and intestines
are found inflamed.  The  treatment in such cases consists in the  speedy
removal of the poison from the stomach, and in the administration of mucila-
ginous and demulcent drinks, laudanum to allay  pain and irritation, and cor-
dials to sustain  the sinking powers of the system.  No antidote is known.
   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.  It  is principally in acute rheumatism that large doses  of this  salt
 have been given, and both M.  Gendrin and M. Martin-Solon bear testimony
 to its remarkable efficacy in that disease, after ample experience with its use
 in two of the hospitals of Paris.  Dr. Henry Bennet, of London, also speaks 
part i.           Potasses JYitras.—Potasses Sulphas.               571

highly of its efficacy in the  same  disease.  It may be given in quantities,
varying  from six to sixteen drachms  in twenty-four hours, dissolved  in
sweetened barley water, in the proportion of half an ounce of the salt to a
pint and a half or two pints of the liquid.   Administered in  this manner, the
principal action of the salt is that of a sedative on the circulation, decreasing
the force and frequency of the pulse, without exercising any injurious effect
on the heart or kidneys.
  Pharmaceutical Uses, <y-c.  In pharmacy nitre is employed to  form crocus
of antimony, (see London process for tartar  emetic,) and to  procure nitric
acid.   It is also used in  the  formulas of the  United States Pharmacopoeia
for  obtaining  sweet spirit of nitre  and pure carbonate of potassa (salt  of
tartar).   It enters into  the composition of moxa, and is  employed in  pre-
paring the sulphate of potassa with  sulphur of the Edinburgh College.   In
the laboratory it is used as an oxidizing agent, and to yield  oxygen  at a red
heat.  In  the arts, it is employed in the production of aquafortis, the manu-
facture of sulphuric acid, and the fabrication of gunpowder.
   Off Prep.  Acidum Nitricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Antimonii  Potassio-
tartras, Lond.; Potassae Carbonas  Purus, U. S.;  Potassae  Nitras  Purifica-
tum, Dub.; Potassae Sulphas cum Sulphure, Ed.; Spiritus  iEtheris Nitrici,
U.S.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, U. S., Lond.              B.

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

                        Sulphate of  Potassa.
  Vitriolated tartar; Tartarum vitriolatum, Arcanum duplicatum, Sal de duobus, hat.;
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 with sulphuric  acid or with sulphate of iron; in  the decomposition
of sulphate of magnesia by carbonate of potassa, in  order to form  carbonate
of magnesia ; and during the combustion of the mixture of nitre  and sulphur
in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. (See Acidum Nitricum, and Acidum
Sulphuricum.)  When nitric acid is obtained by calcining a mixture of nitre
and sulphate of iron, the residue consists of sesquioxide 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 residue of the combustion of
sulphur and nitre, in making sulphuric acid, is an impure sulphate of potassa
mixed with sulphur, and is not purified for use in medicine, but  sold to the
alum makers.
  The British Colleges  agree in obtaining sulphate of potassa from  the salt
which  remains after the distillation of nitric acid.   The salt is a supersul-
phate of potassa, and must be so treated as to bring it to the neutral state.
The London College brings it to this state by igniting  it  in a crucible ; the
Dublin College,  by saturating the excess of acid with carbonate  of potassa;
and the Edinburgh College, by removing the excess by the addition of white
marble, which converts it into an insoluble sulphate of lime.  The directions
of the London  College  are as follows.    "Take of the salt which remains
after the distillation  of  nitric  acid two  pounds,  boiling water two gallons.
Ignite the  salt  in  a  crucible until  the excess of sulphuric acid is entirely
expelled; then boil it in the two gallons  of water until  a pellicle forms, and
the liquor being  strained, set  it aside that crystals may form.  Pour off the
liquor from the crystals  and dry  them."   Sulphate of potassa is placed in the
Materia Medica list of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and therefore no process is
given for obtaining it. 
572         Potasses Sulphas.—Potassii Ferrocyanuretum.      part i.

  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.   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-Lussac.)  Added to a solution
of sulphate of alumina, it generates alum,  recognised by the octohedral 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 subject to
adulteration.  It consists of one eq. of sulphuric acid 40*1, and one of potassa
47*15=87*25.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Sulphate of potassa is a mild purgative,
operating  without heat, pain, or  other  symptom  of irritation.   In small
doses, 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 found it
an excellent alterative cathartic in the visceral obstructions of children, cha-
racterized by a tumid abdomen, and defective digestion  and nutrition; and
we can bear  testimony to  its  efficacy in  these cases from  our  own experi-
ence.  Dr. A. T. Thomson states that this salt, in combination either with
rhubarb or aloes, has proved  in his hands " more useful than any of the
other saline  purgatives, in  jaundice and dyspeptic affections."   It enters
into the composition of  Dover's  powder.
  Notwithstanding the general sentiment of practitioners as to the mildness
and safety of sulphate of potassa as a purgative, several cases have  been lat-
terly reported in the Journals of supposed  poisoning from its use.  On the
continent of Europe it is frequently given as an aperient after delivery, and
for  the purpose of decreasing or drying up  the milk.  M. Moritz attributed
the poisonous effects of the salt  in the  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.  Still,  we are not disposed to admit that
sulphate of potassa is poisonous.  In the cases in which it apparently acted
as such, its effects may be  attributed sometimes to the largeness of the dose
in which it  was administered, and  perhaps also to the  insufficiency of the
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 an interesting
paper, by  Dr.  T. Romeyn Beck,  in the Amer. Journ. of the Med.  Sci-
ences, N.S., vii. 88.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulae  Colocynthidis Compositae, Dub., Ed.;  Pilulae  Opii
sive Thebaicae, Ed.; Pulvis Ipecacuanhas et Opii, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Pulvis Salinus Compositus, Ed., Dub.                              B.

       POTASSII FERROCYANURETUM.  U.S.

                  Ferrocyanuret of Potassium.

   Off. Syn.  POTASSII FERROCYANIDUM. Lond., Ed.
   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.) 
 part i.               Potassii Ferrocyanuretum.                  573

   This salt is prepared on a large scale by calcining animal matters,  such
 as dried blood,  hoofs, horns, and other substances rich  in nitrogen,  with
 the pearlash of commerce, in an egg-shaped iron pot, dissolving the calcined
 mass, after cooling, in water, and  evaporating the  solution so as to crystal-
 lize.  The requisite iron for forming the salt is derived from the pots and
 stirrers used in the process.   Occasionally iron filings are added.
   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 dis-
 solves 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 occurs, is
 probably owing to the  presence of a little  free potassa retained by the water
 of crystallization. (R.  Phillips.)   When heated to  140° it loses its water of
 crystallization, amounting to 12*6 per  cent., and  becomes white.  When
 ignited, the fixed 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 cyanurets of the respective metals.  Ferro-
 cyanuret of potassium  consists of two eqs. of cyanuret of potassium 130*3,
 one of cyanuret of iron 54, and three of water 27=211*3.  The water present
 is just sufficient to convert the iron and potassium  into  protoxides, and the
 cyanogen into hydrocyanic acid.   Apart from the water present,  it is gene-
 rally considered  to  consist of  a compound radical, called ferro cyanogen,
 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, ey-c.   From experiments undertaken chiefly by the
 German physicians,  to determine the physiological effects  of this salt, it
 would appear to  have 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 the  above statements, Dr. Burleigh Smart,, of Kennebec,
 Maine, has attributed to this salt valuable medicinal powers. (Am.  Journ. of
 Med. Sci., xv. 362.)   Its primary effect, according to him, is that  of a seda-
 tive, diminishing  the  fulness and frequency of the  pulse, and allaying  pain
 and irritation.   It also acts, 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
 acts as a diaphoretic, but only in cases attended with excessive vascular action
 and increased heat of skin.  As  an  astringent its power is most conspicuous
 in the  colliquative sweats of chronic  bronchitis  and phthisis.  The same
power was  evinced in several  cases of leucorrhoea cured by its use.  It
sometimes produces ptyalism, unattended, however,  by swelling of the  sali-
vary glands or fetor of the breath.  Its properties as an anodyne and sedative
render it applicable to cases of neuralgic pains and whooping cough, in which
diseases, especially the  latter, Dr. Smart  found it useful.  When given in an
over-dose he states that it occasions vertigo, coldness, and numbness, with a
sense of gastric sinking.
   The form of administration which Dr. Smart prefers is that of solution, in
the proportion of two drachms to the fluidounce of water.   Of this the dose 
574             Potassii Ferrocyanuretum.—Prinos.          part i.

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.  Should the results of Dr. Smart be
confirmed, the ferrocyanuret of potassium will form an important acquisition
to the Materia Medica.
   This salt is manufactured on a large scale, chiefly for  the use of the dyers
and calico-printers.  In pharmacy it is employed to prepare hydrocyanic acid,
Prussian blue, and cyanuret of potassium.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum  Hydrocyanicum, U.S., Lond.,  Ed.;  Ferri Ferro-
cyanuretum,  U. S.; Potassii Cyanuretum,  U. S.                      B.


                   PRINOS.  US.  Secondary.

                             Black Alder.

   "The bark of Prinos verticillatus." U.S.
   Prinos. Sex. Syst.  Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Aquifoliaceae.
   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 irregularly on short petioles, are oval, pointed, tapering at the
base, acutely serrate, of a dark green colour, smooth on  their upper surface,
but downy on the veins beneath.   The flowers are  small, white, nearly ses-
sile, 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 in number, and furnished with  oblong anthers; the
germ large, green, roundish,  and surmounted by a short style, terminating
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 has received the name of winter-berry, by which it is frequently
designated.
   It grows in all parts of the United States, from Canada to Florida, fre-
quenting 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,
sweetish, 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 which is easily sepa-
rable, and of a whitish-ash colour, alternating or mingled  with brown. It has
no smell. The taste is bitter and slightly astringent.  Boiling water extracts
the virtues of the bark.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Black alder is  usually considered  tonic
and  astringent; and is among the remedies  which have been 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 a  debilitated  state  of the  system,  especially gangrene and
mortification.   It is a  popular remedy in gangrenous or flabby and ill-con-
ditioned ulcers, and in chronic cutaneous eruptions, in which it is given 
PART I.
Prinos.—Prunum.
575
internally, at the same time that it is 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.
                                                                 W.

                         PRUNUM.  U.S.

                               Prunes.

   " The dried fruit of Prunus domestica." U. S.
   Off. Syn. PRUNA. Prunus  domestica. Drupae exsiccatae. Lond.; PRU-
NA.  Dried fruit of Prunus domestica. Ed.;  PRUNUS DOMESTICA.
Fructus siccatus.  Dub.
   Pruneaux, Fr.,- Pflaumen, Germ.;  Pruni, Ital; Ciruelas secas, Span.
   Prunus.  Sex. Syst.  Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Amygdaleae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx inferior, bell-shaped, deciduous, with five obtuse, concave
segments.  Petals five,  roundish, concave, spreading, larger than the seg-
ments 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. Anthers 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. Med. 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 nume-
rous.  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 the port of Bordeaux.  They are derived from the variety of
the tree named Juliana by Linneeus. 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  Reine-Claude or green-gage.   An  inferior sort is brought
from Germany.
  Prunes  have a feeble odour, and a sweet  mucilaginous taste, which is
generally also  somewhat acid.   They contain uncrystallizable sugar, malic
acid, and mucilaginous matter.   In Germany they obtain  from  this fruit a
kind of brandy, which in some districts is  largely consumed.  Bonneberg, a
German chemist, has succeeded in  extracting  crystallizable sugar, equal to
that of the cane.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Prunes are laxative and nutritious, and
stewed  with water form an  excellent diet in cases of costiveness, especially
during convalescence from febrile and inflammatory diseases.  As they im- 
 576               Prunum.—Prunus  Virginiana.             part i.

 part their laxative  property to water  in which they are boiled, they serve as
 a pleasant and  useful addition to purgative decoctions.   Their pulp is also
 used in  the  preparation of laxative confections.  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, U. S.;  Confectio Sennae, Lond.          W.


               PRUNUS VIRGINIANA.  U.S.

                         Wild-cherry Bark.

   «' The bark of Cerasus serotina (De Candolle), Cerasus Virginiana (Mi-
 chaux)."  U. S.
   Cerasus. See LAURO-CERASUS.
   This genus,  which is recognised by most of  the recent botanical writers,
 includes  a large number of species formerly embraced in the genus Prunus
 of Linnaeus.
   Cerasus serotina.  De Cand. 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  frequently  been  applied  to this  species, was given  by Linnaeus 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  Cerasus 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 of
 much smaller  dimensions.   In  the  open fields it is less elevated than in
 forests, but sends out more numerous branches, which expand into  an ele-
 gant oval  summit.   The trunk is regularly shaped, and covered with a rough
 blackish bark, which detaches itself semi-circularly in thick narrow  plates,
 and  by this peculiar character serves as a distinguishing mark of the tree,
 when the foliage is too high for  inspection.  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  Philadelphia, it affects open  situations, growing solitarily
 in the fields and along the 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, astringent, bitter taste;  and  is much
 employed in some  parts of the country to impart flavour to spirituous liquors.
 The inner bark is  the part employed in medicine, and is obtained indiscri-
minately  from all parts of the tree, though that of the roots is most active.
 It should be preferred recently dried, as it deteriorates by keeping.
  Properties.  Wild-cherry bark, as kept in the shops, is in pieces of various 
PART I.
Prunus  Virginiana.
577
 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
 boiled in 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 imparts its sensible  properties to water, either cold or hot, pro-
 ducing a clear  reddish infusion closely resembling  Madeira wine in appear-
 ance.   Its peculiar flavour as well as medical virtues are injured by boiling,
 in consequence partly of the volatilization of the principle upon which they
 depend, partly upon a chemical change effected by the heat.  From an ana-
 lysis by Dr. Stephen  Procter, it  appears to contain  starch, resin, tannin,
 gallic acid, fatty matter, lignin, red colouring matter,  salts  of lime  and po-
 tassa, and iron.  He  obtained also a volatile oil, associated with hydrocya-
 nic  acid, by distilling the same  portion of water successively  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.)  Mr. 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
 upon  amygdalin,  which  he ascertained to be one of its constituents.   In
 order, however, that this change may take place, the agency of another prin-
 ciple, probably analogous to if not identical with emulsin, or the synaptase of
 Robiquet, is also essential;  and, as this  principle becomes inoperative at a
 boiling temperature, we can understand how decoction may interfere with the
 virtues of the bark. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., x.  197.)   It is  not impossible
 that wild-cherry bark  may contain also phloridzin, a bitter  principle proved
 to exist in the  bark of the apple, pear, cherry, and plum trees.  (See Phlo-
 ridzin in the Appendix.)  In this case, an easy explanation is offered of the
 co-existence of tonic and sedative properties  in this  valuable medicine, the
 former depending on the phloridzin, the latter on the hydrocyanic acid.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.  This bark is among the most valuable of
 our  indigenous remedies.  Uniting with a tonic power  the property  of calm-
 ing irritation and diminishing nervous excitability, it is admirably adapted to
 the  treatment of  diseases in which a debilitated condition of the stomach,
 or of the system, is united with general or local  irritation.   When largely
 taken it is said to diminish the  action of the heart, an effect ascribable to the
 hydrocyanic acid which  it affords.  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 in  the hectic fever of scrofula and consumption, in
 the  treatment of which it has  long been a favourite  with  many American
 practitioners.   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  used  successfully in intermittent fever, but in this
 complaint 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 by our national
Pharmacopoeia  to be  prepared with cold water.   (See Infusum Pruni  Vir-
ginianac.)   A syrup of wild cherry bark  is  considerably used.   It  may be
prepared by macerating  four ounces of the powdered  bark with twelve
fluidounces  of water for  two days, putting the mixture into a displacement
apparatus, returning the liquid which passes till it becomes clear, displacing
with  an additional  quantity  of water until twelve fluidounces of infusion
     50 
578              Prunus Virginiana.—Pyrethrum.            part i.

are obtained, and then dissolving in this twenty-four ounces of sugar. (Proc-
ter, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 27.)  The dose of this syrup is about a
fluidounce.  But an  objection to the syrup of wild-cherry  bark is, that in
order to give the requisite quantity of the medicine, so much sugar must be
given at the same time as to endanger embarrassment of the digestive organs.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Pruni Virginiana?,  U. S.                      W.


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

                              Pellitory.

   " The root of Anthemis  Pyrethrum."  U. S.   "Anthemis  Pyrethrum.
Radix." Lond., Dub.   " Root of Anacyclus  Pyrethrum." Ed.
   Pyrethre, Fr.; Bertram Wurzel, Germ.,- Piretro, Ital.; Pelitre,<Srpan.
   Anthemis. See ANTHEMIS.
   Anthemis Pyrethrum.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  iii. 2184; Woodv. Med. Bot.
p. 50. t. 20.—Anacyclus Pyrethrum. De Cand. Prodrom. vi.  15.  The root
of this plant is perennial, and sends up numerous stems, which are 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 are 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 pelli-
tory 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 the A. Pyrethrum is about the size of the
little  finger, cylindrical, straight or  but slightly curved, wrinkled  longitudi-
nally, of an ash-brown  colour  externally, whitish  within, hard and brittle,
and sometimes furnished with a few radicals.  It is destitute of odour, though,
when fresh, of  a disagreeable smell.   Its taste is peculiar, slight at first, but
afterwards acidulous, 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*60 of a dark brown, very acrid fixed oil, sol-
uble in potassa; 0*35 of a yellow acrid oil, also soluble in potassa; traces of
tannin; 9*40 parts of gum; inulin; 7*60 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. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  viii.
175,  from the Journ. de Pharm.)
   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.   It is seldom  prescribed by medical practitioners in this country.
The dose as a masticatory is from 30 grains to a drachm.            W. 
PART I.
Quassia.
579
                  QUASSIA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                              Quassia.
  "The wood of Quassia excelsa." U.S. "Quassia excelsa. Lignum." Lond.
" Wood chiefly of Picraena excelsa (Lindley), seldom of Quassia amara." Ed.
  Off Syn.  QUASSIA EXCELSA, Lignum. Dub.
  Bois de quassie, Fr.; Quassienholtz, Germ.; Legrio della quassia, Ital; Leno de quassia,
Span.
  Quassia.  Sex. Syst.  Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Simarubaceae.
  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 Linnaeus  in this genus, some, as the Quassia
amara,  are hermaphrodite ; others, as the Q. excelsa and Q. Simaruba, are
monoecious  or polygamous.  The latter have been  associated together  by
De  Candolle  in a distinct genus, with the title Simaruba.   This has been
again divided by Lindley into Simaruba with monoecious, and Picraena with
polygamous flowers.  To the last-mentioned genus the proper quassia plant,
the Q. excelsa of Linnaeus, belongs.
  The  medicine  was formerly thought to be obtained  from  the  Quassia
amara; but more than twenty years since, Lamarck stated that, in consequence
of the scarcity of this tree, the Quassia excelsa had been resorted to as a sub-
stitute, and the Pharmacopoeias at  present agree in acknowledging the latter
as the officinal plant.  It is, however, the opinion of Martius, that the genuine
quassia 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.,  fyc. ix. 16.—Picraena
excelsa. Lindley, Flor. Med. 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
leaves, consisting of  two pairs of  opposite pinnae, 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 foot-
stalk  is articulated, 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 cap-
sule,  containing globular seeds.   The  Q. 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 officinal.   They are all excessively bitter, as are also the
leaves, flowers, and fruit, and in fact the whole plant.  It is uncertain whether
any of the produce of this  tree 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 whitish smooth bark, brittle and but slightly adherent, and possessing
in at least an equal degree  the virtues of the wood.  Their shape and structure 
580
Quassia.
PART I.
clearly evince that they are derived  from the branches or trunk, and not, as
some suppose, 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 expo-
sure.   It is inodorous, and has a purely bitter taste, which is surpassed by
that of few other substances in intensity and permanence.   It imparts all its
active properties, with its bitterness and yellow colour,  to water and alcohol.
Its  virtues depend upon a peculiar bitter crystallizable principle, called quas-
sin, which was  first discovered by  Winkler.  It may be obtained pure by
the following process of Wiggers.   A filtered deeoction of quassia is evapo-
rated  to three-quarters of the weight of the wood employed, slacked lime is
added, and the mixture having been allowed to  stand  for a day,  with occa-
sional 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,  Sic., in large amount,  and
dissolves quassin with some common salt and nitre, and an organic substance
of a brown colour.   In order to separate  the quassin from these latter prin-
ciples, which are soluble  in water, the solution is evaporated to dryness,
the resulting  mass is dissolved in the least possible quantity of absolute alco-
hol, a large proportion of ether is added, and the liquor, previously separated
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 ofan 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, which  at 54° dissolves only 0*45
in 100 parts, 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 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, corrosive sublimate, solutions of iron, sugar
of lead, or even the subacetate of lead.   Its ultimate constituents are carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Quassia  has in the highest degree all the
properties of the simple bitters.   It is purely tonic, invigorating  the diges-
tive 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 consider-
able 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  the Quassia excelsa, from the  West Indies.
This  medicine is useful in all cases in which 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 
 part i.     Quassia.—Quercus Alba.— Quercus Tinctoria.        581

 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 Extrac-
 tum  Quassise and Infusum Quassias.)  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.
   Off'.Prep.  Extractum Quassiae, U.S., Ed.; Infusum Quassiae, U.S.,
 Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Quassiae, U. S., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura Quassiae
 Composita, Ed.                                                 W.

                    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 pedunculata. Cortex. Lond.; QUERCUS
 CORTEX. Bark of Quercus pedunculata. Ed.; QUERCUS ROBUR. Cor-
 tex. Dub.
   Ecorce de chene, Fr; Eichenrinde, Germ.; Corteccia  della quercia, Ital; Corteza de
 roble, Span.
   Quercus. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Amentaceae, Juss;
 Cupuliferae, Richard; Corylaceae, 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.
   This extensive 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 hemi-
 sphere, the oak is the most valuable, as  it is the most widely  diffused  of
 all forest trees.  Notwithstanding the great number of species, few, com-
 paratively, have found a place in  the officinal catalogues.  The Q.  robur  or
 common European  oak, and the Q. pedunculata or  European  white oak,
 are the only species admitted by the  British Colleges.  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, frequently 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.   The Q. pedunculata is the com-
 mon 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 the Q. alba or  white oak, and the Q. tincto-
ria or black  oak; but several other  species afford barks which are  equally
useful, and perhaps as much employed.  Such  are the  Q.falcata or Spanish
oak, and Q. prinus or white chestnut oak, and the  Q. montana or rock chest-
nut 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 the Q.
tinctoria is somewhat peculiar.
                                 50* 
  582               Quercus Alba.— Quercus  Tinctoria.           part i.

    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 the  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 regu-
  larly  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, and till the  circulation of the
  sap returns in spring.'  The acorns are  large, ovate, contained in rough shal-
  low, grayish cups,  and supported singly or in pairs upon  peduncles nearly
  an ineh in lengh.
    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, with the exception of 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 preferred for this purpose.   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, the latter of which is
 the only officinal portion.
    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 extrac-
 tive 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 ingre-
 dient 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 epi-
 dermis almost wholly destitute as well of this principle as  of extractive.
    Gerber has  discovered, in European  oak bark, a peculiar bitter principle
 upon which he has  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, evaporating  to the consistence of a thin extract, adding alcohol" and
 finally  evaporating the spirituous solution down to a small volume, and allow-
 ing 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, inodorous, very bitter, readily soluble in water, less so  in alco-
 hol 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, pubes-
 cent, slightly sinuated,  with oblong, obtuse, mucronate lobes.   The  fructifi-
 cation is biennial.   The acorn is globose, flattened at top, and placed in a
.saucer-shaped cup. 
part I.            Quercus  Tinctoria.—Ranunculus.               583

  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 ex-
tracted  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 yel-
low 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 precipi-
tate, decanting the golden-yellow liquid left, precipitating with an additional
quantity of the hydrate, and  decomposing the  resulting quercitrate of lead
by hydrosulphuric acid.  A colourless liquid remained, 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 also
much tannin ;  but it is  less  used in tanning than the other barks, in conse-
quence of the  colour which it imparts to the leather.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Oak bark is astringent and somewhat tonic.
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 child-
ren,  when  a combined tonic  and astringent effect  is desirable, and the sto-
mach is not disposed to receive medicines kindly.  It has been employed in
this  way in marasmus, scrofula, intermittent fevers, chronic  diarrhoea, and
cholera infantum.   As 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  highly useful.
It has  also been recommended as an injection 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 cases of 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 internally 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 as an  internal re-
medy, in consequence of being more disposed to irritate the bowels.
  The fruit of the oak is sometimes  used as an astringent; and  a decoction
made from roasted acorns has  been highly recommended by Hufeland as a
remedy in scrofula.
  Off. Prep.  Decoctum Quercus, I^ond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Decoctum  Quercus
Albae,  U. S.; Extractum Quercus,  Dub.                             W.


              RANUNCULUS.  US.  Secondary.

                              Crowfoot.
  " The cormus and herb of Ranunculus bulbosus." U. S.
  Off. Syn. RANUNCULUS ACRIS.  Folia.  RANUNCULUS FLAM-
MULA. Herba recens.  Dub. 
584
Ranunculus.
PART I.
   Ranunculus.  Sex. Syst.  Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord.  Ranuncu-
laceae.
   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
abundant are believed to have been'introduced from Europe.   Such are the
R. bulbosus, R. acris, and R. repens, which, with the  R. sceleratus, may
be indiscriminately used.  In Europe, the R.  sceleratus  appears  to have
attracted most attention; in this country, the R. bulbosus.  The latter  is the
only one designated by  our  Pharmacopoeia.  The R. acris  and R. Flam-
mula are directed by the Dublin  College.
   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), which sends up annually several 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 repre-
sent a small cup in shape.  At the inside of the  claw of each petal is a  small
cavity, which is covered with a minute  wedge-shaped emarginate scale. The
fruit consists of numerous naked seeds, collected in a spherical  head.  The
stem, leaves, peduncles, and calyx are hairy.
   In the months of May and June our pastures are everywhere adorned with
the rich yellow flowers of this species of Ranunculus.   Somewhat later the
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.  The R. sceleratus is found in
ponds  and  ditches.  In all these species, the whole plant is  pervaded by a
volatile acrid principle, which is dissipated by drying or by the  application
of heat.   This principle  may be separated by distillation.  Dr. Bigelow
found that water distilled from the fresh  plant had  an acrid taste, and pro-
duced  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  herbaceous portion
of the 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 consider-
able, may excite fatal  inflammation.   It is, however, never used internally.
The property for  which it has attracted the attention 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 obstinate ulcers.   It
probably varies in strength with the season ;  and, in  the dried state, or boiled
with water, it is wholly inert.   The decoction,  moreover, is  inert in conse-
quence of  the  escape of the  acrid  principle.   Nevertheless, the  plant  has 
PART I.
Ranunculus.—Resina.
585
 been very properly retained by the Pharmacopoeia in the catalogue of medi-
 cines of secondary importance ; as occasions may occur when the practitioner
 in the country may find advantage in having recourse to its powerful rube-
 facient and epispastic operation.                                    \v.


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

                                 Resin.

   " The residuum after the distillation of the volatile oil from the turpentine
 of  Pinus palustris and other species of Pinus."  U. S.   " Pinus sylvestris.
 Residuum resinae liquidae postquam terebinthinae oleum destillatum est."
 Lond.  " Residue of the distillation of the turpentines of various species of
 Pinus and Abies." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  PINUS SYLVESTRIS.  Resina. Dub.
   Resine blanche, Resine jaune, Fr.; Fichlenharz, Germ.; Ragea di pino, Ital; Resina
 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., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias,  and
 the Resina flava or yellow resin, of the Dublin  College.  When this,  in a
 state of fusion,  is strongly agitated with water, it  acquires a distinct appear-
 ance, and  is now denominated Resina alba or white resin, which  is  also
 recognised by the  Dublin College.  Before describing these officinal  sub-
 stances, it may be proper to enumerate the characteristic properties of the
 proximate principles which chemists designate by the term resins.
   Resins are  solid, brittle, of a smooth and shining fracture, and generally
 of a yellowish colour and semi-transparent.  When perfectly pure they are
 probably inodorous and often insipid,  but,  as  usually found, they  have  a
 slight  odour, and  a somewhat acrid  or  bitterish taste.   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.  Insoluble in water, they are dissolved by ether  and
 the essential 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  the solutions of the alkaline
 carbonates.   Concentrated sulphuric acid  dissolves them with mutual decom-
 position ; 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  pel-
 lucid, 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.   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 contain 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 the heat in the process of distillation.  The
pinic acid is dissolved by cold spirit of the sp. gr. 0*865, and is thus sepa-
 rated from the sylvic  acid.   It is obtained pure by adding to the solution a 
586
Resina.—Rhamnus.
PART I.
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 in the  form of a
resinous powder.   The sylvic acid is obtained by treating the residue of the
common resin  with  boiling spirit of the sp. gr. 0*865,  which dissolves  it,
and lets it fall upon  cooling.   Both of these resinous acids  are  colourless.
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
contains.  (Kane's Chemistry.)  The experiments of Unverdorben were made
with European colophony.  It is somewhat  uncertain whether exactly the
same results would be afforded by the common resin of  this country, which
is obtained from a  different  species of pine.
  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.
  Medical Uses.  Resin is important as an  ingredient of ointments and
plasters, but is never used internally.
  Off. Prep. Ceratum Cantharidis, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Ceratum Resinae,
U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Ceratum Resinae  Compositum, U.S.; Emplas-
trum  Cantharidis  Comp.,  Ed.;  Emplast.  Cera?, L,ond., Ed.;   Emplast.
Ferri,  Ed.;  Emplast. Hydrargyri, U. S., Ed.;  Emplast.  Picis, Lond.,
Ed.; Emplast. Resinae,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emplast. Simplex, Ed.;
Unguentum  Infusi Cantharidis, Ed.; Unguent. Picis Nigrae, Lond.


                       RHAMNUS.  Lond.

                        Buckthorn Berries.
  " Rhamnus catharticus.  Baccse." Lond.
  Off. Syn.  RHAMNI  BACCSE.  Fruit of Rhamnus Catharticus. Ed.;
RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS. Baccae. Dub.
  Baies du nerprun, Fr.; Kreutzbeeren, Germ.; Bacche  del spino cervino, Ital; Bayas
de ramno caturtico, Span.
  Rhamnus. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Rhamnaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx tubular. Corolla scales defending the stamens, inserted
into the calyx.  Berry. Willd.
  Rhamnus  catharticus. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1092 ; Woodv. Med. 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 is said to have  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 are  the officinal portion.
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, 
PART I.
Rhamnus.—Rheum.
587
juicy parenchyma.  Their odour is  unpleasant, their  taste  bitterish,  acrid,
and nauseous.  The expressed juice has the colour, odour,  and taste of the
parenchyma.  It is reddened 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 berries of another species, R. infectorius,
yield a rich  yellow colour, for  which  they are much 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 colouring  matter, acetic  and malic acids, brown gummy matter, and
a bitter  substance which he considered  as the  purgative principle and sup-
posed to  resemble  cathartin.  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.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Both the berries and the  expressed juice
are actively purgative; but, as they are  apt to  occasion nausea, and severe
griping pain in the  bowels, with much  thirst and dryness of the mouth and
throat, they  are now little employed.   They formerly enjoyed  considerable
reputation as a  hydragogue cathartic in dropsy;  and were given also  in
rheumatism  and gout.    The only shape  in which they are  used in this
country is that  of the 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 berries a
drachm, and of the expressed juice a fluidounce.
   Under the name of cortex frangulae, the bark of the Rhamnus Frangula is
sometimes used in Germany as a cathartic.
   Off. Prep.  Syrupus Rhamni. Lond., Ed., Dub.                   W.


                   RHEUM. U.S., Lond, Ed.

                             Rhubarb.

   " The root of Rheum palmatum,  and other species of Rheum."  U. S.
" Rheum palmatum. Radix." Lond.   " Root of an undetermined species of
Rheum." Ed.
   Off. Syn.    RHEUM PALMATUM et RHEUM UNDULATUM.
Radix. Dub.
   Rhabarbarum; Rhubarbe, Fr.; Rhabarber,  Germ.; Rabarbaro Ital; Ruibarbo, Span.;
Hai-houng, Chinese; Schara-modo, Thibet.
   Rheum. Sex. Syst. Enneandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Polygonaceae.
   Gen.  Ch.   Calyx petaloid, six-parted, withering.   Stamens about nine,
inserted 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, and the
attention which  it has received from naturalists, the  question  yet  remains
unsettled from what precise plant it is derived.   The  remoteness of the
region where it is collected, and the  jealous care  with which the monopoly
of the trade in this drug is guarded, have  prevented  any accurate informa-
tion  on the  subject.  All that we certainly know  is that it is the root  of 
588
Rheum.
PART I.
one or more species of Rheum.   It is true that the  Pharmacopoeias under-
take to designate the particular species.   Thus, the London College recog-
nises the R. palmatum, the Dublin both this and the R. undulatum, and in
the United States  Pharmacopoeia the drug is referred  to the  Ii. palmatum
and other species not particularized.   But the evidence in favour of either of
these species is by no means unequivocal, as will appear from the following
brief history.
   The terms rha  and rheon,  from  the  former of which were derived the
names rhabarbarum and rhubarb, and from the latter the botanical generic
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 and the Wolga.   This species was also at one
time believed to be the source of the medicine now in use ; but the true rhu-
barb  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 pro-
bable 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 which afforded  the genuine rhubarb,
and were named by Linnaeus, under this impression, Rheum Rhabarbarutjfi,
a title which has since given way to  Rheum undulatum.  At a subsequent
period, Kauw Boerhaave obtained from a merchant who dealt in the rhubarb
of Tartary, some seeds which he said were those of the plant which pro-
duced  the  root he sold.  These seeds having been  planted, yielded two
species of Rheum, the  R. undulatum,  and another  which  Linnaeus  pro-
nounced to be distinct, and named R. palmatum.  Seeds transmitted by  Dr.
Mounsey  from  St. Petersburgh 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 appear-
ance of Dr. Hope's paper in the Philosophical Transactions.   Thus  far the
evidence appears equally in favour of the R. palmatum and R. undulatum.
The claims  of  another  species  were afterwards presented.   Pallas, upon
exhibiting the leaves  of the R.  palmatum to  some Bucharian merchants
of whom he  was  making  inquiries  relative to the rhubarb plant, was told
that the leaves of the latter were entirely different in shape ; and the  descrip-
tion he received of them corresponded more closely with those of the R.
compaclum, than  of any other known species.    Seeds of this plant were
moreover sent to Miller  from St. Petersburgh, as those of the true Tartarian
rhubarb.   Within a few years the attention of naturalists has been  called to
a fourth species, for which the same honour is claimed.  Dr. Wallich, super-
intendent of the botanical garden at Calcutta, received seeds which 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 Cole-
brooke, 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 Himalava  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 natu-
ralists in its native place. Sievers, an apothecary, sent to Siberia in the reign 
PART I.
Rheum.
589
of Catharine II. with the view of improving  the  cultivation of the native
rhubarb, asserts, from the information given him by the Buchanans, 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 asser-
tion, however, has no relation to the R. australe which has been subsequently
described ;  but it is said that the roots of that plant, dried by the medical offi-
cers of  the British army, differ from true rhubarb in appearance and power.
Still, however, it is possible that  the  medicine  is derived from one or more
of the species alluded to ; and if it should be objected that their roots, as cul-
tivated in Europe, have not  the precise qualities or composition of the Asia-
tic rhubarb, the answer  is obvious, that the product of the same plant is often
known  to vary exceedingly  with diversities of soil, climate, and culture.
  All the  plants of this  genus are perennial  and herbaceous,  with large
branching 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.   Bota-
nists experience some difficulty in properly arranging the species, in conse-
quence  of  the tendency of the cultivated 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.
  Rheum palmatum.   Willd. Sp. Plant, ii.  489; Lindley, Flor. Med.  p.
358; Woodv. Med. Bot.  p. 662. t. 231.  "Leaves roundish-cordate, half
palmate ; 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 standing 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 vicinity of the great wall.   It is  cultivated ex-
tensively near Banbury, in England, for the sake of its root, which is gene-
rally admitted to approach more nearly in odour, taste, and the arrangement
of its colours, to  the Asiatic rhubarb  than that of any other known species.
  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 pro-
bably of Tartary and China. It was  cultivated by the Russian government
as  the  true rhubarb plant;  but the  culture has been  abandoned.   It con-
tributes  to   the rhubarb produced in France,  and, according  to Stevenson
and Churchill, is the source of the drug  sold in the London herb shops as
English rhubarb, though  the  accuracy of this  statement is doubted by
Lindley.
   B. compactum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 489 ; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 358;
Loudon's Encyc. of Plants, p. 336.  " 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
parenchyma.  Petiole  green, hardly tinged  with red except at the base,
semi-cylindrical,  a little compressed at the sides, with the upper .side broad,
     51 
590
Rheum.
part r.
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  is cultivated in France for its root.
  R. australe. Don, Prod. Flor. Nepal, p. 75.—R. Emodi. Wallich ; Lind-
ley, Flor. Med. p. 354; Hooker, Bot. Mag. t. 3508.   " Leaves cordate,
acute,  dull green, but little  wavy, flattish, 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 strongly maintained  to be the source of officinal Asiatic
rhubarb ;  but  a  specimen received  by Dr. Pereira from  Dr.  Wallich was
found to  have scarcely any  resemblance to  it.   The plant has  been culti-
vated  both in Europe and  this country, and  its  petioles answer well for
tarts, &c.
  B. Rhaponticum.  Willd.  Sp. Blant. 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  under side, especially near the  edge, and on the edge itself;
scabrous  at the margin;  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 on the mountains of Krasnojar in Siberia.   It is said also
to grow upon  the borders of  the Euxine.  It is cultivated abundantly as a
garden plant in Europe and  this country ; and large quantities of the root are
produced for sale in France.
   Besides the species above described, the R. leucorrhizum growing in the
Kirghese desert in Tartary, the R. Caspicum from the Altai mountains,
and the R. Webbianum, R. speciforme, and R. Moorcraftianum, natives of
the Himalaya  mountains, and R. crassinervium and R. hybridum, cultivated
in Europe, but of unknown origin, yield roots which have either been em-
ployed as purgatives, or  possess properties more or  less  analogous to those
of officinal Rhubarb,  though 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, which  are not unlike those
made with gooseberries.   It is for this  purpose only that  the  plants are cul-
tivated  in the United States.   Lindley states  that the R. Rhaponticum, 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 intelli-
 gent travellers have penetrated into the country where the medicine is col-
 lected.   We  shall present, however, a brief abstract of what  we have been
 able to collect 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
 province 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 
PART I.
Rheum.
591
the north of the Himalaya mountains ;  and it is probable that the plant per-
vades the whole  of Chinese Tartary.   It flourishes best in a  light sandy
soil.  We are told by Mr. Bell, who, on a journey from  Si. Petersburgh 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  at uncertain
distances, wherever  the  seeds  have fallen upon  the heaps of  loose earth
thrown up by the marmots.   In other places the thickness of the grass pre-
vents their access to the soil. The root is not considered sufficiently 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 of 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 the 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 pro-
cess 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 main-
tained.   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 col-
lection before it  is ready for exportation.   A very  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. Petersburgh, is procured  from
the same neighbourhood with that imported from Canton.   But it will soon
be seen that there are differences between the Russian 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 rhu-
barb 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 men-
tioned, a third occasionally comes to us from Europe, where the cultivation
of rhubarb  has been carried on for some time with success,  especially in
France, Belgium, and Great Britain.  Of these three varieties we shall treat
 under different heads.

                        1.  Chinese  Rhubarb.
    India Rhubarb. Rheum  Sinense vel 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 de-
 cided preference in our markets;  and when of good quality, it does not dis-
 appoint  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 
592
Rheum.
PART I.
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 inter-
rupted by darker colours.   The pieces are generally perforated  with small
holes, intended for convenience of suspension during the drying process; and
portions of the suspending cord are not unfrequenfly found  remaining in the
holes.  Chinese rhubarb  has a peculiar somewhat aromatic smell, and a bit-
ter astringent 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, which  are  defective
from  decay or improper preparation.  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 a former edition of this work, we noticed  a variety of rhubarb imported
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 remark-
ably 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 de-
scribed  by Pereira, under a distinct head, as the Dutch-trimmed or Bata-
vian rhubarb,  and considered  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 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 true Russian rhubarb, which does not appear to  be
strung up like the Chinese  when driecl.

                       2. Russian Rhuburb.
   Turkey  Rhubarb.   Bucharian Bhubarb.   Bheum Russicum vel  Turd-
cum.   The rhubarb taken to Russia from Tartary undergoes a peculiar pre-
paration, 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 order 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 undergoes a rigid  inspection  by an apothecary stationed at
that place by the Russian government.  All those pieces  which do not pass
examination are committed to  the flames;  and the remainder is  sent to St.
Petersburgh.  This variety 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 their decided difference from the  Chinese  would appear to
indicate a distinct origin for the two varieties. 
 part i.                         Rheum.                           593

   The pieces of Russian  rhubarb are irregular, and  somewhat  angular,
 appearing 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  away before the knife.
 Another distinction is the  character  of  the  perforations, which  in  the Rus-
 sian 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.  Quekett
 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 comparative value in the market has led to frequent attempts at adultera-
 tion ; and the pieces of Chinese rhubarb are sometimees  cut down and pre-
 pared 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 distinguished, and to the occasional presence of  the small pene-
 trating hole or vestiges 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 the worm-eaten pieces are made to resemble the sound, by filling
 up the holes with a mixture of pulverized 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
 considerable quantities of the root are annually brought into the market.   It
 is imported into this country from England and France.
   English Rhubarb.   This comes in two forms.   In one  the  root is cut
 and perforated in imitation of the Russian.  The pieces are of various shape
 and size,  sometimes  cylindrical, but more commonly  flat,  or  somewhat
 lenticular, and  of  considerable  dimensions.   In  the  other,  the  pieces are
 somewhat cylindrical, 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 un-
 equally in drying.   This  is called stick rhubarb in England, and is the kind
 we have most frequently 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 red-
                                  51* 
594
Rheum.
PART I.
• dish tint.  The odour is feeble and less aromatic than that of the Asiatic
 varieties ; the taste is astringent and mucilaginous with little bitterness ; and
 the root, when chewed,  scarcely  feels gritty between the  teeth, and but
 slightly  colours the  saliva.  Few  crystals of oxalate of lime are discover-
 able by means of the microscope.   The roots of the different species are not
 distinguishable in commerce.
    French Rhubarb.   Rhapontic Rhubarb.  Krimea Rhubarb.   The rhu-
 barb  produced in France is at present, according to Guibourt, chiefly from
 the R.  Rhaponticum, R.  undulatum, and R. compactum; that of  the 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 cir-
 cumstance,  received the name of Rheumpole.   Two  kinds are described
 by Guibourt,both under the name of 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, cultivated  at
 Rheumpole.   The former is in pieces  of  the size of the  fist or smaller, lig-
 neous in their appearance, of a reddish-gray colour on the outside, internally
 marbled with red and white arranged in the form of crowded rays proceed-
 ing 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 crackling under  the teeth, but tinging  the saliva  yellow,  and affording a
 reddish-yellow 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  considerable resemblance to  Chinese rhubarb ;  but may be dis-
 tinguished 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 the preceding variety.   Considerable quan-
 tities 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 Chinese  rhubarb.   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 rhubarb equals the  Asiatic in purgative 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 appearance, with reddish and yellowish veins intermingled with  white,
  of an odour  decidedly aromatic,  of a  bitter  and astringent not  mucilagi-
  nous taste, feeling gritty and  staining the saliva yellow  when chewed, and
  affording a  powder either bright yellow, or yellow- with but a slight reddish-

    * 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 lor Russian  commerce.  It was white as  milk, of a sweet
  taste, and equal to the best rhubarb in  quality.   It is supposed to be the product of the
  R. leucorrhizum. The Himalaya, rhubarb is  produced by the R. australe, and other spe.
  cies 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. 
PART I.
Rheum,
595
brown tinge.   When very light, rhubarb is usually rotten or worm-eaten ;
when very heavy and compact, it  is of inferior species, culture, or prepara-
tion.   Rotten, worm-eaten, or otherwise inferior rhubarb, is often powdered
and  coloured yellow with  turmeric ;  and the  shavings left, when Chinese
rhubarb is cut to imitate the Russian, are applied to the same purpose.
   Chemical Properties.   Rhubarb yields all  its  active properties 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  medi-
cine are diminished, in  consequence probably  of  the  evaporation  of  a
volatile ingredient in which they  partly reside.   Many attempts have  been
made to analyze this important root, with  various results.  Among  them,
are those of the two Henrys  and Caventou  of  Paris, Brande of London,
Peretti of  Rome, and Horneman  and Brandes  of Germany.  The  most
recent is that of Brandes,  who found  in 100 parts  of Chinese rhubarb, 2 of
pure rhabarbaric acid, 7-5 of the same acid impure, 2*5 of gallic  acid, 9*0
of tannin, 3*5  of colouring extractive,  11*0 of uncrystallizable  sugar with
tannin, 4*0  of starch, 14*4  of gummy extractive,  4-0 of pectic acid,  1-1 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,  25-0 of lignin, and 2*0 of water.  Professor  Dulk^of
Konigsberg, has shown that the rhabarbaric acid of Brandes is for the most
part formed  during the process for its extraction ;  and believes that it results
from the reaction of  the atmospheric air, assisted by the reagents employed,
upon another principle, which he  succeeded in isolating and named rhein.
That portion of  the  rhabarbaric acid  which exists ready formed in rhubarb
may be extracted by macerating the  powdered  root in ether, distilling off
most of the  ether, and allowing the remainder to evaporate spontaneously.
Crystals are left, which may be purified by repeated  solution and crystalli-
zation  in  alcohol.   The medical  properties of rhubarb, being themselves
diversified, probably  depend upon different principles.  Approaches seem
to have been frequently made towards the discovery of the purgative  prin-
ciple, but not with complete success, unless the rhein of  Professor Dulk be
allowed this rank.   The  caphopicrite,  or  yellow colouring  matter  of M.
Henry, has  been shown to be a complex substance.   The  same is the case
with the different matters obtained  by  various chemists, and described by the
name of rhabarbarin.  The rhabarbaric acid  of Brandes,  though  regarded
by that chemist  as  the active principle, can have little claim  to  be so con-
sidered ; as it has no remarkable taste, and six grains of it given to a young
man produced griping, but did not purge.   We  may consider the rhein above
mentioned to be, as asserted, the purgative principle, until proved to be other-
wise.
  Rhein is a reddish-yellow substance, which strongly attracts moisture from
the air, and is, therefore, not easily obtained crystallized.  Its taste and odour
are closely analogous to those of the root itself.  It is soluble in water, alcohol,
and ether, but most readily in diluted  alcohol;  and forms yellow or reddish-
yellow solutions.  It reddens  litmus;  when heated, melts  and diffuses
vapours having the  odour  of rhubarb; is inflammable;  forms compounds
with alkaline bases  and especially with ammonia, having a blood-red  tint;
and, when treated with nitric acid, yields a yellow solution which is  rendered
turbid by water, and deposits a yellow powder.  It was obtained by Professor   i
Dulk in the following manner.   The root was  macerated with solution of
ammonia, and  to the red  mucilaginous liquor  which resulted, carbonate of 
596
Rheum.
PART I.
baryta was added.  When the red colour of the liquor ceased to be changed
to green by a salt of iron, the baryta was separated from its combination with
the rhein  by sulphuric or fluosilicic acid, added until  the liquor exhibited an
acid reaction.  The whole mixture was  then  evaporated,  and the residue
treated with  alcohol  of the sp. gr. 0-802, saturated with  ammonia.   The
solution, which was of a blood-red colour, was filtered and evaporated nearly
to dryness, when solution of ammonia was again added, and the liquid again
filtered, in order to separate a yellow powder, which was the rhabarbaric acid
of Brandes.  The red filtered liquor was precipitated by subacetate of lead ;
the precipitate was  washed with small quantities of water, mixed with a little
ammonia, and  having been dried,  was treated  with alcohol  of 0-820, and
decomposed  by a current of sulphuretted hydrogen.  The solution, which
was very yellow, being filtered and evaporated, yielded the  rhein in the form
of a reddish-yellow mass,  mingled with some  prismatic crystals, which by
the absorption of moisture, soon lost their form.   (Journ. de Pharm., xxv.
261, from Arch, der Pharm. des Apothek.  Vereinsin Nord-Deutschland, bd.
xvii.)
  There are other  interesting principles in rhubarb.  Some have been  dis-
posed^to ascribe its odour  to a volatile  oil ; but this  has  not  been isolated;
and the odour probably  resides in the rhein, which is volatiliizable.   Tannin
is an important constituent.  It is of that variety which precipitates the salts
of sesquioxide of iron of a greenish colour.  Whether there is a bitter principle
distinct from the purgative  has not been positively determined.   The oxalate
of lime is  interesting from its quantity, and from the circumstance that, ex-
isting 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 constituted nearly one-third, and Quekett
found, as already stated, between 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 the oxalate of lime, and is
therefore less gritty when chewed.  It contains, however,  more tannin and
starch than the  Asiatic varieties.
  When powdered rhubarb is heated, odorous yellow fumes rise, which are
probably in part the vapour of rhein.   Its infusion is reddened by the alkalies,
in consequence of their  union with rhein and rhabarbaric acid.   It yields pre-
cipitates with gelatin, the salts of sesquioxide of iron, acetate  of lead, nitrate of
protoxide of mercury, nitrate of silver, protochloride of tin,  lime-water, solu-
tions of quinia, and gelatin.  It is probable that nitric acid,  which occasions
at first a turbidness, and afterwards the deposition of a yellow precipitate,
acts by oxidizing the rhein, and thus converting it into rhabarbaric acid, which
is but very slightly soluble  in water.   The substances producing precipitates
may be considered as  incompatible.
  Medical 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 powers of diges-
tion.   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 practi-
cal advantages  in this, as in some other medicines, the virtues of which are
concentrated in one ingredient.  In its purgative  operation rhubarb is mode- 
part i.                         Rheum.                            597

rate, producing fecal rather than watery discharges, and  appearing  to affect
the muscular fibre more than the secretory vessels.   It sometimes occasions
griping pains in the bowels.   Its colouring principle is  absorbed, and may
be detected in the urine.   By its long-continued use, the perspiration, espe-
cially that of the axilla, is said to become  yellow, and the milk of nurses to
acquire a purgative property.
   The  circumstances of disease to  which it is applicable may be  inferred
from its peculiar properties.  When the stomach is enfeebled and 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 infantum, in chronic dysentery, and in almost all typhoid
diseases when fecal matter has  accumulated in the  intestines, or  the use of
cathartic medicine is  necessary  to prevent such  accumulation.   When em-
ployed  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 substance  with  which it is associated.  A mixture
of calomel and rhubarb is a brisk and powerful cathartic, much used in the
commencement of our  bilious  fevers.  As a  general rule, rhubarb is not
applicable to cases attended with mueh  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
laxative 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
and tincture are also highly useful preparations.   They are all officinal.
  By the roasting of rhubarb its purgative property is diminished, probably
by the volatilization of the rhein, while its astringency  remains unaffected.
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, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.;  Infusum  Rhei, U.S.,
Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.;  Pilulae  Rhei,   U.S., Ed.;  Pil. Rhei  Comp., U.S.,
Lond., Ed.; Pulvis Rhei Comp., Ed.; Syrupus Rhei, U. S.; Syrupus Rhei
Aromaticus, U.S.; Tinctura Rhei, U. S., Ed.; Tinctura Rhei Comp., Lond.,
Dub.;  Tinctura Rhei et Aloes,  U.  S., Ed.;  Tinctura   Rhei et Gentianas,
U. S., Ed,; Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S.; Vinum  Rhei, U. S., Ed.
                                                                 W, 
598
Rhceas.—Rhus Glabrum.
PART I.
                       RHGEAS. Lond., Ed.

                             Red Poppy.

    " Papaver Rhoeas. Petala." Lond. " Petals of Papaver Rhceas." Ed.
    Off. Syn. PAPAVER RHCEAS. Petala. Dub.
    Coquelicot, Fr.; Wilder Mohn, Klapperrose, Germ.; Rosolaccio, Ital; Amapola, Span.
    Papaver.   See OPIUM.
    Papaver Rhceas.  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 caps*ule, 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 naturalized in this country.
    Its capsules contain the same kind of milky juice as that found in the P.
 somniferum, and an extract  has  been  prepared from  them having the pro-
 perties 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  exceedingly  minute compared with that  in which the  same
 principle exists in opium.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., 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.  Chevallier detected a very minute proportion of
 morphia in  an extract obtained from  them  (Diet, des Drogues); 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.   A syrup is prepared from them, which was formerly
 prescribed as an anodyne in catarrhal affections; but is now little esteemed,
 except for its fine colour.
    Off. Prep.  Syrupus Rhceados, Lond., Ed., Dub.                 W.
            RHUS GLABRUM.  U. S. Secondary.

                              Sumach.

  "The fruit of Rhus glabrum." U. S.
  Rhus.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Anacardiaceae.
  Gen.  Ch.  Calyx five-parted. Petals five.  Berry small, with one nuciform
seed.  Nuttall.
  Of  this genus there are  several species which possess poisonous proper-
ties, and 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.Blant.  i. 1478.  This species of Rhus, called
variously smooth  sumach, Pennsylvania  sumach, and upland sumach, is
an indigenous shrub from four to twelve feet high, 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 ex-
tremity, 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 dis- 
part i.            Rhus Glabrum.—Rosa Canina.                599

posed in large, erect, terminal, 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, growino- 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 said to be used in tanning leather and in dyeing.
Excrescences  are produced  under the leaves resembling galls in character,
and containing large quantities of tannin and gallic acid.  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 collected at
little  expense,  as  they  are  produced very  abundantly, especially  in  the
Western States. (A. W. Ives' edition of Paris's Pharmacologia.)  The only
officinal part of the plant is the berries.
   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  con-
tained 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, of Virginia, found the acid combined with lime, in the state of
 bimalate.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Sumach  berries are  astringent  and refri-
gerant ; 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.
                    ROSA CANINA. Lond.

                             Dog Rose.

  " Rosa canina. Fructus pulpa." Lond.
  Off. Syn. ROStE FRUCTUS. Hip of Rosa canina and of several allied
species deprived of the  carpels.  Hips. Ed.; ROSA CANINA.  Fructus.
Dub.
  Rose sauvage, Fr.; Hundsrose, Germ.
  Rosa. See ROSA CENTIFOLIA.
  Rosa canina. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii.  1077; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p. 493. t.
177.  The dog rose, wild briar, or heptree, is a native of Europe, distin-
guished as a species  by  its glabrous ovate  germs, its  smooth peduncles, its
prickly stem  and petioles, and its ovate, smooth, rigid leaves.  It rises eight
or ten feet in height, 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. Brep. Confectio  Rosae Caninse,  Lond., Ed.                   W. 
600              Rosa Centifolia.—Rosa Gallica.            part i.
       ROSA  CENTIFOLIA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                       Hundred-leaved Roses.

   " The petals of Rosa centifolia." U. S., Ed.   " Rosa centifolia.  Petala."
 Lond., Dub.
   Roses a cent feuilles, Fr.; Hundertblatterige Rose, Germ.; Rosa pallida, Ital; Rosa de
 Alexandria, Span.
   Rosa.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosaceee.
   Gen. Ch.  Petals five.   Calyx urceolate, five-cleft,  fleshy, contracted  at
 the  neck. Seeds numerous, hispid, attached to the inner side of the calvx
 Willd.                                                            y '
   Rosa centifolia.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 1071; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p. 495.-
 t. 178.  This species  of  rose has.  prickly stems, which usually rise from
 three  to six feet in height.  The  leaves consist  of two or three pairs of
 leaflets, with an  odd one at the end, closely attached to  the common foot-
 stalk,  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, usually of a pale red colour, and supported upon pedun-
 cles  beset  with short bristly hairs.  The  germ is  ovate, and the segments
 of the calyx  semi-pinnate.  The varieties of  the R.  centifolia are very
 numerous, but may be indiscriminately employed.   The  plant is now culti-
 vated in gardens all over the world ; but its original country is hot 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 by distillation with water.  (See Oleum Rosae.)  They should
 be collected when the flower is fully expanded, but has  not begun to fall.
 Their  fragrance is  impaired but  not  lost by drying.  They may be pre-
 served 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 preparation of rose-water. (See Aqua Rosae.)
 i^?^'r^r€p' Aqua Ros3e' U' S" Lond-' Ed-' Dub''> Syrupus Rosee, Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Sarsaparillae Compositus, U. S.                 W.
          ROSA GALLICA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                             Red  Roses.

  "The  petals of Rosa Gallica."  U.S., Ed.   " Rosa gallica.  Petala."
Lond., Dub.
  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. Bot.  p. 498. t.
179.  This  species is smaller than the 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 
part i.              Rosa Gallica.—Rosmarinus.                 601

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 throughout 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 the R.  centifolia,  is improved by drying.  They have a velvety appear-
ance, a purplish-red  colour, and a  pleasantly astringent  and bitterish taste.
Their  constituents, according to M. Carder, are tannin, gallic acid, colour-
ing matter, a volatile oil, a fixed oil, albumen, soluble salts of potassa, inso-
luble salts of lime, silica, and  oxide of iron. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 531.)
Their sensible properties and medical  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.
   Medical 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  Rosae, U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Infusum Rosae
Compositum,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Mel Rosae,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Syrupus Rosse Gallicae, Ed.                                W.


              ROSMARINUS.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                             Rosemary.

   "The  tops of Rosmarinus officinalis." U.S., Ed.  " Rosmarinus offici-
nalis. Cacumina." Lond.
   Off. Syn. ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS. Cacumina. Dub.
   Rumarin, Fr.; Rosmarin, Germ.; Rosmnrino, Ital; Romero, Span.
   Rosmarinus.  Sex. Syst.  Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or
Labiatae.
   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 ofan 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,
of considerable size, and placed in opposite groups at the axils of the leaves,
towards the ends of the branches.  The  seeds are four in number, of an oblong
shape, and naked in the bottom of the calyx.
  The plant grows  spontaneously  in  the  countries  which border on the '
Mediterranean, and is cultivated in the  gardens of Europe and  this country.
The flowering summits are  the officinal portion.
   These 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 obtained  by distillation. (See Oleum
    52 
602
Rosmarinus.—Rubia.
PART I.
 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 composi-
 tion of several syrups, tinctures, &c, to which it imparts its agreeable odour
 and excitant property. It is sometimes added to sternutatory powders, and is
 used  externally 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 districts in which the plant abounds.
   Off.Prep.   Oleum Rosmarini, U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Ros-
 marini, Ed., Dub.                                                 W.


                    RUBIA. U. S.  Secondary.

                               Madder.

   " The root of Rubia tinctorum."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  RUBIA TINCTORUM. Radix. Dub.
   Garance, Fr.; Krnppwurzel, Germ.; Robbia, Ital; Rubia de tintoreros, Granza, Span,
   Rubia. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Rubiaceae. Juss.
   Gen. Ch.   Corolla  one-petaled,  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 dyers' madder is perennial, and consists of numerous
 long, succulent fibres, varying in thickness from  the size of  a quill to that of
 the little finger,  and uniting at top in a common  head, from which also pro-
 ceed  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 subdivi-
 sions.  The fruit is  a round, shining, black berry.
   The plant is a native of the South of Europe, and is  cultivated 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 then
 reduced to a  coarse  powder.  In this  state it is  packed in barrels, and sent
 into the market.
   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
•imparts 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. De-
 caisne, 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 of an orange-red colour,  inodorous, insipid, crystallizable, 
part i.      Rubia.—Rubus  Trivialis.—Rubus Villosus.
603
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.
Madder also contains sugar; and Ddbereiner  succeeded in obtaining alcohol
from it by fermentation and distillation, without affecting its colouring proper-
ties.   It is much  used by the dyers.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Madder was  formerly thought to be em-
menagogue and diuretic; and was used  in amenorrhoea, dropsy, jaundice,
and visceral 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 impres-
sion that it might effect some change in the osseous system, it has been  pre-
scribed 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, fyc.  Most of them are shrubby or suffruticose
briers, with  astringent  roots and  edible berries; some have annual stems
without prickles.   The only officinal species  are the R. trivialis and R. vil-
losus, 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,
sometimes 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 some-
what earlier than  that of the R. villosus.   According to Torrey and Gray, the 
604              Rubus Trivialis.—Rubus Villosus.           part i.

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  perfectly  ripe, of a shining black  colour and
very pleasant taste.  It is a compound 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 of 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 dew-
berry 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
strono-ly  astringent  taste, and  the ligneous  portion is nearly insipid,  and com-
paratively 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
experiment has  prove'd to be  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 medi-
cal use.  Given in the form of decoction, they are usually acceptable to the
stomach, without being  offensive to  the  taste; and may be employed with
great advantage  in cases of diarrhoea  from relaxation of the bowels, whether
in children or 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 boil-
ing 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-fqur  hours.   The  dose of the powdered root is  twenty or thirty
grains.                                                            W. 
part i.     Rumex.—Rumex Aquaticus.—R. Britannica.         605
                        RUMEX.  Lond.

                               Sorrel.

  " Rumex acetosa. Folia." Lond.
  Off. Syn. RUMEX ACETOSA. Folia. Dub.
  Oseille des jardins, Fr.; Sauerampfer, Germ.; Acetosa, Ital; Azedera, Span.
  Rumex.  See RUMEX AQUATICUS.
  Several species of Rumex have acid leaves, and are distinguished by the
common  name of sorrel from the others which are called dock.  Two only
deserve particular notice, the R. Acetosa, or common English sorrel, which
is sometimes cultivated in our gardens, and the R. Acetosella, or common
sorrel of our fields.
  Rumex  Acetosa.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 260; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 660.
t. 230.   This is  a  perennial herbaceous  plant, with a striated leafy stem,
branching at top,  and  rising one or two feet in height.   The radical leaves
are  narrow, oblong, arrow-shaped, and supported on long footstalks; those
attached to the stem are alternate, pointed, and clasping.   The flowers are
dioecious, in terminal panicles, and partly tinged of a red colour.
  R. Acetosella.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  ii. 260; Eng. Bot. 1574.  The com-
mon field sorrel  is  also an herbaceous  perennial, with a stem from four to
twelve inches high, and lanceolate-hastate leaves, having the lobes spreading
or recurved. The male and female flowers are on separate plants. The valves
are without grains.  The flowers appear in May, June, and July.   Though
abundant in the light sandy or  gravelly soils of this country, it is supposed
by some botanists to have been introduced from Europe.
  Sorrel  leaves are agreeably  sour, and without odour.   Their acidity is
dependent on the presence of binoxalate of potassa, with a small proportion
of tartaric acid.   Starch  and mucilage  are also  among their constituents.
Their taste is almost entirely destroyed by drying.
  They are refrigerant and diuretic, and  may be used with great advantage,
as an article of diet, in scorbutic complaints.  They are prepared in  the form
of salad, or boiled like spinage.   The juice of the fresh  leaves forms with
water a pleasant acidulous drink, sometimes given  in fevers.          W.
           RUMEX  AQUATICUS.  Radix. Dub.
                        Water Dock Root.

        RUMEX BRITANNICA.  US. 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. Polygonaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx three-leaved. Petals three, converging.  Seed one, three-
sided. Willd.  Calyx six-parted, persistent, the  three interior divisions peta-
                                 52* 
606              Rumex Aquaticus.—R. Britannica.           part i.

loid, connivent.  Seed one, three-sided, superior, naked.  Stigmata multifid.
Nuttall.
   We have placed together the three officinal species of dock, because their
virtues are so nearly alike that a separate consideration would lead to unne-
cessary repetition.  The roots of several other species have been medicinally
employed.  Those of the R. Palientia, and R. alpinus, European plants,
and of the R. crispus, R. acutus, and R. sanguineus, which belong both to
Europe and the United States, may be used  indiscriminately with those which
are considered officinal.   Several species of Rumex have acid leaves, which
are sometimes used in medicine.   Such are the R. Acetosa, R. Acetosella,
and R. scutatus.   These are more  particularly noticed under the head of
Rumex.                                                        *
   The docks are herbaceous plants with perennial roots.  Their flowers are
in terminal  or axillary panicles.  Some of the species are dioecious;  but all
those here described have perfect flowers.
   1.  Rumex aquaticus.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  ii. 255;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
658. t. 229. The water dock has a large thick root, externally black, internally
whitish, with an erect stem from three to five feet high, furnished with smooth,
lanceolate, pointed leaves, of which the lower are cordate at their base.  The
three petals, or, as some botanists consider them, the three interior divisions
of the calyx, approach each other so as to  assume a triangular shape, and
in this state are called valves.  These  are large, ovate, entire, and are each
furnished with a small, linear, often obscure grain, extending down the middle.
The  plant is a native of  Europe, but naturalized in America.  It grows in
this country in small ponds and ditches, and flowers in July and August. It
is thought to be the Herba Britannica of the ancients, celebrated for the cure
of scurvy and diseases of the skin.
   2. 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 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 Jul)-.
   3. 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.
   4. B. crispus.  Willd.  Sp. Blant. ii. 251.  This common  species, though
not officinal, is perhaps  equally entitled to notice with  those which  are so.
It  has a  yellow, spindle-shaped root, with a smooth furrowed  stem two or
three feet high, and lanceolate, waved, pointed leaves.  The valves are ovate,
 entire, and all graniferous.   It is a native  of Europe, and grows wild in this
 country.  It is common in  our dry fields  and pastures, and about barn-yards,
 and flowers 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.
 According to Riegel, the  root of  the  R. obtusifolius contains a peculiar prin-
 ciple  called  rumicin, resin, extractive  matter  resembling tannin,  starch,
 mucilage, albumen, lignin,  sulphur, and various  salts, among which are the
 phosphate of lime, and different acetates and malates.  Rumicin  is said to 
part i.                         Ruta.                             607

bear a close resemblance  to the active principle of  rhubarb.   (Journ.  de
Pharm., 3e serie i. 410.)  The leaves of most of the species are edible and
are occasionally used as spinage.  They are somewhat laxative, and form an
excellent diet in scorbutic cases.  The roots are used to dye a yellow colour.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The medical properties of dock-root are
those of an astringent  and mild tonic.  It is also supposed  to possess  an
alterative property, which renders it useful in scorbutic disorders, and cuta-
neous eruptions, particularly the itch, in the cure of which it enjoyed at one
time considerable reputation.  It is said to have proved useful also in syphilis.
Dr. Thomson found  a decoction of the root of the R. Patientia very effica-
cious in obstinate ichthyosis. (London Dispensatory.)   The  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 the  B. crispus  and  R.
obtusifolius ;  and the R. alpinus  has  in some parts of Europe the common
name of mountain rhubarb.   This  resemblance  of  properties is not sin-
gular, 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 ointment,
cataplasm, and decoction, to the various cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations
for which its internal use is recommended.   The  powdered  root is  recom-
mended as a dentifrice, especially when the  gums are spongy.         W.
              RUTA. U. S.  Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                                Rue.

  "The  leaves of  Ruta graveolens."  U.S.  "Ruta graveolens.  Folia."
Lond.   " Leaves and unripe fruit of Ruta graveolens." Ed.
  Off. Syn.  RUTA GRAVEOLENS. Folia.  Dub.
  Rue odornnte, Fr.,- Garten-Raute, Germ.;  Ruta, Ital.; Ruda, Span.
  Ruta.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Rutaceae.
  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 obo-
vate, sessile, obscurely crenate, somewhat thick  and fleshy leaflets.   The
flowers are yellow, and disposed in a terminal  branched  corymb upon sub-
dividing peduncles.   The  calyx  is persistent,  with four  or five acute seg-
ments ; the corolla consists of  four or five concave petals somewhat sinuate
at the margin.  The stamens  are usually ten,  but sometimes  only eight in
number.   The plant is a  native of the South of Europe, but cultivated in
our gardens.   It flowers from  June to  September.   The whole herbaceous
part is active;  but the leaves are  usually employed.
  These have a strong disagreeable odour, especially when rubbed.   Their
taste is bitter, hot, and  acrid.   In the  recent state, 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 
608
Ruta.—Sabadilla.
PART I.
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 Rutae.)
Besides volatile oil, they contain, according to Miihl, chlorophylle, albumen,
an azotized substance,  extractive,  gum, starch or inulin, malic acid,  and
lignin.  Both alcohol and  water extract their active properties.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Rue is stimulant and antispasmodic, and,
like most other substances  which excite the circulation, occasionally increases
the secretions, especially when  they are deficient from debility.   It appears
to have a tendency to act upon the uterus; in moderate doses proving emme-
nagogue, and in larger doses producing a degree of irritation in that organ
which sometimes  determines abortion.  Taken in very large quantities, 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 dan-
gerous  symptoms of gastro-intestinal inflammation and cerebral  derange-
ment,  which continued for several days, but  from which the patients ulti-
mately recovered.   In each of  these cases  miscarriage resulted.  Great de-
pression and slowness of the pulse attended the narcotic action of the poison.
{Ann. d'Hyg.  Pub. et  de Med. Leg., xx.  180.)   Rue is sometimes used in
hysterical affections, flatulent colic, and amenorrhoea, particularly in the last
complaint.  It has also been given in worms.   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 that it 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.   In one of the cases of poisoning above mentioned,
three fresh roots of the size  of the finger were taken in the form of decoction.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Rutae,  Lond., Dub.; Extractum Rutae,  Dub.; Ole-
um Rutae, Ed., Dub.                                              W.
               SABADILLA. U.S., Lond., Ed.

                             Cevadilla.

  " The seeds of Veratrum Sabadilla." U. S.  " Helonias officinalis. Seini-
na." Lond.  " Fruit of Veratrum  Sabadilla, Helonias  officinalis, and pro-
bably of other Melanthaceae." Ed.
  Cevadille, Fr.,- Sabadillsame, Germ.; Cebadilla, Span.
  There has been much  uncertainty in relation  to  the  botanical origin of
cevadilla.  For some time after it began to attract attention as the source of
veratria, it was  generally believed to be derived  from the Veratrum Saba-
dilla, which is recognised by the U.S.  Pharmacopoeia.  But Schiede, during
his  travels in Mexico, ascertained that  it  was, in  part at  least, collected
from a different plant,  of the same  natural order of Melanthaceae, growing
upon the eastern declivity of the Mexican Andes.   This  was  considered
by Schlechtendahl as a different  species of the  same genus  Veratrum, by
Don as a Helonias, and by Lindley as  belonging to  a new genus  which he
named Asagrasa.   Hence  it has been variously denominated Veratrum offi-
cinale, Helonias officinalis,  and Asagraea officinalis.   The  London Col-
lege  refers cevadilla  to this  plant, with Don's title of Helonias  officinalis;
while the Edinburgh College recognises both  this, and  the Veratrum Saba-
dilla, and admits other plants of the same  order  as probable sources of the
drug.   More exact  information, however, is wanted before we  can deter-
mine its precise origin.   It has been adopted  in  the Pharmacopoeias solely 
PART I.
Sabadilla.
609
on account of its  employment in the  preparation of veratria.   It is brought
from Vera Cruz.*
   The cevadilla seeds usually occur in commerce mixed with the fruit of the
plant.   This  consists of three coalescing  capsules or follicles, which open
above, and present the appearance of 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 deno-
minated 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 vera-
tria.   Besides the principles  above mentioned, M. Couerbe discovered ano-
ther organic alkali (sabadillia), a resinous substance (veratrin), and a resi-
noid substance  which  he  called resini-gum of sabadillia.   A peculiar  acid
was also  discovered by Merck,  called veratric acid,  which is in  colourless
crystals, fusible and volatilizable without decomposition, but slightly soluble
in cold water, more soluble in  hot water, soluble in alcohol, insoluble in ether,
having the properties of reddening litmus paper, and forming  soluble salts
with the alkalies.
   The  following  process  is  recommended  by M. Couerbe  for  obtaining
veratria.   An extract of cevadilla, obtained by treating  this substance with
boiling  alcohol  and  evaporating  the  tincture,  is  to  be boiled  with  water
acidulated with sulphuric  acid  until the liquid ceases to receive  colour, or
till a mineral alkali  introduced into it no longer occasions  any sign of pre-

  * Until more definitive 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; Descourtilz, Ann. Soc. Linn. Par., A. D. 1824,
167. See Veratrum  Album.  The leaves of this plant are numerous, ovate  oblong, ob-
tuse, 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, sim-
ple, 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  seg-
ments of the corolla are ovate lanceolate, and without veins.  The capsules occupy only
one side of the stem.  This plant grows in  Mexico and the West Indies, and  was culti-
vated by Descourtilz  at San-Domingo, from seeds  obtained in Mexico.
  Asagraa officinalis. Lindley, Botan. Reg., June, 1839.— Veratrum officinale.  Schlech-
tendahl, hinnaa, vi. 45.—Helonias  officinalis.  Don, Ed. New Phil. Journ., Octob., 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, acuminate,  papery; seeds
scimetar-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. 
610
Sabadilla.
PART I.
cipitation.  To the  solution of impure sulphate of veratria thus  obtained, a
solution of potassa or ammonia is to be  added, and the  resulting precipitate
is to be treated with boiling alcohol and animal charcoal.   The alcoholic so-
lution, being filtered and evaporated, will yield the veratria sufficiently pure
for medical use.  A drachm of it, in this  state, may  be procured from  a
pound of cevadilla.   But besides veratria, M. Couerbe has  shown  that the
principles, called respectively sabadillia and veratrin, are  also contained in
this product.  These are separated in the  following manner.   Into the solu-
tion of  impure sulphate of veratria obtained in the above process, nitric acid
is to be introduced by drops.   This occasions an abundant precipitate, from
which the clear liquor is to be decanted.  A weak solution of potassa is then
to be added to  the  liquor, and the precipitate which  it produces is  to he
washed with cold water, and  treated with  boiling alcohol.  The substance
obtained by evaporating the alcohol yields the sabadillia to boiling water,
which deposits it  upon cooling; a  substance  called  by M. Couerbe resini-
gum of sabadillia, remaining in solution.   If  the  residue  of the substance,
treated as just mentioned with boiling water, be  submitted  to the action of
ether, it yields  to this liquid  the  proper  veratria, which may be obtained
entirely  pure by the spontaneous  evaporation of the  ether.   The matter
remaining undissolved is the  resinous substance which M. Couerbe calls
veratrin.
   Veratria, when pure, is white, pulverulent,  uncrystallizable, inodorous,
extremely acrid, fusible by heat, scarcely soluble in  cold water, soluble  in
a thousand parts of  boiling water which it renders sensibly acrid, dissolved
freely  by alcohol, less so by ether, and  capable of neutralizing the acids,
with several of  which, particularly the sulphuric and muriatic, it forms crys-
tallizable salts.  For a further account of  veratria, with its effects upon the
system, and its  remedial applications, see  the  article  Veratria in the second
part of  this work.
   Sabadillia  is white, crystallizable, insupportably acrid, fusible by  heat,
readily soluble in hot water, which deposits  it upon cooling, very soluble
in alcohol,  and wholly  insoluble in ether.   It is capable of saturating the
acids.   According to  Simon,  sabadillia is a  compound of resinate  of soda
and resinate of veratria.
   For practical  purposes it is  unnecessary to obtain these two principles in
a  separate state;  the  impure  veratria, procured by  the  process above  de-
scribed,  being the preparation usually employed in medicine.  (Journ. de
Pharm., xix. 527.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Cevadilla is an acrid drastic emeto-cathar-
tic, operating  occasionally with great violence, and in over-doses capable of
producing fatal  effects.  It was made  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 anthelmintic, especially in cases of taenia,  in which  it has
been  given in doses varying  from  five to  thirty grains.  It has also been
given in different nervous  affections.  It is the principal ingredient of the
pulvis Capucinorum, sometimes used in Europe for  the destruction of ver-
min in the hair.   It is considered by the natives of Mexico useful in hydro-
phobia, 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.   Ex-
ternally applied, it is highly irritating, and is even said  to be corrosive.  Its
chief employment at present is for the preparation of veratria.
   Off. Prep.  Veratria, U. S., Lond., Ed.                            W. 
PART I.
Sabbatia.
611
                       SABBATIA.  U.S.

                       American  Centaury.

   " The herb of Sabbatia  angularis."  U. S.
   Sabbatia.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianaceee.
   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 rising 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 altogether 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 beautiful  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,
growing 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 the Erythraea,
formerly Chironia  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 bitterness,
together  with its medical virtues.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  American centaury has the  tonic proper-
ties of the simple bitters, and is very analogous in its action to the other plants
belonging to the same natural family.   It has long been popularly employed
as a prophylactic and remedy in our autumnal intermittent and remittentfevers;
and has found  much favour with the medical profession in the latter of these
complaints.   The state of the fever to which it is particularly applicable, is
that which exists in the intervals  between the paroxysms,  when the remis-
sion is  such as to call  for the use of tonics, but is not  sufficiently decided to
justify a resort to the preparations of Peruvian bark.   It is also occasionally
useful during the progress of a slow convalescence, by  promoting appetite
and invigorating the digestive function; 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. 
612
Sabina.
PART I.
                   SABINA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                               Savine.

   " The tops of Juniperus Sabina."  U. S., Ed.  " Juniperus Sabina.   Ca-
 cumina recentia et exsiccata."  Lond.
   Off. Syn.  JUNIPERUS SABINA. Folia. Dub.
   Sabine, Fr.; Sevenbaum, Germ.,- Subina, Ital, Spun.
   Juniperus. See JUNIPERUS.
   Juniperus Sabina. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 852;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 10.
 t.  5.  This is an  evergreen shrub, rising from three  or four feet to fifteen
 feet in height, with numerous erect, pliant branches, very 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,  of  a dark  green colour,
 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,  the remains of the  calyx  and
 petals, and containing three seeds.
   The savine is a native of the South of Europe and the  Levant.   It is
 said also  to  grow wild in the  neighbourhood  of our  Northwestern 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  Juniperus Virginiana, or common red
 cedar, is  sometimes substituted in the shops for the savine, to which it bears
 so close a resemblance as to be with difficulty distinguished.   The two spe-
 cies, however, differ in their taste and  smell.   In the /. Virginiana, more-
 over, the leaves  are sometimes  ternate.
   The tops and leaves of savine have a strong, heavy, disagreeable odour,
 and a bitter, acrid  taste.   These properties, which  are  less striking  in the
 dried than in the recent leaves, are  owing to a volatile oil, which is obtained
 by distillation with water.  (See Oleum  Sabinx.)  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, tannin  or gallic acid,
 resin, chlorophylle, fixed  oil, bitter  extractive, lime, and salts of potassa.
 (Am. Journ. of  Pharm., xiii. 15.)
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.  Savine is  highly stimulant,  increasing
 most of the secretions, especially those of the skin and uterus, to the latter
 of which  organs it is  supposed to have a peculiar direction.  It has been
 much used in amenorrhoea, and  occasionally as a  remedy for worms.  Dr.
 Chapman strongly recommends  it in chronic rheumatism.  In over-doses it
 is capable of  producing 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 much 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, repeated three or
four times a day.
  As an  external irritant it  is very useful, in the form  of cerate,  for main-
taining a  discharge from blistered surfaces; but as the preparation sold in 
PART I.
Sabina.—Saccharum.
613
 this country under the name of savine ointment is often deficient in power,
 either from the age of the drug or the substitution  of red cedar, it has in
 some measure  fallen into  disrepute.  (See Ceratum Sabinos.)  In the state
 of  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?,  U.S., Lond., Ed.; Oleum Sabinae, U.S.,
 Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Sabinas, Dub.                             W.


                 SACCHARUM.  U.S., Lond.

                               Sugar.

   " The sugar of Saccharum officinarum, refined."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  SACCHARUM PURUM.  Ed.; SACCHARUM OFFICI-
 NARUM. Succus concretus purificatus. Dub.
   White sugar; Sucre pur, Sucre en pains, Fr.; Weisser Zucker, Germ;  Z'ucchero en
 pane, Mat.; Azucar de pilon, Azucar refina<lo, Span.


               SACCHARUM COMMUNE. Ed.

                           Brown  Sugar.
   " Impure sugar, from Saccharum officinarum." Ed..
   Off. Syn.   SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM.   Succus concretus  non
 purificatus. Dub.
   Raw or  Muscovado sugar; Sucre brut, Cassonade rouge, Moscouade, Fr.; Gemeiner
 Zucker, Germ.; Zucchero brutto, Ital; Azucar negro, Span.


         SYRUPUS  EMPYREUMATICUS. Dub.

                              Molasses.
   Off. Syn. SACCHARI F^EX. Lond., Ed,
   Treacle ;  Melasse, Fr., 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 the crystallizable sugar of honey,
 starch sugar, and  diabetic  sugar are identical; uncrystallizable sugar, called
 by  Soubeiran  chulariose  (from zvwapiov, syrup);  lactin or sugar of  milk;
 sugar of ergot,  improperly called mushroom sugar ;  mannite ; and glycerin.
 Glucose, or grape sugar is found in nearly all fruits.   Its taste is less sweet
 than that of cane sugar.   It has the sp.gr.  of 1*386.  It is  less soluble in
 water, and much more soluble in alcohol than cane sugar.   Obtained from a
 concentrated aqueous solution, it forms crystalline grains.   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 several of  which cane
sugar forms definite compounds.  Dissolved  in water  and  subjected to pro-
longed ebullition, it  undergoes very little alteration.  A  solution of grape
sugar exhibits  right-handed circular polarization, and  undergoes  the vinous
fermentation directly, without passing  through any intermediate state.  Un-
crystallizable sugar exists in  honey and in the juice  of fruits, and is gene-
rated from cane sugar by solution in water or  weak acids, and long boiling.
Hence it is present in molasses.  The view of Liebig that uncrystallizable
     53 
614
Saccharum.
PART I.
sugar, whether derived from fruits, or generated by weak acids, is really a com-
bination of ordinary sugar and acid, has been disproved by Soubeiran, who
obtained it exempt from acid, and, therefore, considers  it a  distinct kind of
sugar.  (Journ. de Pharm. for Jan., 1842.)  An aqueous  solution of  this
sugar polarizes circularly to the left, and, like  grape sugar, is  susceptible of
fermentation  without an intermediate  change.   A solution of cane  sugar
polarizes to the right.  When it ferments, it is  not, as is generally supposed,
first converted into grape sugar.  It is  found both by Mitscherlich and Sou-
beiran to  be  first  changed into uncrystallizable sugar;  and, as  the change
proceeds,  the right-handed rotation of the  cane sugar gradually  lessens  and
disappears, and is  replaced by the left-handed rotation of the uncrystallizable
sugar formed. (See Soubeiran's paper on the Fermentation of Sugars, with
Biot's confirmatory remarks thereon,  Journ.  de Pharm., Se  ser. iv. 347.)
Lactin is  a white, crystalline, semi-transparent substance, obtained  from the
whey of milk, permanent in the air, soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol
and ether.  By the action of  nitric acid it is converted into mucic (saclactic)
acid.   Mannite is described under manna, and glycerin under soap. (See
Manna and Sapo.)  Cane sugar is manufactured extensively in France from
the beet, and  in  considerable quantities in the north-western parts  of the
United States as well as in Canada, from the sap of the sugar maple (Acer
Saccharinum).  It may also be obtained from  cornstalks.  (See the pamphlet
of H. L. Ellsworth.)   But the supply of sugar from these  sources is insig-
nificant when compared with that obtained  from the  sugar cane itself, which
is  extensively cultivated in the East and West Indies, Brazil, and some of
our Southern States, particularly Louisiana, for the purpose of being manu-
factured into sugar.  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.  Graminaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx two-valved, involucred, with  long down.  Corolla two-
valve d. Willd.
   Saccharum officinarum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 321; Phil. Trans, lxix. 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  sub-
divided spikes, and  two or three feet in length.  The  plant has a general
resemblance to the Indian corn.   Four varieties are  mentioned ; 1. the com-
mon, 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 (Ota-
heite) 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 a native of the tropical regions of both the  old and  new
continents.   It 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, 
PART I.
Saccharum.
615
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.
   Preparation  and Purification.  The canes being ripe, are  cut  down
close to the  earth, topped,  and stripped of their leaves, and  then  crushed
between iron rollers  in a kind of mill.  The juice is of  a  pale-greenish
colour, sweet taste, and balsamic odour,  and has a  sp. gr.  varying from
1*033  to 1*106.  As it runs out it is received in suitable vessels, and, being
quickly removed, is immediately mixed with lime in the proportion of one
part to eight hundred of the  juice, and  heated in  a  boiler to 140°.   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
concentrated by ebullition, the froth being carefully skimmed off as it forms.
When sufficiently  concentrated, it is'  transferred  to shallow  vessels  called
coolers, from which, before it cools, it is drawn off into wooden vessels,
with perforated bottoms, the  holes in  which  are temporarily plugged.   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 com-
pleted 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 portion
which finally  remains, incapable  of  yielding  more  sugar,  is  the  liquid
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, which prevents the
cane sugar from being converted into  uncrystallizable sugar, and, therefore,
lessens the amount of the molasses. Sometimes the brown sugar undergoes
an additional preparation, consisting in boiling it with  lime-water, and, after
sufficient concentration, allowing the syrup to crystallize  in  large inverted
conical vessels, pierced at the  apex and  plugged.   The surface of the crys-
talline mass  being  covered with  a  thin mixture of clay and water, the plug
is removed, and the water from the clay, penetrating the mass, removes the
coloured syrup, which flows  out at the hole.   The sugar, as thus prepared,
approaches to the white state, and constitutes the clayed sugar of commerce,
usually called in this  country  Havana sugar.   It  is still, however, far from
being pure.
   The refining of brown sugar forms a distinct branch  of  business,  and
the  methods pursued have undergone many  changes and  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 a woollen cloth, 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 fre-
quently decomposed the sugar  to such  an extent,  as  to  cause a loss of
 twenty-five per cent, in molasses.  This disadvantage has led to the abandon-
 ment  of prolonged  boiling ; and now, for the most part, 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.   By this arrangement,  ten minutes  are  a sufficient time for
 boiling, and thus any considerable decomposition of the sugar is avoided. 
616
Saccharum.
PART I.
  The process of refining has been 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  caus-
ing 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 cir-
culating round  the boiler.  In this way, the syrup was made to boil  at a
lower temperature, and with a diminished contact with the air; and the loss
of the cane sugar,  by 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 uncrystallizable  syrup.   When the mass  has completely con-
creted, the moulds are  unstopped, to allow the  coloured syrup to drain off.
To remove the remains of this syrup, the  operation called claying is per-
formed.   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 con-
sistence 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 purification 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 constitutes white  or purified sugar.
The syrup which  drains  from the loaves contains a considerable quantity
of cane sugar, and is used in subsequent operations.  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 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.
   After the  clarification by bullocks'  blood, the  syrup is decolorized by
allowing it to filter through a bed of coarse-grained animal charcoal, nearly
three feet thick.
   Of the several forms of sugar above indicated, as resulting from the various
steps in its preparation from the cane, three only, white and brown sugar,
and molasses, are  officinal in the British and United States Pharmacopoeias,
and these are designated by the Latin names placed at the  head of this arti-
cle.  The United  States Pharmacopoeia recognises refined sugar only, giving
it  the name  of  Saccharum;  the use of brown sugar and molasses  being
replaced by the employment of a prepared  syrup of known strength.   (See
Syrupus.) The London College also recognise refined sugar under the name
of Saccharum; but in the last edition of their Pharmacopoeia (1836) they have
omitted brown  sugar, and inserted molasses.   The Edinburgh and Dublin
Colleges, besides  recognising refined  sugar, also admit  brown sugar and
molasses.
   Commercial History.   Sugar has  been known from the  earliest ages, and
was originally obtained from Asia.  About the  period of the Crusades, the
Venetians brought it to Europe; but at that time it was  so scarce as to be
used exclusively as a medicine.  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 Portuguese.  Subsequently,  the cultivation of 
PART I.
Saccharum.
617
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 up to the present
day.  After this time, sugar  became  comparatively so cheap and abundant,
that, from being viewed as a medicine and costly  luxury, it came into almost
universal use among civilized nations  as an article of food.   In America it is
produced  most abundantly in the West Indies, which supply the greater part
of the consumption of Europe, little comparatively being taken thither from
the Brazils  or the East Indies.  The  consumption of the United States  is
more than half supplied by Louisiana and some of the neighbouring states.
Within a few years, our planters  have introduced into Louisiana  the variety
of cane called the Otaheite 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.
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 dissolves  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  suddenly 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 like  anthracite,
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 certain extent miscible with water,  and forms with the
latter an imperfect combination, called in pharmacy oleosaccharum.  When
in solution, it is not precipitated  by subacetate of lead, a negative property
by taking advantage of which it  may be separated  from  most other organic
principles.
  Action  of Acids and Alkalies, fyc.  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  the Appendix.)   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 boiled with
cane sugar, converts it into  a solid,  brown,  gelatinous  mass.   Weak sul-
phuric 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  sac-
chulmin  and sacchulmic  acid.  Vegetable  acids are supposed  to act  in a
similar way.  If the boiling be prolonged for several days in open vessels,
oxygen is absorbed, and, besides these two substances, formic acid is formed.
Soubeiran  admits  the change of  the  uncrystallizable into  grape  sugar, but
attributes it to a molecular transformation of the sugar, independently of the
action of the acid; as,  according to his observations, 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, form-
ing combinations which render the sugar less liable to change.  It  also unites
                                  53* 
618
Saccharum.
PART I.
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,  discovered by Peligot, one brown or black
and insoluble in water, called  melassic acid, the other, colourless and very
soluble, named glucic acid.   It is supposed that the cane sugar is converted
into grape sugar before these acids are formed.
  The account above given of the action of acids  and  alkalies  on sugar ex-
plains 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 con-
verting the cane sugar into  uncrystallizable sugar, by which a loss of the
former is sustained.   The use of lime, by neutralizing these acids, prevents
this result.  The change in the sugar which precedes fermentation points to
the necessity of operating before  this process sets  in ;  and hence the advan-
tage  of grinding  the canes  immediately after they are  cut, and boiling the
juice with the least possible delay.
  From  these  general remarks on the  different varieties of  sugar,  and the
action of chemical agents, we pass to the description of the several forms of
officinal sugar.
  Purified  or  white sugar, as  obtained on a large scale, is  in concrete,
somewhat porous  masses, called  loaves, consisting of an aggregate of small
crystalline grains.   When carefully refined,  it is brittle and  pulverulent, per-
fectly white, inodorous, and possessed of the pure saccharine  taste.
  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 a 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 proportion of lime and  tannic acid.   By keeping, it becomes
soft and gummy,  and less sweet;  a change  attributed to the lime.
  Molasses is of two kinds, the West India and sugar house.   West India
molasses is  a black ropy liquid, of a peculiar odour, and sweet  empyreuma-
tic taste.   When  mixed with  water  and the  skimmings of the vessels used
in the  manufacture of sugar, it forms a liquor, which, when fermented and
distilled, yields rum.  Sugar house molasses has  the  same general appear-
ance as the  West India.  It  is, however, thicker, and has a different flavour.
Its sp. gr. is about 1*4, and it contains about 75  percent, of  solid matter.
It is  the officinal  molasses of the  British Colleges.  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 gummy and colouring
matter.
  Composition.  The following  formulas  express the composition of the
different varieties of sugar, as far  as known.  Cane sugar, C^H^Ou-  Cane
sugar, as it  exists  in combination with  two eqs. of protoxide of lead (cara-
mel? anhydrous sugar?), C13H909.   Grape sugar,  C^H^O^.    Grape sugar,
heated to 212°, C12Hla012.  Lactin  or sugar of milk, C24H2402*-   Uncrys-
tallizable  sugar has not been  analyzed.  The  theory of the conversion of
sugar, during the  vinous fermentation, into  carbonic  acid  and  alcohol, has
been explained  at page 63.   If the views of  Soubeiran are correct,  it is not
grape sugar, as there stated, but uncrystallizable sugar, which  is the imme-
diate subject-matter of the change.
  Med. and Pharm. Uses,  #c.   The uses of sugar as an  aliment and con-
diment are numerous.  It is nutritious, but, judging from the results of the 
part i.                Saccharum.—Sagapenum.                   619

experiments of Magendie, not capable of supporting life when taken exclu-
sively as aliment, on account of the absence of nitrogen in its composition.
It is a powerful antiseptic, and  is  beginning to be 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 nutritious qualities of the aliment.
  The medical properties of  sugar are those of a demulcent, and as such it
is much used in catarrhal affections,  attended with irritation of the larynx
and fauces, in the form of candy, syrup, &c.  In pharmacy it 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 from oxida-
tion certain ferruginous preparations.  Accordingly it enters into the compo-
sition of several infusions and mixtures, and of nearly all the syrups, confec-
tions, and troches.   It is used  by the Edinburgh College for purifying the
commercial  sulphuric  acid from nitrous acid.   Brown sugar is used in the
Dublin compound pills of iron,  and in the Dublin and Edinburgh infusion of
senna with tamarinds ; and molasses, in preparing the  London compound pills
of iron, the London and Dublin compound pills of chloride of mercury, the
Edinburgh syrup of senna, and  the Dublin compound pills of colocynth, com-
pound pills of galbanum, and electuary of senna.  Molasses is well fitted for
forming pills, preserving them  soft and free from mouldiness, on account of
its retentiveness of moisture and its antiseptic qualities.
   Off. Prep, of Saccharum.  Syrupus, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.     B.
                  SAGAPENUM. Lond., Dub.

                            Sagapenum.

  " Ferulae species incerta. Gummi-resina."  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 belonging to the family of the Urn-
belliferae, growing  in  Persia.  The plant is conjectured  to be a species of
Ferula, and Willdenow supposes it to be the F. Persica, but  without suffi-
cient evidence.   The  drug is  brought from Alexandria, Smyrna, and other
ports of the Levant.
  It is in irregular masses,  composed of  agglutinated fragments, slightly
translucent, 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 impregnated with its flavour.  Accord-
ing to Pelletier, it contains, in 100 parts, 54*26 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 373  per cent, of
volatile oil.   This is of a pale yellow colour, very fluid, lighter than water,
and of a very disagreeable alliaceous odour. 
620
Sagapenum.—Sago.
part i.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Sagapenum is a moderate stimulant, simi-
lar to assafetida in its properties, but much inferior, and usually considered
as holding a middle station between  that gum-resin and galbanum.  It has
been given as an emmenagogue and antispasmodic in amenorrhoea, hysteria,
chlorosis,  &c, but is  now  seldom used.  The ancients  were acquainted
with it; and Dioscorides speaks of it as being derived from Media. The dose
is from  ten  to thirty grains, and may be administered  in pill or emulsion.
Sagapenum is also considered discutient, and has been  occasionally applied
externally, in the form of plaster, to indolent tumours.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Rutae, Lond.,  Dub.;  Pilulae  Galbani Compositae,
Lond.; Pil. Sagapeni Comp., Lond.                              W.
                    SAGO. U.S., Lond., Ed.

                                Sago.

  " The prepared  fecula of the pith of Sagus Rumphii." U. S.  " Sagus
Rumphii. Medullas Faecula." Lond.  " Farina from the interior of the trunk
of various Palmaceae and species of Cycas." Ed.
  Sagou, Fr.; Sago, Germ., Ital; Sagu, Span.
  Numerous  trees, inhabiting the  islands  and coasts of  the Indian Ocean,
contain a farinaceous pith which is applied to the purposes of nutriment by
the  natives.   Such are the  Sagus Rumphii, Sagus leevis, Sagus Ruffia,
Saguerus Rumphii,  and  Phoenix farinifera, belonging to  the family of
Palms; and the Cycas circinalis, Cycas revoluta, and Zamia lanuginosa,
belonging to  the Cycadaceae.  Of these the  Sagus Rumphii, Sagus laevis,
and Saguerus Rumphii probably contribute to furnish the sago of commerce.
Crawford, in  his History of  the Indian Archipelago, states that it is derived
exclusively from the Metroxylon Sagu, identical with the Sagus Rumphii;
but Roxburgh ascribes the granulated Sago to S. laevis, 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, some-
times called Japan Sago, does not enter into general commerce.
  Sagus.  Sex. Syst. Moncecia Hexandria.—Nat. Ord. Palmaceae.
  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  sim-
ple.  Nut tessellated-imbricated, one-seeded.  Willd.
  Sagus Rumphii. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 404; Loudon's Encyc. of Plants,
p. 789.   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
proportionably very thick, quite erect, cylindrical, covered with the remains
of the old leafstalks, and  surrounded by a beautiful crown of  foliage,  con-
sisting of numerous very large, pinnate leaves, extending in every direction
from  the summit, and curving gracefully downwards.  From  the basis of
the leaves proceed  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. 
PART I.
Sago.
621
This is gradually absorbed  after  the  appearance of fruit, and the  stem ulti-
mately becomes hollow.  The greatest age of the tree  is not more than thirty
years.   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 faci-
litate 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 allowed 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 usually  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 Singapore.  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 single tree. (Craw-
ford.}
   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 ren-
dered perfectly white 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 in cold  water, but by long boiling unites with
that liquid, becoming at  first soft  and transparent, and ultimately forming a
gelatinous solution.  Pearl  sago  is partially  dissolved by cold water, pro-
bably 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,
however, are much  less distinct than in potato starch.  The hilum  is cir-
cular 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, having
been altered  in the process employed  in preparing them.  Those of the com-
mon sago are very similar to the particles of sago meal, except that they are
perhaps rather less regular and 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  rugae
than those of sago; and the circular  hilum often cracks with two slightly
diverging slits.
   Sago is used exclusively  as an article of diet, having no medicinal qualities 
622
Sago.—Salix.
PART I.
which adapt it to the treatment of disease. Being nutritive, easily digestible,
and  wholly destitute  of irritating properties,  it is  frequently employed in
febrile 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 pre-
paration 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 ordi-
nary purposes.  The solution may be  seasoned with sugar and  nutmeg, or
with other spices, and with  wine, where  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.; SALIX
ALBA. SALIX FRAGILIS.  SALIX CAPREA. Cortex. Dub.
   Ecorce de saule, Fr.; Weidenrinde, Germ.; Corteccia di salcio, Ital; ("orteza de sauce,
Span.
   Salix.   Sex. Syst. Dioecia Diandria.—Nat. Ord. Salicaceae.
   Gen. Ch.   Male.  Amentum  cylindrical.  Calyx  a scale. Corolla none.
Glands of the base nectariferous.  Female. Amentum cylindrical.   Calyx
a  scale.  Corolla none.   Style  two-cleft.   Capsule one-celled, two-valved.
Seeds downy.  Willd.
   This is a  very 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 Ame-
rica.  Though most of them are probably possessed of  similar  medical pro-
perties, only three have been admitted to the rank of officinal plants by the
British Colleges; viz., S. alba, S. caprea, and S.fragilis.  Of these species,
the Salix alba is the only one which has been  introduced  into this country,
and is expressly recognised  in the last edition of our Pharmacopoeia.  The
S. Russelliana, which has been introduced from Europe, is said by Sir James
Smith to be the most valuable species.  The S. purpurea, which  is a Europ-
ean species, is said by Lindley to be the most bitter, and the S. pentandra
is preferred by Nees von Esenbeck.  Many native  species are in all  proba-
bility equally active with the  foreign ; but they  have  not been  sufficiently
tried in regular practice to admit of a positive decision  in  relation to them.
The younger Michaux speaks of the S.  nigra or black willow,  as affording
in its root a strong bitter, used  in the country as a preventive  and cure of
intermittents.  In  consequence  of the pliability  of the  young  branches or
twigs, the willow is  admirably adapted for  the manufacture of  baskets and
other kinds of wicker-work, and several species, as well native as introduced,
are employed for this purpose in the United States.  The  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 different species.
   Salix alba.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 710;  Smith, Flor. Brit.  1071.  The
common European or white  willow is a tree twenty-five or thirty feet in
height, with numerous 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 peti-
oles,  lanceolate, pointed, acutely serrate with  the lower serratures glandu- 
PART I.
Salix.
623
bar, 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  has been introduced  into this  country from  Europe,
and is  now very common.  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 pulveriza-
tion.   Willow bark has  a feebly  aromatic odour, and a peculiar bitter astrin-
gent taste. It yields its active  properties to water, with which it forms a red-
dish-brown decoction.   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  propor-
tion of tannin is so considerable that  the  bark has  been  used for  tanning
leather.  A  crystalline  principle 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.   Concentrated  sulphuric acid decom-
poses  it, receiving from  it an  intense and  permanent bright  red colour, and
producing a  new compound called rululin.  Muriatic and dilute sulphuric
acid convert it  into grape-sugar, and   a white, tasteless, insoluble  powder
named saliretin.  Distilled with  bichromate of potassa and sulphuric acid, it
yields, among other  products, a volatile oleaginous fluid, identical with one
of the components of oil of spiraea, and, from its acid properties, denominated
saliculous acid.  This  is considered  by  Dumas as  consisting  of  a pecu-
liar compound radical called salicule and hydrogen.   The formula of salicin
is  C42H09O22.  (Turner's  Chemistry.)  The honour  of its  discovery is
claimed by Buchner, of  Germany, and  Fontana and Rigatelli, of Italy;  but
M. Leroux, of France, deserves  the credit of having first accurately investi-
gated  its properties.  Braconnot procured it by adding subacetate of lead to
a decoction of the bark, precipitating  the excess of lead by sulphuric 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, Janv., 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  re-
 moved from the liquid, while a  portion of the oxide is dissolved  in union
 probably with  the salicin.   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.  (Turner'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 sub-
 sidence, the liquor is poured  off, concentrated to a quart, then digested with 
624
Salix.—Salvia.
PART I.
"eight ounces of ivory-black, filtered, and evaporated to  dryness.   The ex-
tract is exhausted  by spirit  containing 28 per cent, of alcohol, and  the tinc-
ture evaporated so that the salicin  may crystallize.  This  is  purified  by
again dissolving, treating with ivory-black, and crystallizing.  (Christison'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, in all probability, be obtained from
any of the willow  barks which have a bitter taste.  Braconnot procured it also
from various species of Populus, particularly the P. tremula or European
aspen.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  The bark of the willow is tonic and as-
tringent, and has been  employed as  a substitute for Peruvian bark, particu-
larly 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 inter-
mittents; though  the ascription  to it of equal efficacy with the  sulphate of
quinia was certainly premature.   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 be-
tween 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 application in  foul and indolent ulcers.
                                                                  W.
                   SALVIA.  U. S. Secondary.

                                Sage.

  " The leaves of Salvia officinalis."  U. S.
  Sauge, Fr.; S.ilbey, Germ.; Salvia, Ital..  Span.
  Salvia.   Sex. Syst.   Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Lamiaceae  or
Labiatae.
  Gen. Ch. Corolla unequal.   Filaments affixed transversely to a pedicel.
Willd.
  Salvia officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 129; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.  352.
t. 127.  The 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, 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 trans-
versely at the middle.
  Sage grows spontaneously in the South of  Europe, and is cultivated abun-
dantly  in our gardens.   There are several varieties, differing in the size and
colour  of their flowers, but all  possessed of the same medical properties.
The flowering period is in June, at which time the plant should be cut and
dried in a shady place.   The  leaves are the officinal portion. 
PART I.
Salvia.—Sambucus.
625
   Both these and the flowering summits have a strong, fragrant odour, and
a warm, bitterish, aromatic, somewhat astringent taste.  They abound in a
volatile 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 the properties  common to the aromatics.  By the an-
cients it was very highly esteemed; but it is at present little used internally,
except as a condiment.   In the state of infusion it may be given in debili-
tated conditions of the stomach attended with flatulence, and is said to have
been useful  in checking the  exhausting sweats of hectic fever.   But its
most useful application is as a gargle in inflammation  of the throat and re-
laxation of the uvula.  For this purpose it  is usually employed in infusion,
with honey  and  alum, or vinegar.  From twenty to thirty grains of the
powdered  leaves may be given for  a dose.  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 to be used 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—the  S.  pralensis and  S. Sclarea—are
ranked  among  the officinal plants in Europe.   The latter,  which is  com-
monly 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 the S.
Sclarea  are  said to be introduced into wine in order to impart to it a mus-
cadel taste.                                                       W.

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

                          Elder Flowers.

   " The flowers of  Sambucus  Canadensis."  U. S.  " Sambucus  nigra.
Flores." Lond. " Flowers of  Sambucus nigra." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  SAMBUCUS NIGRA. Flores.  Baccae. Cortex interior. Dub.
   Sureau, Fr.; Hollunder, Germ.; Sambuco, Ital;  Sauco, Span.
   Sambucus. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Caprifoliaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  five-parted.  Corolla  five-cleft.   Berry  three-seeded.
Willd.
   Sambucus Canadensis. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1494.' Our indigenous com-
mon elder is a shrub from six to ten feet  high, with  a branching stem, which
is  covered with a rough gray bark, and  contains a large spongy pith.   The
small branches and the leafstalks are very smooth.   The leaves are opposite,
pinnate, sometimes bipinnate, and  composed usually of three or four pairs of
oblong oval, acuminate, 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 when ripe of a deep purple colour.
  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 Carolina.
It  flowers from May to July,  and ripens its berries early in the  autumn.
The flowers, which  are  the officinal portion, have a  somewhat aromatic,
though rather heavy odour.  The  berries as well as other parts of the plant
are employed in domestic practice, and have been found to answer the same
     54 
626                   Sambucus.—Sanguinaria.               part i.

purposes with the corresponding parts of the European  elder, to which this
species bears a very 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, consisting usually of five  oval, pointed, serrate leaflets,
four of which are in opposite pairs, and the fifth terminal.  The flowers are
small, whitish, and in five parted  cymes.  The berries  are globular, and of
a blackish-purple  colour 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  proportion  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 saccharine matter and malic acid  which they contain.
Their expressed  juice  is susceptible of fermentation,  and forms a  vinous
liquor 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, after-
wards 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, evaporating  to the con-
sistence 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.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The flowers are gently excitant and sudo-
rific, but are  seldom used except externally as a discutient  in  the form of
poultice,  fomentation, or ointment.   The berries are diaphoretic and  ape-
rient; 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 hydragogue cathartic, acting also as an  emetic
in large  doses.   It has  been employed in  dropsy,  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 sometimes used in  vinous infusion.  The  leaves are not without
activity, and the young leaf-buds are said  to be a violent  and even unsafe
purgative. The juice of the root has been  used as a diuretic in dropsy.
-   Off. Prep. Aqua Sambuci, Lond., Ed.;  Oleum Sambuci, Lond.; Succus
Spissatus Sambuci, Dub.; Unguentum Sambuci, Lond., Dub.       W.


                     SANGUINARIA.  U.S.

                              Bloodroot.
   " The rhizoma of Sanguinaria Canadensis."  U. S.
   Sanguinaria.  Sex. Syst.  Polyandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Papave-
raceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx two-leaved.  Petals  eight. Stigma  sessile, two-grooved.
 Capsule superior, oblong, one-celled, two-valved, apex attenuated. Recepta-
cles two,  filiform, marginal. Nuttall. 
 part i.                     Sanguinaria.                         627

   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, puccoon,  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, surrounded 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 in height, and termi-
 nating 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 fila-
 ments shorter than the  corolla, and orange  oblong  anthers.  The germ is
 oblong and compressed, and supports  a sessile, persistent stigma.   The cap-
 sule 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  increase in
 size, and by the middle  of summer, have become so large as to  give  the
 plant an entirely different aspect.  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 numerous short  fibres, of a
 reddish-brown colour  externally, with a spongy uneven fracture,  the surface
 of which is at first bright orange, but becomes of a dull brown by long ex-
 posure.   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 ammo-
 nia, collecting the  precipitated matter, boiling it in water  with pure animal
 charcoal, filtering off the  water,  exposing  the residue left  upon the filter to
the action of alcohol,  and finally evaporating  the alcoholic solution. (Ann.
Lye. of Nat. Hist., New  York,  ii. 250.)   Sanguinarina, thus obtained, 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 
628
Sanguin aria.—Santalum.
PART I.
presence of some native salt of sanguinarina, which is decomposed by am-
monia in the process of separating the vegetable alkali.
  The virtues of the root are said to be rapidly deteriorated by time.
  Medical 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, it produces nausea and con-
sequent depression of the pulse; and in the full dose occasions  active vomit-
ing.  The effects of an over-dose 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 Med. Sci., N. S., ii.
506.)   Snuffed up the nostrils, bloodroot excites  much  irritation, attended
with  sneezing.  Upon fungous surfaces it  acts as an  escharotic. It has
been  given in typhoid pneumonia, catarrh, pertussis, croup,  phthisis pul-
monalis, rheumatism,  jaundice, hydrothorax, and some other affections,
either as an emetic, nauseant, or alterative; and its  virtues are highly praised
by many judicious practitioners.
  The dose with a view to its emetic operation is from ten to twenty grains,
given  in  powder or pill.   The latter form is  preferable  in  consequence of
the  great irritation 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 preparation  is from half a fluidounce to a
fluidounce.  The tincture is officinal.   An infusion  in  vinegar has  been
employed advantageously, as  a  local application, in obstinate  cutaneous
affections.
  Off. Prep. Tinctura Sanguinariae, U. S.                          W.


                       SANTALUM. U.S.

                          Red Saunders.
  "The wood of Pterocarpus santalinus." U.S.
  Off. Syn. PTEROCARPUS.  Pterocarpus santalinus.  Lignum. Lond.;
PTEROCARPUS.  Wood of Pterocarpus  santalinus.  Ed.; SANTALUM
RUBRUM. PTEROCARPUS SANTALINUS. Lignum. Dub.
  Santal rouge, Fr.; Santelholz, Germ.
  Pterocarpus.  Sex. Syst.  Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord.  Fabaceae
or Leguminosae.
  Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed. Legume falcated,  leafy,  varicose, girted 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 yellow, in axillary spikes, and have a papilionaceous corolla, of
which the vexillum  is obcordate,  erect, somewhat reflexed  at  the sides,
toothed and waved, the alss spreading with their edges apparently toothed,
and the carina oblong, short, and somewhat inflated.  The tree is a native
of India, attaining the highest  perfection in  mountainous districts, and in-
habiting  especially the mountains 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. 
PART I.
Santalum.—Sapo.
629
   The wood comes in roundish or angular billets', internally of a blood-red
 colour, externally brown from exposure to the air, compact, heavy, and of a
 fibrous texture.  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 the sulphate of
 iron, a scarlet with the bichloride of mercury, and a violet with the soluble
 salts of lead.  The colouring 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 rosemary, which readily dissolve it.
 It is precipitated when acids are added to the infusion of the wood prepared
 with an alkaline solution.
   The wood has no medical virtues, and is employed solely for the purpose
 of imparting colour.
   Off Prep.  Spiritus  Lavandulae  Compositus,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;
 Tinctura Cinchonae Composita, U. S.;  Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S.
                                                                  W.


                        SAPO.   U.S.,  Lond.

                                 Soap.

   " Soap made  with soda  and olive oil." U. S.  " Sapo, ex Olivae oleo et
 Soda, confectus." 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., Dub.

                              Soft Soap.

   "Sapo, ex Olivae oleo et Potassa confectus."  Lond.   "Soft soap, made
with olive oil and potash."  Ed.
   Savon mou, Savon vert, Savon a base de potasse, Fr.,- Schmierseife, Kaliseife, Germ.
   Soaps, in the  most extended  signification of the term, embrace all those
compounds which result from the  reaction of salifiable bases on oils  and
fats.  Oils  and fats, as has  been explained under the  titles Olea  and Adeps,
consist of three principles, two solid, differing in fusibility, called stearin
and margarin, and one liquid, called olein, of which there are two varieties.
Stearin characterizes the fats which  are firm and solid, as tallow; margarin,
those that are soft like lard ;  and olein  the oils.  When the oils and  fats
undergo saponification by reaction with a salifiable base, these three  princi-
                                  54* 
630                             Sapo.                          part i.

pies are decomposed  into oily acids peculiar to each, discovered by Chev-
reul, and called stearic, margaric, and oleic acids, which unite with the base
to form the soap, and into a sweet principle not saponifiable, called glycerin,
which is set free.   Hence it is inferred that  stearin is a  stearate, margarin a
margarate, and olein  an oleate of glycerin,  and that the oils and fats are
mixtures of these three oily salts.  Hence, also, it is obvious that soaps are
mixed stearates, margarates, and oleates of various bases.   Stearic acid is a
firm white solid, 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.  Margaric acid has
the appearance of fat, and is  fusible at 140°.  Oleic acid is an  oily liquid,
insoluble  in water,  soluble in  alcohol and  ether, lighter  than water, crystal-
lizable in needles a little below 32°, and having a slight smell and pungent
taste.  Glycerin, or  the sweet principle of oils (oxide of glycerule), is  a
colourless, volatile,  inflammable, syrupy liquid, without odour, having a very
sweet taste, uniting in all proportions with water  and alcohol, but insoluble
in ether, and having a sp. gr. varying from 1*25 to 1*27.
   Soaps are divided into the soluble and insoluble.   The  soluble soaps are
combinations of the oily acids with soda, potassa, and ammonia; the  insolu-
ble consist of  the same acids  united with earths and metallic oxides.   It is
the soluble soaps only that are detergent, and it is to these that the name
soap is generally applied.   On the other hand  the insoluble soaps, though
not fit for use in  domestic  economy, are  some  of  them employed in phar-
macy; as, for  example, the soap of the protoxide of lead, or lead  plaster, and
the soap of lime. (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 predomi-
nates ; 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 embrace three varieties; namely, 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 described under
another head.  (See  Linimentum  Ammoniae.)
  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,  it 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 streaks  arising  principally  from  an in-
soluble soap of oxide of iron.  Sometimes the  marbled appearance  is  pro- 
PART I.
Sapo.
631
duced 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.
   The officinal  "soap" 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.
   Common soap (Sapo Vulgaris, U. S.) 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. Pharma-
copoeia 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 common salt, which, by dou-
ble decomposition, 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.  It is evident that here the  common salt
performs a double  office, and must be added in larger amount than when it is
merely used as a separating agent.
   Besides the officinal soaps of the United  States and  British Pharmaco-
poeias, 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 soap is 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 luciae) is a kind of liquid soap, formed by mixing a tincture of
oil of  amber  and balsam of Gilead with water of ammonia.   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 concentrated.
This  soap is  yellow or yellowish-brown, and preserves its  transparency
after desiccation.  Palm soap is prepared from palm oil and soda,  to which
tallow  is  added  to increase  its firmness.   If it be wanted white, the palm
oil must be bleached by exposure to the sun, by sulphuric acid, or by chlo-
rine.   This soap has a yellowish colour, and an agreeable odour of violets,
derived from the oil.  Soap balls are prepared by dissolving soap in a small
quantity of water, and  then forming them with starch into a  mass  of the
proper consistence.   Common yellow soap  (rosin soap) derives  its pecu- 
632                             Sapo.                          part i.

liarities from an admixture of rosin and a  little palm oil with the tallow em-
ployed ;  the oil being added to improve its colour.
  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 in  largest quantity from
France.
  Properties.  Soap,  whatever  may  be  its variety, has the same  general
properties.  Its aspect and consistence are familiar to every one.  Its smell
is peculiar, and taste slightly alkaline.   It is somewhat  heavier than water,
and therefore 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 soda soaps, especially  those  in which the stearates  and
margarates predominate.   Acids, added to an aqueous solution of soap, com-
bine 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 invariably 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  earthy
salts in mineral waters.  The efficacy  of  soap as a detergent depends upon
its power of  rendering grease and other soiling  substances soluble in water,
and, therefore,  capable of being  removed  by washing.    Sometimes  soap is
adulterated with lime, gypsum, or pipe-clay, in which  case it will not be
entirely soluble in alcohol.
  Olive  oil soda  soap (Sapo,  U. S,,  Lond.), otherwise called  Castile or
Spanish soap, is a hard soap, and is  presented under two  principal varie-
ties, 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 alkaline 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  manufacturer, with the  fraudulent intention
of increasing its weight.  Soap, thus  adulterated, is known by its unusual
whiteness, and by its suffering a  great loss of  weight in a dry air.  Alar-
bled Castile soap is harder, more alkaline, and more constant in its  propor-
tions than the other variety.  It contains  about  fourteen per cent, of water.
Containing 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,  U. S.) is a hard soap, of  a white
colour, inclining to yellow.  It is made from tallow and caustic soda   This
soap possesses  the same general  properties as the olive oil soda soap.
  Soft soap, as made in  this country,  is a semi-fluid slippery mass, capable
of being poured from one vessel  to another, and of a dirty yellow colour.
This soap always  contains an  excess of alkali, which  causes it to act more
powerfully as  a detergent than  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  obtained from potash and hemp-seed oil.   It is  called in  the French
Codex, savon vert.  Sometimes it is manufactured from the dregs of olive oil. 
part i.                          Sapo.                             633

   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 salts mentioned 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 carbonate of potassa, to precipitate
all the lime.
,   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 mar-
garate and oleate of potassa.  The  most important soaps have the following
composition in the hundred parts.  Marseilles white soap, soda  10*24, mar-
garic acid 9*20, oleic acid 59*20, water 21*36.  (Braconnot.)  Castile soap,
very dry, soda 9*0, oily acids 76-5, 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 proportion of water.
   Medical 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 com-
bined, 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 has proved 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.   Dr. A. T. Thomson  has seen much  benefit  derived
from rubbing the tumid abdomen of children in mesenteric fever, morning
and evening,  with a strong lather of soap.   In constipation of the bowels,
especially 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
employed, two tablespoonfuls may be 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 decomposed by it.  It is also an ingredient in  some liniments
and plasters.   In toxicology it is used as a counterpoison 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, lime, or the
bicarbonate of soda or of potassa can be obtained.  The mode of administra-
tion, 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, U. S., Lond.; Emplastrum Sapo-
nis, U. S.,Lond„ Ed., Dub.; Extractum Colocynthidis Compositum, U.S.,
Lond., Dub.; Linimentum Opii, Ed.; Pilulae Aloes,  U. S., Ed.; Pil. Aloes
et Assafoetidae, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Pil. Assafoetidae, U. S.; Pil. Colocynthidis
Comp., Dub.; Pil. Gambogiae  Comp., Dub., Lond.,  Ed.; Pil. Opii, U. S.;
Pil. Rhei. U. S.; Pil. Rhei Comp., Lond., Ed.; Pil.  Saponis Comp., U. S., 
634
Sapo.—Sarsaparilla.
PART I.
Lond., Dub.; Pil. Scillae Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Saponis
Camphorata, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
   Off. Prep, of Common Soap. Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum, U.S.
   Off. Prep, of Soft Soap.   Enema Colocynthidis, Lond.;  Linimentum
Terebinthinae, Lond.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, Lond.     B.
                SARSAPARILLA.  U.S.  Dub.

                            Sarsaparilla.

  " The root of Smilax officinalis and of other species of Smilax." U. S.
" Smilax Sarsaparilla. Radix." Dub.
  Off. Syn. SARZA. Smilax officinalis.  Radix.  Lond.; SARZA. Root of
Smilax officinalis, and probably other species. Ed.
  Salsepareille, Fr.; Sarsaparille, Germ.; Salsapariglia, Ital; Zarzaparrilla, Span,
  Smilax.  Sex. Syst. Dioecia Hexandria.—Nat. Ord. Smilacese.
  Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx six-leaved.  Corolla none.  Female. Calyx six-
leaved. Corolla none.  Styles  three. Berry three-celled. Seeds two. Willd.
  Until recently,  the Smilax Sarsaparilla was admitted by most of the
standard authorities as the source of this drug; but it is doubtful whether any
of the sarsaparilla  of the shops was ever  obtained from that species.  The
S. Sarsaparilla is  a native of the United States, and its root would certainly
have been dug up and brought into the market, had it been found to possess
the  same properties with the imported medicine.  It  is not among the eleven
species of Smilax described by Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, who indicate
the  S. officinalis, S. syphilitica,  and  S. Cumanensis, especially the first, as
the  probable sources of the sarsaparilla exported from Mexico and the Spanish
Main.  In the present state of our knowledge on the subject, 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 great number of species  belonging to
this genus, very few possess any useful 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 sarsapa-
rilla, the  rest being insipid and  inert.  The root (rhizoma) of the 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 in pieces from three to eight inches long and an  inch or
two thick, usually  somewhat 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 the  Smilax aspera  is  said to be employed  in the  South of Europe
as a substitute for sarsaparilla ; but it has little  reputation.   The East India
sarsaparilla, which was at one time supposed to  be the product of this species
of Smilax, is derived from a wholly different plant, named  Hemidesmus
Indicus.   We shall briefly describe the  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 these species 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. 
PART I.
Sarsaparilla.
635
161. t. 62.  The stem  of this plant is  long, slender, shrubby, angular, and
beset with prickles.  The 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 Southern States.
   S. officinalis.  Humb. and Bonpl. Plant Mquinoct. i. 271.  In this species
the stem is twining, angular, smooth, and  prickly; the young shoots are
unarmed; and  the  leaves ovate  oblong, acute, cordiform, five  or  seven-
nerved, coriaceous,  smooth,  twelve inches long and four or five broad, with
footstalks an inch long, smooth, and furnished  with tendrils.  The young
leaves  are lanceolate oblong,  acuminate, and three-nerved.   According to
Humboldt,  the  plant  abounds on  the  river  Magdalena, in New  Granada,
where  it is called zarzaparilla by the natives.   Large quantities of the root
are sent down the river to Mompox and Carthagena.
   S. syphilitica. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv.  780.  The stem is round and smooth;
armed  at the joints with from  two to four thick, straight prickles; and  fur-
nished  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 Cassiquiare, and by Martius in Brazil, at Yupura and by the  Rio
Negro.   It  has been supposed to yield  the Brazilian sarsaparilla.
   S. papyracea. Poiret, Encyc.  Meth. iv. 467.   This is an under-shrub
with a  compressed stem, angular  below, and furnished with  spines at the
angles.   Its leaves  are elliptical, acuminate, and three-nerved.  It inhabits
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. from Journ. de Chim. Med.)
   S. medica. Schlechtendahl, in Linneea, vi. 47.  This species has an angu-
lar 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 prominent 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. Shiede
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 originate 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 unfrequenfly portions of the
stems  attached, sometimes  several inches  in  length.  The  sarsaparilla  of
commerce comes from different sources, and is  divided into varieties accord-
ing to the place of collection 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  connected at one extremity  in large  numbers in a  common head,
to which portions of the stems are  also  attached. In  some bundles are many 
636
Sarsaparilla.
PART I.
 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 por-
 tion beneath the epidermis 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 chan-
 nel  of  exportation to  Europe,  and it is  probably derived originally from
 Honduras.   It does not materially differ in properties from  Honduras sar-
 saparilla,  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 com-
 merce,  it is in bundles twelve or eighteen inches long, by four or five in thick-
 ness, consisting of long 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 is not highly 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 the 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, sur-
 rounded 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
 sarsaparilla, is less used in  the  United  States  than in Europe, where it
 has  commanded  a higher price.   It has recently, however, 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
 thickness, 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 radical fibres.  It is the variety of which  Hancock speaks as
 celebrated  throughout  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 the Smilax
 syphilitica ; but Dr.  Hancock considers that portion of it which comes from
 the Rio Negro, and  is  shipped  at Para, as the product of an undescribed
 species, certainly not the 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.)
   Much sarsaparilla has been imported into England from Lima, Valparaiso,
 and other places  on the Pacific coast of South America.   It is  described by
ereira 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 rhizoma
 attached.   The epidermis is  brown or grayish-brown.   Sometimes roots of
 a light clay colour are found in the bundles. 
PART I.
Sarsaparilla.
637
   Properties.  The dried sarsaparilla  roots are several feet in length, about
the thickness  of  a  goose-quill, cylindrical, more or  less wrinkled longitudi-
nally, 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 unfrequenfly
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 longitu-
dinal 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 dis-
agreeable 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 medullary 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 inac-
tive.  The  virtues  of the root are communicated to water  cold or hot, but
are impaired  by  long boiling.  (See Decoctum Sarsaparillae.)   They are
extracted also by diluted alcohol.  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 digestions, 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 affusing hot water to the amount of that
taken off from the  first  boiling, and pressing again, I procured by the last
operation about four pints of an infusion which possessed the acrid  proper-
ties 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 sarsaparilla, 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  proportion of starch is large.
  Sarsaparillin.  (Smilacin.  Pariglin.  Salseparine. Parallinic 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
announced  the discovery of a new substance in sarsaparilla, which he named
salseparine, from  the French name of the root.  Finally, Batka, a German
     55 
638
Sarsaparilla.
PART I.
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 pos-
sessed acid properties, he called parillinic acid.  M. Poggiale, however, has
shown that these substances are identical, though procured by different pro-
cesses.  The  process of M. Thubeuf, which is decidedly preferable to the
others, is  the following.  The root is treated with  hot alcohol till  deprived
of taste.  The tincture thus  obtained 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  sarsa-
parillin 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 evapor-
ating to dryness, dissolving the product in water, filtering, again evaporating
to dryness, redissolving in alcohol, and crystallizing.  Sarsaparillin is white,
inodorous, almost tasteless in the solid state, but of a bitter, acrid,  nauseous
taste,  when dissolved in alcohol or water.  It is very  slightly soluble in cold
water, but is  more  readily dissolved  by 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.  Water which  holds it in 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 con-
sidered volatile, and we can readily understand why sarsaparilla suffers  in
decoction. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 245, from Journ. de  Chim. Med.)
The solutions of sarsaparillin are without  either acid or alkaline  reaction.
Batka erred in  considering it an acid.  M. Poggiale found it both in the cor-
tical and medullary part of the root, but most largely in the former.  Palolta
gave it internally in doses varying from  two to thirteen grains, and found it
to produce nausea and to diminish the force of the circulation.   It is proba-
bly the principle upon which sarsaparilla depends chiefly, if not exclusively,
for its remedial powers; but this opinion needs the support of further  obser-
vation before it can be  admitted as  an established fact. (Journ. de Pharm.,
xx. 553 and 679.)
   The sarsaparilla of the shops is very apt to be  nearly if  not quite inert,
either from  age, or from  having  been obtained from an inferior species of
Smilax. This inequality of the medicine, together  with the improper modes
of preparing it which have  been long in vogue, has  probably contributed to
its variable reputation.  The only criterion of good sarsaparilla which can be
relied on is the taste.   If it leave a decidedly acrid impression in the  mouth
after having been chewed for a short time, it may be considered efficient; if
otherwise, it is probably inert.
   Medical 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 the treat-
ment of which it had  been  found  very useful in the recent Spanish settle-
ments 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 different opinions have
been  entertained of its  efficacy.   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
 discrepancy has been already mentioned.  Experience, both among regular
 practitioners and empirics,  would seem to have placed its efficiency beyond 
part i.     Sassafras Medulla.—Sassafras Radicis Cortex.        639

reasonable doubt;  and at this moment its reputation is probably as high as
at any former period.  Its most extensive and useful application is to the
treatment of secondary  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 the general health to which  the physician may
find it difficult to apply a name.   Its mode of action is less  evident than its
ultimate effects.  It is said to increase the perspiration and urine;  but allow-
ing it to possess this power, the amount of effect is too trifling to explain its
influence  over  disease;  and the  diaphoretic and diuretic action  which it
appears to evince,  may perhaps be as justly ascribed  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 may call it  an alterative, as
we call all those medicines which change  existing morbid  actions, without
any 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.   Dr.  Hewson, of  Philadelphia, informed us  that he  had
found, as the result of numerous trials, that few stomachs would  bear com-
fortably more than this  quantity of the powder.   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.*
   Off. Prep.   Decoctum  Sarsaparillae Compositum,  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Decoctum Sarzae, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Extractum Sarsaparillae, U.S.,
Lond., Dub.; Extractum Sarsaparillae Fluidum, Dub., Ed.; Infusum Sarsa-
parillae, U. S.;  Infusum Sarsaparillae  Comp., Dub.;  Syrupus  Sarsaparillae,
Dub., Lond., Ed.; Syrupus Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S.              W.


               SASSAFRAS MEDULLA.  U.S.

                           Sassafras Pith.
   " The pith of the stems of Laurus Sassafras."  U. S.


        SASSAFRAS  RADICIS CORTEX. U. S.

                     Bark of Sassafras Root.
   "The bark of the root of Laurus Sassafras." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  SASSAFRAS.  Laurus  Sassafras.  Radix.  Lond.;  SASSA-
FRAS. Root of Sassafras officinale. Ed.; SASSAFRAS.  LAURUS  SAS-
SAFRAS. Lignum.  Radix. Dub.
   Sassafras, Fr.,  Germ.; Sassafras, Sassafrasso, Ital; Sasafras, Span.
   In the new distribution of the species composing the genus Laurus of Lin-

  * The following is a formula recommended by Hancock. " Take of Rio Negro 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, without materially affecting the virtues of the
preparation. 
 640                   Sassafras Radicis Cortex.               part i.

 naeus, the sassafras tree has been made the type of a new genus, denomi-
 nated Sassafras, which should  have been  admitted  in our Pharmacopoeia;
 as the new arrangement was recognised in the adoption of the genus Cinna-
 momum.
   Sassafras. Sex. Syst. Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lauraceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Dioecious. Calyx  six-parted,  membranous ;  segments  equal,
 permanent 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
 situations  from thirty to fifty feet in height, with  a trunk about a foot in
 diameter.   In the Southern States it is  sometimes larger, and in  the northern
 parts of New England is little more  than a shrub.   The  bark which covers
 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 number are three-lobed.  Their
 mean length is four or five inches.   The flowers, which are frequently dioe-
 cious, and appear before the leaves, are  small, of a pale yellowish-green
 colour, and disposed in racemes  which spring 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 hermaphrodite,
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, which enlarges 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 places were probably not  of the  same species.  In this
 country 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
 wood and root are  directed by the  British  Pharmacopoeias, the  bark of  the
root and the pith of the twigs or extreme  branches, by that of the United
States.  The wood is porous, light, fragile, whitish in the  young tree,  red-
dish in  the old, and  but feebly  endowed with aromatic properties.   It is
 sent to Europe in billets invested with the bark;  but  is not employed in this
 country.   The root is  more commonly exported, and  is the part  chiefly used
in British  pharmacy.   It consists of a brownish-white wood, covered with
a spongy bark divisible into layers.   The latter portion is  by far the  most
active, and is usually kept in our shops in a separate state.
   1. Sassafras Pith.  This is in slender cylindrical pieces, very light and
spongy, with a mucilaginous taste, having  in a slight degree the character-
istic flavour of the sassafras.  It abounds in a gummy  matter which it readily
imparts 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 
 part i.       Sassafras Radicis Cortex.—Scammonium.          641

 substitute in the suspension of insoluble substances.  It differs also from
 solutions of ordinary  gum,'in remaining perfectly limpid when added to
 alcohol.  This mucilage is much  employed as a  mild and  soothing applica-
 tion in inflammation of the eyes;  and forms a pleasant 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 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 gratefully aromatic. These properties are extracted by water and alcohol.
 They reside in a volatile oil which  may be obtained  separate by distillation
 with water. (See Oleum Sassafras.)
   Medical 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 rheumatism,  cutaneous eruptions, and scorbutic and  syphiloid
 affections.   As a remedy  in lues  venerea, in which it formerly had  a high
 reputation, it  is  now universally considered  as in itself wholly  inefficient.
 It is most conveniently administered in the form  of infusion.  The oil may
 also be  given.  As  the active principle is volatile, the decoction and extract
 are useless preparations.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Calcis Composita, Dub.;  Decoctum  Guaiaci Composi-
 tum, Dub., Ed.; Decoctum Sarsaparillae  Compositum, U. S., Lond., Ed.,
 Dub.;  Oleum Sassafras, U. S., Ed., Dub.                          W.


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

                            Scammony.

   " The  concrete  juice of the root of Convolvulus Scammonia."  U. S.
 " Convolvulus  Scammonea.   Gummi-resina." Lond., Dub.   " Gummy-
 resinous exudation  from incisions into the  root of Convolvulus Scammo-
 nia." Ed.
  Scammonee, Fr.; Scammonium, Germ.; Scamonea, Ital; Escamonea, Span.
  Convolvulus.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Convol-
 vulaceae.
   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. Med. Bot.
p. 243. t. 86.  This species of  Convolvulus  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 stems are numerous, slender, and twining,
extending sometimes  to the distance of 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.
                                 55* 
642
Scammonium.
PART I.
  The plant is a native of Syria  and the neighbouring countries.  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,
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, 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  sea-
port of Aleppo.   Dr.  Pereira was  informed by a merchant  who had re-
sided in  Smyrna, that  it  is brought upon camels in a soft state into  that
city, and  afterwards adulterated by  a  set of individuals called  scammony
makers.   The adulteration  appears  to  be conducted- in conformity with a
certain understood scale,  more or less  foreign matter being added  accord-
ing to the price.  The materials employed are chiefly chalk and  some kind
of flour or meal.  Very little comparatively 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 dis-
tinction having probably originated in  some difference  in the character of
the scammony obtained at these two places.  But no such difference now
exists; as scammony is brought from Smyrna of every degree  of purity.  It
is customary in  this country  to designate  the  genuine drug of whatever
quality  as Aleppo scammony;  while  the  name of Smyrna  scammony  is
given to a spurious artiele 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 fac-
titious scammony.
   Genuine scammony.   This is  sent into commerce in drums or boxes,
and  is  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 circular, flatfish  or plano-convex  cakes.  It seldom  reaches us  in
an unmixed state.  Formerly small portions  of pure scammony were occa-
sionally 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 scam-
mony.  It is in irregular pieces, probably the fragments of larger and round-
ish  masses, often covered with a whitish-gray  powder, friable  and easily
broken into small fragments between the fingers, with a shining grayish-green
fracture soon passing into greenish-black, and exhibiting under the microscope
minute air cells, and numerous gray  semi-transparent splinters.   It is easily
pulverized, affording a pale ash-gray powder.  When rubbed with water it
readily forms  a  milky emulsion.   It has  a  rather  strong, peculiar odour,
which has been compared  to that of old cheese.    The taste is feeble at first, 
PART I.
Scammonium.
643
and afterwards somewhat acrid, but without bitterness.  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 sulphuric ether.
   The form of scammony at present almost exclusively found in our mar-
kets 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 five or six inches in diame-
ter, 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 usually  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 ex-
ternally 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 sometimes
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.  One of the finest
specimens effervesced  strongly with muriatic acid, in cold filtered decoction
struck a  deep blue with iodine, and afforded upon incineration 15 per cent.
of ashes, which  were  dissolved by muriatic acid, and precipitated by sul-
phuric acid as  sulphate of lime. In some of the cakes carbonate of lime is the
chief impurity; in others the adulterating substance is probably meal, as evi-
dences of the presence of starch and lignin are afforded; and in others again
both these substances are found.   Christison discovered in the chalky speci-
mens 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 probably to the
flat, dark-coloured, compact, difficultly pulverizable, and more impure cakes
that the name of Smyrna scammony was formerly given.  These have been
considered  by some,  without sufficient grounds, to be the  product  of the
Periploca Secamone, a plant growing  in Egypt.*

  * 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 introduce
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 follow-
ing particulars  may be mentioned.  The whitish powder often found  upon the  surface
effervesces with muriatic  acid, and consists  of chalk, in which the lumps have probably
been rolled. The sp. gr. of the masses is 1210. In the same piece it sometimes happens
that certain portions are shining and black, while  others are dull-grayish. Virgin scam-
mony 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,
resembles  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
probably 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 
644
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  con-
stitutes about 80 per cent,  of pure dry scammony.   The gum-resin has been
analyzed 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 ex-
tractive, and 58 of vegetable remains and earthy substances.   It is obvious
that both the specimens upon which they operated were very impure.  Mar-
quart 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, 1*75 of starchy
envelopes, bassorin, and gluten, 1-50 of albumen and lignin, 3*75 of ferrugi-
nous alumina, chalk, and carbonate of magnesia, and 3-50 of sand. Christison
found  different specimens of pure scammony to contain, in 100 parts, from
77 to 83 parts of resin, from 6 to 8 of gum, from 3*2 to 5 of lignin and sand,
and from 7*2 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.  For the
character of the resin, see Extractum sive Besina Scammonii.  As already
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, and some not more
than 42 per cent.*
  The  Edinburgh College  gives the following  signs  of pure scammony.
"Fracture 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 separates at least eighty per cent, of resin dried at 280°."
Effervescence with  muriatic acid indicates the  presence of chalk, a  blue
colour with iodine that of starch in the form of flour.
  Factitious  Scammony.  Montpellier Scammony.  Much spurious scam-
mony is manufactured, in the South of France, from the  expressed juice of
the Cynanchum Monspeliacum, incorporated with various resins, and other

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 different
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, 250, 31-05, and 37-54, numbers
which correspond very closely, in the two extremes, with the results obtained by Christi-
son.  This is the variety of scammony referred  to in the text as the one  chiefly used in
the United States.
  * The following table is given by Dr. Christison as the result of his  examination of
different specimens of impure commercial scammony.
	Calcareous.	Amylaceous.	Calcareo-am
	r ■*		r^-^i
Resin,	64-6 56 6 43 3	370 62-0	424
Gum,	6-8 5-0 8-2	9-0 7-2	78
Chalk,	17 6 25 0 31-6	_ _	18-6
Fecula,	— 1-4 40	20-0 104	13-2
Lignin and sand,	5-2 7-1 7-8	22-2 13-4	9-4
Water,	6-4 5 2 6-4	120 7-5	10-4
100-6 100-3 101-3       100-2 100-5        101-8 
PART I.
Scammonium.—Scilla.
645
 purgative substances.   It is  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  externally 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. There is very little, if any, of tliis now in the market.
 Dr. Pereira describes another factitious scammony sold as Smyrna scammony,
 which is in  circular flat cakes, about half an  inch thick, biackish,  and  of a
 slaty aspect, breaking with difficulty, of a dull black fracture, and of the sp. gr.
 1*412.   Moistened and rubbed it bas the smell of guaiacum, which  may also
 be  detected by chemical tests.
   Medical 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 vio-
 lence is 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 demul-
 cent ; 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 twenty of that commonly found in the market.
   Off.Prep.  Confectio  Scammonii, Lond., Dub.; Extractum Colocynthidis
 Compositum, U. S., Lond.; Extractum sive Resina  Scammonii, Ed.; Pilulas
 Colocynthidis Comp., Dub.,  Ed.; Pulvis Scammonii Comp., Lond., Ed.,
 Dub.                                                            W.


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

                               Squill.

  "The  bulb of Scilla maritima." U.S., Ed.  "Scilla maritima.  Bulbus
 recens."  Lond.
  Off. Syn.  SCILLA MARITIMA.  Bulbus.  Dub.
  Scille, Fr.; Meerzwiebel, Germ.; Scilla, Ital; Cebolla albarrana, Span.
  Scilla. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Liliaceae.
  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.  This
 is a perennial plant, with fibrous roots proceeding from the bottom of a large
 bulb,  which sends forth several  long, lanceolate, pointed, somewhat undu-
 lated, 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. 
646
Scilla.
PART I.
   The squill grows on the seacoast of Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and the
other countries  bordering on the Mediterranean.   The  bulb is the officinal
portion.   It is generally dried for use; but it 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 consisting of fleshy scales
attenuated 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  their medicinal virtues.   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 consequence  of the
abundance and viscid character of  the juice.   The bulb is cut into thin trans-
verse 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
the active principle, 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 yellowisb-white  colour with a  reddish or rosy tint,
sometimes entirely white, slightly diaphanous, brittle and pulverizable when
perfectly 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 their base.   The odour is
very feeble, the  taste bitter,  nauseous, and  acrid.
   The virtues of  squill are  extracted by water, alcohol, and vinegar.  Ac-
cording to Vogel, it contains a peculiar very bitter principle  named by him
scillitin, gum, tannin, traces of citrate of lime and saccharine matter, lignin,
and an acrid principle which he was unable to isolate.  Water distilled from
it had  neither taste nor  smell, and  was drunk by Vogel to the amount of six
ounces without  producing any  effect.   From the  experiments of Duncan
and  Buchner it  appears that tannin, if it  exists in  squill, is  in very small
proportion.  The scillitin of Vogel is soluble in water, alcohol, and vinegar;
but it is considered by M. Tilloy, of Dijon, whose analysis is more  recent, to
be a compound of the proper active principle of squill with gum and uncrys-
tallizable  sugar.   The  scillitin obtained by  the latter experimenter was in-
soluble in water and in  dilute acids, soluble in alcohol, exceedingly acrid and
bitter to the taste, and very  powerful in  its influence on the animal system.
A  single  grain  produced the death of a strong dog. The following is the
process of M. Tilloy.  Dried squill is macerated in alcohol of 33° Baume,
the resulting tincture evaporated to the consistence of syrup, and the  extract
treated with alcohol of  35°.   The alcoholic  solution is  evaporated, and the
residue treated first with ether and subsequently with water.   The aqueous
solution, filtered and evaporated, yields a substance analogous to the scillitin
of Vogel.   To obtain the principle pure,  the aqueous solution is treated with
animal charcoal before evaporation.  The matter  obtained is dissolved  in
alcohol, ether is added to  precipitate the sugar, and the active  principle
remains in the mixed liquor, frd*mr which it may be obtained by evaporation.
According to M. Tilloy, this proceeding should be  repeated several times. 
part i.                   Scilla.—Scoparius.                      647

(Diet des Drogues.)  M. Chevallier  thinks  that  the  active principle  of
squill  has not  yet  been  entirely isolated.   Landerer obtained a crystalline
principle from fresh squill, by treating the bruised bulb with dilute sulphuric
acid, concentrating  the solution, neutralizing it with  lime, drying the pre-
cipitate, exhausting this with alcohol, and evaporating the tincture, which,
on cooling, deposited the  substance in  question in prismatic crystals.   It is
bitter, but not  acrid, insoluble in water or the  volatile oils, slightly soluble
in alcohol, and, according to Landerer,  capable  of neutralizing  the  acids.
(Christison's Dispensatory.)
   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
hypercatharsis, strangury, bloody urine, and fatal inflammation of the stomach
and bowels.   The Greek physicians employed it as a medicine ;  and it has
retained to the present period a deserved popularity.   As an  expectorant, it
is used both  in cases of deficient and  of  superabundant  secretion from the
bronchial mucous membrane; in the former case usually combined with tartar
emetic 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 the lancet.   In
dropsical diseases  it is very much employed, especially in connexion with
calomel,  which is  supposed to excite the  absorbents, while the  squill  in-
creases the secretory 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 sel-
 dom 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  administered in the form  of pill.  The  dose, as a
 diuretic or expectorant, is one grain repeated two or" three times  a day, and
 gradually increased till it produces  slight nausea,  or evinces its action upon
 the kidneys or lungs.  From six to twelve grains will generally vomit.
   Off. Prep. Acetum Scillae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Pilulae Digitalis et
 Scillae, Ed.; Pil. Ipecacuanhae Compositae, Lond.; Pil. Scillae Comp., U.S.,
 Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Scillae Comp., U.S.; Tinctura Scillae,  U.S.,
 Lond., Ed., Dub.                                                 W.


             SCOPARIUS. U.S.  Secondary, Lond.

                                Broom.

   " The fresh tops of Cytisus Scoparius." U.S. " Cytisus Scoparius. Ca-
 cumina recentia."  Lond.
    Off. Syn. SCOPARIUM. Tops of Cytisus Scoparius. Ed.;  SPARTI-
 UM SCOPARIUM. Cacumina.  Dub.
   Genet a balais, Fr.; Gemeine Besenginster, Germ.; Scoparia, Ital; Retama, Span.
    Cytisus.  Sex. Syst.  Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaeeae  or Le-
 guminosae.
    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.—Spar Hum Scoparium. 
648              Scoparius.—Scrophularia JYodosa.           part i.

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, papili-
onaceous, 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 advan-
tage of keeping better.   Water and alcohol extract their active properties.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  Broom is  diuretic and cathartic, and in
large doses emetic, and has been employed with great asserted advantage in
dropsical complaints, 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  Compositum,  Lond., Ed.;  Extractum
Spartii Scoparii, Dub.; Infusum Scoparii, Lond.                    W.


         SCROPHULARIA NODOSA.  Folia. Dub.

                          Figwort Leaves.

   Scrophulaire noueuse, Fr.; Braunwurzel, Germ.; Scrofolaria nodosa,  Ital; Escrofula-
ria, Span.
   Scrophularia. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Angiospermia.—Nat. Ord. Scro-
phulariaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla subglobular,  resupine.  Capsule two-
celled. Willd.
   Scrophularia nodosa. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 270 ;  Smith, Flor. Brit. 663.
The  root of the knotty rooted figwort is perennial, tuberous,  and knotty;
the stem is herbaceous,  erect,  quadrangular,  smooth,  branching, and  from
two  to three feet  high ; the leaves are opposite,  petiolate,  ovate cordate,
pointed, sharply toothed,  veined, and of a deep-green colour; the flowers are
small, dark purple, slightly drooping, and borne on branching peduncles in
erect terminal bunches.
   The plant is  a native of Europe, where it grows in shady and moist places,
and flowers in July.
   The leaves, which are  the part used, have when fresh a rank  fetid odour,
and a bitter somewhat acrid taste; but  these properties  are  diminished by
drying.   Water extracts  their virtues, forming a reddish infusion, which is
blackened by the sulphate of the sesquioxide of iron.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Figwort leaves are said to be anodyne and
diuretic, and to  have repellent  properties when externally applied.  They
were formerly  considered tonic, diaphoretic, discutient,  anthelmintic, &c;
and were thought to  be useful in scrofula.  They are  at present very little
employed, and  never in this country.  In Europe they are sometimes applied
in the form of ointment or fomentation to piles, painful tumours and ulcers,
and cutaneous eruptions.
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Scrophulariae, Dub.                       W. 
PART I.
Senega.
649
                  SENEGA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                               Seneka.

  " The root of Polygala Senega." U. S., Ed. " Polygala Senega. Radix."
Lond.                                                                '
  Off. Syn. POLYGALA SENEGA. Radix. Dub.
  Polygule de Virginie, Fr.; Klapperschlangenwurzel, Germ.; Poligala Virginiana, Ital.
  Polygala.  Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Octandria.—Nat. Ord. Polygalaceae.
  Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved, with two leaflets wing-shaped, and coloured.
Legume obcordate, two-celled.  Willd.
  Besides the P. Senega, two other species have attracted some attention in
Europe—the P. amara and P. vulgaris—as remedies in chronic pectoral
affections ; but as they are not natives of this country, and are never used by
practitioners here, they do not merit particular notice.
  Polygala Senega.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 894; Bigelow,  Am. Med. Bot.
ii. 97;  Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 111.   This unostentatious plant has a peren-
nial 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  in their lower portion, but are green
near the top.  The leaves are  alternate or  scattered, lanceolate,  pointed,
smooth, bright green on  the  upper  surface, paler beneath, and sessile or
supported  on very short footstalks.   The flowers are small, white,  and
arranged in a close spike at the summit of the stem.   The calyx is the most
conspicuous part of  the flower.  It consists  of five  leaflets, two of which
are  wing-shaped, white, and larger than  the others.  The corolla is small and
closed.   The  capsules are  small, much compressed,  obcordate, two-valved,
two-celled, and contain two oblong ovate, blackish seeds, pointed  at  one ex-
tremity.
  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 in great  quantities for sale.  It
is brought into market in bales weighing from fifty to  four hundred pounds.
  Properties.   As the root occurs in commerce,  it is of various sizes, from
that of a straw to that of the little finger,  presenting a thick knotty head, which
exhibits  traces of the numerous  stems.  It is tapering, branched, variously
twisted, often marked with crowded annular protuberances, and with a pro-
jecting  keel-like line, extending  along  its whole  length.  The epidermis is
corrugated, transversely cracked, of a yellowish-brown colour in  the young
roots, and brownish-gray in the old.  In the smaller  branches  the colour is
a lighter yellow.   The bark is hard and resinous, and contains  the active
principles of the root.  The central portion is ligneous, white, and quite inert,
and should be rejected in the  preparation of the  powder.   The colour of
this is  gray.  The odour of seneka is peculiar, strong in the fresh root, but
faint in the dried.  The taste is at first  sweetish and  mucilaginous, but after
chewing becomes somewhat pungent and acrid, leaving a peculiar irritating
sensation in the fauces.   These properties, as well as the medical virtues of
the  root, are extracted by boiling water, and by alcohol.   Diluted alcohol is
an excellent solvent.   The root has been analyzed by Gehlen, Peschier of
Geneva, Feneulle of Cambray, Dulong D'Astafort, Folchi,  and Trommsdorff,
and more recently by M. Quevenne.  Gehlen was  supposed to have found
the  active principle in the substance left behind, when the alcoholic extract
is treated successively with ether and water;  and the name of senegin  was
     56 
650
Senega.
PART r.
accordingly conferred upon it.  But it does not seem to have any just claim
to the rank assigned to it, though it  probably contains the active principle
among its  constituents.   Equally unfounded are  the conclusions of those
chemists, who believe that they have discovered an organic alkali in the root.
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 alcolol; 3. a volatile principle, considered by some as an essential
oil, but thought by  Quevenne to possess acid  properties, and named by him
virgineic acid; 4. pectic  acid or pectin;  5. tannic acid of the variety which
precipitates iron  green;  6. gum ; 7. albumen ;  8. cerin ;  9. fixed  oil;  10.
woody fibre ;  and 11. saline  and earthy substances, as the carbonates, sul-
phates, and phosphates of lime and potassa, chloride  of potassium, alumina,
magnesia, silica, and iron.   The virtues of seneka appear to reside  chiefly,
if not exclusively, in the acrid principle which M. Quevenne called polygalic
acid, and which he considered closely analogous to saponin.  He obtained it
pure by  the following process.  Powdered seneka is  exhausted by alcohol
of 33°, and so much of  the alcohol  is  distilled off as to bring the resulting
tincture  to the consistence of syrup.  The residue is treated with ether, in
order to  remove the fatty  matter.  The  liquid upon standing deposits a pre-
cipitate,  which is separated by filtration, and is then mixed with water.  To
the turbid solution thus formed alcohol is added, which facilitates the produc-
tion 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 supernatantliquid being decanted, the precipitate is drained upon a filter,
and, being removed while yet moist, is dissolved by the aid of heat in alcohol
of 36°.  The solution is boiled with purified animal charcoal, and  filtered
while hot.   Upon  cooling it deposits the principle in question in a state of
purity.  Thus obtained, polygalic acid  is a white  powder, inodorous, and of
a taste at first slight, but  soon becoming pungent and acrid, and producing a
very painful sensation in  the throat.  It  is fixed, unalterable in the air, in-
flammable, soluble in water  slowly when cold and rapidly with the aid of
heat,  soluble in all proportions  in  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 properties of reddening litmus and neutralizing the
alkalies.   Its ultimate 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.  Dis-
section 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.)
   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 men-
struum.   If it be desirable to obtain  the virtues of the root in the form ofan
extract,  the infusion should be prepared on the principle of displacement; as
it is thus most concentrated,  and consequently requires less heat in its evapo- 
PART I.
Senega.—Senna.
651
ration.   In forming an infusion  of seneka, the temperature of the water,
according to M. Quevenne, should not exceed 104° F. (Ibid.)
   The roots of the Panax quinquefolium or ginseng are frequently mixed
with the seneka, but are easily distinguishable by their shape and taste.  Another
root has been occasionally observed in  parcels of seneka, supposed  to  be
that of the  Gillenia trifoliata.  This would be readily  distinguished  by  its
colour and shape (see Gillenia), and by its bitter taste without°acrimony.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.   Seneka is  a stimulating expectorant and
diuretic, and in large doses proves  emetic and cathartic.  It appears indeed
to excite more or less all the secretions, proving occasionally diaphoretic and
emmenagogue, and increasing the  flow  of saliva.  Its  action,  however,  is
more especially directed to the lungs; and its  expectorant virtues are  those
for which it  is chiefly employed.   It was introduced into practice  about a
century ago by Dr. Tennant, of Virginia, who recommended it  as a  cure for
the bite of the rattlesnake, and in various  pectoral  complaints. As an expec-
torant it is employed in cases  not  attended with  inflammatory  action, or in
which the inflammation has been in great measure subdued.  It  is peculiarly
useful in chronic catarrh,  humoral asthma, 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  Scillae  Compositus.  Employed so as  to
purge  and vomit, it has proved useful in rheumatism;  and  some  cases of
dropsy are said to have been cured by it.  Amenorrhoea also is among the
complaints for which it has been recommended.
   The dose of powdered seneka is from ten to twenty grains ; but the  medi-
cine is more frequently administered in decoction. (See Decoctum Senegae.)
There is an officinal syrup; and  an extract and  tincture may be prepared,
though neither is much employed.
   Off Prep.  Decoctum Senegae,  U.S.,  Lond.,  Dub.;   Electuarium  Opii,
Ed.; Infusum Senegae, Ed.;  Syrupus Scillae  Compositus, U.S.; Syrupus
Senegae, U. S.                                                   W.

                   SENNA.  U.S.,  Lond.,  Dub.

                               Senna.
  "The leaves of Cassia acutifolia (Delile),  Cassia  obovata  (De Candolle),
and Cassia elongata (Lemaire)." U. S.   " Cassia lanceolata.  Folia. Cassia
obovata.  Folia." Lond.  " Cassia Senna. Folia." Dub.
  Off Syn. SENNA ALEXANDRINA.  Leaves of various species of Cassia,
probably of C. lanceolata, C. acutifolia, and C.  obovata. SENNA INpiCA.
Leaves of Cassia elongata. Ed.
  Sens, Fr.; Sennesblatter, Germ.; Senna, Ital., Port.;  Sen, Span.
  Cassia.   See CASSIA  FISTULA.
  The plants which yield senna belong to the genus Cassia, of  which  seve-
ral species contribute to furnish the drug.   These were confounded together
by Linnaeus in a single species, which he named Cassia  Senna.   Since his
time the  subject has been more thoroughly investigated, especially by Delile,
who accompanied the French expedition  to Egypt, and had an  opportunity
of examining the  plant in its native country.   Botanists at  present distin-
guish at least  three species, the C.  acutifolia, C. obovata, and C. elongata,
as the sources of  commercial senna ; and  it is probable that  two others, the
C. lanceolata of Forskhal and C. Mthiopica of Guibourt, contribute towards
it.  The first three  are recognised by the  U.S. Pharmacopoeia. 
652
Senna.
PART I.
  1. Cassia acutifolia. Delile, Flore d'Egypte, lxxv. tab. 27. f. 1—C. lanceo-
lata. DeCand.;  Lond. Col.  This is a small undershrub, two or three feet
high, with a straight, woody, branching, whitish stem.   The leaves are alter-
nate and pinnate, with glandless footstalks, and two small narrow pointed sti-
pules at the base.  The leaflets, of which from four to six pairs belong to each
leaf, are  almost  sessile, oval lanceolate, acute,  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.  The C.
acutifolia grows  wild  in great abundance  in Upper Egypt near Sienne, in
Nubia, Sennaar, and probably  in other parts of Africa, having  similar quali-
ties  of soil  and  climate.   This species  furnishes the  greater part of that
variety of senna, known in commerce by the title of Alexandria senna.
  2. Cassia obovata.  Colladon, Monographic des Casses, p. 92. tab. 15.
fig. a.;  De Cand., Prodrom.,  ii. 492.  The stem  of  this  species is rather
shorter than that of the 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 obovate,
very obtuse, sometimes mucronate, in other respects  similar to those of the
preceding species.   The flowers are in axillary spikes, of which the pedun-
cles 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. obtu-
sata of Hayne,  with obovate, truncated emarginate leaflets, is probably a
mere variety 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 successfully in Italy, Spain, and the West  Indies.   It yields the
variety of senna called  in Europe Aleppo senna, and contributes to the pack-
ages of the  Alexandrian.
  3. Cassia elongata. Lemaire, Journ. de  Pharm., vii. 345;  Fee, Journ.
de Chim. Med., vi. 232.  This name was conferred by M.  Lemaire upon the
plaqt from which the  India senna of commerce  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  has subsequently 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  usually 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
character 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-hastate.   The  flowers are bright yellow, and arranged  in axillary and
terminal racemes,  rather longer than the  leaves.   The legume is oblong,
membranous, tapering abruptly at  the base, rounded at  the  apex,  and an
inch and a  half long by somewhat more than  half an inch broad.    It is
inferred, from the sources whence  the variety of senna which this plant
furnishes is brought, that it grows in the southern parts of Arabia.   It is 
PART I.
Senna.
653
said  also  to  grow in the interior of India,  and is at present  cultivated  at
Tinnevelly for medical use.
   Besides the three officinal  species above described, the C.  lanceolata of
Forskhal,  found  by that author growing in the deserts of Arabia, is admitted
by Lindley and  others as a distinct species.   Some  difference, however, of
opinion exists as to the justice of its claims to this  rank.   De Candolle con-
sidered 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 designates the species by
the name of C. lanceolata; and his example was followed by the  London Col-
lege.  Forskhal's plant has been  supposed by some to be the source of the
India and Mocha senna; but the leaflets in this variety are much longer than
those of the C. lanceolata, from which  the plant differs also in having no gland
on  the petiole. Niebuhr informs us that he found  the Alexandria senna grow-
ing in the  Arabian territory of Abuarish, whence it is taken by  the Arabs  to
Mecca and Jedda.   This is probably  the C. lanceolata of Forskhal.
   The Cassia Mthiopica of Guibourt (C. ovata  of Merat), formerly con-
founded with the 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 we receive  in general  only three in America, the
Alexandria, the Tripoli, and the India 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 interior of the country.  The  Alexandria  senna does not consist exclu-
sively of the product of one species of Cassia.   The history of its prepara-
tion is not destitute of  interest.   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 product of the C. acutifolia,
is here mixed with the leaflets of the C. obovata, brought from other  parts of
Egypt, and even  from Syria, with  the leaves of the Cynanchum oleaefolium
(C. Argel  of Delile), known commonly by  the  name of argel or arguel,
and sometimes with those of the Tephrosia Apollinea of De Candolle, a legu-
minous plant  growing in Egypt and  Nubia.   According to M. Royer, the
proportions in which the three chief  constituents of this  mixture are added

  * The following is  the botanical description of the two species last mentioned, not
hitherto officinally 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 per-
fectly 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,  tapering to the base,
obtuse, turgid, mucronate, rather falcate, especially when  young, at which time they are
sparingly covered with coarse scattered hairs." {Lindley.)
  2. C. Mthiopica.  Guibourt, Hist. Ab.  des  Drogues, S;c. 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 inches 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.
                                   56* 
654
Senna.
PART I.
together, are five parts of the C. acutifolia, three of the C. obovata, and two
of Cynanchum.  Thus prepared, the  senna is again packed  in  bales, and
transmitted to Alexandria.   This commercial variety  of senna is often called
in the French pharmaceutic works sene de lapalthe, a name derived from an
impost formerly laid upon it by the Ottoman Porte.
   If a parcel of Alexandria senna be carefully examined, it will be found to
consist of the following ingredients:—1. The leaflets of the  C. acutifolia,
characterized by their acute  form,  and their length  almost always less
than an inch;  2. the  leaflets  of the C.  obovata,  known by their rounded
very obtuse  summit, which is sometimes 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 the Cynanchum oleaefolium, 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
somewhat lower than the  other, and at a different  angle.  The discrimina-
tion between this  and the other ingredients is a matter of  some  conse-
quence, as  the  cynanchum must be considered  an adulteration.  It is said
by the French  writers to occasion hypercatharsis and much  irritation of the
bowels; but was found by Christison  and  Mayer  to occasion griping, and
severe protracted nausea, with little purgation.   The flowers and fruit of the
Cynanchum are also often present, the former of a white colour, and in small
corymbs, the latter an ovoid follicle rather larger than an orange  seed.  Be-
sides  the  above constituents of Alexandria senna, it occasionally contains
leaflets of genuine senna, much longer than those of the acutifolia  or obo-
vata, equalling  in this respect  the cynanchum, which they also  somewhat
resemble in form.   They  may be  distinguished however by their greater
thinness, the distinctness of their lateral nerves, and the irregularity of their
base.   They are probably the  product of the C.  elongata or C. lanceolata,
and may be  brought to Egypt from Arabia.  The leaflets and fruit of Tephro-
sia Apollinea,  which  are 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  dimensions,  being
from an inch to an inch and a half long and only  two lines  broad.  The
Alexandria senna sometimes comes to our market with very  few leaves
of the obovate  senna  and Cynanchum, and is  then  probably a  portion
of the product  brought directly to Alexandria from  Upper  Egypt,  without
having undergone  any intermixture  at Boulac or other intervening place.
In Europe, this senna is said to have been  sometimes adulterated with  the
leaflets  of  the  Colutea 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 the
Appendix.   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 distinguished 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.   Their poison-
ous properties  are denied by Peschier.  According to  Bouchardat, they are 
PART I.
Senna.
655
closely analogous to strychnia in their effect upon the system. (Annuaire de
Therapeutique, 1843, p. 55.)
   2.  Tripoli Senna. Genuine Tripoli  senna  consists in general exclusively
of the leaflets of one species of Cassia, which was formerly considered as
a variety of the C. acutifolia, but is now admitted to be distinct, and named
C. AZthiopica.   The leaflets, however, are much broken up; and it is pro-
bably on this account that the variety is usually less esteemed than the Alex-
andrian.   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 the 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 thus brought on the backs of camels a distance of
eight hundred leagues through the desert. It is probably collected in Fezzan,
immediately south of Tripoli, and brought to  that town for exportation.
   3. India Senna.  This variety  is  in Europe sometimes called Mocha
Senna,  probably  because obtained originally  from that port.  It derives its
name of India senna from  the route by which it reaches us.  Though pro-
duced 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 the 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 no difficulty can be  experienced in distinguishing this
variety.  The pike-like shape of the  leaflet  has given rise to the  name of
sine de la pique, by which it is known in French pharmacy.  Many of the
leaflets have a yellowish, dark-brown, or blackish colour, probably  in conse-
quence of exposure  after collection; and this variety has in mass a dull tawny
hue which is not  found  in the others.  It is generally considered inferior in
purgative power.
  A variety of India senna has recently been introduced into England, 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 believed to be 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 very fine, unmixed variety, consisting of unbroken  leaflets,
from one to two or more inches in length, and  sometimes half an inch in
their greatest breadth, thin, flexible, and of a fine green  colour.   It is  yet
scarcely known  in  the  United States, but is said to  be  rapidly displacino*
other kinds of senna in some parts of Great Britain.
  Since the publication of  the last edition of the Dispensatory, a variety of
senna has come under our notice in this market, imported under  the name of
Mecca Senna, and 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 the C. acutifolia, and shorter than those of
the C. elongata.   The variety in  mass has a  yellowish or tawny hue, more
like that of India than of Alexandria  senna.   It is probably the product of
the C. lanceolata of Forskhal.
  Commercial senna  is prepared for use by picking  out the leaflets, and
rejecting the  leafstalks,  the  small fragments, and the leaves of other plants.
The pods are also rejected by some apothecaries; but they possess considera-
ble cathartic power, though said to be milder than the leaves.
  Properties. The odour of senna is faint and  sickly; the taste slightly bitter, 
656
Senna.
PART I.
sweetish, and nauseous.  Water and alcohol extract ifs active principles.  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 preserves the odour and  taste
of the leaves.   When exposed to the air for a short time, it deposits a yel-
lowish insoluble precipitate, supposed to result from the union of extractive
matter with oxygen.  The nature of this  precipitate, however, is not well
understood.  Decoction also produces some change in the principles of senna,
by which its medicinal virtues are impaired.  To diluted alcohol it imparts
the same reddish-brown  colour  as to water; but rectified alcohol and ether
digested  upon the  powdered  leaves  become of a deep olive-green.   The
analysis of senna by MM. Lassaigne and Feneulle furnished the following
results. The leaves  contain—1. a peculiar principle called cathartin, 2. chlo-
rophylle  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. muci-
lage; 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 princi-
ples, with the exception  of the chlorophylle, the place of which is supplied
by  a peculiar colouring  matter. (Journ. de  Pharm., vii. 548,  and ix.  58.)
Of  these constituents, the  most interesting  and important is the  cathartin,
which is said to  be the active  principle of senna,  and derived its name from
this  circumstance.   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 solution 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  alcohol  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 sul-
phuret of lead by another filtration. The liquid being now evaporated yields
cathartin. The claims of this substance to be considered the purgative princi-
ple of senna  are not universally admitted.   Christison  states, that what  he
obtained  on applying the process  to carefully picked Alexandria senna, had
no effect on a healthy adult.  Heerlein  not  only denies the purgative  pro-
perty of  the cathartin of Lassaigne and Feneulle, but has convinced himself
that it is  a complex body. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1844, p. 110.)
  Incompatibles.  Many substances afford precipitates with the infusion of
senna; but it by no means follows that they are all medicinally incompatible;
as they may  remove ingredients which have no influence upon the system,
and leave the active principles unaffected.   Cathartin is precipitated by the
infusion of galls and probably other astringents, and by the  solution of  sub-
acetate of lead.   Acetate of lead and tartarized  antimony, which disturb the
infusion of senna, have no effect upon the solution of this principle.
  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  pur-
gative, well calculated for fevers  and febrile  complaints, and other cases in
which a decided but not  violent impression is desired.  An objection some-
times urged against it is  that it is apt to produce severe griping pain.  This
effect, however,  may be obviated by combining with the senna some aromatic 
part i.                 Senna.—Serpentaria.                     657

and some one  of the alkaline salts, especially  the bitartrate of potassa, tar-
trate of potassa, or sulphate of magnesia.  The explanation which attributes
the griping property to the  oxidized  extractive, and its prevention by the
neutral salts to their influence in promoting the  solubility of this  substance,
is not entirely  satisfactory.   The purgative effect of senna is  considerably
increased by combination with bitters; a fact which was noticed by Cullen,
and has been abundantly confirmed by the  experience of others.  The decoc-
tion 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 administration; 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 pre-
ferred.   (See Infusum  Sennae.)  The medicine is also used in the forms of
confection, tincture, and syrup ;  and a fluid extract, though not officinal, is
sometimes  employed in this  city.  A formula  for  the  fluid extract will be
given under Syrupus Sennae, in the second part of this work.
   Senna taken by nurses is  said to purge  suckling  infants, and an infusion
injected into the veins operates as a cathartic.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Sennae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Enema Cathar-
ticum, Ed.; Infusum  Sennae,  U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Infusum Sennae
Compositum,  Ed., Dub.;  Syrupus  Sarsaparillae Comp.,  U. S.;  Syrupus
Sennae,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Tinctura Rhei  et Sennae,  U.S.; Tinc-
tura Sennae Comp., Lond., Dub.;  Tinctura Sennae  et Jalapae, U. S.  W.


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

                        Virginia Snakeroot.

  " The root  of Aristolochia Serpentaria." U. S., Ed. "  Aristolochia Ser-
pentaria. Radix."  Lond.
   Off. Syn. ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA. Radix. Dub.
  Serpentaire de Virginie, Fr.;  Virginianische  Schlangenwurzel,  Germ.; Serpentaria
Virginiana, Ital, Span.
  Aristolochia. Sex. Syst.  Gynandria Hexandria.—Nat.  Ord. Aristolochi-
aceae.
   Gen.Ch.  Calyx  none. Corolla one-petaled, ligulate, ventricose at the
base.   Capsule six-celled, many-seeded, inferior. Willd.
  Numerous species of Aristolochia have been employed in medicine.  The
roots of all of  them are tonic and stimulant, and from their  supposed posses-
sion of emmenagogue properties, have  given origin to the name of the genus.
The  A. Clemalitis, 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 the A.  Clematitis is very long, cylindrical, as
thick  as a goose-quill 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 the 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 the  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 the A. Pistolochia
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 
658
Serpentaria.
part i.
West Indies, Mexico, and South America, have attracted attention for their
medicinal properties, and some, like our own snakeroot, have  acquired the
reputation of antidotes for the bites of serpents.  In the East Indies, the 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 the A.
sempervirens as a counter-poison.  We have in the United States six species,
of which  four—the A. Serpentaria, A. hirsuta,  A. hastata, and A. reticu-
lata—contribute to furnish the snakeroot of the shops, though one only, the
A.  Serpentaria, is admitted into the U.  S. and British Pharmacopoeias.
  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  of a reddish
or purple  colour 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  decayed leaves.    There is no
calyx.  The corolla is  of a  purple  colour, monopetalous, tubular, swelling
at the base, contracted and curved in the middle, and terminating in a labi-
ate  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 supported 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 moun-
tainous 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 to  the eastern markets  chiefly  by  the route of
Wheeling and Pittsburgh.  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  the  A. tomentosa, have  generally confounded  the  two
plants.  But they are entirely distinct.   A  description of the A. hirsuta in
the  handwriting of Muhlenberg, and a  labeled specimen of the  plant, in the
possession of the Academy  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.   The A. tomentosa  is a climbing  plant, grow-
ing in Louisiana on the  banks of the Mississippi, ascending to the summit
of the highest trees.   A plant in the garden  of  the author has a thick creep-
ing root, entirely different in shape from that of the officinal species, though
possessed of an analogous odour.   The A. hirsuta has a root like that of
the 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 pubescent bractes, and several large roundish cordate leaves,
of  which  the  lower  are obtuse,  the  upper abruptly  acumfnate, and all 
PART I.
Serpentaria.
659
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 peduncles, bractes, and  corolla  are all
hairy.  This  species grows in  Virginia, and probably other parts  of the
Western and Southern States.  There is reason to believe  that it contributes
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.
Catal.  This species, if indeed it can be considered  a distinct species, differs
from  the A. Serpentaria in  having hastate, acute, somewhat cordate leaves,
and the lip of the corolla  ovate.   It flourishes on the banks  of  the Missis-
sippi, in Carolina, 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 the A. hastata in the parcels brought into market.
(See Journ. of the Phil. Col. of P harm., i. 264.)
   A. reticulata.  Nuttall;  Bridges, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv.  118.   This
plant was probably first observed by Mr. Nuttall; as"a specimen labeled "A.
reticulata, Red  river," in  the handwriting  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 sufficient perfection in parcels
of the drug recently brought into market,  a description was drawn up and
published by Dr. Robert  Bridges in the American Journal of  Pharmacy.
From a root, similar to that of the 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 villose 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 on the Red river
in Arkansas, and probably in the Indian Territory to  the west of that state;
but its geographical  range has not been ascertained.
   Bales of  a new variety of serpentaria have recently been brought to  Phila-
delphia, 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  can be little
doubt that  the root will be found  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 containing a somewhat larger propor-
tion of gum, extractive, and volatile  oil. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 16.)
   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 state 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 
660         Serpentaria.—Sesamum.— Oleum Sesami.        part i.

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, which is 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.  Bucholz  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 ingredients are probably  the volatile oil, and
the yellow bitter principle of Chevallier, which that chemist considers analo-
gous to the bitter principle of quassia.   The volatile  oil passes over with
water in distillation, rendering  the liquid milky, and impregnating it with
the peculiar odour of the root.  Dr. Bigelow states that the liquid on standing
deposits around the edges of its surface small crystals of camphor.
   The  roots of the Spigelia Marilandica are sometimes found associated
with the serpentaria.  They may  be  distinguished  by the absence  of the
bitter taste, and, when the stem and foliage are attached, by the peculiar cha-
racter of these parts of the plant.  (See Spigelia.)
   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, some-
times vomiting and dysenteric  tenesmus.   It is  admirably adapted  to the
treatment  of  typhoid fevers,  whether idiopathic or symptomatic, when the
system  begins to feel the necessity 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 generally inadequate to the  cure of the
complaint, often proves serviceable as  an adjunct to Peruvian bark or the
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 Serpentariae.)  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 Serpentariae, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Cinchonas
Composita, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura Serpentariae, U. S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.                                                       W.


                 SESAMUM.  U. S.  Secondary.

                                Benne.

   " The leaves of Sesamum orientale." U. S.


            OLEUM SESAMI.  U.S. Secondary.

                             Benne Oil.

   " The oil of the seeds of Sesamum orientale."  U. S.
   Sesame, Fr.; Sesam, Germ.; Sesamo, Ital ; Anjonjoli, Span.
   Sesamum.  Sex. Syst.  Didynamia Angiospermia.—Nat.  Ord. Bignoniae,
Juss.; Pedaliaceae, R. Brown, Lindley. 
 part i.               Sesamum.— Oleum Sesami                  661

   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.
   Though the Sesamum orientale has been indicated by the United  States
 Pharmacopoeia as the medicinal plant, there is reason to believe that  the S.
 lndicum is the one cultivated in our Southern States. At least we have found
 plants,  raised  in Philadelphia from seeds obtained from Georgia, to have the
 specific character of the latter,  as given by Willdenow.
   Sesamum  orientale.  Willd. Sp. Blant. iii.  358; Rheed. Hort. Malab.
 ix. 54.   " Leaves ovate, oblong, entire."
   Sesamum lndicum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii.  359 ; Curtis, Bot.  Mag.  vol.
 xli. t. 1688.   " Leaves ovate-lanceolate, the inferior three-lobed, the superior
 undivided.  Stem erect."
   The  benne plant of our Southern States is annual, with a branching stem,
 which  rises four or five feet in height, and bears opposite, petiolate leaves,
 varying considerably 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 peduncles 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  Ne-
 groes to our Southern  States, where, as well as in the West Indies,  one or
 both species are now cultivated to a considerable extent.  It has been found
 that the plant above described will grow vigorously in the gardens so far north
 as Philadelphia.
   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 of the plant, has been introduced into the secondary catalogue
 of our national Pharmacopoeia.
   1. Oil of Benne.   This is inodorous, of a bland, sweetish  taste, and will
 keep  very long without becoming rancid.  It bears some resemblance to
 olive  oil in  its properties, 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.
  2. 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 some attention  further northward, and
 has been employed with favourable results by physicians  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.  In their  dried state they should be
introduced into hot water. The leaves also serve for the preparation of emol-
lient cataplasms.                                                  W.
57 
662                     Sevum.—Simaruba.                  part i.
                   SEVUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                                Suet.

  " The prepared suet of Ovis Aries."  U. S.  " Ovis Aries.  Sevum."
Lond.  "Fat of Ovis Aries." Ed.
  Off. Syn.  ADEPS OVILLUS PR^EPARATUS. Dub.
  [Suif^Graisse de mouton, Fr.; Hammelstalg, Germ..; Grasse duro, Ital; Sebo, Span.
  Suet is the fat of the sheep  taken chiefly from about the kidneys.  It is
prepared by cutting the fat into  pieces, melting it with  a moderate heat, and
straining 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,
inodorous,  of a bland  taste, insoluble  in water, and nearly so in  alcohol.
Boiling  alcohol, however,  dissolves it,  and deposits  it  upon cooling.   It
consists, according to  Chevreul, of stearin, olein, and a small proportion of
hircin.  For an account of the two first-mentioned principles, the reader is
referred to the article Adeps.  Hircin  is  a liquid like  olein, from which it
differs in being much more soluble in alcohol, and in yielding hircic acidhy
saponification.1
  Suet acquires by time  an unpleasant smell, and becomes  unfit  for phar-
maceutic purposes.  It is employed to give a proper consistence to ointments
and plasters, and sometimes as a dressing to blisters.                 W.


                SIMARUBA. U. S.,  Lond., Ed.

                             Simaruba.

  " The bark of the root of Simaruba officinalis."  U.  S.   " Simaruba offi-
cinalis. Radicis cortex."  Lond.  " Root-bark of Simaruba amara." Ed.
  Off. Syn.  QUASSIA SIMARUBA. Cortex radicis. 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. De Cand. Prodrom. i. 733.—S. amara.
Aublet;  Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 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
Linnean arrangement was adhered  to in the case of the Quassia excelsa, we
continue to adhere 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 of a deep green colour,  on the under whitish.
The flowers  are of a yellow colour, and are disposed in long axillary pani-
cles.  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 
PART I.
Simaruba.— Sinapis.
663
Guyana, and has generally been considered identical with the Q. Simaruba,
is  believed 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 length-
wise, 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 im-
parts its virtues, at ordinary  temperatures, to water and alcohol.   The infu-
sion is at least  equally bitter with the decoction, which becomes  turbid as it
cools.   Its constituents, according to  M. Morin, are a bitter principle, sup-
posed by him to  be identical  with quassin, a resinous matter, a volatile oil
having the odour of benzoin,  malic acid, gallic  acid in very minute propor-
tion, 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 pro-
perties as other simple bitters,  and may be employed for the same purposes.
In large  doses it is said to purge and vomit.   It was introducedinto France
in  the year 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  control over these complaints.   It operates
simply as a tonic; and,  though it  may be occasionally beneficial in relaxed
and debilitated  states of the  alimentary canal, it would do much harm if in-
discriminately prescribed in dysenteric  cases.   On account of its  difficult
pulverization, it is seldom given in substance. The best mode of administra-
tion is by infusion.  (See Infusum Simarubas.)  The  dose is from a scruple
to a drachm.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Simarubae, Lond., Ed.,  Dub.                W.


                     SINAPIS.  U. S., Lond.

                              Mustard.

   " The seeds of Sinapis nigra and Sinapis alba." U. S.  " Sinapis nigra.
Semina." 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.;
SINAPIS ALBA.   Semina.  SINAPIS NIGRA.  Seminum pulvis.  Dub.
   Moutarde, Fr.; Senfsamen, Germ.; Senapa, Ital; Mostaza, Span.
   Sinapis.  Sex. Syst. Tetradynamia Siliquosa.—Nat. Ord.  Brasicaceae or
Cruciferae.
   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 stern 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. 
664
Sinapis.
PART I.
   Sinapis alba. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 555; Smith, Flor. Brit. 721.   The
 white mustard is also an annual plant.  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 of a pale
 green colour.   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 the
 S. nigra has become naturalized in some parts  of  this  country.   Their
 flowers appear  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.
   The  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 inodorous,  but have a distinct smell in powder, and when rubbed
 with water or vinegar  exhale a strong pungent odour, sufficient in some in-
 stances to excite a flow of tears.  Their taste is bitterish, hot, and  pungent,
 but not  permanent.   The seeds of the white  mustard are much larger, of
 a yellowish colour, and less pungent taste.  Both afford a yellow  powder,
 which has a somewhat unctuous appearance, and cakes when compressed.
 This is  commonly called flour of mustard, or  simply mustard,  and is pre-
 pared 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 mucilaginous substance,
 which is extracted by boiling water.  When bruised or powdered, both kinds
 impart their active properties wholly to water, but in a very slight degree to
 alcohol.   They yield upon pressure  a fixed oil, 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 seed.
   It has been long known that black mustard seeds yield by distillation with
 water  a very pungent  volatile oil,  having sulphur among its constituents.
 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  great  pungency  when  water is added.  It seemed very
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, which exists  in the
 seeds  in the state of myronate of potassa;  the other named myrosyne,
 closely  analogous in  character to the albuminous  constituent of  almonds
 called emulsin.  When water is added to black mustard seed, the  myro-
 syne, 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  any one 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 coagu-
 lated 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 
PART I.
Sinapis.
665
white mustard seeds, but without the 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 a distinct principle,
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 crys-
talline 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.  According to Simon, the emulsin of almonds
does not answer the same purpose, because it contains no sulphur, which is
an  essential constituent of the oil of mustard.   The whole  subject requires
further investigation.
   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 yel-
low liquid, rather heavier than water, of an exceedingly pungent odour, and
an  acrid  burning taste.  It boils at about 290°; is slightly soluble in  water,
and readily so in alcohol  and ether; with alkaline  solutions yields sulpho-
cyanurets; and, according to Dumas and Pelouze, consists of 20*26 parts  of
sulphur, 13*45 of nitrogen, 49*53  of carbon,  5*02 of hydrogen, and 11*74
of  oxygen.   It is the principle  upon which black mustard seeds depend for
their activity.
  White mustard seeds do  not  yield  volatile  oil when  treated with water;
but an acrid fixed principle is developed, which  renders these seeds appli-
cable to the same purposes as the other variety.   MM.  Robiquet and Bou-
tron, who ascertained this  fact, concluded that the acrid principle resulted
from the reaction of water upon sulpho-sinapisin  discovered in these 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 de-
veloping the acrid principle.  The myrosyne or emulsin is equally essential
to the change here,  as to that which occurs in black mustard;  and the reac-
tion 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 princi-
ple of white mustard, but hydrosulphocyanic acid also results from the reac-
tion 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.)*

  * As some may desire to push these investigations  further, we  give the properties of
these newly-discovered principles, and the modes of procuring them.
  Myronic acid is a fixed inodorous substance, of a bitter and sour taste,  and acid reac-
tion.  When obtained  separate from its bases,  it forms a  colourless solution, which 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 sulphur, besides nitrogen,
carbon, hydrogen, and  oxygen.  It is  obtained  from the myronate 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 212°, and deprived of  its fixed oil by
pressure, is treated with strong alcohol in a displacement apparatus, and when thus nearly
exhausted of every thing 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 evapo-
rated, 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
                                   57* 
 666                              Sinapis.                           part i.

   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,
 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.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Mustard seeds swallowed whole operate
 as a laxative, and  have recently enjoyed great  popularity  as a  remedy  in
 dyspepsia, and in 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 day, mixed with molasses, or previously softened
 and rendered mucilaginous 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,  espe-
 cially 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 a burning pain
 which in less than an hour usually becomes 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 con-
 tinue too  long, as vesication with obstinate ulceration, and even sphacelus
 may result.   This  caution is  particularly  necessary in cases  where the
 patient  is  insensible, and the degree  of pain can afford  no  criterion of the

 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
 water, 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, filter-
 ing the solution, evaporating it by a heat not exceeding 100°, and, when it is of the consist.
 ence of  syrup, carefully adding alcohol, which causes a precipitate  easily separable  by
 decantation.  If this be dissolved in  water, and the solution evaporated as  before, myro-
 syne is obtained, though not entirely pure. (Journ. de Pharm.,  xxvi. 39.)
   The sinapisin of Simon is in brilliant, white, scaly crystals, sublimable  by heat, soluble
 in alcohol, ether, and the fixed and volatile oils, but insoluble in acids and  alkalies.   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 etheral solutions distilled off all the ether, treated the  extract again with
 a smaller quantity  of ether so as to  leave behind insoluble substances, 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 solution, 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 sinapisin. (Annul der  Pharm., xxviii. 291.)
   Sulpho-sinapisin, the peculiar ingredient of white mustard seed,  is white, crystallizable,
 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
 ob'ained from white mustard  seeds, from which the fixed oil has previously been expressed,
 by boiling them in water, evaporating the decoction to the  consistence of honey, mixing
 the residue with G  or 8 times its volume of anhydrous alcohol which precipitates various
 substances, then distilling off the alcohol, and setting aside the syrupy residue to crys-
 tallize.   The crystals may be purified by  repeated solution and crystallization in  alcohol.
 (Berzelius, Traite de Chimie.) 
PART I.
Sinapis.—So dium.
667
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' may be
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
incorporated 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 poison-
ous, producing gastro-enteritic 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, Lond.  Dub.;  Emplastrum Cantharidis
Compositum, Ed.; Infusum Armoraciae, U. S., Lond., Dub.        W.


                             SODIUM.

                               Sodium.
   Sodium, Fr.; Natronmetall, Natrium, Germ.; Sodio, Ital, Span.
   Sodium is a peculiar elementary  body of a metallic nature, forming the
radical of the alkali soda.  It was discovered by Sir H. Davy  in 1807, who
obtained it in minute quantity by decomposing the alkali by the agency of
galvanic electricity.   It was afterwards 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.  It is now obtained by the  cheaper pro-
cess of Schcadler, which consists in heating, in a large iron bottle, the  com-
mercial acetate of soda, previously converted into carbonate and charcoal by
ignition, and mixed with a further portion of charcoal.
   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  affinities resemble  those of potassium, but are by  no\ means so
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 combines also with  a larger proportion
of oxygen than exists in soda, forming a sesquioxide. This oxide is  always
formed when the  metal is burnt in the open air.
   Sodium is present in 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 being all soluble in water and not precipitable
by any reagent, and by their  communicating  to  the  blowpipe  flame a rich
yellow colour.   Protoxide  of sodium  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
solution  of  chlorinated soda, the acetate,  borate, carbonate,  bicarbonate,
phosphate, and sulphate of  soda, and  the tartrate of potassa and soda.  The
description of most of  these  combinations will immediately follow; while
the remainder, being  included among  the " Preparations," will be noticed
under their respective titles, in the second part of this work.           B. 
668
Soda Acetas.
PART I.
            SOB JE  ACETAS.  U. S., Lond.,  Dub.

                          Acetate of Soda.
  Terre foliata tartari, hat; Acetate de soude, Fr.; Essigsaures Natron, Germ • Acetato
di soda, Ital.
  Acetate of soda is included  among the " Preparations" in the Dublin
Pharmacopoeia; 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 those of London and the United States.
  Preparation.   The Dublin College  obtains this salt by saturating carbon-
ate of soda with distilled vinegar, and  evaporating the filtered solution until
it attains the sp. gr. 1*276.  As  the solution cools crystals will form,  which
must be cautiously dried, and kept in well stopped bottles.   In conducting
the process, the crystallized carbonate of soda will be found to require about
eleven times its weight of distilled vinegar for saturation.
  Acetate of soda is prepared by the manufacturer of pyroligneous acid, for
the purpose of  being decomposed so as to  yield strong  acetic acid by the
action of sulphuric acid. (See Acidum Pyroligneum, and Acidum Aceticum.)
The first step is to add to the impure acid sufficient cream of lime to saturate
it.   During the saturation a quantity of blackish scum rises, which must be
carefully removed.  In this way an acetate of lime is formed, which must be
decomposed by a  strong solution of sulphate of soda.  By double decom-
position there are formed acetate of soda which remains  in solution, and
sulphate of lime which  precipitates, carrying  down  with it more or less of
the tarry impurities.   After the  sulphate of lime has completely  subsided,
the solution of acetate of soda is decanted, and  concentrated to a pellicle;
when it is transferred to crystallizers, in which it cools and  crystallizes in
mass.  The acetate in this state is very impure, being black and impregnated
with much tar.   It is purified by drying, igneous fusion, solution in water,
filtration, and repeated crystallizations.  Sometimes  animal charcoal is used
to free the crystals from colour.
  Properties, fyc.   Acetate of soda is a white salt, occurring in amorphous
foliated masses, or crystallized in  long striated  prisms, and possessing a
sharp,  bitterish, not disagreeable taste.   Exposed to the 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.   The London Col-
lege  is inaccurate in  stating that this salt is insoluble in alcohol.   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 affusion 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 chloride of platinum. The non-action
of these tests proves  the absence of sulphates, chlorides, and salts of potassa.
It consists, when crystallized, of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of soda 31*3,
and six of water 54=136-3.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Acetate of soda is diuretic, and  possesses
generally the same medical  properties as  the 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 dose  is from a  scruple to
two  drachms.  Its only pharmaceutical use is to yield  acetic acid by the
action of sulphuric acid, and for this purpose it is employed in the London
and United States Pharmacopoeias.
  Off. Prep. Acidum Aceticum,  U. S., Lond.                        B. 
PART I
Sodce Boras.
669
                      SODiE BORAS. U.S.

                           Borate of Soda.

   Off. Syn. BORAX. Lond., Ed.; SOD.E BORAS. BORAX. 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 arti-
 ficial means.  It occurs in  small quantities in several localities in Europe,
 and in Peru in South America; but is found abundantly in certain lakes of
 Thibet and Persia, from  which it is  obtained by spontaneous  evaporation.
 The impure borax concretes on the margins of these lakes, and is dug up in
 lumps,  called  in commerce  tincal or crude borax.  In this state it is in the
 form of crystalline masses,  which are sometimes  colourless, sometimes yel-
 lowish  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, saponified by  soda.   The tincal thus obtained in the
 interior is transferred to  the seaports of  India, especially Calcutta, from
 which it is exported to this  country packed in chests.  Besides Indian tincal,
 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 Venetians and Dutch, but is  now practised in several Euro-
 pean countries.   The process pursued in France, as  reported by Robiquet
 and Marchand, 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 rpmain for five or six hours, being agitated from time to time.
 Slacked 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 this treatment is to  separate the soapy matter, with
 which the lime forms an  insoluble 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 calcium,  and  allowed to strain
 through a coarse bag.  The filtration being completed, the liquor is concen-
 trated by heat, and then run into wooden  vessels, lined with lead, having
 the shape of an inverted quadrangular  pyramid.   If care be taken that the
 cooling  proceeds  very gradually, distinct crystals will be  obtained, such as
 are found in commerce ; otherwise, crystalline crusts will be formed.  The
 Chinese borax is purified in a similar  manner, but being less impure than
 the common tincal, does not require 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
obtained from  certain lagoons in Tuscany, which  are  spread  over a surface
of about thirty miles.  At present, from these lagoons the enormous quantity
of 2,400,000  pounds are  annually  manufactured.  As  thus  procured, the
acid contains from  17 to 20 per cent, of impurities, consisting  principally  of
the sulphates of ammonia, magnesia, lime, and alumina, muriate of ammonia,
chloride of iron, and clay,  sand, and sulphur.   It is  added  to saturation to a 
670
Sodce Boras.
PART I.
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 crystals are impure, and
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 suc-
ceeded in establishing its manufacture  in France, notwithstanding the strong
prejudice felt against its use.
  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 with test paper.   It dissolves
in twelve times its  weight of cold, and twice  its weight of boiling water.
Exposed to the  air, it effloresces slowly and slightly at the  surface of  the
crystals, which become covered with a white powder. Subjected to a mode-
rate 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, and, after cooling,  concretes into a  transparent
solid, called glass of borax, which is  very much used as a flux in assays
with the blowpipe.   Sulphuric acid, added to a saturated solution of the salt,
unites with the soda, and precipitates the boracic acid in white, shining, scaly
crystals, known by their property of imparting a green colour to the flame
of burning alcohol.  This  acid consists of one eq. of boron 10-9, and three
of oxygen 24=34*9.  According to Dr. Duncan,  borax possesses the singu-
lar property of converting the mucilage of gum Arabic, of Iceland moss, and
salep, into a gelatinous mass without any adhesive property.
   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
sometimes 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  weight of cold, and half its weight of boiling water.   A similar
preparation  may  be  made by substituting boracic acid for the borax, the pro-
portions being four parts of cream of tartar to one of the acid.  This combi-
nation is even more  soluble than  the other.  It has not been well ascertained
what is the  nature of these compounds.  Thenard  has thrown out the sug-
gestion, that the  former consists  of two double  salts,  tartrate of  potassa and
soda (Rochelle  salt), and  tartrate of potassa and boracic acid ;  the  boracic acid
acting the part of a  base;  and Berzelius inclines to the opinion  that the lat-
ter is a double tartrate of potassa  and boracic acid.  According to  the formula
of the Paris Codex,  soluble cream of tartar is made  with boracic  acid.   One
hundred parts of the acid and 400 of cream of tartar are dissolved in a silver
basin, at the temperature, of ebullition,  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 por-
tions, which are flattened in the hand, completely dried by the heat of a stove,
reduced to powder,  and kept in well stopped bottles.
   Composition.  Borax consists of two eqs. of boracic  acid 69-8, and  one
of  soda 31*3= 101*].   As  ordinarily crystallized it contains  ten eqs. of
water; but a variety of the salt exists,  which crystallizes in octohedrons, and
which contains only five eqs. of water.   This is obtained in the artificial
production of borax, by crystallizing  from a concentrated  solution at a tem-
perature between 174° and 133°.  From the composition of borax in equi- 
part i.         Sodce Boras.—Sodce Carbonas Impura.            671

valents, it  is evidently a biborate, though generally called a subborate  on
account of  its  possessing an alkaline  reaction.   This latter property arises
from the feeble neutralizing power of boracic  acid, which renders it unable
to overcome the alkaline nature of so strong a base as soda.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Borax is a  mild  refrigerant and diuretic.
It is supposed also to exercise a specific influence ov»r the uterus, promoting
menstruation, facilitating parturition, and favouring the expulsion of the pla-
centa. (Vogt's Pharmakodynamik, quoted by Pereira, Elern. Mat. Med.) It is
strongly recommended by Dr. Daniel Stahl, of" Indiana, in dysmenorrhcea
occurring in sanguineous constitutions,  venesection being premised.  He gives
it in doses of about nine grains  every two hours in a tablespoonful of flaxseed
tea, for  two days before the time of the expected return of the menses. (Am.
Journ. of Med. Sci., xx. 536, from Western Journ. of Med. andPhys. Sci.)
Dr. Duncan quotes  Wurzer for  asserting that it is 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 neu-
tralizing the acid met with in  the stomach or urinary  passages,  and the
boracic acid being set free.  The dose is from thirty to forty grains.   Cream
of tartar, rendered soluble by borax or boracic  acid, is a convenient prepara-
tion, where it is desirable to  administer large  quantities of the former salt.
Externally its solution is used as a wash in scaly cutaneous eruptions.   A
solution formed by  dissolving a drachm of the  salt in two fluidounces  of dis-
tilled vinegar has been found, both by Dr. Abercrombie and Dr. Christison, an
excellent lotion for  ringworm of the scalp.  Borax 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.)
   Off. Prep. Mel Boracis,  Lond., Ed., Dub.                        B.


           SOD^E CARBONAS IMPURA.  Lond.

                    Impure  Carbonate of Soda.

   Off. Syn. SODiE CARBONAS VENALE.  BARILLA. Dub.
   Sonde de commerce, Fr.; Rohe Soda, Germ.; Soda impura, Ital; Barilla, Span.
   The impure carbonate of soda, intended by the London College, is the arti-
ficial carbonate, obtained on a large scale by the manufacturing chemist, which
the College does not deem to  be sufficiently pure for medicinal use.  The
corresponding preparation  of the Dublin  College  is the impure carbonate
obtained by incinerating maritime plants, to which the name barilla strictly
belongs.  The Edinburgh  College  has  very properly dismissed barilla, as
the source from which the apothecary is to obtain the medicinal carbonate by
a process of purification;  deeming the alkali as manufactured on a large scale
to be sufficiently pure.   Influenced by the same views  the framers  of our
national Pharmacopoeia have never admitted barilla on the officinal list.
   Although the officinal  names at the head of this  article only indicate the
artificial carbonate of soda  obtained  by chemical means, and barilla, yet  we
shall not confine our remarks to these substances, but notice, generally, the
sources of the alkali.
   Carbonated soda  exists as a mineral, called  native  soda, and is obtained
by incinerating certain plants,  and by  decomposing sulphate of soda.
   Native soda is  found chiefly in Egypt, Hungary, and near Merida  in
South America.   It exists in these localities in solution in small lakes, from 
672
Sodce Carbonas Impura.
PART I.
which it is extracted in consequence of the drying up  of the water during
the heats of summer.  Native  soda is called natron, and was formerly im-
ported from  Egypt for use  in the arts;  but for a number of years, the
demands of commerce for this alkali have  been supplied from other sources.
The native soda of Egypt, called trona by the natives, is a sesquicarbonate ;
while the South American is  intermediate, in the proportion of its acid, be-
tween the Egyptian  and artificial carbonate.  The native sodas are not im-
portant to the American chemist or druggist, as they are never imported into
this country.
   Soda of vegetable  origin  is derived from certain  plants which grow on
the surface or borders of the  sea, and is denominated either barilla or kelp,
according to the particular character of the  marine plants from which it is
derived.   Barilla is  obtained from  several vegetables, principally belonging
to the genera Salsola, Salicornia, and  Chenopodium.  In Spain, Sicily, and
some other countries, the plants are regularly cultivated  for the purpose of
yielding soda by their combustion.  The  plants, when  ripe,  are cut down,
dried, and burnt in heaps.   The ashes form a  semi-fused, hard, and com-
pact saline  mass, which is broken up into  fragments  by means of pickaxes,
and thrown into commerce.   Kelp is procured by the incineration  of various
kinds of  sea-weeds, principally the algae 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 allowed to  ferment  in heaps, then dried,  and  after-
wards 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 are required to produce  one of kelp.  Large  quantities of
this substance were formerly  manufactured in Great Britain; but its demand
and  production have  greatly  diminished since the introduction of artificial
soda at a comparatively low price.  At present it is used principally for the
manufacture of" iodine.  An impure soda is  obtained  in a similar manner in
France, under the name of vareck.
   Artificial Soda of Commerce.   At present  this  is obtained by decom-
posing sulphate of soda, which is procured from the  manufacturers of chlo-
rinated lime  (bleaching  salt),  or, what  is  more usual  on  account of the
insufficient supply from this  source, is made expressly for the  purpose, by
decomposing common salt (chloride  of  sodium) by sulphuric acid.   The
dried sulphate is mixed witb its own weight of ground  chalk,  and half its
weight of small coal, ground and sifted, and the whole is heated in a rever-
beratory  furnace, where it fuses and forms a black mass, called black ash or
British barilla.  The coal, at the temperature  employed, converts the sul-
phate of  soda into sulphuret  of sodium.   This  reacts with the  chalk, so as
to form sulphuret of calcium  and  carbonate of soda (NaS-fCaO,C02=
CaS + NaO,C02).   Black ash contains only about 22 per cent, of alkali, im-
perfectly carbonated on  account of the high  heat used; the remainder being
sulphuret of calcium  and  coaly matter.  It is next digested in warm water,
which takes up the  alkali  and leaves  the impurities.  The solution is eva-
porated to dryness, and the mass  obtained is calcined with one-fourth  of its
weight of sawdust, in order to convert the  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 solution 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 crys- 
 part i.       Soda Carbonas Impura.—Sodce Carbonas.           673

 tallized  carbonate of soda by dissolving it in water, straining the  solution,
 evaporating it to a pellicle, and setting it aside to crystallize.
   The chemical process just described  for obtaining carbonated soda,  is at
 present  pursued  on  an immense scale in Great  Britain, especially at Liver-
 pool and Glasgow ;  and its product is so cheap that its use has nearly super-
 seded that of barilla and kelp as  sources of soda.   It was calculated by Mr.
 Musprat that, in 1838, there  were manufactured, in Great  Britain alone,
 50,000 tbns of soda-ash, and 20,000 tons of the crystallized carbonate, and
 the  manufacture is steadily on the increase.
   Barilla, when of good quality, is in hard, dry, porous, sonorous, grayish-
 blue masses, which  become covered with a saline  efflorescence after ex-
 posure to the air.  It possesses an alkaline taste and peculiar odour.  It
 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 char-
 coal which has escaped combustion.
   Kelp is in hard, vesicular masses, of a dark-gray, bluish, or greenish colour,
 sulphureous odour, and acrid, caustic taste.   It is still less pure than barilla,
 containing  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.  It  is from kelp that iodine is obtained.
 (See Iodinum.)
   British barilla, the name  given to artificial soda  in its  lowest degree of
 purity, is of a blackish-brown  colour, becoming darker  by exposure to the
 air.   When broken it exhibits an imperfect metallic lustre, and a close striated
 texture.   Its  taste is  caustic and hepatic.   By exposure  to  a moist atmo-
 sphere, it becomes covered with  a yellow efflorescence, 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.
   The different kinds of impure carbonate of soda, wdiether 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.  (See page 565.)
   Pharmaceutical Uses, fyc.  The impure carbonate of soda, in the form of
 commercial carbonate,  is employed by the London College for  obtaining the
 pure carbonate;  and  barilla is used for the same purpose by the Dublin Col-
 lege.  The various forms of impure carbonate are largely consumed  in the
 manufacture of soap and glass, and in dyeing and bleaching.
   Off. Prep. Sodae Carbonas, Lond., Dub.                          B.


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

                        Carbonate of Soda.

  Carbonate de soude, Fr.; Einfach Kohlensaures Natron, Germ.; Carbonato di soda,
Ital,- Oiibimnto de soda, Span.
  In the U. S. Pharmacopoeia this salt has been  always placed  in the list
of the Materia Medica;  the  crystallized carbonate of soda, obtained on  a
large scale by the manufacturing chemist, being a pure salt, and  that which
is sold in the shops of our apothecaries.   The Edinburgh College, in the late
revision of its Pharmacopoeia, has  given the same position  to this salt, having
     58 
674
Sodce Carbonas.
PART I.
abandoned the  process  previously prescribed for preparing it from barilla.
The London and Dublin Colleges give processes for its preparation.
  The London College takes two pounds of the "impure carbonate of soda"
(commercial carbonate), boils it with four pints (Imperial measure) of dis-
tilled water, strains the  solution while hot, and sets it by that crystals  may
form.  The Dublin College exhausts  "barilla," by boiling it with twice its
weight of  water for two or three successive times, and, having mixed the
several solutions, evaporates to dryness.   The dry mass is then dissolved in
boiling water, and the solution  evaporated  until it acquires the sp.gr. 1-22,
when it  is  exposed to  a temperature about freezing, in order that it  may
crystallize.   The crystals are then dried and kept in close bottles.
   These  processes for  obtaining carbonate  of soda on a small  scale are
entirely  superfluous, on account of the perfection  to  which the  artificial
carbonate has  been brought by the manufacturing chemist.   The officinal
carbonate of soda of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias may be con-
sidered as the artificial  carbonate, in the highest state of purity in which it
is manufactured on the  large scale.   The process by which it is made is de-
scribed in the preceding  article.  (See Sodas Carbonas Impura.)
   Properties.   Carbonate of soda is a colourless salt, possessing an alkaline
and disagreeable taste,  and crystallizing usually in  large  oblique  rhombic
prisms, which speedily  effloresce and fall  into powder when  exposed to the
air.  It  is  soluble  in  twice its weight  of cold water, but insoluble in alco-
hol, and displays an alkaline  reaction with tests.   When  heated  it under-
goes the aqueous fusion; and, if the heat be  continued, it dries and finally
suffers the igneous fusion.   The most usual impurities are sulphate of soda
and common salt,  which  may be  detected  by converting the salt into a
nitrate, and testing  separate portions  of this severally with the chloride of
barium and nitrate of silver.  Common salt is seldom entirely absent, but
good specimens are free from sulphate  of soda.   According to the late Dr.
W. R. Fisher, it  is liable to  contain,  when badly prepared, a  portion of
sulphuret of sodium, which may be detected by the production of the  smell
of sulphuretted hydrogen upon  dissolving the salt  in water.  (Amer. Journ.
of Pharm., viii. 108.)   Carbonate of soda is incompatible with acids, acidu-
lous salts,  lime-water,  muriate of ammonia, and  earthy and  metallic  salts.
It  consists of one eq. of carbonie  acid 22, and  one of  soda 31-3=53*3.
When fully crystallized it contains ten  eqs.  of water 90,  giving as  the
number  representing 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  dependent  on  the extent to which it may have  undergone
efflorescence.
   Medical 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 it is more  easily
taken, its taste being less acrid.   It has also been  recommended in hooping-
 cough, scrofula, and  bronchocele.   In the latter  disease, Dr. Peschier, of
 Geneva,  considers  it more efficacious  than iodine.   It is given in doses of
 from  ten  grains to half a drachm, either in powder, or in solution 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 dose  cannot  be indicated with precision.  It is on  this account  that
 the salt is most conveniently administered in the dried state.  (See  Sodse
  Carbonas Exsiccatus.)   When taken  in an over-dose it acts as a corrosive 
part i.             Sodce Carbonas.—Sodce Sulphas.                675

and irritant poison.  The best antidotes are fixed oils, acetic acid, and lemon
juice.   This salt is  used as a chemical agent in preparing Quiniae Sulphas,
Ed., and Antimonii  Oxidum, Ed.
   Off. Prep. Aqua  Carbonatis  Sodae  Acidula, Dub.; Ferri Carbonas Sac-
charatum, Ed.; Ferri Subcarbonas,  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Sodae
Chlorinatae, U. S., Lond.; Magnesiae  Carbonas, Lond., Ed.; Pilulae Ferri
Carbonatis,  U.S.; Pil.  Ferri Compositae, U.S., Lond.,  Dub.; Sodae Bicar-
bonas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Sodae Carbonas Exsiccatus, U.S., Lond.,
Ed., Dub.; Sodae  et Potassae  Tartras, U.S.,  J^ond.,  Ed., Dub.;  Sodae
Phosphas, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Sodae  Sulphas, Lond.                   B.


         SOD.E  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, Ital; Sulfato de soda, Sal de Glaubero, Span.
   This  salt is  included among  the  Preparations by the  three British  Col-
leges,  a  formula for  obtaining it  being given; but in the United States Phar-
macopoeia, it is inserted only in the  Materia Medica list, where it properly
stands as a substance obtained on a large scale.
   Sulphate  of soda,  in 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 Chelten-
ham and Carlsbad ;  its  ingredients are  present in sea-water; and it is found
combined with sulphate of lime, constituting a distinct mineral.   As an arti-
ficial 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.
   Preparation.  The British Colleges agree in obtaining sulphate of soda
from the salt left after the distillation of muriatic acid.  This residuary salt,
as is explained under muriatic acid, is sulphate of soda; but it generally con-
tains an  excess of sulphuric acid, which must be  neutralized with  soda  or
removed. The  London  College dissolves two pounds of the salt in two pints
(Imperial measure) of boiling water, and saturates the excess of acid with
carbonate of soda.   The  solution is  then evaporated to  a pellicle, strained,
and set aside to crystallize.   The supernatant liquor  being poured  off, the
crystals  are dried.   The Edinburgh  College dissolves  two pounds of the
salt in  three pints (Imp. meas.) of boiling water, saturates the excess of acid
with powdered white marble, boils  the liquid  and  when neutral filters it,
washes the insoluble matter with boiling water, which is added to the ori-
ginal liquid, concentrates  the  solution  to a  pellicle, and sets it aside  to  cool
and crystallize.  In the  Dublin Pharmacopoeia, the salt is directed to be dis-
solved in a sufficient  quantity of boiling water, and the solution, after filtration
and due  evaporation, is  allowed to crystallize by slow cooling.
   In the above processes, the London College converts the excess of acid  in
the salt into an  additional  portion of sulphate of  soda; while the Edinburgh
College  gets rid of the excess, by converting it into the insoluble sulphate  of
lime.   The Dublin  process makes no  provision for removing the excess  of
acid.
   Immense quantities of sulphate of soda are now obtained  in Great Britain
and France by  the process of decomposing common salt by sulphuric acid,
for the purpose of  being manufactured  into  soda-ash  and carbonate of soda;
and, so far  from the generated muriatic acid being  a product of value, its 
676
Soda Sulphas.
PART I.
absorption 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 manufac-
turer.  (See Acidum Muriaticum.)
   The residuum of the process for obtaining chlorine by the action of sul-
phuric acid,  water, and deutoxide of manganese on common salt, is a mix-
ture of sulphate of soda and sulphate of protoxide of manganese. (See Aqua
Chlorinii.)   Large quantities of this  residuum are  formed in manufacturing
chlorinated lime  (bleaching salt), and the  sulphate of soda in it, roughly
purified, supplies a small part of the consumption of this salt in making soda-
ash and carbonate of soda. (See Sodae Carbonas Impura.)
   In the process for obtaining muriate of ammonia from sulphate of ammonia
and  common  salt, water is decomposed, and a double  decomposition takes
place, resulting in the formation of sulphate  of soda  and muriate of ammonia.
By exposing the  mixed salts to heat, the muriate of ammonia sublimes, and
the sulphate  of soda remains  behind as a fixed residue. (See Ammoniae
Murias.)                             -
   In some of our Northern States, particularly Massachusetts, a portion of
Glauber's salt is procured from sea-water in the winter season.  The circum-
stances under which it is formed have been explained in a paper " On  the
Preparation of Glauber's and Epsom Salt and Magnesia from Sea-water," by
Mr.  Daniel B. Smith, published in the fourth volume of the Journal of  the
Philadelphia  College of Pharmacy.   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 it sepa-
rates in the form of crystals.
   Properties.  Sulphate of soda is a colourless  salt, possessing a cooling,
nauseous, very bitter  taste, and  crystallizing with great facility in six-sided
striated prisms.   When recently prepared,  it is  beautifully transparent; but
by exposure to the  air it  effloresces, and the crystals  become  covered with
an opaque white powder. By long  exposure it undergoes complete efflo-
rescence, 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  insoluble 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 loss of 55| 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 ferrocyanuret of potassium or tincture  of galls.
This salt is not subject to adulteration.  It is incompatible with carbonate of
potassa, chloride of calcium, the salts of  baryta, nitrate of silver if the solu-
tions be strong, and acetate and subacetate of lead.   It consists of one eq. of
sulphuric acid 40*1, one of soda 31*3, and ten of water 90=161*4.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Sulphate of soda, in doses of from half an
ounce to an ounce, is an efficient cathartic;  in smaller doses, largely diluted,
an aperient and diuretic.  When in an effloresced  state, the dose must be
reduced one-half.  It is  much less  used than formerly, having  been almost
entirely superseded by sulphate of magnesia, which is less disagreeable  to
the palate.  Its nauseous taste, however, may be  readily disguised by  the
admixture of a little  lemon-juice or cream of tartar, or the addition of a few
drops of sulphuric acid.  Sulphate of soda is an ingredient in the artificial
Cheltenham salt.  (See Appendix.)  The only use of sulphate of soda in  the
arts is to make carbonate of soda, and as an ingredient in some kinds of glass.
It has no officinal preparations.                                      B. 
part i.                    Sodii Chloridum.                        677
              SODII  CHLORIDUM.  U.S., Lond.

                        Chloride of Sodium.

   Off Syn. SOD^E MURIAS.  Ed., Dub.
   Muriate of soda, Sea salt, Common salt; Chlorure de sodium, Hydro-chlorate de soude,
Sel marin, Fr.; Chlornatrium, Kochsalz, Germ.; Salt, Dun., Swed.; Chloruro di sodio, Sal
commune, Ital; Sal, Span.
   This mineral production, so necessary to  mankind, is universally distri-
buted 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 per-
form an important 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, or 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 geolo-
gical  position is very constant,  occurring almost  invariably in secondary
formations, associated  with  clay and gypsum.   In solution it occurs in cer-
tain 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 coun-
tries of South America.   In the United States  there  are no salt  mines, but
numerous saline springs, which either flow naturally, or are produced artifi-
cially by sinking shafts to various depths in  places where  salt is known to
exist.   These are found principally in Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia,  and New York.  In the last-mentioned State the
springs are the  most productive; the chief  ones being situated at  Salina,
Montezuma, and  Galen.   In Virginia an important salt region exists, extend-
ing fifteen  miles  on each side of the great  Kenhawa river.   Rock salt is
always  transparent 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, how-
ever, 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 spontaneous evaporation to be mentioned  presently, and the subsequent
application of artificial heat.
   Sea-water is a weak saline solution, containing 2*7 per cent, of salt, which
is extracted by the agency of solar heat in warm countries.   Salt  thus ob-
tained, is called bay salt.   The extraction is conducted in Europe princi-
pally 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
                                   58* 
 678                       Sodii Chloridum.                    part i.

 of the sun gradually concentrates 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 faggots, 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 permit of its
 final  concentration in  iron  boilers by artificial heat.   Sometimes,  to save
 fuel,  the last  concentration is  performed by allowing the  brine to trickle
 down a number of vertical ropes, on the surface of which the salt is depo-
 sited in the form of a crust.
  Properties.  Chloride  of sodium  is white, without odour,  and  of a pecu-
 liar taste called  saline.   It is  usually crystallized in cubes  ; but by hasty
 evaporation  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  unfrequenfly happens, it is deliquescent.   It
 dissolves in somewhat  less than three times  its weight of cold water, and is
 scarcely more soluble in  boiling water.   In weak  alcohol it is very soluble,
but sparingly so  in absolute alcohol.  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 disen-
gage vapours of muriatic acid;  by carbonate of potassa with the assistance
of heat; and by  the nitrates of  silver and of the protoxide of mercury.
  Several varieties of common salt are distinguished in commerce; as stoved
 salt, fishery salt, bay salt, &c; but they are characterized by modifications
 in the size and compactness of the grains, rather than by any essential dif-
 ference in composition.
   Composition.   Common  salt, in  its  pure  state,  consists  of one eq. of
 chlorine 35*42, and one  of sodium 23*3=58*72.   It contains no water of
 crystallization.   When in solution it is by some supposed  to become the
 muriate of soda in consequence of the decomposition  of water, the hydrogen
 and oxygen of which are  alleged to convert the chlorine and sodium into muri-
 atic 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  and magnesia, and chlorides  of calcium and
 magnesium.   When pure it is  not precipitated by carbonate  of soda,  chlo-
 ride  of barium,  or ferrocyanuret of potassium.   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 pre-
 sent,  constituting variously from 1 part to 23|in 1000; and sulphate of mag-
 nesia is sometimes present and  sometimes absent.   To separate the earths,
 a boiling solution of carbonate of soda must be added, as long as any preci-
 pitate is formed.   The earths will fall as carbonates,  and  must be separated
 by filtration, and  sulphate of soda and chloride  of sodium  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  and Uses.  Chloride  of sodium, in small  doses, acts
 as a  stimulant tonic and anthelmintic; in  larger ones as a  purgative and
 emetic.  It certainly promotes  digestion, and  the almost universal animal 
part i.             Sodii Chloridum.—Solidago.                 679

appetency for it, proves it to be a salutary stimulus in health.  When taken in
larger quantities than usual with food, it is  useful in some forms of dyspepsia,
and, by giving greater tone to the  digestive organs in weakly children, may
correct  the disposition to  generate worms.  On the sudden occurrence of
haemoptysis,  it is  usefully resorted to as a styptic, in the dose  of a  tea-
spoonful, taken dry, and often proves successful in stopping the flow of blood.
Externally applied in solution it is stimulant, and may be 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 depraved conditions of the
system, occurring especially in children,  and  supposed to be  dependent on
the scrofulous diathesis.  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.
It is frequently used as an ingredient in stimulating enemata.   The dose, as
a tonic, is from ten grains to a drachm ; as a  cathartic, though seldom used
for that purpose, 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,  invigorating rather than
depressing the powers of the system.   When employed  as a clyster, it may
be used in the amount of from one to  two tablespoonfuls dissolved in a pint
of water.
   The uses of common salt in domestic  economy as a condiment and anti-
septic are well  known.   In agriculture it is  sometimes used as a manure,
and  in the arts to prepare  muriate of ammonia, as also to form sulphate of
soda, with a view to its conversion afterwards  into carbonate of soda.  It is
used as a chemical agent in preparing the  biniodide of mercury of the Edin-
burgh College.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Muriaticum, Dub., Lond.; Acidum Muriaticum Purum,
Ed.; Aqua Chlorinii, Dub., Ed.; Hydrargyri Chloridum  Corrosivum, U. S.,
Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Liquor  Sodae Chlorinatae, Lond.; Plumbi  Chloridum, Lond.; Pulvis Salinus
Compositus, Dub.; Sodae Murias  Purum, Ed.; Sodae Sulphas, Lond., Ed.,
Dub.; Calomelas Praecipitatum, Dub.                              B.


                 SOLIDAGO.  U. S.  Secondary.

                             Golden-rod.
   " The leaves of Solidago odora." U. S.
   Solidago.   Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia  Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae
Asteroideae, De Candolle, Asteraceae, 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 enumera-
tion, upwards of sixty species belonging to this country.  Of these the S.
odora only is officinal.   The S. Virgaurea, which is  common to the United
States and  Europe, was formerly directed by the Dublin College ; but was
omitted in the last  edition of their Pharmacopoeia.   It is  astringent, and has
been supposed to possess lithontriptic virtues.
   Solidago odora.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii.  2061; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i.
187.  The sweet-scented golden-rod has a perennial creeping root, and a
slender, erect, pubescent stem, which rises two or three feet in height.  The
leaves are sessile,  linear lanceolate, entire, acute, rough at  the margin, else-
where smooth, and, according to Bigelow, covered with pellucid dots.  The 
680
Solidago.—Spigelia.
PART I.
flowers are of a deep golden-yellow colour, and are arranged in a terminal,
compound, panicled raceme, the branches of  which spread almost horizon-
tally, 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 properties
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.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Golden-rod is aromatic, moderately stimu-
lant 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.   According to  Pursh, the  dried flowers are used as a pleasant and
wholesome substitute for common tea.                             W.


                 SPIGELIA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                               Pinkroot.

  " The root of Spigelia Marilandica." U. S., Ed. " Spigelia Marilandica.
 a?ft//■> T*    / 071 ft
   Off Syn. SPIGELIA MARILANDICA.  Radix, Dub.
   Spigelie du Maryland, Fr.; Spigelie, Germ.,-  Spigelia, Ital.
   Spigelia.   Sex. Syst.  Pentandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Gentianae,
Juss.; Spigeliaceae, Martius, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  five-parted.  Corolla funnel-shaped,  border five-cleft,
equal. Capsule didymous, two-celled, four-valved, many-seeded. Nuttall.
  There are two species of Spigelia which have attracted  attention as anthel-
mintics, the S. anthelmintica of South America  and the West Indies, and
the  S. Marilandica of  this  country.   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 Marilandica. Willd. Sp. Plant, i.  825; Bigelow, Am. Med. 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 supports from four to twelve flowers with very
short peduncles.   The  calyx is persistent, with five long, subulate, slightly
serrate leaves, reflexed in the ripe fruit.   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 segments.   It is of a rich carmine
 colour externally, becoming 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 
PART I.
Spigelia.
681
 about the length of the corolla, and terminating in a linear fringed stigma pro-
 jecting considerably beyond it.   The capsule  is double, consisting of two
 cohering, globular, one-celled portions, and containing many seeds.
   The plant  is a native of our Southern and  South-western States, being
 seldom if ever 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 part
 recognised  as officinal in the United States  Pharmacopoeia.   The drug was
 formerly collected in  Georgia and the neighbouring 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  entirely failed.  The conse-
 quence 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
 is chiefly if not exclusively in the root, without the stem and leaves.  We
 have been informed that most of it comes in casks or bales from St. Louis, by
 the way of New  Orleans.   That contained 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 of a brown-
 ish or yellowish-brown colour externally, of a faint smell, and a sweetish,
 slightly bitter, not very disagreeable taste.   Its  virtues are extracted by boil-
 ing water.  The root, analyzed by M. Feneulle, yielded  a fixed and vola-
 tile oil, a small quantity of resin, a bitter substance supposed to be the active
 principle, a mucilaginous  saccharine  matter, albumen,  gallic  acid,  the ma-
 lates 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, 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
 root alone is wisely directed by the Pharmacopoeias.
  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 over-doses 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 ob-
 served  among  the most common attendants of its narcotic action.  The death
of two children, who expired in convulsions, was attributed by Dr. Chalmers 
682
Spigelia.—Spiraa.
PART I.
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 prac-
tice, and we never hear at present of serious consequences.  Its  effects upon
the nervous system have been  erroneously conjectured to depend on  other
roots sometimes mixed With the genuine.  The vermifuge properties of spi-
gelia 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 stands at present in this  country at the head of the
anthelmintics. It has also been recommended in infantile remittents and other
febrile diseases; but it 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 successively, and then followed by a brisk  cathartic.  The practice of
preceding its  use by an emetic  has been generally abandoned.  It is fre-
quently given in combination with calomel.   The infusion, however, is  the
most common form of  administration.  (See Infusum  Spigeliae.)  It  is
usually  combined with senna or some  other  cathartic, to  ensure  its action
on the bowels.  A preparation  generally kept in  the shops and much pre-
scribed  by  physicians, under the  name of worm tea, consists of pink-root,
senna, manna, and  savine, mixed together, in. various proportions, to  suit
the views of different individuals.   Spigelia may also be given in the form of
extract.
  Off.Prep. Infusum Spigeliae, U.S.                               W.
                   SPIRAA. U.S. Secondary.

                             Hardhack.

  " The root of Spiraea tomentosa." U. S.
  Spiraea. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosacea?.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx spreading, five-cleft, inferior.  Petals five, equal, round-
ish.  Stamens numerous, exserted.  Capsules three to twelve, internally bi-
valve, each one to three-seeded. Nuttall.
  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 lanceo-
late,  unequally  serrate, somewhat pointed at both  ends, dark green on their
upper surface, whitish and  tomentose  beneath.  The flowers are of a beau-
tiful  red or purple colour, 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 Pharma-
copoeia, is, according  to Dr. A. W. Ives, the least valuable  portion.   The
taste of the plant is bitter and powerfully astringent.  Among its constitu-
ents  are tannin, gallic acid, and bitter extractive.  Water extracts its sensible
properties and medicinal virtues.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Spiraea is tonic and astringent, and  may
be used in diarrhoea, cholera infantum, and other complaints in which astrin-
gents are indicated.   In consequence  of its tonic  powers  it is  peculiarly 
PART I.
Spiraa.—Spongia.
683
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 of our country; but was first
brought to the notice of the medical profession by Dr. Cogswell, of Hartford,
in 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. The dose is from
five to fifteen grains, repeated 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.


                      SPONGIA.  U.S., Ed.

                               Sponge.

   " Spongia officinalis."  U. S., Ed.
   Off. Syn.  SPONGIA OFFICINALIS. Dub.
   Eponge, Fr.; Badcschwamm, Germ.; Spugna, Ital; Esponja, Span., Portvg.; Isfung,
Arab.
   The  sponge is now generally admitted  to  be an animaL  It is  charac-
terized  as  " a flexile, fixed, torpid, polymorphous animal, composed either
of reticulate fibres, or  masses of small spires interwoven together, and
clothed with a gelatinous 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 naturalists, of which several are probably employed,
though the Spongia officinalis is  the only one designated in the  Pharmaco-
poeias.   They 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 first collected they
are enveloped in a gelatinous coating, which forms part of the animal, and is
separated by washing 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,  tena-
cious 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 pre-
pared by macerating it for several days in cold  water, beating it in  order to
break up the concretions 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.
   According to M. Hatchett, the chemical constituents of sponge are gelatin,
coagulated albumen, common salt, and carbonate of lime.   The  presence of
 magnesia, silica, iron, sulphur, and  phosphorus has also been detected; and
iodine  and bromine combined with sodium  and potassium are among  the 
684
Spongia.—St annum.
PART I.
ingredients.  From the experiments of Mr. Croockewit, it would appear that
sponge is closely analogous to, if not identical with  the fibroin of Mulder,
differing from it only in containing iodine, sulphur, 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 qualities 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» hemorrhage from the nostrils.  In the shape of sponge
tent it is also useful for dilating 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 the sponge, expanding by the imbibition of
moisture, gradually dilates  the wound or  ulcer in which it may be placed.
Reduced to the state of charcoal  by heat, sponge has long been used as a
remedy in  goitre. (See Spongia  Usta.)  Its efficacy in this complaint, which
was formerly considered very doubtful by many physicians, has been gene-
rally admitted since the discovery of iodine.
  Off. Prep.  Spongia Usta, U. S., Dub.                           W.


              STANNUM.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                                 Tin.

  Etain, Fr.; Zinn, Germ.; Stagno, Ital; Estanno, Span.
  Tin is one  of those metals which have been  known  from the earliest ages.
It exists  in the earth 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.   A  valuable tin ore has been lately discovered in the United States,
at Jackson, New Hampshire.  The Cornwall  mines are the most celebrated
and productive, but those of Asia furnish the  purest tin.  The  metal is
extracted from the  native oxide.   When this occurs in its purest state, under
the  form of  detached roundish grains, called stream tin, the  reduction is
effected simply by heating  with charcoal.  When the oxide is extracted  from
mines, called  mine tin, it  requires to be  freed, by pounding and  washing,
from  the adhering  gangue; after which it is  roasted to drive off  sulphur,
arsenic, and  antimony, and finally reduced in furnaces by means  of stone
coal.   The metal,  as thus  obtained, is not pure.   To render it so it requires
to be  subjected to a gentle heat, whereby the pure tin enters first into fusion,
and is thus separated from the impurities, which consist of tin united  with
copper, arsenic, iron, and  antimony.  The pure  metal, thus obtained, is the
grain-tin of  the English;   while the impure residue, after  being fused, con-
stitutes block-tin.
  Properties. Tin is a malleable, rather soft metal, of a silver-white colour,
and possessing considerable brilliancy. It occurs in the shops, beaten out into
thin leaves, called tinfoil.  It undergoes but 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 of this metal.   Its sp. gr. is 7*29, melting  point 442°, 
PART I.
Statinum.—Staphisagria.
685
equivalent number 58*9, and symbol Sn.  It forms three oxides, a protoxide,
sesquioxide, and deutoxide.  The protoxide is of a grayish-black colour, and
consists of one eq.of tin 58*9, and one of oxygen 8=66-9. The sesquioxide
is gray, and is composed of two eqs. of tin 117*8, and three of oxygen 24=
141*8.  The deutoxide is of a white colour, and constitutes the native oxide.
It consists of one eq. of tin 58-9, and two of oxygen  16=74*9.
  The  tin of  commerce  is  often impure, being contaminated with other
metals, introduced  by fraud, or  present in consequence of the  mode of ex-
traction 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 than natural; and lead, copper, and iron  cause it to become
brittle.  Pure tin is converted by nitric acid into a white powder (deutoxide),
without being dissolved.  Boiled with muriatic acid, it forms a solution which
gives  a white precipitate with ferrocyanuret of potassium.  A blue precipi-
tate with this test indicates iron; a brown one, copper; and a violet-biueone,
both iron and copper.  If lead be present, a precipitate  wjll be produced by
sulphate of magnesia.  The Malacca and Banca tin, and  the English grain-
tin are the  purest kinds found in commerce.  Block tin  and the metal ob-
tained from Germany are always of inferior quality.  The  common tin of the
shops has a density of about 7*56..
  Uses.   Tin enters into the composition of bronze, bell-metal, pewter, and
plumbers* solder.  It is used also  in making tin-plate,  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  employed 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 Pulvis
Slanni.
  Off. Prep. Pulvis Stanni, U. Si, Ed., Dub.                       B.


                STAPHISAGRIA. Lond., Ed.

                            Stavesacre.

  " Delphinium Staphisagria.  Semina" Lond.  " Seeds  of  Delphinium
Staphisagria." Ed.
  Off. Syn. DELPHINIUM STAPHISAGRIA. Semina. Dub.
  Stiphisiiigre, Fr.;  Stephanskraut, Lausekraul, Germ.;. Stufisugria, 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  pedieels twice as  long  as the  flower, and
bracteoles inserted 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 large, irregularly triangular, wrinkled,
externally brown, internally  whitish and  oily.  They have a slight but dis-
agreeable  odour, and an extremely acrid, bitter, hot, nauseous taste. ' Their 
686
Staphisagria.—Statice.
PART I.
virtues  are  extracted by water and alcohol.  Analyzed by MM. Lassaigne
and Feneulle, they yielded a brown and a yellow bitter principle, a volatile
oil, a fixed  oil, albumen, an azotized substance, a mucilaginous  saccharine
matter,  mineral salts, and  a peculiar vegetable  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 separated 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 deserving to be considered as pure  delphinia. (Journ. de Pharm.,
xix. 519.)
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  The seeds  were  formerly used as an
emetic  and  cathartic, but  have been  abandoned in consequence of the  vio-
lence  of their action.  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.  Dr. Turnbull  states  that he
has employed a strong tincture with advantage  as  an embrocation in rheu-
matic affections.  In some countries  the seeds are used to intoxicate fish in
the same  manner as the Cocculus Indicus.   Delphinia is highly poisonous
in small doses, exerting its effects chiefly on the nervous system.   This,
at least, was the statement  made in  relation  to it before the  appearance of
Dr. Turnbull's  work, On  the Medical Properties  of the Ranunculaceae.
According to this author, pure delphinia may be given to the extent of three
or four  grains a day, in doses of half a  grain each, without exciting vomit-
ing, 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 employed, it
acts like veratria, and is  applicable to the  same complaints;  but, according
to Dr. Turnbull, produces more redness and burning, and less tingling  than
that substance.  He has employed  it in  neuralgia,  rheumatism, and para-
lysis, and in the last complaint  considers it preferable to veratria.   It  may
be  applied  by friction, in  the form of ointment  or  alcoholic solution, in
proportions  varying from ten to  thirty grains of the  alkali to an ounce of
the vehicle;  and the friction should be continued till  a pungent sensation is
produced.                                                         W.


                  STATICE. U.S.  Secondary.

                         Marsh Rosemary.

   "The root of Statice Caroliniana." U.S.
   Statice.   Sex. Syst.  Pentandria  Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord.   Plumbagi-
naceae.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx one-leaved, entire, plaited, scariose.  Petals  five.  Seed
one, superior.  Nuttall.
   Statice Caroliniana. Walter, Flor. Car. 118; Bigelow, 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 
PART I.
Statice.—Stillingia.
687
others  follow Walter in considering it  as a  distinct species.  It is an indi-
genous maritime plant, with a perennial root, sending up  annually tufts of
leaves, which are obovate or cuneiform, entire, obtuse, mucronate, smooth,
and supported on long footstalks.  They differ from  the  leaves of the S.
Limonium in being perfectly flat on the margin, while the latter are undu-
lated.  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 only of the  com-
mon 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 Phila-
delphia, found  it to contain tannic  acid, gum, extractive, albumen, volatile
oil, resin, caoutchouc, 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 em-
ployed.  It may be used for all  the purposes  for which kino  and catechu
are  given ;  but its chief popular application is to aphthous and ulcerative
affections of the mouth and fauces.  Dr. Baylies, of Massachusetts, found it
highly  useful in cynanche  maligna, both as  an internal  and local  remedy.
It is employed in the form of infusion or decoction.                  W.


               STILLINGIA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                            Queens-root.

  " The root of Stillingia sylvatica."  U. S.
  Stillincia.   Sex. Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Euphorbi-
aceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Male. Involucre hemispherical,  many-flowered, or wanting.
Calyx tubular, eroded.  Stamens two  and three, exserted.  Female. Calyx
one-flowered, inferior.  Style trifid.  Capsule three-grained. Nuttall.
  Stillingia sylvatica.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 588.   This is an indigenous
perennial  plant, with herbaceous stems, and  alternate, sessile,  oblong or
lanceolate oblong, obtuse, serrulate leaves, tapering at the base, and  accom-
panied  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 Virginia to  Florida, flowering in
May and June.  When wounded, it emits a milky juice.   The root, which
is the part used, is large, thick, and woody.   We are not acquainted with its
precise properties; but understand that  it is much employed in the Southern
States.   It is  said to  be purgative and alterative; and probably possesses
more or less of the acrid quality common to the Euphorbiaceae.   It  is used
in lues venerea, obstinate cutaneous  affections, and  other complaints which
are  usually treated with sarsaparilla.                                W. 
688           Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.       part i.
            STRAMONII  FOLIA.  U.S., Lond.
                      Stramonium Leaves.
  " The leaves  of Datura Stramonium."  U. S.   " Datura Stramonium.
Folia." Lond.
  Off. Syn. STRAMONIUM. Herb of Datura Stramonium.  Tlwrnapple.
Ed.;  STRAMONIUM. DATURA STRAMONIUM.  Herba.  Dub.

                STRAMONII RADIX. U.S.
                       Stramonium Root.
  " The root of Datura Stramonium."  U. S.
                STRAMONII  SEMEN.  U.S.

                        Stramonium Seed.
   " The seeds of Datura Stramonium."  U. S.
   Off. Syn. STRAMONII SEMINA. Datura Stramonium. Semina. Lond.;
STRAMONIUM. DATURA STRAMONIUM. Semina. Dub.
   Thornapple; Stramoine, Pomme epineuse, Fr.,- Stechapfel, Germ.; Stramonio, Ital;
Estramonio, Span.
   Datura.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Solanaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla  funnel-shaped,  plaited.  Calyx tubular, angular, deci-
duous.  Capsule four-valved. Willd.
   Datura  Stramonium.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  i. 1008; Bigelow, Am. Med.
Bot. i. 17;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 197. t. 74.  The  thornapple is an annual
plant, of rank and vigorous growth,  usually about three feet high, but in a
very rich soil sometimes rising six feet or more.   The root is large, whitish,
and furnished with numerous fibres.   The  stem  is erect, round, smooth,
somewhat shining, simple below, dichotomous above, with numerous spread-
ing branches.  The leaves, which stand on short  round footstalks in the
forks of the stem,  are five or  six  inches long, of an ovate triangular form,
irregularly sinuated and toothed at the edges, unequal at the base, of a dark-
green colour on the upper surface, and pale beneath.  The flowers are large,
axillary, solitary, and peduncled;  having a tubular, pentangular, five-toothed
calyx,  and  a funnel-shaped corolla with  a long  tube, and a waved plaited
border, terminating in five acuminate  teeth.  The upper portion of the calyx
falls with the deciduous parts of the flower, leaving its base,  which becomes
reflexed and remains attached to the fruit.  This is a large, fleshy, roundish
ovate,  four-valved, four-celled capsule,  thickly covered with sharp spines,
and containing numerous seeds attached to  a longitudinal receptacle in the
centre of each cell.  It opens at the summit.
   Dr. Bigelow describes two varieties of this species of Stramonium, 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 variety,  however, is considered by most botanists
as a distinct species, being the  D.  Tatula of Linn.   The properties of both
are the same.
  It is  doubtful to what country this  plant originally belonged.   Many
European botanists refer it to North America, while we in return trace it to
the old continent.   Nuttall considers  it as having originated in South Ame- 
part I.        Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.           689

rica or Asia;  and it is probable that its native country is to be found in some
portion of  the East.   Its seeds, being retentive of life, and easily germinat-
ing, are taken in the earth put on shipboard for ballast from one country to
another, not unfrequenfly springing up upon the passage, and thus propagat-
ing the plant in all regions which have any commercial  connexion.   In the
United States it is found everywhere in the vicinity of cultivation, frequent-
ing dung-heaps, the road-sides and commons, and other places where a rank
soil is created by the deposited  refuse of towns  and  villages.  Its  flowers
appear  from  May to July or August, according to the  latitude.  Where the
plant grows abundantly, its vicinity may be detected by the  rank odour which
it diffuses to some distance  around.  All parts of it possess medicinal pro-
perties.  The herbaceous portion is directed by the Edinburgh College; the
herb and seeds by that of.Dublin; the leaves and seeds by the London Col-
lege;  and  the leaves, root, and seeds by the  Pharmacopoeia of the United
States.  The leaves may be gathered at any time from the  appearance  of the
flowers till the autumnal frost.  In the common language of this  country,
the plant is most known by  the name of Jamestown weed, derived probably
from its having been first observed in the  neighbourhood of that old settle-
ment in Virginia.  In Great  Britain it is called thornapple.
   1. The fresh leaves when bruised emit a fetid narcotic odour, which they
lose upon drying.  Their taste is bitter and nauseous.   These properties,
together with their  medical virtues, are  imparted to  water and alcohol.
Water distilled  from them,  though possessed of their  odour in a  slight
degree, is  destitute of their  active properties.   They contain, according to
Promnitz,  0*58  per cent, of gum, 0*6 of extractive, 0-64 of green starch,
0*15 of albumen, 0*12 of resin,  0*23  of saline  matters, 5-15 of lignin, and
91*25 of water.  The leaves, if carefully dried,  though they lose their odour,
retain their bitter taste.
   2. The seeds  are small, kidney-shaped, flattened on the sides, of a dark
brown almost black colour, inodorous, and of the bitter nauseous taste  of the
leaves, with some degree of acrimony.   They were minutely analyzed by
Brandes, who found, besides a peculiar alkaline principle called daturia, a
glutinous matter, albumen, gum, a butyraceous  substance, green wax, resin
insoluble in  ether, fixed oil, bassorin, sugar,  gummy extractive,  orange-
coloured extractive, and  various saline and earthy substances.  According to
Brandes, daturia exists  in the seeds combined  with an excess of malic acid.
Chemists, however, have failed in obtaining such a principle by the  process
given by Brandes; and Berzelius states that the daturia of  Brandes has been
ascertained, even  by that chemist himself, to be  nothing  more than  phos-
phate of magnesia. (Traite de Chimie, vi. 319.)  But Geiger and Hesse
succeeded in  isolating an alkaline principle, to which  the same name has
been given, and which Trommsdorff has repeatedly procured by their pro-
cess.
   As  described  by Geiger  and  Hesse, daturia crystallizes in colourless,
inodorous, shining prisms, which, when first applied to the  tongue, are bitter-
ish, 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 ani-
mals, and strongly dilates the pupil.   It was procured from the seeds in the
same manner as hyoscyamia from those of Hyoscyamus Niger.  (See Hyos-
cyamus.)   The  product is exceedingly small.  In the most favourable case,
Trommsdorff got only r75 of  one per cent. (Annal. der Bharm., xxxii.  275.)
Mr.  Morries  obtained a poisonous  empyreumatic oil by the destructive
distillation of stramonium.
                                  59* 
 690           Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.       part i.

   Medical Properties and Uses. Stramonium is a powerful narcotic.  When
 taken in quantities sufficient to affect the  system moderately, it usually pro-
 duces more or less cerebral disturbance, indicated by vertigo, headache, dim-
 ness or perversion of vision, and confusion of thought, sometimes amounting
 to slight delirium or a species of intoxication.   At  the  same time peculiar
 deranged sensations are experienced about  the fauces, oesophagus, and tra-
 chea, increased  occasionally to a feeling of suffocation, and  often attended
 with nausea.  A disposition to  sleep is  sometimes but not uniformly pro-
 duced.  The pulse is not materially affected.  The bowels  are rather relaxed
 than confined, and the secretions from the skin and kidneys not unfrequenfly
 augmented. These effects pass off in five  or six hours, or in a shorter period,
 and no  inconvenience is  subsequently experienced.  (Marcet, Greding, <y-c.)
 Taken  in poisonous doses, this narcotic produces cardialgia, excessive  thirst,
 nausea  and vomiting, a sense of strangulation,  anxiety and faintness, partial
 or complete  blindness with dilatation of the pupil, vertigo, delirium  some-
 times of a furious sometimes of a whimsical character, tremors of the limbs,
 palsy,  and ultimately stupor and convulsions.  From all  these symptoms the
 patient  may recover; but in numerous instances they have terminated in  death.
 To evacuate the stomach by emetics or the stomach pump is the most effec-
 tual means of affording relief.
   Though  long  known as a poisonous  and intoxicating  herb, stramonium
 was first introduced  into regular  practice by Baron Storck, of Vienna, who
 found some advantage from its use in mania and epilepsy.   Subsequent ob-
 servation has confirmed his estimate of the remedy; and numerous cases are
 on record in which benefit has accrued from it in these  complaints.   It can
 be  of use, however, only in those cases which depend solely  on irregular
 nervous action.   Other diseases in which  it has been  found beneficial are
 neuralgic and rheumatic affections, dysmenorrhoea, syphilitic pains, cancer-
 ous sores, and spasmodic asthma.  In the last complaint it has acquired con-
 siderable reputation.   It is employed  only  during the  paroxysm, which it
 very often greatly alleviates or altogether subverts.   The practice was intro-
 duced into Great Britain from  the East Indies, where the  natives are  in the
 habit of smoking the dried root and lower  part of  the  stem of the Datura
ferox, in the paroxysms of this distressing complaint.  The same parts of the
 D. Stramonium were substituted and found equally effectual.  To prepare
 the roots for use, they are quickly dried, cut into  pieces,  and beat so as to
 loosen the texture.   The dried leaves answer the same purpose.  They are
 smoked by means  of a common tobacco-pipe.  These and other  narcotic
 leaves  have also been used in the shape of  cigars.   The smoke produces a
 sense of heat in the lungs, followed by copious expectoration, and attended
 frequently  with  temporary vertigo or  drowsiness,  and  sometimes with
 nausea.   The remedy should  never be used in plethoric  cases, unless pre-
 ceded by ample depletion, and in no case where there is  a determination to
 the head.  Dangerous and even fatal consequences  are said to have  resulted
 from its incautious or improper use; and General Gent, who was instrumental
 in introducing the practice into England, is said at last to have fallen a vic-
 tim to  it. (Pereird's Mat. Med.)   Stramonium has sometimes  been given
 by the  stomach  in the same complaint.  It is  used by Dr. H. D. W.  Pawl-
 ing in the treatment of delirium tremens,  and, as represented in the inaugural
 dissertation of his pupil Dr. G. W. Holstein, with great success.  Dr. Pawl-
 ing employs a decoction of the leaves.
   Externally the medicine is  used advantageously as an  ointment  or cata-
 plasm  in irritable ulcers, inflamed tumours, swelling of  the mammae,  and
 painful hemorrhoidal affections.  By American surgeons it is very frequently 
 part i.  Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.—Styrax.      691

 applied to the  eye, in order to produce dilatation of the pupil, previously to
 the  operation for cataract;  and is found equally efficacious with belladonna.
 For this purpose the extract, mixed with lard, is generally rubbed over the
 eyelid, or a solution of it dropped into the eye.
   Of the parts  of the  plant employed,  the seeds are the most powerful.
 They  may be given in the  dose of a grain twice a day; and an extract made
 by  evaporating the decoction, in one quarter or  half the quantity.   The
 dose of the powdered leaves is two or three grains.   The inspissated juice
 of the fresh  leaves, which is the officinal extract, is more commonly pre-
 scribed than  any other preparation,  and may be administered in the quantity
 of one grain.  (See  Extractum Stramonii.)   There is also an officinal
 tincture to which the reader is referred.   Whatever preparation is used, the
 dose should  be gradually increased till the narcotic  operation becomes evi-
 dent, or relief from the symptoms of the  disease  is  obtained.  The quantity
 of fifteen or twenty grains of the powdered leaves, and a proportionate
 amount of the other preparations, have often been given daily without  un-
 pleasant effects.
   Off. Prep, of the Leaves.  Extractum Stramonii Foliorum, U. S., Dub.;
 Unguentum Stramonii,  U.S.
   Off. Prep, of the  Seeds.  Extractum  Stramonii Seminis,  U.S., Lond.,
 Ed.; Tinctura Stramonii,  U. S.                                   W.


                  STYRAX.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                                Storax.

   "  The concrete juice  of Styrax  officinale."  U. S.  " Styrax  officinale.
 Balsamum." Lond.  " Balsamic exudation of Styrax officinale." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  STYRAX OFFICINALE. Resina. Dub.
   Storax, Fr., Germ.; Storaee,  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  be-
 come naturalized in Italy, Spain, and the South of France, where, however,
 it does  not yield balsam.  This circumstance has induced some naturalists to
 doubt whether the Styrax officinale  is the real source of storax; and, as  the
 Liquidambar styraciflua of this country affords a balsam closely analogous
 to  that under  consideration, Bernard de Jussieu  conjectured that the latter
 might be derived from another species of the same genus, the L. orientale
 of Lamarck, which is more  abundant in Syria than the Styrax.
   Storax is obtained  in Asiatic Turkey by making  incisions into the trunk
of the tree.   Several kinds  are mentioned in the books.  The purest is the
storax  in grains, wdiich 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 storax calamita, from
the circumstance, 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 
692
Styrax.
PART I.
agglutinated tears, in the interstices of which is a brown or reddish matter:
The French writers call it storax amygdaloide.   Both this and the preceding
variety  have a very pleasant odour like that of vanilla.   Neither of them,
however, is brought to our markets.
  A third  variety, which is  sometimes sold as the storax calamita, is in
brown or reddish-brown masses of various shapes, light, friable, yet possess-
ing a certain degree of tenacity, and softening  under the teeth.   Upon  ex-
posure, it  becomes covered upon the surface with  a white efflorescence of
benzoic acid.  It evidently consists of saw-dust, united either with a portion
of the balsam, or with other  analogous substances.   As found in the shops
of this  country, 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 ofan odour some-
what like that of the Peruvian balsam, though less agreeable.  It is kept in
jars, and is the most employed.   What is the source of  liquid storax is not
certainly known. Some suppose it to be derived by decoction from the young
branches of the Liquidambar styraciflua; but some of the genuine juice of
this plant, brought from New Orleans, which we have had an opportunity of
inspecting, has an odour entirely distinct  from that of the  substance under
consideration.  According to  Landerer, who resides in  Greece, liquid storax
is obtained, in the islands of Cos and Rhodes, from the bark and young twigs
of "the Styrax officinale, by subjecting them to pressure.  The plant, according
to the  same  authority, grows also  on the mainland of Greece, but in  that
situation does not yield balsam.
   General Properties.  Storax has a fragrant odour and  aromatic  taste.  It
melts with a moderate heat,  and  when the  temperature  is  raised takes  fire
and burns with a white flame, leaving a light spongy carbonaceous residue.
It imparts its odour to water,  which it renders yellow and milky.   Its active
constituents are dissolved by alcohol and ether.  Newmann obtained from
480 grains of storax 120 of watery extract;  and from  an equal quantity 360
grains of alcoholic extract.   Containing volatile oil and  resin,  and yielding
benzoic acid by distillation, it is entitled to be ranked as  a balsam.  Besides
these ingredients, Reinsch found in storax calamita, gum, extractive, lignin,
a matter extracted by  potassa, water, and traces of  ammonia. Simon found,
in liquid storax, cinnamic acid, and  a resinous substance which he considered
identical with the styracine of Bonastre.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  This balsam is a stimulating expectorant,
and  was formerly recommended  in phthisis,  chronic  catarrh,  asthma,  and
amenorrhoea ; 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  dis-
agreeable.   From ten  to twenty grains may be  given twice a day, and the
dose gradually increased.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum  Styracis, Ed.;  Styrax Purificata, U.S.,  Lond.,
Dub.; Tinctura Benzoini Composita, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.      W. 
PART I.
Succinum.
693
                SUCCINUM.  U.S., Lond., Dub.

                                Amber.
   Succin, Ambre jaune,  Karabe, Fr.; Bernstein, Germ.; Ambra gialla, Succino, Ital;
 Succino, Span.
   Amber is a kind of fossil resin, derived, probably, from extinct coniferae,
 occurring generally in small detached masses, in alluvial deposits, in  differ-
 ent parts of the world.   It is found  chiefly in Prussia, either on the  sea-
 shore, where it is  thrown up by the Baltic, or underneath the surface, in the
 alluvial formations along the coast.  It occurs also in considerable  quantities
 near Catania, in Sicily.   It is most frequently associated with  lignite, and
 sometimes encloses  insects and parts of vegetables.  In  the  United States,
 it was found in Maryland, at Cape Sable, near Magothy river, by Dr. Troost.
 In this locality it is associated with iron pyrites and lignite.  It has also been
 discovered in New Jersey.   The amber consumed in this country, however,
 is brought from the ports of the Baltic.
   Properties.  Amber is a brittle  solid, generally in  small irregular masses,
 permanent in the  air,  having a homogeneous texture and vitreous fracture,
 and susceptible of a fine polish.   It becomes negatively electric by friction.
 Its colour is generally yellow, either light or deep; but occasionally it is
 reddish-brown or even  deep-brown.    It  has no  taste, and is  inodorous
 unless when  heated, when  it  exhales a peculiar, aromatic, not unpleasant
 smell.  It is usually translucent, though occasionally transparent or opaque.
 Its sp.gr.  is  about  1*07.   Water and alcohol scarcely  act  on it.  When
 heated in the open air, it softens,  melts at 548°, swells, and at last  inflames,
 leaving,  after combustion, a small portion  of ashes.  Subjected to distilla-
 tion in a retort furnished with  a  tubulated receiver,  it yields, first, a yellow
 acid liquor;  and afterwards a  thin  yellowish oil, with a yellow waxy sub-
 stance, 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 substance, identical with
 the chrysene of Laurent.   A white  crystalline substance, identical with the
 idrialine of Dumas, may be separated  from  the micaceous substance by boil-
 ing alcohol.  Both chrysene and idrialine are carbo-hydrogens.  (Pelletier and
 Walter, Journ. de  Pharm., v. 60.)  As the distillation proceeds, a consider-
 able quantity of combustible gas is given off, which must be allowed to escape
 from the tubulure of the  receiver.   By continuing the heat the oil  gradually
 deepens in colour, until,  towards the end of the distillation, it  becomes black
 and of the consistence of pitch.   The oil obtained is called oil of amber, and
 the acid  liquor is  a solution of impure succinic acid.  When amber is dis-
 tilled  repeatedly from  nitric acid,  it  yields an  acid liquor, from which, after
 it has been  neutralized with caustic potassa, ether separates pure camphor.
 (Doepping, Journ. de Pharm., vi. 168.)
   Composition.   According to Berzelius, amber  consists of 1. a volatile oil
ofan agreeable odour in small quantity;  2. a yellow resin, intimately united
with a volatile oil,  very soluble in  alcohol, ether, and the alkalies, easily fusi-
ble, and  resembling ordinary resins ; 3. another resin, also combined  with
volatile oil, soluble in ether and the alkalies, sparingly soluble in  cold, but
more soluble in boiling alcohol; 4. succinic acid ; 5. a bituminous  principle
insoluble in-alcohol, ether, and  the alkalies, having some  analogy to the lac
resin of John, and constituting  more than four-fifths  of the amber.  It also
contains  a strongly  odorous, bright yellow substance,  which hardens by
lime, but preserves in part  its odour.  The ultimate constituents  of amber 
694
Succinum.—Sulphur.
PART I.
 are carbon 80*59, hydrogen 7*31, oxygen 6*73, ashes (silica, lime, and alu-
 mina), 3-27=97*90.  (Drossier, quoted in  Pereira's Elem. of Mat. Med.)
   Pharmaceutical Uses, <y-c.  Amber was  held  in  high estimation by the
 ancients as a medicine ; but at present is employed only in pharmacy and the
 arts.  In  pharmacy it is used to prepare  succinic acid and oil  of amber.
 (See Acidum Succinicum and Oleum Succini.)  In  the arts it  is made into
 ornaments and employed in preparing varnishes.  When put to the latter use
 it requires to be first subjected to roasting, whereby it is rendered soluble in a
 mixture of linseed oil and  oil of turpentine.   This solution forms amber
 varnish.
   Off.Prep.  Acidum Succinicum,  Dub.;  Oleum Succini,  U.S., Lond.,
 Dub.                                                            B.

                 SULPHUR. U.S., Lond., Ed.

                              Sulphur.
   " Sublimed sulphur." U. S. " Sulphur (sublimatum)." Lond.
   Off. Syn. SULPHUR SUBLIMATUM. Dub.

               SULPHUR  LOTUM.  U.S., Dub.

                          Washed Sulphur.
   " Sublimed sulphur thoroughly washed with water." U. S.
   Off. Syn. SULPHUR SUBLIMATUM. Ed.
   Brimstone; Soufre, Fr.,- Schwefel, Germ,; Zolfo, Ital; Azufre, Span.
   The officinal forms of sulphur are the sublimed, the washed, and the pre-
cipitated.   The sublimed sulphur is designated  in the United  States and
London Pharmacopoeias by the single word  Sulphur;  the washed sulphur,
in the United States and Dublin nomenclature, as Sulphur Latum.  The
London College has dismissed washed sulphur as an  officinal  preparation,
and  the Edinburgh  College, adopting  a  faulty and confused  nomenclature,
recognises only the washed sulphur, calling it "Sulphnr Sublimatum"
under the  Preparations, and " Sulphur" in  the Materia Medica  list.  Sub-
limed 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 ani-
mal  and vegetable matter.  Among vegetables, it is particularly abundant  in
the cruciform plants, as  for example in mustard.  It  occurs in  the earth,
either native or in combination.   When native it  is found in  masses, trans-
lucent or  opaque, or in  the powdery form  mixed with various earthy im-
purities.   In  combination it is usually united  with certain metals, as iron,
lead, mercury, antimony,  copper* and zinc,  forming  compounds called sul-
phurets. Native sulphur is most abundant in volcanic countries, and is hence
called volcanic sulphur.   The most celebrated mines of native  sulphur are
found at Solfatara in the  kingdom  of Naples, in  Sicily, and in the Roman
States. It occurs also, in  small quantities, in different localities in the United
States.
  Extraction, fyc.   Sulphur is obtained either  from sulphur earths, or from
the native sulphurets of iron and copper, called iron and copper  pyrites.
The sulphur  earths are  placed in  earthen  pots, set  in oblong furnaces  of
brick-work.   From the upper and lateral part of each pot proceeds a tube,
which communicates with the upper part of another pot,  placed outside the
furnace, and perforated near its bottom to allow the melted sulphur to flow
out into   a vessel containing water,  placed beneath.  Fire being applied, 
part i.                        Sulphur.                            695

the sulphur rises in vapour, leaving the  impurities behind, and, being con-
densed again,  flows from  the  perforated  pot into the vessel containing the
water.  Sulphur, as thus obtained, is called crude sulphur,  and contains
about one-twelfth  of its  weight of earthy  matter.  For purification, it is
generally melted in a cast iron vessel.  When the fusion is  complete, the
impurities  subside,  and the purer sulphur is dipped out and poured into
cylindrical  wooden moulds, which give it the form of solid cylinders, about
an  inch in  diameter, called in commerce roll sulphur  or cane brimstone.
The dregs  of this process constitute a very impure kind of sulphur, known
by  the name of sulphur vivum in the shops.
  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 proportion of sulphur.   A more eligible  mode of purification consists
in distilling the crude sulphur from a large  cast iron still, set  in brick-work
over a furnace, and furnished  with an iron head.   The head has two lateral
communications, one with a chamber of brick-work, the  other with an iron
receiver, immersed in  water,  which is constantly renewed to cool it suffi-
ciently 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 cham-
ber is open, the sulphur condenses on its walls in the form of an impalpable
powder, and constitutes sublimed sulphur or flowers of sulphur.  If, on the
other hand, the communication with the chamber be closed and that with the
receiver opened, the  sulphur  condenses in the latter in the fused state, and,
when cast in cylindrical moulds, forms the roll sulphur of commerce.
  The extraction of sulphur  from  the bisulphuret of iron (iron pyrites) is
performed  by distilling it in  stone-ware  cylinders.  Half the sulphur con-
tained in the sulphuret is volatilized  by the heat, and conducted, by means of
an  adopter, into vessels containing water, where it condenses.   The residue
of the mineral is employed for making sulphate of iron, or green vitriol, by
exposure to air and moisture   In the island of 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 sulphur is condensed.   Each
chamber is furnished with a door, through which  the sulphur  is withdrawn
once in six  weeks.
  According to  Berzelius, a very economical method of extracting sulphur
from iron  pyrites  is practised in Sweden,  which saves  the expenditure of
fuel.  The pyrites is introduced into furnaces with long horizontal chimneys,
of which the part next to the furnace  is of brick-work, while the rest is formed
of wood.   The pyrites is kindled below, and continues to burn  of itself; and
the heat generated causes the  stratum  immediately above  the part kindled to
give off half its sulphur, which becomes condensed in flowers in the wooden
chimney.   As the fire advances, the iron and  the other half of the sulphur
enter into combustion, and, by the increase of heat thus generated, cause the
volatilization of a fresh  portion of su'phur.  In this manner, the process con-
tinues until the whole of the pyrites is consumed. The sulphur thus obtained
is pulverulent  and  very impure,  and requires to be purified by distillation
from iron vessels.
   Crude sulphur is employed by the manufacturers of sulphuric acid, and,
as it is very variable  in  quality,  it becomes  important to ascertain its exact
value.   This may be done by  drying a given weight of it, and  submitting it
to combustion.   The weight of the incombustible residue, added to that lost
by  desiccation', gives the amount of impurity.
  Crude sulphur comes to this country principally from Trieste, Messina in
Sicily, and  the ports of Italy, being imported for  the use of the sulphuric 
696
Sulphur.
PART I,
acid manufacturers.  Roll sulphur and the flowers are usually brought from
Marseilles.
   Properties.  Sulphur is an elementary non-metallic brittle solid, of a pale
yellow colour, permanent in  the air, and exhibiting a crystalline texture and
shining fracture.   It has a slight taste, and a perceptible smell when rubbed.
When pure, its sp. gr. is about 2; but occasionally, from impurity, it is as
high as 2-35.   Its equivalent number is 16*1, and symbol S.  It is a bad con-
ductor of heat, and becomes negatively electric by friction.   It is insoluble in
water, but soluble in alkaline solutions, petroleum, the fixed  and volatile oils,
and, provided it be in a finely divided state, in alcohol and ether.  Upon being
heated, it begins  to volatilize at about  180°, when its peculiar odour  is per-
ceived; it melts at 225°, and, at 600°, in close vessels, boils and rises in  the
form of a yellow  vapour, which may be condensed again, either in the liquid
or pulverulent state, according as  the temperature of the recipient is above or
below  the melting point of the sulphur.   If heated in open  vessels, 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 numerous,
and among the most powerful agents of chemistry.   With  oxygen it forms
four principal  acids,  the  hyposulphurous,  sulphurous, hypo sulphuric, and
sulphuric, vwth hydrogen, sulphohydric acid (hydrosulphuric acid or  sul-
phuretted hydrogen), and with the metals, various sulphurets.  Some of the
sulphurets  are analogous  to  acids, others to bases, and  these different sul-
phurets,  by  combining with each  other, form compounds analogous to salts,
and hence called  by Berzelius sulpho-salts.
   Sulphur, when obt lined by roasting the native sulphurets, sometimes con-
tains arsenic, and  is therebv rendered  poisonous.   Volcanic sulphur  is not
subject to this impurity.  The common English  roll sulphur is sometimes
made from iron pyrites, and is then apt to contain orpiment (tersulphuret of
arsenic).  This impurity  may be detected by heating the s'uspected sulphur
with nitric acid.  The arsenic, if present, will be converted into arsenic acid;
and the nitric solution, diluted with water, neutralized with carbonate of soda,
and acidulated with muriatic acid, will gife a yellow precipitate of persulphu-
ret of arsenic with a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen.   Sulphur, when per-
fectly pure,  is wholly volatilized by heat, and soluble without residue in oil
of turpentine.
   The above remarks apply to sulphur generally ; but, irt its pharmaceutical
states of sublimed and washed sulphur, it presents  modifications which re-
quire to be noticed.
   Sublimed sulphur, usually called flowers of sulphur (/lores sulphuris), is
in the form of a crystalline powder of a fine  yellow colour.   It is  always con-
taminated with a  little sulphuric acid, which is formed during its sublimation,
at the expense of the oxygen of the air contained in the subliming chambers.
It is on this  account that this form of sulphur always reddens litmus; and, if
the acid be present in considerable quantity, it sometimes cakes.  It maybe
freed from  all  acidity by careful  ablution with  hot water, when it becomes
washed sulphur.
   Washed sulphur is placed in the list of the Materia  Medica hi the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia, with  an explanatory note, that it is  sublimed sulphur tho-
roughly washed with  water.   The  Dublin and Edinburgh  Colleges include
it among the Preparations.   The process of the  Dublin College is to pour
Warm water on sublimed sulphur,  and  to continue the wa-diing as long as
the w?ter, when  poured off, continues to be impregnated with  acid,  which
may be known by the test of litmus.   The sulphur is then dried on bibulous
paper.   The Edinburgh College  directs the sublimation of  " sulphur," and 
PART I.
Sulphur.— Tabacum.
697
the washing of the powder obtained with boiling water, until it is freed from
acid taste.  The sulphur  here meant is evidently not the " sulphur" of the
Materia Medica list of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia; as this is defined to be
a pure sulphur, free from acidity.   Washed sulphur has the general appear-
ance of sublimed sulphur.   If properly prepared  it does not affect litmus.
and undergoes no change by exposure to the atmosphere.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Sulphur is laxative, diaphoretic, and resol-
vent.   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  prin-
cipally used are  hemorrhoidal affections, chronic rheumatism  and  catarrh.
atonic gout, asthma, and other affections of the respiratory organs unattended
with  acute inflammation.  It is also  much employed, both internally and
externally, in cutaneous affections, especially  in  scabies,  for the  cure of
which it is considered a specific.   In these affections, as  well as in chronic
rheumatism, it is  sometimes applied as an air bath, in the form of sulphurous
acid gas, the head being protected from its effects.  The  dose of sulphur is
from  one to three drachms, mixed with syrup or molasses, or taken  in milk.
It is often combined with bitartrate of potassa, or with  magnesia.
   Sulphur is consumed  in  the arts, principally in  the manufacture of gun-
powder and sulphuric acid.
   Off. Prep, of Sulphur. Emplastrum  Ammoniaci  cum Hydrargyro, Lond..
Ed.;  Emplast.  Hydrargyri, Lond.; Ferri Sulphuretum, Ed.,  Dub.; Hy-
drargyri Sulphuretum  Nigrum, U.S.,  Lond., Dub.;  Hydrargyri Sulphure-
tum  Rubrum,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Potassae Sulphas cum Sulphure,
Ed.;  Potassii  Sulphuretum, U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Sulphu.r Lotum.
Dub.; Sulphur  Praecipitatum. U. S.;  Sulphuris Iodidum,  U. S.$ Unguen-
tum Sulphuris, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguent. Sulphuris Compositum,
 U. S., Lond.
    Off. Prep, of Sulphur Lotum. Potassae  Sulphureti Aqua, Dub.     B.


                 TABACUM.  U.S., Lond.,Ed.

                               Tobacco.

   " The leaves of Nicotiana Tabacum." U. S., Ed.  "Nicotiana Tabacum.
Folia exsiccata." Lond.
   Off Syn.  NICOTIANA TABACUM. Folia. Dub.
   Tabac, Fr.; Tabak, Germ.; Tobacco, Ital; Tabaco, Span.
   Nicotiana.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Solanaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla funnel-shaped,  with a 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 four inches broad.   The flowers are dis-
posed in loose terminal panicles, and are furnished  with long, linear, pointed
      60 
698
Tabacum.
PART I.
bractes at the divisions of the peduncle.   The  calyx is bell  shaped, hairy,
somewhat viscid, and  divided at its summit into five pointed segments.  The
tube of the corolla is twice as long as the calyx, of a greenish hue, swelling
at top  into an oblong cup, and ultimately expanding into a five-lobed, plaited,
rose-coloured border.   The whole  corolla is very viscid.   The  filaments
incline to one side, and support oblong anthers.   The pistil  consists  of an
oval germ, a slender style longer than the stamens, and a cleft stigma.   The
fruit is an  ovate, two-valved, two-celled  capsule, containing numerous  reni-
form seeds, and opening at the summit.
   Although the original locality of this plant is  not settled to  the satisfaction
of all  botanists, there is  good reason to believe that it is a  native of tropical
America, where it was found by the Spaniards  upon their arrival.  It is at
present cultivated in most parts of the world, and nowhere  more abundantly
than within the limits of the United States.   We seldom, however, see it
north  of Maryland.   Virginia is, perhaps, the region of the  world  most
celebrated for its culture.  The young shoots, produced from seeds thickly
sown in beds, are transplanted into the fields during the month of May, and
set in  rows  with an  interval of three or four feet  between  the plants.
Through the whole period of its growth, the crop requires constant attention.
The 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.
   Two varieties of this species are mentioned by authors, one with narrow,
the other with broad leaves  ; but they do not differ materially in properties.
Great  diversity in the quality of tobacco  is produced  by  difference of soil
and mode of cultivation; and several varieties are recognised  in  commerce.
Other  species of Nicotiana are also cultivated, especially  the N. rusticazndN.
paniculata, the former of which is said to  have  been  the first  introduced into
Europe, andds thought to have been cultivated by the aborigines  of this country,
as it is naturalized near the borders of some of our small  northern lakes.  The,
N. quadrivalvis <of Pursh affords tobacco to the Indians of the Missouri and
Columbia  rivers; and the  N. fruticosa, 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  less obvious  in the
fresh leaves, and a bitter, nauseous,  and acrid taste.   These  properties are
imparted to water and alcohol.   They are destroyed by long boiling;  and
the extract is  therefore feeble or inert.  An elaborate analysis  of tobacco  was
made by Vauquelin, who discovered in it, among other  ingredients, an acrid,
volatile, colourless  principle, slightly soluble in water,  very soluble in  alco-
hol, and supposed to be the  active principle of the leaves.   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 distilla-
tion Vauquelin recognised alkaline properties, which  he ascribed to the  pre-
sence  of ammonia, but which were, in part at least, dependent  upon the  acrid
principle alluded to.   To this principle, which  was  supposed to be the ac-
tive constituent of tobacco, the name of nicotin was given ; but its alkalinity
was not ascertained till a subsequent period.   Another substance was ob-
tained 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 Vauquelin in solubility, and without alkaline or acid properties. 
PART I.
Tabacum.
699
It was called nicotianin by Hermstadt, and appears to  partake of the nature
of volatile oils.   Two German chemists, Posselt and Reimann, 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 principle, which they call nicotin, 1 of the nicotianin of Herm-
stadt, 287 of slightly bitter extractive, 174 of gum mixed with a little malate
of lime, 26*7 of green resin, 26 of albumen, 104*8 of a substance  analogous
to gluten, 51  of malic acid, 12 of  malate  of ammonia, 4*8 of sulphate of
potassa, 6*3 of chloride of potassium, 9-5 of potassa,  which was  combined
in the leaves with  malic and nitric acids,  166 of phosphate of lime, 24*2 of
lime which  had been combined with malic acid, 8-8 of silica, 4969 of lignin,
traces of starch, and 8828 parts of water. (Berzelius, Traite de Chimie.)
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 increased 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 three times its  weight of water;
and the process was  continued till nearly  one-half of the  liquid  had come
over.   The product, in which care  was  taken to preserve a slight excess of
acid, was evaporated to about 100 parts, and was  then allowed to cool.   A
slight deposit  which had formed was separated by filtration, an excess  of
caustic soda was  added, and  the  liquid  again distilled.  A colourless, very
volatile  acrid liquor  now came over, which, being concentrated  under the
receiver of  an air-pump, lost the  ammonia  which  accompanied  it, and  as-
sumed a syrupy consistence,  and  more or  less of  the colour of amber.   In
this liquid,  after a few days, minute crystalline  plates formed, but, in conse-
sequence of their  great affinity for  moisture, it was  difficult to  isolate the
crystals.  This product was pure nicotia.
   Nicotia.  (Nicotina.  Nicotin.)  As usually  obtained, this is  a colourless
or nearly colourless liquid ; heavier than  water; remaining liquid at 22° F.;
of  little smell when cold; of  an exceedingly acrid burning taste,  even when
largely diluted; entirely volatilizable, and, in the state of vapour, very irri-
tant to the  nostrils, with an odour recalling that of tobacco; inflammable;
 soluble  in  water,  alcohol, ether, and oil  of  turpentine;  strongly  alkaline  in
 its reaction;  and  capable of forming crystallizable salts with  the  acids.
 These salts are deliquescent, have a burning and  acrid taste, and, like  the
 salts of ammonia, lose  a  portion of their base by  heat.   Nicotia contains a
 much larger proportion of nitrogen than the other organic alkalies.   In  its
 action on the animal system, it is one of the most virulent poisons known.
 A drop of  it  in the state of concentrated solution was sufficient to destroy a
 dog ; and small birds  perished at  the approach of a tube containing  it.  Tan-
 nin forms with it a compound of but slight solubility, and might be employed
 as  a counterpoison.  It exists in  tobacco in small proportion.   Henry and
 Boutron found different varieties of tobacco to  give  products 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 alkali. 
700
Tabacum.
PART I.
  Nicotianin is  probably the odorous principle of  tobacco.  Posselt and
Reimann prepared it by distilling six pounds of the fresh leaves with twelve
pounds  of water, till one half of the liquid passed  over, then adding six
pounds  more of water, and again distilling, and repeating this process three
times.   The nicotianin was obtained to the amount of eleven grains, floating
on the surface of the water.   It  was a fatty substance, having the smell of
tobacco-smoke, and an aromatic  somewhat bitter taste.  It was volatilizable
by heat, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, and not affected by
the dilute acids, but dissolved by the solution of potassa.  This was not
obtained by MM. Henry and  Boutron.   According to Landerer, it does not
exist in the fresh leaves, but is generated in  the drying process.  It produces
sneezing when applied to  the nostrils, and a grain of it swallowed  by Herm-
stadt, occasioned giddiness and nausea.
  When  distilled at a temperature  above  that  of boiling  water, tobacco
affords  an empyreumatic  oil, which  Mr. Brodie has proved to be a most
virulent poison.   A single drop injected into the  rectum of a cat occasioned
death in about five  minutes,  and double the quantity administered  in the
same manner to a dog, was followed by the same  result.   This  oil is of a
dark-brown colour, of an  acrid taste, and  has a very peculiar smell, exactly
resembling that of tobacco pipes which have been much used.  It has been
shown to  contain nicotia.  (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., 3e ser. ix. 465.)
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  Tobacco unites with  the powers of a
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 addi-
tion, 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 restless-
ness, calms mental and corporeal inquietude, and  produces a state of general
languor or repose, which has great charms for those habituated to the impres-
sion.   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 excessive action are severe retching,
with the most  distressing and continued nausea, great feebleness of pulse,
coldness of the skin, fainting, and sometimes convulsions.   It probably ope-
rates 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 functions of the kidneys, at the same time that it reduces
the nervous and secondarily the arterial power.  The experiments of Brodie
lead to the inference that the function of the  heart is affected  by tobacco,
through the medium of the nervous  system; for in a decapitated animal in
which  the circulation was  sustained  by artificial  respiration,-the infusion
injected into the  rectum did  not diminish the action of the heart;  while on
the contrary this organ almost immediately ceased to  contract when an equal
dose of the poison was administered to a healthy animal.   Mr. Brodie ob-
served 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 con-
siderable time after apparent death from the latter.   We may infer from this
fact, either that there are  two poisonous principles in tobacco, or that a new
narcotic product is  formed during its  destructive  distillation.  In cases of
poisoning from  tobacco, the  indications are, after the  evacuation of the poi-
son, to  support the system by external and internal stimulants, and to allay
irritation of stomach by the moderate use of opiates. 
PART I,
Tabacum.
701
  The use of tobacco was adopted by the Spaniards from the American
Indians.   In the year 1560, it was introduced into France by the ambassa-
dor of that country at the court  of Lisbon, whose name—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, chewing, and  snuffing, the drug is now extensively 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 repug-
nance to its odour and taste,  and to have become the passion of so many
millions.    When employed in  excess, it enfeebles  the  digestive  powers,
produces emaciation and general debility,  and lays the foundation of serious
disorders of the nervous system.   Dr. Chapman informs us that he has met
with  several  instances of  mental disorder closely resembling delirium tre-
mens, which resulted from its abuse, and  which subsided in a few days after
it had been abandoned.
   Its remedial employment is less extensive than might be inferred  from the
variety of its powers.  The excessive and distressing nausea which it is apt
to occasion, interferes with itsjnternal use; and it is very  seldom  adminis-
tered 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 intro-
duced into the rectum in cases of strangulated hernia, obstinate constipation
from spasm of the bowels, and  retention of urine from a spasmodic stricture
of the urethra.  For a similar purpose, the  powdered tobacco, or common
snuff, mixed  with simple  cerate, as recommended by the late Dr. Godman,
is sometimes applied to the  throat and breast in cases of croup;  and Dr.
Chapman has directed the  smoking of a cigar in the same complaint, with
decided benefit.  One of the worst  cases  of spasm of  the rima  glottidis
which we  have  seen, and  which resisted powerful  depletion by the lancet,
yielded to  the application  of  a  tobacco 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. Pbysick, in  a case  of obstinate and long continued dislo-
cation 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 ver-
minose affections.   As an emetic it is seldom or  never employed unless in
the shape of a cataplasm to the epigastrium, to  assist the action of internal
medicines  in cases  of great insensibility of stomach.  As  a diuretic it was
used by Fowler in dropsy  and dysury, but the practice is not often imitated.
There is no better errhine  than  tobacco, for the ordinary purposes for which
this class  of medicines is employed.   As  a sialagogue, it is  beneficial in
rheumatism of the jaws, and often relieves toothache by its 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 proportion of twenty-
drops  to the ounce, has been applied  with advantage, by American practi-
tioners, to indolent tumours and ulcers ; but, in consequence of its liability to
be absorbed, and to produce unpleasant effects on the system, it should be
used  with  great caution.  This  remark is applicable to all the modes of em-
ploying tobacco; particularly  to the injection of the infusion into the rectum,
                                  60* 
702                   Tabacum.— Tamarindus.               part i.

which has in several instances caused the death of the patient.  It is even
more dangerous  than a proportionate quantity introduced into the stomach ;
as, in the latter case, the poison is more apt t» be rejected.  Even the ex-
ternal application of the leaves or powder is  not without danger, especially
when the cuticle is removed.   A case  of death is on record occurring in a
child eight years old, in  consequence of the application  of the  expressed
juice of the leaves to the head for the cure of tinea capitis.
  Five or six grains of powdered tobacco  will generally act as an emetic;
but the remedy  is not given in this shape.  The infusion used  in dropsy by
Fowler was  made in the proportion  of an ounce to a pint  of boiling  water,
and given in the dose of sixty or eighty drops.  The officinal infusion, which
is employed for injection, is  much  weaker.   (See Infusum  Tabaci.)  A
wine and an ointment of tobacco are directed by the United States Pharma-
copoeia.
  Off. Prep.  Infusum  Tabaci,  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Vinum Tabaci,
U.S., Ed.;  Unguentum Tabaci, U.S.                             W.
              TAMARINDUS.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                            Tamarinds.

   " The  preserved  fruit  of Tamarindus  Indica."  U. S.   " Tamarindus
 indica.  Leguminis  Pulpa." Lond.  "Pulp of the pods of  Tamarindus
indica." Ed.
   Off. Syn. TAMARINDUS INDICUS. Leguminis pulpa.  Dub.
   Tamarins, Fr.; Tamarinden, Germ; Tamarindi, Ital; Tamarindos, Span.
   Tamarindus.  Sex. Syst. Monadelphia Triandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae 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 beauti-
ful appearance.   The trunk is erect, thiek, 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, a sixth ofan inch broad, and of
a yellowish-green colour.  The flowers, which are in small lateral racemes,
have a yellowish calyx, and petals which are also yellow, but beautifully
variegated with red veins.  The fruit is a broad, compressed, reddish ash-
coloured pod, very much curved, from two to six inches long, and with nume-
rous 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  very fragile  and easily separated.
   The Tamarindus Indica appears  to be a native of the  East and  West
Indies, of  Egypt, and  Arabia, though believed by some authors to have
been imported into America.   De  Candolle is  doubtful whether the East
and West  India trees are of the  same species.  The pods of the former are
much larger than those of the latter, and contain a greater number of seeds.
At least such is the  statement made by authors, who inform us  that East
India  tamarinds  contain six or seven seeds, those from the West  Indies 
PART I.
Tamarindus.— Tanacetum.
703
rarely more than three or four.   We have found, however, in a parcel of
the latter which we  have examined, 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, in layers in a cask, and  pouring boiling syrup over them.  A
better mode, sometimes practised, is to place them in stone jars, with alter-
nate layers of powdered  sugar.  They are said to be occasionally prepared
in copper boilers.
   Broperties.    Fresh tamarinds,  which are  sometimes,  though  rarely,
brought  to this country, have an agreeable sour taste, without any mixture
of sweetness.   As we usually find them, in the preserved  state, they form
a dark-coloured  adhesive mass,  consisting of  syrup mixed with the pulp,
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 en-
tire, and the smell without  mustiness.   From  the analysis of Vauquelin  it
appears, that in 100 parts  of the pulp  of tamarinds, independently of the
sugar added to them, there are 9.40 parts of citric  acid,  1*55 of tartaric acid,
0*45  of malic  acid, 3*25 of  bitartrate  of potassa, 4*70 of  gum, 6*25 of
jelly, 34*35 of parenchymatous matter,  and 27*55  of water; so  that the
acidity is chiefly owing to the presence of citric acid.  It is  said that copper
may sometimes be detected in  preserved tamarinds, derived from  the boilers
in which they are occasionally prepared.  Its  presence may be ascertained
by the reddish  coat  which  it imparts to  the blade of a knife  immersed in
the tamarinds.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Tamarinds are laxative  and refrigerant,
and infused in water  form a highly grateful drink in febrile  diseases.  Con-
valescents 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 prescribed with  the infusion of
senna to  cover the taste of that medicine, it is  said  to weaken its purgative
power;  and the same observation has been made  of  its influence upon the
resinous cathartics in general.   From a drachm to  an ounce or more may be
taken at a dose.
   Off. Prep.   Confectio  Cassiae, Lond., Dub.;  Confectio Sennae,  U. S,t
Lond., Dub.; Infusum Sennae, Dub., Ed.; Tamarindi Pulpa,  U. S.  W.
              TANACETUM. U.S.  Secondary.

                                Tansy.

   " The herb of Tanacetum vulgare." U. S.
   Off. Syn.   TANACETUM VULGARE. Folia. Dub.
   Tunaisie, Fr.; Gemeiner Rheinfarrn, Wurmkraut, Germ.; Tanaceto, Ital, Span.
   Tanacetum. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae-
Senecionideae, De Candolle; Asteraceae, 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 
704                    Tanacetum.— Tapioca.                 part i.

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 com-
posed of numerous  florets, of  which those  constituting the disk  are perfect
and five-cleft, those of the ray very few,  pistillate, and trifid.   The  calyx
consists of small, imbricated, lanceolate leaflets, having a dry scaly margin.
The seeds  are small,  oblong,  with five or  six ribs, and crowned by a mem-
branous pappus.
  Tansy is cultivated in our gardens, and grows wild in the roads and in old
fields; but was introduced  from Europe,  where it is indigenous.  It is in
flower from  July to  September.  The leaves are ordered  by  the Dublin
College; but  the flowers and seeds are  not less effectual,  and all are in-
cluded in the directions of the  United States Pharmacopoeia.
  There is a variety of the plant with curled leaves, which is said  to be
more grateful to the stomach than that above described, but  has less of the
peculiar  sensible properties of the  herb,  and is  probably less  active as a
medicine.
  The odour of tansy is strong, peculiar, and fragrant, but much  diminished
by drying; the taste is warm,  bitter, somewhat acrid, and aromatic.   These
properties  are imparted to water and alcohol.  According to Peschier, the
leaves contain volatile oil, fixed  oil, wax or stearin, chlorophylle, yellow
resin, yellow colouring matter, tannin and  gallic acid, bitter extractive, gum,
lignin, and a  peculiar  acid which he calls tanacetic, and which  precipi-ates
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.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Tansy has the medical properties common
to the aromatic bitters   It has been  recommended in intermittents, hysteria,
amenorrhoea, and as  a  preventive of arthritic  paroxysms;   but at present
it is chiefly used as  an  anthelmintic,  and in  this  country is scarcely em-
ployed, 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  fre-
quently administered.  A fatal case of poisoning with half  an ounce of oil
of tansy is recorded  in  the  Medical Magazine  for  November, 1834.   Fre-
quent 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 inflammation of the  stomach or
bowels was discovered upon dissection. (Am. Journ. of the Med. Sci., xvi.
256.)                                                             W.

                      TAPIOCA.  U.S., Ed.

                               Tapioca.

  " The fecula of the root of Jatropha Manihot." U. S.  " Fecula  of the
root of Janipha Manihot." Ed.
  Jatropha.   Sex. Syst.   Moncecia  Monadelphia.—Nat.  Ord.  Euphor-
biaceae.
  Gen. Ch.   Male.  Calyx none,  or five-leaved.  Corolla  monopetalous,
funnel-shaped.   Stamens  ten,  alternately shorter.  Female.  Calyx none. 
PART I.
Tapioca.
705
Corolla five-petaled, spreading.    Styles  three, bifid.   Capsule three-celled.
Seed one. Willd.
   Most if not all the species of Jatropha are  impregnated, like other plants
of the natural  family of  Euphorbiaceae, with an acrid, purging, poisonous
principle.  The seeds of the J. Curcas, which are known in Europe by the
name of purging nuts, or Barbadoes  nuts, have properties  closely similar
to those of the  Croton Tiglium and Ricinus communis.  They are blackish,
oval, about eight lines long, flat on one side, convex on  the other ; and the
two  sides present a slight longitudinal prominence.   Four or five  of these
seeds slightly roasted, and deprived of  their envelope, are sufficient  to purge
actively; and in a large  dose they are capable of producing fatal conse-
quences.  Their active  principle is said to reside exclusively in the  embryo.
Upon pressure they yield  an oil which has all the properties  of  the croton
oil.  We are not aware that they are employed in this country.  The only
species of Jatropha acknowledged as officinal in our Pharmacopoeia is  the J.
Manihot, which yields the tapioca of the shops.   A number of botanists,
following Kunth, place this plant in a  new genus  separated from Jatropha,
and  named Janipha, from  the Indian designation of another  species of the
genus.  The following is  the generic character of Janipha given by Lindley,
from A. de Jussieu.  "Flowers monoecious.  Calyx campanulate, five-parted.
Petals none.   Male.   Stamens ten ;  filaments  unequal, distinct, arranged
around  a disk.   Female.  Style one.   Stigmas three, consolidated into a
rugose mass. Capsule three-coccous."
   Jatropha Manihot.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 562. Janipha Manihot.  Cur-
tis's  Bot. Mag. 3071.   This is the cassava plant of the West Indies, the
mandioca or tapioca of Brazil.   It is a shrub about six  or eight feet in
height,  with  a  very large, white, fleshy,  tuberous root, which often weighs
thirty pounds.   The stem  is round, jointed, and furnished at its  upper part
with alternate petiolate leaves, deeply divided  into three,  five or seven oval,
lanceolate, very acute lobes, which are somewhat wavy upon their  borders,
of a  deep-green colour on  their upper surface, glaucous and  whitish beneath.
The flowers  are in axillary racemes.
   The  Jatropha Manihot is a native  of South  America, and is cultivated
extensively in the West Indies, Brazil, and other parts of Tropical America,
for the sake of  its root, which is much  employed as an article of food.   The
plant is of quick growth,  and the root arrives at perfection in about eight
months.   There are two varieties, distinguished by the names of sweet and
bitter.   The  root of  the former may be  eaten with  impunity; that of the
latter, which  is most extensively cultivated, abounds in an acrid milky juice,
which renders it  highly poisonous if eaten in the recent state.   By MM.
Henry and Boutron-Charlard, it has been ascertained that the bitter cassava
owes its poisonous properties to the presence of hydrocyanic acid.  (Journ.
de Pharm., xxii. 119.)  Both varieties contain a large proportion of starch.
The  root is prepared for use by washing, scraping,  and grating or grinding it
into  a pulp, which, in the  case of  the bitter variety, is submitted to pressure
so as to separate the  deleterious juice.    It is  now in the state of  meal  or
powder,  which is made  into bread, cakes, or puddings.  As  the  poisonous
principle is volatile, the portion which may have remained in the  meal is
entirely  dissipated by  the heat employed in cooking.   The preparation
denominated  tapioca among us is obtained from the expressed juice.   This,
upon standing,  deposits a powder, which, after repeated washings with cold
water,  is nearly pure starch.  It is dried by exposure to heat, which renders
it partly soluble in cold water, and enables it to assume the consistence by 
706
Tapioca.— Taraxacum.
PART l
which  it is  characterized.   When dried without heat, it is pulverulent, and
closely resembles the  fecula of arrow-root.
  Tapioca is in the form of irregular, hard, white, rough grains, possessing
little taste, partially soluble  in cold water, and  affording a  fine blue colour
when iodine is  added to its filtered solution.   The partial solubility in cold
water is owing to  the  rupture of the starch-granules by heat.  Examined
under the microscope, the granules appear partly broken, partly entire. The
latter are muller-shaped, about the two-thousandth of an inch in diameter,
more uniform in size than the granules of most other varieties of fecula, with
a distinct hilum which is surrounded by rings, and cracks in a stellate man-
ner.   The tapioca meal, called  sometimes Brazilian arrow-root, and by  the
French moussache, is the fecula dried without heat.   Its granules are iden-
tical with those already described.   Being nutritious,  and at the same time
easy of digestion,  and destitute of all irritating properties, tapioca  forms an
excellent diet for the sick and convalescent.  It is prepared for use by boiling
it in water.  Lemon juice and sugar will usually be found grateful additions;
and in low states of disease or cases of debility, it may be advantageously
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.   " Leontodon Taraxacum.
Radix." Lond.  " The root of Taraxacum Dens-leonis." Ed.
  Off. Syn. LEONTODON  TARAXACUM.  Herba.  Radix. Dub.
  Pissenht, Dent de lion,  Fr.;  Lowenzahn, Germ.; Tarassaco,  Ital; Diente de leon,
Span.
  Leontodon.  Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat. Ord. Compositae-
Cichoraceae, De Candolle;  Cichoraceae, Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.  Receptacle naked.  Calyx  double.  Seed-down  stipitate,  hairy.
Willd.
 'Leontodon Taraxacum. Willd. Sp.  Plant, iii. 1544;  Woodv. Med. Bot.
p. 39. t. 16. Taraxacum Dens-leonis.  De Cand. Prodrom. vii. 145.  The
dandelion  is an herbaceous  plant,  with a perennial,  fusiform  root.  The
leaves,  which spring immediately from the root,  are long, pinnatifid, gene-
rally runcinate, with the divisions  toothed, smooth, and of a fine  green
colour.   The common  name of the plant was derived from the fancied re-
semblance 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 ihe outer scales bent  down-
wards.   The  florets are very numerous, ligulate, and toothed at their extre-
mities.   The receptacle is convex and punctured.  The seed-down is stipi-
tate, 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 them- 
PART I.
Taraxacum.
707
selves 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 some-
times used as  a salad.  When older and of their  natural colour, they are
medicinal, and have been adopted as officinal by the Dublin College.   The
other authorities 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 spontaneously coagulable in the latter part of sum-
mer 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 ligne-
ous cord running  through  its centre, and  abounding  in  a milky juice.   In
the dried state it is much shrunk, wrinkled longitudinally, brittle, and  when
broken presents a shining  somewhat resinous fracture.  It is without smell,
but has  a  sweetish,  mucilaginous, bitterish, herbaceous taste.   Its active
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, caoutchouc, saline matters, a trace of resin, and a  free
acid.   Besides these ingredients,  starch,  or  inulin, and  saccharine matter
exist in  the  root.   A crystallizable  principle  has  been  extracted from  the
juice of the root by M.  Pollex, who has named it taraxacin. It is bitter and
somewhat acrid, fusible but not volatile, sparingly soluble in cold water, but
very soluble  in boiling  water, alcohol, and ether.   It is obtained by boiling
the milky juice in  distilled  water, filtering the concentrated liquor, and allow-
ing it to evaporate  spontaneously in a warm place.   The taraxacin crystal-
lizes, and may be purified by repeated solution and crystallization in alcohol
or water. (Pharm. Journ.  and Transact., i. 425.)
   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 prac-
titioners in this country.  The diseases to which it appears  to be especially
applicable,  are those connected with derangement of the hepatic  apparatus,
and of the digestive organs generally.  In congestion  and chronic inflamma-
tion of the liver and spleen, in cases of suspended or  deficient biliary secre-
tion, and in dropsical  affections dependent on obstruction of the  abdominal
viscera, it is capable of  doing much good,  if employed with a  due regard to
the degree of excitement.   Our own experience is decidedly in  its favour.
An irritable condition  of the stomach and bowels, and the existence of acute
inflammation, contra-indicate its employment.   It  is usually  given in the
form of  extract or decoction.  (See Decoctum  Turaxaci and Extractum
Taraxaci.)   Bitartrate of potassa is sometimes added to the decoction when
an aperient effect is desired;  and aromatics will occasionally be found useful
in correcting  a tendency to  griping or flatulence.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Scoparii Compositum, L,ond.; Decoctum Taraxaci,
U. S., Ed., Dub.; Extractum Taraxaci, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.    W. 
708
Terebinthina.
PART I.
                  TEREBINTHINA. U.S.

                           Turpentine.

 ' " The juice of Pinus palustris, and other species of Pinus." U. S.


    TEREBINTHINA CANADENSIS. U.S., Lond.

                      Canada Turpentine.

  " The juice of Abies balsamea."  U. S. " Pinus balsamea. Resina liquida."
Lond.
  Off. Syn.   BALSAMUM CANADENSE.   Fluid resinous exudation of
Abies balsamea; Canada balsam. Ed.;  BALSAMUM  CANADENSE.
PINUS BALSAMEA.  Resina liquida. Dub.

        TEREBINTHINA CHIA. Lond., Ed., Dub.

                       Chian  Turpentine.

  " Pistacia Terebinthus. Resina liquida." Lond., Dub.  " Liquid resinous
exudation of Pistacia Terebinthus." Ed.


         TEREBINTHINA VENETA. Ed.,  Dub.

                      . Venice Turpentine.

  " Liquid resinous exudation of Abies Larix." Ed.  " Pinus Larix. Resina
liquida." Dub.


      TEREBINTHINA  VULGARIS. Lond., Dub.

                Common European Turpentine.

  " Pinus sylvestris. Resina Liquida." Lond., Dub.
  Terebenthine, Fr.; Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina, Ital, Span.
  The term turpentine is now generally applied to certain vegetable juices,
liquid or concrete, which consist of resin combined with a peculiar essential
oil, called oil of turpentine.  They are generally procured  from different
species of pine, fir, or  larch, though other  trees afford products which are
known by the same general title, as for instance the Pistacia Terebinthus,
which yields the Chian turpentine.   Some of the French writers extend the
name of turpentine to other juices  consisting of resin and essential oil, with-
out 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 the work.   It is proper first to observe
that the original genus Pinus of Linnaeus has been divided  into the  three
genera, Pinus, Abies, and Larix, which are now very generally recognised,
Plough Lindley unites the two latter in his Flora Medica.
  Pinus.  Sex. Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Pinaceae or Coni-
ferae. 
PART I.
Terebinthina.
709
   Gen. Ch. Flowers monoecious.  Males. Catkins racemose, compact, and
terminal ; squamose; the scales  staminiferous  at the apex.  Stamens two;
the anthers one-celled.  Females. Catkins or cones simple, imbricated with
acuminate scales.  Ovaries two.  Stigmas glandular.  Scales of  the cone
oblong,  club-shaped, woody;  umbilicato-angular at the  apex.   Seeds  in
pairs, covered with a sharp-pointed membrane.  Cotyledons digitato-partite.
leaves two or many, in the same sheath.  (Pereira's Mat. Med. from Bot.
 Gall.)
   1. Pinus palustris. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 499.—P. Austra/is.  Michaux,
N Am. Sylv. iii. 133.   " Leaves in threes, very long;  stipules pinnatifid,
ramentaceous, 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 wdiich the tree is known in the Southern States, are long-leaved
pine, yellow pine, and pitch pine ; but the first is most appropriate, as the last
two are applied  also to other species.   This tree furnishes by far the greater
proportion of the turpentine, tar, &c, consumed in the United States, or sent
from this to other countries.  (See Pix Liquida.)
  2. Pinus  Taeda.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 498;  Michaux, N. Am.  Sylv. iii.
156.  " Leaves in threes, elongated, with  elongated sheaths; strobiles oblong-
conical, deflexed, shorter than the leaf; spines inflexed."
   This is the loblolly, or old field pine of the  Southern States.   It is abun-
dant in  Virginia, where it occupies the lands which have been exhausted by
cultivation.  It exceeds eighty feet in height, has a trunk two or three feet in
diameter, and expands into a wide spreading top.  The  leaves are about six
inches long, and of a light-green colour.   It yields turpentine in abundance,
but less fluid than that which flows from  the preceding species.
   3. Pinus sylvestris. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 494; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 1.
t. 1; Michaux, N. Am. Sylv. iii. p. 125.   " Leaves in pairs, rigid; strobiles
ovate-conical, of the length of the  leaves;  scales echinate."
   This species of pine, when of full size, is eighty feet high, with a trunk
four or five feet in  diameter.   It inhabits the northern and mountainous
parts of Europe.   In Great Britain it is called the wild pine, or Scotch fir;
the latter name having been applied to it  from  its abundance in the  moun-
tains of Scotland.  It yields a considerable proportion of the common Euro-
pean turpentine.
   Besides the pines above described, various others yield medicinal products.
The Pinus maritima (Pinus Pinaster of Aiton and Lambert), growing  in
the southern and  maritime  parts of Europe, yields much of the turpentine,
pitch, and tar consumed in France, and  is admitted among the officinal plants
in the  French Codex.  From the branches of the Pinus  Pumilio,  which
inhabits the mountains of Eastern and South-eastern Europe, a  terebinthi-
nate juice exudes spontaneously, called  Hungarian balsam.  The Pinus
Cembra, or Siberian stone-pine of the Alps and Carpathian mountains, is
said to afford the product called Carpathian balsam; and the seeds both of
that species, and the Pinus Pinea, or stone pine of the South of Europe and
North of  Africa, are used  in Europe in  desserts, under the  name of pine
nuts.  The Pinus rigida, ox pitch pine of this country, and probably others
besides  those mentioned are sometimes  employed in the preparation of tar.
  Abies. See PIX ABIETIS.
  Abies balsamea. Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 554.—A. balsamifera, Michaux,
    61 
710
Terebinthina.
PART I.
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 to the south.  It is
an elegant tree, seldom rising more  than forty feet in height, with a tapering
trunk, and numerous branches which diminish in length  in  proportion  to
their height, and form  an  almost perfect pyramid.   The leaves  are six or
eight  lines long, inserted in  rows on the sides and tops of the branches, nar-
row, flat,  rigid, bright green on their upper surface, and of a  silvery white-
ness 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.   The A. excelsa of Europe,
and A.  Canadensis  of the  United  States, have already been  described as
the sources respectively of Burgundy and Canada pitch.  (See Pix Abietis
and Pix  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.  The Abies nigra (Pinus nigra), or black spruce of this
country,  yields a product, which, though not recognised by the  Pharmaco-
poeia, is  considerably employed.  The substance  alluded  to  is the essence
of  spruce, prepared from  the young branches by boiling them in water,
and evaporating the decoction.   It is a thick liquid, having  the colour and
consistence of molasses, with  a bitterish, acidulous, astringent taste.   It is
much used in  the preparation of  the beverage  commonly  known by  the
name of  spruce beer, which is  a pleasant  and wholesome drink in  summer,
and useful in long sea-voyages  as a preventive of scurvy.*
   Larix. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Pinaceae or  Coni-
fer ae.
   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 europaea. De Cand. Flor. Fr. 2064.—Abies Larix.  Lamb. Illustr.
X. 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 tur-
pentine of commerce, and  a peculiar sweetish  substance, called in France
Briangon 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 MASTIC HE.
   Pistacia  Terebinthus.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  iv. 752;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p.

   * The following is the formula  usually followed.  Take of essence of spruce half a
pint; pimento bruised, ginger bruised, hops, each,four ounces; water three gallons.  Boil
for five or ten  minutes; then strain, and  add of warm water eleven gallons; yeast a pint;
molasses six pints.  Mix and allow the mixture to ferment for twenty-four hours. 
PART I.
Terebinthina.
711
29. t. 12.  This is a small tree with numerous spreading branches, bearing
alternate pinnate leaves, which consist of three or four pairs of ovate, lanceo-
late, 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.
This is a native of Barbary and Greece, and flourishes in the islands of Cy-
prus and Chio, the latter of which has given its name to  the turpentine ob-
tained  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 while turpentine (Terebinthina, U.S.) is pro-
cured chiefly from the Pinus palustris, partly also from  the Pinus  Taeda,
and perhaps some other species  inhabiting the Southern  States.   In  former
times,  large quantities  were collected  in New  England ;  but the  turpentine
trees of that section of the Union  are said to be nearly exhausted; and our
commerce is almost exclusively supplied from North Carolina, and the south-
eastern parts of Virginia.   The  following is the process for obtaining the
turpentine as  described by Michaux.    During the  winter months,  exca-
vations 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 sea-
son, slowly at first, rapidly in the middle of summer, and more slowly again
in the  autumnal months.   The liquid is removed from these excavations as
they fill, and  transferred  into casks, where  it gradually thickens, and ulti-
mately acquires a soft solid consistence.   Very large quantities are thus
annually procured, sufficient not only to supply the whole  consumption of
this country, but also to furnish a valuable export.
   White turpentine, as found in our shops, is yellowish-white, of a peculiar
somewhat aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, bitterish taste.   It is some-
what translucent, and of a consistence  which varies  with the temperature.
In the  middle  of summer it is almost semi-fluid and  very adhesive, though
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 about seventeen per
cent, of essential oil.   It  is apt to contain small pieces of bark, wood, or
other impurity.

                  2. Common European Turpentine.
   Terebenthine de Bordeaux, Terebenthine commune, Fr.;  Gemeiner  Terpentin, Germ.;
Trementina comune, Ital; Trementina comun, Span.
   This is the Terebinthina Vulgaris  of the London  Pharmacopoeia.   It is
furnished by several species of pine; but chiefly  by the Pinus  sylvestris
and  Pinus maritima (P. Pinaster of Aiton).   From the latter tree it is
obtained largely in the maritime districts of the South-west of France, espe-
cially  in  the department  of the Landes, and  is exported from  Bordeaux.
Hence it is called in commerce Bordeaux turpentine.   The  process for pro-
curing it  consists simply in making incisions into  the trunk, or removing
portions of the bark, and receiving the juice which flows out in small troughs,
or in holes dug at the foot of the  tree.  It is purified by heating,  and filtering
it  through straw, or by exposing it  to the sun in a  barrel, through holes in
the bottom of which the melted turpentine  escapes.   Thus prepared, it is 
712
Terebinthina.
PART I.
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 upon exposure to the air
in thin layers.  The most liquid specimens are  completely solidified by the
addition of one part of magnesia to thirty-two of the turpentine.  (Guibourt,
Journ.  de Pharm., xxv. 499.)  It is scarcely ever given internally,  but
furnishes large 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 pre-
pared. It is the yellow resin (resinaflava) of the former London  Pharmaco-
poeia.  White resin (resina alba) is prepared  by incorporating this, while in
fusion, with a certain proportion of water.   Tar (Pix Liquida) is the tur-
pentine extracted from the wood  by a  slow combustion,  and  chemically
altered by the heat.   Common pitch  (Pix Nigra  or Resina Nigra)  is the
solid residue left  after the  evaporation by boiling of the liquid parts of  tar.
(See these titles  respectively.)

                        3. Canada Turpentine.
   Canada balsam, Balsam of fir; Baume de  Canada,  Fr.; Canadischer Balsam, Cana-
discher Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina  del Canada, Ital.
   This is the product of the Abies balsamea, and is collected in Canada  and
the State of Maine.  It is  procured, according to Michaux,  by breaking the
vesicles  which naturally form upon the trunk  and branches, and receiving
their liquid contents in a bottle.   When fresh, it is colourless or slightly yel-
lowish, transparent, of the  consistence  of thin honey, very tenacious, of  a
strong, agreeable odour,  and a bitterish, somewhat acrid taste.  By time and
exposure it becomes thicker  and  more  yellow, and at last  assumes a solid
consistence.  It is usually brought into market in bottles, and is kept  in the
shops under the name of Canada balsam, or balsam of fir.  In Europe, it is
sometimes called balm  of  Gilead,  from its supposed resemblance to  that
celebrated medicine.   The term balsam, as at present understood, is impro-
perly applied to it; as it contains  no benzoic acid,  and is in fact a true tur-
pentine, consisting chiefly  of resin and essential oil.   Bonastre obtained
from  100 parts of Canada turpentine, 18*6 parts of  volatile oil, 40*0 of resin
easily dissolved  by alcohol, 33*4 of sub-resin  of difficult solubility in  that
fluid, 4*0 of caoutchouc  similar to sub-resin, and 4*9 of bitter extractive and
salts, besides traces of acetic acid.  There is reason to believe that Strasburg
turpentine is sometimes  sold for it in the shops.

                        4. Venice Turpentine.
   Terebenthine de meleze, Terebenthine  de Venise, Fr.,- Venetianischer Terpentin,
 Germ.; Trementina di Venezia, Ital; Trementina de Venecia, Span.
   This turpentine  received its name from the circumstance  that it was for-
merly an extensive article of Venetian commerce.  It is procured in Switzer-
land, and the French province of Dauphiny, from the Larix Europaea or
larch, which grows abundantly upon the Alps and the Jura mountains.    The
peasants bore holes into the trunk about two feet from the ground, and  con-
duct the juice by means of wooden gutters into small tubs,  placed at  a  con- 
PART I.
Terebinthina,
713
venient distance.  It is afterwards  purified by filtration through a leather
sieve.   Genuine Venice  Turpentine is a viscid liquid, of the consistence of
honey, flowing  with difficulty, cloudy or  imperfectly transparent, of a yel-
lowish or slightly greenish colour, a strong not disagreeable odour, and a
warm bitterish and very acrid taste.  It does not readily concrete on exposure,
is not solidified by one-sixteenth of magnesia, and is entirely soluble in alco<-
hoi.  (Guibourt, Journ. de  Pharm., xxv. 500.)   What is sold  under the
name of Venice turpentine in our shops, is usually quite brown, and is said
to be a factitious substance, prepared by dissolving rosin in  oil of turpentine,
Dr. A. T. Thomson states that much of the Venice turpentine of the shops
of London is obtained from America.  It is probably the same preparation as
that  which passes under the name in this country,


                         5.  Chian Turpentine.

  Terebenthine de Chio, Fr.; Cyprischer Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina Cipria, Ital.
  This variety of turpentine is collected chiefly in the island of Chio or Scio,
by incisions  made  during  the summer in  the bark of the Pistacia Terebin-
thus.  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 fre-
quently  adulterated with the other turpentines.  It  is a  thick, tenacious
liquid, of a greenish-yellow colour, a peculiar penetrating odour more agree-
able than that of the other substances of the same  class,  and a  mild taste
without bitterness or acrimony.   It leaves a glutinous  residue when treated
with strong alcohol. (Guibourt.) On exposure to the air it speedily thickens,
and  ultimately 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 peclinata  of De  Candolle), or European silver fir, which grows
on the mountains of Switzerland and Germany, and bears a close resemblance,
as well in its appearance as its product, to  the Pinus balsamea of Canada;
the Damarra turpentine, which  speedily concretes into a very hard resin,
and  is  derived from the Pinus Damarra of  Lambert, the Agathis Damarra
of Richard, growing in the East India islands; and the Dombeya turpentine,
a glutinous, milky-looking fluid of  a  strong odour and  taste, derived from
the Dombeya excelsa,  the Araucaria Dombeyi of Richard, which  inhabits
Chili,  and is said to be identical with the Norfolk Island pine.   These, with
one  or two other turpentines scarcely known, or having a doubtful  claim to
the title, are all that belong properly to this class of vegetable products.
   General Properties.   The turpentines  resemble each other in odour and
taste, though distinguished  by shades of difference.   Liquid at first, they
become thick and gradually solid by exposure,  in consequence partly of the
volatilization, partly of the oxidation of their essential  oil.   They are ren-
dered  more liquid or softened by heat, and at a high  temperature .take fire,
burning with a white flame and much smoke.  Water extracts only a minute
proportion of their volatile oil.   They are almost wholly soluble in  alcohol
and  ether, and readily unite with the fixed  oils.  They yield by distillation
a volatile oil,  well known  as  the oil of turpentine, and  leave a  residue
consisting exclusively of  resin. (See  Oleum  Terebinthinae  and Resina.)
                                  61* 
714
Terebinthina.— Testa.
PART I.
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. Med., 1830, p. 94.); and, according to M. Thierry, the
same result is obtained by the  addition of one part of  hydrate of lime to
thirty-two  parts of the common European turpentine. (Journ. de Pharm.,
'Seme Serie,  i. 315.)
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   The effects of the turpentines upon the
system are dependent entirely on their essential oil.  They are stimulant,
diuretic, anthelmintic, 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 passages,  amounting frequently to  strangury.   The last effect is
less apt to  be experienced when  they operate upon the bowels.   Externally
applied they  act as rubefacients.   Their medical virtues  were known to the
ancients.   At present they are less used than formerly, having been super-
seded by their volatile oil.  They  are, however, occasionally prescribed in
leucorrhoea, gleet, and other chronic diseases of the urinary passages; in piles
and chronic inflammations or ulcerations of the bowels ; in chronic catarrhal
affections ; and in various forms  of  rheumatism, especially sciatica and lum-
bago.   The white turpentine is usually employed in this  country.
  They may be  given in the shape of pill  made with powdered liquorice
root; or in emulsion with gum Arabic or yolk  of egg, loaf sugar,  and water;
or in 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 attended
with flatulence.
  Off. Prep.  Ceratum Resinae  Compositum,  U.S.; Emplastrum  Cantha-
ridis Comp.,  Ed.; Emplastrum  Galbani Comp., U. S., L,ond.;  Oleum Te-
rebinthinae, Dub.; Unguentum Elemi, Lond.; Unguentum Infusi Canthari-
dis, Ed.                                                          W.


                          TESTA. U.S.

                             Oyster-shell.

  " The shells of Ostrea edulis."
  Off Syn. TESTAE. Lond.
  Ecailles des  huitres, Fr; Austerschalen, Germ.; Gusci della c-striche, Ital; Cascaras,
Span.
  The common oyster is the Ostrea edulis of naturalists, an animal belong-
ing  to the  class  Vermes, order Testacea.   It is found  in  many parts  of the
world, and is particularly abundant on  our own coast, and in the  bays of our
large rivers.   It consists of a soft pulpy portion, comprising the  vital organs
of the animal, enclosed in a hard bivalve  shell, of the nature of  mother-of-
pearl.   The flesh of the oyster forms a very digestible and nutritious article
of food, particularly suited to convalescents; but the shell only is officinal.
  Properties. Oyster-shells are  too familiarly known to require description.
They are made  up, like other mother-of-pearl shells, of alternate layers of
earthy matter, and of animal matter of the nature of coagulated albumen.  Ac-
cording to  the analysis of  Bucholz and Brandes, their exact constituents are
carbonate of lime 98*6, phosphate  of  lime  1*2, animal matter 0*5, alumina
(accidental) 0*2=100*5.   Thus it appears  that the  animal matter is present 
PART I.
Testa.— Tolutanum.
715
in but small amount.   When calcined  or burnt, the animal matter and  car-
bonic acid are dissipated, and the shells are converted into a species of lime,
called oyster-shell lime.
  Crab stones (crabs' eyes) and crabs' claws are both forms of carbonate of
lime, resembling  oyster-shell in containing a  small proportion of animal
matter.  They were formerly officinal  in the Edinburgh Pharmacopaeia, but
were very  properly omitted  at the last revision of that work.  They  will
be noticed in the Appendix.
  Pharmaceutical Uses.   Oyster-shells require to be  reduced to an impal-
pable powder, before they  are fit for medicinal  employment; and their  pre-
paration in this  way constitutes  their sole pharmaceutical use.  When  thus
prepared, they form the Testa Prseparata, under which head  their medici-
nal  properties will be noticed.
  Off. Prep. Testa Praeparata, U. S., Lond.                       B.


                     TOLUTANUM. U.S.

                         Balsam of Tolu.

  "The juice of Myroxvlon Toluiferum. Richard." U.S.
  Off. Syn. BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM. Myroxylon peruiferum. Bah
samum concretum. Lond.; BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM.  " Concrete bal-
samic exudation of Myrospermum toluiferum." Ed.; TOLUIFERA BAL-
SAMUM.  Resina. Dub.
  Balsam of Tolu; Baume de Tolu,  Fr;  Tolubalsam, Germ.; Balsamo del  Tolu, Ital;
Balsamo de Tolu, Span.
  Myroxylon.  See MYROXYLON.
  Till recently,  the  tree from  which this  balsam  is  derived retained  the
name of Toluifera Balsamwm,  given  to it by Linnaeus; but it is now ad-
mitted that the genus Toluifera was  formed upon insufficient grounds ;  and
botanists agree in referring the Tolu balsam tree to the Myroxylon, or Myro-
spermum of De Candolle.   Ruiz, one of the authors of the Flora Peruviana,
considers it identical with the Myroxylon Peruiferum;  and his opinion has
been adopted by some other writers.  M. Achille Richard, however, thinks it
a distinct species, and has appropriately denominated it Myroxylon Toluife-
rum, a title which is  recognised  in the Pharmacopoeia of the  United States.
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 the M. Peruife-
rum are thick,  coriaceous, acute, and blunt at the apex, and all equal in
size; while in the M. Toluiferum the leaflets  are  thin, membranous, obo-
vate,  with  a lengthened  and  acuminate  apex, and  the terminal  one is
longest.  The M. Peruiferum is found in  Peru  and the southern parts of
New Granada; the  M. Toluiferum  grows in Carthagena,  and abounds
especially in the neighbourhood  of Tolu.   The wood of the  latter species,
according to Humboldt, is of a  deep red colour, has  a delightful balsamic
odour, and is much used  for building.  It is not improbable, that the  two
balsams, known in the shops by the respective names of Peru and Tolu, differ
more in the mode by which they are procured, than in  the character of the
trees which afford them.
  The  balsam of Tolu is  procured by making incisions into the trunk of
the tree.  The  juice as it exudes is  received in vessels of various kinds, in
which it concretes.   It is brought from Carthagena in  calabashes or baked
earthen jars of a peculiar shape,  and  sometimes in glass vessels. 
716
Tolutanum.— Tormentilla.
PART I.
  Properties.   As first imported, it has a soft, tenacious consistence, 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 pun-
gent,  but not  disagreeable taste.  Exposed to  heat, it melts, inflames, and
diffuses an agreeable odour while burning.   It is  entirely dissolved by alco-
hol and the  essential oils.   Boiling water extracts its  acid.  Distilled with
water it affords a small proportion of volatile  oil; and if the heat be continued
the acid  matter sublimes.   Mr.  Hatchett states that, when  dissolved in the
smallest quantity of solution of potassa,  it loses  its own characteristic odour,
and acquires that of the clove-pink.  Its ingredients are  resin, benzoic and
cinnamic acids, and volatile oil,  the proportions of which  vary in different
specimens.  Fremy discovered  in it cinnamic  acid, but was wrong in sup-
posing that it contained no benzoic  acid, as has been proved by M. Deville.
(Journ. de Pharm., xxvii. 638.)   Guibourt observed that  it contains more
acid, and is  less odorous in the  solid form; and thinks  that the acid is in-
creased 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 pres-
sure between folds of bibulous paper, and subsequent solution in boiling water,
which deposits it in minute colourless crystals  upon cooling.  (See Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xv. 77.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Balsam of Tolu is a stimulant tonic, with
a peculiar tendency to the pulmonary organs.   It is given with some advan-
tage in chronic catarrh and other  pectoral complaints, in which a gently stimu-
lating expectorant is demanded;  but should not be prescribed until after  the
reduction of inflammatory action.   Independently of its  medical  virtues,  its
agreeable flavour renders it a popular ingredient in expectorant mixtures.  Old
and obstinate coughs are said to  be  sometimes greatly relieved by  the inhala-
tion of the vapour proceeding from an ethereal solution of this balsam.  From
ten to thirty grains  may be  given  at a dose, and  frequently repeated.   The
best form of administration is that of emulsion, made by triturating the bal-
sam with mucilage  of gum Arabic and loaf sugar, and afterwards with water.
   Off. Prep.  Syrupus Tolutanus, Lond.;  Tinctura Benzoini Composita,
U. S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Tolutani, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.    W.
      TORMENTILLA.  U. S. Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                             Tormentil.

  " The root of Potentilla Tormentilla."  U. S., Ed.  " Potentilla Tormen-
tilla. Radix." Lond.
  Off. Syn. TORMENTILLA OFFICINALIS. Dub.
  Tormentille, Fr.; Tormentillwurzel, Germ.,- Tormentilla, Ital; Tormentila, Span.
  Potentilla.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria  Polygynia.—Nat. Ord.  Rosacea?.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx with a concave tube, a four or five-cleft limb, and  four or
five bracflets. 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. 
PART I.
Tormentilla.— Toxicodendron.
717
225.— Tormentilla erecta. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1112;  Woodv. Med. Bot.
p. 503. t. 181.—T. officinalis. Smith, Flor. Brit.   The  tormentil, or sept-
foil, 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  are astringent, especially the root,
which is the part employed.  It is gathered in spring.
   Properties.  The root of tormentil is cylindrical  or roundish, rather larger
above  than at  the lower extremity, an inch or two in  length, about as thick
as the  finger, knotty, sometimes contorted, brown or blackish externally, and
reddish within.  It has a  slight aromatic odour,  and a very astringent  taste.
Tannin is an abundant constituent.  There is also  a red colouring principle,
soluble  in  alcohol,  but insoluble  in  water.   Besides  these  ingredients,
Meissner found resin, cerin, myricin, gummy  extractive, gum, extractive,
lignin, water,  and  a trace  of  volatile  oil.   The  root is  said to be used for
tanning leather  in the Orkneys and Western Islands  of Scotland, and for
staining leather  red by the Laplanders.  It yields  all  its medical virtues  to
boiling water.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Tormentil is a simple and powerful astrin-
gent, applicable to all cases of disease  in which this class of medicines  is in-
dicated.  We seldom, however, employ it in this country, having indigenous
plants  of equal virtue.   It may be given in substance, decoction, or extract.
The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Tormentilla?, Lond.;  Pulvis  Cretae  Compositus,
Lond.                                                            W.


       TOXICODENDRON.  U.S. Secondary,  Lond.

                             Poison-oak.

  " The leaves  of Rhus Toxicodendron."  U. S.  " Rhus Toxicodendron.
Folia." Lond.
   Off. Syn. RHUS TOXICODENDRON, Folia. Dub.
  Sumac veneneux, Fr.; Gift-Sumach, Germ; Albero del veleno, J'aZ.
  Rhus. See RHUS GLABRUM.
  Admitting, as appears generally to be done at present, that the Rhus Toxi-
codendron and Rhus radicans of Linnaeus, are mere varieties of the same
plant, there  are  three indigenous species of Rhus which possess poisonous
properties—the one above  mentioned, the R. Vernix, commonly known  by
the name of swamp sumach or poison sumach, and the R. pumilum of the
Southern States.  Though the first only  is designated in  the Pharmacopoeia,
we shall briefly describe the three species;  as their medical  effects are pro-
bably similar, and their operation upon the system such that the plants should
be known to every practitioner.
  1. Rhus radicans. Willd. Sp. Plant,  i. 1481; Bigelow, Am. Med.  Bot.
iii. 17.—R.  Toxicodendron. Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. p. 205.  Though Elliott
and Nuttall  consider the R. radicans and R. Toxicodendron as distinct spe-
cies, 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 
718
Toxicodendron.
PART I.
different common  names, the  R. radicans being usually called poison vine,
and the R. Toxicodendron, poison oak.   The former has a climbing stem,
rising to a great height upon trees, rocks, and other objects, to which it ad-
heres 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.
  The R. Toxicodendron, or  poison-oak, has the form of a shrub from one
to three feet high, with leaflets angularly indented, and pubescent beneath.
But  this character of the foliage is probably not constant; and the stunted
growth  may be owing to peculiarities of situation.  Dr. Bigelow states that
the young plants of the R. radicans do not put forth rooting fibres until they
are several years old, and that they are influenced in this respect by the con-
tiguity of supporting objects.
  This  species of  Rhus grows in woods, fields, and along fences from Ca-
nada to  Georgia.   It flowers in June and July.  When wounded, it emits a
milky juice, which becomes black on exposure to the air, and leaves upon
linen or other cloth a stain, which cannot afterwards be removed by washing
with soap and water, or by alcohol  either hot or cold, but deepens by age.
It has been proposed as an indelible ink.   Ether dissolves it.
  The juice applied to the skin frequently produces inflammation and vesi-
cation ;  and the same poisonous property is possessed  by a volatile principle
which escapes from the plant itself, and produces in persons who come into
its vicinity an  exceedingly troublesome erysipelatous  affection, particularly
of the face.  Itching, redness, a sense of burning, tumefaction, vesication, and
ultimate desquamation, are some of the attendants of this poisonous  action.
The swelling of the face is sometimes so great as almost entirely to obliterate
the features.  The effects are  experienced soon after exposure, and usually
begin to decline within a week.  A  light cooling regimen, with  saline pur-
gatives, and the local use of cold lead-water, are the best remedies.  All per-
sons are not equally liable to the affection, and the  great majority are wholly
insusceptible of it from any ordinary  exposure.
  2. Rhus Vernix. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1479; Bigelow, Am. Med.  Bot. i.
96.   The swamp  sumach is a beautiful shrub or  small  tree, usually ten or
fifteen feet high, but sometimes rising thirty  feet.   The bark of the trunk is
dark gray, of the branches lighter, of the extreme twigs and petioles  beauti-
fully red.  The leaves are  pinnate, with four or five pairs  of opposite leaflets,
and  an  odd terminal one.  These  are  oblong or oval, entire or slightly
sinuated, acuminate, smooth, and except the  one at the  end, nearly sessile.
The flowers, as in  the preceding species, are dioecious. They are very small,
greenish,  and arranged  in loose axillary panicles.  The berries  are small,
roundish, and greenish-white.
  The tree grows  in swamps  and low grounds, from  Canada to  Carolina,
and flowers in June  and July.   It is thought to be identical  with a species
of Rhus which grows in  Japan, and furnishes a  fine black  varnish, much
used in that country.  Dr. Bigelow found  that the opaque whitish juice
which exudes from  our native  plant when  wounded, and which becomes
permanently black on exposure, may be made to  afford a brilliant, glossy,
durable  varnish, by boiling it sufficiently before applying it. 
pART i.             Toxicodendron.— Tragacantha.                719

   The Rhus Vernix produces much more powerfully than the R. radicans,
the poisonous effects  already described.  Persons coming within  its influ-
ence 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 may handle the plant with perfect impunity.
   3. Rhus pumilum. Michaux, Flor. Americ. i. 182.  This is a southern
species, growing in upper Carolina, and not more  than a foot in height.  It
is characterized by its pubescent branches and petioles; its pinnate  leaves,
with many pairs of oval, nearly acuminate, incised  dentate leaflets,  downy
beneath; and by its silky fruit.  According to Pursh  it is the most poisonous
of the genus.
   It is probable that all  parts of the Rhus radicans  (R. Toxicodendron) are
possessed of active properties ; but the leaves only are directed in the Phar-
macopoeia, under the title of Toxicodendron.  These are  inodorous, have a
mawkish  acrid  taste, and  yield their  virtues to water.  The presence  of
tannin and gallic  acid has been detected in  them;  but they have  not been
accurately analyzed.
   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 stupefying effect  upon the nervous system.   They were successfully used
by Du Fresnoy, 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,
were excited  by it  in the affected parts.  Dr. Horsfield, and other physicians
of this country, have  used it in consumption and dropsy, but not with any
very encouraging success.
   The dose of the leaves recommended by Dr. Anderson, was  half a grain
or a grain three times  a day ; but this is much too small.  Dr. Duncan gave
it  in larger doses, with little  other than a laxative effect.   Dr.  Horsfield
administered  a  teacupful of the strong infusion without disadvantage.  In
France the extract  is recommended in doses of fifteen  or twenty grains, re-
peated  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.

                           Tragaca?ith.

   •The concrete  juice  of Astragalus  verus."  U.S.   "Astragalus  verus.
Succus concretus." Lond.  "Gummy exudation from Astragalus gummifer
and probably  A. verus, and other species." Ed.
   Off. Syn.  TRAGACANTHA GUMMI. ASTRAGALUS CRETICUS.
Gummi. Dub.
   Gomme Adraganthe, Fr.,- Tragant, Germ.; Dragante, Ital; Gomo tragacanto, Span. 
720
Tragacantha.
PART I.
   Astragalus.  Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae or
 Leguminosae.
   Gen. Ch.  Legume two-celled, more or less gibbous, with the lower suture
 turned inwards.  Carina blunt. Loudon's Encyc. of Plants.
   Numerous species belonging to this genus yield a gummy matter having
 the  properties of tragacanth.   The drug known in commerce by that name
 was at first erroneously supposed to be obtained from the A.  Tragacantha of
 Linnaeus (A. massiliensis of Lamarck), which grows in the South of Europe
 and North of Africa, and is now said to yield  no  gum.  It was  afterwards
 ascribed, on  the authority of Tournefort, to a species (A. Creticus of Lamarck)
 which grows in Crete and Ionia, and on that of Olivier to the A. verus, which
 inhabits Asia Minor, Armenia, and Northern  Persia.   Labillardiere described
 a species by the  name of A. gummifer, which he found growing on Mount
 Libanus  in  Syria, and from  which  tragacanth exudes, though not that of
 commerce.  Sieber denies that any one of these  species yields the officinal
 tragacanth, which he ascribes to the A. aristatus growing in Anatolia, espe-
 cially upon  Mount Ida, where the gum is most abundantly collected.  This
 plant, however, is  not the A. aristatus of Villars, which, according to Sib-
 thorp,  furnishes  tragacanth in  Greece. (Merat and  De Lens.)  Professor
 Lindley has  lately received two specimens of plants,  said to be those which
 furnish tragacanth in Turkistan, one of which proves  to be the A.gummifer
 of Labillardiere,  which was said to yield  a  white variety, and the other a
 new species  which  he calls A. strobiliferus,  and which was said to yield a
 red  and inferior product.  The fact seems to  be,1 that the commercial drug is
 collected  from various  sources; and  it is affirmed  that all  the  species of
 Astragalus with thorny petioles  are capable of producing it.   These form a
 natural group, and so closely resemble each other, that botanists have found
 some difficulty in distinguishing them.  As the A. verus is designated in the
 Pharmacopoeia of the United States, and that  of the  London  College, we
 shall briefly  describe it.
   Astragalus verus. Olivier, Voy. dans VEmpire Ottoman, v. 342. pi. 44.
 This is a small shrub, not more than two or  three  feet high, with a stem an
 inch in thickness,  and numerous very closely crowded 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, aggregate, and furnished with cottony  bractes.  This species yields
 the gum collected  in Persia, and thence transmitted southward to India through
 Bagdad and Bassora, northward to Russia,  and  westward to Aleppo.
   Tragacanth exudes spontaneously during the summer from the  stems  and
 branches, hardening as it exudes, and assuming various forms  according to
 the greater or less abundance of the juice.
   Properties.  It is in tortuous, vermicular filaments, rounded or flattened,
 rolled  up or  extended, of a whitish  or yellowish-white colour,  somewhat
 translucent, resembling horn in appearance.   Sometimes the pieces  are irre-
 gularly oblong or roundish, and of a slightly reddish  colour.   It is hard  and
 more or less  fragile, but difficult of pulverization, unless  exposed to a freez-
ing  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 1*384.  Introduced into water it absorbs a certain
proportion of that liquid, swells very much, and forms a soft adhesive paste,
but does not 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 
PART I.
Tragacantha.— Triosteum.
721
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 capable of swelling in  water, but  not
dissolving.  The former is  said to differ from  gum Arabic  in affording no
precipitate with silicate of potassa or sesquichloride of iron. (Pereira''s Mat.
Med.)   The latter, which, according to Bucholz, constitutes  43  per cent, of
tragacanth, is ranked by some among the peculiar proximate  principles with
the title of tragacanthin.  It is  probably identical with bassorin.  It has the
property of becoming blue with iodine, which is not the case with bassorin;
but this property is ascribed  to the  presence 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 agitation  with  separate portions of water,
which are to be decanted and filtered ; and the process is to be continued till
water ceases to dissolve any  thing.   Berzelius considers  tragacanth as a vari-
ety of mucilage. (See Linum.)
   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 inso-
luble  powders; and it  is also employed  in pharmacy to impart consistence
to troches, for  which it answers better than gum Arabic.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Opii, U. S., Lond., Dub.;  Mucilago Tragacanthae,
Ed.,  Dub.; Pulvis Tragacanthae Compositus, Lond.                W.


               TRIOSTEUM.  U. S. Secondary.

                              Fever-root.
   " The root  of Triosteum perfoliatum." U. S.
  Triosteum.   Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Caprifoli-
aceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft, persistent, nearly the length of the corolla ;
segments linear, acute.  Corolla  tubular, five-lobed,  sub-equal; base, nectari-
ferous, 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  peren-
nial.   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, some-
times 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.
  The fever-root, fever-wort,  or wild ipecac,  as  this  plant is  variously
called,  though  not very abundant,  is found in most parts  of  the  United
States, preferring a limestone soil and shady situations.   Its  flowers appear
in June.  The whole plant has a bitter taste; but the root is most active, and
is the only officinal part.
  It is horizontal, long,  about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, thicker
    62 
722               Triosteum.— Triticum Hybernum.           part i.

and tuberculated  near the  origin of the stem, of a yellowish or brownish
colour externally, whitish  within, and furnished with fibres which may be
considered as branches of the main  root.  When dry it is brittle and  easily
pulverized.   It has a sickening odour, and a bitter nauseous taste.   Both
water  and alcohol take up  its active properties, which are retained  in the
extract.
   Medical 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 commence-
ment of fevers.   The extract may be given in  half the dose.         W.


    TRITICUM  HYBERNUM.  Seminum farina. Dub.

                           Wheat Flour.

   Off. Syn.  FARINA.  Triticum hybernum.  Seminum Farina. Lond.;
FARINA. Flour of the seeds of  Triticum vulgare.  Ed.
   Farine de froment, Fr.; Waizenmehl, Germ ; Farina di  frumento, Ital; Flor del trigo,
Acemite, Span.
   Triticum. Sex. Syst.  Triandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Graminaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx two-valved, solitary,  transverse, many-flowered, on  a
flexuose, toothed receptacle. Rees's Cyclopaedia.
   Triticum hybernum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 477.—T. vulgare, var. j3.
hybernum.  Kunth, Gramin., 438.    The common winter  wheal  has  a
fibrous root, and  one  or more erect, round, smooth, jointed stems,  which
rise from three to five feet in height, and are furnished with linear, pointed,
entire, flat, many-ribbed,  rough,  somewhat  glaucous  leaves,  and jagged
bearded stipules.   The flowers  are in a  solitary, terminal, dense, smooth,
spike,  two or three inches long.   The  calyx  is four-flowered, tumid, even,
imbricated, abrupt, with a short 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 all countries which enjoy a temperate climate.  Sown  in the autumn,
it stands the winter, and ripens its seeds  in the following summer.  Numerous
varieties have been produced by cultivation, some of which  are usually de-
scribed as distinct species.   Among these may perhaps  be  ranked the  T.
aestivum, or spring wheat, distinguished by its long beards, and the 7. com-
positum, or Egyptian  wheat, by its compound spikes.   It is asserted  that
the latter changes, in  Great Britain, into the common single-spiked  wheat.
(Loudon's Encyc.)   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 accord-
ing to its fineness into different portions, but so far as regards its medical
relations  maybe  considered under one  head, that of farina or flour.  The
latter is called bran, and constitutes from 25 to 33 per cent, according to the
variety of wheat.
   Flour is white, inodorous, and  nearly insipid.  Its chief constituents are
starch, gluten, albumen, saccharine  matter, and  gum,  the  proportions  of
which  are by no  means constant.   Vauquelin obtained, as an average  pro-
duct, from eight  varieties of flour which  he examined,  10*25  per cent,  of 
PART I.
Triticum Hybernum.
723
water, 10-80 of gluten (including coagulated albumen), 68*08 of starch, 5*61
of sugar, and  4*11  of gum.  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
precisely identical with  ordinary gum;  as it contains  nitrogen, and does not
yield mucic acid by the  action of  nitric acid.  The starch, wdiich 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 which wheat flour contains, that it owes its supe-
riority over that from other grains for the preparation of bread.   The gluten
here aliuded to is the substance  first noticed as a distinct principle by Bec-
caria.  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.
An Italian chemist, of the name of Taddei, found that by boiling it in alcohol
a portion was dissolved, while  another  portion  remained unaffected.  Con-
sidering  these as distinct principles, he gave  the name of gliadine to the
soluble, and zymome to the insoluble portion.  But he had been  anticipated
in his experiments by the German  chemist Einhof, who appears to have
established the fact, that the part of the glutinous mass left behind by alcohol
is identical  with vegetable albumen, while the dissolved portion  only is
strictly entitled to the appellation of gluten,  which  had been  previously
conferred on the whole  mass.  As these two principles are  contained  in
numerous vegetable products, and  as  they are  frequently 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 putre-
faction.  From  these circumstances, and from their close resemblance  to
certain proximate animal principles in chemical habitudes and relations, they
are sometimes called, in works on chemistry, vegeto-animal  substances.
They are separated from  each  other, as they exist  in  the mass originally
denominated gluten, by boiling this mass with successive portion^ of alcohol,
till  the liquid, filtered while yet hot, ceases to become turbid on cooling.
The gluten  dissolves, and may be obtained by  adding water to the solution,
and distilling off the alcohol. Large cohering flakes float in the liquor, which,
when  removed, form a viscid elastic mass, consisting  of the  substance in
question  with  some slight impurity.   The part left behind by the alcohol is
the albumen in a coagulated state.
  Pure gluten, now called vegetable fibrin, is a  pale yellow, adhesive, elastic
substance, which, by drying, becomes of a deeper yellow colour  and trans-
ucent.   It is almost insoluble  in water, and  quite insoluble in ether, and in
the oils both fixed and volatile.   Hot alcohol  dissolves it much more readily
than cold ; and from its solution in ordinary alcohol, at the boiling temperature,
it is precipitated unchanged when the liquor cools.  It is soluble in the dilute
acids, and  in  caustic alkaline solutions, in consequence of forming  soluble
compounds with the acids and alkalies.  With the earths and metallic oxides
it forms nearly insoluble compounds, which are  precipitated when the earthy
or metallic salts are added to the solution of gluten in liquid potassa.  Corro-
sive sublimate precipitates it from its acid as well  as  alkaline solutions, and
added  in  solution to  moist gluten, forms with it a compound, which, when
dry, is hard, opaque, and  incorruptible.   Gluten is also precipitated by in-
fusion of galls.  It closely resembles if it be not identical with animal fibrin.
Its name originated in its adhesive property.   Gluten exists in most of the
farinaceous grains, and in the seeds of some leguminous plants. 
724
Triticum Hybernum.
PART I.
   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 insolu-
ble in water.  It is dissolved by the solutions of the caustic alkalies.  Most
of the acids, if added to its solutions in excess, precipitate  compounds of the
acids respectively with the albumen, which, though  soluble in pure water,
are insoluble in that liquid when acidulated.  It is not, however, precipitated
by an  excess  of the phosphoric or acetic acid.   Its  relations to the earthy
and metallic salts are similar  to  those of gluten.   Corrosive sublimate pre-
cipitates it from  its solutions, except  from those  in  phosphoric and acetic
acids, and when added  in a state of solution to moist albumen, forms with it
a hard, opaque compound.  It is also precipitated by infusion of galls.  This
principle derived its name from its very close resemblance to animal albumen.
It is associated with gluten in most of the farinaceous grains,  is a constituent
of all the seeds which form a milky emulsion with water, and exists  in all the
vegetable juices which coagulate by heat.
   The  mixture of  gluten and albumen which constitutes the gluten of Bec-
caria, exercises an important influence over starch, which,  with the  presence
of water and the aid of a moderate heat, it converts partly into gum and partly
into sugar.  The production of saccharine matter in the germination of seeds,
and in the formation of malt, which is  an example  of germination, is thus
accounted  for.  The gluten itself becomes acid in the process, and  loses  the
property of reacting on starch.
   It is  now thought by many chemists that vegetable albumen is identical in
all  respects with animal albumen, and the gluten of vegetables with animal
fibrin; and that both these principles, as well as  another named casein, found
also both in the animal  and vegetable kingdoms, consist of  a principle named
protein, combined with a very small proportion  of  mineral substances, such
as sulphur, phosphorus, &c.   Protein consists of nitrogen,  carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen;  and its formula, according to Liebig, is NgC^HgeO^.  It is pro-
cured by dissolving any one of the substances above named in a strong solu-
tion of  potassa, heating  for some time to 120°,  and precipitating with acetic
acid. (Turner's Chemistry, 7th Lond. Ed.)
   It is  scarcely necessary to state, that bread is  formed by  making flour into
a paste with water,  with the addition of yeast, setting  it aside to ferment,  and
then exposing it to the  heat of an oven.   The  fermentation excited by the
yeast is accompanied with the extrication of carbonic acid  gas, which, being
retained by the tenacity of the gluten,  forms innumerable little cells through
the mass, and thus  renders the bread light.  It is important to recollect that
common salt is always  added; as this ingredient is incompatible with some
of  the substances which are occasionally directed to be made into pills with
the crumb of bread.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Wheat flour in its unaltered state  is seldom
used in medicine.  It is sometimes  sprinkled on the skin in  erysipelatous
inflammation, and  various itching  or burning  eruptions, particularly  the
nettle-rash; though rye flour is generally preferred  for this purpose.
   In the state of bread  it is much more employed   An infusion of toasted
bread in water is a  pleasant, somewhat nutritive drink, very well adapted to
febrile complaints.   Within our  experience, no drink has been  found more
grateful in such cases than this infusion, sweetened  with  a  little molasses,
and flavoured by lemon-juice.  Boiled with milk, bread constitutes the com-
mon suppurative poultice, which may  be improved by  the  addition of a
small proportion of perfectly fresh lard.   Slices of it steeped in lead-water,
or  the  crumb mixed with the fluid and confined  within  a piece of gauze, 
part i.            Triticum Hybernum.— Tussilago.               725

afford a convenient mode of applying this preparation to local inflammations.
The crumb—mica panis—is, moreover, frequently used to  give  bulk  to
minute doses of very active medicines, administered in  the form of pill.   It
should be recollected, however, that it contains  common  salt, which  is in-
compatible with  certain substances, as, for example, the nitrate of silver.
  Bran is sometimes used in decoction, as a demulcent  in catarrhal affections
and  complaints of the bowels.  It  has, when taken in  substance,  laxative
propertfes, and is used by  some persons habitually and  with  great advantage
to prevent costiveness.  Bran bread,  made from the unsifted flour, forms
an excellant laxative article of diet  in some dyspeptic cases.  The action
of the  bran is probably altogether  mechanical, consisting in  th» irritation
produced  upon the mucous  membrane of  the stomach and bowels by its
coarse particles.
  Off.Prep.  Cataplasma Fermenti, Lond., Dub.                   W.
                       TUSSILAGO. Lond.

                               Coltsfoot.
   " Tussilago Farfara." Lond.
   Off Syn. TUSSILAGO FARFARA. Folia.  Flores. Dub.
   Tussilage, Pas d'ane, Fr.; Gemeiner Huflaltig, Germ.; Tossilagine, Ital.; Tusilago,
 Span.
   Tussilago.  Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia  Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae-
 Eupatoriaceae, De Candolle; Asteraceas, Lindley.
  . Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked.  Pappus simple. Calyx scales equal, as long
 as the disk, submembranaceous.  Florets of the  ray lioulate or  toothless.
 Willd.                                         y  °
   Tussilago  Farfara.  Willd.  Sp.  Plant, iii.  1967 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
 45. t.  18.   Coltsfoot is a perennial herb, with a creeping root, which early
 in the  spring sends up  several leafless, erect, simple, unifloral scapes or
 flower-stems,  five or six inches high, and  furnished  with appressed scale-
 like bractes of a brownish-pink colour.  The flower, which stands singly at
 the end of the scape, is large, yellow, compound, with hermaphrodite florets
 in the  disk, and female florets in the ray.   The latter are numerous, linear,
 and twice  the length of the former.   The leaves do not make their appear-
 ance until after the flowers  have blown.   They are radical, petiolate, large,
 cordate, angular and toothed  at the margin, bright green upon their upper
 surface, white and downy beneath.
   The plant grows  spontaneously both in Europe and North America.  In
 this country it is found upon the banks of streams in the Middle and North-
 ern States, and flowers in April.  The whole of it is directed  by the London
 College, the leaves and  flowers only by that  of  Dublin.  The leaves  are
 most frequently employed.  They should be gathered after their full expan-
 sion, but  before they have attained their  greatest  magnitude.   (London
 Dispensatory.)
   The flowers have  an agreeable odour, which they retain after desiccation.
 The dried root and leaves are inodorous, but have a rough, bitterish, mucila-
 ginous taste.   Boiling water extracts all  their virtues.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Coltsfoot exercises little sensible  influence
 upon the human system.   It is, however, demulcent,  and is sometimes used
in chronic coughs, consumption, and other  affections of the lungs.  The
expectorant properties which it  was  formerly thought to possess are not ob-
vious.   The leaves were smoked by the ancients in pulmonary complaints ;
                                 62* 
726
Tussilago.—Ulmus.
part i.
 and in some parts of Germany they are at the present time said to be sub-
 stituted for tobacco.   Cullen  states  that he found the expressed juice of the
 fresh leaves, taken to the  extent of some ounces every day, beneficial in
 several cases of scrofulous  sores; and a decoction of the dried leaves, as re-
 commended by Fuller, answered a similar purpose, though it  often failed to
 effect a cure.
   The usual form of administration is that of decoction.  An ounce or two of
 the plant may be boiled in two pints of water to a pint, of which a teacupful
 may be given several limes a day.                                  W.

        ,                 ULMUS. Lond.

                              Elm Bark.

   " Ulmus campestris.  Cortex."  Lond.
   Off. Syn. ULMUS CAMPESTRIS.  Cortex interior. Dub.
   Ecorce d'orme,  Fr.,-  Ulmenrinde,  Germ.; Scorza del  olmo, Ital; Corteza de olmo,
 Span.
   Ulmus. Sex.  Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Ulmaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-cleft. Corolla none.  Capsule (samara) compressed,
 membranaceous. Willd.
   Llmus campestris. Willd. Sp. Plant,  i.  1324;  Woodv. Med. 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,  of a brownish-yellow colour, inodoroiis, and of a mucilaginous,
 bitterish, and very slightly astringent taste.  It imparts to water its taste and
mucilaginous properties.  The  tincture  of iodine  indicates the presence of
starch, and Davy found somewhat more than two per cent, of tannin. A pecu-
liar vegetable  principle  called ulmin or  ulmic acid, now believed to be a
 constituent of most barks,  was first  discovered in the matter which sponta-
 neously 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 demul-
cent, and very feebly tonic and astringent, and is said also to be diuretic.   It
has been recommended  in cutaneous affections of the leprous and herpetic
character. Dr. Sigmond speaks in strong terms of its efficacy in all the varieties
 of lepra, in lichenous eruptions, and in  tinea capitis, employed both inter-
nally and externally.  (Med. Bot. Trans., i. 169.)  It is usually given in the
form of decoction,  and in chronic cases  must be long  continued to produce
beneficial results.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Ulmi, Lond., Dub.                        W.


                          ULMUS.  U.S.

                        Slippery Elm Bark.
   " The inner bark of Ulmus fulva." U. S.
   Ulmus. See ULMUS. Lond.
   Ulmus fulva. Michaux,  Flor. Americ. i. 172.—Ulmus rubra.  F. An-
drew  Michaux, AT. Am.  Sylv. iii.  89.   The slippery elm, called also  red 
PART I.
Ulmus.
727
elm, is a lofty tree, rising fifty or sixty feet in height, with a stem fifteen or
twenty  inches in diameter.   The  bark of the  trunk is brown, that  of the
branches  rough  and whitish.  The  leaves are oblong  ovate, acuminate,
nearly equal  at the base, unequally serrate, pubescent  and very  rough  on
both sides, four or five inches in length by two or three in breadth, and sup-
ported 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
in number, 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 moun-
tains. 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 in medicine, and is brought to the shops  separated from the
epidermis.
   It is in long, nearly  flat pieces, from one to  two lines in thickness, of a
fibrous  texture, a tawny colour which is  reddish  on  the inner surface, a
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.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Slippery elm  bark is an excellent demul-
cent, applicable to all cases  in  which this  class of  medicines is  employed.
It is especially recommended in  dysentery, diarrhoea,  and diseases  of the
urinary passages.   Like the bark of the common European elm, it has been
employed in leprous and herpetic 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 usually employed as a drink in the form of  infusion. (See Infusum
Ulmi.)  The powder may be  used, stirred  in hot water, with which it forms
a mucilage, more or less thick according to the proportion added.   The bark
also serves as an emollient application in  cases of  external inflammation.
For this purpose the powder may be formed into a  poultice with  hot water,
or the bark itself may be applied, previously  softened by boiling.  Dr.
McDowell, of Virginia, has recommended the  use  of slippery elm bark for
the dilatation of fistulas and strictures.  (Med. Examiner, i. 244, from the
West. Jour, of Med. and Phys.  Sci.)
   Off. Prep. Infusum Ulmi, U. S.                                  W. 
728                          Uva Passa.                       part i.
                        UVAPASSA. U.S.

                               Raisins.

   " The dried fruit of Vitis vinifera." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  UVA. Vitis vinifera.  Baccae exsiccatx demptis acinis. Lond.;
 UViE  PASStE.   Dried fruit of Vitis vinifera. Ed.; VITIS VINIFERA.
 Fructus siccatus. Dub.
   Raisins sees, Fr.; Rosinen, Germ.,- Uve passe, Ital; Pasas, Span.
   Vitis. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. -Vitaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Petals cohering at  the  apex, withering.   Berry  five-seeded,
 superior. Willd.
   Vitis vinifera.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1180; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p. 144. t.
 57.   This 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  from the  stem was also thought to be possessed of
 medicinal virtues, and the  prejudice still lingers  among the vulgar in some
 countries.  The  unripe fruit has a harsh sour taste, and yields by expression
 a very acid liquor, called verjuice, which was much esteemed by  the ancients
 as a refreshing drink, when diluted with water.  It contains malic and tar-
 taric acids, and another  called by some chemists racemic acid, by  Berzelius
paratartd'ric  acid, from its resemblance to  the  tartaric,  with which it agrees
 in composition, though differing from it  in  properties.   The grape, when
 quite ripe,  is among the  most pleasant and grateful fruits  brought upon the
 table, and is  admirably adapted, by its refreshing properties, to  febrile com-
 plaints.  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 culture 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 Malaga raisins, imported from Spain.  They
are large and fleshy, of  a purplish-brown colour, and sweet agreeable taste.
Those produced in Calabria are similar. The Smyrna raisins are also large,
but of a yellowish-brown colour, slightly musky odour, and less agreeable
flavour. ^ They  are originally brought from the coast of Syria.   The Corin-
thian raisins, or currants as they are commonly called in  this country, are
small, bluish-black, of a fatty appearance, with a vinous odour, and a  sweet
slightly tartish taste.  Their/ name was derived from the city in  the vicinity
of which they were formerly cultivated ; at present they are procured chiefly
from Zante,  Cephalonia, and the other Ionian  Islands.   In the  older Phar-
macopoeias they are distinguished by the title of uvae passae minores. 
part i.                 Uva Passa.—Uva Ursi.                   729

   Raisins contain a larger proportion of sugar than recent grapes.   This
principle, indeed, is  often so abundant that it effloresces  on the  surface, or
concretes in separate masses within the substance of the raisin.  The sugar
of grapes differs slightly from  that of the cane, and is said to be identical
with that produced by the action of sulphuric acid upon starch.   It is less
sweet than common sugar, less soluble in cold water, much less soluble in
alcohol, and forms a syrup of less consistence.
   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, some-
times produce unpleasant effects, especially in children.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum  Althaeae,  Dub., Ed.;  Decoctum  Guaiaci,  Ed.;
Decoctum Hordei Compositum, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cardamomi
Composita, Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Quassiae Comp., Ed.; Tinctura Rhei et
Sennae, U. S.; Tinctura Sennae Comp., Lond., Ed.                  W.


             UVA  URSI.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Uva  Ursi.

   " The leaves  of Arbutus Uva  Ursi."  U. S.  " Arctostaphylos Uva ursi.
Folia." Lond.   "Leaves of Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi." Ed.  "Arbutus Uva
Ursi. Folia."  Dub.
   Busserole, Raisin  d'ours, Fr.;  Barentraube,  Germ.; Corbezzolo, Uva Ursina, Ital;
Gayuba, Span.
   Arbutus. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Ericaceae.
   Gen.  Ch.  Calyx five-parted.  Corolla ovate, with a mouth, pellucid at the
base. Berry five-celled.  Willd.
   Arbutus Uva  Ursi.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  ii. 618;  Bigelow, Am.  Med. Bot.
i.  66.—Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi.  Sprengel,  Syst. ii. 287.—The uva ursi,
or bearberry,  is  a low evergreen shrub, with trailing stems, the  young
branches of which rise obliquely upwards for a  few inches.  The  leaves
are scattered, upon short petioles, obovate, acute at the base, entire, with a
rounded  margin, thick, coriaceous, smooth, shining, and  of a  deep green
colour on their  upper surface,  paler and covered with a  network  of veins
beneath.   The flowers, which  stand  on  short reflexed peduncles, are  col-
lected in small clusters at the ends of the branches.  The calyx is  small,
five-parted, of a reddish colour,  and persistent.  The corolla is  ovate or
urceolate, reddish-white, or white  with a red  lip, transparent at the base,
contracted at the mouth, and  divided  at  the margin into five short reflexed
segments.  The stamens are  ten,  with short filaments  and bifid anthers ;
the germ round,  with  a style longer than  the stamens, and a simple stigma.
The fruit is a small, round, depressed, smooth, glossy, red berry,  containing
an insipid mealy pulp,  and five cohering seeds.
   This  humble  but hardy shrub inhabits the northern latitudes of  Europe,
Asia, and America.  It is also found in  the  lofty mountains  of Southern
Europe, such as  the Pyrennees and the Alps;  and, on  the American conti-
nent, extends from Hudson's Bay as far southward as New Jersey, in some
parts of which it grows in great abundance.   It prefers a barren soil, flou-
rishing on gravelly hills, and elevated sandy plains.  The leaves are the only
part used in medicine.   They are imported from Europe; but are also col-
lected 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. 
730                    Uva Ursi.— Valeriana.                 part i.

  In Europe the uva ursi  is often  adulterated with  the  leaves of the Vuc-
cinium Vitis Idaea, which are wholly destitute of its  peculiar properties, and
may be distinguished by their rounder shape, their revolute edges which are
sometimes slightly toothed, and the  appearance of their under surface, which
is dotted, instead of being reticulated as in the genuine leaves.  Leaves of the
Chimaphila umbellata may sometimes be found among the uva ursi as it exists
in our  markets.   They may be readily detected by their greater length, their
cuneiform lanceolate shape, and their serrate edges.
  The leaves of the uva ursi  are inodorous when fresh, but acquire a smell
not unlike that of hay when dried and powdered. Their taste is bitterish,
strongly astringent,  and ultimately sweetish.   They afford a light-brown,
greenish-yellow powder.   Water extracts their active principles, which are
also soluble in  officinal alcohol.   Among their ingredients are tannin, bitter
extractive, resin, gum, and gallic acid; and the  tannin is so abundant that they
are used for tanning  in some parts of Russia.   Neither this principle nor
gallic acid exists in the leaves of the Vaccinium Vitis Idaea.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Uva ursi is astringent  and tonic, and is
thought by some to have a specific direction to the  urinary organs, for the
complaints of which it is  chiefly used.  Others deny that  it possesses any
peculiar tendency of this kind, and  ascribe all  its  effects to its  astringent and
tonic action.  It alters the colour  of the urine, and its  astringent principle
has been detected in that secretion.   It probably, therefore, exerts  a direct
influence  on the kidneys  and urinary passages.  Though known  to the
ancients, it had passed into almost entire neglect, till its  use was revived by
De Haen about the middle of the last century.  It has acquired some repu-
tation as an antilithic, and has undoubtedly been serviceable in gravel, partly,
perhaps, by a  direct action  on the kidneys, partly by  giving tone  to the
digestive organs, and preventing the accumulation of principles calculated to
produce a secretion or precipitation  of calculous matter.  In chronic nephritis
it is also a popular  remedy, and is  particularly recommended when there is
reason to  conjecture the existence  of ulceration in the  kidneys, bladder, or
urinary passages.    Diabetes, catarrh of the bladder, 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.  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 Uvae Ursi.)
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Uvae Ursi, U. S., Lond.; Extractum Uvae Ursi,
Lond.                                                            W.

               VALERIANA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                               Valerian.
   " The root of Valeriana officinalis."  U. S., Ed.  " Valeriana Officinalis.
(Sylvestris.) Radix." Lond.
   Off. Syn.  VALERIANA  OFFICINALIS. Radix. Dub.
   Valeriane, Fr.; Wilde Baldrianwurzel, Germ.; Valeriana  silvestre, Ital; Valerian sil-
vestre, Span.
   Valeriana.   Sex. Syst.  Triandria  Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Valerian-
aceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx very small,  finally enlarged into  a  feathery  pappus.
 Corolla monopetalous, five-lobed,  regular,  gibbous  at  the  base.   Capsule
one-celled.  (Loudon's Encyc. of Plants.)    Stamens  exserted, one,  two,
three,  and four. (Nuttall.) 
PART I.
Valeriana.
731
   Valeriana officinalis.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  177; Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
77. t. 32.  The officinal, or great wild valerian is a large handsome herba-
ceous plant, with a perennial root, and an erect, round, channeled stem, from
two to four feet high, furnished with opposite pinnate leaves, and terminating
in flowering branches.   The leaves of the stem are attached by short broad
sheaths, the  radical leaves  are larger and  stand on long footstalks.  In the
former the leaflets are lanceolate and partially dentate, in  the latter elliptical
and deeply serrate.  The flowers are small, white or rose-coloured, odorous,
and disposed in terminal corymbs, interspersed  with spear-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 high, and is distinguished  by its  narrow leaves.   It is superior to
the others in medicinal virtue.
   The root, which is the officinal  portion, is collected in spring before the
stem begins to shoot, or in the autumn when the leaves decay.  It should
be dried quickly, and kept in a dry place.  It consists of numerous, long,
slender,  cylindrical fibres-, issuing from a tuberculated head or rhizoma.  As
brought  to this country  it frequently has portions of the stem attached.  The
best comes  from  England.
   Properties.  The colour of the root is externally yellowish or brown, in-
ternally  white.  The powder is yellowish-gray.   The odour, which in the
fresh root is slight, in the dried is strong and highly characteristic, and, though
rather pleasant  to  many persons, is very disagreeable to  others.   Cats are
said to be strongly attracted by it.   The taste is at first sweetish, afterwards
bitter and aromatic.   Valerian yields its active properties to water and alco-
hol.  Trommsdorff found  it to consist of 1*2 parts of volatile oil;  12*5 of a
peculiar extractive  matter, soluble  in water, insoluble  in  ether  and alcohol,
 and precipitated by  metallic solutions;  18*75 of gum; 6-25 of a soft odorous
 resin ; and  63 of lignin.   Of these constituents  the most important is the
 essential oil, in  which the  virtues of the root chiefly reside.  It is of a pale
 greenish colour,  of the sp. gr. 0934, with  a pungent odour of  valerian, and
 an aromatic taste.  It becomes yellow and viscid by exposure.  Trommsdorff
 ascertained that  it contains a peculiar volatile  acid, upon which the name
 of valerianic acid has been conferred.  This, when  separated  from the oil,
 is a colourless  liquid, of an oleaginous consistence, having an odour analo-
 gous to that of  valerian, and a very strong, sour, disagreeable taste.  It  is
 soluble in thirty parts of water, and  in all  proportions in ether and alcohol.
 It combines with salifiable bases, forming soluble salts, which retain,  in a
 diminished degree,  the odour of the acid.   (Journ.  de Pharm.,  xx. 316.)
 Valerianic  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, has ascertained 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.   To procure it he
 adds sulphuric acid to  the root  with a sufficient  quantity of water, distils,
 separates the oil, saturates  the liquor with carbonate of soda, evaporates, adds
 a slight excess of sulphuric acid, and again distils. (Journ. de Pharm. et  de
 Chim., Be ser., vi. 310.)
    The  roots of the Valeriana Phu and V. dioica are said to be sometimes 
 732                Valeriana.— Veratrum Album.            parti.

 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 Ranunculaceee, which, according  to Ebermayer, are
 sometimes fraudulently substituted in  Germany.   They  may be readily de-
 tected by their want  of the peculiar odour of the officinal  root.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Valerian is gently stimulant,  with an espe-
 cial  direction to the  nervous  system, but without narcotic effect.   In lar^e
 doses it produces a  sense of heaviness and  dull  pain  in the head, with
 various  other effects  indicating nervous disturbance.  It is useful in cases of
 irregular nervous  action, when not connected with inflammation or an  ex-
 cited condition of the system.  Among the complaints in which it has been
 particularly recommended  are hysteria, hypochondriasis, epilepsy, hemi-
 crania, and low forms of fever attended with  restlessness, morbid vigilance,
 or other nervous  disorder.  It has also been  used in intermittents combined
 with Peruvian bark.   At best, however, it is an uncertain remedy.  It may
 be given in powder  or infusion.   In the latter form, it is said  by  Professor
 Joerg of Leipsic,  who has experimented with it, to be less apt  to irritate the
 alimentary canal than when  administered  in substance.   The dose of  the
powder is  from thirty to ninety grains, repeated  three or four times a day.
 The tincture is also officinal.  As the virtues of valerian reside chiefly in  the
 volatile  oil, the medicine should not be given in  decoction or extract.  The
 distilled water is  used on the 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. Infusum Valerianae, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Valerianae,
 U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, U.S.,  Lond.,
Ed., Dub.                                                       W.
                 VERATRUM ALBUM.  U.S.

                           White Hellebore.

   " The rhizoma of Veratrum album."  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  VERATRUM.  Veratrum  album.  Radix. Lond.;  VERA-
TRUM.  Rhizoma  of  Veratrum  album. Ed.;   VERATRUM ALBUM.
Radix. Dub.
   Ellebore blanc, Fr.; Weisse Niesswurzel, Germ.; Eleboro bianco, Ital; Veratro bianco,
Span.
   Veratrum. Sex. Syst. Polygamia Moncecia.—Nat. Ord.  Melanthaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Hermaphrodite.  Calyx none. Corolla six-petaled.  Stamens
six. Pistils three.  Capsules three, many-seeded. Male. Calyx none. Co-
rolla six-petaled.   Stamens six. Pistils a rudiment. Willd.
   Botanists who reject  the  class Polygamia of Linnaeus, place this genus
in the class  and order Hexandria  Trigynia, with the  following character.
" Polygamous. 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 fur- 
part i.                    Veratrum Album.                       733

nished with alternate  leaves, which are oval, acute, entire, plaited longitudi-
nally, about ten inches long by five in breadth, of a  yellowish-green colour,
and embrace the stem at their base.  The flowers are greenish, and arranged
in a terminal panicle.
   The white hellebore is a native of the  mountainous regions of continental
Europe,  and abounds  in the Alps and Pyrennees.  All parts of the plant are
said to be acrid and poisonous ; but the root (rhizoma) only is officinal.  This
is brought to us from Germany in the dried state, in pieces from one to three
inches long by an inch or less in mean diameter, cylindrical or in the shape
of a truncated cone,  internally  whitish, externally  blackish,  wrinkled, and
rough  with the  remains  of the fibres which  have  been cut off near their
origin.   Sometimes  the  fibres  continue attached to the  root.    They are
numerous, yellowish, and  of the size of a crow's quill.  White hellebore
deteriorates by keeping.
   Properties.  The fresh  root  has  a disagreeable odour,  which is  lost by
drying.  The taste is at  first sweetish,  afterwards  bitterish, acrid, burning,
and durable.  The powdered root is  grayish. Analyzed by Pelletier and
Caventou, white  hellebore was found to  contain an oily matter consisting of
olein,  stearin, and a volatile acid;  supergallate of veratria, a  yellow colour-
ing matter, starch, gum, lignin, silica, and various salts  of lime and potassa.
The medicinal properties of the root reside in the veratria, which was first
discovered in the seeds of the  Veratrum Sabadilla, and probably exists in
other plants belonging to the same family.  For an account of Veratria, see
Sabadilla, p. 610, and the  article Veratria among the preparations.  Simon
believed  that he had found  two new vegetable alkalies in white hellebore, one
of which was  named barytina, from  being precipitated,  like baryta,  from
its solution in acetic or  phosphoric acid  by  sulphuric acid or  the sulphates;
the oihev jervina, from the Spanish name for a poison obtained from the root
of white  hellebore. (Pereira's Mat. Med., from Pharm. Cent. Blatt., 1837,
s. 191.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  White hellebore  is a violent  emetic and
cathartic, capable of producing dangerous and  fatal effects when  incautiously
administered.   Even in small  doses it has  sometimes  occasioned  severe
vomiting, hypercatharsis  with  bloody stools,  and  alarming  symptoms  of
general prostration.   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 griping 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,  mania, epilepsy, leprosy,  elephantiasis, and other
obstinate disorders, not without occasional advantage; but the severity of its
operation has led  to its general abandonment as an  internal  remedy. _,It is
sometimes used as an errhine, diluted 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 pulverized root with laid, has been found
beneficial as an external application in the itch, and in other cutaneous erup-
tions.   From the resemblance of its operation to that of the eau medicinale
d'Husson, so celebrated for the cure of  gout,  it has  been conjectured to be
the chief  constituent of that remedy—a  reputation which   has  also  been
enjoyed  by colchicum.  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 introduced into  use by Mr. Moore, of London, as a substitute for
     63 
 734             Veratrum Album.— Veratrum Viride.          part i.

 the eau medicinale, and has been considerably employed in gouty and rheu-
 matic 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 inactive  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 hellebore, but is much more  powerful.   From one-twelfth to one-
 sixth of a grain may be given in  the form  of 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 practical applications the reader is referred to
 Veratria, among  the Preparations, in the second  part of this  work.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Veratri, Lond., Dub.; Unguentum Sulphuris Com-
 positum, Lond.;  Unguentum Veratri  Albi, U. S., Lond.,  Dub.; Vinum
 Veratri  Albi,   U.S.,  Lond.                                        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  rhi-
 zoma, 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 terminating 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, acuminate, plaited, nerved, and pubes-
 cent; 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 divided into six oval acute
 segments, thickened  on the inside at their base, with the three alternate seg-
 ments 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 rudiments 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  Carolina,
 inhabiting swamps,  wet meadows, and the banks of mountain streamlets.
 Early in the spring, before the stem  rises,  it bears a  slight  resemblance to
 the Symplocarpusfoetidus, with which  it  is very frequently  associated; but
 the latter sends forth no stem.  From  May to July is the season for flower-
 ing.  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  per-
 manent impression in the mouth and fauces.  In sensible properties it bears 
I    part I.        Veratrum Viride.— Verbascum Thapsus.           735

    a close resemblance to white hellebore;  and from this circumstance, as well
    as from the strong botanical affinity of the two plants, it is highly probable
    that it contains veratria.  The experiments of Mr. Mitchell and Mr.  Worth-
    ington, of Philadelphia, go to strengthen  this  probability.  (See Amer. Journ.
    of Pharm. ix. 181. and x. 89.)
     Medical Properties and Uses.  American hellebore resembles 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, dim-
    ness 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  European root in  most cases in which  the latter is employed; and is
    highly recommended  as  a  substitute for colchicum by Dr. Tully, of New
    Haven.  Gouty, rheumatic, and neuralgic affections are those  to which it
    appears best adapted.  For an account of what may be said upon the medical
    properties and applications of the American hellebore, the reader is referred
    to a  paper by Dr. Charles Osgood, of Providence, in the American Journal
    of the Medical  Sciences, vol. xvi.  p. 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 in the proportion  of six ounces of the fresh root to 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.                                     W.


             VERBASCUM  THAPSUS. Folia. Dub.

                             Mullein Leaves.

     Verbascum.  Sex.^yst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Scrophula-
    riaceae.
     Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-parted. Corolla rotate, five-lobed, unequal.  Stamens
    declined, bearded.  Stigma simple. Capsule  two-celled,  valves inflected,
    many-seeded. Nuttall.
     Verbascum Thapsus.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  1001;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p.
    202. t. 75.  This is  a biennial plant,  with an erect, round, rigid, hairy stem,
    which rises from three to  six feet  in height, and  is irregularly beset with large
    sessile, oblong or oval, somewhat pointed leaves, indented  at the margin,
    woolly on both sides, and decurrent at the base.  The flowers  are yellow,
    and disposed in a long, close, cylindrical, terminal spike.
     The mullein is common throughout the United States, growing along the
    road-sides and in neglected  fields, and  springing up abundantly in  newly
    cleared places, at the most remote distance from cultivation.   It is neverthe-
    less considered by many botanists as a naturalized plant, introduced originally
    from Europe, where it  is also abundant.  It flowers  from June  to August.
    The leaves and flowers  have been employed ; but the former only are directed
    by the Dublin College.  Both have a  slight, somewhat narcotic smell, which
    in the dried  flowers  becomes agreeable.   Their taste is mucilaginous,  herba-
   ceous,  and bitterish, but very feeble.   They impart their virtues to water by
    infusion.
     Medical Properties and Uses.   Mullein  leaves are demulcent and emol- 
736                Verbascum Thapsus.— Vinum.             part i.

lient, and are thought  to  possess  anodyne properties, which  render  them
useful in pectoral complaints.   On the Continent of Europe, an infusion of
the flowers, strained in order  to  separate the rough  hairs, is  considerably
used in  mild catarrhs.   Dr. Home found a decoction of the leaves useful in
diarrhoea.  The infusion or decoction may be prepared in the  proportion of
an ounce of the leaves to a pint of water, and given in the quantity of four
fluidounces.  The leaves are also employed externally, steeped  in hot water,
as a feebly anodyne emollient.  An  ointment is prepared from them in the
recent state, and used for the same purposes.  It may be made in  the same
manner as ointment of stramonium, by boiling the leaves in lard.  It will be
found advantageous to  moisten them  with water previously to the boiling.
                                                                 W.


                           VINUM.  U.S.

                                Wine.

   "Sherry wine." U.S.
   Off Syn.  VINUM  XERICUM.  Lond.  VINUM ALBUM.  Sherry.
Ed.; VINUM ALBUM HISPANUM. Dub.
   Vin, Fr.; Wein, Germ.; Vino, Ital, Span.
   Wine is the fermented juice of the grape, the fruit of the Vitis vinifera of
botanists, the description of which will be found under another head.  (See
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.   Grape juice, therefore,
embraces all the ingredients  essential to  the  production of the vinous fer-
mentation, and requires only  the influence of the  atmosphere  and a proper
temperature to convert it into wine.  The theory of the vinous  fermentation,
and the agency of sugar in the process have been explained under Alcohol.
   Preparation.  Though the art of making wine varies in different countries,
yet it is regulated by general rules which require to be observed.   When the
grapes are ripe, they are gathered, and trodden under foot 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 fer-
mentation gradually takes  place in the must, and  becomes fully established
after a longer or shorter period. In the mean time, the must becomes sensibly
warmer, and emits a large quantity of carbonic acid, which, creating a kind
of effervescence, causes the more solid parts to be thrown to the surface in
a mass  of froth  having a hemispherical shape called the head.   The liquor
from being sweet, becomes vinous, and assumes a deep red colour if the pro-
duct 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 become perfectly clear, the
wine is considered formed, and is racked  off into  casks.  But even at this
stage of  the process, the fermentation is  not completed  but  continues 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 deposit which
constitutes the wine-lees.
   Division and Nomenclature.   Wines, according  to  their colour, are 
PART I.
Vinum.
737
 divided into the red and white; and, according to their taste and other quali-
 ties, are either spirituous, sweet, dry, light,  sparkling, still, rough, or acidu-
 lous.  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 skins.   The other qualities of wines, above enu-
 merated, depend  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 fer-
 ment.    If the juice be very saccharine, and contain sufficient ferment to
 sustain the fermentation, the conversion of  the sugar into alcohol will pro-
 ceed until  checked by the production of a certain amount of the  latter, and
 there will be formed a spirituous or  generous wine.   If,  while the juice is
 highly saccharine, the ferment be  deficient 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 considera-
 ble amount,  and  in  the  proper  relative proportions  for mutual  decomposi-
 tion, the  wine will be strong bodied and sound, without any 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 ferment is not in excess, but
 otherwise liable to pass into the acetous fermentation and become acescent.
 In case the wine  is  bottled  before  the  fermentation  is fully completed, the
 process will proceed slowly in the bottles, and the carbonic 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 acidulous wines,
 to the  presence of carbonic acid or an unusual proportion of tartar.  Several
 of the  above qualities  often  co-exist.   Thus a wine  may  be  spirituous  and
 sweet, spirituous  and rough, rough and sweet, light and sparkling, &c.
   Wines are made in many countries, and are known in commerce by vari-
 ous 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, marsala or Sicily madeira, and lissa;
 the Cape of  Good Hope, constantia;  Madeira and  the Canaries, madeira
 and teneriffe.   In the  United States,  a small quantity of wine is made, for
 the most part of inferior quality.  The best is manufactured  near Vevay, a
 Swiss  settlement on the banks of the Ohio.  The consumption of this coun-
 try is accordingly supplied almost entirely from abroad ; and  the wines most
 extensively imported are madeira, teneriffe, sherry, and port, and the claret
 wines  of France.
  Properties.   Wine, considered  as the name of a class, may be charac-
 terized as a spirituous  liquid, the result of the fermentation  of grape-juice,
 and containing colouring matter, and some  other substances, which are either
 combined or intimately blended with the spirit.   All its other qualities vary
 with the nature of each particular wine. It will not be necessary to describe
 all the  wines  that have been enumerated; but only such  as  are commonly
 used for medicinal purposes.   Under this denomination may be included
 the officinal wine  sherry, together with madeira, teneriffe, port, and claret.
  Sherry is of a  deep amber  colour, and  when  good possesses a dry aro-
 matic  flavour  and fragrancy, without any  acidity.   It  ranks among  the
 stronger white wines, and contains between 19 and 20 per  cent, by measure
of alcohol of sp. gr. 0*825.  The United States and British Pharmacopoeias
                                63* 
738
Vinum.
PART I.
now agree in indicating it as the officinal wine.  It is prepared in the vici-
nity 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), in allusion  to its being a dry wine.   Its dryness, or  freedom from
acidity, is said to arise from the use of lime in its manufacture.
  Madeira is the strongest of the white wines in general use.  It is a slightly
acid wine, 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 both of the less care taken in its manufacture than for-
merly, and 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 slightly 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.
  Port is of a deep-purple colour, and, in its new state, is a  rough, strong,
and slightly sweet wine.   When kept a certain  length of 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
to it, which causes its  heating quality on the palate.   It is the strongest of
the wines in common use.
  Claret, called in France, vin de Bordeaux, is also  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
slight aeidity and  astringency.   The most esteemed  kinds are  the  Medoc
clarets,  called Chateau-Lafite,  Chateau-Margaux,  and  Chateau-Latour.
Another celebrated variety is the Chdteau-Haut  Brion of the Pays de
Grave.  Claret is the  variety of French wine most extensively consumed in
the United States.  It is made in large quantities in the country around Bor-
deaux, from which port it is sjiipped.
  Adulterations.    Wines  are very frequently  adulterated, and  counterfeit
mixtures are often palmed upon the public as genuine wine.   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, however,  this crimi-
nal  practice is wholly abandoned.  The adulteration is  readily detected by
sulphuretted hydrogen, which causes a black and floceulent precipitate.  Mr.
Brande assures us that, among the numerous samples of  wine of suspected
purity which he had examined, he had not found one  containing any poison-
ous ingredient fraudulently introduced.  Lead, in minute quantity, according
to this writer, may often be detected in wines;  but it is  derived invariably
from shot in the bottle, or some analogous source.   Spurious mixtures,  fre-
quently containing very little of the fermented juice of  the grape,  which
are sold for particular  wines,  may not be poisonous;  but are, notwithstand-
ing, highly  pernicious  in  their effects upon  the stomach, and always pro-
duce mischief and disappointment, when depended on as  therapeutic agents.
The wines most frequently imitated are port and madeira; and cider is gene-
rally the chief ingredient in the spurious  mixtures.  English port is  some- 
PART I.
Vinum.
739
times made of a small portion of real  port mixed with cider, juice of elder
berries, and  brandy, coloured  and  rendered  astringent with logwood and
alum.   In the United States, of latter years, the cheapness of genuine wines
has left little motive for manufacturing these factitious imitations.
   Composition.  Wines  consist mainly of water and alcohol.   They con-
tain, besides, sugar, gum,  extractive,  colouring matter, tannic, malic, and
carbonic acids, bitartrate of potassa (tartar), tartrate of lime, volatile oil, and
oenanthic  ether.  The  volatile oil has  never  been isolated, but is supposed
to be the  cause of the delicate flavour and  odour of wine, called the bou-
quet.   GZnanthic ether (oenanthate of  ether, oenanthate of oxide of ethule),
was discovered 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-ten thousandth part of the wine.  It is a mobile, oily, colourless
liquid, having the  peculiar  unpleasant smell which is perceived in  a bottle
which has contained wine.  Its sp. gr. is 0*862, and boiling point 435°.  Its
formula is  C18H1803=C14H1302(oenanthic acid)-f C4H50 (ether).  (Enanthic
ether must not be confounded with the volatile  oil  upon which  the bouquet
of wine is supposed to depend.   The other ingredients of wine, above enu-
merated, are not to be supposed present in  every wine.  Thus  sugar  is
present in sweet wines,  tannic acid in rough  wines, and  carbonic acid in
those that effervesce.    Malic  acid exists in minute  proportion  in  some
wines, and is absent in others.   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 liquor;  but with almost all the wines
of commerce a portion of brandy is  mixed, the state of  union  of which is
probably different  from that of the  natural alcohol of the wine.   By the
custom-house regulations in England, 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
renders  it less intoxicating and less injurious than the same quantity  of alco-
hol, separated by distillation and diluted with water.   Mr. Brande published
in 1811  a  very interesting table,  giving the percentageby measure of alcohol
of sp. gr. 0*825 in different  kinds of wine.  Similar tables have since been
published  by M. Julia-Fontenelle, and by Dr.  Christison.  An abstract of
their results is given in the following  table, the  proof spirit of Dr.  Christison's
table (0.920) being  reduced, for  the  sake of comparison,  to the standard  of
0.825, the density  of  the  spirit adopted  by Mr.  Brande.  The results  of
Julia-Fontenelle are distinguished by the letter J.; those of Dr. Christison
by the letter C.  The rest are Mr. Brande's.

Table of the Proportion by Measure of Alcohol (sp.gr. 0*825) contained in
                      100 parts of different Wines.
Lissa, (mean)	25*41	Por	, mean	22*96
Raisin wine, (mean)	25*12		weakest -	1900
Marsala, [Sicily madeira]			strongest (C.) -	20*49
(mean)	2509		mean (C.)	18*68
Port, strongest	25*83		weakest (C.) -	16*80
 
740
Vinum.
PART I.
 White port, (C.)   -    -    17-22
 Madeira, strongest  -    -    24*42
     mean    ...    22*27
     weakest  -              19-24
     strongest (C.)  -    -    20*35
 Sercial madeira    -    -    21*40
 Ditto (C.)     -    .    .    18-50
 Sherry, strongest   -    -    19-81
     mean    ...    19*17
     weakest  ...    18*25
     strongest (C.)  -    -    19*31
     mean (C.)     -    -    18*47
     weakest (C.)   -    -    16*96
     Amontillado (C.)    -    15*18
 Teneriffe     -     -    -    19*79
 Ditto (C.)     -     -    -    16*61
 Colares  ....     197,5
 Lachryma Christi   -    -    19-70
 White constantia   -    -    19*75
 Red constantia     -    -    18*92
 Lisbon   -                    18*94
 Ditto (C.)     -     -    -     19*09
 Bucellas       ...     18-49
 Red madeira (mean)     -     20*35
 Cape muschat      -     -     18-25
 Cape madeira (mean)    -     20*51
 Grape wine    -     -     -     18*11
Calcavella (mean)   -     -     18*65
Vidonia -                    19-25
Alba flora    ...     17-26
Zante   -                    17-05
Malaga  -                    17*26
White hermitage    -     -     17*43
 Rousillon (mean)   -    -    18*13
 Claret, strongest    -    -    17*11
     mean    -     -    -    15*10
     weakest  ...    12*91
     ditto (J.)      -    -    14*73
     vin ordinaire (C.)   -    10-42
     Chateau-Latour, 1825, (C.) 9*38
     first growth, 1811, (C.)    9*32
 Malmsey  madeira   -    -    1640
 Ditto (C.)    -     -    -    15*60
 Lunel  ....    15.52
 Ditto (J.)     -     -    -    18*10
 Sheraaz       ...    15-52
 Ditto (C.)    -     -    -    15*56
 Syracuse      -     -    -    15-28
 Sauterne      ...    14*22
 Burgundy (mean)   -    -    14-57
 Hock (mean)  -               12*08
 Nice   ....    ]4-63
 Barsac  -                    13*86
 Tent   ....    13.30
 Champagne (mean)      -    12*61
 Ditto (J.)      -     -    -    12-20
 Red hermitage     -    -    12-32
 Vin de Grave (mean)     -    13*37
 Frontignac (Rives Altes) -    12-79
 Ditto (J.)      -     -     -    21*80
 Ditto (C.)     -     -     -    12*29
Cote rotie     -     -    -    12*32
Tokay  ....     9-88
Rudesheimer,  first qual., (C.)  10*14
     inferior, (C.)   -    -     8-35
Hambacher, first quality, (C.)   8*88
  By the  above table it is perceived that, with one or two  exceptions, Dr.
Christison found less alcohol  in  wines than Mr. Brande.  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 reverse.  While,
however, the wine is  not rendered more alcoholic by age, its flavour is im-
proved,  and its  body or apparent strength is increased.
  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
percentage of alcohol 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, 7*32 ; Burton ale,
8*88; Edinburgh ale, 6*20;  brown stout, 6*80; London porter, 4*20;  small
beer,  1*28.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Wine is consumed in most civilized coun-
tries ; but in a state of health it is at least useless, if not absolutely pernicious.
The degree of mischief which it produces depends very much on the cha- 
PART I.
Vinum.
741
racter of  the wine.   Thus the light  wines of France are comparatively
harmless ;  while the habitual use of the stronger ones, such as port, madeira,
sherry, &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  consequences.  They weaken the stomach,
produce disease of the liver, and give rise to dropsy, gout, apoplexy, tremors,
and not unfrequenfly  mania.   Nevertheless, wine is an important medicine,
productive of the best effects in certain  diseases and states of the system.  As
an article  of the materia  medica, it ranks as  a stimulant and  antispasmodic.
In the convalescence from protracted fever, and in sinking of the vital powers,
it is frequently the best remedy that can  be employed.  In certain stages of
typhoid fevers, and in extensive ulceration and gangrene, this remedy, either
alone, or conjoined with bark and opium, is often our main dependence.  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, on the contrary, 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 example tetanus, wine, liberally  given, has been found useful.
  Wine, when used medicinally, should  be sound, and 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 nature of the disease, and the particular object in view.
Sherry, when in good condition, is a fine wine, and, being free from all acid,
is to be  preferred whenever the  stomach is  delicate, or has a tendency to
dyspeptic acidity.  Unfortunately, however, it is of very unequal quality.
Good madeira is the  most generous of the white wines, particulary adapted
to the purpose of resuscitating debilitated constitutions, and of sustaining the
sinking energies of the system in  old age.  The slight 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 a medium strength, and  agreeing very
well with most stomachs.  Port isgenerally used in cases of pure debility,
especially when attended with a loose state of the bowels, unaccompanied by
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.
  All the acid and acidulous wines are  contra-indicated in the gouty and uric
acid diatheses;  as they are very apt to convert  the existing predisposition
into  disease.   They are  useful, however, in what is called the phosphatic
diathesis,  their acidity tending to prevent the  deposition of the earthy phos-
phates.
  The quantity of wine which may be given with advantage in disease is
necessarily very variable.   In  low fevers, it may be administered to  the ex-
tent 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 from a gill to
half a pint of wine, straining without pressure to separate  the curd which is
formed, and sweetening the clear whey with loaf sugar.  Wine-whey forms
a peculiarly safe and  grateful  stimulus in typhoid fevers  and other febrile
affections, which, after depletion,  may tend to a state of deficient  action and
be accompanied with a dry skin.   Under these circumstances, it  often acts 
742
Vinum.— Viola.
PART I.
as a diaphoretic, and, if used of moderate strength, without stimulating  the
system injuriously.
  Pharmaceutical Uses.   Wine is employed as a  menstruum to extract the
virtues of several plants,  and the preparations thus formed are called vinous
tinctures or medicated wines.   Tartar emetic is the only mineral substance
prepared in a similar  manner.  (See  Vinum Antimonii.)  For  the  peculiar
powers of wine as a  menstruum for medicinal  substances, see  Vina Medi-
cata.                                                              B.


                    VIOLA.  U.S. Secondary.

                                Violet.

  " The herb of Viola pedata."  U. S.


             VIOLA  ODORATA.  Flores. Dub.

                   Flowers  of the Sweet  Violet.

  Off. Syn. VIOLA. Flowers  of  Viola odorata. Ed.
  Violette odorante, Fr.; Wohlriechendes Veilchen, Germ.; Violetta, Ital; Violeta, Span.
  Viola.  Sex.  Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Violaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx five leaved.  Corolla five-petalled, 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, the V. odorata,  by the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges, and  the
V. pedata, by our  National  Pharmacopoeia.  The  V. 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 the Med. Scien., 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 fur-
nished 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 proper-
ties 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 collect- 
PART I.
Viola.
743
ing 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 ex-
posing 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.
   In the root, leaves, flowers, and  seeds of the V. odorata, M. Boulay dis-
covered a  peculiar alkaline principle, bearing some resemblance to emetia,
but possessing distinct properties. He called it violine; hat violia is its proper
title in accordance with the nomenclature adopted in this work.  It is white,
soluble in  alcohol, 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, decom-
posing 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 variegated.  The divisions of the calyx are  linear and acute.
The stigma is large, compressed at  the sides, obliquely  truncate and per-
forate 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.
   Medical Properties, fyc. of the  Violets.  The herbaceous parts of differ-
ent 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 the crusta
lactea.  A  decoction in milk of  a handful of  the  fresh, or half a  drachm of
the dried 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 expectorant and
demulcent in pectoral complaints. (Bigelow.)
   In Europe,  a syrup prepared from  the fresh flowers of the Viola odorata
is much employed  as an addition to demulcent drinks, and as  a laxative for
infants.  (See Syrupus  Violas.)   The  seeds were formerly considered useful
in gravel, but are not now employed. The root, which has a bitter, nauseous
slightly acrid taste, acts in the dose of  thirty grains or 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  Ionidium,
which belong  to the same  natural  family.  The  existence in small propor-
tion  of the emetic principle, upon which the powers of the  root probably
depend, in  the leaves and flowers, accounts for the expectorant  properties
long attributed to these parts of the plant.
   Off. Prep. Syrupus Yio\a>, Ed.                                  W. 
744                           Wintera.                        part i.
                 WINTERA.  U.S. Secondary.

                           Winter's Bark.

   " The  bark of  Wintera aromatica—Drymis  Winteri (De  Candolle)."

   Off Syn:   WINTERA  AROMATICA.   DRYMIS  AROMATICA.
 Cortex. Dub.
   Eeorce de Winter, Fr.; Wintersche Rinde, Germ.; Corteccia Vinterana, Ital; Corlezn
 WinU'r;iri;i, Span.                                  •
   Drymis.  Sex. Syst.  Polyandria Tetragynia.—Nat. OrU.  Magnoliaceae,
 Juss.; VVinteraceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx with two or  three deep divisions. Corolla with two or
 three petals, sometimes more numerous.  Stamens with the filaments thick-
 ened 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.
   Drymis Winteri.  De Cand. Prod. ii.  78 ; Foster, Gen. p. 84. t. 42.—
 Wintera aromatica. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii.  1239; Woodv. Med. Bot. 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.  Its
 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 soli-
 tary, 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 part 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 sixteenth century,
 by Captain Winter, who attended Drake in his voyage round the  world, and
 while in  ihe Straits  had  learned its aromatic and medicinal properties.  Since
 that period it has been occasionally employed in medicine.
   It is  in quilled pieces, usually a  foot in  length, and an inch  or more in
 diameter, 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
 sometimes 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 grayish colour, which insensibly passes into reddish or yellowish
 towards  the  interior.  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, co-
 louring  matter, tannic  acid, several salts  of potassa, malate of lime,  and
 oxide of iron.   The presence  of tannic  acid and  oxide of iron serves to
 distinguish it essentially from the canella  alba,  with which it is  often con-
 founded.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   It is a stimulant aromatic tonic, and  was
 employed by Winter as a remedy  for scurvy.  It  may be used  for simi-
lar  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.                                                          W. 
part i.             Xanthorrhiza.—Xanthoxylum.                745
            XANTHORRHIZA. U.S.  Secondary.

                             Yellow-root.

   " The root of Xanthorrhiza apiifolia." U. S.
   Xanthorrhiza. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Ranuncu-
 laceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Petals five.  Nectaries five, pedicelled.  Capsules
 five to eight, one-seeded, semibivalve. 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
 indigenous 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, consist-
 ing  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, drooping, 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  a  foot in length, about half an inch in
 thickness, 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 solu-
 tion of the sulphate of iron.  By the late  Professor Barton the bark of the
 root was considered 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.  Dioecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord. Terebintaceae,
 Juss.; Xanthoxylaceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx five-parted.  Corolla none. Female. Calyx five-
 parted.  Corolla none. Pistils five.  Capsules five, one-seeded.  Willd.
   Xanthoxylum fraxineum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 757 ; Bigelow, Am. Med.
 Bot. iii. 156.  The prickly ash is  a shrub from  five to ten feet in height,
 with alternate  branches,  which are covered with strong,  sharp, scattered
 prickles.  The leaves are alternate and pinnate, consisting of four or n've
pairs of leaflets,  and an odd terminal  one, with a common  footsta k,  which
is  sometimes prickly on  the back, and  sometimes unarmed.   The leaflets
are nearly  sessile, ovate, acute,  slightly serrate,  and somewhat  downy ou
their under surface.   The flowers, which are small and greenish, are dis-
posed in sessile umbels near the origin  of the young shoots.   The plant is
     64 
746
Xanthoxylum.—Zincum.
part i.
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 fol-
lowed 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 pieces more or less quilled, from one
to two lines in thickness,  of a wdiitish colour, internally somewhat shining,
with an ash-coloured epidermis, which in some specimens is partially or
wholly removed,  and in  those derived from the small branches is  armed
with strong prickles.  The bark is very light, brittle, of a farinaceous frac-
ture, 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 vola-
tile oil, a  greenish fixed oil, resin, gum,  colouring  matter, and a peculiar
crystallizable principle which he calls xanthoxylin, but  of which the proper-
ties are not designated. (Journ. of the Phil.  Col. of Pharm., i.  165.)
   Dr. Bigelow states that the Aralia spinosa, or angelica tree,  which grows
in the Southern States, is occasionally confounded with the X. fraxineum,
in consequence, partly, of being sometimes called like the latter prickly ash.
Its bark, however, in appearance and flavour, is entirely different  from the
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 resem-
ble 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 pre-
pared 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 is a popular  remedy for toothache.                            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 or silicate, denominated calamine.   It is found in various
parts of the world, but most abundantly in Germany, from which country
the United States are principally 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 furnace.  When
the reduction of the zinc commences, iron receivers are adapted to the open-
ing of the cylinder  to receive the volatilized metal as it condenses.  The 
PART I.
Zincum.
747
metal is then melted and run into moulds, and forms speltre, or the  zinc of
commerce.  In this state it is not pure, but 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, fur-
nished 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  percep-
tible 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 laminable, when  it may be conveniently reduced to the  form of
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, if it be desired to have it in the divided  form, it is necessary to submit
it to fusion, and to  triturate it at the  moment of solidification.  Its sp. gr. is
about 7*1, its equivalent number 32-3, and symbol Zn.  Subjected to heat,
it fuses at 773°.   At full redness  it boils, and in close vessels may be dis-
tilled over;  but in open ones 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 one well-characterized oxide
(a protoxide), and but one sulphuret.  A peroxide was obtained by Thenard,
but its  properties  and composition are unknown.  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 residuum.   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, which  is wholly  dis-
solved when the alkali is added in excess.  If copper be present the  solution
will be rendered blue by the ammonia;  and if iron be an impurity it will be
thrown down by  this alkali, but not redissolved by its excess.
  Zinc is extensively employed  in the arts.  It is the best metal that can be
used, in conjunction with  copper, 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 the useful  alloy called brass, and, in the
form of sheet zinc, it is  employed to cover the roofs  of houses, and for vari-
ous other purposes.  It should  never be  used for culinary vessels, as it is
soluble in the weakest acids.
  Pharmaceutical Uses.  Zinc is never used  as a medicine in  the  metallic
state; but is employed in this state to form the  officinal preparations, acetate,
sulphate, and chloride of zinc. In combination, it forms a number of import-
ant medicinal preparations, a list of which, with the synonymes, is subjoined.
   Zinc is employed medicinally,—
  I. Oxidized.
       Zinci Oxidum, U. S., Ed.; Zinci  Oxydum, Lond., Dub.
          Unguentum Zinci Oxidi, U. S.; Unguentum Zinci, Lond., Ed.;
                   Unguentum Zinci Oxydi, Dub. 
748
Zmcum.—Zinci Carbonas.
PART I.
  II. Combined with chlorine.
       Zinci Chloridum, U. S.
III. Oxidized and combined with acids.
       Zinci Acetas, U. S
          Zinci Acetatis Tinctura, Dub.
       Zinci Carbonas, U. S.; Calamina, Lond.; Zinci Carbonas Impurum.
                   Calamina,  Dub.; Anglice, Calamine.
          Zinci Carbonas Praeparatus, U. S.; Calamina Praeparata, Lond.,
                   Ed.; Zinci Carbonas Impurum Praeparatum, Dub.
            Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis, U.S.; Ceratum Calaminae, Lond.,
                  Ed.; Unguentum  Calaminae, Dub.; Anglice,  Turner's
                   cerate.
       Zinci Sulphas,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
          Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.                       B.


                   ZINCI CARBONAS.  U.S.

                        Carbonate of Zinc.

   " Native impure  carbonate of zinc." U. S.
   Off. Syn.  CALAMINA. Lond.;  ZINCI  CARBONAS IMPURUM.
CALAMINA. Dub.
   Calamine;  Lapis calaminaris, Lat.; Carbonate de zinc, Calamine, Fr.; Galmei, Germ.;
Giallainina, Pietra calaminaria, Ital; Calamina, Span.
   The term  calamine  is applied  by mineralogists indiscriminately to  two
minerals, 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 cala-
mine.
   Properties, <y-c. Carbonate of zinc is found in various  localities, but occurs
most abundantly in  Germany and England.  It is found  also in the United
States.  It usually occurs in compact  or earthy masses, or concretions, of a
dull appearance, readily scratched by the knife, and breaking 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 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 carbonate of
lime, and  no sulphate of baryta.   Ammonia, added to the sulphuric solution,
throws down a precipitate of the oxide, mixed with the subsulphate, and takes
it up again when added in excess.  If copper be present the ammonia will
strike a blue colour; and in case of the  presence of iron, the alkali will throw
down the  sesquioxide,  not soluble in an excess of the precipitant. Carbonate
of  zinc is distinguished from the other variety of calamine (silicate) by dis-
solving 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 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 
part i.               Zinci Carbonas.—Zingiber.                 749

behind as sulphate of baryta.  (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 173, from the
Brit. Annals  of Med.)  The results of Mr. Brett have been confirmed by
Dr. R. D. Thomson, and by Mr. D. Murdock  of  Glasgow.  Dr. Thomson
thinks the spurious calamine is manufactured of sulphate  of baryta  and
chalk, coloured with Armenian bole.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iv. 31.)
Even the genuine calamine of  the shops is impure, containing  iron  and
copper, and various earthy matters.  That which has been calcined to ren-
der it more readily  pulverizable, contains little or  no carbonic acid, and,
therefore, is not entitled to  the name of carbonate.   In view of these facts,
it  would  probably be an  improvement if this  preparation  were expunged
from the Pharmacopoeias, and the pure carbonate,  obtained by precipitation,
substituted for it.
   Composition.   The crystallized variety is anhydrous, and  consists of one
eq. of carbonic acid 22 and one of protoxide of zinc 40*3=62*3.  The com-
pact and earthy varieties are said to contain one eq. of water.
   Pharmaceutical  Uses.   Calamine  requires   to be brought to a state of
impalpable powder before it can be used in medicine, and in this state it
forms the Prepared  Carbonate of Zinc, under which  head its medical pro-
perties will be noticed.
   Off. Prep.  Ceratum Calaminae, Lond.;  Zinci  Carbonas  Praeparatus,
U. S., Lond., Dub.                                               B.


            ZINGIBER.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Ginger.

   " The rhizoma of Zingiber officinale."  U.S., Ed.  " Zingiber officinalis.
Rhizoma." Lond.  "Amomum Zingiber.  Radix." Dub.
   Gingembre, Fr,- In^wer, Germ.; Zenzero, Ital; Gengibre, Span.
   Zingiber.  Sex. Syst.  Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Scitamineae,
R. Brown; Zingiberaceae,  Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Flowers spathaceous.  Inner limb  of the corolla with one lip.
Anther double, with  a simple recurved horn at the end.   Germen inferior.
Style enclosed in  the furrow formed by the anther.   Loudon's Encyc. of
Plants.
   Zingiber  officinale.  Roscoe,  Trans. Linn.   Soc. viii.  348;  Amomum
Zingiber. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 6; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 731. t. 250.  The
ginger plant has a biennial or perennial, creeping, 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 scape  or
flower stalk rises by the side of the stem from six inches to a foot  high,
like it is  clothed with oval  acuminate sheaths,  but  is without leaves, and
terminates 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.  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 jn January and February after the stems have
withered.   After having been properly cleansed, the root is scalded in boil-
                                  64* 
750                           Zingiber.                       part i.

ing 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 which it acquires in the pro-
cess.   It is  imported into this country almost exclusively from Calcutta, and
is  known to the druggists by the  name of East India ginger.   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 England,  where it is said to undergo some further preparation,  by which
its  appearance  is improved.  It is usually called in our  markets  Jamaica
ginger.  The  root is also brought immediately from the West 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, and marked with circular rugae, internally
fleshy and yellowish-white. It sometimes germinates when kept in the shops.
  The common, East India,  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  and somewhat
farinaceous. The powder is of a light yellowish-brown colour. This variety
is most extensively used throughout the country.
  The Jamaica or white ginger differs in being  entirely deprived of epider-
mis, 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 from Liverpool in jars.   This variety is firm  and  resinous, and has
more of the sensible qualities of ginger than  the black.  There is  reason to
believe  that a  portion at  least  of the  white  ginger of  commerce  has been
subjected to a bleaching process, by which not only the exterior, but also the
internal parts are  rendered whiter than in the unprepared root.  Trommsdorff
found, in a specimen  which he  examined, evidences of the presence of chlo-
rides, sulphates, and lime; and concluded  that the bleaching was effected by
chlorine, or the chloride of lime and sulphuric acid.  Having macerated some
black ginger in water, deprived 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 mixture 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
ginger, 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 ultimately disappear  when the  root is  long exposed.  The  virtues  of
ginger are  extracted  by water  and  alcohol.  Its constituents, according to
M. Morin,are a volatile oil of a greenish-blue colour; a resinous matter, soft,
acrid, aromatic, and soluble in ether and alcohol;  a sub-resin insoluble in
ether; a little  osmazome ; gum; starch;  a vegeto-animal matter; sulphur; 
PART I.
Zingiber.
751
acetic acid ; acetate of potassa;  and lignin.  The peculiar flavour of the
root appears to depend on the essential oil, its pungency partly on  the resi-
nous or resino-extractive principle.  A considerable quantity  of very pure
white starch may be obtained from it.
  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  car-
minative, and is often given in dyspepsia, flatulent colic, and the feeble state
of the alimentary canal attendant upon atonic gout.   It is an excellent addi-
tion to bitter  infusions and  tonic powders, imparting to them an agreeable,
warming, and cordial  operation upon the stomach.  When chewed it pro-
duces much irritation of the mouth, and a copious flow of saliva; and when
snuffed up the nostrils, in the state of powder, excites violent sneezing.   It
is sometimes  used as a local remedy in relaxation of the uvula,  and  paralysis
of  the tongue and fauces.   Externally applied, it acts as a 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 prepared 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,  U.S.,  Ed., Dub.;  Con-
fectio Opii, Lond., Dub.;  Confectio  Scammonii,  Lond., Dub.;  Infusum
Sennae, Ed., Lond., Dub.; Pilulae Gambogiae Compositae, Dub., Lond.; Pil.
Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.; Pil. Scillae Compositae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
Pulvis Aromaticus, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Cinnamomi Compositus, Lond.;
Pulvis Jalapae Comp., Lond.; Pulvis Rhei Comp., Ed.;  Pulvis Scammonii
Comp., Lond., Dub.; Syrupus Rhamni, Lond., Ed.; Syrupus  Zingiberis,
Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cinnamomi Comp., U. S., Lond.; Tinct. Rhei
Comp., Lond.; Tinct. Zingiberis, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Vinum Aloes,
U.  S., Ed., Dub.                                                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, ofan explanatory nature, calculated
to facilitate the progress of the pharmaceutic 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 gene-
ral  precepts as to their proper condition, which would not be suggested by
the common sense of the purchaser.   He must receive them as offered, and
judge of their fitness for his purposes by his knowledge of the  peculiar pro-
perties 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 desic-
cation, and will derive advantage 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
abundant 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 commenced.  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 epider-
mis, and the decayed parts are to be separated.  Of some trees, as the slip-
pery elm, it is  the  inner bark only that is preserved.   Leaves are to be
gathered after their full development, before the fading of the flower.  The
leaves of biennial plants do not attain their perfect  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. 
part ii.          Collecting and Drying of Plants.               753
  Vegetables should be dried  as  rapidly as is consistent with their perfect
preservation. Fibrous roots may be dried in the sun, or in a room in which
a heat of from 65° to 80° is maintained.  Fleshy roots may be cut in trans-
verse slices, dried in the open air till the moisture is nearly evaporated, and
then placed in a stove heat not exceeding 100°, till perfectly  dry and hard.
Bulbs  must have the outer membranes  peeled off, and be cut in transverse
slices and dried  in  a heat not  exceeding 100°.  Barks, woods,  and twigs,
readily dry in thin layers in the open air. Leaves which are dry and thin do
not require a heat exceeding 60° or 70°; those which are succulent may be
exposed, by carefully and slowly raising the heat, to a temperature of 100°.
Flowers must be dried carefully and rapidly in the shade; those of the most
delicate texture and odour requiring the greatest care.
  The following table, taken from the Edinburgh Dispensatory, presents the
amount yielded by 1000 parts  of the vegetables respectively mentioned after
being" dried.
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
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 Rhceas  -  -    84
         Rosa rubra   -  -  -   330
  Preservation of Medicines.   The proper preservation of medicines is an
object of the greatest importance  to the apothecary.   The aromatic gums
and resins, and in general all the parts of vegetables, should be kept secluded
from the light, and as much as possible from the air, in perfectly dry rooms.
Boxes or barrels, with close  covers, will serve for holding roots and barks,
after they have been thoroughly dried.   Roots and bulbs,  such as liquorice
and squill, which are to be  preserved fresh, should be buried in  dry sand.
Leaves  and flowers should be kept in  tin canisters, or in  light boxes  lined
with lead, tin, or  zinc.  The  apothecary should regulate  his purchases of
perishable drugs by the demand which he finds for them, so as frequently to
renew them.   He should frequently examine the condition of every article,
and on the slightest appearance of mouldiness, or  of the  attack of insects,
should  clean them, and  again  dry them perfectly in  a heat of from 70° to
100°. This examination and re-drying, which should be made several times
a year in respect to  the articles which are most subject to change, should be
made early in the spring of all the roots and barks and leaves in the shop;
and those of which  the sensible properties have become  impaired should be
rejected.
  Drugs frequently require to  be garbled, as it is termed, 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 seed;
seneka from ginseng; spigelia from the stems, and both it and serpentaria
from the adhering dirt.  Seroons of cinchona should be examined, 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 
754           Weights and Measures.—Specific Gravity.       part ii.

measures of weight and capacity is essential to the operations of the apothe-
cary.  The weights used  by him in compounding  medicines  are the troy
pound and its divisions; those by which he buys and sells, the  pound avoir-
dupois and its divisions.   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 437| 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 all recognise the troy
weights, and whenever in this work any term is used expressive of weight,
it is to be understood as being of this denomination.
  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° 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, and the fluidrachm into
60 minims.  The weight of  a fluidounce of water is 455| grains, being 18
grains  more than an avoirdupois ounce.   A drop  is  generally though incor-
rectly considered as equivalent to the 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,
and  one of alcohol  138 drops.   For a table  showing  the  relative value of
minims and drops, see the Appendix.  Measures are employed, both by the
United States and British Pharmacopoeias, to express the quantity of liquids
in nearly all their formulae.
  Fluids are to be dispensed  from graduated measures, of  which those hold-
ing from a fluidounce  to a pint are hollow  inverted cones;  and those holding
a fluidrachm,  and graduated to every five minims, are  cylindrical.  For
smaller quantities than five minims, a slender tube  holding a fluidrachm may
be used, having  the aliquot parts divided off and  marked  with a diamond.
Care should be taken  to verify these instruments.   The following approxi-
mate measures are  used in prescribing medicines; viz. a  wineglassful  con-
taining two fluidounces, a tablespoonful containing half a  fluidounce, a des-
sertspoonful two fluidrachms, and a teaspoonful a  fluidrachm.
  Specific  Gravity.   The  specific gravity of fluids  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  stem (which is  mai-ked zero) in a solution of one part of salt in  nine
parts of water.    It is  then  put into water, and the place  to which it sinks
marks  10° of the scale, which is constructed from these data.   The  hydro-
meter for liquids heavier than water is made by loading it, so that in distilled
water it shall sink to nearly 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  as 15°,
and the scale divided off.  For a table exhibiting the  value  of  these scales in
specific gravities, see the Appendix.
  The hydrometers commonly imported are so carelessly made that scarcely
any two will agree, and little dependence is to be  placed on their accuracy.
A more certain  method consists in weighing the  liquid at a uniform  tem-
perature  in a bottle, the capacity of which, in grains of distilled water, has 
part ii.       Specific Gravity.—Mechanical Division.            755
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  one is not attainable, an ordinary  vial may
be  used, and the  specific  gravity obtained  by  dividing the  weight  of  the
liquid examined by the weight of the water.
   Gay-Lussac's centesimal alcoholmeter is a very useful  instrument, beinc
graduated so as to indicate  the per centage of absolute alcohol in any mixture
of 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.
   Mechanical  Division.   One of  the  simplest means  of  preparing  medi-
cines is their reduction, by mechanical means, to a state  of minute  division.
This includes  the various operations of pulverization, levigation, grinding,
filing, rasping, sifting, bruising, slicing,  &c.
   The  principal drugs which are sold in the state of powder,  are pulverized
by persons who pursue that  occupation  for a livelihood.  The apothecary,
therefore, is chiefly interested in knowing the loss sustained in this process.
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.				Vegetable Products.	
Jalap ...	940	Cinnamon	890	Aloes ...	960
Rhubarb	9*20	Angostura	825	Tragacanth	94*0
Colombo	900	Leaves.		Opium ...	930
Liquorice root	900	Hemlock	800	(>um Arabic -	925
Valerian	860	Savine	800	Scammony	915
Elecampane -	850	Digitalis	790	Catechu	900
Gentian	850	Belladonna	785	Liquorice (extract)	810
Florentine orris	850	Senna -	7211	Animal Substances.	
Rhatany	850	Henbane	530	Castor	900
Calamus	840	Flowers.		Spanish flies -	850
Virginia snakeroot	800	Chamomile -	850	Mineral Substances	
Ipecacnnnha -	750	Saffron	800	Red oxide of mercury	980
Squill (bulb) -	820	Fruits.		Red sulphuret of mercu.	
Barks.		Mustard	950	ry - -	950
Cinchona, pale	875	Black pepper	900	Arsenious acid	950
--------, red	880	Nux vomica	850	Sulphuret of antimony	950
	900	Colocynth	500	Tin - - -	825
					
  For the greater part of those drugs that are powdered  in the shops, iron,
brass, glass, or Wedgwood mortars are to be used;  the two former for hard
substances requiring repeated blows; the latter for those which  are friable
and can be reduced to powder by trituration.  The interior surface of the
mortar should be  concave and nearly spherical, and  care should be taken
not to impede the operation by overloading and clogging  the  pestle.   In
powdering acrid substances, the  mortar  should be covered with  a board
perforated in the centre for the pestle, or  with a large piece of pliable leather
tied round the top  of the mortar and the handle of the pestle, so as to allow
of the free motion of the latter.   The operator should guard himself against
the fine  particles of very acrid substances, by standing with his back to a
current  of air and covering his nostrils  with a wet cloth.  Various means
are used to facilitate the operation of  powdering.   All  vegetable  substances
must  be carefully  and  thoroughly dried.   Resins, gum-resins,  and  gums
must  be powdered in  cold frosty weather.   Tragacanth and  nux vomica 
 756              Separation of Solids from Liquids.          part ii.

 must be dried in a stove heat, and powdered while hot.   The fibrous roots,
 as liquorice and marshmallow, should be previously shaved into thin trans-
 verse slices.  Agaric is to be powdered by beating it into a paste with water,
 then drying and triturating it.  Cloves and the aromatic seeds may be ground
 in a hand-mill and afterwards triturated.   Squill and colocynth, the comminu-
 tion of which is sometimes aided by soaking them in mucilage of  tragacanth
 and then drying, are best powdered in a dry atmosphere, after being tho-
 roughly dried in 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 alcohol, may
 be precipitated by it, in an impalpable powder, from their aqueous solutions.
   Care should be taken in powdering, previously to separate the inert por-
 tions and impurities, and to mix  intimately the whole of the powder which
 is reserved for use.  The central woody fibre of ipecacuanha and 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 panicles of the fibrous roots and barks.   The outer coat of
 the aromatic seeds is to be reserved, and the inner albuminous part rejected
 as inodorous.
   In the operation of powdering, the fine particles are to be separated from
 time to time by sifting.   Fine sieves should be made  of that sort of raw silk
 called bolting cloth ; coarser ones of wire, hair-cloth, or gauze.  Valuable or
 aromatic powders should be  passed through box sieves,  which are sieves
 provided with covers for the top and  bottom, that shut  up so as to prevent
 all waste.
   Ivory, horn, nux  vomica, wood, and iron are  prepared for  pharmaceutic
 purposes by filing or rasping;  guaiacum wood by turning in a lathe; roots,
 stalks, and leaves, by cutting with a  large pair of shears, such  as is used by
 the tinplate workers; or with a large knife fixed in a frame at one  end, and
 furnished with a long handle at the  other.  Tin and  zinc are granulated by
 melting them, and  strongly agitating while  they are cooling; carbonate  of
 potassa, by stirring the  concentrated solution with a rod as it hardens.
   Earthy insoluble substances are conveniently reduced to  powder by levi-
 gation.  This is performed by moistening  them  with alcohol or water, and
 rubbing them  on a hard flat stone with a muller or rubber of the same mate-
 rial.  The powder may be rendered impalpable by agitating  it with a large
 quantity of water, and pouring off the liquid to settle, after the coarser parti-
 cles have  subsided.   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.   This last operation is termed elutriation, and the
 thick pasty mass which remains,  is usually dropped on an absorbent surface
 and dried in the shape of small cones.  Vanilla, mace, and  other  oily  aro-
 matic substances, may be rubbed  to  powder with sugar; magnesia and white
 lead, by friction on a wire or hair sieve.
   Separation  of Solids from Liquids.  This is another mechanical opera-
 tion which is frequently resorted to in  practical pharmacy.   It includes the
processes of decantation, filtration, strainings expression, clarification, &c.
   Solids may  be separated from fluids, 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 sepa-
rated by filtering.   Either  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,
are sold in the shops, and will be  found very useful for precipitations. 
part ii.          Separation of Solids from Liquids.              757
   When the powder subsides very slowly, the  precipitation may be greatly
 hastened by  the  addition of  a small quantity of the solution  of gelatin.
 Gelatinous precipitates, such as alumina, must be filtered to clear them from
 the adhering liquid.
   The most convenient material for a filter is unsized paper.  This is to be
 folded into a cone and placed in a glass  funnel.  It  will  serve  for  filtering
 tinctures,  wines,  saline  solutions,  watery infusions,  and essential oils.  In
 some cases it may be necessary to place  a small  cone of the same material
 outside of the  large  one in  order  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.   Acids  mav 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 readily filtered
 through coarse paper made entirely of woollen shreds.  Melted fats, plasters,
 resins,  and wax,  may be  strained  through  muslin  stretched over a square
 frame or  a hoop.   Small sieves  of fine bolting cloth serve for straining
 emulsions, decoctions, and infusions; and a temporary strainer  for  these
 purposes may  be  made by fastening 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 facilitated by heat.   Filtration through bone-black is practised
 for  muddy or dark coloured liquids.
 Much inconvenience  is often  experienced
 in  the  filtration  of. hot saturated  saline
 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 represent-
 ed  in the  wood  cut has been contrived
 by  Professor Hare.  The  vessel is filled
 with  hot water, which is kept at a boil-
 ing heat by a  spirit  lamp placed  under
 the cavity  having the shape of an in-
 verted  funnel.  A glass funnel with a
 filter  is  placed in the other cavity, and
 the liquid  passes  through rapidly.  In
 filtering  alcoholic  solutions, it  is neces-
 sary to  protect the liquid from  the  flame
 of  the lamp,  and   for this purpose  the
 partition  underneath   has  been  added.
 No apothecary should be without this useful apparatus.  Frames of various
 sizes  for holding funnels and  filters  will be found very useful; the  wood cut
 represents the  one commonly  used.  The efflo-
 rescence 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 in-
 sert 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 to  be poured  in, and  the top of
    65
<=> O 
758         Separation of Liquids.—Application of Heat.     part ii.
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.
   Expression is required to separate  the last portions of tinctures or infu-
sions from the dregs.  A screw press  is used for this  purpose.   The sub-
stance  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  pouring.   A  block of wood fits into the  cylinder and 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,
previously to being pressed, must be  well  beaten  in  a mortar,  and water
added to those which are hard and dry.
   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  pressure  by  driving up
a wedge.  Expressed oils are clarified from mucilage by boiling them with
water.
   The clarification of liquids may be effected by the addition of some coagu-
lable substance, such as milk or an aqueous  solution of ichthyocolla.  The
white of an egg,  beaten up with water, will coagulate by a gentle heat, and
clarify  any liquid with which it has been mixed.   The vegetable acids will
clarify  many of the expressed juices of plants.
                              Separation of Liquids. Liquids which have
                            no chemical affinity, and differ in specific gra-
                            vity,  may be separated by allowing them to re-
                            main at rest in the separating funnel represented
                            in the annexed figure, and then drawing off the
                            heavier fluid.  Another very convenient method
                            of separating fluids is  by means of the separa-
                  v, ,,       tory  figured in the wood cut in the margin.
y W/         lAfV")     r^ne  'ast t*r0Ps °f 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
              laboratory 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 ne-
              cessary for several  hours.   The  apothecary should be pro-
              vided with a  complete 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 ofan 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, the most
              convenient means of obtaining heat is by an  alcoholic lamp.
              Alcohol burns without smoke or smell, and is  almost as cheap
              a fuel as oil, to which it is on every other account preferable.
CE3 
PART II.
Application of Heat.
759
The larger
The annexed figures represent the usual forms of spirit lamps.
one  will  be  found  very
useful  in  heating spatulas
for spreading plasters. 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 either  for a
spirit lamp, or a small furnace  made from a
black  lead   cru-
cible,  as  in the
figure.
   The tempera-
ture required in
pharmaceutical
processes,    sel-
dom exceeds  a
red  heat;   and
the vessels  used
are crucibles  of
silver,     porce-
lain, 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 ;  porcelain 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 ait;  and the  Hessian  cru-
cibles  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 js
sometimes heated to a red heat, as in preparing
the mineral  acids, though more frequently  used
for the evaporation  of saline solutions and vege-
table juices.  The  water bath  is to  be used in
all cases in  which a heat above  that of boiling
water  would  be injurious.   A very convenient
one, figured in the  wood cut, consists of two copper vessels, the upper one
of which  is well tinned.   Where a temperature above that of boiling water,
 
760
Application of Heat.
PART II.
0=^
and not exceeding 228°, is  required, the water bath may be filled  with a
saturated solution of common salt.
   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
                         fillino- 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 recover-
                         ing the alcohol in making alcoholic extracts.  It may
                         easily be converted into a water bath by fitting on
                         the top of the boiler a vessel of convenient form.
                           For the extrication and condensation or absorp-
tion of  gaseous fluids, a retort and a series of three necked (or Woulfe's)
pottles  are used.   The bottles are partly filled with water and become  satu-
rated in  succession.  As the tubes which convey the gas are plunged nearly
to the bottom of the liquid in the bottles, there is danger,  when the operation
is complete, and a vacuum formed in the retort, of the  water being driven
by the atmospheric pressure in the last bottle, back through the whole series,
so  as to fill the retort.   To  prevent this, safety tubes must be fitted to the
retort and the bottles.  Those for the bottles  are  straight  tubes, dipping  a
small depth into the liquid ;  that for the  retort  is the common Welter's tube
of safety.  When  the common glass retort and receiver are used for the
distillation of fluids, care  should be taken not to apply  the luting until the
atmospheric  air is  expelled.   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 pasteboard
                                  or tin, as represented in the  figure, will
                                  much facilitate the former; and the latter
                                  will be gained by keeping the neck and
                                  receiver wrapt  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 or the neck
of the retort.
   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 opera-
tion 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 main-
tained in the recipient by surrounding it with  cold water.   The  distillation
is carried on in this manner at a much lower temperature than ordinary.
   The vapours of  some volatile  solids have the property of condensing into
the  solid form, either  in  mass, or in a state  of the  most minute division.
The  operation in which this occurs is called sublimation.   When  the pro-
duct  is  compact, it  is called a sublimate, when slightly  cohering, it is called
flowers.  The operation is  generally performed in  a  sand bath; and the
 
PART II.
Lutes.
761
apparatus consists of two vessels fitting each other, one being inverted over
the other.   The  shape, size, and depth of the vessels, and  the degree of
heat to be applied, are regulated by the nature of the substance operated on.
  Lutes.  The most precious material for  the chemist is glass, the trans-
parency, 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 pur-
pose, and for securing the junctures of tubes and vessels, is also an impor-
tant part of  the pharmaceutic  art.  Those lutes which are required for coat-
ing vessels exposed to a great heat, are made of Stourbridge clay.  The clay
is made  into a paste with water mixed with chopped straw, and successive
coats applied as they become dry.  Earthenware  vessels  may be rendered
impervious to  air or vapours, by brushing  over them a thin  paste, made of
slacked 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 slacked 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
corrosive vapours.   It is made like glazier's putty, pipe  clay being substi-
tuted for whiting.  It will bear a considerable heat, and great care must be
taken  that the part where  it is  applied be  perfectly  dry.    If it is to be
exposed to heat, slips of moistened bladder  must be wrapped round it and
secured with twine.
  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 slacked lime in the
state of fine powder, so as to form a thin paste. This must be spread imme-
diately on slips of muslin, and applied  to the cracks or joinings intended to
be luted.  It soon hardens, adheres strongly, and will bear a  heat approach-
ing 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
moistened.  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 coaling 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 a 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
                                  65* 
762
Lutes.—Chemical Operations.             part ii.
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.
   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 some others in  constant or frequent use.  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 coid.  Cold infusions are made with cold water, and require  several  hours
to attain their full strength.   Maceration is the term employed to denote the
action of  liquids upon  medicines, when allowed  to  remain upon them for
some time, at a heat of from 60° to 90°.  Digestion is the name given  to the
same operation, when conducted at a temperature of between 90° and  100°.
It is commonly performed in glass bottles or flasks, and  a  common fire or
stove heat is  employed.  Decoction, or boiling, is sometimes employed in
extracting the virtues of plants; but is often disadvantageous, as most  of the
proximate principles of vegetables are  altered by it, especially when long
continued.  Where  it is  practised, the  ebullition should  generally  be con-
tinued for a few minutes only, and the liquid be allowed to cool slowly in  a
close vessel.
   From the solutions of vegetable principles obtained by these  different pro-
cesses, extracts are  prepared by slow evaporation, so as  to inspissate the
liquid.  This  process  should, as  has already been  mentioned, be always
conducted at a heat not exceeding that of boiling water.  Evaporation at  a
gentle heat is also  performed for  the concentration of saline solutions, in
order to promote their crystallization.  The proper degree of  concentration
is attained, if a drop of the liquid on a cold glass plate  deposits crystals.
The  slower  the evaporation and the cooling, and the greater the quantity
operated on, the larger will  be the crystals.
   Water  which is saturated with any salt is still  capable of dissolving other
salts.  It  is in this way, by washing crystals of impure salts with their own
saturated solutions, that the  crystals are purified.  Fine silky crystals, which
retain their mother water by capillary attraction, must be dried by strong
expression in a linen bag.   The finest  silky crysials  may be  entirely freed
from their 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.
   Lixiviation is a process used for separating a soluble from a porous inso-
luble body.  It consists in placing the substance to be lixiviated in a vessel,
the  bottom of which is covered  with straw,  &c, pouring water upon it,
allowing the water to remain until saturated, and then drawing it off through
an opening at the bottom of the  vessel.  It is found that if fresh water be
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 satu-
rated liquid  before it;  so that, for example in lixiviating wood ashes, if a
gallon of water had been poured  upon the  ashes, and allowed to  become
saturated  with the alkali, we shall obtain, by this mode of proceeding a gal-
lon of strong ley, and immediately thereafter the water will become almost
tasteless.   This fact has  been applied  to the  service of the pharmaceutist,
and has led the way to some valuable improvements  in the mode of extract-
ing the medicinal qualities of plants.
   The operation referred to is called by the French the method of displacement. 
PART II.
Chemical Operations.
763
The figure in the margin represents Boullay's filter,
constructed 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 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,  is placed the  substance upon
which  it is intended to  operate, and which should
be coarsely  powdered or mashed in a mill.  It
must  then  be  saturated with  the  menstruum,
which  is done by pouring on the liquid from time
to time until it will absorb no  more, and then  al-
lowing them to remain  for a few hours in contact.
of the  powder is  placed another similarly pierced plate, and
fresh portions  of the menstruum are gradually and successively
added, until all the sensible  properties are extracted.  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
near 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 displacement with  half a pint of water,
and then adding four half pints in succession, obtained the fol-
lowing results.
        1st Half pint        yielded
the top
9
3 drs. 48 s*rs.
2d	Do.
3d	Do.
4th	Do.
5th	Do.
1 dr.
 5 grs.
15 grs.
 9 grs.
 7 grs.
dry extract
    Do.
    Do.
    Do.
    Do.
  Cylinders 14 inches long by 2^  in width at the base,  14 inches  by 4,
and 17  by 6,  are convenient sizes for ordinary use.  When it  is wished
to operate upon a fine powder, it will be  found  advisable
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  advantages  of  this method
may,  however, be generally obtained  without  pressure,
by  using the  filter  of  Boullay.   For  operating upon
small quantities of a  substance, an  adapter or the broken
neck  of a 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 apparatus of
this kind is represented in the margin.
  Precipitation is sometimes mechanical, as in the pro-
cess of  levigating and elutriating the  carbonate of lime,
and sometimes chemical, as in the preparation  of this  salt by decomposing
chloride of calcium.   When a precipitant  is directed  to  be added until no
 
764
Chemical Operations.
PART II.
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 agitation or by heat.
The separation of the  supernatant liquid from the precipitate is most effect-
ually 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
convenient  for  procuring a constant and  gentle
stream  of  water in  the washing of 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 strait tube.
  The  operations which require a heat greater than that used in digesting,
are liquefaction, fusion,  calcination, ustulation,  incineration, distillation,
and sublimation.
  Liquefaction is the melting of those substances that become soft previously
to fusion, as wax, tallow,  plasters, &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  the
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 a 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 magnesia is burnt in an iron pot, which is  objectionable, as  the heat soon
oxidates 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  the 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.
  Distillation and sublimation  have already  been spoken of.   The former
is used for  separating  a more volatile liquid,  as ether  or alcohol, from one
 
part ii.               Dispensing of Medicines.                    765

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 essential
oils and volatile proximate  principles of the vegetable kingdom.  The first
process is termed rectification.   When the second  process is repeated  with
the same liquid  and a fresh quantity of  the  plant,  the  operation is termed
cohobation.   In submitting the solid parts of the vegetables to distillation in
the two  latter processes, it will be found advisable to  expose  them to the
action of vapour on a grate or in a basket, so  as to preserve them from
touching the bottom of the still, where they would be liable to be  heated so
as to  become  empyreumatic.    Distillation  is  also used for obtaining the
volatile products which result from the decomposition 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 suc-
cinic  acid, and sometimes the volatile alkali, as in the destructive distillation
of animal substances.
   Dispensing of Medicines.   A large portion  of the operations of the  apo-
thecary is performed  in the shop extemporaneously.   In dispensing medi-
cines 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 performance so much ready knowledge  and  so accurate a judgment.
A few directions, suggested by running the eye over the list of preparations
of the Pharmacopoeia, may be found useful.
   It may sometimes be necessary for the  apothecary to make extemporane-
ously an aromatic water which is not usually  kept in the shops.    In  this
case he is to prepare it  by rubbing a drop of essential oil with  one or two
grains of carbonate of magnesia, for every fluidounce of  water, and filtering.
   It is sometimes desirable to apply plasters prepared  from  the narcotic
herbs.  These may be made  extemporaneously by mixing the  soft extracts
of the plant with about an equal weight of melted adhesive  plaster, keeping
the mixture soft, and  stirring it until the  moisture is evaporated.   The most
suitable material on which to  spread  plasters is soft white leather.   A mar-
gin of half an inch should be allowed to remain around the plaster. The plas-
ter iron or spatula may be heated over the large spirit lamp,  figured  in page
759.  A skilful apothecary will be able to spread
the plaster uniformly and evenly, without over-     i
heating it so as  to penetrate or corrugate the     -
leather. A convenient instrument for determin-
ing the size  and  preserving a straight edge,  CZ -1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,""
consists of two squares made of tin and  gra-                       ^
duated to inches, as in the annexed figure: or     -_                 "-
pieces of paper may be cut  out and pasted on     2
the leather,  so as to  enclose  a space of the      "* 11' m' l' 1' l' 'l' 1' 1' 1 r -tt-
required dimensions.  The plaster should first
be melted on a piece of brown paper, and then            •          ~T
transferred to the leather, in order to prevent
its being applied at too great a heat.
   Decoctions and infusions are often ordered  in prescriptions in the quantity
of a few ounces.   A very convenient vessel for preparing them  in is  the
common nursery lamp, which  consists of a  cylindrical  vessel,  open at the
side for a spirit lamp,  and at the top to receive a tea pot or tin boiler.
   Infusions  and decoctions may be kept during the hot weather, and for many
months, by straining them while hot, and pouring them  at once  into bottles 
766
Dispensing of Medicines.
part ii.
provided with accurately ground stoppers.  The bottle must be entirely filled,
the stopper being made to displace its own bulk of the liquid.  A common
bottle with a perforated cork stopper may be used, provided the hole be in-
stantly closed, and the cork covered with sealing wax.  The hotter the liquid
and the freer from air bubbles, the better will the infusion be preserved.
   The neutral mixture is known  to be saturated perfectly,  when it does not
affect litmus paper either in  its blue state or  when reddened by acid.  For
preparing this and the effervescing draught, it is advisable to keep in the shop
a solution  of carbonate of potassa, containing an  ounce to the pint.  The
silica which  this salt contains precipitates after a few weeks, and leaves a
perfectly clear solution; whereas that  prepared at the time it is to be used,
always  becomes turbid after being saturated.   The carbonic acid which is
extricated in the preparation of the neutral mixture, combines at first, without
effervescence, with the remaining carbonate and forms a bisalt.   This circum-
stance may lead, unless the solution  be tested,  to the supposition that the
mixture is saturated.
   Powders are often mixed  together with difficulty, by means of a pestle
and mortar, on account of their differing greatly in weight, or of their softness
                      and compressibility.  In these cases, frequent stirring
                      with a pallet knife becomes  necessary to  produce a
                      perfect mixture.   In dividing powders into doses, it
                      is very desirable to fold the packages neatly and of a
                      uniform size.  The powder folder represented in the
                      figure is very useful for this purpose.  It may be made
                      of  mahogany or  other hard wood.
   It is important to the apothecary to ascertain the best means of combining
substances which have no affinity for each other.   This can often be done
by means  of a third substance.   Water can be saturated  with camphor by
means of carbonate  of magnesia, and an aqueous mixture of any strength
may be made with it, by triturating the  camphor with  magnesia and shaking
the mixture before using it.   Camphor softens the gum-resins and solid fats
and oils, and may be rendered permanently miscible with water, in consider-
able 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 to convert them into a thick mucilage before
adding the oil, which must then be thoroughly mixed with it, and the remain-
ing water added gradually with great care.  Sulphuric ether is rendered more
soluble  in water by trituration with spermaceti.  The  mixture should be fil-
tered to separate the superfluous spermaceti.  Mixtures that contain the resin-
ous tinctures,  should also contain syrup, with which the tincture should first
be mixed,  and the water then  added very gradually.   If a mixture contains
laudanum and a fixed oil,  the  former  should be  first mixed with the  syrup,
and the oil afterwards incorporated, and lastly the  water.   The mixture will
not otherwise be uniform.
   In ordering pills, care must be taken to avoid the use of deliquescent salts,
and  to deprive those which are efflorescent of their water of 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 pow-
dered liquorice root, 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 
PART II.
Dispensing of Medicines.
767
softened with syrup and not with water, as the latter renders the mass diffi-
cult to roll.
  The proper cleanliness of his vessels  is an object of great importance to
the apothecary.  Open vessels, as mortars and measures, are easily cleansed,
and should be wiped dry immediately after being washed.  Fats and resins,
are easily removed by pearlash,  or tow and damp ashes,  or sand.   Red pre-
cipitate and other metallic substances, may be removed by a little  nitric or
muriatic acid.   Bottles maybe cleansed from  the depositions which accumu-
late on their sides and bottom from long use in the shop, by a few shreds of
grocers' paper and a little clean water. They are to be shaken so as to give
the paper and  water a centrifugal motion, which effectually removes the dirt
from the sides.  They may be freed from  oil by means of a little strong nitric
acid, after the action of which water will thoroughly clean them.  Long sticks,
with sponge or dry  cloth at the  end, should be provided for wiping dry the
interior of flasks and bottles.  A wire, bent  at the  end  into a sort of hook,
will be found  useful for getting  corks out of  bottles.  A loop of twine will
also be found  a very convenient  means of effecting the same object.   When
the glass  stopper of a bottle is fast,  it may often be loosened by gently tap-
ping its sides alternately with the handle of a pallet knife. Sometimes a drop
or two of oil, alcohol, or water, will soften or dissolve  the cementing sub-
stance. It will sometimes answer to wrap the stopper in a cloth, insert it in a
crevice or hole in a  table or door, and twist the bottle gently and dexterously.
Sometimes the stopper may  be loosened by  quickly expanding the neck in
the flame of a lamp, and tapping the stopper before the heat has reached it.
When the stopper of a bottle containing caustic alkali adheres in consequence
of the neck not having been wiped thoroughly dry, it is almost impossible to
loosen it, and  the neck must be cut off".
   The apothecary should be provided with pallet knives  of wood, bone, and
horn, as well  as of steel.   It should be an invariable rule to clean every knife
and graduated measure immediately after  it is used,  and to put the dirty mor-
tars apart from those which are clean. Too  much particularity and order in
all the minute details of the shop  cannot be practised. The counters and scales
should be cleaned once a  day, and brushed as often as they become dusty.
The bottles should  be replaced  as soon after being taken down and used as
possible,  and  should on no account be changed from their accustomed place
on the shelf. For the proper preservation of leaves, flowers, aromatic powders,
calomel, and  other  medicines to which light is injurious, the bottles should
be coated with tin foil or black varnish.
   No apothecary should be destitute of a set of troy weights; as without
them he will  find it difficult to  comply with the officinal directions for the
preparation of his  medicines.   In  dispensing  medicines, no vial  or parcel
should be suffered to leave the shop  without its appropriate label;  and this,
in the case of prescriptions, should always be the physician's direction as
to the manner of taking it, and  not the name of the medicine, unless  it be
so directed by him.   The prescription or a copy of it should be retained and
numbered, and  the same number marked on the bottle or parcel.  Every
thing connected with the shop,  and the dispensing and putting up of medi-
cines  and parcels,  should  be characterized by neatness, accuracy, system,
and competent knowledge.
   The apprentice  who  desires to qualify himself for  his  business should
carefully study  Turner's  Elements of Chemistry, and Faraday's invaluable
treatise on Chemical Manipulation, which may be termed the hand-books of
his profession.                                               D. B. S. 
768                 General Officinal Directions.             part ii.

                    General Officinal Directions.

  As all the processes of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias are
either described or fully detailed in the following pages, it is proper that the
prefatory explanations of the several Pharmacopoeias should be introduced
in this place, in order that the reader may be prepared to understand the
precise signification of the terms employed.
  The Pharmacopoeias recognised in this work unite in the use of the  troy
or Apothecaries' pound, and its divisions of ounces, drachms, scruples, and
grains, for the expression of weights.  Upon this subject the United States
Pharmacopoeia has the following note, to which the attention of Apothecaries
is particularly invited.  " It is highly important that those  engaged in pre-
paring 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 difficulty in complying with the officinal directions.  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 neces-
sary 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 belong-
ing  to the denomination of troy weight.  This caution is the more necessary,
as these terms are often confounded with the corresponding divisions of liquid
measure, viz. the  pint, fluidounce, and fluidrachm.  (See tables of weights
and measures in the Appendix.)
  The London and Edinburgh Colleges, in the last edition of their Phar-
macopoeias, have  adopted the imperial gallon and its  divisions, instead of
the  wine gallon  which they before employed.  In  the  United States and
Dublin  Pharmacopoeias the wine gallon is still  retained.  This discrepancy
is very unfortunate, as no one  denomination of the imperial measure corre-
sponds exactly with the same denomination of the wine measure ;  and the
formulas, therefore,  of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, so far as  mea-
sures are concerned,  when they  agree  in  terms  with those of the United
States  and Dublin  Pharmacopoeias, 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 dis-
tinction in mind ;  and, when he has occasion to carry into effect one of the
London or Edinburgh formulas, 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  mea-
sures, and by consulting this statement 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 Slates, and  in those  of the Edin-
burgh and Dublin  Colleges, when the specific gravity of a body is given, 
part ii.              General Officinal Directions.                 769       i

it is considered to be at the temperature of 60° of Fahrenheit; in the Lon-
don Pharmacopoeia, at 62°.
   The  United States and London Pharmacopoeias explain the term gentle
heat as  signifying a temperature between 90° and 100°.   The Dublin Col-
lege employs the terms superior, medium, and inferior heat, the  first signi-
fying a  temperature  between 200° and 212°, the second between 100° and
200°, and the third between 90°  and 100°.  Fahrenheit's scale is referred
to by all the officinal standards.
   Maceration, according to the Dublin College, is  performed at a tempera-
ture between 60° and 90°, digestion at their "inferior heat."
   The  London College directs that acid, alkaline, and metallic preparations,
and salts of every kind, be kept in stopped glass bottles, which, for certain
substances,  should be of black or green glass; the Dublin College, that mor-
tars, measures, funnels, and other vessels in which  medicines are  prepared,
should  be made of materials containing neither copper nor lead.   Earthen
vessels, glazed with lead, are therefore improper.
   Whenever, in the United States and London Pharmacopoeias, an acid
or an alkali is directed to  be saturated, the point of  saturation is to be ascer-
tained by means of litmus or turmeric.  For this purpose litmus or turmeric
paper is usually employed,  the latter  being rendered brown  by the alkalies,
the former being  reddened by the acids, and  having its blue colour restored
by the alkalies. (See Lacmus and Curcuma.)  The London College directs
that, unless  otherwise ordered, bibulous paper should be used both for filter-
ing liquors and drying crystals.
   Filtration by displacement,  or Percolation.    In relation to  this process,
the following directions are given in  the United States Pharmacopoeia.
" The kind of filtration commonly  called displacement, which  is  employed
in many of  the processes  of this Pharmacopoeia, is to be effected in the fol-
lowing  manner, unless  otherwise specially directed.  A hollow cylindrical
instrument is to be used, somewhat conical towards the inferior extremity,
having  a funnel-shaped  termination so as to admit of being inserted into the
mouth of a bottle,  and provided internally, near  the  lower end, with a trans-
verse partition or diaphragm pierced with numerous minute holes,  or, in the
absence of  such a partition, obstructed with  some  insoluble and inert sub-
stance,  in  such a manner that a liquid poured into the  <ylinder may perco-
late slowly.  (Seepage 763.)   The substance  to  be acted  upon, having been
reduced to a coarse powder, and mixed with enough of the menstruum to
moisten it thoroughly, is, after a maceration of some hours, to be introduced
into the instrument, and  slightly compressed upon the  diaphragm.  Any
portion  of the macerating liquid which may not have been absorbed by  the
powder, is afterwards to be poured upon the mass in the instrument, and
allowed to percolate.  Sufficient of the menstruum is then to be gradually
added to drive before it, or displace, the liquid  contained in the mass;  the
portion  introduced is in  like manner to be displaced  by another portion ; and
so on till the required quantity of filtered liquor is  obtained.   If  the liquor
which first  passes should  be turbid,  it is to be again introduced into  the
instrument.   Care must be  taken that the powder be not, on the one hand,
too coarse or loosely  pressed, lest it should allow the liquid to  pass too
quickly, nor, on the other, too  fine  or compact, lest it should offer an un-
necessary  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 per-
colation."
     66 
770
General Officinal Directions.              part ii.
           The Edinburgh  College gives directions for percolation under
         the  head  of  Tinctures.  According to that College,  " the  solid
         materials, usually in coarse or moderately fine  powder, are moist-
         ened with  a  sufficiency  of  the  solvent to form a  thick pulp; in
         twelve hours, or frequently without any delay, the mass is  put into
         a cylinder of glass, porcelain, or tinned iron,  open at both ends,
         but obstructed at the lower end  by a piece of  calico or linen, tied
         tightly over it as a  filter  (seefigure in the  margin); and the pulp
         being packed by pressure,  varying  as  to degree with various  arti-
         cles, 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 in general extracted by
it more  speedily, thoroughly,  and economically than by any other mode;
that concentrated solutions of these principles are more easily obtained; and
that no portion of the  impregnated menstruum  need  be lost by remaining in
the solid mass.   It is, however, liable to the objection that considerable
experience and skill are  necessary to carry it properly into effect, and that,
if  improperly performed,  it must  often result in preparations very different
from those contemplated in the formulas.  It should not, therefore, be  resorted
to  in the fulfilment of officinal directions, when any alternative is given,
unless by individuals  who have acquired  the requisite  skill by much  prac-
tice.  Henee, both the United  States  and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, when
directing displacement in  any particular  case, frequently give another mode
of accomplishing the  same  object, better adapted  to inexperience in  the
operator.
  The sources of failure  in  this process are chiefly an improper degree of
comminution in the substance  to be acted upon, and an  improper condition
of the mass after it has been  introduced into the instrument.   If the  material
be in too fine a  powder, it resists or obstructs the  passage of  the fluid; if
too coarse,  it allows  the  fluid to pass  too  rapidly, and at the same  time
opposes  its cohesion  to the solvent  power  of the  menstruum.   If merely
bruised,  especially, if fibrous pieces  of some length are intermixed, it causes
the fluid to  make irregular channels and thus to act upon it  partially.   An
improper packing of the material  occasions similar  inconveniences.  If too
compact it impedes, if too loose  it injuriously facilitates the  passage of the
solvent,  and if not uniform,  it  produces  an irregular flow which necessarily
vitiates  the result.  The liquid, finding an  easier passage at one part than
another, flows more rapidly in that direction, and thus  makes  channels by
which it may in great measure or wholly  escape, with little influence upon
the  mass.  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 assisting the
operator to avoid these consequences.
   The  solid  material  should in general be in the state of a uniform coarse
powder, to which it is most conveniently brought by grinding in  a  common
coffee-mill.   If its texture, however, be very hard, firm, and  not  easily
permeable by moisture, as in  certain barks, woods, and ligneous  roots,  it
should be  rather finely powdered.  If, on the  contrary, the texture be loose 
PART "•             General Officinal Directions.                 771
 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 gene-
 ral 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 percolation.  The quantity of liquid should be sufficient toTorm
 a soft pulp-like mass with the powder.  In general, a weight about half that
 of the solid material will be  sufficient, though a much  larger quantity may
 be used if on any account deemed advisable.  The maceration may continue
 on  the average  about twelve hours; but a much  shorter time will often
 answer.  It has sometimes been  recommended to  perforin  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 solvent.  As  the percolation advances,
 and  portions of the substance acted on are  dissolved, the mass often becomes
 too loose, and requires to be again pressed down.  Substances which are
 apt to form  with  the  menstruum an adhesive and  impermeable mass, such
 as the resins and gum-resins, may be advantageously mixed, in the state of
 coarse powder, with about half  their weight of perfectly  clean white sand,
 as suggested by Mr. Duhamel.   (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 15.)  The
 sand separates the particles of the mass, and allows the menstruum a readier
 access.
   After the  moistened  material has been properly  packed, the upper surface
 should be made quite level,  and then covered with  a circular disk  of tin or
 filtering paper  pierced with  numerous minute holes; and, if the disk be of
 paper, it should be kept in its place by pieces  of glass rod.  The solvent
 is thus made to enter into the  mass equably, and  prevented from forming
 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 763.
   The fluid which first passes is generally turbid.    This should be returned
 into the instrument;  and the  same  thing should be done with  the portions
 which pass successively, until the liquid comes away perfectly clear.   If the
 percolation be too rapid, pressure may be  made upon the upper diaphragm
 so as to render the mass more  compact, or the instrument may be  closed
below  for a time, as stated in the officinal directions.  Hence  the advantage
of having a stop-cock near  the lower end  for  regulating  the discharge.
When the percolation is too  slow, it may be increased by the pressure of  a 
772                  General  Officinal Directions.              part ii.

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.   (Seepage 763.)   When the object is to keep up a constant supply
of  the  percolating fluid, it may be accomplished  by filling a long-necked
bottle or matrass with the fluid,  and inverting it over the filtering instrument,
with its mouth beneath the surface of the liquid in the latter.
   Hot liquids may be used in the process  as well  as cold, and are some-
times preferable when  the substance yields its active principles more largely
at an elevated temperature.  But there is often an inconvenience in employ-
ing 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 pre-
paration, and which tend to embarrass  the  process by filling up  the  inter-
stices of the mass, and thus rendering it less permeable.
   The first  portion  of filtered liquid is very strongly impregnated, and the
portions which subsequently come away, are  successively less so.   It is
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 might be thus driven out of it or displaced by the one added,  with-
out any admixture of the two.   This, however, has been  ascertained not to
be exactly true; and, however carefully the process may be conducted,  some
mixture will take place.  Hence it is  recommended, when one  liquid is
added  in order to displace another, to introduce first a shallow layer of the
same liquid with that contained in the mass.  In some instances, the solvent,
if consisting of two liquids, is resolved into these in the process.  Thus when
myrrh is subjected to percolation with  proof spirit, the  first liquid which
comes away is alcohol holding the oil and resin of the myrrh in solution.
   There are very few substances to which the mode of filtration by displace-
ment will not be found  applicable, if due attention be paid to the circum-
stances which require  variations in the process.
   Distillation.  In the preface  to  the last edition of the Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeia, the following  remarks are made in relation to this process.   " In
the process of distillation, complete success cannot be easily attained,  espe-
cially on the small scale, without the substitution of a different  apparatus for
the retort and receiver  commonly used.  In all  operations, except where
inorganic acids are to be  distilled, it  is greatly preferable  to  use  a globular
matrass (a), to which is fitted with a  cork a tube (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 
PART II.
Aceta.
773
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 refrige-
ration and  the condensation of vapours within  the  inner tube are far more
effectually  accomplished than by  any other mode that  has  hitherto been
devised."  The object of the oblique ending of the tube at b, is to prevent
any of the  fluid which may be driven against it, during the ebullition, from
passing along the tube.   The inner tube of the refrigeratory should be made
of glass or block-tin, the outer may consist of glass, brass, copper, or common
tinned iron.  The end e of the central tube is either straight, or  curved
downward  so that it  may be inserted into a bottle, when  the liquid distilled
is very  volatile.   By connecting the funnel with a cistern by  means  of a
syphon, and  allowing the water to flow out from the bent tube di into a
bucket  or  sink, the distillation may be 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 sufficient
to condense the whole vapour  from a matrass  holding two pints of alcohol
briskly  boiling.                                                   W.


                              ACETA.

                              Vinegars.

  Under this title, in the United States  Pharmacopoeia, are  included both
Distilled Vinegar and those preparations usually denominated Medicated
Vinegars.   The  latter are infusions or solutions  of various medicinal sub-
stances in vinegar or  acetic acid.  The advantage of vinegar as a menstruum
is that, in consequence  of the acetic  acid which it contains, it  will dissolve
substances  not  readily soluble  or altogether insoluble  in water alone.   It is
an excellent solvent of the vegetable 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 decomposition,  it should be purified by distilla-
tion before  being used as a solvent.  Infusions prepared with it, even in this
state, are apt to spoil in a short time;  and  a portion of  alcohol is usually
added to contribute to their preservation.  A small quantity of acetic ether
is said to result from this  addition ; and, on the continent of  Europe, the
place of the  alcohol  is frequently  supplied by an equal amount of concen-
trated acetic  acid. In consequence of their liability to  change, the  medi-
cated vinegars should be made in  small quantities, and kept but for a short
time.                                                            W.
  ACETUM  DESTILLATUM.  U. S., Lond., Eel.; Acetum  Dis-
tillatum.  Dub. Distilled Vinegar.
  " Take of Vinegar a gallon.  Distil the Vinegar, by means of a sand-bath,
from  a  glass retort into a glass receiver.  Discontinue  the process  when
seven pints shall have been distilled, and keep these for use."  U. S.
  The  London process  is  the same as that of  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
The Edinburgh process is as follows.   " Take of Vinegar (French by pre-
ference) eight parts: distil over with a gentle heat, seven parts: dilute the
product, if  necessary, with distilled water till the density is 1*005."   The
Dublin  College distils wine vinegar.  The first tenth which comes  over is
                                  66* 
774
Aceta.
PART II.
rejected, the next seven-tenths are the " distilled vinegar," having the sp. gr.
1*005, and two-tenths are left behind in the retort.
   Vinegar is a very heterogeneous liquid, containing colouring matter,  gum,
sugar, alcohol, &c; and  the object of its distillation is  to  purify it.  (See
Acetum.)   The first portion which distils contains alcohol and pyroacetic
spirit (acetone), these being the most volatile  ingredients;  next the acetic
acid comes over much  purified, but weaker than  it exists in the vinegar, on
account of its being less volatile than water;  and, if the  distillation be stop-
ped 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 sub-
stances.   This statement explains why the last portion is not distilled.   The
proportion  preserved is seven-eighths according  to  the  U.  S., London, and
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, and seven-tenths  according to the Dublin.   The
residuary  liquid  in the retort, if diluted with an equal  bulk of hot water,
may be made to yield,  by a fresh distillation, a quantity  of weak acetic acid,
equal to the residuary liquid, and of about the strength and purity of officinal
distilled vinegar.
   Wine  vinegar  furnishes a  stronger distilled vinegar  than malt or cider
vinegar.   The Dublin  College gives 1*005 as the  density of distilled vinegar;
but  the product of different vinegars is by no means necessarily of  the same
strength or density.  The Edinburgh  College, assuming  that distilled vinegar
will have the  sp. gr. of  at least 1*005, directs that its  density,  when above that
number, shall be reduced to it.  When brought to this standard, the College
states that 100 minims  of it neutralize  8 grains of carbonate  of soda.  In the
U.S. and London Pharmacopoeias,  the  strength of distilled vinegar  is in-
dicated exclusively by its saturating  power.    According   to our  national
standard,  a fluidounce  is saturated by about  35 grains of the crystals of
bicarbonate of potassa;  and by the London College 100 grains of it are  stated
to be  saturated by 13  grains  of the crystals  of carbonate  of  soda.   The
saturating power of the different officinal distilled vinegars indicates  the
following proportions of dry acetic acid percent.;—U. #. Pharmacopoeia 3*9,
London 4*6,  Edinburgh  307.  Considering the  ordinary pharmaceutical
uses of distilled vinegar, variations in its  strength, limited as they are by the
qualities of different vinegars, are  not important.   Its purity is the point of
importance.  If, however, precision is attempted, the saturating power and
not the density must be indicated ; and directions should be given for bring-
ing 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 ne-
cessarily weak.   This remark applies particularly to distilled wine vinegar.
The Dublin College removes in part the ambiguity of density as  an indication
of strength, by rejecting the first tenth which distils over; but by this  rejec-
tion, the  more agreeable  and aromatic part of the  vinegar is  lost.
   The different Pharmacopoeias, except the Edinburgh, directs the distilla-
tion of vinegar to be conducted in glass vessels;  but it is generally distilled
in a copper alembic furnished with a  pewter worm as a refrigerator.   The
use of these metals,  however, is hazardous, on account of the danger of
metallic  impregnation.  Mr.  Brande has  suggested that  the refrigerator
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 
part ii.                        Aceta.                             775

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 vineoar.   It is
wholly volatilized by heat.  It is not a perfectly pure solution of acetic acid
in water;  but contains  a portion of organic matter which rises in  the distilla-
tion.   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 pro-
duces a brown cloud ; lead by iodide of potassium, which occasions a yellow
precipitate ;  and tin by a solution of 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
have neither an empyreumatic taste  nor a sulphurous  smell.   As usually
prepared, however, it  is somewhat empyreumatic.  Malt vinegar contains a
small proportion of sulphuric  acid; but, when it is distilled,  this acid does
not come  over.  If, however, sulphuric acid should be  accidentally present
in distilled vinegar, it  may be  detected by chloride  of barium or acetate of
lead.  If  muriatic  acid be present, it may be  shown  by a precipitate  being
formed with nitrate of  silver;  and if nitric acid be an impurity,  the vinegar
will possess the property, by  digestion, of dissolving silver, which may be
detected afterwards by  muriatic acid.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The medical properties of distilled vine-
gar are the same as those of common vinegar (See Acetum); but the former,
being purer,  and not liable to spontaneous decomposition, is preferable for
pharmaceutical  purposes.  It is employed as the  basis, with but few excep-
tions, of the  two classes of preparations called " Vinegars"  and " Oxymels."
  Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Ammoniaci,  Lond., Ed.; Hydrargyri Acetas,
Dub.;  Liquor Ammonias Acetatis, L,ond., Ed., Dub.;   Oxymel, Dub.;
Plumbi Acetas, Dub.;  Plumbi Subacetatis  Liquor, Dub.; Potassas Acetas,
Dub.; Sodas  Acetas, Dub.; Syrupus Allii, U. S.; Unguentum Plumbi  Com-
positum, Lond.                                                    B.
  ACETUM  CANTHARIDIS.  (Epispasticum.) Lond.   Acetum
Cantharidis, Ed.   Vinegar of Spanish Flies.
  "Take of Spanish  Flies,  in  powder, two ounces;  Acetic Acid a pint
(Imperial  measure).  Macerate the Spanish Flies  with the Acid for  eight
days, occasionally shaking.  Finally express and filter." Lond.
  "Take  of Cantharides, in powder, three ounces; Acetic Acid five fluid-
ounces ;  Pyroligneous Acid fifteen fluidounces; Euphorbium,  in coarse
powder, half an ounce.   Mix the  acids, add the  powders, macerate for
seven days,  strain and  express strongly, and filter the  liquor." Ed.
  This preparation is  intended  exclusively for external use, as a speedy
epispastic.  It is said, when lightly applied by a brush, to act as a rubefa-
cient; and when  rubbed freely upon  the skin for three minutes, to be fol-
lowed, in  two or three hours, by full vesication.   The  pain produced by
the  application, though more  severe, is also  more transient than  that which
results from  the blistering cerate.   From experiments  made by Mr. Red-
wood, it may be inferred that the preparation proves epispastic chiefly  if not
exclusively in consequence of its acetic acid, and that  it contains  little  of the
active principle of the flies. (Lond. Pharm. Transact., Oct.,  1841.)  W. 
776
Aceta.
PART II.
   ACETUM  COLCHICI.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Vinegar of
 Colchicum.
   " Take of [dried] Colchicum Root, bruised, two ounces;  Distilled Vine-
 gar two pints; Alcohol a fluidounce.  Macerate  the  Colchicum  Root with
 the Distilled Vinegar, in a close glass  vessel, for seven days; then express
 the liquor, and set it by that the dregs may subside ; lastly, pour off the clear
 liquor, and add the Alcohol.
   " Vinegar of Colchicum may also be prepared by macerating the Colchi-
 cum Root, in coarse  powder, with a pint of  Distilled Vinegar for two days,
 then putting the mixture into an apparatus  for displacement, gradually pour-
 ing in Distilled Vinegar until the quantity of filtered liquor equals two pints,
 and lastly adding the Alcohol.
   " In  the  above processes,  Diluted  Acetic Acid may  be  substituted for
 Distilled Vinegar." U. S.
   The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct an  ounce of the fresh bulb,
 sixteen fluidounces of distilled vinegar, and a  fluidounce of proof spirit; the
 Dublin College, an ounce of the fresh bulb,  a pint of distilled vinegar, and
 a  fluidounce of proof spirit; all  macerate for three days,  and proceed as
 directed  in  the first  process of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia,  except that the
 Edinburgh College  filters the  expressed liquid, instead of  clarifying it by
 rest  and  decantation.  The  resulting  preparations  may  be considered  as
 identical with each other, and with the American; as the dried bulb of our
 shops is probably not on an average much  stronger than the fresh bulb in
 Europe, and the  proof spirit of the British Colleges is equivalent to  little
 more than half its bulk of our officinal alcohol.
   Vinegar is an excellent solvent of the  active principle of colchicum; and
 the organic alkali of the latter loses none of its efficacy by combination with
 the acetic acid of the former.   The use of the alcohol is  simply to retard the
 spontaneous decomposition to  which this, like most of the other  medicated
 vinegars,  is liable.
   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
 colchicum 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.  Black
 Drop.
   "Take of Opium, in coarse powder, eight ounces; Nutmeg, in  coarse
 powder, an ounce and a  half; Saffron half an ounce; Sugar twelve ounces;
 Distilled Vinegar a sufficient quantity.  Digest the Opium,  Nutmeg, and
 Saffron with a pint and  a half of  Distilled Vinegar, on a sand-bath, with a
 gentle  heat, for forty-eight hours,  and strain.  Digest  the residue with an
equal quantity of  Distilled Vinegar, in the same manner,  for twenty-four
 hours.  Then put the whole into an apparatus for displacement, and return
the filtered liquor, as it passes, until it comes away quite  clear.  When the
filtration shall have ceased, pour Distilled Vinegar  gradually upon the ma-
terials 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, Diluted  Acetic Acid may be substituted for Dis-
 tilled Vinegar." U. S.
   "Take of Opium four ounces; Distilled  Vinegar sixteen fluidounces.
Cut the Opium into small fragments, triturate it into a pulp with a little of the
Vinegar, add the rest of  the Vinegar, macerate in a closed vessel for  seven 
PART II.
Aceta.
777
days, and agitate occasionally.  Then strain and express strongly, and filter
the liquor." Ed.
   The Dublin process is essentially the same as the Edinburgh, which was
adopted from it.
   The vinegar of opium has been introduced into the Pharmacopoeias as
an imitation of, or substitute for  a preparation which has  been long in use
under the name of Lancaster or Quaker's black drop, or simply black drop.
The formula of the first edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia was so deficient
in precision, and  consequently so uncertain in  its results, that it was aban-
doned in the second edition;  but, as this objection was obviated in a process
by Mr. Charles Ellis, published in the American Journal of Pharmacy (vol.
ii., page 202), and  as the  preparation continued to enjoy a  considerable
degree of professional and popular favour, it  was deemed proper to restore
it to its officinal rank at the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia.   The U. S.
formula above given is essentially that of Mr. Ellis.   It  is, we think, pre-
ferable to the Edinburgh and Dublin formula.  In the latter we cannot but
suspect that there is  some  waste of opium; as Dr. Montgomery, in  his ob-
servations on the  Dublin Pharmacopoeia, states that twenty drops are equi-
valent to thirty of the common tincture  of opium, though,  in the preparation
of the  latter, somewhat less  than  one-third the  quantity of  opium is used.
As common distilled vinegar is often very weak, it would be best to employ
white wine vinegar, as directed by Mr. Ellis.   The chief advantage of the
black drop over laudanum is, probably, that the  meconate of morphia is
converted by the acetic acid into the acetate;  though this has not been posi-
tively proved.   In the original process, published by Dr. Armstrong, who
found it among the  papers of a relative of the  proprietor  in England, ver-
juice, or the juice of the wild crab, was employed instead of vinegar.  Other
vegetable acids also favourably modify the narcotic operation of opium; and
lemon juice has been employed in a similar manner with vinegar or verjuice,
and perhaps not less  advantageously.*
   The vinegar of opium may sometimes be advantageously  used when opium
itself, or the tincture, in consequence of peculiarity in the disease or in the
constitution of the patient,  occasions so much headache, nausea, or nervous
disorder, as to render its  employment inconvenient if  not impossible.  It
exhibits all the  anodyne and soporific properties  of the narcotic, with less
tendency to produce  these disagreeable effects, at least in many instances.
It is of about double the strength of laudanum,  six and a  half minims 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.                                 W.
   ACETUM  SCILLA.   U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.    Vinegar  of
Squill.
   " Take of Squill, bruised, four ounces; Distilled Vinegar two pints; Alco-
hol a fluidounce.   Macerate  the Squill with the  Distilled Vinegar, in  a  close

   * 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 lead to uncertain results.  Independently of this want of precision, the point
in which the old process  chiefly differs from that at present officinal is that, in the former,
fermentation is induced by the  addition  of yeast. But fermentation is of very doubtful
value in the process; at least its advantages have not  been proved. 
778
Aceta.
PART II.
glass vessel, for seven days ; then express the liquor, and set it by that the
dregs may subside;  lastly, pour off the clear liquid, and add the Alcohol.
   " Vinegar of Squill  may also be  prepared by macerating  the Squill, in
coarse powder, with a  pint of distilled Vinegar for  two days, then putting
the mixture  into an apparatus for  displacement, gradually pouring in  Dis-
tilled Vinegar until the quantity of filtered liquor equals two pints, and lastly
adding the alcohol.
   " In the above processes, Diluted Acetic Acid may be  substituted for Dis-
tilled Vinegar." U. S.
   The London College directs fifteen ounces of recently dried squill, six
pints (Imperial measure) of distilled  vinegar, half a pint (Imp. meas.) of
proof spirit, and maceration with a gentle heat for twenty-four hours.   The
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  half a pound of recently dried
squill, three pints of distilled vinegar, and four fluidounces  of  rectified
spirit; and macerates for seven days.
   In the United States process by displacement, the whole of the vinegar em-
ployed in the maceration, and  introduced with the squill into the instrument,
should be allowed to enter the mass, before  the fresh portion of vinegar is
added.   The preparations of  the several Pharmacopoeias  are so nearly the
same that, for all practical purposes, they may be considered identical.   The
proportion of alcohol is rather less  in the  United  States formula than in
either of the others.  In the formula of the  French  Codex  there 'is none;
but the vinegar is stronger  than ours.   The only object of the alcohol is to
retard the decomposition of the vinegar of squill;  while its presence is medi-
cally injurious by rendering the preparation too stimulating.  It is best, there-
fore, to prepare the vinegar of squill frequently, and in small quantities, so as
to require little alcohol for its  preservation.   In  the preparation of  the oxy-
mel and syrup  of squill, for  which purpose the vinegar is chiefly used in
this country, it should be employed without alcohol.   The vinegar  of squill
deposits, upon standing, a precipitate  which  consists, according to Vogel, of
citrate of lime and tannic acid.
   Medical Uses.  This  preparation has all  the  properties of the  squill in
substance, and  is occasionally prescribed as a diuretic  and expectorant in
various  forms  of  dropsy and  of pulmonary  diseases; but the oxymel and
syrup are usually preferred, as they  keep better and are less unpleasant to
the taste. The dose is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms; but  the latter
quantity would be apt to produce vomiting.   It should be given in cinnamon-
water, mint-water, or  some other aromatic liquid calculated  to  conceal  its
taste and obviate its  nauseating effect.
   Off. Prep.  Mistura Cascarillas Composita, Lond.; Oxymel Scillae, U.S.,
Lond., Dub.; Syrupus Scillae,  U. S., Ed.                           W.
   ACIDUM ACETICUM  CAMPHORATUM. Ed., Dub.   Cam-
phorated Acetic Acid.
   " Take of Acetic  Acid six fluidounces [six fluidounces and a half, Ed.~\;
Camphor half an ounce; Rectified Spirit a sufficient  quantity.  Reduce the
camphor to powder by means of the spirit; then add the acid, and dissolve."
Dub.
   The  use  of the  alcohol is  simply to  facilitate the pulverization of the
camphor, and a few drops are sufficient.   Acetic  acid  in its concentrated
state readily dissolves camphor.  In this preparation, the whole of  the  cam-
phor is  taken up by the acid.  In consequence of  the powerful  chemical 
PART II.
Aceta.—Acida.
779
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
dissolving the  oils of cloves,  lavender, rosemary, and  calamus,  in highly
concentrated  acetic acid.  It is used for the same purpose as the officinal
camphorated  acetic acid, being dropped  on sponge  and kept  in smelling
bottles.  A similar preparation may be made  extemporaneously  by adding
to a drachm of acetate of potassa contained in a stoppered bottle, three drops
of one or more of the aromatic volatile oils, and twenty drops of sulphuric
acid. (Pereira's Mat. Med.)
  A preparation  called Marseilles vinegar, or thieves' vinegar  (vinaigre
des  quatres  voleurs), consisting essentially of vinegar impregnated with
aromatic  substances, was formerly  esteemed a  prophylactic  against  the
plague and other contagious diseases.   It is said  to  have  derived its name
and reputation from  the  circumstance that four thieves, who, during  the
plague at Marseilles, had plundered  the dead bodies  with impunity, con-
fessed, 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 laven-
der, 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 has been
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 imagination.


                               ACIDA.

                                 Acids.
   Acids,  in chemical classification, are those  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 ready means of detect-
 ing acids, applicable in practice to  most cases.  The  above explanation of
 the nature ofan acid is that usually given; but, according to strict definition,
 acids are compounds having a strong electro-negative energy,  and, therefore,
 possessing a powerful affinity for  electro-positive compounds, such as  alka-
lies, earths,  and  ordinary oxides.  It is this antagonism  in title electrical
 condition of these two great classes of chemical compounds  that gives rise
 to  their mutual affinity, which  is so  much the stronger as the  contrast in this
respect is greater.   In the majority of cases, the electro-negative compound
or  acid is an oxidized body, but by no means necessarily so.  When an  acid
 does not contain oxygen, hydrogen is usually  present.   These peculiarities 
780
Adda.
PART II.
 in composition have given rise to the division  of acids by some writers into
 oxacids and hydracids.   Vegetable acids,  for the most part, contain both
 oxygen and hydrogen.
   The number of acids used in  medicine is small; but among these are to
 be found  examples of the three kinds above  mentioned.               B.
   ACIDUM ACETICUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Acetic Acid.
   "Take of Acetate  of Soda, in  powder, a pound; Sulphuric Acid half a
 pound; Red  Oxide of Lead a drachm.  Pour the  Sulphuric  Acid into a
 glass  retort, and  gradually add the Acetate of Soda ; then, by means of a
 sand-bath, distil with a moderate heat, into a glass  receiver, till the residuum
 becomes  dry.  Mix the resulting  liquid with the Red Oxide of Lead, and
 again  distil, with a  moderate heat, to dryness."  U. S.  The sp. gr. of this
 acid is 1*06, and  100  grains of it saturate 83*5 grains of crystallized bicar-
 bonate of potassa.
   " Take of Acetate  of Soda two pounds;  Sulphuric  Acid nine ounces;
 Distilled  Water nine fluidounces [Imperial  measure].  Add  the Sulphuric
 Acid,  first mixed with the Water, to  the Acetate  of Soda put  into a glass
 retort; then let the  acid distil from  a sand-bath.   Care is to  be taken that
 the heat be not too  great towards the end."  Lond.   The  specific gravity of
 this acid is 1*048, and 100 grains of it saturate 87  grains of crystallized car-
 bonate of soda.
   " Take of Acetate of Potassa one hundred parts ;  Sulphuric Acid fifty-
 two parts.  Put  the acid into a tubulated retort, and, at different intervals of
 time, add the Acetate  of Potassa, waiting after each addition  until  the mix-
 ture becomes  cool.  Lastly, with a moderate  heat, distil  the  acid  until the
 residuum is dry.  The specific gravity of this acid is 1*074." Dub.
   " Take of Acetate  of Lead any convenient quantity ;  heat it  gradually
 in a porcelain basin, by means of a bath of oil or fusible metal (8 tin, 4'lead,
 3 bismuth), to 320° F.;  and stir till the fused mass concretes  again : pulver-
 ize this wben 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 liquid with a
few grains of Red Oxide of Lead  to remove a little  sulphurous acid, allow
 the vessel to  rest a few minutes,  pour  off  the clear liquor  and redistil it.
 The density is commonly from 1*063 to 1*065, but must not exceed 1*0685."
 Ed.
   These  processes are intended to furnish a strong acetic  acid.  The United
 States, London,  and Dublin formulas  are similar,  consisting in the decom-
 position of the acetate of soda or of potassa by sulphuric  acid.  A sulphate
 of the  alkali  is formed, and  the disengaged acetic acid  distils  over.  The
 acetate of soda, however, is on several accounts the best salt for decomposi-
 tion.   Its advantages are,  its uniform composition in the crystallized state,
 its giving rise to a residuary salt  (sulphate of soda) easily  washed out of the
 retort, and the abundance in which it can be  obtained from the  manufacturers
 of pyroligneous  acid.  (See  Sodae  Acetas.)   On the  other hand, acetate of
 potassa is a deliquescent salt, and, therefore,  liable  to  contain a variable
 quantity of water, and to yield an  acid of variable strength.   Besides, the
 residue of the process (sulpbate of potassa) is not so easily removed  from
 the retort.  In either process the acetic acid  is apt to pass over contaminated
 with a small quantity of sulphurous acid, which, however, may be  removed
 by a redistillation from a little red oxide of lead, as is directed in the U.S.
 process.  In the Edinburgh process, acetate of lead is first freed from water of 
PART II.
Adda.
781
crystallization by heat, and  then  distilled with sulphuric acid which  com-
bines with the protoxide of lead, and sets free the acetic acid which distils
over.  As a boiling temperature is not convenient for drying, nor sufficient
for  decomposing the acetate of lead, the requisite temperature is  obtained
by a bath of  oil  or fusible metal.  The red oxide of lead removes  the sul-
phurous  acid  by combining with it in such  a way as to form sulphate of
protoxide of lead, by a transfer of oxygen from the oxide to the acid.  This
process,  when carefully conducted, furnishes an  acid  of the  maximum
strength, consisting of one eq. of dry acid, and one of water.
  Before  proceeding  to compare the different officinal acetic acids as to
density, it is necessary to explain the nomenclature  adopted in the several
Pharmacopoeias, which is somewhat confused.  All these acids may be
arranged in three divisions, according as their  density is high, low, or inter-
mediate.  The following table presents a view of  their names and densities.
Acetic Acid.	U.S.	Lond. Ed.		Dub.
Highest off 1 strength, f Intermediate r strength. C Lowest do. >	Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1-06. Acidum Aceti-	Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1-048.	Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1*063 to 1065. Acidum Pyrolig-neum. Sp. gr. 1-034.	
				Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1-074.
	cum Dilutum.			
  By this table it is shown that the name "Acidum Aceticum" means in the
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia the acid of maximum  strength, and in the other
Pharmacopoeias, the  acid diluted with water in various degrees.   The acid
of full strength was injudiciously adopted, as an officinal preparation, by the
Edinburgh College.   It is too powerful for convenient medicinal employ-
ment, and unnecessary in  the  formulas for camphorated acetic acid, vinegar
of Spanish flies, and creasote  mixture,  the only ones in which it is em-
ployed by the  College.  Its density is given with great want of precision.
This  is stated to vary commonly from  1*063 to 1*065, but must  not exceed
1*0685 !   In other words, the acid may vary from maximum strength to con-
taining 3  per cent, of water.  The intermediate  acid varies in density, as
seen by the table, according to the following numbers—1*074 Dub., 1*06
U.S., 1*048 Lond., 1*034 Ed.   Dr. Christison considers the name "Acidum
Aceticum" as belonging only to the strongest possible acid, and objects to
its application to the intermediate acid (injudiciously called pyroligneous acid
by the Edinburgh College), because it contains water in dilution.   It is im-
possible to attain entire precision in pharmaceutical nomenclature; and hence
the name of an  acid  may be conventionally applied  to it when  not of full
strength, just as  the name "Acidum Hydrocyanicum" is given to medicinal
prussic  acid by the  Edinburgh College,  without meaning  the  anhydrous
acid.   The weak acid (Acidum Aceticum Dilutum) is peculiar to the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia, and will be noticed in the next article.
  The specific gravity of acetic acid increases with  the strength up to the
density  of 1*0735 (maximum), after which  it decreases  until  it reaches
1*063, the density of the  strongest acid.  The following table,  condensed
from one given by Pereira, on  the authority of Mohr, as containing the most
     67 
782
Adda.
PART II.
recent experiments, exhibits the sp. gr. of acetic acid of different strengths.
The officinal and commercial acids are noted opposite to their several densi-
ties, and the corresponding number in the column on the left gives  the per-
centage of protohydrated acid in each.
Per cent.		Per cent.	
of acid.	Specific gravity.	of acid.	Specific Gravity.
100 99	J"[jgH Acetic acid, Ed.	39 37	1-050 English pyroligneous acid 1-048 Acetic acid, Lond.
97	1-068	32	1-042 ^ ®cotc'' pyroligneous acid ) (strongest).
90	1073		
80	10735 Maximum density.	30	1-040
70	1-070	25	1-034 Pyroligneous acid, Ed.
60	1-067	20	1027
54 •	1063	10	1-015
50	1-060 Acetic acid, U.S.	5	1-006
40	1-051	4	1-005 Distillrd vinegar, Ed.,Dub.
  The maximum density here given  on the authority of Mohr (1*0735), is
considerably  lower than that fixed  by  Mollerat  (1.079), and agrees  best
with the determination of Dr. T. Thomson (1*0713), which is still  lower.
Up to the specific gravity  1*062, the density of acetic acid is a pretty accu-
rate  index of its strength; but above that specific gravity, two acids of dif-
ferent strengths may coincide in density.  Thus, by the table,  it is seen that
an acid  weighing 1*063 may be either the strongest possible liquid acid,  or
an acid  containing  only 54 per cent,  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.   A note referring to the Dublin  acetic acid is excluded from
the table, on account of its density being given at a higher number (1.074)
than even the  maximum  of  Mohr.   The  density of  English and  Scotch
pyroligneous acid (pure acetic acid from wood) is given on  the authority of
Dr. Christison.
  The  process adopted in the French Codex for obtaining acetic  acid, is
the distillation to  dryness of  the  acetate  of  copper (crystals of Venus).
The distillation must  be performed in a  stoneware retort, and is described
in detail by Thenard.   The water of crystallization of the salt being evapo-
rated before  the  acid  begins  to  rise, there is a  deficiency of the  former
liquid, necessary to hold the elements of the acetic acid together. Accord-
ingly, a part of the acid  is decomposed, being resolved  into water, and a
compound called  acetone  or pyroacetic  spirit,  which  gives  to  the acid a
peculiar fragrant smell.  For an account of acetone and  of its  medical appli-
cations,  see Appendix.
   Properties.  The acetic acid  of  the  United States,  London and  Dublin
Pharmacopoeias is a colourless, inflammable, volatile liquid, having an  acrid
taste, and fragrant,  pungent smell.   It unites in all proportions with water,
and dissolves  to a certain extent in alcohol.   It  is incompatible with the
alkalies  and  alkaline earths, both pure and  carbonated, with metallic oxides,
and most substances acted on by other  acids.   It is wholly  volatilized  by
heat, and yields no precipitate with  chloride of barium or nitrate of silver.
The presence of copper, lead, or tin maybe detected by neutralizing the acid
with ammonia, and testing successively with  ferrocyanuret  of  potassium,
iodide of potassium, and  sulphuretted hydrogen, in the  manner explained
under Acetum Destillatum.   This  officinal acid  consists of the strongest 
PART II.
Adda.
783
liquid  acetic acid, diluted with a variable quantity of water.  As is shown
by the table just given, the United States acid contains 50 per cent, of water
of dilution, and the London, 63  per cent.   The dilution of the Dublin acid
cannot be estimated from Mohr's table, but calculated from Mollerat's results,
it contains 33j per  cent, of  water.  The  saturating strength of the  United
States  and London  acids is given under their respective formulas.  The cor-
responding acid of the Edinburgh College, called pyroligneous  acid by the
College, is described at  page 41.
  Protohydrated  acetic  acid (Acidum  Aceticum,  Ed., glacial acetic acid,
or radical  vinegar) is a colourless, volatile, inflammable  liquid, possessing
a corrosive taste,  and  an acid, pungent, and refreshing smell.  At the tem-
perature of about 40° it becomes a  crystalline  solid.  Its sp.gr. is 1*063.
The anomaly of its having first an increasing and then a decreasing density
upon dilution with water, has been already  noticed.  Acetic  acid  possesses
the  property of  dissolving  a number of substances, such as volatile oils,
camphor, gluten, resins  and gum-resins, fibrin,  albumen,  &c.  As it attracts
humidity from the atmosphere, it should be preserved in well-stopped bottles.
Its combinations with salifiable bases are called acetates.   It consists of one
eq. of  dry acid 51, and  one  of water 9=60.   The dry acid is composed of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and its formula is C4H303.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Acetic acid  acts as a stimulant  and rube-
facient.  Owing  to its  volatility  and  pungency,  its vapour is  frequently
applied to the nostrils as an excitant in syncope, asphyxia, and headache.
When  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 in small
glass bottles with ground stoppers.    The  concentrated  acid is  only used
externally, and acts as  a rubefacient, vesicant, or  caustic, according to the
length  of time it is  applied.   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
application to warts and corns, the vitality of which it frequently destroys.
It  is also a  valuable  remedy in  scaldhead.  The  different  officinal  acetic
acids are necessarily different in their medical applications.   For producing
a blister, the Edinburgh acid is  unnecessarily  strong, and the London too
weak.
  Off.  Prep. Acetum  Cantharidis, L,ond.; Acidum  Aceticum Camphoratum,
Dub.;  Acidum Aceticum Dilutum, U. S.;  Extractum Colchici  Aceticum,
Lond.; Morphiae  Acetas, U. S.,  Lond.;  Oxymel, Lond.; Plumbi Acetas,
Jjond.; Potassae Acetas, U. S., Lond.; Zinci Acetas, U. S.
  Off. Prep, of Acidum  Aceticum, Ed.   Acetum  Cantharidis; Acidum
Aceticum Camphoratum ; Mistura Creasoti.                          B.
  ACIDUM ACETICUM DILUTUM.  U. S.  Diluted Acetic Acid.
  "Take of Acetic Acid half a pint; Distilled  Water five pints.   Mix
them."
  The acid resulting from the above formula is peculiar to the United  States
Pharmacopoeia.  The  object  of having this preparation, is to possess a weak
solution of pure acetic acid, which may be  substituted for distilled vinegar
in all  formulas in  which  nicety  is required.  Distilled vinegar contains  a
portion of organic matter, which is always  darkened or  precipitated  when
this acid is saturated with an alkali, an occurrence which does not take place
when  the diluted acetic  acid of  our Pharmacopoeia is employed.   As the
Addum Aceticum (U.S.) contains 50 per cent, of  the strongest  liquid acid, 
784
Adda.
PART II.
it is easy to determine by calculation that the Diluted Acetic Acid will con-
tain 4*54 per cept. of the same acid. Fifteen parts by weight of the London
acetic acid, mixed with eighty-five of water, will form  an  acid, having,
according to Mr. Phillips, the strength of the London College distilled vine-
gar, and containing about 4*6 per cent, of dry acid.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Ammonias Acetatis, U. S.                       B.
   ACIDUM  BENZOICUM.   U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.  Benzoic
Acid.
   "Take of Benzoin, in  coarse  powder, a pound.  Put the Benzoin, pre-
viously thoroughly  mixed with an equal weight of fine  sand, into a suitable
vessel,  and, by means of a sand-bath, with a gradually increasing heat,
sublime until vapours  cease to rise.  Deprive the sublimed matter of oil by
pressure in bibulous paper, and again sublime." U. S.
   The  London College proceeds as above  directed, except that it does not
mix the benzoin with sand before subliming.   The Edinburgh College puts
a convenient quantity  of benzoin  into a glass  matrass, and operates in the
same manner.   The Dublin College directs five parts of benzoin, triturated
with one part of fresh quicklime, to be boiled in one hundred and thirty parts
of  water for half an hour, the  mixture being constantly stirred with a rod.
After having cooled, the  clear liquor is decanted, and the  residue is boiled
with seventy parts of water, which is also decanted  when cold.  The liquors
having  been mixed are evaporated to  one-half, and filtered through paper;
and one part of muriatic acid is gradually added.   The precipitate produced
is separated from the  supernatant liquid, washed with a small quantity of
cold water, dried with  a gentle heat, and submitted to sublimation in a pro-
per apparatus.
   Of the two processes above described, the first is most simple  and easy.
The acid, which exists in the benzoin combined with resin, is  volatilized by
the  heat, and condensed in the upper  part of the apparatus.  Unless the
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 pro-
cess for subliming benzoic acid is usually conducted in a glazed earthen ves-
sel, surmounted by  a cone of paper, or by another vessel with a small open-
ing 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.  He  considers the  addition of sand useless, and
even injurious  by favouring the production of empyreumatic substances.
In a round  cast-iron pot, eight or nine  inches in diameter, and two inches
deep, a  pound or less of coarsely powdered  benzoin is placed, and  uniformly
strewed  over the bottom.   The top of the pot is closed by a  sheet of
bibulous paper, which is secured  to  the  sides by paste.  A cylinder of
thick paper in  the form of a hat, just large enough to fit closely around the
sides of the pot, is then placed over it,  and  in like manner secured by paste.
A moderate heat is now applied by means of a sand-bath, and continued for
three or four hours.  The vapours  pass through the bibulous  paper, which
absorbs  the empyreumatic oil, and are  condensed in the inside of  the hat in
brilliant white flowers, having an agreeable odour of benzoin.   (Annal. der
Pharm., xxix. 178.) The remaining acid of the benzoin  may be extracted, if 
part ii.                        Adda                              785

deemed advisable, by treating the residue of the balsam with lime or carbonate
of soda.  From the mode of preparing benzoic acid  by sublimation, it was
formerly called flowers of benzoin.
   By the Dublin process, the acid is extracted from the benzoin by combin-
ing it with a salifiable base, and is subsequently precipitated by an acid.  It
is purified by sublimation, which  gives it the peculiar silky lustre which dis-
tinguishes it. The process of the Dublin College is essentially that of Scheele.
Carbonate of soda  may be substituted  for  the  lime, and sulphuric for the
muriatic acid employed by the Dublin College, and the precipitated  benzoic
acid may  be purified by dissolving it in boiling water, which will  deposit it
upon cooling.   This was formerly the  process of the Edingurgh College.
Both 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 by
different chemists.   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 dis-
solved in  a mixture of eight parts  of water and three of alcohol.  The alcohol
is distilled off;  and the benzoate  of soda contained in the  residuary liquid is
decomposed by sulphuric acid,  which precipitates the benzoic acid.  This is
purified by solution in  boiling water, which lets fall the acid when it cools.
   By the  above process  Stolze obtained 18 per cent, of acid  from  benzoin
containing 19-425 per cent.   By'the process of Scheele (that of the Dublin
College) he obtained 13*5 per cent.; by the agency of carbonate of soda, as in
the former Edinburgh process, 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 ihe acid contaminated with empyreumatic  oil, and
about 9 per cent, of the purified acid.
   Properties.   Sublimed benzoic acid is in white, soft, feathery crystals, of
a silky lustre, and not  pulverulent.   From solution the acid crystallizes  in
transparent  prisms.  When  quite pure it is  inodorous;  but  prepared by
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 some-
what higher temperature  rises  in suffocating vapours.  It is inflammable,
burning without residue.  It is very sparingly soluble in cold, but is dissolved
by about twenty-four parts of boiling water, which deposits it upon cooling.
It is soluble in alcohol, and in concentrated  sulphuric and nitric acids,  from
which  it  is precipitated  by water.   The  fixed  oils also  dissolve it.   It is
entirely dissolved by solution of potassa, and precipitated  from  the solution
by muriatic acid.  Its solution  reddens litmus paper, and it forms salts with
salifiable bases ;  but its acid properties are not powerful.   From the experi-
ments of Wohler and Liebig it may be inferred that benzoic acid is composed
of a peculiar hypothetical body  called benzule, and oxygen ; and in the
uncombined state it  always  contains water.  Benzule consists of fourteen
equivalents of carbon 84, five of hydrogen 5, and two of  oxygen  16 = 105.
The crystallized acid contains one equiv.  of benzule  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 constitu-
                                  67* 
786
Adda.
PART II.
ent 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
mucous membrane, and stimulant to the system, and has been thought to be
expectorant;  but it is  seldom used internally except as  a constituent of  one
or two officinal preparations.  It was  proposed by Dr. Alexander Ure as a
remedy for uric acid  depositions in the urine, and  for the chalk-like con-
cretions, consisting of urate of soda, in the joints of gouty individuals.  He
supposed it to operate by converting the uric  into hippuric acid, and con-
sequently the insoluble urates into soluble hippurates.   It appears, however,
from the observations of Mr. Baring-Garrod and Mr. Keller, that such a trans-
formation of uric acid does not take place, but  that the benzoic acid is itself
converted into hippuric acid, which is always found in  the urine, when the
former  acid is taken freely.  The quantity of uric acid  in the urine remains
undiminished.  In consequence of the acid  state of urine produced by the
benzoic acid, it has been found  useful  in the phosphatic variety of gravel;
though  its beneficial influence, being purely chemical, continues only during
its use.   (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., ii. 327., iii. 41., iv. 397.)  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 fumigation as a remedy
in affections of the skin.
   Off. Prep.   Tinctura Opii Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinctura Opii  Camphorata,
U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, U. S.
                                                                W.
   ACIDUM  HYDROCYANICUM.  U. S., Ed.   Acidum Htdro-
cyanicum Dilutum.  Lond.   Acidum  Prussicum. Dub. Hydrocy-
anic Acid.  Prussic Acid.  CyanohydricAcid.
   "Take of Ferrocyanuret of Potassium two ounces; Sulphuric acid an
ounce and a half;  Distilled Water a sufficient  quantity.  Mix the acid with
four fluidounces of distilled water, and pour the mixture, when cool, into a
glass retort.  To this add the Ferrocyanuret of Potassium, previously dissolved
in ten fluidounces  of Distilled Water.   Pour eight  fluidounces of  Distilled
Water into a  cooled receiver, and, having attached this to  the retort, distil,
by means of a sand-bath, with a moderate heat, six fluidounces. Lastly, add
to the product five  fluidounces  of Distilled  Water,  or  as  much  as may be
sufficient to render the Hydrocyanic Acid of such strength, that 12-7 grains
of nitrate of silver, dissolved in distilled water, may be  accurately saturated
by 100 grains of the acid.
   " Hydrocyanic Acid may  be  prepared, when wanted  for immediate use, in
the following manner.
   " Take of Cayanuret of  Silver fifty  grains and a  half; Muriatic  Acid
forty-one grains; Distilled Water a fluidounce. Mix the Muriatic Acid with
the Distilled  Water, add the Cyanuret of Silver, and shake the whole in a
well-stopped vial.   When the  insoluble matter has  subsided, pour off the
clear liquor and keep it for use.  Hydrocyanic  Acid should be kept in closely
stopped bottles, from  which  the light is excluded." U. S.
   The  processes of the  London College for medicinal hydrocyanic acid, and
for that extemporaneously obtained, are the same as those of the U.S. Phar-
macopoeia ; the latter  having been adopted from the former.
   "Take of Ferrocyanide of Potassium three ounces; Sulphuric Acid  two
fluidounces ;  Water sixteen fluidounces [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve the salt in 
PART II.
Adda.
787
eleven fluidounces of the water, and put the  solution in a matrass with a
little sand: add the acid, previously diluted with five fluidounces of the water
and allowed to cool: connect the matrass with a proper refrigeratory:  distil
with a gentle heat, by means of a sand-bath or naked gas flame, till fourteen
fluidounces pass over, or till the residuum  begins  to  froth  up.  Dilute  the
product with distilled water till it measures sixteen  fluidounces."  Ed.
  " Take of Cyanuret [Bicyanuret] of Mercury an  ounce;  Muriatic Acid
seven fluidrachms ;  Water eight fluidounces.   From a glass retort, distil
into a refrigerated receiver, eight  fluidounces, to be kept in a well stopped
bottle, in a cool and dark place.   The specific gravity of this acid is 0-998."
Dub.
  Hydrocyanic acid was admitted as an officinal into  the French Codex in
1818,  into the first edition  of the United States  Pharmacopoeia in 1820,
into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia in  1826, into  the London in 1836, and into
the Edinburgh in 1839.   It is now made by two officinal processes,—from
the ferrocyanuret of potassium in the U.S., London, and Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeias, and from the bicyanuret of mercury in the Dublin.   It is also
obtained by an extemporaneous process, when  wanted for immediate use, in
the U.S. and London Pharmacopoeias, by decomposing the cyanuret of silver.
When ferrocyanuret  of  potassium is  decomposed by sulphuric acid,  the
residue in the retort is bisulphate of potassa, mixed with a compound of two
eqs. of cyanuret of iron  and one of cyanuret of potassium  (Everitt's  salt).
Two eqs. of ferrocyanuret, 2(FeCy-j-2KCy), react with six eqs. of hydrated
sulphuric acid, 6(S03 + HO), and produce three eqs. of hydrated bisulphate
of potassa, 3(KO,2S03+HO), together with one eq. of Everitt's salt, 2FeCy
-f-KCy, which remain  in  the retort, and three eqs of hydrocyanic acid,
3HCy, which distil over. Everitt's salt, so named from its discoverer, called
biferrocyanuret of potassium by Dr. Pereira,  is yellow according to Mr.
Everitt; but Dr. Pereira, who prepared it with the greatest care always found
it white.  Its constitution (2FeCy + KCy) is  precisely the  converse of that
of ferrocyanuret of potassium (FeCy + 2KCy).
  The rationale of  the U.S. and London process for obtaining hydrocyanic
acid extemporaneously is exceedingly simple.   The  reacting materials are
single equivalents respectively of cyanuret of silver and muriatic acid.  These,
by double decomposition, generate hydrocyanic acid  which dissolves in the
water, and chloride  of silver which subsides, and from  which  the acid is
poured off when clear.   (See Argenti  Cyanuretum.)  As the cyanuret of
silver  is obtained  from  hydrocyanic acid, it  seems, at first view, a useless
procedure to expend the acid to  make  the cyanuret, with  the intention of
decomposing this  afterwards to  get the  acid.   But the  extemporaneous
process is  useful to country practitioners ; because the  acid will  not  gene-
rally keep.   A portion of hydrocyanic  acid, if kept by a practitioner, may
spoil on his hands, before he has occasion to use it; but if he supplies him-
self with a portion of cyanuret of silver, he may readily at  any moment ob-
tain a small portion of the acid, by following the directions of the formula.
   The Dublin  process  is that of Gay-Lussac, with the  use of a certain
amount of water of dilution.   Two equivalents of hydrogen from two equiva-
lents of muriatic acid form two equivalents of hydrocyanic acid with the  two
equivalents of cyanogen  in the bicyanuret of mercury, while  the  two equi-
valents of chlorine form one equivalent of bichloride of mercury, or corrosive
sublimate, with the one equivalent of mercury.   The Dublin College uses
a little more than the equivalent  quantity of muriatic acid, to  ensure the
complete decomposition of the bicyanuret.
   The French Codex of 1837 gives the following process  for hydrocyanic 
788
Adda.
PART II.
acid in place of the three formerly contained in that work.  Take of bicyanu-
ret of mercury thirty parts; muriatic acid (sp. gr.  1*17) twenty parts.  Re-
duce the bicyanuret to powder, and introduce it into a small  tubulated glass
retort, placed over a furnace.  Adapt to its neck a tube about 13 inches long,
and half an inch in diameter, and  filled one-half with  pieces of marble, and
the remainder with chloride of calcium.  To this tube, arranged nearly hori-
zontally, adapt a smaller one,  bent at a right angle, and  plunging into a gra-
duated 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 action to take place for a few moments
in the cold, appply the heat gradually and cautiously.   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
case the acid is weighed, the operator must carefully avoid  its deleterious
vapours.
   The above process is Gay-Lussac's, and, therefore, the  same in principle
as the Dublin.  In the first part of it,  Gay-Lussac's strong acid is  obtained
in the graduated tube, and  this is  afterwards diluted to a given extent with
water.  We have not found it stated what is  the saturating  strength of  the
Codex acid ; but from the method of  preparation, we should  suppose it to
be much stronger than is safe for a medicinal acid.   The  object of the marble
and chloride of calcium is to detain, the former muriatic acid, the latter water;
so that it is probable that the acid in the graduated tube,  if  not anhydrous, is
at least pretty strong.
   Another process for  obtaining medicinal hydrocyanic acid, proposed by
Dr. Clarke, and adopted by Mr. Laming, is by the reaction  of tartaric acid
on cyanuret of potassium in solution.   Mr. Laming's  formula is as follows.
Dissolve twenty-two  grains of the cyanuret in six fluidrachms of distilled
water, and add to  this solution  fifty grains  of crystallized tartaric acid dis-
solved  in  three  fluidrachms of rectified  spirit.   Crystallized bitartrate  of
potassa  precipitates, and each  fluidrachm of the clear decanted liquor con-
tains one grain of  pure hydrocyanic acid.  (Pereira, Elem. Mat. Med.) The
reaction in this process takes  place  between  two eqs.  of tartaric acid, one
of cyanuret of potassium, and one  of water.  The water is decomposed, and
the tartaric acid, potassium, and oxygen unite to form the bitartrate, and  the
cyanogen and hydrogen  to form the hydrocyanic  acid.  Although Dr. Pe-
reira considers this process to have several advantages, yet he very properly
objects to it on account of  the  trouble and expense  of obtaining the  cyanuret
of potassium pure, and  its liability to  undergo spontaneous  decomposition.
(See Potassii Cyanuretum.)
   Liebig  recommends  the decomposition of  cyanuret  of potassium with
hydrated sulphuric acid.  In this case the products of the double decomposition
are sulphate of potassa and hydrocyanic acid.    Any cyanate of potassa pre-
sent as an impurity is at the same time decomposed, and  the ammonia result-
ing from  the cyanic acid unites  with the  sulphuric acid,  so as to form a
supersulphate.   The mode of  proceeding  is to distil one part of the cya-
nuret, dissolved  in two  parts  of  water,  with  one part of  sulphuric acid,
diluted with three  parts of  water.   The hydrocyanic acid obtained is much
stronger than the medicinal acid ; but it may be reduced to any desired stand-
ard, by ascertaining its strength  by nitrate of silver and then adding the pro-
per proportion of distilled water, as determined by  an obvious calculation.
   The  processes, thus far given, are  intended  to furnish a  dilute  hydro- 
part ii.                        Adda.                            789

cyanic acid for medicinal purposes.   The  methods  of obtaining the anhy-
drous or pure acid are  somewhat different.   Vauquelin's process is to pass
a current of hydrosulphuric acid gas over the bicyanuret of mercury con-
tained  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 hydrocyanic acid being gene-
rated in the first third of the tube, is driven forward by a  gentle heat into  the
refrigerated receiver.  By passing through the carbonate of lead and chloride
of calcium, it is successively freed from any traces of hydrosulphuric acid or
water.  Gay-Lussac's process for the anhydrous acid is essentially the same
as that by which the  strong acid is  procured in the graduated  tube, in  the
French Codex process. (See preceding page.)   Another  process for  the
anhydrous  acid, less expensive than the above, is that of  Gautier, the details
of which are  thus given by Berzelius.  The ferrocyanuret of potassium is
fused without access of air, whereby it is  converted into a mixture of cya-
nuret of potassium and carburet of iron.   The mass obtained, after having
been  pulverized and placed in a flask, is slightly moistened with water,  and
acted on with muriatic acid, added by small portions at a time.  By a double
decomposition between the cyanuret and muriatic acid, chloride of potassium
and hydrocyanic acid are formed.  The flask is then plunged into hot water,
which causes  the hydrocyanic acid to be disengaged in the form of vapour.
This  is passed through a  tube containing  chloride of calcium, and  finally
received in a small flask, kept cool  by a freezing mixture, where it is con-
densed.  Berzelius inclines to give the preference to this process over all
others  for obtaining the anhydrous acid; as the salt employed is cheap,  and
as the temperature of the  hot water, while it is competent to volatilize  the
hydrocyanic acid, is  not sufficient to drive over any muriatic acid.
   Properties of the Medicinal Acid.  Hydrocyanic acid, in the dilute state
in which it is  used in  medicine, is  a transparent, colourless, volatile  liquid,
possessing  a  taste  at  first cooling, afterwards  somewhat irritating, and a
peculiar smell.  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.   It is  liable to undergo decomposition  if exposed to
the light, but is easily kept if the  bottle containing it is  covered with black
paint, or black paper.  The French generally use bottles of blue glass.  Its
most usual impurities are sulphuric and muriatic acids ; the former of which
may be detected by evaporating a small portion of the suspected acid,  when
this impurity  will remain; and the latter, by precipitating with  nitrate of
silver,  when so much of the precipitate as may be chloride of silver will be
insoluble in boiling nitric acid, while the cyanuret of silver is  readily solu-
ble.   The  presence of these impurities in  slight amount is injurious, only
in so far as they render the strength of the  acid uncertain ; for they appear
to confer the  advantage of rendering it less liable to decomposition.   Dr.
Christison states that the acid  prepared from the ferrocyanuret of potassium
will keep for years, and its stability has been supposed  to be owing to  the
presence of a  trace of  sulphuric acid.  Mr. Barry, of London, adds a small
portion of muriatic acid to  all his medicinal hydrocyanic  acid, in order to
preserve it. (Pereira.)  In opposition to the idea that the mineral acids  are
the preservative agents, Dr. Christison remarks that he has known  medici-
nal hydrocyanic acid  from  ferrocyanuret  of potassium to keep perfectly
well, although nitrate  of baryta, added to  it, did not produce  the slightest
muddiness.   If lead be present, it  may be  detected by means of  hydrosul-
phuric acid gas, which will  cause a  blackish discoloration or precipitate. 
790
Adda.
PART II.
Hydrocyanic  acid is incompatible in prescriptions with nitrate of silver, the
salts of iron and copper, and most of the salts of mercury.
   The  medicinal  acid is of different strengths, as  ordered by the  different
pharmaceutical  authorities.   Formerly its  strength was indicated  by its
specific  gravity, which  is lower  in proportion as it is  stronger;  but this
mode of estimate has been generally abandoned, on account of the difficulty
of applying it in practice.  The Pharmacopoeias now, with the exception of
the Dublin, rely on the saturating power as an index of strength.  Accord-
ing to the United States  and London formula, 100 grains of the acid must
accurately saturate 12*7 grains of nitrate of silver, dissolved in distilled water,
and produce a precipitate (cyanuret of silver), which, when washed and dried,
shall  weigh ten  grains, and be wholly soluble in boiling nitric acid.  An acid
of this strength  contains two per cent, of the  pure anhydrous acid.  The test
of entire solubility in boiling nitric acid, applied to the precipitate obtained by
nitrate of silver, is intended to verify its nature; for if the 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.  The mode  laid down by the  College for
testing its strength by nitrate of silver, admits of a variation in this particular;
the stronger allowable acid being one-tenth stronger than the weaker.   The
Dublin acid, according to Dr. Barker, contains 1*6 per cent, of the anhydrous
acid,  as  deduced from  the proportion of red oxide of mercury  which it is
capable of dissolving. The hydrocyanic acid of the French Codex  is evidently
much stronger than any of these acids.
   Properties of the Anhydrous Acid.  Hydrocyanic acid, perfectly free from
water, is a colourless,  transparent, inflammable liquid, of extreme volatility,
boiling at 80°, and congealing at  5°.   Its sp. gr. as a liquid is 0-6969, at the
temperature of  64°; and as a vapour  0-9423.  Its taste is  at first  cooling,
afterwards burning, with an after-taste in the throat  like that  of bitter
almonds;  but from its extremely poisonous nature, it must be  tasted  with
the utmost caution. Its odour is so strong as to produce immediate headache
and giddiness ; and its vapour so deleterious that it cannot be inhaled without
the greatest danger.   Both water and alcohol dissolve it readily.  It is much
more prone to undergo  decomposition  than  the dilute acid.  In the course
of a few hours it sometimes begins to assume a reddish-brown colour, which
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 Sobrero, hydrocyanic acid is generated,
in sensible quantities, by the action of weak nitric acid on  the  volatile oils
and resins.  Though a product of art,  it exists in some  plants.  It is, how-
ever, a matter of doubt, in  many cases  in which it is extracted from vegeta-
bles, whether it is an educt or a product. (See Amygdala Amara.)
   Composition, fyc.   Hydrocyanic acid consists of one eq. of  cyanogen
26, and one of  hydrogen 1 = 27;  or in volumes,  of one  volume of  cyanogen
 and  one volume of hydrogen without  condensation.  Cyanogen is  a colour-
less 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 considers  it a compound radical, which,  when
 acidified by hydrogen, becomes hydrocyanic acid.  It consists of two eqs. of
 carbon  12, and one of nitrogen  14=26; or in volumes,  of two volumes
 of carbon vapour, and one volume of nitrogen, condensed into one volume.
■ The ultimate  constituents  of hydrocyanic acid  are, therefore,  two eqs. of
 carbon, one of nitrogen, and one of hydrogen. 
   part ii.                        Adda.                             791

     Hydrocyanic  acid, in a dilute state, was discovered  in 1780 by Scheele,
   who correctly stated its constituents  to be carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen;
   but the peculiar way in which they are  combined was first  ascertained by
•  Gay-Lussac, by whom also the anhydrous acid was first obtained.
     Medical and  Toxicological Properties.   Hydrocyanic acid is one of the
   most deadly poisons known, proving, in many cases, almost instantaneously
   fatal.  One or two drops of the pure  acid are sufficient to kill a vigorous dog
   in a few seconds.   Notwithstanding its tremendous energy as a poison, it
   has  been ventured upon in a dilute state as  an  anodyne and  antispasmodic.
   Though occasionally resorted to as a remedy previously to 1817, it did not
   attract much attention until that year, when Magendie published his observa-
   tions on its use  in diseases of the chest,  and recommended  its employment
   to the  profession.   When given in  medicinal  doses gradually increased, it
   produces the following  symptoms in different cases :—peculiar bitter taste ;
   increased secretion of saliva;  irritation  in  the throat; nausea; disordered
   respiration; pain in the head ; giddiness; faintness;  obscure  vision and ten-
   dency to sleep.  The pulse is sometimes quickened, at other times reduced in
   frequency.  Occasionally salivation and ulceration of the mouth are produced.
   It has been  most highly recommended and extensively used in complaints of
   the  respiratory  organs, and is supposed  to  exert a control  over pulmonary
   inflammation, after the excitement has been diminished by bloodletting; and
   there is no  doubt  that in  some instances it  has been found beneficial under
   such circumstances.  In tubercular  phthisis, though at one  time boasted of
   as a remedy, it has no power whatever, except  as a palliative for the cough.
   In  the various affections of the chest, however, attended with dyspnoea or
   cough, such as asthma, hooping cough, and chronic catarrh, its use has  often
   been decidedly  beneficial, by  allaying  irritation  or relaxing spasm.  In
   hypertrophy of  the heart, and  aneurism  of  the aorta, it has also been  used
   with advantage.   In various affections of the stomach, characterized by pain
   and spasm, and sometimes  attended with  vomiting, but unconnected with
   inflammation, and  supposed  to depend upon  a disordered condition of the
   nerves of the organ, hydrocyanic acid has proved beneficial in the hands of
   several practitioners.  It has also been administered as an anodyne in several
   painful affections,  as  cancer, tic douloureux, &c, but with doubtful advan-
   tage.  Sometimes  it  is used  externally, diluted  with  water, as a wash in
   cutaneous diseases. Dr. A. T. Thomson, from his personal observation, insists
   particularly on its  efficacy in  allaying the itching in impetiginous affections.
      The dose of medicinal hydrocyanic acid is from one  to six or eight drops,
   dissolved in distilled water, or mixed with gum water or syrup.  It requires
   to be administered  with the greatest caution, on account of  the minuteness
   of the dose, and the great  variableness in strength of the acid  as found in the
   shops.  The proper plan, therefore,  is  to begin with a  small  dose, one drop
   for example, and gradually to increase the quantity until some obvious im-
   pression is produced.  If giddiness,  weight at the top of the head, sense of
   tightness at the stomach, or faintness  come on, its use should be discontinued.
   In  all  cases in which a fresh portion  of medicine is used, the  dose should be
   lowered to the minimum,  lest the new sample might prove stronger than that
   previously employed.   When resorted to as a lotion, from  thirty minims to
   a fluidrachm may  be dissolved in a fluidounce of distilled water.
      Hydrocyanic  acid is so rapidly fatal as a poison that physicians  have sel-
   dom an opportunity to treat its  effects.  When not immediately fatal, the
   symptoms produced are sudden loss of sense, trismus, difficult and rattling
   respiration, coldness of the extremities, a smell of bitter almonds proceeding
   from the mouth, smallness of the pulse, swelling of the neck, dilatation and 
792
Adda.
PART II.
immobility and sometimes contraction of the pupils, convulsions, &c.  The
antidotes and  remedies  most to be  relied on, are chlorine, ammonia, cold
affusion, 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  Med. Journal, for Nov., 1835, of
poisoning by this acid, in which the diluted aromatic spirit of ammonia applied
to the mouth, although not swallowed on account of the  teeth being clenched,
and the solid carbonate assiduously applied to the nostrils, produced speedy
beneficial effects.  Cold affusion was first proposed in 1828 by Herbst, who
strongly recommended it from his own experiments, which were subsequently
confirmed by Orfila.  Its efficacy is strongly supported by experiments per-
formed in 1839 by Dr. Robinson and M.  Lonyet, who quickly resuscitated
rabbits, apparently dead from  hydrocyanic  acid, by  pouring on their head
and spine a stream of water artificially refrigerated.  Messrs. J. &  J. H.
Smith, of Edinburgh, have recently  recommended as an antidote, a mixture
of the sulphates of the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron, associated with car-
bonate of potassa.  So  soon as the antidote comes in contact with hydro-
cyanic acid, sulphate of potassa  is formed, and the poison is converted into
Prussian blue. (Am. Journ. of Med.  Sci., Jan., 1845, from the Lancet.)
   After death from suspected  poison, it is sometimes necessary, in medico-
legal investigations, to ascertain whether the event was caused by this acid.
If death has  taken place a long  time, it would be needless to search for so
volatile and decomposable a poison; but it has been recognised in one instance
seven days  after death.  The best test, in  ordinary cases, is a solution of
nitrate of silver,  which gives a white  curdy precipitate of cyanuret of silver,
distinguishable from the chloride by its exhaling the peculiar odour of prussic
acid on the addition of muriatic acid.   In cases in which the liquid  supposed
to contain the poison, is disguised by colouring and animal matter, M. Ossian
Henry recommends that it should be distilled into a pure weak solution of
the nitrate ; when, if the suspected acid be present, cyanuret of silver will be
precipitated.  In order to render  it certain that the precipitate is the cyanuret,
in cases where its quantity is minute, M. Henry recommends that  it be con-
verted into the ferrocyanuret of sodium, which salt can be readily recognised by
its forming characteristic precipitates  with the salts of sesquioxide of iron  and
with sulphate of copper.  The conversion  is  effected by heating the cyanuret
moderately with half its weight  of common salt, which generates chloride of
silver, and cyanuret of sodium.  This latter is then taken up by water,  and
the solution filtered.  To this is added a small portion  of  the fresh hydrated
oxide of iron, obtained by precipitating a solution of sulphate of iron by potassa.
The solution is again  filtered,  and  moderately heated.  Ferrocyanuret of
sodium is thus formed, the least  trace of which strikes a blue  colour with the
sulphate of sesquioxide of iron, and a brown  one with the sulphate of copper.
   Off.Prep. Argenti Cyanuretum,  U.S., Lond.;  Hydrargyri Bicyanidum,
Lond.                                                            B.
   ACIDUM  MURIATICUM DILUTUM. U. S., Ed., Dub. Aci-
dum  Htdrochloricum  Dilutum. Lond. Diluted Muriatic Acid.
   " Take of Muriatic Acjd four fluidounces; Distilled Water twelve fluid-
ounces.  Mix them in a glass vessel.  The  specific gravity of this  acid is
1*046." U.S.
   The London and Edinburgh  directions are the same as those of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia.   The U. S. and London  diluted acids are identical;  but the 
PART II.
Adda.
793
 Edinburgh diluted acid is somewhat stronger (1*050), in consequence of the
 pure muriatic acid of that College having a density of 1*17, instead of  1*16
 (U. S., Lond.).  The Dublin College mixes ten measures of Muriatic  Acid
 with eleven  of Distilled  Water, and states  the density of the acid to be
 1*080.
   It is convenient to have an officinal diluted muriatic acid, and, at  present,
 all the Pharmacopoeias give a formula for it.  The acids of the U. S., Lon-
 don, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias virtually agree in strength; that of the
 Dublin College is nearly  twice as strong.  For an account of the medicinal
 properties of muriatic  acid, see Acidum Muriaticum.  The  dose of the
 diluted acid  is  from twenty to  sixty drops; of the Dublin acid, about half
 that  quantity, mixed with water or other convenient vehicle.   The  Dublin
 College employs this acid,  as a chemical agent, in the preparation of Calcis
 Phosphas Prsecipitatum.                                          B.
   ACIDUM NITRICUM  DILUTUM.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.
 Diluted Nitric Acid.
   "Take of Nitric Acid a fluidounce; Distilled Water nine fluidounces.
 Mix them in a glass vessel.  The specific gravity of this acid is 1*08." U. S.
   The London formula is the same as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
   "  Mix  together one fluidounce of Pure  Nitric Acid (D.  1*500), and  nine
 fluidounces  of Distilled Water.  If the  Commercial  Nitric  Acid of D.
 1*390 be used, one fluidounce and five fluidrachms and a half are required.
 The  density  of this diluted acid is  1*077." Ed.
   " Take  of Nitrie Acid by measure,  three  parts;  Distilled Water by
 measure, four parts.   Mix, avoiding the noxious  vapours.  The  specific
 gravity of this acid is 1*280." Dub.
   At present all the Pharmacopoeias embrace Diluted Nitric Acid, for con-
 venience in  prescribing.  The acids of  the  U.S., London, and Edinburgh
 Pharmacopoeias are of the same strength, being for equal volumes with the
 strong acid, a little more than one-tenth its strength.  The acid of the Dublin
 College is somewhat less  than  half as strong as the concentrated acid,  and
 is, therefore,  nearly five times as strong as the other officinal acids.
   The medicinal properties  of the diluted acid are the same as those of the
 strong acid.  (See Acidum Nitricum.)  The  dose of the U. S.,  Lond.,  and
 Ed.  acid is from twenty  to forty drops  three times a day, sufficiently re-
 duced with water at the time of taking it;  of the Dublin acid, from five to
 ten drops.
   Diluted nitric acid is used by the Dublin  College, as a  chemical ao-ent
 merely, in preparing Calomelas Prascipitatum, Hydrargyri Acetas, and Hy-
 drargyri Oxydum Nitricum.  A diluted nitric acid is used by the Edinburgh
 College for preparing the  red oxide of mercury; but it  is directed to have
 the density of 1*280, and  is, therefore, not  the  officinal  diluted acid of the
 College.
   Off. Prep.   Argenti  Nitras  Fusum, Dub.; Argenti  Nitratis Crystalli,
 Dub.; Bismuthi Subnitras, Dub.; Plumbi Nitras, Ed.               B.
   ACIDUM NITROMURIATICUM.  U.S., Dub.   Nitromuriatic
 Acid.
  " Take  of Nitric Acid 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.
  The Dublin formula need not be given; as it is the original of that now for
the first time  introduced  into  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
  Nitromuriatic  acid is  the  aqua regia of the earlier chemists, so  called
    68 
794
Adda.
PART II.
from its property of dissolving gold.   Nitric and muriatic acids, when mixed
together,  mutually decompose  each other.   The  quantities necessary  to
render the decomposition complete  are  one equivalent of  each.   One eq.
of hydrogen of the muriatic acid forms water with one eq. of oxygen of the
nitric acid,  which  consequently becomes  nitrous acid, and chlorine is set
free.   The  preparation, therefore, after the reaction is over, is a solution  of
nitrous acid and chlorine in  water.
   As the acids,  considered dry, must be used  in the proportion of their
equivalents, it is  easy to calculate in what proportion the  officinal acids  of
the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia must be  mixed, so as to contain equivalent quan-
tities of the dry acids.  Thus  67*7 parts of the U.S. nitric acid, and 114*4
parts  of the U. S. muriatic acid, contain respectively one  eq. of dry acid.
It hence follows  that the U. S. officinal  acids, for complete decomposition,
must be mixed in this proportion, or in the ratio of 10 to  17 nearly; and the
mixture will contain, by calculation, somewhat less than 20 per cent, of free
chlorine, assuming that none is lost by effervescence.  This ratio by weight,
turned into volumes,  would  be 1 measure of nitric  acid to 2*19 measures  of
muriatic acid.  But the formula calls for 1 measure of nitric acid to 2 mea-
sures of muriatic acid; and hence it is evident that the nitric acid is used  in
an amount, somewhat more than sufficient to decompose the whole of the
muriatic acid.  These calculations, of course, apply also to the Dublin nitro-
muriatic acid, the slight difference between the officinal density of the Dublin
and U. S. nitric acid  (1*49 to  1*5) not affecting sensibly the result.
   The affinity of chlorine and nitrous acid for  water being much less than
that of muriatic and nitric acids for the same liquid, the mixture of the strong
acids is always.attended with the production of effervescence.  To prevent
the loss of chlorine, Dr. Duncan recommends the immediate dilution of the
mixture  with an equal quantity of water.  On account of these  objections
to the use of the strong  acids, it is  best to employ  good ordinary acids  of
commerce.   The strength  of these  may be stated  as   averaging  1*15 for
muriatic, and 1*34 for nitric acid; and the proportions in  which they should
be mixed is about 26 parts by weight of the former to 25 of the latter. The
mixture contains about 15 per cent, of chlorine.  The decomposition, in this
case, takes place slowly, and  the resulting solution of chlorine may be kept
without inconvenience.
   Properties.  Nitromuriatic acid has a golden-yellow colour, and emits the
smell of chlorine.   It possesses the power of dissolving  gold and  platinum,
owing solely,  it is generally  supposed, to the presence of chlorine; but,
according to Millon, the action does not take place  without the presence of
nitrous acid.  In the opinion of Baudrimont, the efficient solvent of gold and
platinum in this mixed acid is a compound of one eq. of  hyponitrous acid
and two of chlorine (N03,C12), which corresponds in constitution with dry
nitric acid (N05), two eqs. of oxygen  being replaced by two of chlorine.
(Journ. de Pharm.)  It requires to be kept in a cool, dark  place,  on account
of its liability to lose chlorine by heat, or to have it converted, by the action
 of light, into muriatic acid, in consequence of the decomposition of water.
 On account of its liability  to decomposition,  it should not be made by the
 apothecary until it is wanted  for use, and  then only in the  quantity ordered;
 the formula being introduced merely as a guide for  the proportions.  The
 nitric and muriatic acids, as  sold in the shops, are sometimes so  weak that
 when mixed they will not  readily act on  gold-leaf.  When this is the case,
 their solvent power may be rendered effective by the addition of a little sul-
 phuric acid,  which, by its superior attraction  for  water, concentrates  the 
PART II.
Adda.
795
other acids, and produces an immediate action, accompanied by the evolution
of chlorine.*
   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 employed, it produces a tingling sensation in the skin,  thirst, a
peculiar taste in the mouth, and occasional soreness of the gums and plentiful
ptyalism ; and  at the same  time stimulates the liver, as is evinced by  an
increased flow of bile.  It is  used either by sponging, or  in the form  of bath.
When applied in the former way, the acid is first diluted so as to have the
acidity  of strong vinegar.    When used  as a  bath, three  gallons of water
contained in a deep, narrow, wooden tub,  may be  acidulated with six fluid-
ounces of the acid.   In this  the feet and legs are to be immersed for twenty
minutes  or  half an hour.   The bath may be  employed at first  daily, and
afterwards twice or thrice a week ; and the sponging  may be used at the
same time.   The bath is said to be  effective in promoting  the passage  of
biliary calculi.   The acid may be used also internally, principally  in hepatic
and syphilitic diseases.  The  dose in this case is three  or four drops, suffi-
ciently diluted  with water.                                          B.
   ACIDUM  PHOSPHORICUM  DILUTUM.  Lond.  . Diluted
Phosphoric Acid.
   "  Take of Phosphorus an ounce; Nitric Acid four fluidounces ; Distilled
Water ten fluidounces.  Add the Phosphorus to the Nitric Acid mixed  with
the Water in a glass retort placed in a sand-bath ; then apply heat until eight
fluidounces  are distilled.  Put these again into the retort, that eight fluid-
ounces  may distil, which are to be rejected.    Evaporate the  remaining
liquor in a platinum capsule until only two ounces  and six  drachms  remain.
Lastly,  add  to the acid, when it  is cold, as much  distilled water as  may  be
sufficient to  make  it accurately  measure twenty-eight fluidounces." Lond. '
The specific gravity of this acid  is 1*064.  One hundred grains of it  saturate
forty-two grains of carbonate of soda. Imperial measure is to be understood
in this formula.
   The process for  this new officinal of the London College may  be  thus
explained.   Phosphorus, when added to  strong nitric  acid, decomposes  it
with explosion and rapid combustion; but when  distilled with the diluted
acjd 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 acidification of the phosphorus.   When this has
been completed, all remains  of nitric acid  are driven off by the evaporation
in the platinum capsule; and the residue, which contains all the phosphoric
acid that can be generated  from  an ounce of phosphorus, is brought to a
standard degree of dilution, by the addition of sufficient distilled water  to
make it measure twenty-eight fluidounces. (See Acidum Nitricum  and Phos-
phorus.)
   Phosphoric  acid  may be  obtained more economically than by  the above
process, by decomposing  phosphate of lime (calcined bones) by sulphuric
acid, saturating the superphosphate  formed with carbonate  of  ammonia,
which generates  phosphate  of  ammonia  in  solution with  precipitation  of
phosphate  of lime, and finally decomposing the phosphate of ammonia  by

   * In relation to nitromuriatic acid, see a paper in the third volume of the Journal of  the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, by Daniel B. Smith. 
796
Adda.
PART II.
  a red heat in a platinum crucible.   The ammonia is thus expelled, and the
  solid residuum will be the phosphoric acid.  \Vackenroder has given another
  process for medicinal phosphoric acid, which  requires the use of alcohol,
  and is, therefore, ineligible. (See Amer. Journ. of Pharm. for July, 1842.)
  Platinum vessels are necessary in the different processes for preparing phos-
  phoric acid, because this acid, when concentrated, acts on glass.
    Properties.   Diluted phosphoric  acid is  a colourless, inodorous, sour
  liquid, acting strongly on  litmus, and possessing  powerful acid properties.
  Although  evaporated so as to become dense, it is not powerfully corrosive
  like the  other  mineral  acids.   From its  saturating  power it is shown to
  contain 10*5 per cent,  of  real phosphoric acid.  With chloride of barium
  and nitrate of* silver  it forms  precipitates (the phosphates  of  baryta  and
  silver), which are readily soluble in nitric acid.   If the tests mentioned give
  a precipitate not soluble in this acid, they prove the  presence—the chloride
  of barium, of sulphuric acid or a sulphate; the nitrate of silver,  of muriatic
  acid or a chloride.  If carbonate of soda causes a precipitate, phosphate of
  lime, or  some  other phosphate  insoluble in water, is probably held in solu-
  tion.  When the diluted acid is evaporated to  dryness and heated to redness,
  it becomes a transparent, white, brittle, fusible solid,  formerly  called glacial
 phosphoric acid, now denominated metaphosphoric  acid, and consisting of
  one eq. of phosphoric acid and one of water.   Phosphoric acid, considered
  dry, consists of one eq. of phosphorus 31*4,  and five of oxygen 40=71*4.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Diluted phosphoric acid, like  the other
  mineral acids, is deemed tonic and refrigerant.  It is preferable in point of
  flavour to the diluted sulphuric acid, and is less apt to disturb the digestive
  functions.   Various powers have been ascribed to it, such as  allaying pain
  and spasm, strengthening the sexual organs, preventing the morbid secretion
  of bony matter, as in exostosis and  ossification, and correcting phosphatic
.  deposits  in the urine, on the ground of its power of dissolving phosphate of
  lime.  It has been recommended  in leucorrhoea, when the secreted fluid is
  thin  and  acrid, in  hysteria, and diabetes.  In the latter  disease  Dr. Paris
  found it to allay the thirst  more  effectually than any  other acid drink.   The
  dose is from twenty drops to a teaspoonful, diluted with water.       B.
    ACIDUM  SUCCINICUM. Dub.  Succinic Acid.
    " Take  of Amber reduced to coarse powder, and  of pure sand, each, one
 part.  On the application  of heat gradually increased, an acid  liquor, an oil,
  and the acid in a crystallized form will distil over.   The latter should be
  received on bibulous paper, and  exposed to a strong pressure to  expel the
  oil,  and again sublimed.   By filtration through bibulous paper,  the oil may
  be obtained separate from  the acid liquor." Dub.
    The above formula has for its object to obtain the oil of amber, as well as
  succinic  acid ;  but our remarks will  be  confined in  this place,  to the acid,
  the oil being described under  another head.  (See  Oleum Succini.)  Amber
  contains  succinic acid  ready formed, associated  with volatile  oil,  certain
  resins, and other substances. (See Succinum.)  When distilled, it  swells
  considerably, and a yellow liquid, consisting of a solution of impure succinic
  acid, first comes  over; after which a  concrete substance sublimes containing
  the same acid. (See page 693.)   It is this substance separated  from contami-
  nating oil and re-sublimed, which constitutes the succinic acid  of the Dublin
  College;  but it is far from being pure.   The College directs the admixture
  of sand,  to prevent the inconvenience of the amber swelling too much  by the
  heat.
    Several  processes have been proposed to purify succinic acid.  The best
  is that of Morveau, which consists in dissolving the  acid in twice its weight 
PART II.
Adda.
797
 of nitric  acid, and evaporating the  solution to  dryness.   In  this way the
 oil is decomposed, while the succinic acid remains unaltered.   This is then
 washed in a little ice-cold water, next dissolved in boiling water, and crys-
 tallized.
   Properties.  Succinic acid, when pure, is  a white, transparent solid, crys-
 tallizing in prisms, and  having a somewhat acrid taste.   It reddens litmus
 strongly.   It exists in the resins of certain coniferas, and is a product of the
 oxidation of stearic and margaric acids.  One of its salts, succinate of ammo-
 nia, has been used with great alleged success in delirium tremens.  (Journ.
 de Pharm., 3e ser., v. 241.) Exposed to heat it  melts, and above the boiling
 point of water is partly sublimed and partly decomposed.  It dissolves in
 five times its weight of cold, and  twice its weight of boiling water.   It is
 soluble also in cold alcohol, and much more so in boiling alcohol.   When
 anhydrous it consists  of four eqs. of carbon 24, two of hydrogen 2, and three
 of oxygen 24=50 (C4Ha03).   It differs, therefore, from acetic acid, only in
 containing one eq. less of  hydrogen.  The sublimed  acid consists of two
 eqs. of dry acid and  one  of water, 2(C4H20,) + HO.
   Succinic acid  is at present  never used  in medicine,  and  ought to be
 expunged from the officinal catalogue.   It has been abandoned by the Edin-
 burgh College in the last revision of its Pharmacopoeia.               B.
   ACIDUM  SULPHURICUM AROMATICUM.  U.S.,Ed., Dub.
 Aromatic Sulphuric Acid.   Elixir of Vitriol.
   " Take of Sulphuric Acid three fluidounces and a half;  Ginger, bruised,
 an ounce; Cinnamon, bruised,  an ounce and a half; Alcohol two pints.
 Add the Acid gradually to the Alcohol, and digest, in a close vessel, for three
 days;  then add the Ginger and  Cinnamon, and macerate for a week; lastly,
 filter through paper." U. S.
   " Take of Sulphuric Acid (commercial) three fluidounces and a half; Rec-
 tified Spirit a pint and a half [Imp. meas.] ; Cinnamon, in moderately fine
 powder, an ounce and a half; Ginger, in moderately fine powder, an ounce.
 Add the acid gradually to the spirit, let the  mixture  digest at  a  very gentle
 heat for three days in  a closed vessel; mix the powders, moisten them with
 a little of  the acid spirit, let the mass rest for twelve hours, and  then put it
 into a percolator and transmit the rest of the acid spirit.   This preparation
 may also be made by digesting the powders for  six days in the  acid spirit,
 and  then straining the liquor." Ed.
   The Dublin  process is substantially the same  as those of the U. S. and
 Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, and therefore need not be copied.
   The original of the  formulas here given for elixir of vitriol was the process
 contained  in the former Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia, which was adopted, with
 slight alteration, in the U.S. and Dublin standards.  The present formula of
 the Edinburgh College differs from their original one, in substituting for the
 weights of the acid and spirit, the nearest equivalent measures, and in giving
 the alternative of preparing  by  displacement.  The same substitution was
 made in the formula when it was first adopted in  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
 and hence the two formulas are virtually the  same.  The only difference is
 in the  proportion  of the  spirit,  which is 32  wine fluidounces  in the U.S.
 formula, and 30 Imperial fluidounces in the Edinburgh.   This circumstance
 makes the U. S. preparation  somewhat weaker in acid than the Edinburgh,
 because more diluted with spirit.
  Properties.   Aromatic  sulphuric acid is a  reddish-brown liquid, of a pe-
culiar 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
                                  68* 
798
Adda.
PART II.
justifying such a suspicion; but the  late Dr. Duncan, who  originally held
this  opinion, satisfied  himself  that the alcohol  and sulphuric acid, in the
proportions here  employed, do  not produce a single  particle of ether.  It
must, therefore, be viewed merely as sulphuric acid diluted with alcohol, and
containing the essential oils of gmger  and cinnamon.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  This valuable preparation, commonly
called elixir of vitriol,  is a simplification of  the acid elixir of Mynsicht.  It
is tonic and astringent, and affords the most  agreeable mode of administering
sulphuric acid.  It is very  much  employed in debility  with night sweats, in
loss  of appetite, and in the convalescence from fevers, especially those of the
intermittent type   It is often given in conjunction with  cinchona, the  taste
of which it serves to cover, and, by increasing the solubility of the febrifuo-e
principles of the bark, appears  to increase its  efficacy.   (See Infusum Cin-
chonae Compositum.)   In  hasmoptysis and  other  hemorrhages, when not
attended with obvious  inflammation, it frequently proves useful in stopping
the flow of blood.  The dose is from  ten to  thirty drops in a wineglassful of
water repeated two or three times a day.  Care  must be taken that the  teeth
are not injured by the acid.
   Off.Prep. Infusum  Cinchonas Compositum, U.S.                  B.
   ACIDUM  SULPHURICUM  DILUTUM. U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed.,
Dub. Diluted Sulphuric Acid.
   "Take  of Sulphuric Acid a fluidounce ;  Distilled Water thirteen fluid-
ounces.   Add the Acid gradually to  the Water, in a  glass vessel, and mix
them.   The specific  gravity of this acid is 1*09." U. S.
  " Take of Sulphuric Acid a fluidounce and a half; Distilled Water four-
teen fluidounces and a  half  Add the Acid gradually to the Water, and mix
them."  Lond.
  " Mix together one fluidounce  of Sulphuric Acid and thirteen fluidounces
of Water.  The density of this preparation is about 1*090." Ed.
  "Take of Pure Sulphuric Acid one part; Distilled Water seven parts.
Gradually add the Acid to the Water.   The specific gravity of this  acid is
1*084."  Dub.
  This  preparation is  sulphuric  acid, diluted to such an extent as to make
it convenient for  prescription.   The  U. S. and Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeias
agree in making  the strong acid to the water as one  to thirteen in volume,
equivalent nearly  to one to seven  in weight,  the ratio adopted by the Dublin
College.  There  is,  accordingly, a virtual  agreement in the strength and
density  of  the acid by  these three processes;  but unfortunately the formula
of the London College gives an acid considerably stronger.  The coincident
processes afford an acid containing about 13 per cent,  of the strong liquid
acid; while the London acid contains  16 per cent., and  has a specific  gravity
as high  as  Ml.  According to  Mr.  Philips, a  fluidrachm (Imp. meas.) of
the London acid contains about ten grains of  the strong acid, and will saturate
twenty-eight grains  of crystallized carbonate of soda.   The strong  acid is
added gradually to the water, to guard against the too sudden production of
heat, which might cause the fracture  of the vessel.   During the dilution,
when commercial sulphuric acid  is used, the liquid becomes  slightly turbid,
and in the course of  a  few days deposits a grayish-white powder which is
sulphate of lead, and from  which the diluted  acid should be poured off for
use.   This noxious  salt is thus got rid of, but sulphate  of potassa, another
impurity in the strong acid, still  remains in  solution.   To  avoid these im-
purities, the Dublin College directs the dilution of pure  sulphuric acid.  The
presence of a small portion of sulphate of potassa will do no harm ;  but if it 
PART II.
Adda.
799
should be fradulently 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.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Diluted  sulphuric acid is  tonic, refrige-
rant, and astringent.   It  is  given in  low typhoid  fevers, and often with
advantage.  In the convalescence from protracted fevers, it  often acts bene-
ficially as a tonic, exciting  the appetite and  promoting digestion.  As an
astringent, it is employed 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 con-
tinued use, to disorder the stomach.   Externally it is used as an  ingredient
in gargles for ulcerated sorethroat  and for checking excessive ptyalism, and
as a wash for cutaneous eruptions and ill-conditioned ulcers.   The dose  is
from ten to thirty drops three times a day, in a wineglass or two of plain or
sweetened water.  It is added  with advantage  to infusions of cinchona, the
organic alkalies  of which it tends  to hold in solution.   As it is apt to injure
the teeth, it  is best taken by sucking it  through a quill.   It is much less used
in the  United States  than the  elixir of vitriol, which  possesses nearly the
same medical properties.   An elegant form for  giving it is the compound
infusion  of  roses.  (See Acidum  Sulphuricum Aromaticum and Infusum
Rosse Compositum.)
   Diluted sulphuric acid is used as a chemical agent to prepare Acidum
Citricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Acidum Tartaricum, Lond., Ed.;  Aconitina,
Lond.; Antimonii Sulphuretum  Prascipitatum, U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;
Strychnia, U. S., Lond.;  Veratria, U. S., Lond.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Rosas Compositum, U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mor-
phias Sulphas, U. S.;  Quininas Sulphas, Dub.;  Zinci Sulphas, Lond., Ed.
                                                                   B.
   ACIDUM  SULPHURICUM  PURUM.  Ed., Dub.  Pure  Sul-
phuric Acid.
   "If Commercial Sulphuric  Acid contain  nitrous acid,  heat eight fluid-
ounces of it with between ten and fifteen grains of sugar, at a temperature
not quite sufficient to boil  the aCid, till the  dark  colour  at first produced
shall have nearly or altogether disappeared.   This process removes nitrous
acid.   Other impurities may be removed by distillation, which on the small
scale is easily managed by boiling the  acid, with a few platinum chips, in a
glass  retort  by means of a sand-bath  or gas flame, rejecting the first half
ounce."  Ed.
   " Take of  Commercial  Sulphuric Acid a  pound.   Put the acid  into a
retort of flint  glass, attach  a receiver of the same kind, and with the junc-
tures of the vessels left open, let heat be applied to the retort until one-twelfth
part of the liquor shall have distilled over : this, as it contains water, should
be rejected.   The receiver being again applied, the residuum is to  be dis-
tilled to dryness.   A few slips of platinum, put into the acid in the retort,
will restrain the ebullition,  which otherwise  would be  too  violent.   The
specific gravity of this acid is  1-845.   Let the acid be kept in well closed
vessels." Dub.
   The object of these processes is the purification of commercial sulphuric
acid.   This acid contains the sulphates of lead and potassa, amounting not
unfrequenfly to  three or four per  cent.; and  nitrous acid  is almost always
present.   The salts mentioned, not being volatile, are  effectually got rid of 
800
Adda.
PART II.
by distillation, as directed in the formula.  The manner of conducting the
distillation is explained at page 48, under the head of Acidum Sulphuricum.
The mode of detecting nitrous acid is pointed out at  page 46.  If present in
the commercial acid, the Edinburgh College directs, before distilling it, that
it should be  heated with a small  proportion of sugar, according to the plan
of Wackenroder.  The acid impurity and sugar mutually decompose each
other, and the  products are dissipated by the heat.   The acid is at first ren-
dered dark and opaque, but gradually becomes  pale  yellow, if kept for two
hours near the boiling point.  Nitrous acid is hurtful to the sulphuric, when
the latter is used to obtain  muriatic acid, which consequently becomes con-
taminated with chlorine.  Hence  the Edinburgh College uses pure sulphuric
acid in the formula for preparing  muriatic acid.  If the commercial sulphuric
acid contain  arsenic, it should not be distilled, but rejected.   The tests for
this impurity are given at page 47.
  It is, perhaps, an advantage to  have an officinal pure sulphuric acid.  The
least danger of introducing lead into the system, when exhibiting the prepa-
rations containing sulphuric acid, should be carefully avoided.  It is true that
the commercial acid, upon dilution, lets fall the sulphate of lead; but can we
be certain that the precipitate is  always removed from the preparation into
which the diluted 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 and Dublin  Pharmacopoeias.  The  Edinburgh Col-
lege adopts  the  names "Acidum  Sulphuricum" and "Acidum Sulphuricum
Purum," and translates them in three  ways in the formulas,—"commercial
sulphuric acid," "pure sulphuric acid,"  and  "sulphuric acid."  The last
name is ambiguous, and may mean either the commercial or pure acid.  The
Dublin College adopts the names "Acidum Sulphuricum Venale" and "Aci-
dum Sulphuricum Purum," but, in the formulas, frequently uses the indefinite
term "Acidum  Sulphuricum." We shall assume that the indefinite expressions
of both Pharmacopoeias mean the commercial acid.
  According to the views  here taken, pure sulphuric  acid  should be used,
especially in  forming "diluted  sulphuric acid" and  "aromatic sulphuric
acid."  In  neither of these preparations  is it  employed by the Edinburgh
College,  and only to form the diluted acid by  the Dublin.   Where a dilute
acid is required as a chemical agent, and not as a medicine, it might be
directed, in  the formula,  to be  formed  by the addition of a determinate
quantity of water to the commercial acid.  The Edinburgh College  consi-
ders it necessary to use the " pure sulphuric  acid," though acting merely as
a chemical agent, in preparing Acidum Aceticum  and  Acidum Muriaticum
Purum.
   Off. Prep. Acidum Sulphuricum Dilutum, Dub.                   B.
  ACIDUM  TANNICUM.  U.S.  Tannic Acid,  Tannin.
  " Take of Galls, in powder, Sulphuric Ether, each, a sufficient quantity.
Put into a glass  adapter, loosely  closed at its lower  end with carded  cotton,
sufficient powdered Galls to fill about one half of it, and press the powder
slightly.  Then fit the adapter accurately to the mouth of a receiving ves-
sel, fill it with the Sulphuric Ether, and close the upper  orifice so as to
prevent the  escape of the  ether  by evaporation.   The  liquid which passes
separates into  two  unequal portions, of which the  lower is much smaller
in quantity and much denser than the upper.  When the ether ceases to
pass, pour fresh portions upon the Galls, until the  lower stratum of liquid
in the receiver no longer increases.  Then separate this from the upper, put 
PART II.
Adda.
801
 it into a capsule, and evaporate with  a  moderate heat to  dryness.   Lastly,
 rub what remains into powder.
   " The upper portion of liquid will yield by distillation a quantity of ether,
 which, when washed with  water, may be employed in a  subsequent opera-
 tion."  U.S.
   This is the process of M. Pelouze.   It may be  conducted in an  ordinary
 displacement apparatus.  The sulphuric ether employed should be that of
 the shops, containing a small proportion of water, which is  necessary to the
 success of the operation.   Should the ether contain  no water, it should be
 washed with  this fluid, which answers the double purpose of depriving it
 of alcohol and rendering it sufficiently hydrous.   To obtain the tannic acid
 quite pure, the lower stratum may be washed with ether after the separation
 of the upper, and evaporated in a vacuum with  sulphuric acid.   The expla-
 nation of the process first given was that the water in  the ether dissolves the
 tannic acid to the exclusion of all the  other principles  of the galls, and forms
 a saturated solution, which separates from the ether, and  constitutes  the
 lower stratum in the receiver.  From the experiments of M. Beral there is
 reason to believe that the tannic acid is  not merely dissolved by the water,
 but forms with it and a portion of the ether, a definite compound,  which is
 essentially liquid, and is decomposed during the evaporation; the ether and
 water escaping, and the solid tannic acid being left behind.  The upper and
 larger stratum in the receiver  consists of ether,  holding colouring matter
 with  a small proportion of gallic and tannic acids  in solution.  From 30 to
 35 per cent, of tannic  acid  may  be obtained from galls  by this process if
 properly conducted.*
   For practical purposes it is unnecessary to obtain the tannic acid quite pure.
 It is probably sufficiently so  when extracted by the following simple process
 of Leconnet, given  in Christison's  Dispensatory.   The powder of galls is
 macerated in a bottle, with just enough  ether to  moisten it, for twenty-four
 hours, and then expressed in a powerful  press; and the process of maceration
 and expression is repeated, in the same  way, until the powder is exhausted.
 The  liquors  are mixed, the ether  distilled off, and  the residue  dried by
 means of a vapour-bath.  It  is stated that 60 per cent, of tannic  acid, but
 very  slightly coloured, may be got in this way.   As gallic acid exists but in
 very  small proportion in galls, being chiefly produced by the  reaction  of
 atmospheric  air upon tannic  acid in the process  for extracting it, very little
 of that principle is found in the ethereal  extract, and  the  amount of colour-
 ing matter taken up by  the ether, will scarcely interfere with the medicinal
 efficacy of the preparation.
   The term tannin was originally applied to a principle or principles exist-
 ing in many vegetables, having a  very astringent taste, and the property of
 producing  a white  flocculent precipitate  with the  solution of gelatin, and a
 black precipitate with  the salts of the sesquioxide of iron.  As obtained,
 however, from different plants, tannin  was found to exhibit some  difference
 of properties, and chemists have  recognized two kinds, one  existing in oak
 bark, galls, &c, distinguished by producing a bluish-black precipitate with
 the salts  of the sesquioxide  of  iron, and  the  other  existing in Peruvian
 bark, catechu, &c., and characterized by producing a greenish-black or dark   m
 olive  precipitate with the same  salts.   The former is the  one which  has
 received most attention,  and from  an  examination of which the  charac-

  * The various circumstances in  which the process is  liable to vary in consequence of
difference in the character of the menstruum, have been detailed and explained in a paper
 by Dr. Robert Bridges, contained in the Am.  Journ. of Pharmacy, vol. 14, page 40, to
 which the reader is referred. 
802
Adda.
PART II.
   ters 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 publication of the experiments of M. Pelouze in relation to tannin,
   this substance  has been  universally admitted to rank with the  acids, and is,
   therefore,  now generally denominated  tannic  acid.   Dr. Kane  calls  the
   ordinary variety procured from galls, for the sake of distinction, gallo-tannic
   acid.
      Properties.   Pure tannic  acid is solid, uncrystallizable, white or slightly
   yellowish, inodorous,  strongly astringent  to the taste  without  bitterness,
   very soluble in water,  much  less  soluble in alcohol and  ether,  especially
   when  anhydrous, and  insoluble in the  fixed and volatile oils.   It may be
   kept unchanged in the  solid state;  but its  aqueous  solution, when exposed
   to the air, gradually becomes turbid, and deposits a crystalline matter, con-
   sisting chiefly  of  gallic  acid.  During  the change, oxygen is  absorbed, and
   an equal volume  of carbonic acid  disengaged.   Exposed to  heat  it  partly
   melts, swells up, blackens, takes fire, and  burns with a brilliant flame.  Its
   solution reddens  litmus, and it combines with  most of the salifiable bases.
   With  potassa  it  forms a compound but slightly soluble, and is, therefore,
   precipitated by this alkali or its carbonates from  a solution  which is not  too
   dilute,  though  a  certain excess of alkali  will  cause the  precipitate  to be
   redissolved.    Its 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 presented,  in the  state of salts, to  a solution of
   the tannate of  potassa.   Many of the  metallic  salts are precipitated by tan-
   nic acid  even  in the uncombined  state, especially  those of lead, copper,
   silver, uranium, chromium, mercury, and the protoxide of tin.   With the salts
   of sesquioxide of iron it forms a black precipitate, which is a compound of
   tannic  acid  and  the sesquioxide, and is  the  basis of ink.   It does  not
   disturb the solutions of  the pure salts of protoxide of iron.   Several of the
   alkaline salts precipitate it from its  aqueous solution, either  by the forma-
   tion of insoluble  compounds, or  by simply abstracting  the solvent.   Tan-
   nic acid unites  with all the  vegetable alkalies,  forming compounds  which
   are for the most part  of a whitish colour, and  but very slightly soluble in
   water; though they are soluble in the vegetable  acids, especially the  acetic,
   and in alcohol, and in this latter respect differ from most of the compounds
   which  tannic acid  forms with other vegetable  principles.  On account of
   this properly of tannic acid, it has  been employed as a test of the vegetable
   alkalies; and  it is  so  delicate, that it  will throw  down a precipitate from
   their solution, even when too feeble  to be disturbed by ammonia.    It has
   an  affinity  for  several  acids, and  when  in solution  affords precipitates
    with the sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, phosphoric, and arsenic  acids, but not
,.  with the oxalic,1 tartaric, lactic, acetic, or citric.   The precipitates are com-
   pounds 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  ensure precipitation, it is necessary to add the acid in  excess to
   the solution of tannic  acid.   It  precipitates also  solutions of starch, albu-
   men, and  gluten, and forms  with gelatin an  insoluble compound,  which is
    the basis of leather.  Its ultimate constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxy-
    gen ; and its formula, according to  Liebig,  is C18H8Oi, or C^HjOg-f-S HO. 
PART II.
Adda.—Aconitina.
803
  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  vegetable astringents, it is associated with more or less bitter extrac-
tive, or other principle which modifies its operation, and renders the medicine
less applicable than it otherwise would be,  to certain cases in which there is
an indication for pure astringency- without any tonic  power.  Such is parti-
cularly the case with the active hemorrhages; and tannic acid, in its separate
state, is in these cases preferable to the native  combinations in which it
ordinarily exists.   Dr.  Porta, an  Italian physician,  employed it with great
success in the treatment of uterine hemorrhage, and  published the results of
his 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  has  been highly recommended  by Dr. Charvet for  checking
excessive sweats.   There is no doubt that it would be found a useful remedy
in most forms of hemorrhage, after a sufficient reduction of arterial action by
depletory measures.  In diarrhoea  also it would probably be more  beneficial
than ordinary astringents, as less  liable to  irritate the stomach and bowels.
It has  been given, with asserted advantage, in the advanced stages of hooping-
cough.  The dose is from two to five  grains.   The only disadvantage which
has been experienced from it, when taken in excess, is obstinate constipation.
Mr. Druitt has  employed it  locally,  with much  success, in excoriations,
phagedenic ulcers, leucorrhoea, aphthas of the mouth, severe salivation, sore-
throat, and toothache.  As a wash it may be used in  solution, in the propor-
tion of five grains to a fluidounce of water. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S.,
ix.  192.)                                                         W.


                       ACONITINA. Lond.

                             Aconitina.

  "Take of Aconite Root, dried  and bruised, two pounds; Rectified Spirit
three gallons [Imperial measure]; Diluted Sulphuric Acid, Solution of Am-
monia, Purified Animal Charcoal, each, a sufficient quantity.   Boil  the
Aconite with a gallon of the  Spirit, for an hour, in  a retort with a receiver
fitted to it.  Pour  off the  liquor,  and again boil the residue with another
gallon  of  the Spirit and with the spirit recently distilled, and pour off the
liquor also.  Let the same be done a third time.   Then press the Aconite,
and having mixed all the liquors and filtered them, distil the spirit.  Evapo-
rate the remainder to the proper consistence of an extract.   Dissolve this in
water  and filter.  Evaporate the solution, with a gentle heat, to the consist-
ence of syrup.   To this add of Diluted Sulphuric Acid, mixed with distilled
water, sufficient to  dissolve the aconitina.   Next drop in Solution of Ammo-
nia, and dissolve the precipitated aconitina in Diluted Sulphuric Acid, mixed
as  before  with  water.   Then  mix  in  the Animal  Charcoal,  occasionally
shaking for a quarter of an hour.   Lastly filter, and having again dropped
in Solution of Ammonia so as to precipitate the Aconitina, wash and dry it."
Lond.
   The name adopted by the London College for the alkaline principle ex-
tracted from aconite is objectionable, as of unnecessary length, and not in
accordance with the general nomenclature of the vegetable alkalies.  Aconitia
is a preferable name.  The principle probably exists in the plant combined 
804
Aconitina.
PART II.
 with a vegetable acid, forming a soluble  salt.  In the above process, this is
 first extracted by alcohol, then taken up from the alcoholic extract by water,
 and afterwards converted into a sulphate  by  the addition of dilute  sulphuric
 acid.   The  sulphate is decomposed by ammonia which precipitates the
 aconitia, and this is purified by being once  more combined with sulphuric
 acid, then decolorized by animal charcoal, and again precipitated by ammo-
 nia.   Care is requisite, in conducting the process, not  to add too great an
 excess of the water of ammonia, which diminishes the product, probably by
 dissolving the aconitia.
   Properties.   Aconitia, when  freshly precipitated, is said to be1 white and
 in the form of a hydrate;  but  it speedily parts with its  water, and  forms a
 brownish, brittle mass.  (Soubeiran,  Trait, de Pharm., ii. 716.)  It is thought
 not to be  crystallizable.   Obtained by 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 with a yellowish tinge.  It is inodorous,
 and of a  bitter and acrid taste, producing a  benumbing impression on the
 tongue.   The acrimony, however, is ascribed by some to a distinct principle
 associated with it, from which it may be  freed by repeated solution  in dilute
 acids and subsequent precipitation.   It is unalterable in the  air, and fusible
 by a gentle heat.  At a high temperature it is decomposed and entirely dis-
 sipated.  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 crystallizable.   That
 it contains nitrogen is proved by the evolution of ammonia, when it is de-
 composed  by heat.  A spurious substance has sometimes been sold under
 the same name, which was  nearly or quite  inert.   It  wanted some of the
 properties above mentioned as characteristic of aconitia.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.    This vegetable principle  exercises a
 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 ad-
 ministered to an elderly female is said to have nearly proved fatal.   It is not
 used internally as a remedy ; but Dr. Turnbull has  advantageously  resorted
 to its external application.   According to this writer, it produces in the skin
 a sensation of heat and prickling,  followed  by numbness and  a feeling of
 constriction; and the  effect continues,  according to the quantity  applied,
 from two  to twelve hours or more.    He  found it not to act as a rubefacient,
 or at least  but slightly so.   Applied very much  diluted and in minute quan-
 tity to the eye, it causes contraction of the pupil, with an almost intolerable
 sense of heat and tingling.   The affections in which Dr. Turnbull employed
 it with benefit, were neuralgia, gout, and rheumatism.   He  recommends it
 either  in  alcoholic solution, in the proportion of a grain to a fluidrachm, or
 in the form of an ointment, made  by rubbing up two grains of the alkali
first  with six drops of alcohol and then with  a drachm of lard.   These pro-
portions 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 sur-
face, or to a mucous membrane, for fear of dangerous  constitutional effects.
It  is  very seldom used, and all its  beneficial effects can be obtained  from
safer and cheaper preparations of aconite.                            W. 
PART II,
JEtherea.
805
                           jETHEREA:

                                Ethers.

   Ethers are peculiar, fragrant, sweetish,  very volatile, and  inflammable
 liquids,  generated by  the  action of acids on alcohol.  Their  composition
 varies with the  acid employed in their formation.   Sometimes  this  merely
 acts as a chemical agent on the alcohol, without entering into the composition
 of the ether generated; in which case the ether consists of etherine and water.
 In other instances the acid employed  unites with etherine and water (the
 ether just mentioned), or  with  etherine only.  On the basis of these dif-
 ferences of composition, the medicinal ethers maybe divided into three kinds:
 I. those consisting of etherine and water; 2. those consisting  of an  acid,
 etherine, and water;  and 3. those composed of an acid and etherine only.
 Sulphuric ether is an example of the first kind, hyponitrous  ether of the
 second,  and muriatic  ether of  the third.   In  medicine, the sulphuric and
 hyponitrous ethers, and  their modifications, are those most commonly em-
 ployed; though occasionally the acetic and  muriatic have been used.
   Ethers, from their extreme inflammability, should never be decanted in the
 vicinity  of flame.  Hence  it  is prudent not to pour them out near a  lighted
 candle.   They should be kept in accurately stopped bottles in a cool place;
 otherwise they are liable to considerable loss by evaporation.           B.
   LIQUOR  ^ETHEREUS SULPHURICUS.  Dub.  Sulphuric
 Ethereal Liquor.  Unrectifled Sulphuric Ether.
   " Take of Rectified  Spirit and of Sulphuric Acid, each, thirty-two  ounces.
 Pour the Spirit  into a glass retort adapted to bearing a sudden heat, and then
 pour on  the acid in  a continued stream;  mix them gradually, and let  twenty
 fluidounces of the liquor be distilled, with  a sudden and sufficiently strong
 heat, into a receiver kept cold.   If sixteen ounces of rectified spirit be  poured
 upon the acid remaining in the  retort, Sulphuric Ethereal Liquor will ao-ain
 come over by distillation."  Dub.
   The preparation obtained by this process  is  sulphuric ether, contaminated
 with alcohol, water, sulphurous acid, and  oil of wine.  In this state  it is
 proper only for external use.  For internal exhibition, it requires to be freed
 from these impurities, when it becomes a distinct preparation, called rectified
 sulphuric ether,  or,  simply, sulphuric ether.   This is described  in the  next
 article, in which its properties and composition, and the theory of its forma-
 tion  are given.
   Off. Prep. iEther Sulphuricus, Dub.                              B.
   AETHER SULPHURICUS.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Sulphuric
 Ether.  Ether.
   " Take of Alcohol four pints;  Sulphuric Acid a  pint; Potassa six
 drachms ; Distilled  Water three fluidounces.   To two pints of the Alcohol,
 in an open vessel, add gradually fourteen fluidounces  of  the Acid,  stirring
 them frequently.  Pour the mixture, while still hot, into  a tubulated glass
 retort,  placed upon a sand-bath, and connected by a long adapter with a re-
 ceiver  kept cold by ice or water; then raise the heat quickly until the liquid
 begins to boil.   When about half a pint of  ethereal liquid shall have  passed
over, introduce gradually into  the retort the remainder of  the Alcohol,  pre-
viously mixed with two fluidounces  of the Acid, taking care that the mixture
shall enter in a continuous  stream, and  in such quantity as shall  supply the
place, as nearly as possible, of the liquid which distils over.  This may be
     69 
806
Mtherea.
PART II.
 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 shall have passed over, or until white
 vapours shall appear in the  retort.
   " To the product thus obtained add the potassa previously dissolved in the
 Distilled Water, and shake them frequently.  A* the end of twenty-four hours,
 pour off from the alkaline solution the supernatant ether, introduce it into  a
 retort, and,  with a  gentle heat, distil until two pints shall  have  passed over,
 or until the  distilled liquid shall have the specific gravity of 0-750."  U. S.
   "Take of Rectified  Spirit fifty fluidounces ;  Sulphuric Acid ten fluid-
 ounces.  Pour twelve  fluidounces of the Spirit gently over  the Acid con-
 tained 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, supply .fresh spirit through a tube into the
 matrass in a continuous stream, and in  such quantity as to equal that of the
 fluid which  distils over.  This is best accomplished  by, connecting one end
 of the tube  with a graduated vessel containing the spirit,—passing the other
 end through a cork fitted into  the matrass,—and having a stop-cock  on the
 tube to regulate  the discharge.   When  forty-two [fluid]ounces have dis-
 tilled 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 slacked. When
all odour of sulphurous  acid has been thus removed, pour off the supernatant
liquor, and distil it with a gentle heat so long as the liquid which passes over
has a density not above  0 735.  More ether of the same strength is then to
be obtained  from the solution of muriate  of lime.  From the residuum of both
distillations  a weaker ether  may be obtained in small quantity,  which must
be rectified by distilling it gently again."  Ed.
  "Take of Rectified  Spirit  three pounds; Sulphuric Acid two pounds;
Carb nate  of Potassa, previously ignited, an ounce.  Pour two pounds of
the s irit into a glass retort, add the acid  to it, and mix.   Afterwards place
it on sand, and raise the  heat so that the  liquor may quickly boil, and  the
Ether  pass  into a  receiver  cooled with ice or water.  Let the  liquor distil
until some heavier portion begins to pass over.  To the liquor which remains
in the retort, after the heat has subsided, add the remainder of the Spirit, that
Ether may distil in the  same manner.  Mix the distilled liquors, then pour
off the supernatant portion,  and add to it  the Carbonate of Potassa, shaking
them frequently during  an hour.  Lastly,  distil the Ether from a large retort,
and keep it  in a stopped vessel."  Lond.   The specific gravity of this ether
is 0*750.
  "Take of Sulphuric  Ethereal Liquor twenty fluidounces; Carbonate of
Potassa, dried and  powdered, two drachms.  Mix them, and from  a very
high retort, distil, by a  very gentle heat,  twelve fluidounces into a receiver
kept cold.   The specific gravity of the  liquor is 0-765." Dub.
  The  object of  these  processes is to obtain a pure sulphuric ether.  The
 Dublin  formula is intended  to purify the unrectified sulphuric ether (sulphu-
ric ethereal liquor), which is officinal only with that  College.   In the othei
processes the ether is formed and purified at one operation.
  The  preparation of sulphuric ether embraces  two stages, its generation,
and  its subsequent  rectification to remove  impurities.   The  formulas all
agree in obtaining it by the action of sulphuric acid on alcohol.  In the  United 
PART II.
JEtherea.
807
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 refrigerated receiver.  When  the distilled
product equals one-fourth  of this  portion  of the alcoliol, 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 as to equal the amount
of the liquid which distils over.   By a complicated  reaction which will  be
explained presently, the acid  converts  the alcohol  into ether,  and  were it
not that the acid becomes  more and more  dilute as  the process proceeds, it
would be  able  to  etherize an unlimited quantity of alcohol.  Although
the acid, before  it  becomes too dilute, is capable  of determining  the  de-
composition  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
with  the ether  undecomposed.  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  estab-
lished, and a portion of ether has distilled, to add the remainder in a gradual
manner, so as  to replace  that which, every  moment during the progress of
the distillation, is disappearing by its conversion into ether.  As, however,
the acid in the retort has already 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 com-
mencement of a series of reactions different from those which  generate the
ether.
  The Edinburgh process for the generation .of sulphuric ether, is the  same,
in its general features,  with that of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.   Less than a
fourth of the alcohol is placed in the  distilling vessel, previously thoroughly
mixed with  the whole of the acid, which forms one-fifth  of  the bulk of the
alcohol, instead  of one-fourth as in the U. S.  formula.  As soon as  the
ether begins  to distil by a quick heat, the remainder of the alcohol is  added
in a continuous  stream as  in  the U.  S. process, and the  distillation is con-
tinued until  a  quantity of ether has come  over,  equal  to  somewhat less
than  six-sevenths of the bulk of all the alcohol.   The ether is condensed
by means of Liebig's excellent refrigeratory, described  and figured at page
772.   In this process,  it is perceived that no acid is reserved to be mixed
with  the portion of alcohol gradually added to the distilling vessel, and a
much smaller proportion of the spirit is mixed with  it at the commencement
of the distillation than in the U. S. formula.
  The quantities of the alcohol and acid, in the London formula, are incon-
veniently taken in weights instead of measures.   The improvement of adding
the reserved  portion of alcohol  gradually is not adopted ; but the old  method
is pursued  of performing a second distillation with this alcohol, added  to  the
residue in the retort.
  The Dublin College  generates  the ether, and rectifies  it by separate for-
mulas,  giving  the  crude  and  rectified  product different officinal  names.
The process of the College for generating the ether is given in the last article,
and, being  substantially the same as that of the London College, need not be
particularly explained.
  The appearance of white vapours in  the retort, or the  passing over of a
heavier portion in the  distillation, is  the signal for discontinuing the pro-
cess.   If it were continued afterwards, the  boiling point would gradually 
808
JEtherea.
PART II.
rise, very little ether would be obtained, and at  the  temperature of 320°
there would be generated, in consequence of new reactions, sulphurous acid,
heavy oil of wine, olefiant gas, and a large quantity of resino-carbonaceous
matter, blackening and rendering thick the residuary liquid; all products aris-
ing from the decomposition of a portion of sulphuric acid, alcohol, and ether.
Notwithstanding 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 purification 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 London and Dub-
lin Colleges carbonate of potassa,  and the Edinburgh a saturated solution of
chloride  of calcium  (muriate  of lime),  to  which a  portion  of recently
slacked lime has been added.   In all cases, the crude ether is agitated with
the purifying agent, and submitted  to a new distillation at a gentle  heat, called
the rectification.
  The purifying  substances are potassa for sulphurous acid and water, and
water for alcohol  in  the U. S. formula;  carbonate of potassa for acid and
water in the London  and Dublin processes; and  lime for acid, and a satu-
rated solution  of  chloride  of calcium for alcohol and water, in  the Edin-
burgh.   The Edinburgh substances for  purifying are  stated by Dr. Christi-
son 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 crystals of sulphite of lime which form on cool-
ing, the  chloride  may be recovered for future operations.   In the London
and  Dublin processes, the  ether is  distilled from the purifying agent; in the
U.  S. and Edinburgh, after having been poured off from  it.   In  either case,
this distillation, which is performed at a gentle heat, completes the purifica-
tion ; as  the ether is the most volatile substance present, and as the process is
stopped  before the whole of the liquid comes  over.
   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
purpose 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 capa-
cious condensing-worm, duly cooled  by a current of water.  The receivers
are of pewter, with glass lids, and have a side tube to connect them with the
delivering end of the worm-pipe." (Manual of Chemistry, fifth ed.)
   Properties.  Sulphuric ether is a colourless very limpid liquid, of a strong
and sweet odour, and hot pungent taste.   As prepared for medicinal use, it
usually reddens litmus  slightly, though this is not  a  property belonging to
the pure substance; but if it reddens  litmus strongly, it shows that the ether
has been imperfectly prepared or too long kept.  When perfectly pure it has
the specific gravity of 0*713,  and  boils at 95°.  It is not frozen by a cold
of  166°  below zero.  (Faraday, Phil.  Mag. and Journ. of Sci.  for March,
1845.)   The officinal strength of the United States  and London ether is
0*750;  of the Dublin,  0*765; of the Edinburgh, 0*735,  or under.  That
sold  in  the shops varies  from 0 733 to  0-765.   Its sp.  gr., as  directed by
the French Codex, is 0*758.   For medicinal purposes, its density  should
not be greater than 0*750.  In the opinion of Dr. Christison, it should not
exceed 0*735 ; because, according to this  writer, commercial ether is gene-
rally of  this density, and may be  obtained of such purity without difficulty. 
PART II.
JEtherea.
809
 It is a very volatile liquid, and, when of the sp. gr. 0*720, boils at about 98°,
 and forms a vapour which has the density of 2586.   Its extreme volatility
 causes  it to evaporate speedily in the open air,  with the production of a con-
 siderable degree of cold.   When good it evaporates from the hand without
 leaving a disagreeable odour.  Its inflammability is very great, and the pro-
 ducts of its combustion  are  water and carbonic acid.   In  consequence  of
 this property the greatest caution should  be used not to bring it in the  vici-
 nity 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, and sulphur and phospho-
 rus sparingly.  The latter substance is generally exhibited in ethereal solu-
 tion. (See Phosphorus.)  Its solvent power over 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,
 caoutchouc, and most of the organic vegetable alkalies.   It does  not dissolve
 potassa  and soda, in  which respect  it  differs remarkably  from  alcohol.
 Water dissolves a tenth of its volume  of ether, and  reciprocally ether takes
 up about the same proportion of  water.  It unites in all proportions with
 alcohol.
  Impurities and Tests.   The impurities found in  ether, besides acids and
 fixed substances, are alcohol,  water, and heavy oil of wine. Acids are detected
 by litmus and removed by agitation with potassa;  and fixed substances, by
 their remaining upon the evaporation of the ether.   Alcohol is an admissible
 substance in the officinal ethers;  for it is contained in the Edinburgh  ether,
 which has the lowest density of them all.  If,  however, it is present in too
 large a quantity, the density of the ether will be too high.  It may be sepa-
 rated by washing the ether  as it is called ; that is, agitating  it with twice
 its bulk of water, which will unite with the alcohol forming a heavier stratum
 after rest,  from which  the ether may be poured off.   The ether, by this
 treatment,  dissolves  about a  tenth of its bulk of water, from which it may
 be purified by agitation with fresh burnt lime, and  subsequent distillation.
 An easy method for detecting and measuring any alcohol which may be  pre-
 sent in ether, is that advised by the Edinburgh College ; namely, to agitate it,
 in a  minim measure, with half its volume of a concentrated solution of chlo-
 ride  of calcium.   This will remove the  alcohol, and  the reduction of the
 volume of  the ether, when it rises to the surface, will indicate  its amount.
 Heavy oil  of wine may be  discovered by the  ether becoming milky upon
 being mixed with water.
  Composition, and Theory of its Production.   Sulphuric  ether consists
 of four eqs. of carbon, five of hydrogen,  and one of oxygen, and its  empi-
 rical formula is C4H50.    In volumes it consists of four volumes of  carbon
 vapour, five volumes of hydrogen, and half a volume of oxygen, condensed
 into  one volume of ether  vapour.   Its proximate constituents may be con-
 sidered  to  be one eq. of etherine and one of water; or in  volumes,  one
 volume of  etherine vapour and one volume of  aqueous  vapour, condensed
 into  one volume.   This view makes it a hydrate of etherine  (C4H4+HO).
 The sp. gr. of its vapour, calculated on this constitution in volume, is 2*5817,
 which is very near 2*586, the number obtained by experiment.   By the gene-
rality of chemists, however, the constituents  of the  etherine,  together with
the hydrogen of the alleged water, are supposed  to form a peculiar hypothe-
tical  radical, consisting of  C4H5, to which the name of ethule or ethyle  has
been given.  On  this  view,  ether is an  oxide of ethule (C4H5+0), and
                                 69* 
810                           AStherea.                       part ii.

alcohol,  a  hydrated oxide of ethule. (See page  62)   By this statement of
the composition of sulphuric ether, it is perceived that it contains no sulphuric
acid, contrary to what its  name would imply.  The fact is, that it is called
sulphuric ether, merely in allusion  to  the agency of the acid  usually em-
ployed in its preparation, but an identical ether may be obtained by the action
of other acids on alcohol.   In allusion to the  water which it  is  supposed to
contain, it  is sometimes called hydric ether.  Etherine, considered as a con-
stituentof  ether, is a hypothetical 4-4 carbohydrogen (C4H4).  Itis supposed
to consist of four volumes of carbon vapour and  four volumes of hydrogen,
condensed into one volume.  On  this supposi'ion its sp.gr. would be 1*961.
An isomeric compound, also called etherine by some chemists, and having the
samesp.gr. as that assumed for the hypothetical etherine, was  discovered as a
constituent of  oil-gas liquor by Dr.  Faraday.
   With a  view to determine in what manner sulphuric acid acts upon alcohol
in order to convert it into ether, it is necessary that a comparison should  be
instituted between the  composition  of the  two  latter.   Now alcohol  is a
hydrated oxide of ethule, and ether, oxide of ethule without  watew.   It fol-
lows, therefore, that to convert  alcohol into ether, it  is only necessary to
abstract the water of the former.   The agent in  effecting this abstraction is
evidently the sulphuric acid, which  is known  to  have  a strong affinity for
water; but its action is not direct as originally supposed, but intermediate,
as  was first pointed out by the late Mr. 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  saturating  power, and a new acid  was formed, to
which  he gave the name of sulphovinic acid (the etherosulphuric acid of
Liebig.)  In view of its composition it may be called a  bisulphate of alcohol,
or  which is the same thing, a bisulphate of ether with one eq. of water, that
is, a double sulphate of  ether and  water.   When  one eq.  of this  acid is
heated it is decomposed; two eqs.  of sulphuric  acid with one  eq. of water
remain in  the retort, while one eq. of ether distils over.
   If the original proportion of acid  and alcohol continued the same through-
out the whole  of the distillation,  all  the alcohol would  be resolved into  ether
"and water; but, during the progress of the process, the alcohol  is constantly
diminishing, and of course the relative excess of the acid becoming  greater;
and at last a point of time arrives when the excess of acid is so great lhat the
generation of ether ceases.   As these results  depend upon the relative defi-
ciency of the alcohol, while the acid remains but slightly  changed in amount,
it is easy to understand why it is advantageous  to  add alcohol  gradually to
the distilling vessel during the progress of the distillation ; for, by this addition,
the proper proportion  of the alcohol  to the  acid is   maintained.  But  the
 decomposing power of the acid has its limit;  as it becomes at last too dilute
 to  act upon the alcohol, although towards the  close of  the distillation a con-
 siderable portion of water distils over with the ether.
    Medical Properties and Uses.  Ether is  a  powerful diffusible stimulant,
 though  transient  in its operation.    It is also esteemed antispasmodic and
 narcotic.  Its vapour when breathed from a bladder in which a few teaspoon-
 fuls have been put, produces a transient intoxication, resembling that caused
 by respiring nitrous oxide, but dangerous if carried too far.   In some stages
 of low fevers attended  with subsultus  tendinum,  ether sometimes 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, some states of hysteria, and generally  in  nervous and
 painful diseases  which are unaccompanied  by  inflammation.   In  catarrhal
 dyspnoea, and spasmodic asthma, its vapour may be inhaled with advantage, 
PART II.
AZtherea.
811
by holding in the mouth a piece of sugar, to which a few drops of ether have
been previously  added.   In  nausea it is given as a cordial, and in cramp of
the stomach and flatulent colic it sometimes acts with singular efficacy.  It is
also useful, given alone, or mixed with oil of turpentine, in relieving the pain
or 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 for allaying  the  distressing  symptoms  of sea-sickness.
When externally applied it may act  either as a stimulant or refrigerant.  If
its evaporation be repressed, it operates  as a powerful rubefacient, and may
even vesicate; but when this is allowed to take place freely, it is refrigerant
in consequence of the cold which it produces.   In the latter way it is some-
times employed in strangulated hernia,  dropped on the tumour and allowed
to evaporate.   Dr. A. T. Thomson  has found ether sometimes to produce
immediate relief when dropped into the ear in  earache.   For external use,
the unrectified ether may be employed.   The dose of sulphuric ether is from
fifty drops to a teaspoonful, to be repeated frequently when the full effect of
the remedy is desired.  When used habitually the dose must be much larger,
to produce  a given effect.   It  may be  perfectly incorporated  with water or
any aqueous mixture, by rubbing it  up with  spermaceti, employed  in the
proportion of two grains for  each fluidrachm of  the ether.   The  ether  and
spermaceti are to be rubbed together in  a mortar, until the latter is perfectly
dissolved;  and  to  the  solution thus formed the water  or mixture is to be
added,  while the whole is constantly stirred.  The incorporation  being fin-
ished, the operation is completed by passing the mixture through a piece of
muslin to  separate  the  spermaceti. (Durand, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of
Pharm., iv. 202.)
   Water saturated with ether is highly recommended by Bouchardat for the
preservation of anatomical preparations  and other organic bodies.  Of course
the air  must be carefully excluded from  the containing vessels. A little sugar
should  be added to the water, to  prevent its absorption by the organic body.
It is also recommended by the same authority for the exhaustion of vegetable
medicines,  especially  in  the case  of extracts  prepared by evaporation in
vacuo.  (Bulletin de Therap., xxv. 280.)
   Sulphuric ether is used in the preparation of Morphias Acetas, U. S.
   Off. Prep.  Spiritus iEtheris Sulphurici, Ed.; Spiritus ^Etheris Sulphu-
rici Compositus, U. S., Lond.                                       B.
   OLEUM   ^THEREUM. U. S.,  Lond.    Liquor -ZEthereus
Oleosus. Dub.   Ethereal Oil.   Heavy Oil of Wine.
   "Take  of Alcohol two pints; Sulphuric Acid three pints; Solution of
Potassa half a fluidounce;  Distilled Water a fluidounce.   Mix the Acid
cautiously  witW  the Alcohol, aUow  the  mixture to stand twelve hours, then
pour it into a large glass retort, to which a receiver kept cool by ice or water
is adapted, and distil by means of a sand-bath until a black froth rises, when
the retort is to be removed  immediately from the sand-bath.  Separate the
lighter supernatant liquid in the  receiver  from the heavier,  and expose it to
the air for a day; then add to  it the  Solution  of Potassa previously  mixed
with the  Distilled  Water, and  shake them  together.   Lastly, separate the
Ethereal Oil as soon as it shall have subsided.   The specific gravity of this
liquid is 1*096." U.S.
   "Take of Rectified Spirit two pounds ; Sulphuric Acid four pounds ; So-
lution of Potassa,  Distilled Water, each, afluidounce [Imperial measure], or
as  much as may be sufficient. Mix the  Acid cautiously  with the Spirit.  Let
the liquor  distil until a black froth  arises; then immediately remove the
retort from  the fire.  Separate the lighter supernatant liquor from the  heavier 
812
AUtherea.
PART II.
 one, and expose the former to the air for a day.  Add to it the  Solution of
 Potassa first mixed with the Water, and shake them together.   Lastly, when
 sufficiently washed, separate the Ethereal Oil which subsides." Lond.  The
 specific gravity of this oil is 1-05.
   " Take what remains in the retort after the distillation of Sulphuric Ether.  •
 Distil down to one-half with a moderate heat." Dub.
   When alcohol is distilled with a large excess of sulphuric acid, the same
 products are generated as those mentioned in the last article as being formed
 towards the close of the distillation of ether.   These were stated to be sul-
 phurous acid, heavy oil of wine, defiant gas, and carbonaceous matter. In the
 U. S. process such an excess of sulphuric acid is employed, for the  purpose
 of obtaining the oil. The product of the distillation is in two layers, a heavier
 one, consisting of water holding sulphurous acid  in solution, and a lighter,
 formed of ether containing the oil  of wine.   The  lighter  liquid is separated
 and exposed for twenty-four hours to the air, in order to  dissipate the ether
 by evaporation ; and the oil, which  is left, is shaken with a  solution of potassa
 to deprive it of all traces of water or acid ; after which, as soon as  it subsides,
 it is to  be separated.   The London process is substantially  the same as that
 of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.  The differences are, that the  London  College
 omits to direct a prolonged  contact between  the alcohol  and acid, and dis-
 penses  with a refrigerated receiver. The Dublin formula is  altogether defec-
 tive.   By distilling the residue of the sulphuric ether process " down to one-
 half with a  moderate heat," the oil of wine is no doubt distilled over; but it
 is mixed with  various  substances,  for the separation  of which  no directions
 are given in the formula.
   The  nature and mode of formation of heavy oil of wine  are not well
 understood.  It has  been explained in the preceding article, that, in the early
 stage of the distillation of a mixture of sulphuric acid and alcohol, sulphovinic
 acid, or double sulphate of ether and water is formed.   During its progress
 this  is  decomposed so as  to yield ether.   When, however, the alcohol  is
 distilled with a large excess of sulphuric acid, the sulphovinic acid is  decom-
 posed so as to form a small quantity of the heavy oil of wine, now  considered
 to be a double sulphate of ether and etherine, having the formula C HsO,S03
 -f-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,  it is resolved into  sulpho-
 vinic acid which dissolves, and an oily substance which floats on the surface,
 called etherole or light oil of wine, and which is isomeric  with the hypothe-
tical etherine.   Etherole, as thus obtained, is not pure.  When left for a long
time at  a low  temperature, it is resolved into pure etherole, and  a concrete
substance in crystals, isomeric with it, called concrete  oil of wine or oil of
wine camphor, injudiciously denominated etherine  by some  chemists.
  Properties.   The officinal ethereal oil (heavy oil of wine) is a yellowish
liquid, possessing an oleaginous consistency, a peculiar and  slightly  acrid
odour, and  rather sharp and  bitter taste.  It boils at 540°.  Its sp. gr. is,
according to the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia, 1*096, according to the London Col-
lege, after Mr. Hennell's results, 1*05.   By Dumas and Serullas  its  density
is stateel to be as high as 1*133, which is probably  the more correct  number
for the pure oil.  It is  sparingly soluble in  water,  but readily so  in  alcohol
and ether.  It is devoid of acid reaction, the sulphuric  acid present  in  it being
completely neutralized by the ether and etherine united with it.   The sul-
phuric acid present is not  precipitated by the usual reagents; because they
furnish  a base, which,  replacing the etherine,  gives rise to  one of the  salts of 
 part n.                       Mtherea.                          813

 sulphovinic acid, all of which are soluble in water and hydrous alcohol. The
 process by which the heavy oil of wine is formed yields but a small product,
 being  only about one part in weight to thirty;one of the alcohol employed,
 even when performed on the large scale;  and when conducted on the small
 scale of  the Pharmacopoeias, the product is only one part of the oil to about
 seventy-five of the alcohol.  Pure etherole, or pure light oil of wine, is a  co-
 lourless oily liquid, having an aromatic odour.  Its sp.  gr. is between 0*917
 and 0-920, boiling point 536°, and freezing point 31° below zero.  It com-
 municates a greasy stain to paper.   Concrete oil of wine crystallizes in long,
 transparent, brilliant, tasteless prisms, soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble
 in water, fusible at 230°, boiling at 500°, and having the sp. gr.  of 0-980.
   Composition, fyc. The officinal oil of wine  (heavy oil of wine) has already
 been stated to be a double sulphate of ether and etherine.   The discrepancies
 in the  densities assigned to it by different authors, no  doubt arise from its
 containing more  or less of- the concrete oil,  the presence  of which would
 necessarily lower its specific gravity.
   The officinal oil is not used in medicine  in  a separate  state, but forms
 an ingredient of the compound spirit of sulphuric ether, or Hoffmann's ano-
 dyne.
   Off.Prep. Spiritus iEtheris Sulphurici Compositus,  U.S., Lond.  B.
   SPIRITUS iETHERIS SULPHURICI.  Ed.  Spirit of Sul-
phuric Ether.
   "Take  of  Sulphuric Ether a pint; Rectified  Spirit 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 water.
   Off. Prep.   Tinctura Lobelias vEtherea. Ed.                     B.
   SPIRITUS ^ETHERIS  SULPHURICI COMPOSITUS. U.S.,
 Lond.   Compound Spirit of Sulphuric Ether.  Hoffmann's Ano-
 dyne Liquor.
  "Take of Sulphuric Ether  half a pint; Alcohol a pint; Ethereal Oil
 three fluidrachms.  Mix them." U. S.
  "  Take of Sulphuric Ether  eight fluidounces;  Rectified Spirit  sixteen
fluidounces ; Ethereal Oil three fluidrachms.   Mix them." Lond.
  Compound spirit of sulphuric ether is  a volatile liquid, having a burn-
ing,  slightly sweetish  taste, and  the  peculiar  odour  of ethereal oil.   Its
sp. gr.  is 0.816, according to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   When .pure it is
wholly 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 goodness, as the same property may  be
given to the spirit of sulphuric  ether, by the addition of various  oils.  One
of the authors has been informed by  Dr. Hotchkiss, that castor oil is some-
times added to the spirit of sulphuric ether, in order to give it the character of
Hoffmann's anodyne, of becoming  milky when diluted with water.  This
sophistication may be detected, as ascertained by Mr. Wm. Procter, jun.,
by mixing the  suspected preparation with water, drawing a piece of paper
over the  surface of  the liquid to absorb' the oily globules, and exposing the
paper to heat.  If the  globules are  castor oil, the greasy stain will be per-
manent, if the ethereal oil", the stain will disappear.
  Medical Properties.   This preparation is intended as a substitute for the
anodyne  liquor of  Hoffmann,  which  it closely resembles.  In the last 
814
AUtherea.
PART II.
edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia it has been made exactly after the Lon-
don formula.   In  addition to the stimulating and  antispasmodic qualities of
the ether which it contains, it  possesses  anodyne properties, highly useful
in nervous irritation, and  want  of sleep from  this cause.   These additional
virtues it derives from  the officinal or heavy oil of wine, which is a more
important substance than is generally supposed.   Mr. Brande  supposes that
the only effect of it, in the preparation under notice, is to alter the flavour of
the sulphuric ether.   In this opinion he is certainly in error.   Dr.  Hare, in
his Chemical Compendium, reports the opinion of Drs. Physick and Dewees
in favour of the efficacy of the officinal oil of wine, dissolved in alcohol, in
certain  disturbed  states of  the system,  as  a tranquillizing  and  anodyne
remedy.  Such indeed are the generally admitted effects of Hoffmann's ano-
dyne, when made  with  a due admixture of the ethereal oil;  but a preparation
very deficient in oil is often improperly sold for it, which, instead of becoming
milky, is merely rendered opalescent when mixed with water!  Hoffmann's
anodyne is on many occasions a useful adjunct to laudanum, to prevent the
nausea which is excited by the  latter in certain habits.   Its dose is from half
a fluidrachm to two fluidrachms, given in  water sweetened  with sugar. B.
   ^THER  NITROSUS. Dub.  Nitrous  Ether.  Nitric   Ether.
Hyponitrous Ether.
   " Take of Purified  Nitrate of Potassa, dried  and coarsely powdered, a
pound and a half; Sulphuric Acid a pound; Rectified Spirit nineteen fluid-
ounces.  Put the Nitrate  of Potassa into a tubulated retort, placed in a bath
of cold water, and pour  on it, by degrees and at intervals, the Sulphuric
Acid and Spirit, previously mixed, and cooled after their mixture.   Without
almost any external  heat, or at most a very gentle one (as of warm  water
added to the bath), the ethereal liquor will begin to distil without the appli-
cation of fire.  In a short time, the heat in the retort will  increase sponta-
neously, and a considerable ebullition will  take place,  which must be mode-
rated by reducing  the temperature of the bath with cold water.  The receiver
must also be kept cold with water  or snow, and furnished with a  proper
apparatus for transmitting the highly elastic vapour (bursting from the mix-
ture with great violence if the heat be too  much increased) through a pound
of Rectified Spirit contained in  a cooled bottle.
   " The ethereal liquor, thus  spontaneously distilled,  is to  be  received into
a bottle with a  ground glass  stopper; and then must be added by degrees
(closing the bottle  after each addition) as  much very dry and powdered car-
bonate of potassa as will suffice to saturate the excess of acid, using litmus
as the test. This is effected by the addition of about a drachm of the salt.  In a
short time the Nitrous Ether will rise  to the surface, and is to be separated
by means of  a funnel.
   " If the  ether be required very pure,  distil it  again  to  one-half, from a
water-bath at a temperature of 140°.  Its specific gravity is 0*900." Dub.
   The Dublin is the only  Pharmacopoeia, commented on in  this work, which
embraces among  its preparations  hyponitrous ether (called  also  nitrous
and nitric  ether) under a distinct name ;  but the Edinburgh  College pre-
pares it  as the  first step in the  process for  sweet spirit of nitre.   The
mutual reaction of nitric acid and alcohol is so  violent, that  the formation of
this ether has justly been  regarded as a process of difficulty.   The method
adopted by the Dublin  College was contrived by Wolfe, and is commended
by Pelletier as well adapted for obtaining this ether  with facility and safety.
The alcohol  is not mixed directly with  nitric acid, but with the materials 
PART II.
AUtherea.
815
necessary for  generating it.  Upon the addition of the mixture of sulphuric
acid and alcohol to the  nitre, this salt is  decomposed, and  the  disengaged
nitric acid gradually reacts  upon the alcohol, and generates the ether in ques-
tion.   The heat evolved upon  mixing the  materials is so  considerable, that
the application of extraneous heat is unnecessary and even hazardous. Indeed,
as the action advances, the temperature of the mixture must be moderated by
the application of cold water.   The violent action arises from the vast quan-
tity of gases and vapours  suddenly given off.  These are nitrogen, nitrous
and nitric oxides, carbonic acid, and the vapours of water, nitrous acid, and
hyponitrous ether itself.   Notwithstanding the cold employed,  a portion of
the ether escapes condensation in the receiver, and hence the Dublin College,
to save this portion, directs a cooled bottle to be connected with it, containing
a pound of alcohol, into which  the  uncondensed ether  is allowed to pass.
The alcohol thus  impregnated is  subsequently employed in  the  Dublin for-
mula for sweet  spirit of nitre.  (See Spiritus AEtheris Nitrici.)   The ether
condensed in the receiver is not pure, but contains a little nitrous, nitric, and
acetic  acids.   To  remove  these, the ethereal product is shaken  with carbo-
nate of potassa,  which has the effect of saturating them.
   Hyponitrous  ether is prepared by  Thenard according to the following
process.   Equal weights  of alcohol  and  nitric acid,  contained  in  a  retort
having a capacity  double their volume,  are distilled by a moderate heat, into
a Wolfe's apparatus of five bottles, the first of which is empty,  and the four
others half filled with saturated brine.   Each bottle is  placed in an earthen
pan containing a mixture of ice and salt. The apparatus being thus arranged,
a few live coals are placed under the  retort, whereupon  the liquid enters
quickly into ebullition.  The fire must then be immediately withdrawn, and
the ebullition  moderated by allowing some water pressed from a sponge to
flow over the retort.  The process is terminated when  the spontaneous ebul-
lition ceases;  at which time the liquid  in the retort forms  a little more than
a third of the  quantity of alcohol  and  acid employed.   In the first bottle, a
large quantity of yellow liquid  will be found, consisting of much weak alco-
hol, of ether, and of nitrous, nitric, and acetic acids; in the second, a pretty
thick stratum of ether, containing a little acid and alcohol, and swimming on
the surface of the brine; in the third, a  very thin stratum of the same nature
as that in the second, and so on for the  rest.  The several layers of ether are
then separated by  means of a funnel, mixed together, and  redistilled, with a
moderate  heat, into a refrigerated  receiver.  The first product is the ether,
which, to be perfectly pure and devoid  of acidity, must be allowed to remain
in a bottle for  half an hour, in contact with powdered lime.  From 500 parts
of alcohol and 500 of acid, Thenard obtained 100 of excellent ether.
   Liebig recommends the following process for obtaining this ether  in a state
of purity.   One part of starch and ten  of  nitric acid (sp.gr. 1*3) are intro-
duced  into a capacious retort,  which is connected with a two-necked bottle
by means of a wide tube two or  three feet long, bent  at  right angles, and
reaching to its bottom.  This bottle contains a mixture of two parts of alco-
hol of 85 per cent, and  one of water,  and is surrounded  with  cold  water.
The second neck is connected, by  means of a long and wide tube, with
Liebig's  refrigeratory. (For a figure of  this apparatus see page 772.)  The
retort is heated by a water-bath, and, by the reaction of the starch and nitric
acid, pure hyponitrous acid is disengaged,  which, passing  through the alco-
hol, forms  with  its ether hyponitrous ether, which distils in a  continuous
stream.  It is then freed from alcohol by means of water, and from water by
standing over chloride of calcium.  This process is stated to be very produc-
tive. (Turner's Chemistry, 7th ed., p. 849.) 
816
Aether ea.
PART II.
   Dr. Hare  has devised  an  ingenious  process  for obtaining this ether, in
which he avails  himself  of  a hyponitrite  ready formed.  When nitre is
exposed to heat, as in the process for obtaining oxygen from it, about one-
third is converted into hyponitrite of potassa.  This may be obtained sepa-
rate by crystallizing the nitrate from it.   Fourteen parts of the  hyponitrite,
thus  procured, are dissolved  in seven parts of water, and mixed, in a tubu-
lated retort, with  eight parts  of alcohol.   The  beak of the retort is  made
tapering and bent downwards, and  enters  a tube, occupying the axis and
descending through the neck of an inverted bell glass, so as to terminate
within  a tall  vial. Both  the  tube and  vial are  kept cold by ice and  water.
Seven parts of sulphuric acid, diluted with its weight of water, are gradually
added to the retort, and the ether is distilled by means of a  water-bath, kept
blood-warm.  (Trans, of the Amer.  Phil.  Soc, vii. 277; also Proceedings
of the Society, ii.  143, Jan.,  1842.)
   Theory of the Production of Hyponitrous Ether, cy*c.   In the process of
Dr. Hare, the hyponitrous acid, ready formed, is liberated from a hyponitrite
in contact with alcohol, with the ether of which the acid unites.  In Liebig's
process hyponitrous  acid is formed  by  the agency of starch, by which two
eqs. of oxygen are detached  from  each  eq. of nitric acid, and is passed into
alcohol contained in a separate vessel.  When  nitric  acid  is mixed directly
with the alcohol, the  reaction  is different.  Here one eq. of nitric acid, by
reacting with one eq.  of alcohol, forms one eq. of hyponitrous acid, one eq.
of aldehyd, and two eqs. of water.  Thus N05H-C4H602 = N03-r-C4H402-f
2HO.  The hyponitrous acid, as soon as formed, reacts with a second eq. of
alcohol, so as to  form one eq. of hyponitrous ether, with separation of one
eq. of water.   It  has,  however, been shown by Dr. Golding Bird, that, when
an excess of  alcohol is used,  oxalhydric (saccharic) acid is first  formed, and
that when the formation of the hyponitrous ether has nearly ceased, aldehyd
makes its appearance in the distilled product, and simultaneously oxalic acid in
the contents of the retort, before which  time the latter cannot be discovered.
All these products result  from the oxidizing action of the nitric acid upon
the alcohol, increasing the proportion of oxygen in the substances formed,
either by removing the hydrogen,  or by abstracting this element and adding
directly to the oxygen at the same time.  The reader who may wish to pursue
this subject, is referred to the interesting paper of Dr. Bird, contained in the
Lond. ef Ed. Phil. Mag., xiv. 324., for May, 1839.
  Properties. Pure hyponitrous ether is pale yellow, has the smell of apples
and  Hungary wines,  boils at 62° (below  65° Hare), and  has the sp. gr. of
0-947 at 60°.   The  density of its vapour is 2-627.  Litmus is  not affected
by it.   When it is mixed  with an alcoholic solution of potassa, hyponitrite of
potassa and alcohol are formed, without producing a brown  colour, showing
the absence of aldehyd.   It is soluble in 48 parts of water, and in all propor-
tions in alcohol or rectified spirit.  It is highly inflammable, and burns with
a white flame without residue.  The impure ether obtained by the ordinary
processes boils at 70°, and has the density of 0886 at  40°.  The officinal
specific gravities of it  are 0.900 Dub., 0-899 Ed.  (See the next article for the
Edinburgh ether.)  Mixed with an alcoholic solution of potassa, it becomes
dark brown,  with production of aldehyd resin.  (See page 15.)  This dis-
coloration shows  the presence of aldehyd.  When kept it becomes acid in a
short time, as shown  by litmus;  and nitric oxide is given  off,  which often
causes the bursting of the bottle.  Its tendency to become acid is rendered
greater by the action of the air, and depends on the absorption of oxygen by 
PART II.
AStherea.
817
gen 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, as already explained, of one eq.
of hyponitrous acid and one of ether, and its formula is C4H50-f-N03.  It
is, therefore, improperly called nitrous and nitric ether.   In its pure or con-
centrated  state it is never  used in medicine.   Diluted with alcohol (rectified
spirit) it forms the spirit of nitric ether, or sweet spirit of nitre, described in
the next article.                                                    B.
   SPIRITUS ^THERIS NITRICI. U. S., Lond., Ed.  Spiritus
JEthereus 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 gal-
lon.   To the distilled liquor add the Diluted Alcohol and Carbonate of Po-
tassa, and again distil  a gallon." U. S.
   " Take of Rectified Spirit three pounds; Nitric Acid four  ounces.  Add
the Acid gradually to the  Spirit and mix tbem ;  then distil thirty-two fluid-
ounces [Imperial measure]." Lond.
   " Take of Rectified Spirit two pints and six fluidounces [Imperial mea-
sure]; Pure  Nitric Acid  (D. 1*500) seven fluidounces [Imp. meas.].   Put
fifteen  fluidounces of the Spirit, with a little clean sand, into  a two-pint
matrass, fitted with a cork, through which are passed a safety-tube terminat-
ing 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 0847." Ed.
   "Add to the matter which remains  after the distillation of Nitrous Ether,
the Rectified Spirit employed  in that operation for  condensing the elastic
vapour, and distil till the residuum be dry, with the superior heat of a water-
bath.  Mix the distilled liquor with the alkaline liquor which  remains  after
the separation of  the Nitrous Ether, and add, moreover,  as  much well dried
Carbonate of Potassa as shall be sufficient to saturate the predominant acid.
This is  made  evident by  the test of litmus.   Lastly, distil as long as  any
drops come over by the medium heat of a water-bath.  The specific gravity
of this liquor is 0*850.
   " Nitrous Ethereal  Spirit  may also be prepared by adding gradually two
ounces of Nitric Acid to  a pint of Rectified Spirit, and  distilling  twelve
ounces with a proper apparatus and the application of a gentle heat." Dub.
   The officinal spirit of nitric ether is a mixture, in variable proportions, of
     70 
818
AStherea.
PART II.
hyponitrous ether and alcohol (rectified spirit).  Hyponitrous ether is always
generated by the reaction of nitric acid and alcohol; and it matters not whe-
ther the alcohol be mixed with nitric acid  directly, or  with the materials for
generating it, namely, nitre  and sulphuric acid.   When the materials for
forming  the  ether  contain an  excess of alcohol,  this  distils  over  with  the
ether, and forms the preparation under consideration.
   The processes of the Pharmacopoeias differ considerably.  The U. S. and
Dublin Pharmacopoeias obtain the requisite nitric acid  by using the materials
for generating it; while the  London and Edinburgh Colleges mix the acid
ready formed with the  alcohol.  The London and Edinburgh processes,
however, differ in one important particular;  namely, that while the London
College distils the nitric  acid with an excess of alcohol, which comes over in
large proportion  with the ether, forming, at once,  the  sweet spirit  of nitre;
the Edinburgh College forms a concentrated  hyponitrous ether in the distil-
lation, and dilutes it with a determinate quantity of alcohol.
   The United States formula is  modeled after a recipe communicated by
Mr. John Carter,  manufacturing  chemist, to  the Philadelphia  College  of
Pharmacy, and recommended for adoption  by a committee of that body.   It
is  in fact the Dublin  process for obtaining hyponitrous ether, explained in
the preceding article, with the use of alcohol in excess.   The nitre and
alcohol being mixed in the retort, the sulphuric  acid-is gradually added, and
a gentle heat applied.  Nitric acid is set free, and by reacting with a  part of
the alcohol produces  the hyponitrous ether,  as  explained in the last article.
Upon the subsequent increase of the heat, the ether and the remainder of the
alcohol distil over as the sweet spirit of nitre.   The distilled product, how-
ever, contains some acid, and  hence is rectified by a distillation from carbonate
of potassa.  The diluted alcohol is added  before commencing this distillation,
to  enable the operator to obtain a quantity  of distilled  product equal  to that
procured at  first, without distilling  to dryness, which  would endanger  the
production of empyreuma.   The  alcohol is first mixed  with the nitre, and
the sulphuric acid afterwards gradually added.   If the alcohol and sulphuric
acid are previously mixed, the risk would be run of generating some sulphuric
ether, before they are added to the nitre in the retort.  The retort should be
of such a capacity as to be capable of holding twice  the amount of the materials
employed.
   The above process, as conducted by Mr.  Carter on a large scale,  is per-
formed 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 purified  nitre, 12 gallons of alcohol of 34° Baume (0-847),
and  12 pounds of sulphuric acid; and 10  gallons  are  drawn off.   The dis-
tilled product is then  mixed with a gallon of diluted alcohol,  and rectified by
a new distillation from lime or a carbonated alkali; the same  quantity being
distilled as at first.   When large quantities of  this preparation are thus ob-
tained, 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.   Previous to the redis-
tillation,  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.)
   A similar process to the above for making sweet spirit of nitre, is adopted
in the principal laboratories of Philadelphia.  As  the use of metallic vessels
is  attended with  some risk, it would be  an improvement in  the  above pro-
cess, if an earthenware still and worm were employed, as is done at Apothe-
caries' Hall, London; the still being heated by  the slow application of steam
to  its outer surface. 
PART II.
AStherea.
819
   In order  to understand the process of the Dublin College  for preparing
 sweet spirit  of nitre, it will  be necessary to revert  to their formula for ob-
 taining hyponitrous ether, explained in the last article.   The residue of this
 process consists of sulphate of potassa, free nitric acid not consumed in the
 generation of the ether, and certain products resulting from the oxidation of
 the alcohol by the nitric acid, as mentioned  in the last article.  To this resi-
 due  is added the pound of alcohol, which had been  employed in the process
 for the  purpose of absorbing the  ether  which escapes condensation  in the
 receiver.   Of course, after this addition, all the conditions are fulfilled which
 are necessary for the generation of sweet spirit of nitre, namely, nitric acid
 in contact with more alcohol than  is necessary to form ether.   Accordingly,
 upon distillation, the ether  comes over mixed with a certain proportion of
 alcohol, forming the sweet spirit of nitre.   But  at the same time, a portion
 of acid is distilled over, to separate which the product is redistilled  from an
 alkaline carbonate at ^.medium heat (between 100° and 200°) as long as any
 drops come over.   To save the alkaline  solution used  in purifying the ether
 described in the last article,  it  is directed to be applied, as far as it will go,
 to the purpose of saturating the free acid of this preparation.
   From the explanations  here and  previously given, it is obvious  that the
 formulas for hyponitrous ether and sweet spirit of nitre of the Dublin College
 form in fact but one process; and  whenever it is desirable  to obtain  hyponi-
 trous ether, it is no doubt expedient to use  the  residue and part of  the pro-
 ducts of the process, for procuring sweet spirit of nitre, provided the latter
 preparation can be obtained from them of good quality.  But when it is
 recollected that the residue is loaded with newly formed acids, and  that the
 quantity of free nitric acid in it cannot be estimated, it may be well  doubted
 whether the process of the Dublin College for sweet spirit of nitre is an eli-
 gible one.   As hyponitrous ether is  never employed in medicine  in a pure
 state, and has very few uses, it  is an objection  to  the  Dublin formula for
 sweet spirit of nitre that it  requires  the preparation  of another substance
 which may not be wanted.   It is,  no doubt, on this  account that the College
 has  appended to  its  process  for sweet spirit  of nitre,  another formula,
 similar to that of the London College, by  which it may be obtained inde-
 pendently of any other product.
  In the Tjondon process, nitric acid, ready formed, is mixed with the alco-
 hol ; the proportion of acid to the  spirit being as 1 to 9 in weight.  The pro-
 portion  of nitric acid to the  alcohol in the U. S. formula, is nearly the same
 as that  in the London process, if  we  suppose that  the nitre,  by its decom-
 position, yields a pound and  a quarter of acid, which is about the quantity
 obtained in practice.  This coincidence may be assumed with the greater con-
 fidence, as the preparation obtained by the two processes has  the  same spe-
 cific  gravity.  The proportion of sweet spirit of nitre drawn off to the alcohol
 employed is a little  over two-thirds  in the  London  formula, and five-sixths
 in that of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.   When the distillation is pushed too
 far, the product is high-coloured, specifically heavier than it should be, very
 acid  so as  to act strongly on litmus paper,  decomposes  the  alkaline carbo-
 nates with effervescence, and contains aldehyd,  which gives  it a pungent
 odour. (Dr.  Golding Bird.)  The  impurities arising  from   a  distillation
 carried too far are, according to Dr. Bird, entirely avoided by following the
 directions of the London Pharmacopoeia.  The residue of the process,  if fur-
ther  distilled, will yield a small  additional  portion of sweet nitre, nearly
pure, of higher specific gravity than  the officinal portion;, but afterwards,
on continuing the process, the hyponitrous ether ceases  to come over, and
about the  same time  aldehyd appears in the distilled  product, and in  the
residue oxalic acid,  which seems to replace the oxalhydric acid, formed at an 
820
ASther ea.
PART II.
 earlier stage of the reaction. (See last article.) Admitting Dr. Bird's results,
 it is probable that the sweet  spirit  of nitre which  comes over  in the first
 distillation  of  the U. S.  process will contain aldehyd ; as one-fourth more of
 liquid is drawn over than is  distilled in the London process.  Supposing
 this to be the case, it is  presumable that  this impurity would be separated,
 together with any contaminating acid, by the second distillation from carbo-
 nate of potassa.  According to Mr. Alsop and Mr. Scanlan, of London, the
 process of the London College is  a precarious one, and at the same time not
 economical. (Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., iii. 425.)   It is probably not eco-
 nomical, but it gives a good preparation when the London College directions
 are strictly  followed.
   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 precau-
 tions are attended to  which are enjoined  by the Edinburgh  College.   The
 conditions for success are to add no more acid to the spirit at first than what
 is necessary to commence the action ;  to wait until the ebullition thus arising
 shall have ceased ;  to add the rest of the acid in small successive portions;
 to let the  acid drop from the height of about an  inch into the spirit; to have
 some clean  sand in the bottom of the matrass ; and to employ a refrigeratory,
 such as that figured at page 772.   Should the ebullition increase too rapidly,
 it may be repressed by blowing cool air across the matrass.   The presence
of the sand prevents the dangerous  succussions arising from the sudden
 liberation of ethereal vapour.  The ethereal product is first agitated with
 milk of lime to separate acid, and then with half its volume of a concentrated
 solution of chloride of calcium, to remove water and alcohol.  The density
 given for this hyponitrous ether is  0*899, which is lower than that of the pure
 ether.   The last step in  the process is to mix this ether with the prescribed
quantity of alcohol, which  gives  a  sweet spirit of nitre of the  density of
 0*847.  The hyponitrous ether of this  process may be presumed to measure,
on an average, 7f fluidounces, and, consequently, the sweet spirit of nitre
obtained from it, 38f fluidounces.   The degree  of dilution was fixed, so as
to make  it  conform in ethereal strength  with the same preparation  of the
former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.   The  preparation is intended to contain
one-fifth of  its volume of ether, and is probably twice or thrice as strong as
the sweet spirit of nitre of the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias. For making
this preparation, Dr. Christison prefers the present  plan of  the  Edinburgh
College, of  diluting the pure ether to  a determinate degree, on the ground
that it secures a pure  and uniform preparation.   Many years ago the  same
plan was proposed by Dr. Hare.
  Properties.  Spirit of nitric ether is a colourless  volatile liquid, of a fra-
grant ethereal odour, and pungent, aromatic,  sweetish, acidulous taste.  The
Edinburgh preparation is yellow.   If perfectly pure it is devoid of acid reac-
tion, but it  generally reddens  litmus slightly.   Its officinal sp.gr.  is 0-834
 U.S., Lond.; 0-847 Ed.; and 0*850 Dub.   High density is not  necessarily
an index of  deficient strength;  as it may arise, as in the Edinburgh prepara-
tion, from containing a large  proportion  of the  pure  ether.  If heated by
means of  a  water-bath, the U. S. sweet spirit of nitre begins  to boil at  160°.
It mixes with water and  alcohol in all proportions.   It is  very inflammable,
and burns with a whitish flame.
  Impurities and Tests.  Sweet spirit of nitre, when the product of  a dis-
tillation too  long continued, at  first contains aldehyd, which  afterwards be-
comes acetic acid by the  absorption of oxygen—rapidly if the preparation be 
 part ii.                        AStherea.                          821

 insecurely kept. The presence of aldehyd may be detected by its imparting a
 pungent  odour and acrid flavour, and by the preparation containing it as-
 suming a yellow tint on the addition of a weak solution of potassa, owing to
 the formation of aldehyd resin.   It is probable that this impurity is not often
 present in large amount, being replaced by its product the acetic  acid.  As
 aldehyd appears to be the  chief  source of impurity in sweet  spirit of nitre,
 and as it is detected by producing a characteristic colour with a solution of
 potassa, it would seem easy to make this test available as an index when the
 distillation should be discontinued.  For if the distilled  product were made
 to pass through a  small portion of this  alkaline  solution, it would  probably
 give  indications of the first  appearance of aldehyd, and  thus enable  the
 operator to stop the distillation in time.   Acetic acid, as well  as other acids
 (usually nitrogen  acids) that  may happen to be present, may be discovered
 by the taste, by their acting on litmus strongly, and by their decomposing the
 alkaline carbonates or bicarbonates  with effervescence.   These acids often
 operate injuriously by their chemical reactions with other substances, when
 associated to mixtures.   Thus they liberate  iodine from iodide of potassium,
 gradually decolorize infusion of roses, and, in the  compound mixture of iron,
 hasten  the conversion of the  protoxide  into the sesquioxide of iron.   To
 obviate these effects, Mr. Harvey, of Leeds, keeps the sweet spirit  of nitre
 standing on crystals of  bicarbonate of potassa, and states that if the prepara-
 tion be of full strength, no appreciable portion of the alkali will be  dissolved.
 (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,  Jan.,  1842.)   A deep olive colour being pro-
 duced with the  sulphate of protoxide of iron, shows the presence of  a nitrogen
 oxide or acid, and a blue tint with tincture of guaiac, passing through various
 shades of green, a nitrogen acid.
   According to Mr. Bastick, sweet spirit of nitre contains  about one-fifth of
 one per cent, of anhydrous hydrocyanic acid, when made from hyponitrous
 ether, generated by Liebig's process, namely, the action of  nitric  acid on
 starch, <fcc.  (See page 815.)  The same contaminating acid has been detected
 by M. Dalpaiz, in the preparation when made according to the London Phar-
 macopoeia, though not detected in it  by Mr. Bastick.
   Other impurities which are often fraudulently added to sweet spirit of nitre,
 are water and alcohol.  These  may be detected in the Edinburgh preparation,
 as stated by the College, by agitating it with twice its volume of  a concen-
 trated solution of chloride of calcium.  If the sweet spirit of nitre be of full
 strength,  12 per cent,  of ether will slowly separate, which is twelve-twen-
 tieths of the quantity present.   The test acts by taking  up the  alcohol and
 water; and if less ether separates, it shows the presence of too much of the
 former substances.  This test  is  hardly applicable to the U. S. and London
 preparation, which is much weaker than the  Edinburgh.   Dr. Christison
 states that the London sweet spirit of nitre, when subjected to this test, has
 never yielded in his trials more than four per cent, of ether.   Sometimes it
 yields none.  Specific gravity is no criterion of the goodness of the preparation
 as obtained by any formula.   The addition  of water will raise  its density;
 and  so will the addition of hyponitrous ether.   A high  density, in connec-
 tion  with deficient ethereal qualities, would, of course, show the  presence
 of free acids, an excess of water, or both.  A specific gravity lower than the
 U. S. and London standard, would probably indicate the  presence of alcohol
 stronger than it should be,  which might be either  in proper amount or in too
 large proportion.
  The fraudulent  dilution of sweet spirit of nitre with alcohol and water is
 a great evil, considering  the extensive  use of the medicine, and its valuable
remedial powers when pure. We have been informed on good authority, that
                                   70* 
822
Mtherea.—Alcohol.
PART II.
it is variously diluted, according to the views  of the vender, with twice,
thrice, and even four times its weight of alcohol and water.  In some shops
a strong and a weak preparation  are kept, to suit the views of customers as to
price.   Some of the wholesale druggists are in the habit of diluting it, either
upon the plea that the physician's prescriptions are written in view of the use
of a weak preparation, or for the purpose of affording it at a low price.   All
these evils would be corrected, if the different manufacturing chemists in the
Union would comply  with the recommendation of the  Philadelphia College
of Pharmacy, and adopt for preparing it  the formula of the United States
Pharmacopoeia.   A uniform preparation being in this way furnished to the
druggists, all that would be necessary on  their part, would be carefully to
abstain from weakening it by the admixture of alcohol and water.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Sweet spirit of nitre  is diaphoretic, diure-
tic, and antispasmodic.  It is deservedly much esteemed  as a medicine, and
is extensively employed  in febrile affections, either alone, or in conjunction
with  tartar  emetic, for the purpose of  promoting the secretions, especially
those of sweat and urine.  It often proves a grateful stimulus to the stomach,
relieving nausea and removing  flatulence,  and  not unfrequenfly allays  rest-
lessness 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.  The late Dr. Duncan  praised a combination of it  with a small
proportion of aromatic spirit of  ammonia, as eminently diaphoretic and diu-
retic, and  well suited to certain states of febrile disease.  The dose is about
a teaspoonful, given every two or three hours in a portion of water.  When
used as a diuretic, it should be given in larger doses.                 B.

                            ALCOHOL.

                     Preparations of Alcohol.

   ALCOHOL DILUTUM.  U. S.   Spiritus Tenuior. Lond,, Ed.,
Dub. Diluted Alcohol. Proof Spirit.
  " Take of Alcohol, Distilled Water, each, apint.  Mix them.  The specific
gravity of Diluted Alcohol is 0*935."  U. S.
  " Take of Rectified Spirit two pints [Imperial  measure] ; Distilled Water
a pint [Imp. meas.].   Mix them.  The  density of the  product  should be
0-912." Ed.
  The London and Dublin Colleges have placed diluted alcohol or proof
spirit in the list  of the  Materia Medica.   The Edinburgh College has ordered
the strongest diluted alcohol, its density being 0*912, which is 7 over proof.
It contains 52 per cent, of absolute alcohol, and is considerably stronger than
the  corresponding spirit  of the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.   The
London College  directs its 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 their rectified spirit with three of distilled water at the temperature
of 62°. In the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, it is ordered of the sp. gr. 0*919, and
the statement is made in a note, that spirit of almost the same specific gravity
may be formed by mixing five  and a quarter measures of the rectified spirit
of that work with three of distilled  water.  Such a spirit will contain a little
more  than 49 per cent, of absolute alcohol,  and will  agree very nearly 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, therefore, forms  the weakest officinal
proof spirit. 
PART II.
Alcohol.—Alumen.
823
  Medical and Pharmaceutical Uses.  The medicinal effects of alcohol in
a diluted and modified state, as it  exists in brandy and other ardent spirits,
have  been detailed under other heads.  (See Alcohol and  Vinum.)  As a
pure diluted spirit, however, consisting solely of alcohol and water in deter-
minate  proportions, its use is exclusively pharmaceutical.  It  is employed
as an addition to some of the distilled waters and preparations of vinegar,
in order to preserve them from decomposition; as a menstruum for extract-
ing the virtues of some  plants,  preparatory  to  their  being brought  to the
state of extracts and syrups; and in  preparing many of the spirits.  But it
is in forming the tinctures that diluted alcohol is principally employed.
Many of  these are formed with the officinal alcohol  (rectified spirit), but
the  majority, with diluted alcohol (proof spirit)  as the menstruum.   As the
latter contains more than  half its weight of water, it is well fitted  for acting
on  those  vegetables, the  virtues of which are partly  soluble in water  and
partly in alcohol.  The apothecary, however, is, on  no account, to substitute
the commercial proof spirit for diluted alcohol, even though it should be of
the same strength.  On this point, the authors of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia
have  very correctly remarked, that " almost all the  spirit which is  sold
under the  name of proof spirit,  is  contaminated with empyreumatic  oil,
and unfit for medical use."  But when it is recollected how variable  the so
called proof spirits are in strength, the objection to their use  in pharmacy
becomes still stronger.   Thus, according to  Mr. Brande, gin contains 51*6
per cent,  of alcohol of 0*825;  and the percentage  of the  same alcohol is
53*39 in brandy, 53-68  in rum, 53*90 in Irish whisky, and 54*32 in Scotch
whisky.  The alcohol on which these results are based already contains 11
per cent, of water.                                               B.

                            ALUMEN,

                      Preparations of Alum.

  ALUMEN EXSICCATUM. U. S., Lond., Ed.  Alumen Sicca-
tum.  Dub.  Dried Alum. .
  "Take  of alum  any quantity.   Melt it in an earthen or  iron vessel over
the  fire, and continue the heat till it becomes dry; then rub  it into powder."
U.S.
  "Melt  Alum in an earthen vessel over the fire; then increase the  heat
until ebullition has ceased." Lond.
  The Edinburgh and Dublin processes agree with that of the U.S. Phar-
macopoeia.  When alum  is heated, it quickly dissolves in its water of crys-
tallization, which,  if the heat be continued, is gradually driven  off; and the
salt swells up exceedingly, so as to  make it expedient to use  a vessel, the
capacity of which is at least equal to three times the bulk of the alum  ope-
rated  on.  When the boiling up has ceased, it is a sign that all the water has
been driven off.
  Properties.  Dried alum, sometimes called burnt alum, is in the form ofan
opaque  white powder, possessing  a  more astringent  taste  than the crystal-
lized salt.   Before pulverization, it is a light, white, opaque, porous mass.
During  the exsiccation,  it loses from  41 to  46 per  cent,  of its weight in
dissipated  water.  If, however,  the  heat be strongly urged,  some  of the
acid is driven off, and the loss becomes still greater.  Dried  alum resists the
action of water for along  time, showing that the process to which it has been
subjected has altered its state of aggregation.   In composition, it differs from
crystallized alum merely in the absence of water.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Dried alum has occasionally been given 
824
Alumen.—Ammonia.
PART II.
in obstinate constipation, with the effect of gently moving the bowels, and of
affording great relief from pain.  (See Alumen.)  The dose is about half that
of alum.   Its principal medical use is  as a mild  escharotic for destroying
fungous flesh.                                                     B.
   LIQUOR ALUMINIS COMPOSITUS. Lond.   Compound So-
lution of Alum.
   " Take  of Alum, Sulphate of Zinc, each an ounce; boiling Water three
pints [Imperial  measure].   Dissolve the Alum and  Sulphate of Zinc to-
gether in the Water, and afterwards strain." Lond.
   This  was formerly called aqua aluminosa Bateana,  or Bates's alum
water.  It is a powerful astringent solution, and is employed for cleansing
and stimulating foul ulcers,  and  as an injection in gleet and leucorrhoea.  It
is also sometimes employed as  a  collyrium in  ophthalmia after depletion;
but when used in this way it must be diluted.   A convenient formula is half
a fluidounce  of  the solution mixed with  six and a half fluidounces of rose
water.                                                           B.

                           AMMONIA.

                   Preparations of  Ammonia.

   AMMONITE BICARBONAS. Dub. Bicarbonate of Ammonia.
   "Take of  Water of Carbonate of Ammonia any quantity.   Expose it,
in a suitable apparatus, to a stream of carbonic acid  gas, evolved during the
solution of white marble in  Diluted Muriatic Acid, until the alkali is satu-
rated.   Then let it rest to form  crystals, which are to be  dried without heat,
and kept in a closely stopped vessel." Dub.
   This salt is officinal only in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia.  The process by
which it is formed  consists  in  saturating  the  sesquicarbonate (officinal car-
bonate) with  carbonic acid, whereby this  salt becomes a bicarbonate.   The
sesquicarbonate consists of  three eqs. of acid and two of  ammonia ;  and, by
gaining one eq. of carbonic  acid, becomes  two eqs. of bicarbonate, consisting
of four eqs. of acid  and two of  ammonia.   Each eq. of  the crystallized salt
contains two  eqs. of water.
   Bicarbonate of ammonia, as  prepared by this process, is in  the  form of
crystals, which have a faint ammoniacal taste  and smell,  and are permanent
in the air.  It is less soluble in water than the sesquicarbonate, requiring
eight times its weight of that liquid to dissolve it.   It possesses, thousrh in
an inferior  degree, the medical  properties  of the latter  salt.  As it furnishes
the practitioner with the means  of prescribing ammonia in a convenient and
palatable form, Dr.  Barker  deems its introduction  into the officinal list of
the Dublin College a valuable improvement.   It ought to have been shown,
however, in what respect the Dublin preparation differs  from the bicarbonate,
obtained by exposing the sesquicarbonate  to the air;  for if they be identical,
it cannot be necessary to resort  to the Dublin formula for preparing this
bisalt.  The dose  of bicarbonate of ammonia is  from  six to twenty-four
grains, dissolved in cold water, as  hot water decomposes  it.           B.
   AMMONIiE CARBONAS. U. S.,  Ed., Dub.  Ammonije Sesqui-
carbonas.  Lond.   Carbonate of Ammonia. Mild  Volatile Al-
kali.                                                            ,
   "Take of  Muriate  of Ammonia a pound; Chalk, dried, a pound and a
hcdf.   Pulverize  them separately; then mix them thoroughly, and sublime
with a gradually increasing heat."  U. S.
   "Take of  Muriate  of Ammonia, pulverized and well dried, Dried Carbo- 
PART II.
Ammonia.
825
nate of Soda, each, one part.  Put the  mixture into an earthenware retort,
and  with  a  heat gradually increased, sublime the  Carbonate of Ammonia
into  a refrigerated receiver." Dub.
   The London and Edinburgh  processes are the same as that of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia.
   In the above processes, by the reciprocal action of the salts employed, the
carbonic acid unites with the ammonia, generating carbonate of ammonia,
and  the muriatic acid with the lime or soda, so as to form water and  chloride
of calcium,  or the same liquid and chloride of sodium.  The carbonate and
water sublime together as a hydrated carbonate of ammonia, and the residue
is chloride of calcium in the  U. S., London, and Edinburgh  processes, and
chloride of sodium, or common salt, in the Dublin.   In conducting the pro-
cess, the retort should be of earthenware, and have  a wide cylindrical  neck;
and  the receiver should be cylindrical, to facilitate the extraction of  the sub-
limate.  The relative quantities of chalk and muriate of ammonia for mutual
decomposition, are 50*5 of the former and 53*42 of the latter, or one  eq. of
each.   The Pharmacopoeias  use a great excess of chalk.   An excess  is
desirable to ensure the perfect decomposition of the muriate of ammonia,
any  redundancy of  which would sublime along with the carbonate,  and ren-
der it impure.  The employment of carbonate of soda, in the Dublin pro-
cess, affords a product of greater whiteness, but is objectionable on the score
of expense.   The proportions of the muriate and alkaline carbonate,  directed
by this College, correspond  almost precisely with  the equivalents; but in
practice, the quantity of carbonate of soda is found insufficient.
   Carbonate of ammonia is obtained on a large scale, generally by subliming
the proper materials from an iron pot into a large earthen or leaden receiver.
Sulphate of ammonia may be substituted for the muriate with much economy,
as was shown by Payen.   Large quantities of this carbonate are manufac-
tured indirectly from gas liquor  and bone spirit; the ammoniacal products
in these liquors being  successively converted  into sulphate, muriate,  and
carbonate  of ammonia.  (See Ammonite Murias.)   The salt as first obtained
has a slight  odour of tar, and leaves  a blackish  carbonaceous matter  when
dissolved in  acids.   Hence it requires to be refined,  which is effected in iron
pots, surmounted with leaden heads.
   Properties.  Carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammonia, recently prepared,
is in white,  moderately hard, translucent masses, of a fibrous  and crystalline
appearance,  a pungent ammoniacal smell, and a sharp  penetrating taste.  It
possesses  an alkaline  reaction, and when held  under a piece of turmeric
paper changes it to brown, owing to the escape of monocarbonate of am-
monia.  When long or  carelessly kept, it gradually passes into the state of
bicarbonate,  becoming opaque  and friable, and falling to powder.  It is solu-
ble without residue in about four times its weight of cold water, and is decom-
posed  by boiling  water  with effervescence.   According  to  Dr.  Barker
(Observations on the Dublin Pharmacopoeia),  it dissolves  abundantly in
diluted  alcohol, as also  in heated alcohol of the sp. gr. 0.836, with  effer-
vescence of carbonic  acid.  When  heated on a piece of glass, it should
evaporate  without residue, and if turmeric paper held  over it undergoes no
change, it has passed into bicarbonate.   When  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 sulphate and muriate of am-
monia.  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 tar-
trate of iron and potassa), corrosive sublimate, the acetate  and subacetate of
lead, and the sulphates of iron and zinc. 
826
Ammonia.
PART II.
   Composition. It consists of three eqs. of carbonic acid 66, two of ammo-
nia 34, and two of water 18= 118; or, which comes to the same thing, of one
eq. of bicarbonate 61, and one of monocarbonate 39, combined with the same
quantity of water. The medicinal carbonate of ammonia is, therefore,  when
perfect, a  hydrated sesquicarbonate, as  it is called by the London College.
Dalton  and  Scanlan, however,  have rendered it  probable  that it is a double
salt; for when treated with a small quantity of cold water, monocarbonate is
dissolved and bicarbonate left.   When converted into bicarbonate  by  expo-
sure to the air, each eq.  of the medicinal salt loses one eq. of monocarbonate,
a change which leaves the acid and base  in the  proper proportion  to form the
bisalt.   The mutual decomposition of the salts employed  in its preparation,
would generate, if no loss occurred, the monocarbonate, and not the sesqui-
carbonate.  The way in which the latter salt is formed may  be thus explained.
By the  mutual  decomposition of three  eqs. of muriate  of ammonia and  of
chalk respectively, three eqs. of monocarbonate of ammonia, three of water,
and three of chloride of calcium are generated.   During the operation, how-
ever, one eq. of ammonia and one of water, forming together oxide of ammo-
nium, are  lost;  so that there remain to be sublimed, three eqs.  of carbonic
acid, two of ammonia, and two of water;  or, in other words,  the exact con-
stituents of the hydrated sesquicarbonate.   When this is re-sublimed in the
process of refining, two eqs. of the salt lose one  eq. of carbonic  acid, and
become one  eq. of 5-4 carbonate of ammonia.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.  Carbonate of ammonia is  stimulant, dia-
phoretic, antispasmodic, powerfully  antacid,  and in large  doses emetic.
Under certain  circumstances it  may prove expectorant;  as when, in the last
stages of phthisis, it facilitates, by increasing  the muscular  power, the ex-
cretion of  the sputa.  As  a  stimulant, it is exhibited principally in typhus
fever, and very frequently in  connexion with  wine whey.   Its  principal
advantage, in this disease, is its power to increase the  action of the  heart
and arteries without unduly exciting the brain.  It is  employed, with a view
to the same effect, and as an antacid, in  certain stages of atonic gout, and  in
the derangements of  the stomach supervening on habits of irregularity and
debauchery.  As a diaphoretic, it is resorted to in gout and chronic rheuma-
tism, particularly the latter, in  conjunction with guaiac.   In  diabetes  it has
been recommended by Dr. Barlow in England,  and  Bouchardat in France.
In cases of scrofula attended with languid circulation and dry skin, it is said
to produce excellent effects.  It is very seldom used as an emetic; but is sup-
posed to act with advantage, in this way, in  some cases of paralysis. As an
external application, it is rubefacient, and may  be employed in several ways.
Reduced to 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
hysteria.  The dose as a stimulant is from five  to  ten grains,  every  two,
three, or four hours, in the form of pill, or dissolved  in some  aqueous vehi-
cle ; and as an emetic, thirty grains, to be repeated if necessary, and assisted
by free  dilution.  It should never be given in powder, on account of its vola-
tile nature.  Pills of it may be made up with  some  vegetable extract, as of
chamomile for  example, and  should be dispensed in a wide-mouthed vial,
and not in a box.
   Carbonate of ammonia is  used as a chemical  agent in preparing  Zinci
Oxidum, U. S., Lond., Ed., and Ferrum Tartarizatum, Ed.  It is sometimes
employed to make effervescent draughts, with  lemon juice or tartaric acid.
   Off. Prep.   Cuprum Ammoniatum,  U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Liquor 
PART II.
Ammonia.
827
Ammonias  Acetatis,  U.S., L,ond.,  Ed., Dub.; Liquor  Ammonias Sesqui-
carbonatis, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae  Bicarbonas, Ed.; Spiritus Ammo-
nias. Dub.                                                        B.
   LIQUOR AMMONIA SESQUICARBONATIS.  Lond.  Am-
monlzb Carbonatis Aqua. Ed., Dub.  Solution of Sesquicarbonate
of Ammonia.   Water of Carbonate of Ammonia.
   " Take  of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia four ounces; Distilled Water a
pint [Imperial measure].   Dissolve the  Sesquicarbonate  of Ammonia in the
 Water, and strain."  Lond.
   " Take of Carbonate of Ammonia four parts; Distilled Water fifteen parts.
Dissolve the Carbonate of Ammonia in the Water, and filter through paper.
The specific gravity  of this solution is 1*090." Dub.
   The Edinburgh solution is of the same strength as the London.
   This preparation  may be viewed as a saturated aqueous  solution  of car-
bonate of ammonia.   The wine pint of water, formerly ordered by the Lon-
don College, was not, according  to Mr. Phillips, sufficient to dissolve  the
salt.   The pint now  directed is the Imperial  (20 fluidounces), and is adequate
for that purpose.  This  preparation is very properly omitted  in the  United
States Pharmacopoeia; as it is liable to  change by keeping.  The dose is
from half a fluidrachm to a fluidrachm, given in any bland liquid.
   This solution is used by the London  College in preparing the tartrate of
iron and potassa.
   Off.Prep.  Ammonias Bicarbonas, Dub.;  Linimentum  Ammonias Sesqui-
carbonatis, Lond.; Pilulas Cupri Ammoniati, Ed.                    B.
   AMMONIA  HYDROSULPHURETUM.  Dub.    Hydrusul-
phuret of Ammonia.   Solution of Hydrosulphate of Ammonia.
   "Take of Sulphuret of iron, in  coarse oowder, five parts; Sulphuric Acid
seven parts; Water thirty-two parts;' Water of Caustic Ammonia four parts.
Put the Sulphuret into a retort;  then gradually pour on the Acid, previously
diluted  with the  Water, and in a suitable apparatus, transmit the gas evolved
through the Water of Ammonia.   Towards the end of the process, apply a
gentle heat to the retort." Dub.
   This preparation is a solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia  in water, and
is formed by passing  a stream of hydrosulphuric  acid gas (sulphuretted  hydro-
gen) through  a portion of water of ammonia, usually contained in a Wolfe's
bottle.  The  hydrosulphuric acid  is generated by the action of dilute sulphu-
ric acid on  sulphuret  of iron.  The water yields its oxygen to the iron form-
ing  protoxide of  iron, with which the sulphuric acid combines; while  the
hydrogen of the water, uniting with the sulphur,  generates  the hydrosulphuric
acid.
   Properties.  Solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia is a liquid  of a greenish-
yellow colour, very fetid  smell, and acrid, disagreeable taste.  It is charac-
terized  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.  The salt present in it appears to be a bihydrosulphate, consisting
of two eqs. of hydrosulphuric acid 34*2, and one of ammonia 17=51*2.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.   This preparation acts  on the system as a
sedative, lessening the action of  the heart and arteries in a remarkable  de-
gree, and producing nausea, vomiting,  vertigo, and drowsiness.   It has been
used in diabetes  mellitus, in which disease it was proposed  as a remedy by
Dr. Cruickshank, for the  purpose of  lessening the morbid  appetite which
often attends that affection, and has been employed by Dr. Rollo and  others. 
828
Ammonia.
PART II.
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.   This solution
has been expunged from the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias.     B.
   LIQUOR   AMMONIA.  U. S, Lond.   Ammonije  Aqua. Ed.
Ammonije  Causticje Aqua. Dub.  Aqua Ammonije.    Solution of
Ammonia.    Water of Ammonia.
   " Take of Muriate of Ammonia, in fine powder, Lime, each, a pound;
Distilled 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 ves-
sel, 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
introduce 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
gradually 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 necessary to raise its specific gravity  to  0-96.   Keep the solution in
small bottles well stopped.
   "  Solution  of Ammonia may also be prepared by mixing one part, by
measure,  of  Stronger  Solution of  Ammonia  with  two parts of Distilled
Water." U. S.
   "  Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia ten ounces; Lime eight
ounces; Water two pints [Imperial measure].  Put  the Lime slaked with
Water into a retort;  then add the Hydrochlorate of Ammonia broken into
small pieces, and the remainder  of the Water.  Distil fifteen fluidounces
[Imp. meas.] of Solution of Ammonia." Lond.  The specific gravity of this
Solution is 0*960.
   "  Take of Muriate of Ammonia,  in powder, three parts;  Lime, recently
burnt, two parts;  Water ten parts.  Pour one  part of the Water, previously
heated, on the Lime, placed in  an earthen vessel, and  cover it.  Dissolve
the  salt  in the remainder of the  Water, also  heated.  When the Lime has
fallen into powder and  become  cool, put  it into a retort, and  add  to it the
saline solution also cold.  Then distil five  parts with a medium heat into a
refrigerated receiver.   The specific  gravity of this Solution is 0*950." Dub.
   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  at page 82.  (See Liquor Ammoniae Fortior.)  The
Liquor Ammonise of this College is directed to have the  sp. gr. 0*960.
   The object of the above processes is to obtain a weak  aqueous solution of
the alkaline gas ammonia.   The muriate of ammonia is  decomposed by the
superior affinity of the lime for  its acid,  ammonia is disengaged, and the
lime, combining with  the  acid, forms chloride of calcium  and water.  The
ammonia is either evolved from the dry materials  and passed into water, by
which it is absorbed, as in  the U. S. and Edinburgh  processes, or distilled
over in connexion with  water, as  directed  by  the  London and Dublin Col-
leges.   The lime is  slaked  to render it pulverulent, in  which state it acts
more readily  on  the  muriate  of  ammonia.   The receiver  directed in the
United States  process  is  intended  to retain  any water  holding in solution
undecomposed  muriate,  or the oily matter sometimes contained in this salt, as
well as other  impurities, which may be driven  over by  the heat; while the
pure gas passes forward through the glass tube into the bottle containing the 
PART II.
Ammonia.
829
 distilled water, which should not more  than half fill it, on account of the
 increase of bulk  which the water  acquires during the absorption of the gas.
 The tube should continue down to near the bottom  of the bottle, and pass
 through a cork, loosely fitting its  mouth.  To prevent the regurgitation of
 the water from the bottle into the receiver, the latter should be furnished with
 a Welter's tube of safety.  Large bottles are improper for keeping the water
 of ammonia obtained ; as, when they are partially empty, the atmospheric air
 contained  within them is apt to furnish a little carbonic acid to the ammonia.
    In  the  process  of  the  London  Pharmacopoeia,  which was  very much
 changed in the revision of 1836, a given measure of water of ammonia is dis-
 tilled over from the materials employed.  The muriate  of ammonia, instead
 of being pulverized, is directed to be  broken into small  pieces, in order to
 avoid the loss of gas which the powdered form of the salt is apt to occasion
 from the too sudden extrication of the ammonia.  The present is a decided
 improvement on the last London process.  Time is saved in conducting it,
 the boiling of part of the water is omitted, straining the mixed  solution is dis-
 pensed  with, and  a larger proportional amount of water  of ammonia is
 obtained from the materials.  By the old  process Mr. Phillips states that " at
 least fifty measures  of a mixed solution of ammonia and chloride of calcium
 were subjected to distillation in order to  procure twelve measures of product.
 In the present Pharmacopoeia the same quantity is obtained by heating only
 thirty-two measures of the mixed  solution."
   The general plan of the Dublin process is the same as that of the London.
 The differences consist in heating the portions of water intended to slake the
 lime and dissolve the muriate, and in  adding the saline solution  instead of
 the solid salt to the lime.  Dr. Barker objects to the Dublin formula that the
 ammonia is apt to be generated in  the retort faster than the water present can
 take it up, which  circumstance causes  a loss.   He,  therefore,  believes it
 would be an improvement to direct that  part of the  water should  be placed
 in  the receiver.   Another objection to  the formula is the use  of hot  water;
 for cold  water will readily slake  lime,  and  dissolve powdered  muriate  of
 ammonia.
   The proportion of lime varies in the  different formulae.  The equivalent
 proportions are 53*42 of salt and 28-5 of lime, a quantity of the latter only
 a little more than half  the weight of the  former.  By comparing these num-
 bers with those expressing the  proportions of the ingredients employed, it
 will be seen that all the Pharmacopoeias use an excess of lime, the excess
 being least in the Dublin.   The  earth  is most in  excess in  the U.S. and/
 Edinburgh processes, where equal parts are used, and Mr. Phillips alleges
 that its bulk is an inconvenience by requiring large vessels; but the late Dr.
 Hope contended that the excess of lime  is useful by accelerating  the  disen-
 gagement of the  ammonia,  and by rendering a less elevated temperature
 necessary.   The excess of lime, to the  extent directed by the Dublin Col-
 lege, is stated by  Dr. Barker to be necessary to compensate for the impuri-
 ties in ordinary lime.  The use of no more lime than is absolutely required
 to produce complete decomposition, has the incidental advantage  of render-
 ing the residual solution of chloride of calcium less  impure; an object of
 some importance where it is reserved for purification, as is done by the Dublin
 College.
   The  three  Pharmacopoeias  which  include  Liquor  Ammoniae Fortior
 (U.S.,  London,  and Edinburgh)  give  directions for its dilution  so as to
 bring it to ihe  strength of Liquor  Ammoniae.  This  is effected by mixing
one measure of the stronger preparation wiih  two measures of distilled water
(U. S., Lond.), or with tvv  and a half measures (Ed.).  By dilution to this 
830
Ammonia.
PART II.
extent the stronger solution is brought uniformly to the sp. gr. of 0*960;  the
Edinburgh solution requiring more water, because more concentrated. (See
page 83.)
   Properties.  The properties of " Stronger Solution of Ammonia" have
already been indicated.  (See Liquor Ammoniae Fortior.)    Those of  the
officinal  solution of ammonia, described in this place are the same in kind,
but weaker in degree.   Its sp.gr. in the  U.S., London, and  Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeias is the  same, 0-960; in  the  Dublin, 0-950.   When of  the
density 0-960, 100 grains of it saturate 30 grains of  officinal sulphuric acid.
It is incompatible with acids, and with acidulous and most earthy and metal-
lic salts; but it does not decompose the salts of lime, baryta, or strontia, and
those  of  magnesia only partially.   If precipitated by lime-water, the ammo-
nia is partly carbonated.   When saturated with nitric acid, it should give no
precipitate  with carbonate of ammonia  or  nitrate of silver.   A precipitate
with the former shows earthy matter; with the  latter  muriatic acid or a
chloride.
   Composition.  Water is  capable of absorbing 670 times  its  volume of
ammoniacal 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  preparation is
about 10 per cent.; in  the Dublin,  about 12| per  cent.  For the  percentage
of ammonia in the Liquor Ammoniae Fortior, see that title.  The following
table,  constructed by Sir H. Davy, gives the percentage of ammoniacal gas
in aqueous solutions of different specific gravities.
Specific	Ammonia	Specific	Ammonia	Specific	Ammonia
Gravity.	per cent.	Gravity.	per cent.	Gravity.	per cent.
0-8750	32-50	0-9326	17-52	0-9545	11-56
0-8875	29-25	0-9385	15-88	0.9573	10-82
09000	2600	0-9435	14-53	09597	1017
0-9054	2537	0-9476	13-46	09619	960
0-9166	2207	0-9513	12-40	09692	950
0 9255	19-54				
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Solution of ammonia, usually called water
of ammonia, is stimulant, sudorific, antacid, and rubefacient.   It stimulates
more particularly the  heart  and arteries, without unduly exciting  the brain.
It is rarely used internally,  other ammoniacal preparations being preferred,
the dose of which is larger and more easily managed.  As a stimulant, it is
occasionally employed in paralysis, hysteria, syncope, asphyxia, and similar
affections,  with a view to  rouse the vital powers.   In the  same complaints
it is often applied to the nostrils with advantage.  As an antacid, it is one of
the best remedies in heartburn, and for the relief of sick headache when depend-
ent on  acidity of  stomach.   In  these  cases it acts usefully also  by stimu-
lating the  stomach.  Externally applied, it may be made to act either as a
rubefacient or vesicant.   As a rubefacient it is employed  united with  oil in
the form of volatile liniment. (See Linimentum Ammoniae.)  As a vesicant
it is applied by means of a  piece of linen  wet  with it.   As such  it has
the advantages over cantharides of acting more speedily, and of not affecting
the  urinary  organs.  (See  Liquor  Ammonias  Fortior,  and  Linimentum
Ammoniae Compositum.)   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 
 part ii.                      Ammonia.                           831

 ammonia, and must be promptly applied  to be useful.  The consecutive in-
 flammation  must be treated on general principles.
   Pharm. Uses.  To prepare Aconitina, Lond.;  Calcis Phosphas Prascipi-
 tatum,  Dub.; Ferri  Oxidum Hydratum,  U.S.;  Morphia,  U.S., Lond.;
 Morphias Acetas, Ed.;  Morphias  Hydrochloras, Lond.; Quinias Disulphas,
 Lond.; Strychnia, U. S., Lond.;  Veratria,  U. S., Lond., Ed.
   Off. Prep. Ammonias Hydrosulphuretum, Dub.; Hydrargyrum Ammonia-
 tum, U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.; Linimentum Ammoniae, U.S., Lond., Ed.,
 Dub.;  Linimentum  Camphoras  Compositum, Lond., Dub.; Linimentum
 Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond.                                    B.
   LIQUOR AMMONIJE ACETATIS.  U. S., Lond.  Ammonije
 Acetatis  Aqua.  Ed.,  Dub.   Spiritus Mindereri.  Solution of
 Acetate of Ammonia.   Spirit of Minder eras.
   "Take of Diluted Acetic Acid two pints;  Carbonate of Ammonia, in
 powder, a sufficient quantity.  Add the Carbonate of Ammonia gradually to
 the Acid until it is saturated." U. S.
   "Take of Sesquicarbonate of  Ammonia four ounces and a half, or as
 much as may be sufficient; Distilled Vinegar four pints [Imperial measure].
 Add the Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia to the Vinegar to saturation." Lond.
   " Take of Distilled Vinegar (from French Vinegar in preference) twenty-
four fluidounces [Imperial measure] ;  Carbonate of Ammonia an ounce.
 Mix them and  dissolve the salt.  If the solution has any bitterness, add by
 degrees a little Distilled Vinegar till that taste be removed.   The density of
 the Distilled Vinegar should be 1*005, and that of  the Aqua Acetatis Ammo-
 nias  1*011." Ed.
   " Take of Carbonate of Ammonia one part.  Add gradually,  and  with
 frequent agitation, as much warm Distilled Vinegar as may be necessary to
 saturate the  ammonia, namely, about thirty parts.  The saturation may be
 ascertained  by means of litmus."  Dub.
   This preparation is an aqueous solution of acetate of ammonia.  The pro-
 cess by which it is formed  constitutes a case of single elective affinity.   The
 acetic acid decomposes the  carbonate, combines with the ammonia, forming
 the acetate of ammonia, and disengages the carbonic acid with effervescence.
 The British Colleges employ distilled vinegar,  while,  according to  the
 United  States Pharmacopoeia, the saturation is effected with a  pure acetic
 acid, diluted to  a determinate extent with distilled water.   (See  Acidum
 Aceticum Dilutum.)   The  use of the acid in the latter form is a decided
 improvement; for, besides  furnishing the solution  of the acetate  of uniform
 strength, a result which cannot be attained  by the  employment  of distilled
 vinegar, unless it be carefully brought to a given density,  it avoids the  pro-
 duction of a  brownish solution, which uniformly follows the use of the latter,
 especially when  it has been condensed in  a  metallic worm.  The quantity
 of carbonate of ammonia necessary to saturate a given weight of the acid of
 average strength, cannot be laid  down with  precision, on account of the
 variable quality of the  salt.   The preparation, when made with  the diluted
 acetic acid of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, contains six per cent, of acetate of
 ammonia. The  addition of the salt to the acid,  as directed in the U. S. and
 London Pharmacopoeias, is  more convenient than the contrary order; as the
 point of saturation is thus  more easily attained.   This point is best ascer-
tained by the alternate use of turmeric and litmus paper; and it is a good rule
to allow rather a slight acidity to prevail, which  will be due to carbonic acid
dissolved in the liquid, and  will disappear as soon as this acid is dissipated
by time.
  Properties.  Solution of acetate of ammonia, when made of pure mate- 
832
Ammonia.
PART II.
rials, is a limpid and colourless  liquid.   Its taste is saline and  resembles
that of a mixture of nitre  and sugar.   If it contains  an excess of alkali, its
taste is bitterish.   It should not be  made in large quantities at a time, as its
acid becomes decomposed, and a portion of carbonate of ammonia is  gene-
rated.  As formerly prepared, under the name of spiritus Mindereri, it was
made from the impure carbonate of ammonia containing animal  oil, which
modified the preparation  by giving rise to a  portion of ammoniacal  soap.
When pure it is not  coloured by hydrosulphuric  acid, nor precipitated by
nitrate of silver  or chloride of barium.   When  evaporated  to dryness, the
residue is  wholly dissipated by  heat, with the smell of ammonia.  It  is
incompatible with acids, the fixed alkalies and their  carbonates, lime-water,
magnesia, sulphate of magnesia, corrosive sublimate, the sulphates of iron,
copper, and zinc, and nitrate of silver.  When it contains free carbonic acid,
^t 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 employed.  Acetate of ammonia, the salt  in solution  in
this preparation, is difficultly crystallizable, and  very deliquescent.  It may
be obtained by sublimation from  a mixture of equal parts  of dry acetate  of
potassa or of lime, and muriate of ammonia.   It consists of one eq. of acetic
acid  51, and one of ammonia 17=68.   When crystallized  it contains  seven
eqs.  of water 63.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Solution of acetate of ammonia is a valuable
diaphoretic, much employed in febrile and inflammatory diseases.   According
to the  indications to be answered by its use,  it  is variously combined with
nitre  and antimonials, camphor and opium.  If,  instead of promoting its
determination to the  skin by external warmth, the patient walk  about in a
cool  air, its action will be directed to the kidneys.   It  is  sometimes used
externally  as a discutient.  Mr. Brande speaks of it as an excellent applica-
tion  in mumps,  applied hot upon a  piece of flannel.  In the hydrocele  of
children, it is strongly recommended by Dr. Maushner, applied by means of
compresses kept constantly  moist.  (Journ. de  Pharm., 3e ser., v.  317.)
Mixed in the  quantity of  a fluidounce with seven fluidounces of rose-water,
and  two fluidrachms  of laudanum, it forms a useful collyrium  in chronic
ophthalmia.   Dr. A. T. Thomson has used it as a lotion with good effect in
porrigo affecting the scalp.  The dose is from  half a fluidounce to a fluid-
ounce and a half, every three or four hours, mixed with water and sweetened
with  sugar.   It  proves  sometimes  very  grateful  to febrile patients, when
prescribed with  an equal measure of carbonic acid water.             B.
   SPIRITUS   AMMONIJE.  U. S.,  Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.   Spirit  of
Ammonia.
  "Take  of  Muriate of  Ammonia, in fine powder, Lime, each, a pound;
Alcohol twenty fluidounces ; Water nine fluidounces.  Slake the  Lime with
the Water, mix  it with the Muriate of Ammonia, and proceed in the manner
directed  for Solution  of Ammonia, the Alcohol being  introduced  into the
quart bottle  instead  of Distilled Water.   When all the ammonia has come
over, remove  the liquor contained in the  quart  bottle, and  keep it in small
bottles well stopped." U. S.
  "  Take of Rectified  Spirit two pints [Imperial  measure] ; fresh-burnt
Lime twelve ounces [a pound] ;  Muriate of Ammonia, in very fine powder,
eight ounces ; Water six fluidounces and  a half [Imp. meas.].  Let the
Lime be slaked  with  the  Water in  an iron or earthenware vessel, and cover
the vessel  till the powder  be cold ; mix the Lime  and Muriate of Ammonia
quickly and thoroughly in a mortar, and transfer the mixture at once  into a 
 part ii.                      Ammonia.                           833

 glass retort; adapt to the retort a tube which passes nearly to the bottom of
 a bottle containing the Rectified Spirit; heat the retort in a sand-bath gra-
 dually, so long as any thing passes over, preserving the bottle cool.   The
 bottle should be large enough to contain one-half more than the spirit used."
 Ed.
   ",Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia ten ounces; Carbonate of
 Potassa sixteen ounces;  Rectified Spirit, Water, each, three pints [Imperial
 measure]. Mix them, and distil three piqts [Imp.  meas.]." Lond.
   " Take of Rectified Spirit three  pints;  Carbonate of Ammonia, coarsely
 powdered, three ounces and a half.  Mix them, and dissolve the salt with a
 medium heat;  then filter the solution." Dub.
   The spirit of ammonia of  the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias is a
 solution of ammonia in rectified spirit; that of the London and Dublin Col-
 leges, a solution  of monocarbonate of ammonia  in the same menstruum.
 The  proportions  of the  ingredients  of the  United States formula are so
 adjusted as to give a preparation, containing between  10 and 11 per cent, of
 ammonia, and  capable of saturating about 30 per cent, of officinal sulphuric
 acid.   Accordingly, it agrees, as it was intended  it should, in ammoniacal
 strength, with  the U.S. Liquor Ammonias.  Its  sp.gr. is 0*831, or there-
 abouts.   The Edinburgh spirit may be  roughly  estimated to be less than
 one-third as strong as that of  the U.S. Pharmacopoeia; for the ammonia
 extricated from the  same quantity of  muriate of ammonia, is passed into
 three times as  much rectified spirit.   The density of the  Edinburgh spirit
 of ammonia is "about 0*845."   As rectified  spirit becomes lighter by the
 absorption of ammoniacal gas,  it is evident that  the  alcoholic  menstruum
 gains water as  well as ammonia in the  distillation.   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 obtained has a less specific
 gravity than that of rectified spirit.  In the London process a double decom-
 position takes place between the muriate of ammonia and carbonate of potassa,
 resulting in the formation of the monocarbonate of ammonia which distils
 over  with the  spirit,  and chloride  of potassium which remains behind in
 solution.   This process  is  somewhat wasteful, as part of the  carbonate of
 ammonia formed remains undissolved  in the receiver, in an imperfectly crys-
 talline state, the spirit not being capable of dissolving the whole which comes
 over.   The Dublin process consists in merely dissolving the officinal carbo-
 nate in  heated rectified spirit.   The officinal carbonate is a sesquicarbonate ;
 and, during its solution in the spirit, just so much carbonic acid is disengaged
 with effervescence as to convert it into monocarbonate, of which thirty grains
 dissolve in each fluidounce.   The  spirit  thus obtained, therefore, contains
 the ammonia, carbonated  to the same extent in which it exists in the London
 preparation.
   Properties.  The U. S.  spirit of ammonia, formerly called ammonialed
 alcohol, is a transparent colourless liquid, having a strong ammoniacal odour,
 and acrid taste.  When good it does not effervesce with diluted muriatic acid ;
 but if old or carelessly kept, it is apt to be partially carbonated, as  shown
 by this  test.  It, however, absorbs carbonic acid more slowly than Liquor
 Ammonias.  The  Edinburgh  preparation  agrees in nature with the U. S.
 spirit, but is only of one-third its strength.  The London and Dublin spirits
 have a weaker odour of ammonia.  The former has the officinal density 0*860.
 Both effervesce with acids.  Though carbonated,  they are more pungent and
 alkaline than if they contained the sesquicarbonate;  as the ammonia present
in them is combined with one-third less  of carbonic acid.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Spirit of ammonia is stimulant and anti-
                                  71* 
834
Ammonia.
PART II.
spasmodic, and is given in hysteria, flatulent colic, and  nervous debility.
It is, however, not much used;  the aromatic spirit, which is pleasanter and
has similar properties, being  preferred.   The dose of the  U. S. preparation
is from  ten  to thirty drops in a wineglassful of water; of the Edinburgh,
somewhat larger.   The  dose of the carbonated spirit  is  still  larger—from
thirty drops to a teaspoonful, properly  diluted.   All these  spirits dissolve
resins, gum-resins, camphor,  and the volatile oils; but  the caustic are more
active solvents than the carbonated preparations.   The Edinburgh College
uses its spirit for making the  aromatic and fetid spirits  of  ammonia, and the
ammoniated tinctures, as is seen by the list subjoined.
  Off. Prep. Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus, Ed.;  Spiritus Ammonias Foe-
tidus, Ed.; Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinct.  Guaiaci Ammoniata,
Ed.; Tinct. Opii Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinct. Valerianas Ammoniata, Ed., Dub.
                                                                  B.
  SPIRITUS  AMMONIJE  AROMATICUS.  U.  S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.   Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia.
  "Take of Muriate  of Ammonia^ue ounces; Carbonate of Potassa eight
ounces;  Cinnamon, bruised, Cloves, bruised, each, two  drachms;  Lemon
Peel four ounces;  Alcohol, Water, each.^ue pints.  Mix them  and distil
seven pints and a half." U. S.
  The London formula is the original of the above,  and, therefore, need not
be given.
  "Take of Spirit of  Ammonia eight fluidounces ; Volatile Oil of Lemon
Peel a fluidrachm;  Volatile Oil  of Rosemary a fluidrachm and a half.
Dissolve the Oils in the Spirit by agitation." Ed.
  " Take of Spirit of Ammonia two pints;  Essential Oil of Lemons two
drachms;  Nutmegs, bruised,  half  an ounce;  Cinnamon  Bark, bruised,
three drachms.   Macerate in a covered vessel for three days, shaking occa-
sionally; then distil a pint and a half." Dub.
  The London and U. S. aromatic spirit of ammonia is made on the same
plan as  the London carbonated simple spirit;  namely, by impregnating the
menstruum with monocarbonate of ammonia, formed by double decomposi-
tion between muriate of ammonia and carbonate of potassa.  Thus the product
is a spirituous solution of the monocarbonate, impregnated with aromatics.
From the relation between the muriate of ammonia and  the quantity of liquid
distilled, it will be found that  this aromatic spirit is only one-fourth as  ammo-
niated as the corresponding simple spirit. This aromatic spirit is also weaker
in the density of  the  alcohol present in it; for, while in the corresponding
simple spirit the distilled product is just equal to the rectified spirit employed,
in the aromatic spirit it is half as much again;  the proportional excess being
water.  Hence it is that the aromatic spirit of this process is so  much heavier
than the corresponding simple spirit; the former having the specific gravity
0*914, the latter 0*860, as determined by the London College.  The aromatic
spirit of the Edinburgh College is a mere solution of certain volatile oils  in
the caustic simple spirit of that College.  The omission  to distil is a defect
in this process;  for if the volatile oils contain impurity, the preparation will
be coloured and turbid.  The Dublin College makes the preparation by dis-
tilling their carbonated simple spirit with the aromatics.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  Aromatic  spirit of ammonia  is fitted  to
fulfil the same indications as  the simple  spirit; but is  much more used, on
account of its grateful  taste and smell.   It is advantageously employed as a
stimulant antacid in sick headache.  The dose is from twenty to sixty drops
or more, sufficiently diluted with water.  This spirit is compatible with sul-
phate of magnesia, and may be usefully added to aperient draughts  of that
salt, to render them less offensive to the stomach. 
 part ii.              Ammonia.—Antimonium.                   835

    Off. Prep.  Tinctura Colchici Composita, Zone?.,  Tinct. Guaiaci Ammo-
 niata, U.S., Dub., Lond; Tinct. Valerianas  Ammoniata, U.S., Lond.   B.
    SPIRITUS AMMONIJE FCETIDUS. Lond., Ed., Dub.  Fetid
 Spirit of Ammonia.
    " Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia ten  ounces;  Carbonate
 of Potassa sixteen ounces;  Rectified  Spirit, Water, each, three pints [Im-
 perial measure] ; Assafetida five ounces.  Mix them ;  then with a slow fire
 distil three pints [Imp. meas.]."  Lond.
    "Take of Spirit of Ammonia  ten fluidounces and a half [Imp. meas.];
 Assafetida half an ounce.  Break  the Assafetida into  small fragments,  di-
 gest it in  the Spirit for twelve hours,  and distil over ten fluidounces and a
 half by means of a vapour-bath heat."  Ed.
    "Take of Spirit  of Ammonia  two pints; Assafetida  an  ounce and a
 quarter.   Macerate in a close vessel  for three days,  shaking occasionally;
 then pour off the clear liquor, and distil a pint and a half." Dub.
    These preparations differ from the  corresponding spirits of ammonia of
 the several Colleges,  only in containing a small proportion of the volatile
 oil of assafetida, which has little other effect than to communicate an unplea-
 sant  odour and taste  to  the spirit.  It is colourless at first,  but becomes
 brownish with age.   It is given in hysteria in doses of from thirty drops to
 a fluidrachm.                                                    W.


                         ANTIMONIUM.

                   Preparations of Antimony.

   ANTIMONII  OXIDUM. Ed.  Oxide of Antimony.  Teroxide
 of Antimony.
   "Take  of Sulphuret of Antimony, in  fine powder, four ounces; Muri-
 atic Acid (commercial) a pint [Imperial measure] ; Water five pints [Imp.
 meas.].   Dissolve the Sulphuret in the Acid with the aid of a gentle heat;
 boil for half an hour;  filter; pour the fluid into the Water; collect the preci-
 pitate 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.
   This is a new officinal of the Edinburgh College.  It is formed precisely
 on the same principles as the powder of Algaroth, described in the next
 article.   As the  object of the process is to obtain  a pure oxide, the precipi-
 tate is washed with a  weak solution of  carbonate of soda to remove terchlo-
 ride,  and  afterwards  with water  to separate any remains  of  alkali.  The
 soda  removes the  terchloride, by forming with it teroxide of antimony and
 chloride of sodium.   Teroxide of antimony is a snow-white, heavy powder,
 permanent in the air,  insoluble in water, but readily soluble in  muriatic or
 tartaric acid, or in a boiling solution of  bitartrate of potassa.  When heated
 in  close  vessels, it becomes yellow, fuses at  a  full red  heat, and finally
 sublimes in crystalline needles.  When cooled  from a state of fusion, it forms
 a fibrous  crystalline mass.  Heated in open vessels, it suddenly becomes red-
 hot, and, by the absorption of oxygen, changes into antimonious acid, which
 differs from the teroxide in being insoluble in muriatic acid, less fusible, and
 not volatile. This oxide is the active ingredient of all the medicinal prepara-
 tions of antimony.  It is  frequently impure  from containing  antimonious
acid, in which case it will not be entirely soluble in muriatic acid.   If it con-
tains terchloride, which it is apt to do from the imperfect action of the solu-
tion of carbonate of soda, its solution in tartaric acid will be precipitated by 
836
Antimonium.
part ii.
nitrate of silver.   When antimonious acid is substituted for it, the fraud may
be detected by the spurious preparation being entirely insoluble in muriatic
acid.   It consists of one eq. of antimony and three of oxygen (Sb + 30).
  Medical Properties.  This  oxide possesses  the  general therapeutic pro-
perties of the antimonials.  It deserves more  attention than has been paid to
it, and its effects, comparatively with those of tartar emetic, should be carefully
studied.  It is probable that its sedative operation would be found  the  same,
with less nausea and disturbance of the stomach.  Like antimonial powder,
it is very unequal in its effects, sometimes vomiting, at other times  being
apparently inert.  In the case of the French Codex oxide, prepared by boil-
ing the powder of Algaroth with  a solution of bicarbonate of potassa, these
differences are attributed by M. Durand, of Caen, to the presence of more
or less terchloride,  which is separated  with difficulty.  Objecting to the
Codex oxide, M. Durand proposes to obtain it by precipitating tartar emetic
with ammonia in excess.  The oxide, thus  obtained, contains no terchloride,
and does not vomit.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., ii. 364.)   The dose of the
oxide is  from three to ten grains, repeated  every two or three hours, and
given in powder with syrup or molasses, or in pill made up with confection
of roses.                                                          B.
  ANTIMONII OXYDUM NITROMURIATICUM. Dub. Nitro-
muriatic Oxide of Antimony.   Powder of Algaroth.
  "Take of Prepared Sulphuret of Antimony twenty parts; Muriatic Acid
one hundred parts; Nitric Acid one part. Add the Sulphuret gradually to
the Acids,  previously mixed in a glass vessel, avoiding the vapours.  Digest
with a heat gradually increased, until the effervescence ceases, and then boil
for  an hour.   Receive the cooled and filtered  liquor in  a gallon  of water.
Wash the  Oxide of antimony, after it has subsided, repeatedly, in a suffi-
ciently large quantity of water, until the liquor poured off is perfectly free
from acid,  as known by the  test of litmus.  Lastly, dry the oxide on bibu-
lous paper."  Dub.
  The object of this  process is  to obtain  the oxychloride  of antimony,
consisting  of the teroxide  and terchloride, and formerly called powder  of
Algaroth.   When tersulphuret of antimony is dissolved, by the aid of heat,
in muriatic acid, a double decomposition takes place, resulting in the forma-
tion of terchloride of antimony (butter of antimony)  and hydrosulphuric acid
(sulphuretted hydrogen),  which by its evolution causes the effervescence.
When the  terchloride  is poured into a large  quantity of water, the greater
part of it is converted  into muriatic acid and  teroxide, the former remaining
in solution, and  the  latter falling  in union  with a portion of undecomposed
terchloride  as a white flocculent precipitate, constituting the oxychloride  of
antimony, or powder of Algaroth.  The precipitate is washed  for the pur-
pose of freeing it from adhering muriatic acid.   The heat should be applied
moderately at first, for fear the materials should unduly swell; but towards
the close of the process it should be increased, to ensure the complete  action
of the acid.  The  small portion of nitric  acid  used by the  College is not
necessary to assist the muriatic acid in dissolving the tersulphuret;  but it
acts usefully by decomposing any remains of hydrosulphuric acid which may
exist in the solution, and which, by its presence, would impair the  whiteness
of the oxychloride, when precipitated in the  next step of the process by the
water.  There exists a defect in  the formula;  inasmuch as the ingredients
are taken in parts, which are relative quantities, while the water is directed
in the absolute quantity of  a gallon.
  Properties.   Oxychloride of antimony is a white powder, having a crys-
talline appearance if left long in contact with the solution from which it is 
 part ii.                     Antimonium.                         837

 precipitated.  When exposed to a red heat, it enters into fusion, and forms
 a yellow liquid, which, on cooling, concretes into a grayish crystalline mass
 of a pearly  aspect.  It consists mainly of teroxide, being composed of nine
 eqs. of teroxide, and two of terchloride.  (Malagutti and Johnston.)
   Medical  Properties and Uses.  The powder of Algaroth was formerly
 used  in  medicine, but, owing to  its unequal  operation,  from  its being more
 or less  perfectly washed from uncombined terchloride,  has  been laid aside.
 It is employed  in pharmacy in the preparation of tartar emetic, for which
 purpose it is  placed among the preparations of the  Dublin  Pharmacopoeia.
 It is also applied to the same use in the United States and Edinburgh Phar-
 macopoeias, but without being recognised under a distinct name, being formed
 as the first step of the process adopted for preparing tartar emetic  in those
 works.   The  name given to this  oxide by the  Dublin College is very excep-
 tionable.  It is not formed on correct chemical principles; neither has it any
 pharmaceutical convenience  to recommend it.
   Off. Prep. Antimonii et Potassae Tartras, Dub.                    B.
   ANTIMONII ET POTASSA  TARTRAS.   U.S.  Antimonii
 et Potassa  Tartras  sive Tartarum  Emeticum.   Dub.   Anti-
 monii  Potassio-Tartras. Lond.   Antimonium Tartarizatum.
 Ed.    Tartrate of Antimony  and  Potassa.  Tartarized Anti-
 mony.   Tartar Emetic.
   " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder,ybm* ounces ; Muriatic
 Acid twenty-five ounces;  Nitric Acid two drachms;  Water a  gallon.  Hav-
 ing mixed the Acids together in  a glass vessel, add  by  degrees the  Sulphu-
 ret 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 pow-
 der 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 together,
 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 \ield an ad-
 ditional quantity of crystals, which should be  purified by a second  crystal-
 lization." U.S.
   "Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine  powder, four ounces;  Muri-
 atic 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 pre-
 cipitate  on a calico filter, wash it with cold  water  till  the water ceases to
 redden litmus  paper, dry  the precipitate over  the  vapour-bath.  Take of
 this precipitate three ounces ; Bitartrate  of Potash, four ounces and two
 drachms;  Water twenty-seven fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. Mix the powders,
 add the  Water, boil for an hour, filter, and set the liquid  aside to crystallize.
 The mother-liquor, when concentrated, yields  more crystals, but not so free
 of colour,  and, therefore, requiring a second crystallization." Ed.
  "Take of Nitromuriatic  Oxide  of Antimony four parts; Bitartrate of
 Potassa, in very fine powder, five parts ;  Distilled Water thirty four parts.
 Boil the Water in a glass vessel;  then gradually throw into it the  Oxide and
 Bitartrate of Potassa, previously mixed, and boil for half an hour; then filter
 the liquor through paper, and crystallize by slow cooling." Dub.
  "Take  of Sesquisulphuret of  Antimony, rubbed to  powder,  Nitrate of
Potassa,  powdered, each,  two pounds;  Bitartrate  of Potassa,  powdered, 
838
Antimonium.
PART II.
fourteen ounces;  Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid four fluidounces [Imperial
 measure] ; Distilled Water a gallon [Imp. meas.].  Mix the Sesquisulphuret
 of Antimony, accurately, with the Nitrate of Potassa; the Hydrochloric Acid
 being then added, and the powder spread upon an iron plate, ignite it.  Rub
 what remains, when it is cold, to very fine powder, and wash it frequently
 with boiling water until it is free from taste.  Mix the powder thus prepared
 with the Bitartrate of Potassa, and boil for half an hour in a gallon of Distilled
 Water.  Strain the  liquor while yet hot, and set it aside  that crystals may
 form.  These being removed and dried, let the liquor again evaporate that it
 may yield crystals." Lond.
   This preparation  is a double salt, consisting of tartrate of potassa, united
 with tartrate of the teroxide of antimony.  The principle of its formation is
 exceedingly  simple, being merely the saturation  of the excess of  acid in  the
 bitartrate  (cream of tartar)  with teroxide of antimony.  The  officinal pro-
 cesses all consist in boiling a mixture of cream of tartar  and some form of
 teroxide with water.   The  U. S., Edinburgh,  and  Dublin Pharmacopoeias
 now all agree in using the form of teroxide called oxychloride of antimony
 or powder of Algaroth, which is officinal under a distinct name in the Dub-
 lin Pharmacopoeia only, where it is  called nitromuriatic oxide  of  antimony.
 (See Antimonii Oxydum Nitromuriaticum, under which title it is  described.)
 In  the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, the same substance is formed
 as the first step of the tartar emetic process.  The London College employs
 for making tartar emetic, the crocus of antimony.   This substance was used
 for the same purpose in the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia ;  but upon  the
 last revision  of that  work, the oxychloride was judiciously substituted for it.
   The  Pharmacopoeias which use the oxychloride agree in the  same general
 plan of making it.   The tersulphuret of antimony is dissolved in from five
 to  six times  its weight of muriatic acid, assisted  by a hundredth of nitric
 acid  in the  U. S. and Dublin  formulas, but without  this acid  in  the Edin-
 burgh.   The solution is  thrown  into a large  quantity of water, equal to
 about 25 or  30 times  the weight of the sulphuret  employed, and the  oxy-
 chloride is  precipitated.  This is  mixed with from one  and a  quarter to
 about one and a  half times its weight of cream of  tartar, and boiled  from
 half  an hour to an hour, with  about eight and a half times its weight of dis-
 tilled water ; and  the  liquor obtained is  filtered while  hot and set  aside to
 crystallize.   By further evaporation the mother-liquor may be made to yield
 a second crop of crystals, which, not being free from colour, must be purified
 by a second  crystallization.   When no more crystals  can be  obtained,  the
 liquor which is left contains, according  to Knapp, a gummy salt which con-
 sists of tartrate of potassa united to the tertartrate  of teroxide  of  antimony.
 If this liquor be boiled with a fresh portion of oxychloride, as long as this is
 taken up, it  will  furnish an additional quantity of crystals  of tartar  emetic;
 and, finally,  if the new mother-liquor be saturated with carbonate of potassa,
 it will furnish a fresh portion of the antimonial  salt, after which the liquor is
 entirely exhausted.  (Journ.  de Pharm., xxvi.  136, from the Annal.  der
 Pharm.)   The oxychloride, as its name imports, contains a portion of  ter-
 chloride.   This is decomposed during the boiling, by means of the elements
 of  water, into teroxide, which goes 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.  Hence  it is that the pure
 teroxide is not so  well fitted for making tartar emetic as the oxychloride, in
 which the oxide is usefully associated with some terchloride.
   In the London formula, the crocus is not prepared by a separate formula,
 but formed in the first part of the process.  It is generated during the defla- 
PART II.
Antimonium.
839
gration of equal weights of tersulphuret of antimony, and nitrate of potassa.
The nitric  acid  of  the  nitre  is  decomposed,  nitrogen  and  nitric  oxide
being given  off, and, by furnishing oxygen to part of the  tersulphuret, con-
verts its constituents into  sulphuric acid and  teroxide of antimony.   The
sulphuric acid then combines  with the potassa of the nitre, to form sulphate
of potassa;  while the teroxide unites or mixes with the  undecomposed por-
tion of the tersulphuret to constitute the crocus. From its constituents, there-
fore, the crocus maybe called an oxysulphuret of antimony; but its composition
is not uniform.  The London formula is peculiar in  directing  the addition,
to the materials for deflagration, of a portion of muriatic acid ;  the object of
which is to neutralize some free potassa, and either to prevent the formation
of a portion  of sulphuret of  potassium, or immediately to decompose it, if
formed, with the result of forming chloride of potassium.  (Phillips.)   The
product of the deflagration is reduced to a very fine powder, and washed to
remove the sulphate of potassa and chloride of potassium.    The old plan of
fusing  this  product  before reducing it to powder, is very properly avoided ;
as the  fused  crocus, from the difficulty of reducing it to fine powder,  is not
readily soluble in the bitartrate of potassa.  Crocus of antimony, as obtained
by this  process,  is  in the form of a saffron-brown  powder, and contains
only about -Jths of its weight of teroxide, the rest being tersulphuret,  which
is not available in the process, for forming the tartar emetic.  By an approxi-
mate calculation, it may be assumed, from the quantities of tersulphuret of anti-
mony and nitre taken in  the formula, that 9 ounces of the  washed  crocus
will be obtained, which is boiled with  a little more than one and a half times
its weight of cream of  tartar, and the solution filtered while hot.  On the
supposition that 9 ounces of crocus are formed, the quantity of water directed
is large, being about  16 times the weight of the former.  This  amount may
be necessary on account of the large proportion of insoluble tersulphuret of
antimony present in the crocus.
   Having given a sketch  of the several officinal formulas, and of the pro-
portions employed, it may be useful to present them in a tabular form.   The
teroxide is reduced to the same quantity, and the measures of water in the
U.S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias are converted into the nearest
corresponding weights.
AUTHORITY.	Form of Teroxide employed.	Proportion of Teroxide.	Proportion of Cream of Tartar.	Proportion of Water.
U.S. Pharmacopceia. Dublin do. Edinburgh do. London do.	Oxychloride. Do. Do. Crocus.	4 4 4 4	5 5 57 6-2	34 34 33 65
  It is seen by the table that the proportions of the U.S. and Dublin  Phar-
macopoeias are identical.  The proportion of cream of tartar increases  some-
what in the Edinburgh formula, and  still more in the London.   It must be
admitted,  however, that  the  quantity of crocus generated by  the London
process is not precisely known, and may have been under-estimated.   If so,
the proportion of cream of tartar is given at too high  a number.
  In judging of the relative  eligibility of these processes, several circum-
stances are to be taken into  view.   The cream  of tartar should  not  be in
excess; as in that case it is apt  to crystallize upon  cooling with the  tartar
emetic formed.   To avoid such a result it is better to have a slight excess of 
840
Antimonium.
PART II.
 antimonial  oxide; and we are assured by Dr. Barker that  the proportion of
 4 of oxide  to 5 of cream of  tartar  (U.S. and Dublin proportion)  furnishes
 such an excess.   According to Dr. Christison, however,  the excess is too
 great;  for  upon making the experiment  he  found  that there was a  slight
 excess  of antimonial oxide, even when using the larger proportion of cream
 of tartar directed  in  the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.   No rule is  applicable
 to the determination  of the proper  proportion of  water, except that it should
 be sufficient  to dissolve the tartar emetic formed.   The  London Pharma-
 copoeia employs a large  quantity, and the probable reason  why it is neces-
 sary has been suggested.  The hot filtration directed may be conveniently
 performed by means of  the tin  apparatus, devised by Dr. Hare  for filtering
 liquids at the point of ebullition.    (See page 757 for a figure of  this appa-
 ratus.)   The U.S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias boil  for an  hour;  the
 London and  Dublin, for  half  an  hour.    In  all cases  the salt  should be
 obtained in  well-defined  crystals, unmixed with those of cream  of tartar, as
 the best index of  its  purity.   The  practice of some  manufacturing chemists
 of boiling the filtered liquor to dryness, whereby an impure mass is obtained,
 consisting in  part  only of the antimonial  salt, is very  reprehensible.
   The London College  formerly used the glass of antimony for making  tar-
 tar emetic,  but have  very properly laid it aside, on account of the difficulty
 of procuring  it, and  its  liability to be mixed with glass of lead.    On  the
 last revision  of their Pharmacopoeia, they substituted the crocus, using a
 process which is characterized by Mr.  Phillips as economical  and easy
 of execution.   Its economy, compared  with the  Edinburgh  oxychloride
 process, is  called  in  question by Dr. Christison,  who tries  it by the test of
 the relation  of the cream of tartar expended to the sesquisulphuret employed.
 But here Dr.  Christison  has  inadvertently made a miscalculation  in assuming
 that 4 to 4| is in the proportion of  100 to 125.   The true ratio between  the
 tersulphuret and cream of tartar in  the Edinburgh formula is as the numbers
 100 to 106; while the ratio  of the  same  substances  in the  London process
 is as  100 to 58.   Thus  with the same expenditure  of sesquisulphuret,  the
 London College uses less cream of  tartar, and consequently obtains less tar-
 tar emetic.  But in making  this comparison, the cost of all the  materials
 must be taken into consideration; and if the London College uses a portion
 of nitre, and  nearly twice as much  sesquisulphuret as the  Edinburgh Col-
 lege ; on the other hand, it must be recollected that  the latter College uses
 nearly 17 times as much muriatic acid as  the former.   Though the  use of the
 crocus may  not be objectionable on  the score of expense, yet we  think  that
 the London  College would have made a better choice, if they had substituted
 for the  glass  the  oxychloride  rather than  the crocus.  The preference is
 given to the oxychloride  by Berzelius ; and M. Henry, an eminent pharma-
 ceutist of Paris, after a careful comparison of  the different processes  in use
 for preparing tartar emetic, declares in favour of the one  in which  this oxide
 is employed.   This testimony in favour  of the Dublin process induced  the
 revisers of our national Pharmacopoeia to adopt it in 1830; and the Edinburgh
 College have judiciously substituted it for  the crocus process, in their revision
 of 1839.
   The French Codex uses the glass of antimony in  preparing tartar emetic,
 and as the formula is  somewhat  peculiar, it may be useful to give it. Accord-
 ing to the Codex,  300 parts of cream of  tartar, in coarse powder, and 200
 parts of  the  glass,  in very fine powder, are boiled, in a silver or copper basin,
 with 2000 parts of water for half an  hour, agitating continually, and replacing
 the water as  it evaporates.  The liquor is allowed to cool without filierin«, and
the crystals  which form are removed, and washed repeatedly, by decantation, 
PART II.
Antimonium.
841
 with the mother-liquor.  This is then filtered, and evaporated to  dryness,
 and the residue exhausted by boiling water.   The  solution thus  obtained is
 then filtered, and  allowed to crystallize by cooling.   The crystals  obtained
 are  all dissolved anew in boiling water, and the  solution, after having been
 clarified with white of egg, is filtered, concentrated so as to mark  25°, and
 allowed to crystallize by slow cooling.
   It has been already mentioned that M. Henry  prefers the use of  the oxy-
 chloride (powder of Algaroth) for making tartar emetic; in other words, the
 Dublin process.   He has thought, however, that it was susceptible of some
 improvements, and has given a process  on  a large  scale, which he prefers.
 As this formula may be useful to the manufacturing chemist, we subjoin it,
 turning the French weights into the  nearest apothecaries'  weights and mea-
 sures.  Take of prepared sulphuret of antimony, in very fine powder, three
 pounds four ounces;  muriatic acid, marking  22°  (sp.gr. 1*178),  eighteen
 pounds and a half; nitric acid two ounces and a half.   Introduce the sulphu-
 ret into a glass matrass, of a capacity double the volume of the mixture to be
 formed, and add to it from three to five pounds of the acids previously mixed,
 so that the  sulphuret may be  thoroughly penetrated by them; then add  the
 remainder of the acids. Place the matrass on a sand-bath, and heat  the mix-
 ture gradually to ebullition, avoiding the vapours, which are disengaged in
 large quantity.  Continue the heat until the vapours given off are  so far
 deprived of sulphuretted hydrogen as not to blacken white paper moistened
 with solution of acetate of lead; after which allow the liquor to cool,  and to
 remain at rest until it has become clear. Decant the clear liquid, and,  to obtain
 the portion of it which may be retained by the moist residue, mix this with
 a small portion of muriatic acid, and again decant. Mix the decanted liquids,
 which consist of a solution of terchloride of antimony,  and add them to a
 large quantity of water, in order that the  oxychloride may be precipitated;
 taking care, during their addition, to stir constantly in order that the preci-
 pitated powder  may be more minutely divided, to  facilitate  its  subsequent
 washing.  To determine whether the water has been sufficient to decompose
 the  whole of the sesquichloride, 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 takes  place, more water must be added to the mixture,  so as to
 obtain the  largest  possible quantity of the oxychloride.   The precipitation
 being completely effected, wash the powder repeatedly with water, until this
 no longer affects litmus, and then place it on linen to drain for twenty-four
 hours. The quantity of nitromuriatic oxide thus obtained  will be about three
 pounds and a half  in the moist state, or two  pounds nine ounces when dry.
 Assuming it to  be  this quantity, mix it with three pounds eleven  ounces of
 cream of tartar, in  fine powder, and add the  mixture to two gallons  and five
 pints of boiling water,  contained in  an iron  kettle.   Concentrate the liquor
 rapidly until it marks 25° of Baume's hydrometer for  salts, and then filter.
 By repose, the  liquor furnishes a crop of very pure crystals, which require
 only to be dried.   The mother waters are treated in the following manner.
 Saturate the excess of acid with chalk,  filter, and concentrate to 25°.   By
 cooling, a second crop  of crystals will be  obtained; and by proceeding in a
 similar manner, even a third crop.  But these crystals are somewhat coloured,
 and must be purified  by recrystallization.
  With regard to the above  process, it may be observed, that the  propor-
tions of the cream of tartar  and oxychloride  must be adjusted according to
the numbers given, on the assumption  that the latter is  dry; but  it by no
means follows that  the whole of the oxide should be  dried. To proceed thus
would cause a waste of time. The mode of proceeding is to weigh the whole 
842
Antimonium.
PART II.
of the moist oxide, and afterwards to weigh off a small part of it, and ascer-
tain how much this loses in drying.   Then by a calculation it is easy to
determine how much of the moist oxide must be taken, to be equivalent to a
given  weight of the dry.
  Tartar emetic is not usually prepared by the apothecary, but made on a
large scale by the  manufacturing chemist.   Different processes are pursued
in different manufactories;  and it is not material what  plan is adopted, pro-
vided the crystals  of the antimonial salt are carefully purified.  In an exten-
sive manufactory  in London, antimony ash (see  page 105) is employed for
boiling with the cream of tartar, and it is stated to form the cheapest material
for making tartar emetic. (Pereira, Mat. Med.)  Mr. Phillips recommended
the subsulphate of antimony, made by boiling metallic antimony with twice its
weight of sulphuric acid to  dryness.   Mohr prefers the use of a moist sub-
sulphate, prepared by adding gradually an intimate mixture of one part, each,
of tersulphuret of  antimony  and nitrate of potassa, to a boiling  mixture of one
part of sulphuric acid with two of water.   The liquid  is boiled down nearly
to dryness and allowed to cool.  The grayish-white mass thus formed, con-
stituting the subsulphate, 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. 227.
  Properties,  <yr.  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 crystal-
lizes 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 red-
dens litmus, and undergoes  decomposition by keeping.  It is incompatible
with acids, with alkalies and their carbonates, with some of the earths and
metals, with chloride of calcium, and  with  acetate and subacetate of lead.  It
is incompatible also with astringent vegetable  infusions  and decoctions, such
as of rhubarb, cinchona, catechu, galls, &c.; but these substances,  unless
galls be an exception, do not render it inert, though they lessen its activity to
a greater or less extent.
  Characteristics  and  Tests of Purity.  Tartar emetic,  when pure, exhibits
its  appropriate crystalline form.   A crystal or two, dropped into a solution
of  hydrosulphuric acid, will become  covered  with  an  orange-coloured
deposit of tersulphuret of  antimony.  Entire solubility in  water is not a
character belonging exclusively to the pure salt; for, according to the late
Mr. Hennell, tartar emetic  may contain ten per cent, of uncombined cream
of  tartar, and  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 water is
not to be depended upon. A dilute solution is not precipitated by chloride of
barium or nitrate of silver, nor rendered blue by ferrocyanuret of potassium.
A solution, containing one part of tartar emetic in forty of water, is not dis-
turbed 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 
PART II.
Antimonium.
843
 U.S.  Pharmacopoeia  from the  Edinburgh, and is  intended to show the
 absence of uncombined bitartrate of potassa; for when  the acidulated acetate
 is used as here directed, it does not form the white  tartrate of lead, except
 with the tartaric acid of the bitartrate, when this happens to be present as an
 impurity.  The acidulated acetate  is a delicate test  of this impurity, capa-
 ble of detecting one per cent, of it in tartar emetic; but Dr. Christison finds
 difficulties in using it which  render it  too  precarious  for practice.   Mr.
 Hennel's  method of detecting uncombined  bitartrate, is to add a few drops
 of a solution  of carbonate of soda to a boiling solution of the antimonial salt,
 and,  if the precipitate formed is not redissolved, no bitartrate  is  present.
 (Phillips.)
   The impurities found in  tartar  emetic are, uncombined  cream of tartar
 from faulty preparation  or fraudulent admixture, tartrate of lime, iron,  sul-
 phates, and  chlorides.   The  mode of detecting cream of tartar has been
 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 crys-
 tals of tartar emetic in crystalline tufts, which are easily brushed off.  Iron
 is sometimes present, especially when the antimonial salt has been prepared
 from  glass of antimony.   It is detected by a blue colour being immediately
 produced  by ferrocyanuret of potassium, added  after  a little  acetic acid.  If
 the blue colour be slowly produced, it may arise from reactions on the iron
 of  the ferrocyanuret itself.  If much iron be  present, the solution of the
 tartar  emetic will  be yellow instead of colourless.   Sulphates are detected
 by chloride of barium.  The presence of a chloride  is shown by a  precipi-
 tate being produced by nitrate of silver, added to a dilute solution.   Accord-
 ing 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 con-
 tains  this  dangerous metal.   (For  the  mode of detecting it, see Acidum
 Arseniosum.)  Tartar emetic is sometimes  sold in  powder to  conceal  its
 imperfections.  It should  never  be bought in this state by the apothecary,
 but always in crystals,  in which state the salt  is pure, or very nearly so,
 and entirely free from arsenic.  Its powder is  perfectly white, and when
 yellowish-white, iron  is 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 par-
 ticular 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  subchloride or subsulphate of antimony
 mixed with cream of tartar, which is redissolved by an excess of the pre-
 cipitant.   Nitric acid throws  down a subnitrate, which is taken up by an
 excess of  it.   This effect of nitric  acid is given by  the London College as
 a character of good tartar emetic; but is certainly not very distinctive.   When
 caustic potassa is added to a tolerably concentrated solution of the antimonial
 salt, it produces at first no effect, then  a precipitate  of  teroxide, and after-
 wards  the solution of this  precipitate, if  the addition of the alkali be con-
tinued.  Lime-water acts in a weaker  solution,  and  throws  down  a white
 precipitate, consisting of the mixed  tartrates of  lime and  antimony.   Carbo-
nate of potassa affects still  weaker  solutions, throwing down a white preci-
 pitate of teroxide;  but  this test does not act in solutions containing less than
 a quarter of a grain of the antimonial salt to the fluidounce.   Carbonate of
 ammonia also precipitates a solution of tartar emetic,  throwing down a pure
 teroxide ;  and Dr. Barker, of Dublin, has proposed this method of obtaining 
844
Antimonium.
PART II.
the oxide, when  wanted as a medicine. (See page 836.)  To these reagents
may be added the infusion of galls, which, when fresh and strong, causes a
dirty, yellowish-white precipitate of tannate of the teroxide of antimony.
   Composition.  Tartar emetic consists of two eqs. of tartaric acid 132, one
of potassa 47*15, one of teroxide of antimony  153, and three of  water 27 =
359-15.   It is evident that it contains tartaric acid and potassa in the precise
proportions to form bitartrate of potassa or cream of tartar; and, accordingly,
it may be viewed as  a compound of one eq.  of  cream of tartar, and one of
antimonial teroxide.   The excess of,acid in the bitartrate may be considered
as united  with the teroxide;  and in that view it is a double salt, composed of
the tartrate of potassa, united with the tartrate of the teroxide of antimony.
The name, therefore, of the U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias is correct.
   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  upon the
circulation; while, on the contrary, it excites  most of the  secretions.   Ac-
cording to  the  dose, and  the  peculiar  circumstances  under which  it is
administered,  it  acts  variously,  as  an alterative, diaphoretic, diuretic,  ex-
pectorant, purgative,  and emetic.  In  minute doses, it  is employed  either
alone, or  conjoined  with calomel, with  a view to its alterative  effects, and
has  been  found useful in diseases of the skin.   In small doses, mostly asso-
ciated with saline remedies, such as nitre or  sulphate of magnesia, and as-
sisted by  copious dilution, it is frequently resorted to in febrile  complaints,
for the purpose of producing perspiration, which is often copiously induced,
especially if the  remedy creates  nausea.   If  the  surface be exposed to cool
air, so as to constrict the pores, the  tendency will  be to the  kidneys, with
the effect  of producing an increased flow of  urine.   On the principle of ex-
citing the secretions,  it proves useful, on  many occasions, in pulmonary and
bronchial  disease as  an expectorant; and with a  view to its action in this
way, it is frequently  conjoined with squill, ammoniac, and similar remedies.
In full doses,  it acts as an emetic, and as such  is characterized by certainty,
strength, and  permanency of operation.   It remains  longer in the stomach
than  ipecacuanha, produces  more frequent and  longer  continued  efforts to
vomit, and exerts a more powerful  impression upon  the system generally.
The  nausea and attendant  prostration are often very considerable.  As  an
emetic, its use is indicated where the object  is  not  merely to evacuate the
stomach,  but  to  agitate and compress the liver and other abdominal viscera.
By the extension of  its  action to the duodenum, it often  causes copious dis-
charges of bile,  and  hence forms an  appropriate remedy in those diseases
in which  there is an  accumulation of that secretion.   It is employed as an
emetic in  the  commencement of fevers, especially those of an intermittent or
•bilious character, in  jaundice, hooping cough, and croup, and  in several dis-
eases 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.  As an  incidental effect to its diaphoretic  and emetic operation,
tartar emetic often produces  purging.   Taking advantage of this tendency,
practitioners are frequently in the habit of adding it to purgatives, the opera-
tion 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 attended with extreme irritability of stomach.
   Of late years,  on the continent of Europe, and to a certain extent in Great
Britain and this country,  tartar emetic has been  given in large  doses, with
a view to  its sedative, or  as it is usually termed,  conlrostimu/ant operation.
This practice  originated with Rasori, professor of clinical medicine at Milan, 
PART II.
Antimonium.
845
 who published his views in 1800.  The principal diseases in which it has
 been thus used, are peripneumony, pleurisy, bronchitis, acute rheumatism,
 especially of the joints, articular  dropsies, chorea, hydrocephalus, and apo-
 plexy.   The medicine is directed in doses, varying from  a grain  to two
 grains or more, every  two hours, dissolved in a small quantity of water; the
 patient  being restricted in the use of drinks whilst under its operation.  It
 is stated that when the remedy is thus given  in diseases of high  action, it
 seldom  produces vomiting, an effect which  the authors of the practice wish
 to avoid.   The power of the system to bear large doses of tartar emetic,
 during the  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  peripneumony especially
 that the controstimulant practice has most advocates.   It is admitted to have
 the effect of lowering the force and frequency  of the pulse, and the rapidity
 of the respirations; and, in not a few instances, it produces marked remedial
 effects.   In pleurisy and bronchitis,  the  good effects 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  blood-letting, or even  form our
 chief reliance.   In cases, however, in which  blood-letting, both local and
 general, has no effect, or has been carried as  far as  the circumstances of the
 case will permit, tartar emetic, administered on  the controstimulant plan, may
 be found useful. If the tolerance cannot be otherwise established, laudanum
 may be  conjoined  with the antimony, in order to  bring it about.   In the
 treatment of articular dropsies, the decided benefit derived from large doses of
 tartar emetic, is fully shown  by M. Gimelle, who has reported twenty-eight
 successful cases in support  of the practice.    The medicine was gradually
 increased from four grains to sixteen or twenty daily,  and, generally, the
 tolerance was established on the  first day.   The  effusion was absorbed in a
 space of time varying from eight to sixteen days.
   Externally, tartar  emetic  is sometimes employed as a counter-irritant,
 mixed with  lard or cerate, or sprinkled  in  very fine powder on  adhesive
 plaster.  (See  Unguentum Antimonii.)  It causes, after a longer or shorter
 interval, a burning sensation, accompanied by a peculiar and painful pustular
 eruption. This mode  of producing counter-irritation is exceedingly service-
 able in a number of diseases ; but particularly in  deep-seated pains, spinal
 irritation, hooping cough, and chronic inflammation of the chest threatening
 consumption.   Care  must be taken, when the  salt  is applied by means of a
 plaster, that the pustular inflammation does  not proceed too far; as in that
 event,  it produces deep and very painful ulcerations, difficult to  heal.  Dr.
 Hannay, of Glasgow,  recommends tartar emetic as  a counter-irritant in solu-
 tion, made by rubbing  up a drachm of the salt with a fluidounce of boiling
 water.   The  solution  is rubbed for fifteen or twenty minutes, three or four
 times a day, upon the part intended to be irritated.   The salt, thus used, acts
 with less energy than when it is employed in the  ordinary way.
   Tartar emetic is  generally given in solution, and in  an  amount  which
 varies with the intention in view in its administration.  Its dose as an altera-
 tive is from the thirty-second to the twelfth of a grain; as a diaphoretic or ex-
 pectorant from the twelfth to the sixth of a grain; and  as a nauseating sudorific,
 from a quarter to half a grain ; in each case, repeated once every one, two,
 or four hours.  If required to  act as a purgative,  a  grain  may be dissolved
 in a half a pint of water with an ounce of Epsom salt, and two tablespoonfuls
of the solution given every two or three hours.  As an emetic, the full dose
is from two to three grains, though it is usually given in divided portions of
                                  72* 
846
Antimonium.
PART II.
a grain  dissolved in a tablespoonful of water, every ten or fifteen minutes
until it  vomits, the  operation being  aided by warm water, or warm  chamo-
mile tea.   It is often conjoined with ipecacuanha, in the proportion of one
or two grains  to twenty of  the vegetable emetic.   For convenient adminis-
tration in  small doses the Pharmacopoeias order it dissolved in wine.  (See
Vinum  Antimonii.)  It  is  given  very conveniently  to  children in dilute
aqueous solution, which,  being nearly tasteless, is readily taken by them.
  Effects as a Poison.  The effects produced by a poisonous dose of  tartar
emetic are an  austere metallic taste;  nausea;  copious  vomiting; frequent
hickup;  burning pain in the stomach;  colic; frequent stools and tenesmus;
fainting; small, contracted,  and accelerated  pulse; coldness of  the skin;
sometimes intense heat; difficult respiration ; loss of sense ; convulsive move-
ments;  very painful cramps in the legs ; prostration ;  and death.  To these
effects is sometimes added difficulty of deglutition.  Vomiting  and purging
in a few instances do not take place ;  and when they are absent, the  other
symptoms are aggravated.  These are the effects produced on the  healthy
economy ; but it  has been fully proved that the doses, which in  a state of
health  would  prove fatal, are sometimes  borne without  danger  in certain
morbid states of the system, attended with internal  acute inflammation.
   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 vomiting 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 bark and common tea, are recommended as antidotes. These, how-
ever, act but imperfectly,  according to the experiments of M. Toulmouche,
who found that a decoction  of cinchona had usually no  power in lessening
the emetic effect of this  antimonial, though it had the  property of decom-
posing the excess of the salt over a certain definite amount.  (Arch. Gen.,
3e ser.,  ii.  363.)   Similar observations  have been  made by  Dr.  Clut-
terbuck.   (Pereira.)  The decoction of galls acts  more decidedly;  but M.
Toulmouche  accords the  preference to  the  galls given  in substance, as an
antidote in poisoning by tartar emetic.  It no doubt acts by the tannic acid
which it contains, and which forms, with the antimonial part of the salt, the
insoluble and probably inert tannate of antimony.   To stop the vomiting and
relieve pain, laudanum should be given, either by the mouth or injection, and
to combat consecutive inflammation, bleeding, both local and  general, and
other antiphlogistic  measures should be resorted to.
  After death  from  suspected poisoning by  tartar  emetic, it is  necessary to
search for the poison in the body.  The substances in the  stomach should
be digested in water, acidulated with a little muriatic and tartaric acid.   The
former acid will serve to coagulate some organic matter; the latter to give com-
plete solubility to the antimony.  The solution obtained, after having been
filtered, is subjected to a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, which  will throw
down the  orange-red tersulphuret  of antimony,  distinguishable from  the
tersulphuret of arsenic, and  all  other precipitates by its forming with hot
muriatic acid a solution, from which, when added to water, a white curdy
precipitate of oxychloride of antimony is thrown  down.   Sulphuretted hy-
drogen is by far the most delicate test for tartar emetic.
  Sometimes  the   antimony cannot be found in  the stomach  and bowels,
and yet may exist  in other parts.  When it leaves the alimentary canal,  it
has been found by  Orfila especially in the liver and kidneys and their secre-
tions.   The  mode  of extracting the  antimony, recommended by Orfila,  is 
part ii.                     Antimonium.                         847

to carbonize the dried viscera with concentrated pure nitric acid in a por-
celain capsule, to boil the charred mass obtained for half an hour with muri-
atic acid,  assisted with a few  drops  of  nitric  acid, to  filter the liquor, and
introduce  it into  Marsh's  apparatus.  Antimoniuretted hydrogen  will  be
formed, which, being  inflamed, will deposit the antimony on a cold surface
of porcelain, as a black stain, distinguishable from the similar stain produced
by arsenic by its less volatility, and by its forming with hot muriatic acid a
solution which affords a white  precipitate when added to water.  (See Arch.
Gen., 3e ser., vii. 511.)
  Off. Prep.   Syrupus  Scillas  Compositus, U. S.; Unguentum Antimonii,
U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Vinum Antimonii, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B.
  VINUM   ANTIMONII.  U.S.   Vinum Antimonii  Potassio-
Tartratis, Lond.  Vinum Antimoniale. Ed.   Liquor  Tartari
Emetici. Dub.  Antimonial Wine.
  "Take of Tartrate of Antimony and  Potassa a scruple; Wine [Sherry]
ten fluidounces.  Dissolve  the  Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa in the
Wine." U.S.
  The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct two scruples of the salt to
be dissolved in a pint [Imperial measure] of Sherry Wine.  The  Dublin
College dissolves one scruple of the salt  in eight fluidounces of boiling dis-
tilled water, and adds two fluidounces of Rectified Spirit.
  In the first edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia, the proportion of
tartar emetic was four grains to the fluidounce of wine.  In the revision of
1830, the  quantity was  reduced to two  grains; and, as this is  very nearly
the  proportion directed by the  British Colleges, the highly important object
has been  accomplished, of uniformity in the strength  of this very popular
preparation.  The seeming discrepancy  between the formula of the London
and Edinburgh, and  that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, will disappear when
it is considered that the imperial pint, adopted  by the two British Colleges,
contains twenty fluidounces, each very nearly equal to the  fluidounce of the
ordinary apothecaries' measure.  The U. S. officinal name was adopted as
most convenient, sufficiently expressive,  and in accordance with the  nomen-
clature of several other metallic preparations, such  as Emplastrum Ferri,
Mistura Ferri Composita, <$*c.
  Difficulty is often experienced in effecting a solution of tartar emetic in
wine;  and precipitation  is  very apt  to occur after the solution has been
effected.  These results -are attributable  either to impurity in the antimonial
salt, which frequently cyntains  bitartrate of potassa  and various insoluble
substances, or to inferiority in the character  of the  wine, which holds in
solution vegetable principles  that  form  insoluble compounds with  the  ter-
oxide of antimony.   Dr. Paris states that he has seen the  decomposition of
the  tartar emetic so complete,  that  no  traces of the salt could be detected in
the  supernatant liquid.  The  difficulty  is not avoided by the plan, at  one
time directed, of first dissolving the  antimonial in water, and then adding
the  wine;  for, even allowing that the solution may be accomplished, the same
ingredients are present, and their  mutual reaction must ultimately result in
the  same effects.  The proper  course is  to select perfectly pure crystallized
tartar emetic, and sound Sherry or Teneriffe wine, which make a permanent
solution.  To obviate the risk of decomposition and  consequent inequality
of strength, the Dublin  College directs  water  and rectified spirit in about
the  proportions  in which these exist in the  wines just mentioned.  The
only objection to this menstruum  is the want  of colour, which  renders the
preparation liable to be confounded with  less active liquids. 
848
Antimonium.           ,         part ii.
   The advantages of antimonial wine are, that it affords the means of admi-
nistering minute doses of tartar emetic, and is more permanent than an aque-
ous solution of that salt, which is liable to spontaneous decomposition.  It is
usually administered in small doses as a diaphoretic or expectorant, or as an
emetic in infantile cases.   Where a considerable quantity of tartar emetic is
requisite, it should always be given in  extemporaneous aqueous solution.
The dose of the wine, as an expectorant or diaphoretic, is from ten to thirty
drops, given frequently;  as an emetic for children,  from  thirty  drops  to a
fluidrachm, repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates.            W.
   ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM PR^PARATUM. Dub. Pre-
pared Sulphuret of Antimony.
   " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony any quantity.   Reduce it to powder,
and separate for use the impalpable particles, in the manner directed for the
preparation of Chalk." Dub.
   Sulphuret of antimony in mass is placed in the Materia Medica list of all
the Pharmacopoeias noticed in this work.   But for use in medicine, and for
some pharmaceutical processes, it requires to be  in  powder, and  the above
process is  intended to bring it to this state.  But it  is hardly necessary to
have a distinct  formula to indicate  the mode of proceeding, and accordingly
this preparation has been expunged from  the U. S.  and Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeias. It was not included  in the London.
   Properties.   Prepared sulphuret of antimony is in the form of an insoluble
powder, without taste or smell, usually of a dull blackish colour, but, when
perfectly pure,  reddish-brown.   By exposure to air, it absorbs, according to
Buchner, a portion of oxygen, and becomes partially converted into teroxide.
Its impurities  and composition are mentioned under another head.  (See
Antimonii Sulphuretum.)
   Medical Properties  and Uses.   This preparation is very uncertain in its
operation;  being sometimes without effect, at other  times, if it meets with
acid in the stomach, operating with extreme violence by vomiting and purging.
The effects usually attributed to  it are those of a diaphoretic and alterative;
and the diseases in which it has been principally used, are scrofula, glandular
obstructions, cutaneous diseases, and chronic rheumatism. It is not employed
by physicians  in the United States, its use in this country being exclusively
confined to veterinary practice.  The dose  is from ten to thirty grains, given
in powder  or bolus.
   Off. Prep.  Antimonii  Oxydum  N i tromuri alien hi, Dub.; Pulvis Antimo-
nialis, Z)wo.;  Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum, Dub.                 B.
   ANTIMONII  SULPHURETUM  PRi&CIPITATUM.  U.S.
Antimonii  Qxysulphujietum. I^ond.   Antimonii  Sulphuretum
Aureum.  Ed.    Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum. Dub.   Precipi-
tated 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  three hours, constantly  stirring,  and occasionally  adding Distilled
Water so as to  preserve  the same  measure.  Strain the liquor immediately
through a double linen cloth,  and drop into it, while yet hot, Diluted  Sul-
phuric Acid so  long as it produces a precipitate; then wash away the sulphate
of potassa with hot water, dry the Precipitated Sulphuret of Antimony, and
rub it into a fine powder." U.S.
   " Take of Sesquisulphuret  of Antimony, powdered, seven ounces; Sohi- 
PART II.
Antimonium.
849
tion of Potassa four pints [Imperial measure] ;  Distilled Water two gallons
[Imp. meas.] ; Diluted Sulphuric Acid a sufficient quantity.   Mix the Ses-
quisulphuret  of Antimony,  Solution of Potassa, and Water together, and
boil with a slow fire for two  hours, frequently stirring, Distilled Water being
often added, that it may fill about the same measure.   Strain the liquor, and
gradually drop into it as  much Diluted Sulphuric  Acid as may be sufficient
to throw down the Oxysulphuret of Antimony ; then wash away the sulphate
of potassa with water, and dry what remains with a gentle heat."  Lond.
   " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, an ounce; Solution  of
Potash  eleven fluidounces   [Imperial measure]; Water two  pints [Imp.
meas.]. Mix the Water and  Solution of Potash, add the Sulphuret, boil for
an hour, filter  immediately, and precipitate  the liquid, while  hot, with an
excess of Diluted Sulphuric  Acid.   Collect the precipitate on a calico filter,
wash it thoroughly with water, and dry it with a gentle heat."  Ed.
   "Take of prepared Sulphuret of Antimony one part; Water of Caustic
Potassa eighteen parts ;  Diluted Sulphuric Acid eleven parts, or a sufficient
quantity.  Add the Sulphuret of Antimony to the water of Caustic Potassa,
and boil for an hour.  Strain  the  hot liquor  through a double linen cloth,
and drop into  it the  Diluted Sulphuric Acid.   Wash away the sulphate  of
potassa with warm water.   Dry the Brown Antimoniated Sulphur, and rub
it into fine powder." Dub.
   As the theory of the formation of the precipitated sulphuret of  antimony
is intimately connected with  that of the  production  of the substances called
kermes  mineral and golden  sulphur, we shall  first describe  the latter pre-
parations as  introductory to our account of the former.  ■
   Kermes mineral, according  to Thenard, may be obtained by treating the
tersulphuret of antimony in  three ways;  1st with a boiling solution of the
carbonated alkalies, 2d with  a boiling solution of the caustic alkalies, and 3d
with the carbonated alkalies at a  red heat.   These  several processes give
brown powders, which  vary in their shade of colour, and which, though
usually considered as identical, differ in composition.  The kermes obtained
by means of the carbonated alkalies in solution is an oxysulphuret, that is, a
mixture of teroxide of antimony with hydrated tersulphuret; while the pro-
duct, when either the caustic alkalies in solution, or the carbonated  alkalies
at a red heat are used, is essentially a hydrated tersulphuret, though contain-
ing occasionally a little oxysulphuret.
   In France the process by  the use of the carbonated alkalies in solution is
preferred for  preparing kermes; and the alkali selected is soda as  giving a
handsomer product.  The formula of Cluzel is to boil for half an hour one
part of pulverized tersulphuret of antimony with twenty-two or twenty-three
parts  of crystallized  carbonate of  soda, in two  hundred and  fifty parts  of
water, to filter the liquor, and receive it in warm earthen pans, which must
be covered, and allowed to cool slowly.   At the end of twenty-four hours,
the kermes is deposited.   It  is then collected on a filter, washed with boiled
water, cooled without contact  of air, dried  at the temperature of 77°, and
kept in bottles well stopped.   This formula  is substantially the same with
that given in the French Codex of  1837.
   The rationale of the formation  of kermes by  this process is as follows.
A portion of the carbonate  of soda is converted, by a transfer of carbonic
acid, into caustic  soda and  sesquicarbonate.   By a double decomposition
taking place between a part of the  tersulphuret of antimony and the caustic
soda, teroxide of antimony,  and sulphuret of sodium are formed.   The ter-
oxide then dissolves in the solution of the remaining carbonate of  soda, and
the undecomposed portion   of the tersulphuret in that of the sulphuret  of 
850
Antimonium.
PART n.
sodium.   The teroxide and tersulphuret, being both more soluble in these
menstrua  hot than cold, precipitate together  as the liquid cools, and con-
stitute  this variety of kermes.  When thus obtained, it is light, velvety, of
a dark reddish-purple colour, brilliant in the sun, and of a crystalline appear-
ance.  It  consists, according to M. Henry, jun., of tersulphuret of antimony
62*5, teroxide 27*4, water 10, and  soda a trace;  proportions which  corre-
spond  most nearly with two eqs. of tersulphuret, one of teroxide, and six of
water.   In consequence of the presence of a considerable amount of teroxide
of antimony in this variety of kermes, it must be  far more active than the
other kinds and ought, therefore, to be preferred for medical use.
  Kermes, when obtained by means of the caustic alkalies, may be formed
by boiling for a quarter of an hour, two parts of the tersulphuret of antimony
with one  part of caustic potassa dissolved in twenty-five or thirty parts of
water,  filtering the liquor, and allowing it to  cool;  whereupon the kermes
precipitates.   In this process, one  portion of the  tersulphuret, by reacting
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 undecom-
posed potassa, forming a compound, which, being but  sparingly  soluble, is
only in part dissolved.  The hot filtered liquor, therefore,  contains this com-
pound  dissolved in  water, and tersulphuret of antimony  dissolved  in  the
solution of sulphuret of potassium.   By refrigeration, the tersulphuret in a
hydrated state falls down, free or nearly free from  teroxide, this latter being
still held  in solution by means of the caustic  alkali with which it is united.
  Kermes is obtained by the third method, that is, in  the dry way, by rub-
bing together  two  parts of tersulphuret of antimony and one of the  potash
of commerce, fusing  the  mixture in a crucible by a red  heat, reducing the
fused mass to powder, and boiling  it with water.   As the liquor cools the
kermes is deposited.  The rationale of its formation  is  nearly the  same with
that of the formation of the second  variety of  kermes.   An inferior kermes,
prepared in the dry way, and intended for use in veterinary medicine, is direc-
ted in the French Codex to be prepared by fusing together, well mixed, 500
parts of tersulphuret of antimony, 1000  of  carbonate of potassa, and 30
of washed sulphur, reducing  the fused mass to powder, and boiling it with
10,000 parts of water. The liquor, upon cooling, lets fall the kermes,  which
must be washed with care and dried.
  Kermes mineral  is an insipid, inodorous powder, of different shades of
brown.  By  the action of air and light it gradually  becomes lighter coloured,
and  at last yellowish-white.   It first came into use as a remedy in France
about the beginning of the last century.   Its mode of  preparation was pos-
sessed as  a secret by a French surgeon  named La Ligerie.  In  1720, the
recipe  was purchased by the French government and made public.
   Golden sulphur is formed by the  addition of an acid to the liquor  which
remains after the  precipitation  of the kermes.  According to the directions
of the  French Codex, acetic acid  is  employed  for  this purpose.   The
liquor, when  caustic  potassa has been used, consists at first chiefly of ter-
sulphuret  of  antimony,  dissolved  in  solution of sulphuret of  potassium,
but in part also of teroxide, dissolved in solution  of potassa. By the  action
of the  air on  the liquor, however, the sulphuret of potassium passes to a
higher state  of sulphuration;  and  consequently,  the  addition of an acid,
wbile it throws down the tersulphuret and teroxide of antimony with dis-
engagement of sulphuretted  hydrogen,  will  precipitate  at the same time
the excess of sulphur  which the  sulphuret  of potassium  has   gained.— 
PART II.
Antimonium.
851
Agreeably  to this  explanation, golden  sulphur is a mixed tersulphuret and
teroxide of antimony, containing more or less free sulphur.  It is in the form
of a powder of a golden-yellow colour.   As it is  partially decomposed by
light, it should  be kept in opaque vessels.  It may be worth while to men-
tion that the kermes liquor, left after the use of the carbonated alkalies, gives
but little golden sulphur; while the liquors  resulting from the two  other
processes,  yield it in abundance.
   M. Musculus (Journ. de Pharm.,for May, 1836,) recommends the fol-
lowing  process  for  preparing golden sulphur and kermes mineral by the
method of displacement.   He takes 6 parts of slaked lime, 4 of carbonate
of potassa  or of dried  carbonate of soda, 2 of finely powdered  tersulphuret
of antimony, 1 of  flowers of sulphur, and 8 of well washed and dried sand.
These are  accurately mixed and put into a glass or stoneware displacement
apparatus,  the  bottom  of  which is covered with little pebbles, or coarsely
powdered  glass. (See page 763.)   The mixture being covered with a layer
of sand, cold  water is poured upon it until the liquor which passes  is no
longer precipitated  by muriatic acid.   The liquor obtained  is then diluted
with  pure  water, and  treated with muriatic  acid,  which throws  down the
golden  sulphur.  This is carefully washed and dried, and amounts to about
the quantity of tersulphuret employed.   In preparing the kermes the same
method is pursued,  except that the sulphur is omitted, and the liquor obtained
precipitated by a solution of bicarbonate of soda.
   M. Boullay, who repeated the above process, speaks of it with commen-
dation, as enabling  the apothecary to operate on a small scale,  and without
the employment of  heat.   The golden sulphur was very handsome, but the
kermes  was heavy  and imperfect in colour.   These defects in the  latter, he
found might be  remedied by using exclusively the dried  carbonate of soda,
and by diluting  the liquid with an equal volume of river  water, deprived of
air by boiling before precipitating. The kermes thus obtained was  abundant,
light, and of a very intense and beautiful colour. The editors of the Annalen
der Pharmacie also repeated the process with  good results.  They remark,
however, that it is  indispensable that the sand employed should be free from
iron.
   From the explanations which have been given, the reader is prepared  to
understand that the  method of preparing the  precipitated sulphuret of anti-
mony of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, combines the process
for forming the kermes mineral by means of a caustic alkali, with that for
obtaining golden sulphur; for, while the refrigeration of the solution acting
alone would cause the precipitation of this  variety of kermes, which contains
little or  no  antimonial oxide, the sulphuric acid added would throw down
more or less of the  golden  sulphur.  But the question here  arises how far
this golden sulphur would be  identical with that obtained from the mother-
liquor of kermes which  has been made for some time.  From the explanations
given above in relation  to golden sulphur, it may be inferred as probable that
the precipitate by acids, if thrown down immediately, while the solution  is
hot, as directed  by the  Pharmacopoeias, and before the air has  had time  to
act, would  consist  exclusively of tersulphuret and  teroxide;  but if thrown
down from  the  kermes mother-liquor, would  contain  more or less free sul-
phur, according as the liquor had been  more or less subject to the influence
of the air.   If these views be admitted, then  the so-called golden sulphur
must be a very variable  preparation as to the free sulphur it contains, depend-
ent upon the greater or less change which the kermes  liquor may  have
undergone,  before being used for furnishing the precipitate.
  Properties of the Precipitated Sulphuret.   This substance is a bright 
852
Antimonium.
PART II.
orange-coloured insoluble  powder, tasteless  when  pure, but having usually
a slightly styptic taste.  The greater portion of it is not readily acted on by
dilute acids.   When it contains no free sulphur it is wholly soluble in nitro-
muriatic acid, with the escape of sulphuretted hydrogen.   If free sulphur be
present,  it will be left behind.   If it effervesce with diluted sulphuric acid,
its adulteration with chalk may  be suspected.  Recently prepared it is com-
pletely soluble in the officinal solution of potassa, but as  it is found in the
shops, a white residuum is usually left undissolved.   When boiled with a
solution of cream of tartar,  about 12 per cent, of teroxide is dissolved.   Ex-
posed to heat it takes fire, burning with a greenish-blue flame and giving off
sulphurous acid, while  the metal  remains behind in  the  state of a grayish
oxide.    Precipitated sulphuret of antimony, as analyzed  by Mr. Phillips,
consists, in the 100 parts, of tersulphuret 76*5, teroxide 12, and water 11-5;
corresponding most nearly  with five eqs. of tersulphuret, one of teroxide, and
sixteen of water. It usually, however, contains a portion of free sulphur, as
shown by the action of nitromuriatic  acid.  Its  active ingredient is the ter-
oxide; and, in reference to its presence, the  London College calls the prepa-
ration oxysulphuret of antimony.   The Edinburgh College names it incor-
rectly golden  sulphuret of antimony; this name being properly applicable
to the precipitate produced by  the sole action of acids, and not to it when
obtained by  the  action of acids and refrigeration conjointly.
  Medical Properties,  The 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  conjoined
with henbane or hemlock in chronic rheumatism. (See Pilulae Hydrargyri
Chloridi Compositae.)   During  its use the patient should abstain from acidu-
lous 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.   The kermes
obtained by means of the carbonated alkalies, 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.  Kermes  mineral is some-
times used in large doses as an antiphlogistic remedy in peripneumony and
other inflammations of the chest.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Hydrargyri Chloridi  Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.   B.
  PULVIS  ANTIMONIALIS.  Ed.,  Dub.    Pulvis  Antimonii
Compositus. L,ond.   Antimonial Powder.  Compound Powder of
Antimony.
  "Take of  Sesquisulphuret 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 proper crucible.   Then apply heat, and raise it  gradually to
redness,  and  keep it so for two hours.   Rub the residue into a very fine
powder." Lond.
  "Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in coarse powder, Hartshorn shavings,
equal weights.  Mix them, put them into a red-hot iron  pot, and stir con-
stantly till  they acquire an ash-gray colour, and  vapours no longer arise.
Pulverize 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. 
PART II.
Antimonium.
853
   The Dublin College use the  proportions of the London formula, taking
 their prepared sulphuret, but  treat the  materials in  the  manner directed in
 the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
   This preparation consists mainly  of  bone-phosphate of lime, or calcined
 bone, mixed with antimonious acid, and is intended  to furnish a  substitute
 for the celebrated empirical remedy of Dr. James, an English physician who
 died  in 1776, and after whom the original composition was called James's
 powder.  Dr. Pearson, of London, found the genuine powder, on analysis,
 to consist of phosphate of lime and oxidized antimony, and,  guided by his
 results, devised  the  formula  adopted by the British  Colleges  for producing
 an imitation of it.   By burning the materials directed while  they are con-
 stantly stirred, the  sulphur is expelled  in the form of sulphurous  acid, and
 the antimony oxidized ; while the hartshorn, which is of the nature of bone,
 has its animal matter converted into charcoal.  By the  subsequent calcina-
 tion, the charcoal is dissipated, leaving only the  phosphate of lime mixed
 with the oxidized antimony.   This  mixture constitutes the antimonial pow-
 der.   The  only material  difference  between the processes  of the Colleges
 is that the  London  and Dublin use two parts  of horn  shavings  to one of
 sulphuret; while the Edinburgh College 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 of the  vitrification of
 part of the antimony; but the late Dr. Duncan alleged that the product thus
 obtained does not correspond so well with  James's  powder as analyzed by
 Dr. Pearson, as when the smaller proportion is employed.
   In consequence of the variable nature of antimonial powder, as obtained
 in the processes  of the Colleges by the agency of fire,  Mr. Chenevix pro-
 posed to form it in the humid  way, by dissolving equal weights of oxychlo-
 ride of antimony (powder of Algaroth) and precipitated  phosphate of  lime
 in the  smallest  possible  quantity of muriatic acid, and precipitating this
 solution by adding it to diluted water of ammonia.   The solvent power of
 the muriatic acid being destroyed by its union with the ammonia, the teroxide
 of antimony and phosphate of lime are  thrown down in determinate propor-
 tions, and in a state  of intimate mixture.  This precipitate, Mr. Chenevix
 states, is soluble in any acid capable of dissolving its constituents separately.
 On the other hand, 28 per cent, of James's powder, and about 44 per cent, of
 the London  Antimonial powder, resist the action of all acids.    It is hence
 evident that Mr. Chenevix's powder would prove far  more active than those
 for which it is proposed as a substitute.   This  objection to it might be obvi-
 ated by increasing the proportion of  phosphate of lime ;  but still it is liable
 to the defect, according to Mr.  Brande, of becoming  horny or gritty, and
 of being difficult to pulverize.
  Properties, Composition, and  Tests.    This  preparation  is a tasteless,
 inodorous, gritty powder, of a dull-white colour.  As often prepared it is
 insoluble in  water :  but usually a small portion, 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 mixture chiefly of anti-
 monious acid and phosphate of lime, with some sesquioxide [teroxide] of an-
timony, and a little antimonite of lime."   To these ingredients may  be added
superphosphate of lime, which was found in  small quantity by  Dr.  D. Mac-
    73 
854
Antimonium.
PART II.
lagan, 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.  In testing the goodness
of the  preparation, the first step is to act on  it with  boiling distilled water.
If any antimonite should be  dissolved, the  solution  will form with  sulphu-
retted hydrogen an orange-coloured precipitate ofquadrisulphuret 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 is present in 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 phos-
phate of lime.  In this way all the ingredients of antimonial powder may be
detected and separated.   It  might be supposed  that the  muriatic  solution
would be more readily tested for the  presence  of teroxide by the action  of
water, which is  known to cause  a white precipitate of  the  oxide in this
solution; but there appears to be some ambiguity in  relation to the action  of
water.  The Edinburgh College,  in  their formula of tests,  state 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 preparation.   A small quantity  of teroxide
may be in the  muriatic solution, and yet not be precipitated by water;  while
a larger quantity will be so precipitated.   On  the other  hand a precipitate
may be produced with water,  without the fact  proving the presence of ter-
oxide ;  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 teroxide, gives it the  property  of
becoming turbid  with water.
   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 frequently used in febrile diseases, with a view
to its diaphoretic effect.   According to Dr. A. T. Thomson, it is advantage-
ously  given in  acute rheumatism,  conjoined with  camphor, calomel, and
opium, and with calomel and guaiac in  several  cutaneous  affections.   The
estimation 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,  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, differences which  he attri-
butes to the presence or absence of teroxide of antimony.   Upon the whole
it appears that, whatever 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 cannot  be
more certainly and safely produced by tartar emetic ; and  it seems to be the
sentiment  of some of the best practitioners, that antimonial powder may
very well be dispensed with as a remedy.  Considerations of this kind caused
it to be omitted from  the U.S. Pharmacopoeia upon the revision of 1830.
   The dose of  antimonial  powder as a diaphoretic, is from  three  to eight
grains every third or fourth hour, given in the form of pill.  In larger doses 
PART II.
Antimonium. —Aqua.
855
 it is purgative  or  emetic.  It is  impossible, however, to give  precise direc-
 tions as to the dose; as it  sometimes proves  violently emetic in  moderate
 doses, and at other times  produces no obvious effect, even in doses of  100
 grains.                                                            B.

                                AQUA.

                                Water.

   AQUA  DESTILLATA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.   Aqua  Distillata.
 Dub.  Distilled Water.
   " Take of Water ten gallons.  First distil two  pints, and throw them
 away; then distil dght gallons.   Keep the Distilled  Water in  glass bottles."
 U.S.
   The London formula is the same as the above.
   " 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 Water twenty  pounds.  Put it into a glass  retort, and  having
 rejected  the  first pound which comes over, distil a  gallon with a moderate
 heat." Dub.
   The purest natural water  is not sufficiently pure for some 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 portions  of  the
 water  ought not to be distilled, lest it should pass over with an empyreu-
 matic taste.   The  Dublin College directs the distillation to be conducted in a
 glass retort; but it  is usually performed with the  ordinary still and condenser,
 and such an  apparatus is  evidently contemplated in  the United States and
 London formulas.   Mr. Brande states that distilled water often derives from
 the still a foreign  flavour, which it is difficult to  avoid.   He, therefore,  re-
 commends that a still and condenser be kept exclusively for distilling water;
 or, where this cannot be done, that steam be driven through the condensing
 pipe for half an hour, for the purpose of washing it out before it is used;  the
 worm-tub having been previously emptied.
   Properties, fyc.   Distilled water,  as  usually  obtained, has a vapid and
 disagreeable taste.   It is not perfectly pure;  water, to be 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 silver, or lime-
 water.   It is uselessly employed in some formulas, but is essential in others.
 As a general  rule,  when small quantities of  active remedies are to be given
 in solution,  and in the preparation  of  collyria,  distilled water should  be
 employed.   The following list contains the  chief substances which require
 distilled water as a solvent;—tartar  emetic, corrosive sublimate, nitrate  of
silver, chloride of  barium, acetate and subacetate of lead, the sulphates  of
iron and  zinc, sulphate of quinia, and the sulphate,  muriate, and acetate of
morphia.                                                          ]3# 
856
Aqua Medicatae.
part ii.
                  AQILE 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
Distilled Waters of  the British Pharmacopoeias,  which  therefore  require
some notice in the present place.
  Aqu.e Destillat.e.  Lond.   Aqujs  Distillate. Dub.   Dis-
tilled 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 dis-
tilled  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 the medical properties by which they are distinguished.
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 capable of holding but a small proportion of
the oil in solution, these preparations are generally feeble, and are employed
rather as pleasant vehicles or corrigents of other medicines, than with a view
to any remediate action of their own.
  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 instances of herbs and  flowers, should be preferred if attainable.
Flowers  which lose  their odour by desiccation  may be preserved by incor-
porating them intimately with one-third of their weight of common salt, and
in this  state,  according to  M. Decroizilles, afford  distilled waters of very
delicate flavour.
  It  is  necessary to observe certain  practical rules in conducting the pro-
cess   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 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 slimy matter is apt to form, which ad-
heres 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
between 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.   If any volatile oil float upon the
surface of the distilled water, it should be separated.
  But, however carefully the process may be conducted, the distilled waters 
PART II.
Aquce Medicatce.
857
 prepared 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 promote its decomposition.  To prevent this  decomposition,
 the London College orders proof spirit, and the Edinburgh rectified spirit, to
 be added to the water employed in the process of  distillation.   For the same
 purpose, the Dublin College directs half an ounce of rectified spirit to be added
 to each pound  of the distilled water.  But this addition is inadequate to the
 intended object.  A better plan is to redistil the waters;  as, 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 camphor exercises  the same preservative influence over  the
 distilled waters by resisting the vegetation, and that those in which the odour
 of camphor is developed keep better on this  account.   Finally, he has  ob- '
 served 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 considerable time, should be introduced, im-
 mediately 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 preserved  without change  for
 many years.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 402.)
   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 is directed by the London and Dublin Colleges  in  several  in-
 stances.  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;
 and the resulting preparation is in all respects equal to that obtained by dis-
 tillation from the oil.  The aromatic solution is  pure and permanent, and is
 perfectly transparent, the carbonate of magnesia being separated  by the fil-
 tration.  The 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.   A minute quantity, moreover, of the magnesia is
 dissolved, and attracting carbonic acid from the air, becomes a  carbonate, and
 is precipitated in a  flocculent  form.   Besides, it would  prove incompatible
 with small quantities of sulphate of morphia, and certain metallic salts given
 in minute doses, as 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.   Chalk and sugar  answer a similar purpose;  but the
latter, by being dissolved with the oil, renders the preparation  impure.
   We  are pleased to  find that the  London  College, in the  edition of their
                                 73* 
858
Aqua Medicata.
PART II.
 Pharmacopoeia for 1836, recognise the above mode of preparing the distilled
 waters.   After directions for preparing them  severally by distillation, they
 state that " Several of the Distilled  Waters  may be prepared  in a very
 short time, when wanted for more speedy use, by carefully rubbing a drachm
 of any distilled oil with a drachm of Carbonate of Magnesia, and then with
four pints [Imperial measure]  of  Distilled Water, and finally filtering the
 liquor."                                                           W.
   AQUA ACIDI  CARBONICI.  U.S.   Carbonic  Acid  Water.
 Artificial 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 Sulphu-
 ric Acid." U. S.
   This preparation, which is peculiar to the  United States Pharmacopoeia,
 consists  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 ascertained 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.   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 pressure.  A double  pressure will force a dou-
 ble 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 ; and this is  about the strength of the carbonic acid water
 manufactured in the United States.
   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 will be proper to give a
 sketch of the apparatus usually employed in its preparation.  This consists
 of  a generator, gasometer, forcing-pump, reservoir or fountain, and refrige-
 rator.   The  generator is usually formed  of a wooden tub somewhat like a
 churn, into which  the dilute sulphuric acid  is put.   On this is luted a small
 cylindrical wooden  vessel, through the bottom of which  passes a wooden
 stirrer.   This vessel is filled with marble powder, which,  by the movement
 of the stirrer, is made gradually to fall into the acid below, generating the
carbonic acid, which by a lead pipe is conducted  into the gasometer.   This
is  a large  cylindrical tub, in which another  is inverted  suspended  by a
pulley.   As soon  as the gasometer is full, which should have five or six
times the  capacity of the reservoir,  the operation of condensing the gas into
the latter is commenced.   This is effected by a condensing pump, the cham-
ber of which is made  to communicate, by  leaden tubes on  opposite sides,
with the  gasometer and reservoir.   The latter, usually called the fountain,
is a very  strong cylindrical copper vessel,  with hemispherical extremities,
tinned  on  the  inside, and, before  receiving  the carbonic acid,  nearly  filled
with water.  When the water has been  duly charged  with the acid gas, it
is drawn off, as it is wanted, by  means of a  stop-cock connected with a tube 
PART II.
Aquae Medicates.
859
 which passes to the bottom of the reservoir.   The tube may be of any de-
 sired  length, so  as to draw off the water at a distance from the reservoir.
 The apparatus  is usually placed  in the cellar, and the tube from the  reser-
 voir is made to pass through  the  floor and counter of the shop, and to ter-
 minate 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.
   The acid  gas  for the impregnation of the water is always obtained from
 marble dust by the action of sulphuric acid;  these  being the cheapest mate-
 rials for the purpose.  Chalk may also be used, but is objectionable on ac-
 count of its communicating an unpleasant smell to the carbonic acid.   When
 sulphuric acid is  employed, sulphate of lime is formed, which interferes with
 the action of the  acid; and hence it is necessary to stir the  mixture to render
 the decomposition of the carbonate complete.
   Properties. Carbonic acid water is a sparkling liquid, possessing an agree-
 able, pungent, acidulous taste.   It reddens litmus feebly, 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, when pure, is not discoloured by sulphuretted hydrogen
 or solution of ammonia, and  yields no precipitate with sulphate of soda or
 ferrocyanuret of potassium.   It should  be made with every precaution  to
 avoid  metallic  impurity.   Hence  the necessity of having the reservoir  or
 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 reservoir.  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 has been found  to answer a good
 purpose.  When leaden tubes are employed to convey the  water, it is liable
 to be contaminated with this metal, which  renders it deleterious.   A case of
 colica pictonum occurred to 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.   Tin tubes are sometimes employed, enclosed in  lead ones to give
 them strength.
   Carbonic acid,  formerly called fixed air, is a colourless  gas, of a slightly
 pungent odour and acid taste.   It reddens litmus  feebly, and combines with
 salifiable 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.
  Carbonic acid gas has been used by Professor Mojon, of Geneva, as an
injection in dysmenorrhea with the most soothing effects.   It is applied by
means of  a flexible tube,  inserted into the vagina, and proceeding  from a 
 860                        Aqua Medicates.                   part ii.

 bottle containing pieces of chalk and dilute sulphuric acid.   The application
 is continued for five minutes, and repeated several times a day. (Am. Journ.
 of the Med. Sci.,xx'h. 469, from the Bull. Gen. de Therap.)
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Carbonic acid water is diaphoretic, diu-
 retic, and  anti-emetic.   It  forms a very  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 rea-
 sonable wishes of the patient.   It also forms a very convenient vehicle for
 the administration of magnesia, the carbonated alkalies, sulphate of magnesia,
 and the saline cathartics generally; rendering these medicines less unplea-
 sant  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.                                       B.
   AQUA ANETHI. Lond, Ed.  Dill Water.
   " Take of Dill [fruit], bruised, a pound and a half; Proof Spirit seven
fluidounces ; Water two gallons [Imperial measure]. Distil a gallon." Lond.
   The  Edinburgh College  takes  the same quantity of dill and of water,
 with  three fluidounces of rectified spirit, mixes, and distils a gallon.
   This is seldom if ever used in the United States.                   W.
   AQUA CAMPHORS.  U. S.   Mistura Camphors. Lond, Ed.,
 Dub.   Camphor Water.
   " Take of Camphor two  drachms ;  Alcohol forty minims ; Carbonate of
 Magnesia a drachm; 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 water ; rubs the camphor
 first with the spirit, and then with  the water gradually added ; and  strains
 through linen.   The  Dublin College orders a scruple of camphor, ten drops
 of alcohol,  a  pint of warm water, and, instead of the carbonate of magnesia,
 half an ounce of sugar; and completes the process as directed in the U.S.
 Pharmacopoeia.  The Edinburgh College 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.
   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 quantity  varies with the method employed.  The London preparation
 is very  feeble.   Made according  to  the Edinburgh  and Dublin processes,
 one pint of the water contains  less than  twenty grains of camphor;  while
 our own officinal preparation 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 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 solution 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 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. 
PART II.
Aqua Medicata.
861
   Camphor water is chiefly employed in low fevers  and typhoid  diseases
 attended with restlessness, slight delirium, or other symptoms of nervous
 derangement or debility.   It is used also to allay uterine after-pains.   It has
 this advantage 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.
                                                                 W.
   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 pound of bruised caraway
 seeds, and sufficient  water to prevent empyreuma, and distils a gallon.
   Caraway water has the flavour and pungency of the seeds, but is not used
 in this country.                                                   W.
   AQUA CASSIA. Ed.  Water of Cassia.
   " Take of  Cassia-bark, bruised, eighteen  ounces; Water, two gallons
 [Imperial 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
 Pharmacopoeia; so that this  preparation would rank as a variety of cinnamon
 water. (See Aqua Cinnamomi.)                                    W.
   AQUA  CHLORINII.  Dub.  Chlorinei  Aqua.  Ed.   Chlorine
 Water.
   "Take of dried Muriate of Soda one hundred parts ; Oxide  of Manganese
 thirty parts; Sulphuric Acid eighty-Geven parts ; Water one hundred and
 twenty four parts. Add the  Acid gradually to  the Water, and when the mix-
 ture has grown cold,  pour it on the Muriate of Soda and Oxide of Manganese,
 reduced to fine powder,  well mixed,  and put into a retort.  Then with  a
 proper  apparatus  and a moderate heat gradually increased, transmit the  gas
 escaping from the mixture through two hundred parts of Distilled Water;
 the operation being  concluded as soon as the effervescence in  the retort has
 ceased.  Chlorine Water should  be kept in well-stopped glass bottles, and in
 a place  impervious to the rays of light." Dub.
   "Take of  Muriate of Soda sixty grains;  Sulphuric Acid (commercial)
 two fluidrachms [Imperial measure];  Red Oxide of Lead three hundred 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 usino-
 the liquid." Ed.
   These formulas  are intended to furnish  a saturated solution of chlorine in
 water.  The  materials employed by the  Dublin  College are those usually
 taken for generating chlorine; and this, as it is extricated in a gaseous state,
 is  passed into a portion of water,  with  a view to its being absorbed.  Muriate
 of soda is  the chloride of sodium  of modern chemists.   This, when acted on
 by dilute  sulphuric  acid  and deutoxide of manganese is decomposed,  the
 chlorine is extricated, and the sodium  and deutoxide of manganese, having
 been converted, by a transfer of  oxygen from  the latter  to  the former, into
 soda and protoxide, unite  with the sulphuric acid, and form sulphate of soda
 and sulphate of protoxide of manganese, which remain behind.  The water
 intended to receive the gas is most conveniently placed in a Wolfe's bottle,
 connected with a common  bottle  containing  milk of lime, to absorb any 
862
Aqua Medicata.
PART II.
excess of chlorine,  which might otherwise produce  inconvenience by its
escape.
   The  Edinburgh process differs from the Dublin in forming the  solution
in the liquid way, avoiding the transmission of the gas from  one vessel to
another.  Red oxide of lead is substituted for  the  deutoxide of manganese,
and performs the same part in the play of affinities.  It oxidizes the sodium,
and is itself reduced to the state of protoxide.  The chlorine is set free and
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 completed in the
course of a  few hours, and the sulphate of lead having subsided, the super-
natant liquid forms an aqueous solution of chlorine, containing a little sul-
phate of soda.
   Properties.  The Dublin chlorine water has a pale yellowish-green colour,
an astringent taste, and the peculiar odour of the gas.   Like gaseous  chlo-
rine,  it destroys  vegetable  colours.   When  cooled to about the  freezing
poitjt, it forms deep-yellow crystalline plates, consisting of hydrate of chlo-
rine.   At the temperature of 50°, it contains about 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.  The
Edinburgh  preparation  differs from the Dublin  only in containing a  small
portion of sulphate of soda, which is not thought to interfere with its medi-
cinal  properties.
   Chlorine  is an  elementary gaseous fluid, of a greenish-yellow colour, and
characteristic and disagreeable smell and taste.  It is a supporter of combus-
tion.   Its sp. gr.  is 2*47, and equivalent number 35*42.  It is irrespirable
when undiluted.    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 nostrils  resembling  coryza.   When breathed in considerable quan-
tities, it produces spitting of  blood, violent pains, and  sometimes death.   It
has been recommended  in minute doses, by Gannal, in chronic  bronchitis
and pulmonary consumption, exhibited by inhalation four or six times a day.
Its first effect is to produce some dryness of the fauces, with  increased ex-
pectoration 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 in consumption, both  he and  Dr.  Elliotson
have  witnessed the  temporary melioration of the symptoms from chlorine
inhalations,  such  as they have never  obtained by any other means.  The
liquid in the inhaler may be formed 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 being placed in  water, heated to  about
100°.  For a notice of iodine inhalations, see page 396.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Chlorine water is stimulant and antisep-
tic.   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 may  be used, duly diluted, as a gargle  in putrid
sorethroat,  as a wash for ill-conditioned  ulcers and cancerous  sores, and as
a local bath  in diseases of the liver; though for the latter purpose, the nitro-
muriatic acid, which is in effect a solution of chlorine, is usually employed.
As it  depends upon chlorine  for its activity, its medical properties coincide
generally with  those of chlorinated lime, chlorinated soda, and nitromuriatic
acid,  under  which  heads they  are  more particularly given.  (See Calx
Chlorinata, Liquor  Sodae  Chlorinatae, and  Acidum Nitromuriaticum.) 
PART II.
Aqua Medicata.
863
 The  dose  of chlorine water is from one to  four fluidrachms, properly di-
 luted.                                                           B#
   AQUA CINNAMOMI.  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Cinnamon
 Water.
   "Take of oil of Cinnamon half a fluidrachm;  Carbonate of Magnesia
 half  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.
   " Take of Cinnamon, bruised, a pound and a half, or Oil of Cinnamon
 two drachms;  Proof Spirit seven fluidounces ; Water two gallons [Imperial
 measure].   Distil a gallon." Lond.
   The Dublin College  takes a pound of cinnamon bruised, and macerated
 for a  day in water, or three drachms of the oil, and, with sufficient water to
 prevent empyreuma, distils a gallon.  The Edinburgh College prepares this
 from  cinnamon in the same manner as the Water of Cassia.
   Of these processes, that  of  the United States  Pharmacopoeia is decidedly
 preferable, as much easier than the others, and affording a product in every
 respect equal, if not superior.   Cinnamon water is  a favourite vehicle with
 many practitioners for other less pleasant medicines; but should be used
 cautiously  in  inflammatory  affections.   For ordinary purposes it is suffi-
 ciently strong when diluted with an equal measure of  water.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Cretas, U. S., Lond.; Mistura  Guaiaci, Lond., Ed.;
 Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici, Lond.                               W.
   AQUA FLORUM AURANTII.  Lond.   Aurantii Aqua. Ed.
 Orange Flower Water.
   " Take of Orange Flowers ten pounds ; Proof Spirit seven fluidounces;
 Water two gallons [Imperial measure].   Distil a gallon."  Lond.
   This is placed by the Edinburgh College in  their Materia Medica list,
 with the following explanation :—" Distilled water of the flowers  of Citrus
 vulgaris, and sometimes  of Citrus Aurantium."
   Orange flower water is  not  prepared  in this part of the United  States,
 though the  flowers might be  imported for the  purpose, if previously incor-
 porated 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 pre-
 ferred, as yielding the most fragrant product.  It is nearly colourless,  though
 usually of a pale yellowish tint.   In  consequence of  being kept in  copper
 bottles, it is apt to contain metallic impurity.  This is chiefly carbonate of
 lead,  derived from the lead  used as a solder to  join the sheets of copper.
 The Edinburgh College, therefore, directs that it should not be affected by
 sulphuretted hydrogen, which,  if either lead or copper were present, would
 throw down a dark precipitate.  Much colour, an  offensive odour, or mould-
 mess, would indicate impurity  derived from the  flowers in the  process  of
 distillation.   Orange flower water is used exclusively as a perfume.   W.
   AQUA  FOENICULI.  U. S., Lond., 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 London and Edinburgh Colleges prepare it  in the same manner  as
dill water (see Aqua Anethi);  the Dublin  College, in the same manner as
caraway water (see Aqua Carui).
   Fennel water is an agreeable vehicle for other medicines, and useful when
a mild aromatic is indicated.                                      \y. 
864
Aqua Medicata.
part ii.
   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 Cherry Laurel a pound; Water three pints.
Distil a  pint, and, instead  of Rectified Spirit, add of Compound Spirit of
Lavender an ounce."  Dub.
   According to M. Garot, the proportion of hydrocyanic 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, instead of alcohol, is in order to impart colour to the preparation,
and thus prevent it from being mistaken for common water.  It is employed
in Europe as  a sedative narcotic, identical  in its  properties with a dilute
solution of hydrocyanic acid; but is of very uncertain strength.  The dose
is from thirty minims  to a fluidrachm.                              VV.
   AQUA MENTHA PIPERITA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Pep-
permint 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,  or Oil of  Peppermint, two
drachms; Proof Spirit  seven fluidounces; Water  two gallons  [Imperial
measure].  Distil a gallon.  When the fresh herb is used the quantity should
be doubled."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh College  mixes four pounds of  fresh or two of dry pep-
permint,  two gallons [Imp. meas.]  of water, and three fluidounces of rec-
tified spirit, and distils  a gallon.   The Dublin College proceeds as  in the
instance of Caraway Water, employing a pound and a half of the herb; or
simply distils a mixture of three drachms of the oil and a gallon of water.  W.
   AQUA MENTHA PULEGII.  Lond.   Aqua  Pulegii.  Ed.,
Dub.  Pennyroyal  Water.
  This is prepared  from the European pennyroyal or its oil, precisely in
the manner 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 the
Hedeoma pulegioides,  or American pennyroyal, might be substituted.
   Pennyroyal water is employed for the same purposes as  those of pepper-
mint and spearmint.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Ammoniaci, Dub.; Mistura Assafostidas, Dub.  W.
   AQUA MENTHA VIRIDIS. U.S.,'Lond., Ed., Dub. Spear-
mint 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 other medicines, but also  to counteract their nauseating properties.
Peppermint water is generally thought to have a more pleasant flavour than
that of spearmint, but some prefer the latter.   Their  effects are  the same.
                                                               W. 
PART II.
Aqua Medicata.
865
  AQUA PICIS  LIQUIDS.  Dub.   Tar Water.
  " Take of Tar two pints; Water a gallon.   Mix, stirring with a wooden
rod for fifteen minutes; then, after the Tar shall  have subsided, strain the
liquor, and keep it in well stopped bottles." Dub.
  Water takes from tar a small portion of acetic acid, empyreumatic oil, and
resinous  matter, acquiring  a  sharp empyreumatic taste, and  the colour of
Madeira  wine.  Thus impregnated it is stimulant and diuretic; and, though
at present little used, was  formerly highly extolled as a remedy in  pulmo-
nary consumption.   It may be given  with occasional  advantage in chronic
catarrhal affections,  and  complaints of the urinary passages.   From one to
two pints may be taken in the course of the day.  It is also used as a wash
in chronic cutaneous affections.                                    W.
  AQUA PIMENTO. Lond., Ed., Dub.  Pimento Water.
  " Take of Pimento, bruised, a pound, or  Oil of Pimento two drachms;
Proof Spirit  seven fluidounces; Water two  gallons  [Imperial  measure].
Distil a gallon." 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  distils a gallon from half a pound of pimento,
previously bruised,  and  macerated for twenty-four hours in a pint of water,
and takes care that sufficient water shallremain to prevent  empyreuma.
  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 ROS^E.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Rose Water.
  " Take of Fresh Hundred-leaved Roses eight  pounds; Water two  gal-
lons.   Mix them  and distil a  gallon."  U. S.
  The Dublin College orders a gallon of  the water to be distilled from eight
pounds of the petals.  The London  College takes ten pounds of roses,
seven fluidounces of  proof spirit, and two gallons [Imperial measure] of
water, and distils  a  gallon.   The Edinburgh College  proceeds as the  Lon-
don, substituting three fluidounces of rectified spirit for seven of proof spirit;
and adds "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."
  It should be observed that,  in the nomenclature of the United States Phar-
macopoeia, 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.  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
distilled  waters it is liable to spoil when kept;  and  the  alcohol which is
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 by promoting the acetous
fermentation.  It  is best, therefore, to  avoid this addition, and  to substitute a
second distillation.  This distilled water  is chiefly employed  on account of
its pleasant odour in collyria and  other lotions.  It is  wholly destitute of
irritating properties, unless  when it contains alcohol.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Rosas, U. S.; Mistura Ferri Composita, U. S., Lond.,
Ed.,  Dub.; Mist. Moschi, Lond.; Ung. Aquas Rosas,  U. S.          W.
     74 
866
Aqua Medicata.—Argentum.
PART II.
   AQUA SAMBUCI.  Lond., Ed.  Elder Water.
   " Take of  Elder Flowers ten pounds, or of Oil of Elder  two drachms;
Proof Spirit  seven fluidounces; Water two gallons [Imperial measure].
Distil a gallon." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College mixes ten pounds of the fresh flowers, two gal-
lons [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
needed, it may be best prepared from the flowers.  In this country it  is not
used.                                                           \y

                          ARGENTUM.

                     Preparations of Silver.

   ARGENTI  CYANURETUM. U.S.  Argenti Cyanidum. Lond.
Cyanuret of Silver.   Cyanide of Silver.
   "Take of Nitrate of Silver fifteen  drachms;  Hydrocyanic Acid,  Dis-
tilled Water,  each, a pint.  Having dissolved the Nitrate of Silver in the
Water,  add the  Hydrocyanic Acid  and mix them.  Wash  the precipitate
with Distilled Water and dry it."  U. S.
   The London formula is the same as that above given, which was adopted
from the London  Pharmacopoeia, merely adjusting the proportions to suit
the U.S. officinal measure, instead of the Imperial measure.
   This  preparation was introduced  into the London  Pharmacopoeia, and
afterwards into that of the  United States, for the purpose  of being used in
the extemporaneous preparation of diluted hydrocyanic acid.    (See page
786.)  Its  formation is a case of double decomposition between the oxide
of silver of the nitrate,  and the hydrocyanic  acid, resulting in the formation
of water, and a white curdy precipitate of cyanuret or cyanide of silver.
   Properties.  Cyanuret of silver is a tasteless white powder, insoluble in
water and cold nitric acid, but readily soluble, with  decomposition, in that
acid when boiling hot.   It  is decomposed by muriatic acid, exhaling the
odour of hydrocyanic acid.  It is not soluble in potassa or  soda, but readily
so in ammonia.  When well dried, it is resolved by a red heat into silver and
cyanogen gas; but when it contains water, it yields hydrocyanic  acid and
cyanogen, the residue being silver mixed with charcoal.  It consists of one
eq. of cyanogen 26, and one of silver 108=134.   It has no medical uses.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Hydrocyanicum, U. S., Lond.                 B.
   ARGENTI  NITRAS.   U.S., Lond.,  Ed.  Argenti  Nitras
Fusum. Dub.  Nitrate of Silver.   Lunar Caustic.
   "Take of Silver, in small pieces, an ounce; Nitric Acid five fluidrachms;
Distilled water two fluidounces.  Mix the acid with the  Water, and dis-
solve the Silver in the mixture on a  sand-bath ; then  gradually increase the
heat, so that  the resulting  salt may be  dried.  Melt  this in a crucible over
a gentle fire, and continue the heat until ebullition ceases ; then immediately
pour it into suitable moulds."  U. S.
   " Take of  Silver an ounce and a half; Nitric Acid a fluidounce [Impe-
rial measure]; Distilled Water two  fluidounces [Imp. meas.].  Mix the
Nitric Acid with the water, and dissolve the  Silver in them on a sand-bath.
Then increase the heat  gradually that the  Nitrate of Silver  may be dried.
Melt this in  a crucible with  a slow  fire, until, the  water being  expelled,
ebulliton has  ceased ; then immediately pour it into proper  moulds."  Lond. 
PART II.
Argentum.
867
  " Take of pure Silver an ounce and a half; Pure  Nitric Acid a fluid-
ounce [Imperial measure];  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 poj,*r the fused matter into
iron moulds, previously heated and greased slightly with tallow.  Preserve
the product in glass vessels." Ed.
  " Dissolve Silver in Diluted Nitric Acid [in the manner directed in the
formula for Crystals of Nitrate of Silver^ ;  then evaporate  the solution to
dryness.  Melt  the  residuum,  placed  in  a crucible, over a  slow  fire;  then
pour it out into proper moulds, and keep it in a glass bottle." Dub.
  During the solution  of silver in nitric acid,  part of the acid is decomposed
into nitric  oxide which is given off and becomes red fumes by contact  with
the atmosphere, and oxygen which oxidizes  the  silver.  The oxide formed
then combines with  the remainder of the  acid, and  generates the nitrate of
silver in solution.   The water  is next  driven oft' by heat, and the salt fused
and cast into little cylinders about the size of a quill.  The silver  should be
pure, and  the acid diluted for  the purpose of promoting its  action.   If the
silver contain copper,  the solution will have a greenish tint, not disappear-
ing on the application  of heat;  and, if a minute portion of gold be  present, it
will be left  undissolved as a black powder.  The acid also should be pure.
The commercial nitric acid, as it frequently contains  both  muriatic and sul-
phuric acids, should never be used in this process.  The muriatic  acid gives
rise  to  an insoluble chloride,  and  the sulphuric, to the sparingly  soluble
sulphate of silver.  In the former London and Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeias
the nitric acid was used in  excess; but it was reduced to the proper propor-
tion upon the revision  of those works in 1836  and 1839.   As the  salt sinks
into a common  crucible, the fusion should  be performed in one of  porcelain,
as recommended by the  Edinburgh  College,  the size of which should  be
sufficient to hold five or six times the  quantity of the dry salt operated on,
in order to prevent its overflowing in consequence of the ebullition.  Some-
times small portions of the  liquid are spirted  out; and the  operator should
be on his guard against this occurrence.   When the mass flows like oil, it
is completely fused, and ready to be poured into the moulds.  These should
be warmed,  but not greased   as directed by  the  Edinburgh  College;  as
grease furnishes organic matter which partially decomposes the salt.
  Properties.   Nitrate of silver is a white salt, having an intensely metallic,
bitter taste. As prepared by the above process, it is in the form of hard,
brittle sticks, at first white, but becoming gray and more or less dark under
the influence of light, owing to the reduction of the silver, effected probably
by organic matter  or sulphuretted hydrogen contained  in  the  atmosphere.
That the change does not depend on the sole action of light has been proved
by Mr.  Scanlan, who  finds  that nitrate of silver, in a clean glass tube her-
metically sealed, undergoes no  change by exposure to light; while on the
other hand it is known  that the solution of  nitrate of silver is  discoloured
by the most minute portion of  organic matter, of which it is a delicate  test.
Its affinity for animal  matter is evinced  by its forming definite compounds
with albumen and  fibrin.   The surface of the sticks often becomes  dark
coloured and nearly black,  and when they are broken across,  they exhibit
a crystalline fracture with  a radiated surface.   Nitrate of silver  is  soluble
in its own weight of cold water, and in four parts of alcohol.   When  per-
fectly pure it is wholly soluble  in distilled  water;  but even good samples of
the fused salt will not totally dissolve, a very scanty  black powder being left
of reduced silver, arising from the salt having been exposed to too high a heat 
868
Argentum.
PART II.
in fusion.  Its solution stains the skin of an indelible black colour.  When
exposed to heat it fuses at 426°, and at about 600° undergoes decomposition
with evolution of oxygen and nitrous acid, and reduction of the metal.  This
statement explains why it is  necessary to guard against the application of too
high a heat during the fusion of  the salt.   Nitrate of silver is incompatible
with almost all spring and river water,  on account of the common salt usually
contained in  it;  with  soluble chlorides;  with   sulphuric, hydrosulphuric,
muriatic, and tartaric acids,  and  their salts; with the alkalies and their car-
bonates;  with lime-water ; and with astringent vegetable infusions.   It is an
anhydrous salt, and consists  of one eq. of nitric acid 54  and one of protoxide
of silver  116 = 170.
   Impurities and Tests.   Nitrate  of silver is  liable  to contain free silver
from  having been exposed  to  too  high a heat, the   nitrates  of  lead and
copper from  the impurity of the  silver dissolved in the acid, and nitrate of
potassa from fraudulent admixture.   Free silver  will be left undissolved as a
black  powder, after the action of distilled water.  A very slight residue of
this kind is hardly avoidable; but if there be much free silver, it will be shown
by the surface of a fresh fracture of one of the sticks presenting an unusually
dark-gray colour.  (Christison.)   A solution of chloride of sodium in excess
should throw down the whole of the silver as a  white curdy precipitate, and
nothing besides.  This precipitate  should  be entirely soluble  in ammonia.
If not  entirely soluble, the  insoluble part is  probably  chloride of lead.   If
the supernatant liquid, after the  removal of the above-mentioned 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.  In  order to detect nitre, a solution  of the  suspected salt should
be precipitated by muriatic acid  in excess and sulphuretted hydrogen, to re-
move  the silver, and other metals if they happen  to be present.  The filtered
solution, if the salt be pure, will entirely evaporate by heat;  if it contain
nitre,  this will be  left, easily  recognizable by its properties as a nitrate.  This
impurity sometimes exists  in  nitrate of silver in large  amount, varying, ac-
cording to different statements, from 10 to 75  per cent.  According to  Dr.
Christison, it may be suspected if the sticks present a colourless fracture. A
test is given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia for indicating impurity in nitrate
of silver, without determining its nature.  It depends upon the fact that  the
pure  salt requires  for its conversion  into chloride, a given quantity of a
muriate or chloride;  and that if a little less than this quantity be used to
precipitate it, the  supernatant liquid will be precipitable by more of the test.
Now  this will  not be the case with  the impure salt, unless its impurity be
minute.  In applying this test, the Edinburgh College  directs that 29 grains
of the salt should be dissolved  in a  fluidounce of distilled water acidulated
with nitric acid, precipitated with absolution of 9 grains of muriate  of ammo-
nia, briskly agitated for a  few  seconds, and then allowed to  rest.  If the
salt be impure, it will not be precipitated on the addition of more of the test.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Nitrate of silver, as an internal remedy,
is deemed tonic and antispasmodic.   The principal diseases in which it has
been  employed are epilepsy, chorea, angina pectoris,  and other spasmodic
affections.   In epilepsy it occasionally effects a cure;  but the kind of cases
to which it is  applicable and its modus operandi are not understood.   It is
said  to produce  most good in  this  disease when it acts upon the bowels.
Dr. James Johnson and other  practitioners have found it useful as a pallia-
tive and sedative  in chronic disease of the stomach attended with  pain and
vomiting.  Dr. Boudin, of  Marseilles, has employed it in typhoid fever as
a remedy for the inflammation and ulceration of the ileum, which constitute 
PART fl.
Argentum.
869
 the most constant lesion in  that disease. When the gastric symptoms predo-
 minate, he  gives the nitrate in pill, in doses 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 appeared to be useful by promoting
 the  cicatrization of the intestinal  ulcers, and  were found  to  extend their
 operation as high  up as the small intestines.  In chronic diarrhoea, especially
 in that kind attendant on phthisis, Dr. Macgreggor, of Dublin, has found the
 nitrate of silver, conjoined  with opium, a valuable remedy.  Whatever may
 be the remedial value of this salt internally administered, its occasional effect
 of producing a blue or black discoloration of the skin, which can hardly be
 removed, is a  great objection to its use.  This effect proves the absorption
 of the medicine, and is alleged to show itself first on the tongue and fauces.
 The discoloration is said to be  removed by a steady course of cream of tar-
 tar.   Dr. A. T. Thomson has  suggested as a preventive of this effect, the
 administration of  nitric acid in conjunction with the salt; and Dr. Patterson,
 of Ireland, has proposed as a substitute  for the nitrate, the iodide of silver,
 which he supposes would have the same remedial effect, without producing
 discoloration.
   Externally nitrate of silver is employed  as  a vesicant, stimulant, and  es-
 charotic, either dissolved in water, or in the solid state.  In the' proportion
 of about half a grain to the fluidounce of water, it has been recommended as a
 mouth wash lor healing ulcers produced by mercury.  Dissolved to the extent
 of from one to five grains in the same quantity of water, it is used for the
 purpose of  stimulating indolent ulcers, and as an injection for fistulous sores.
 A solution containing two grains to the fluidounce is an excellent application
 in ophthalmia  with ulcers of  the cornea, in fetid discharges from the ear, in
 aphthous affections of the mouth, and spongy gums.   It is, in general, most
 conveniently applied to ulcers by means of a camel's hair pencil.  A drachm
 of the salt, dissolved in a fluidounce of water, forms an escharotic solution,
 which may often be resorted to with advantage.  But nitrate of silver is most
 frequently employed in the solid state ; and as it is not deliquescent nor apt to
 spread, it forms the most manageable  caustic that can be used.   When thus
 employed, it is useful to coat the caustic, as recommended by M. Dumeril, by
 dipping it into melted  engraver's 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 pre-
 pared by scraping off the wax, with a  penknife, to a suitable extent from one
 end.  If the solid nitrate be applied three or four times to the moistened skin,
 it generally vesicates,  causing usually less pain than is produced by cantha-
 rides.   It is employed in the  solid form to destroy strictures of the urethra,
 warts and excrescences,  fungous flesh, incipient chancres, and the surface of
 other ulcers.  Mr. Higginbottom considers its  free application to ulcers, so
 as to  cover them with  an eschar, as an excellent means of  expediting  their
 cicatrization.  He alleges that, if an adherent eschar be formed, the parts un-
 derneath heal before it  falls off.  The same writer recommends lunar caustic
 as a topical remedy in various external  inflammations, but particularly in
 erysipelas, applied both to the inflamed and to surrounding healthy parts.  In
 some cases  it is sufficient to blacken the cuticle; in others it is best to produce
vesication.  It has also been used with good effect, in the solid state, by Dr.
Jewell in 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.   It  has been recommended in gonorrhoea in  the male, even in the
                                  74* 
870
Argentum.
PART II.
acute stage, used in solution containing 10 or 12 grains to the fluidounce; but,
although some quick cures are well authenticated, the practice is extremely
dangerous.  In small-pox it has been proposed by Bretonneau and Serres, to
cauterize  each pustule after its top  has been removed, on the first or second
day of the eruption, in order  to arrest its development and  prevent pitting.
The solid nitrate also forms an efficacious application to certain ulcerations in
the throat, to punctured and poisoned wounds, and to chilblains, slowly rubbed
over the moistened part.  If, unexpectedly, the pain produced by the external
use of the nitrate should be  excessive, it may be immediately allayed by wash-
ing the parts with  a solution of common salt, which acts by decomposing the
caustic.
   The dose of nitrate of silver is the fourth of a grain, gradually increased to
four or five grains, three times a day.   It should always be given in pill, in
which form, according to Dr. Powell, the system bears a dose three times as
large as when given in solution.  In the treatment of epilepsy, this physician
recommends the exhibition at first of grain doses, to be  gradually increased
to six grains, three times a day.   Its effects vary very much, owing no doubt
to the salt being more or  less decomposed by the substances used in  pre-
paring it in pill, or with which it comes in contact in the stomach.  It should
not be made up into pill with  crumb of bread, as this contains common  salt,
but with some vegetable powder and  mucilage.   Considering that chloride
of sodium is used  in food, and exists  in the  secretions, and  that free muria-
tic acid and albuminous fluids are present in the stomach,  it is almost cer-
tain that, sooner or later, the whole of the nitrate of silver will be converted
into  a chloride or albuminate, far  less active than the original  salt.  Such
being the  inevitable result when  the  nitrate  is given,  the  question arises
how far it would be expedient to anticipate the change, and give  the silver
as a chloride ready formed.   One of the  authors of this work has tried the
chloride in large doses, in two very unpromising cases of epilepsy, but with-
out advantage.  The oxide of silver, to be noticed in the Appendix, would
probably produce the remedial effects  of this  metal, and  is not liable to  the
objections which lie to the nitrate and chloride ;  to the former on account of
its unequal activity, to the  latter as being extremely insoluble, and difficultly
decomposable.  As the fused  nitrate is often  impure, it is  safer to  employ
the crystallized  salt for internal exhibition.   (See Argenti  Nitratis Crys-
talli.)  Solutions  intended for the eye should be made with distilled water;
for ordinary purposes,  good common water is  sufficiently pure for dissolving
the salt.
  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.  Consecutive inflammation must
be combated by bleeding,  both general and local,  and other antiphlogistic
measures.
   Off.Prep.   Argenti Cyanuretum, US., Lond.; Liquor Argenti Nitratis,
Lond.                                                             B.
  LIQUOR  ARGENTI NITRATIS. Lond.  Solution of Nitrate
of Silver.
  " Take of Nitrate of Silver a drachm;  Distilled Water a fluidounce [Im-
perial measure].   Dissolve the Nitrate of Silver in the Water, and strain ;
then,  the  access of light being prevented, keep it in a well-closed vessel."
Lond.
  The London College have made the above solution officinal in their Phar-
macopoeia of 1836.  According to Mr. Phillips, it is intended  merely as  a 
PART II.
Argentum.—Arsenicum.
871
 test for detecting the presence of muriatic acid and soluble chlorides, with
 which it gives  a while  curdy precipitate, insoluble in acids  and the fixed
 alkalies,  but readily soluble in ammonia.  This solution, however useful as
 a test, is certainly out of place in a Pharmacopoeia.                   B.
   ARGENTI NITRATIS CRYSTALLI. Dub.   Crystals  of Ni-
 trate of Silver.
   " Take of Silver, laminated and cut in pieces, thirty-seven parts ;  Diluted
 Nitric Acid sixty parts.  Put the Silver in a glass vessel, and  pour upon
 it the Acid, previously diluted with water.  Dissolve  the metal  with a heat
 gradually increased, and,  by evaporation and refrigeration, let  crystals be
 formed.   Dry them without heat, and  preserve them in a glass bottle in a
 dark place." Dub.                     ,
   The Dublin  is the only Pharmacopoeia noticed in  this work  Which has
 made the crystals of nitrate of silver officinal;  and the motive for doing so
 is to have a purer salt for internal exhibition than the fused nitrate generally
 is.   By  an oversight in the process,  the acid,  though ordered to  be  the
 officinal  diluted acid, is directed to be  diluted  in the body of the formula.
 The crystals are in colourless  transparent rhomboidal plates, often of large
 size.   Their other properties, as well as their medical applications, are the
 same as  those  of  the fused nitrate,  to the article on which the reader is
 referred.                                                          B.

                          ARSENICUM.

                     Preparations  of Arsenic.

   ARSENICI OXYDUM ALBUM SUBLIMATUM. Dub.  Sub-
 limed White  Oxide of Arsenic.
   " Reduce the Oxide  of Arsenic  to a coarse powder,  and, avoiding  the
 vapours,  expose it  to heat in a suitable vessel,  that the White Oxide of
 Arsenic may sublime."  Dub.
  The Dublin  College, deeming the  commercial  white oxide  of  arsenic
 (Acidum  Arseniosum,  U. S., Lond.)  not sufficiently pure  for medicinal
 employment, has  given  the  above formula for its purification.   But  as  the
 commercial oxide itself has undergone a second sublimation, this process is
 superfluous.  The  only  precaution necessary to be taken, on the  part of  the
 apothecary, is to purchase the oxide in  lump; for when  in powder it is  apt
 to be adulterated with chalk or sulphate of lime.  The  chemical, medical,
 and toxicological properties of this substance have  been given under the head
 of Acidum Arseniosum.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Arsenicalis, Dub.                             B.
   LIQUOR POTASSAE ARSENITIS. U. S., Lond.  Liquor Ar-
 senicalis. Ed., Dub.  Solution of Arsenite of Potassa. Arsenical
 Solution. Fowler's Solution.
  " Take of Arsenious Acid, in 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 Car-
 bonate of Potassa  with  twelve fluidounces  of  Distilled  Water,  in a glass
 vessel, till the Acid is entirely dissolved.  To the solution, when cold, add
 the Spirit of Lavender, and  afterwards sufficient Distilled Water  to  make it
 fill exactly the measure of a pint." U. S.
  " Take of Arsenious Acid, broken into small pieces, Carbonate o/Potassa,
each, eighty grains;  Compound Tincture of Lavender five fluidrachms; 
872
Arsenicum.
PART II.
Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure].   Boil  the Arsenious  Acid and
Carbonate of Potassa with half a pint of the Water in a glass vessel, until they
are dissolved. Add the Compound Tincture of Lavender to the cooled liquor.
Lastly, add  besides  sufficient Distilled Water, that it may  accurately fill a
pint measure." Lond.
   The Edinburgh formula is substantially the same with the London, from
which it injudiciously varies  by ordering the  arsenious acid in powder, and
water instead of distilled water.   In it the lavender preparation is misnamed
" tincture,"  it being recognised  as a spirit in the nomenclature of the Edin-
burgh  College.
   The Dublin is the same as the U. S. formula, with the exception that the
sublimed white oxide of arsenic of the College is used instead of the  com-
mercial oxide, and that the quantity of the arsenious acid and carbonate is
reduced from sixty-four to  sixty  grains.
   This preparation originated with Dr. Fowler, and was intended  as a sub-
stitute for the celebrated empirical remedy known  under the  name of " the
tasteless ague drop."   It is an arsenite of potassa dissolved in water, and is
formed by the combination of the arsenious acid with the potassa of the car-
bonate, the  carbonic acid being evolved.  The name,  therefore, by which
it is  designated in the  United States  and London  Pharmacopoeias, is obvi-
ously the most correct.  The spirit of lavender is  added to give it taste,  in
order to prevent its  being  mistaken for simple water.   The United States
preparation  is of about  the same strength as those of the London and Edin-
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
Dublin solution is one-sixteenth weaker,  in consequence of the  very injudi-
cious alteration  from the standard  formula, of substituting sixty instead  of
sixty-four gains of arsenious acid to the pint of liquid.   Dr. Barker, in his
Observations on the Dublin  Pharmacopoeia, informs us, that the reason for
this  change  was the supposition that less danger of error would arise  in
weighing out sixty than sixty-four grains;  as the former quantity could be
weighed by a single weight.
   In making this  preparation, care  should be taken that the  arsenious acid
be pure.  This  object is best secured by using the  acid in  small fragments,
instead of in powder.  Sulphate of lime is  a common adulteration, and if
present will remain undissolved, and cause the solution to be weaker than it
should be.    Hence if the arsenious  acid does not entirely dissolve, the pre-
paration must be rejected.
   Properties. Solution of arsenite  of potassa is a transparent liquid, having
the colour, taste and smell  of the spirit of lavender.  It has  a strong alkaline
reaction.  It is decomposed by the  usual  reagents of arsenic,  such  as nitrate
of silver, the salts of copper, lime-water, and sulphuretted hydrogen; and is
incompatible with infusions and  decoctions of cinchona.   Before sulphuretted
hydrogen will act, the  solution  must be acidulated with some acid, as  the
muriatic or acetic.
   Medical 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 exhi-
bition  and  gradual increase;  and it is the preparation  generally resorted  to,
when arsenic is given internally.  It is employed principally in intermittent
fever.   Dr.  Thomas D.  Mitchell,  of the University of Transylvania,  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. 
PART II.
Arsenicum.—Baryta.
873
(Med. Recorder, iv. 640.)  It is a valuable resource in the intermittents of
children, who are with difficulty induced to swallow bark or even sulphate
of quinia.  The late Dr. Dewees (Phil. Journ. of Med. and Phys. Sci., xiv.
187), relates the case of a child only six weeks old, affected with a severe
tertian, in which  this solution was given with success.  A fluidrachm was
diluted with twelve fluidrachms of water; and of this six drops were given
every four hours.
   Fowler's solution, while partaking of the general therapeutical properties
of the arsenical preparations, appears  to be  peculiarly adapted to the treat-
ment of several diseases.   It has been employed with encouraging success
in lepra and other inveterate cutaneous affections.  The late Dr. S. Colhoun
(Med. Recorder, iii. 347.) published an account of five cases of nodes, suc-
cessfully treated by it; and  in consequence of his success, Dr. Baer, of Balti-
more,  and the late Dr. Eberle, were induced to give it a trial in this affection,
and they obtained satisfactory results.  Several cases of cholera, cured by this
remedy, are  reported,  by Mr. Martin, Mr. Slater, and  Dr.  Gregory, in  the
Medico-Chirurgical Transactions of London.  Two interesting cures of peri-
odical headache, performed by this  solution, were related by the late Dr. Otto,
of Philadelphia, in the fourth and fifth volumes of the North American Med.
and Surg. Journal.   Mr. H.  Hunt found it useful  in menorrhagia, but pre-
fers the use of arsenious acid, as less apt to  produce unpleasant effects, re-
quiring the discontinuance of the remedy.  (See page 19.)  A diluted solution,
in the  proportion of  a fluidrachm to the fluidounce  of water, has  been used
with advantage as a topical application to foul ulcers, occasioned by the in-
discreet use of mercury.
   Each fluidrachm  of the solution contains half a  grain  of arsenious acid.
The average dose for an adult is ten  drops two or three  times a day.  For
the peculiar effects which it  produces in common  with the other arsenical
preparations, and for the signs by which the practitioner is warned that its
further exhibition would be unsafe, the reader is referred to the article on
Arsenious Acid.                                                   B.

                            BARYTA.

                    Preparations of Baryta.

   BARII CHLORIDUM. U.  S., Lond. Baryta Murias. Ed., Dub.
Chloride of Barium.  Muriate of Baryta.
  " Take of Carbonate of Baryta, in  small fragments, a pound; Muriatic
Acid twelve fluidounces ; Water three pints.  Mix the Acid with the Water,
and gradually add the Carbonate  of Baryta.  Towards the close  of the
effervescence apply a gentle heat, and, when the action has ceased, filter the
liquor, and boil it down so that crystals may form when it cools."  U. S.
   "Take of Carbonate of Baryta, broken into small pieces, ten  ounces;
Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid half a  pint [Imperial  measure]; Distilled
Water two pints [Imp. meas.].   Mix the Acid with the Water, and  add the
Carbonate of Baryta gradually to them.   Then, heat being applied,  and the
effervescence finished, strain, and boil  down  the liquor  that crystals may
form." Lond.
  The Edinburgh College  gives two  processes for  obtaining this chloride;
one in  which the native carbonate of baryta is used, the other in which the
native  sulphate is employed.  The process with the carbonate is the same
with that of the London College, just quoted; the formula with the sulphate
is as follows. 
874
Baryta.
part ii.
  " Take of Sulphate of Baryta two pounds ; Charcoal, in fine powder,/owr
ounces;  Pure Muriatic Acid a  sufficiency.   Heat the sulphate to redness,
reduce it to fine powder, mix the charcoal with it thoroughly, heat the  mix-
ture in a covered crucible for three hours at a low white heat.  Pulverize
the product,  put it gradually into five pints [Imperial measure] of  boiling
water; boil for a few minutes; let it rest  for a little over a vapour-bath ;  pour
off the clear liquor, and filter it if necessary, keeping it  hot.   Pour three
pints [Imp. meas.] of boiling water over the residuum, and proceed as before.
Unite the two liquids ; and while they are still hot, or, if cooled, after heating
them  again, add pure Muriatic Acid gradually so long  as effervescence is
occasioned.  In this process  the solutions ought to be as little exposed to the
air as possible;  and in the last step the disengaged gas should be discharged
by a proper  tube  into a chimney  or the  ash-pit of a furnace.   Strain the
liquor, concentrate it, and set it aside to crystallize." Ed.
  The Dublin College obtains the chloride of barium by means of the native
sulphate also ;  but as the process is in principle the  same as that just quoted
from the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, it need not be given.
  When the carbonate of baryta is employed for obtaining chloride of barium,
the reactions are  exceedingly simple.  The muriatic acid displaces the car-
bonic  acid with  effervescence;  and, by reacting with  the baryta, forms
chloride of barium and water.   A solution of chloride of barium being thus
obtained, it yield crystals of the chloride  by concentration and cooling.  The
reactions occurring in the  process  in which the sulphate  is used, are more
complicated.   The ignition with carbonaceous matter deoxidizes its constitu-
ents, converting it into sulphuret of barium, the oxygen escaping in combina-
tion with the carbon as carbonic oxide and acid.  The sulphuret of barium,
when dissolved  in water, is decomposed on the addition of muriatic acid, sul-
phuretted hydrogen being given off in large quantities, and chloride of barium
formed in solution, from which, in  the usual manner, the solid salt is obtained.
The direction to discharge the sulphuretted  hydrogen into a chimney or the
ash-pit of a furnace, is  intended to provide for its decomposition by  smoke;
for if the gas is not disposed of in  this or some similar way, it becomes ex-
ceedingly annoying to the  operator.
   Of the officinal processes, that in which the native carbonate is used is the
simplest and  most convenient; but as it may happen that the operator posses-
ses the native sulphate and  not the carbonate, the additional process above
given from the Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia may prove useful.
  Properties.   Chloride of  barium is a  permanent white salt, possessing a
bitter and  disagreeable taste.  It crystallizes in rhombic tables with beveled
edges.  It dissolves in about two and a half times its weight of cold water,
and in a little  more  than its own weight  at 222°, the boiling point of a
saturated solution. It is scarcely soluble in absolute alcohol, but dissolves
in  rectified  spirit.   Alcohol,  impregnated  with it,  burns  with a  yellow
flame.  When exposed to heat, it decrepitates and loses its water of crystalli-
zation, and at a red  heat  fuses.  It is  decomposed by the sulphates, oxa-
lates,  and  tartrates, and the alkaline phosphates, borates,  and carbonates;
also by nitrate of  silver, acetate and phosphate of  mercury, and acetate of
lead.   When pure, it does  not deliquesce. Its solution is not affected by am-
monia, which proves the absence of alumina and sesquioxide of  iron,  or by
sulphuretted  hydrogen, which shows that neither copper nor lead is present.
After the whole of the barium  has been  precipitated  by an excess of sul-
phuric acid, the supernatant  liquid is shown to be free from lime by the non-
action of carbonate of soda.  If strontia  be present, its  alcoholic  solution
will burn with a  red flame.   Like all the soluble salts of barium,  it is poi- 
PART II.
Baryta.—Bismuthum.
875
sonous.   It consists of one eq. of chlorine 35*42, one of barium 68*7, and
two of water 18=122*12.   It is used in medicine only in solution.
   Off. Prep.  Liquor Barii Chloridi, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.        B.
   LIQUOR BARII CHLORIDI.  U.S., Lond.  Solutio Baryta
Muriatis.  Ed.   BARYTiE   Muriatis Aqua.  Dub.   Solution  of
Chloride of Barium.  Solution of Muriate of Baryta.
   "Take of Chloride of Barium an  ounce; Distilled  Water three fluid-
ounces.   Dissolve the Chloride of Barium in the Water,  and filter."  U. S.
   "Take of Chloride  of Barium a drachm; Distilled Water a fluidounce
[Imperial measure].  Dissolve the Chloride of Barium, and strain."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh formula is  the same as the London.
   " Take of Muriate of Baryta one part;  Distilled Water three parts.  Dis-
solve.  The sp. gr. of this solution should be 1*230."  Dub.
   Chloride of barium, not being  used in the solid state, is here dissolved
for convenient exhibition.  The U. S. and Dublin solutions are of about  the
same strength.  The London and Edinburgh preparations are much weaker,
an ounce of  the salt being dissolved in efght fluidounces of water, instead of
three, as directed in the United States Pharmacopoeia.  The solution should
be limpid and colourless ; and to make it so, the salt in crystals, and not in
powder, should be employed.   The U.S. and Dublin solutions are  nearly
saturated ones, and are probably too strong for convenient use.
   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 particularly insisted on by Hufeland.   This  physician considers it to
act more particularly on the lymphatic  system,  in the  irritated states of
which  he esteems it a valuable remedy.   Hence he recommends it  in  the
scrofulous affections of delicate and irritable organs, such as the eyes, lungs,
&c.   In  the  commencement  of scrofulous  phthisis, he views  it as one of
the best  remedies to which we can have recourse.  It is employed also in
diseases  of the skin, in ulcers, and ophthalmia.   The dose for an adult of
the U. S. solution is about five drops, given  twice or thrice  a day, and gra-
dually  but cautiously  increased, until it produces  nausea,  or some  other
sensible impression. When taken in an over-dose  it causes violent vomiting
and purging, vertigo, and other dangerous symptoms.   To combat its poi-
sonous effects, recourse must  be had immediately to a weak solution of
sulphate of magnesia, which acts by converting the poison into the insoluble
sulphate of baryta.  If  vomiting does not come on, it should be induced  by
tickling the fauces, or by the administration of an emetic.            B.


                        BISMUTHUM.

                   Preparation of  Bismuth.

   BISMUTHI SUBNITRAS. U.S., Dub.  Bismuthi Trisnitras.
Lond.   Bismuthum  Album. Ed.  Subnitrate of Bismuth.   Tris-
nitrate of Bismuth.   White Oxide of Bismuth.
   "Take of Bismuth, in fragments, an ounce; Nitric Acid a fluidounce and
a half; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.  Mix a fluidounce of Distilled
Water  with  the Nitric  Acid,  and dissolve  the Bismuth in the mixture.
When  the solution is  complete, pour  the clear liquor into three pints of
Distilled  Water,  and set the  mixture  by that the  powder may  subside. 
876
Bismuthum.
PART II.
Lastly, having poured off the supernatant fluid, 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 a fluidounce and a half [Im-
perial measure]; Distilled Water three pints [Imp. meas.]. Mix a fluidounce
of the Distilled Water with  the Nitric  Acid, and  dissolve the Bismuth  in
them.  Then pour off the solution.  To this add the remainder of the Water,
and  set by that the powder may subside.  Afterwards, pour  off the super-
natant liquor,  wash the Trisnitrate of Bismuth with Distilled Water, and dry
it with a gentle heat." Lond.
   "Take of Bismuth, in fine powder, an ounce; Nitric Acid [of commerce?]
(D.  1-380) a fluidounce and a half [Imperial measure]; Water three pints
[Imp. meas.].   Add the  metal gradually to the acid, favouring the action
with a gentle heat, and adding a very little Distilled  Water so soon as 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 powder, seven parts ; Diluted Nitric Acid twenty
parts; Distilled Water one hundred parts.  Add  the Bismuth gradually to
the Acid, and  dissolve by the assistance of heat.   Mix the solution with the
   ater, and  set the  mixture  by that  the powder may subside.   Wash this
   th Distilled  Water, and dry it on bibulous paper with a gentle heat."  Dub.
   When bismuth is added to dilute nitric acid, red fumes are copiously given
off, and the  metal, oxidized by the decomposition of part of the nitric acid, is
dissolved by the remainder, so as to form a solution  of the nitrate of protoxide
of bismuth.  It is unnecessary to have the metal in powder, as it dissolves with
great facility when added to the acid in fragments.   When  the solution is
completed, the liquor should be added to the water,  which should  be distilled,
and  not the water to the solution, which is not so  eligible a  plan.  Imme-
diately on the  contact of the solution  with the water, four eqs. of the nitrate
are resolved into one eq. of ternitrate of bismuth which remains  in solution,
and one eq.  of trisnitrate which precipitates.  In order to have a smooth light
powder, which is  most esteemed, the precipitate should be washed and dried
as speedily as possible.
  Properties.  Subnitrate of bismuth is a tasteless, inodorous, heavy powder,
of a pure white colour.  It is slightly soluble in water, and readily so in the
strong acids, from whiph it is  precipitated  by water.  The fixed alkalies
dissolve it sparingly, and ammonia more readily.   It is darkened by hydro-
sulphuric  acid  gas, but not by exposure  to light, unless it contains a little
silver, or is subjected to the influence of organic matter.  If it dissolves in
nitric acid without effervescence, it  contains no carbonate, and if the  nitric
solution is not precipitated by diluted sulphuric acid, it is  free from  lead.
By the earlier chemists it was called magistery of bismuth.  The perfumers,
by whom it is sold as a paint for the complexion, denominate it pearl white.
It consists of one eq. of nitric acid 54, and three of protoxide of bismuth'
237=291.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  This  preparation is  tonic  and antispas-
modic.  It was originally  introduced into practice by Dr. Odier,  of Geneva,
and has been  subsequently employed with advantage both in this country
and in Europe.  It  has been recommended in epilepsy, palpitation of the
heart, and  spasmodic  diseases generally; but more particularly in various
painful affections of the stomach, dependent on disordered digestion, such as
cardialgia, pyrosis, and gastrodynia.  Its use always blackens the stools,
wi 
PART II.
Bismuthum.— Calx.
877
from the effect of the  intestinal gases.   The  dose is five grains, gradually
increased to twelve or fifteen twice or thrice a day, and may be taken in pill,
or mixed with an equal weight of aromatic powder.   In an over-dose it pro-
duces alarming gastric distress, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation,
colic, heat in the  breast, slight rigors, vertigo, and drowsiness.   The reme-
dies are bland and mucilaginous drinks, and, in case  of inflammation, bleed-
ing by leeches or venesection, enemata, and emollient fomentations.    B.
                                CALX.

                       Preparations of Lime.

   LIQUOR  CALCIS.  U.S., Lond.   Aqua Calcis.  Ed.,  Dub.
 Lime-water.
   " Take of Lime four ounces ;  Distilled Water a gallon.  Upon the Lime,
 first slaked with a little of the Water, pour the remainder of the Water, and
 stir them together; then immediately cover the vessel, and set it aside for three
 hours.   Keep the solution, together with the undissolved Lime, in stopped
 glass bottles, and pour off the clear liquor when it is wanted for use.  Water
 free from saline or other obvious  impurity may be employed in  this process,
 though not distilled."  U. S.
   The London College takes half a pound of lime, and twelve pints [Impe-
 rial measure] of distilled water, and proceeds as above directed.
   " Take any convenient quantity of  Water, pour a little of it over about a
 twentieth of its weight of Lime;  when the Lime is slaked, add  to it the rest
 of the Water in a bottle ;  agitate  well;  allow the undissolved matter to sub-
 side ;  pour off the clear liquor when it is  wanted, replacing  it with more
 water, and agitating briskly as before."  Ed.
   " Take of fresh burnt Lime, boiling water^ each, one part.  Put the Lime
 into an earthen vessel, and sprinkle the Water upon it, keeping the vessel
 closed while the Lime grows  hot and falls into powder; then pour upon it
 thirty parts of cold water, and, having again closed the vessel, shake the mix-
 ture frequently for twenty-four hours ; lastly, after the lime has subsided, pour
 off the clear solution, and keep it in closely stopped bottles." Dub.
  A solution of lime in water is the result of these processes.  By the slak-
 ing of the lime it is reduced to  powder, and rendered more easily diffusible
 through  the  water.    According  to all the   Pharmacopoeias,  except  the
 Dublin, the solution is  to be kept  in bottles with a portion  of undissolved
 lime, which causes it always to be saturated, whatever  may be the tempera-
 ture, 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 indefi-
 nitely.  By the absorption of carbonic acid,  the lime is gradually converted
 into  a carbonate, and thus rendered insoluble. The employment of Distilled
 Water as  the  solvent  may seem  a  useless refinement; and it  certainly is
 unnecessary when pure spring  or river water is attainable ;  but in many
 places the common water is very impure and wholly unfit for a preparation,
 one of the most 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 at 212° dissolves
    75 
878
Calx.
part II.
5*6 grains  of lime, at 60°, 9*7 grains, and at 32°, 11*0 grains.*  When a
cold saturated solution is heated, a deposition of lime takes place.
  Properties.   Lime-water is colourless, inodorous, and of a disagreeable
alkaline taste, changes vegetable blues to green, and forms an imperfect soap
with oils.  Exposed to the air it attracts carbonic acid, and becomes covered
with a pellicle of insoluble carbonate of lime,  which, subsiding after a time,
is replaced by another, and so on successively till the  whole of the lime is
exhausted.   Hence the  necessity of keeping lime-water either  in closely
corked  bottles  which should  be full, or, what is more  convenient, in bottles
with an excess  of lime.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Lime-water is  antacid, tonic, and astrin-
gent, and is very usefully employed in dyspepsia with  acidity of stomach,
diarrhoea, diabetes, and gravel attended with superabundant secretion of uric
acid.   Mixed with an equal measure of milk, which  completely covers its
offensive taste,  it is one  of the  best remedies in our possession  for nausea
and vomiting dependent on irritability of stomach.  We have found a diet
exclusively of lime-water and  milk to be  more effectual than any other plan
of treatment in  dyspepsia accompanied with vomiting of food.  In this case
one part of the solution to two or three  parts of milk is usually sufficient.
Lime-water is also  thought to be  useful by dissolving the intestinal mucus
in cases of worms, and in other  complaints connected with an excess of this
secretion.  Externally it is employed as a wash in tinea capitis and scabies,
as an application to foul and gangrenous ulcers, as an injection in leucorrhosa
and ulceration of the bladder or urethra, and, mixed with linseed or olive oil,
as a liniment in burns and scalds.  The dose is from two to  four fluidounces
taken several times  a day.   When employed to allay nausea, it is usually
given in the dose of a tablespoonful mixed with the same  quantity of  new
milk, and repeated at intervals of half  an hour, an hour, or  two  hours.   If
too  long continued it debilitates the stomach.
  Off. Prep.  Aqua Calcis Composita, Dub.; Infusum  Sarsaparillas Compo-
situm,  Dub.; Linimentum  Calcis,  U. S., Ed., Dub.                W.
  AQUA CALCIS  COMPOSITA.  Dub.  Compound Lime-water.
  " Take  of Guaiacum Wood, rasped, half a pound; Liquorice Root,
sliced and bruised, an ounce;  Sassafras Bark,  bruised,  half an ounce;  Cori-
ander Seeds three drachms ;  Lime-water six pints.  Macerate without heat,
for two days, in a close bottle, occasionally shaking, and filter." Dub.
  This is a very inert preparation, and should be ranked among the infusions,
as the lime-water can scarcely fail to be decomposed during  the process.
                                                                 W.
  CALCIS CARBONAS PRiECIPITATUM. Dub.  Precipitated
Carbonate of Lime.
  " Take  of Water of Muriate of Lime five parts.   Add three parts  of
Carbonate of Soda, dissolved in  four times  its weight of  Distilled Water.
Wash  the precipitate three times with a sufficient quantity of water;  then
collect it and dry it on a chalk-stone, or on bibulous paper." Dub.
  In this process a mutual interchange of principles  takes place, resulting
in the  production of  chloride of sodium  which remains in solution, and car-
bonate of lime which is deposited.  Of crystallized carbonate of soda 143-3
parts decompose 55*92 of chloride of calcium.  The Dublin water of muriate
of lime contains two parts  in nine of chloride of calcium.  From these data

  * Thee numbers may not, at first sight, appear to agree with those given in Phillip's
Trnnslation  of the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836; but the disagreement is only apparent,
and arises from the difference between the Imperial and wine pint, the former of which
is used  in England, and the latter in this country. 
 part ii.                         Calx.                             879

 it may be deduced, that the carbonate of soda in the formula is in very slight
 excess.  Any peculiar advantage which this preparation may possess must
 depend on  the minute division of its particles.  According to Dr. Bridges,
 this effect is best obtained by employing the solutions at the boiling tempera-
 ture.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 163.)   The preparation is said.to be oc-
 casionally adulterated with sulphate of lime.  When properly made, it is very
 pure  carbonate of lime,  and very finely divided, but probably has no such
 superiority over prepared chalk as to counterbalance its greater expensiveness.
   Off.Prep. Hydrargyrum cum Creta, Dub.                       W.

   CRETA  PR^PARATA.   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 takes a pound of chalk, and proceeds  as  above,
 except that it does not repeat the process with that which remains after the
 first operation.  The processes of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges are
 essentially the same as that  of the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia.   Both
 Colleges direct  the chalk  to  be powdered in a mortar.   The  Edinburgh
 orders it, after having been prepared, to be dried on a filter of linen or calico,
 the Dublin, on an  absorbent stone or paper.
   The object of  these processes is  to reduce chalk to very  fine powder.
 The mineral, previously pulverized, is rubbed with a little water upon a
 porphyry slab, by means of a rubber of the same material,  and having been
 thus very minutely divided,  is agitated with water, which upon  standing a
 short time  deposits the coarser particles, and being then poured off, slowly
 lets fall the remainder in an impalpable state. The former part of the process
 is called levigation, the  latter  elutriation.   The  soft  mass which remains
 after the decanting of the clear liquor, is made to fall upon an  absorbent sur-
 face in small portions, which when dried have a conical shape.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This is the  only form in which chalk is
 used in medicine.  It is an excellent  antacid; andas the salts which it forms
 in the stomach and bowels, if not astringent, are at least not purgative, it is
 admirably adapted  to diarrhoea accompanied with acidity.   It is also  some-
 times  used  in acidity of stomach attending dyspepsia and gout, when a laxa-
 tive effect is to be  avoided;  is one of the  best antidotes for oxalic acid; and
 has been recommended  in rachitis.  In scrofulous affections  it may some-
 times  do  good by forming soluble salts with acid in the  primae viae, and thus
 finding an entrance into the blood-vessels.   It is  frequently employed as an
 application  to burns and ulcers, which it  moderately  stimulates,  while it
 absorbs the  ichorous discharge, and thus prevents it from irritating the dis-
 eased  surface, or the sound skin.  It is given internally in the form of pow-
 der, or suspended  in  water  by the intervention of  gum Arabic and  sugar.
(See Mistura Cretae.)  The dose is from ten to forty grains or more.
   Off.Prep. Confectio Aromatica, Lond., Dub.; Hydrargyrum cum Creta,
 U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Cretas,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis
Cretas  Compositus, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Trochisci  Cretas, U. S., Ed.; Un-
guentum Plumbi Compositum, Lond.                              W. 
880
Calx.
part ii.
  TESTA  PR^PARATA.  U.S.   Testje  Pr^parat^.  Lond.
Prepared Oyster-shell.
  " Take of  Oyster-shell a convenient quantity.   Free it from extraneous
matter, wash  it with boiling water, and reduce it to powder; then prepare it
in the manner directed for Chalk." U. S.
  The London College  gives similar directions.
  Prepared oysterrshell  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, of each, in
powder, a  drachm, prepared oyster-shell a  scruple, and sufficient cochineal
to give colour to the mixture.   A drachm of this is boiled in a pint of milk,
and the decoction used ad libitum as a diet in chronic bowel affections. W.
  LIQUOR CALCII CHLORIDI.  U.S., Lond.   Calcis Muriatis
Solutio. Ed.  Calcis Muriatis Aqua. Dub.   Solution of Chlo-
ride of Culcinm.  Solution of Muriate of Lime.
  " Take of  Marble, in fragments, nine ounces; Muriatic Acid a pint; Dis-
tilled Water a sufficient quantify.   Mix the acid with  half a pint of the Dis-
tilled  Water,  and gradually add  the Marble.   Towards  the  close of  the
effervescence apply a gentle heat, and, when the action has ceased, pour off
the clear  liquor  and  evaporate to  dryness.  Dissolve the residuum in its
weight and a half of Distilled Water, and filter the  solution." U. S.
  The  London  College dissolves four ounces of chloride of  calcium in
twelve fluidounces (Imperial measure) of distilled water, and filters through
paper.  The Edinburgh College dissolves eight ounces of muriate of lime
(chloride  of  calcium)  in twelve fluidounces (Imp. meas.) of  water.  The
Dublin College dissolves two  parts of the salt in seven parts of distilled
water, and states the sp. gr. of the solution at 1*202.
  By the U.  S. process  chloride of calcium is  first formed, and then, as in
the other processes,  is dissolved  in  a  certain  proportion  of  water.  The
U. S. and Edinburgh  preparations agree very nearly in strength, containing
1 part of the  chloride in about 2*5  parts  of the solution.  Those of the Lon-
don and Dublin Colleges are only about half as strong; the latter containing
1 part of the  chloride in 4*5 of  the solution.
  The solution of chloride of calcium has  a disagreeable, bitter, acrid  taste.
It is decomposed  by sulphuric acid and the soluble sulphates; by potassa,
soda, and their carbonates; by  carbonate of ammonia,  tartrate of potassa  and
soda, nitrate  of silver,  nitrate  and  acetate  of mercury, and acetate of lead.
The mode of preparing chloride of calcium, and its chemical properties, are
detailed under the head of Calcii Chloridum in the  first part of this work.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Chloride of calcium is considered tonic  and
deobstruent,  and is said to promote the  secretion of urine, perspiration, and
mucus.  It was first brought into notice  as a remedy by Fourcroy, and was at
one time much used in  scrofulous diseases and goitre.   It still continues to be
a favourite with some physicians, but is less employed than formerly. It has
been especially recommended in tabes mesenterica.  When too largely taken
it sometimes produces  nausea, vomiting,  and purging,  and  in  excessive
doses  may even produce fatal  effects;  but it is a  much safer remedy than
chloride of barium, which has»been recommended in  the  same  complaints.
The dose of  the solution is from thirty minims or drops to a fluidrachm, to 
PART II.
Calx.
881
      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 Prascipitatum. Dub.                  W.
        CALCIS  PHOSPHAS PR^CIPITATUM. Dub. Precipitated
      Phosphate of Lime.
        "Take of  Burnt Bones,  in powder, one part;  Diluted Muriatic  Acid,
      Water, each, two parts.  Digest together  for twelve hours, and  filter the
      solution.   Add as much Water of Caustic Ammonia as will be sufficient to
      precipitate  the Phosphate of Lime.  Wash this with a large  proportion of
      water, and  finally dry it." Dub.
        The muriatic acid dissolves the phosphate of lime of the bones, and lets it
      fall on the addition of ammonia, in a state of minute division.  The ablution
      is intended to free it from any adhering muriate of ammonia.  The salt thus
      obtained is, for the sake of distinction, called bone-phosphate of lime.   It is
      in the form of a white powder,  without taste  or smell, insoluble in water,
      but very soluble in nitric, muriatic, and acetic acids, from  which  it is pre-
      cipitated  unchanged on the addition of ammonia.   By an  intense  heat it is
      fused, but is not otherwise changed.  It consists of three equivalents of phos-
      phoric acid and eight of lime.
        The chemical characteristics of bone-phosphate of  lime, besides  those
      mentioned, are that with its  solution in dilute  nitric  acid, oxalate of ammo-
      nia produces  a white precipitate of oxalate of  lime, and acetate of lead a
      white precipitate of phosphate of lead ; and, if the nitric solution be neutral-
      ized as far as  possible without causing a permanent precipitate  of phosphate
      of lime, ammoniacal nitrate  of silver throws  down from it a lemon-yellow
      precipitate of phosphate of silver. (Christison's Dispensatory.)
        If  this  preparation possesses any advantage over burnt hartshorn, it  must
      consist in the  state of minute division to which it has been brought by pre-
      cipitation.  It may be given in the same complaints and in the same dose ; but
      is probably quite inert.  (See Cornu Ustum.)                       W.
        CORNU USTUM.  Lond.  Pulvis Cornu Cervini Usti.  Dub.
      Burnt Hartshorn.
        " Burn pieces  of  Hartshorn in an open vessel until they are  thoroughly
      white; then powder them, and  prepare them in the manner directed for
      Chalk." Lond.
        The Dublin College gives similar directions.
        The horn must not only be heated, but also burnt, in order that the animal
      matter may be entirely consumed.   The  operation may be performed in a
      common furnace  or  stove, the  air being freely admitted.   Care should be
      taken that the  heat be not too violent; as otherwise the external surface of
      the horn may become vitrified, and prevent the complete combustion of the
      interior portion, while it is itself rendered less fit for  use.   Burnt hartshorn
      consists of bone-phosphate of lime, with a minute proportion of lime, derived
      from  the  carbonate contained ini  the horns.   It  may be inferred, from the
      analysis of  hartshorn by  M. Guillot, that the proportion of free lime in this
      preparation  is less than one per cent. (See Cornu.)  Bone-earth is  usually
      sold in the shops for burnt hartshorn.  For  the  chemical  characteristics of
      bone-phosphate of lime, see Calcis Phosphas Prascipitatum.
        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 defi-
      ciency of  phosphate of lime in  the bones; and it is said to have been  em-
                                      75* 
882           Calx.— Carbo Animalis.— Cataplasmata.       part ii.

ployed in some cases, in connexion  with phosphate of soda, with apparent
success.  Experience, however,  has not confirmed  the first report  in its
favour.  It is probably altogether inert.  The dose is twenty grains or more.
                                                                 W.


                     CARBO  ANIMALIS.

                Preparation of Animal Charcoal.

   CARBO  ANIMALIS PURIFICATUS. U. S.,  Lond., Ed.   Pu-
rified Animal Charcoal.
   "Take of Animal Charcoal a pound; Muriatic Acid, Water, each, twelve
fluidounces.   Pour the Muriatic Acid, previously mixed with  the Water,
gradually upon the Charcoal, and digest with  a gentle beat for two days, oc-
casionally stirring the mixture.   Having  allowed the undissolved portion to
subside, pour off the supernatant liquor, wash the Chareoal frequently with
water until it is entirely free from acid, and lastly dry it." U. S.
   The processes of the London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias  are essen-
tially the  same as the above. The  Edinburgh  College, after washing the
charcoal, gives the additional direction of  heating it first moderately, and
then to redness in a closely covered  crucible.   This ignition is  essential to
the full  development of its decolorizing power.
   The nature and properties of animal charcoal have been  explained  under
another head. (See Carbo Animalis.)  As it  is made by charring bones, it
necessarily contains bone-phosphate  and  carbonate of lime, the  presence of
which does no harm in some decolorizing operations ; but in delicate chemi-
cal processes, such as those connected with the preparation of the organic
alkalies, these salts would be dissolved  or decomposed, and thus be a source
of impurity.   It  is for these reasons  that animal charcoal requires  to be
purified from the calcareous salts which  it  contains; and this is effectually
accomplished by dilute muriatic acid, which dissolves  the  phosphate and
decomposes the carbonate.
   Purified animal charcoal is a dark brownish-black powder.  It should be
entirely free  from carbonate and phosphate of lime.  It may be tested with
muriatic acid, which should not dissolve any thing.  If the charcoal contain
carbonate of lime, muriatic acid will cause effervescence, and  the solution
obtained will give a  precipitate  with carbonate of ammonia.  If it contain
phosphate of lime, the acid will dissolve the salt and yield it as a precipitate
on the addition of ammonia. The Edinburgh College directs animal charcoal
to be tested by incinerating it with its volume of red oxide of mercury; when,
if good, it will be dissipated with the .exception of a scanty ash.
   Pharmaceutical Uses.  As a  decolorizing  agent in  preparing Aconitina,
Lond.;  Morphias Hydrochloras, Bond., Ed.;  Quinas Sulphas, Ed., Lond.;
Strychnia, U.S.; Veratria,  U. S., Lond.                            B.


                      CATAPLASMATA.

                            Cataplasms.

   Cataplasms or poultices  are moist substances  intended for external appli-
cation, of such a consistence as to accommodate themselves accurately to the
surface to which they are  applied, without being so liquid as to  spread over
the neighbouring parts, or so tenacious as to  adhere firmly to the skin.  As 
 part ii.                    Cataplasmata.                         883

 they are in this  country scarcely ever prepared by  the apothecary, they
 were  hot deemed by the compilers of the United States Pharmacopoeia pro-
 per objects for officinal direction.                                   W.
   CATAPLASMA  ALUMINIS. Dub.   Alum  Cataplasm.
   " Take the Whites  of two Eggs ;  of Alum a drachm.   Shake them to-
 gether so as to make a coagulum." Dub.
   A common mode of preparing  the alum  poultice is to  rub the whites of
 eggs briskly in a saucer with a lump of alum till the liquid coagulates.  The
 curd produced by coagulating milk with alum is sometimes used as a substi-
 tute.
   The alum cataplasm is an astringent application, occasionally employed
 in incipient, purulent, or chronic ophthalmia.   It is placed over the eye en-
 closed between folds of cambric or soft linen.   It is also esteemed useful in
 chilblains when the skin is not broken.                             W.
   CATAPLASMA  CARBONIS LIGNI.  Dub.   Charcoal  Cata-
plasm.
   " Take a sufficient quantity of  Wood Charcoal red hot from the fire, and
 having extinguished it by sprinkling dry  sand over it, reduce it to  very fine
 powder,  and incorporate it with  the Simple  Cataplasm in a tepid  state."
 Dub.
   Charcoal, recently prepared, has the  property of absorbing those  princi-
 ples upon which the offensive odour of putrefying animal substances depends.
 In the form of poultice it is an excellent application to foul and gangrenous
 ulcers, correcting their fetor, and  improving the  condition of the sore.   It
 should be frequently renewed.                                     W.
   CATAPLASMA CONII. Lond., Dub.   Hemlock Cataplasm.
   "Take of Extract of Hemlock two ounces; Water a pint [Imperial mea-
 sure].  Mix, and add of bruised Flaxseed sufficient to produce a proper con-
 sistence." Lond.
   " Take of Dried Hemlock  Leaves an ounce ;  Water a pint and a half.
 Boil down to a pint, and having strained the  liquor, add as  much of the pow-
 dered leaves as may be sufficient to form a.cataplasm." Dub.
   This cataplasm  may be advantageously employed as an anodyne appli-
cation to cancerous, scrofulous, syphilitic, and  other painful  ulcers : but its
liability to produce narcotic effects, in consequence of the  absorption of the *
active principle of the hemlock, should not be overlooked.          W.
   CATAPLASMA DAUCI. Dub.  Carrot  Cataplasm.
  " Take of the root of the cultivated Carrot any quantity.   Boil the root
in water until it becomes sufficiently soft to form a cataplasm." Dub.
  Emollient poultices may be prepared from any of the tender culinary roots,
from turnips and potatoes  as well as carrots, by boiling them, removing the
skin, and mashing them into a soft pulp, which may be rendered uniform by
pressing it through a coarse sieve or colander.   But these poultices possess
no specific power, and act on the same principle with those made with bread
and milk, and flaxseed meal.
  The carrot cataplasm, when designed to  produce a peculiar impression,
should be made by grating the fresh roots.  Thus  prepared, it  is slightly
stimulating, and is useful in weak, flabby, ill-conditioned, and offensive ulcers.
By boiling, the stimulant property is diminished, if not lost;  and the carrot
becomes a mild and nutritive article of food.                         W. 
884
Cataplasmata.
PART II.
  CATAPLASMA FERMENTI. Lond.  Cataplasma Fermenti
Cerevising.  Dub.  Yeast Cataplasm.
  " Take of Flour [wheat flour] a pound;  Yeast half a pint [half a pound,
Dub.~\. Mix and expose the mixture to a gentle heat until it begins to rise."
Lond., Dub.
  By exposing a  mixture  of yeast and flour to a gentle heat, fermentation
takes place, and carbonic acid gas is extricated,  which causes the mixture to
swell and is the source of its peculiar virtues. The yeast cataplasm is gently
stimulant, and is sometimes applied with much benefit to foul and gangrenous
ulcers, the fetor of which  it corrects, while it is supposed to hasten the
separation of  the slough.                                          W.
  CATAPLASMA LINI. Lond.  Flaxseed Cataplasm.
  "Take of boiling Water a pint; Flaxseed,  powdered, sufficient  to pro-
duce a proper consistence.   Mix them." Lond.
  CATAPLASMA SIMPLEX. Dub.  Simple Cataplasm.
  "Take of the  Powder  for a Cataplasm any  quantity;  Boiling Water
sufficient to form a tepid cataplasm, the surface of which should be covered
with olive oil." Dub.
  The Dublin " Powder for a Cataplasm," consists of one part of flaxseed
meal remaining after the expression of the oil, and  two parts of  oat meal.
Flaxseed meal which has  not been submitted  to pressure is decidedly pre-
ferable, and answers  an excellent  purpose  when  mixed with boiling water,
without  other addition, as  in the London flaxseed cataplasm.  Fresh lard or
olive oil, spread upon the surface of the poultice, serves to prevent its adhe-
sion to the skin, and  to preserve its softness.
  The use of this and  other emollient cataplasms  is to relieve  the tense
condition of the vessels in inflammation, and to promote suppuration.  They
act simply by their warmth and moisture.   The one most extensively em-
ployed, perhaps because its materials are always at hand, is that prepared by
heating together milk and the  crumb of bread.  The milk should be quite
sweet, and fresh lard should be incorporated with the poultice.  Mush made
with  the meal  of Indian corn also  forms an excellent  emollient  cataplasm.
                                                                W.
   CATAPLASMA SINAPIS.  Lond., Dub. Mustard  Cataplasm.
   "Take of Flaxseed, Mustard [seed], each, in powder,  half a pound;
boiling Vinegar, sufficient to produce the consistence of a cataplasm." Lond.
   The Dublin College orders  the same seeds in the same proportion, and
states that the cataplasm  may be made more stimulating by the addition of
two ounces of scraped horse-radish.
   The simplest and most effectual  mode of preparing a mustard poultice, is
to mix the powdered  mustard of the shops  with a sufficient quantity of
warm water to give it a  due consistence.   When a weaker preparation is
required, an equal portion or more of rye or wheat flour should  be added.
Vinegar  never increases its efficiency, and, in the case of the black mustard
seed, has been ascertained by  MM. Trousseau  and Blanc to diminish its
rubefacient power.   A boiling  temperature is also  injurious by interfering
with the development of the volatile oil or acrid principle. (See Sinapis.)
   These poultices are frequently called sinapisms.  They are powerfully
rubefacient, exciting  a sense of warmth in a few minutes, and usually be-
coming insupportably painful in less than an  hour.  When removed,  they
leave the  surface intensely red and  burning; and the  inflammation fre-
quently  terminates in desquamation, or even blistering,  if the application has
been too long continued. Obstinate ulcers and gangrene also sometimes result 
 part ii.               Cataplasmata.— Cerata.                    885

 from the protracted action of mustard, especially on parts possessed of little
 vitality.  As a general rule, the poultice should be removed when the patient
 complains much of the pain;  and in cases of insensibility should not, unless
 greatly diluted, be allowed to remain longer than one, or at most two hours ;
 as violent inflammation, followed by obstinate ulceration, is apt to occur upon
 the establishment of reaction  in the system.   In  children also particular care
 is necessary to avoid this result.  The poultice should be thickly spread on
 linen, and may be covered with gauze  or unsized paper in order to prevent
 its adhesion to the skin.  If hairs are present  they should be  removed by the
 razor.   Sinapisms  may be employed in all cases in which it is desirable to
 produce a speedy and powerful rubefacient impression.               W.


                             CERATA.

                               Cerates.

   These are unctuous substances consisting  of oil or lard, mixed with wax,
 spermaceti, or resin, to which various medicaments  are frequently added.
 Their consistence, which is  intermediate  between that of ointments and of
 plasters, is such that they may  be  spread  at ordinary .temperatures upon
 linen or leather, by means of a spatula, and do not melt or run  when applied
 to the skin.  In preparing them, care should usually be taken to select the
 oil or lard perfectly free from rancidity. The liquefaction should be effected
 by a  very gentle heat, which  may be applied by means of a water-bath ; and
 during the refrigeration  the mixture should be well agitated, and the portions
 which solidify on the sides of the vessel should be made to  mix  again with
 the liquid portion, until the whole assumes the proper  consistence.   When
 a large 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.                                                           W.
   CERATUM CANTHARIDIS.* U.S.   Emplastrum Canthari-
 dis, Lond., Ed.,  Dub.  Emplastrum Epispasticum.   Cerate of
 Spanish Flies.  Blistering Plaster.
   " Take  of Spanish Flies, in very fine powder, a  pound ;  Yellow Wax,
 Resin, Lard, each, eight ounces.  To the Wax, Resin, and Lard, previously
 melted together, add the Spanish Flies, and stir the mixture constantly until
 cool." U.S.
   The London College orders a pound of Spanish flies, a pound and a half
 of wax plaster, and half a pound of lard ; the Edinburgh, two ounces,  each,
 of flies, resin, yellow wax, and suet; and the Dublin, a pound of flies, a
pound of yellow wax, four ounces of yellow resin, half a pound of suet, and
 half a pound of lard.
   This is the common blistering plaster of the shops.   As it can be readily
 spread without the aid of heat, it is properly a cerate, and is therefore correctly
 named in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  Though essentially the same in character
 as prepared by the different processes, it varies somewhat in strength.  The
 U. S. and London preparations  have the same proportion of  flies,  but are
stronger  than those of the Edinburgh and Dublin  Colleges.   One of the two
former, therefore, is preferable, and our own has  this advantage, that it does
not require the previous preparation  of the wax  plaster.  Care has usually
been considered requisite, in making the cerate, not to injure the flies by heat.

  * This is a different preparation from the London  Ceratum Cantharidis.   For an ac-
count of this see Unguentum Cantharidis, Dub. 
886
Cerata.
part ii.
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  experiments of Mr. Donovan
(Dublin  Med. Press, Aug.,  1840), and those of Mr. Wm. Procter (Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 302), it may be inferred that the vesicating principle
of Spanish flies is not injured or dissipated by a heat under 300° F., and that
an elevated temperature,  instead of being  hurtful, is  positively  advantageous
in the preparation of the blistering  cerate.  The cantharidin  is thus more
thoroughly dissolved by the oleaginous, matter, and consequently brought
more efficiently into contact with the skin, than when retained in the interior
of the tissue of the fly.   Another advantage, stated  by Donovan is, that the
moisture which usually exists to a certain extent in all the ingredients of the
cerate is thus dissipated, and the  preparation is less apt to become mouldy,
or otherwise to undergo decomposition.  Instead, therefore, of waiting until
the melted wax, resin, and lard begin to stiffen, it is better to add the powder
before the vessel is removed from  the fire.   Mr. Donovan  recommends that
as soon as the other ingredients are melted, the powered flies should be added,
and the mixture  stirred  until the heat is  shown by a thermometer to have
risen to 250°, when the vessel is to be removed from the fire, and the mixture
stirred constantly until cool.  At the heat mentioned, ebullition takes place in
consequence of the escape of the moisture contained in the materials.  In
the cerate thus prepared  the active matter  has been dissolved by the lard, and
the powder may be separated, if deemed  advisable,  by straining the mixture
before it solidifies.  Care should be taken  that the temperature be not so high
as to decompose the ingredients ; and it would be better to keep it within 212°
by means of a water-bath, than to incur any risk from its excess.   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.)   It  is desirable also  that the  flies
should be very finely pulverized.   Powdered euphorbium is said to be some-
times fraudulently substituted for a portion of the flies.
   The cerate is the most convenient form  in which cantharides can be applied
for the purpose of raising a blister; and it is always effectual in  ordinary con-
ditions 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 wilt answer
the purpose when this 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 plas-
ter, 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.  It is customary with some to sprinkle
powdered flies upon the surface of the plaster, press tbem lightly with a roller,
and then shake off the portion which has not adhered; but, if the flies origin-
ally employed were good, this addition is superfluous.
   Upon the  application of the plaster, the  skin  should be  moistened with
warm vinegar or other liquid ; and a good rule is to cover the surface of the
plaster closely with very thin gauze or unsized paper, which prevents any
of the cerate from adhering to the cuticle, and is thought by some to di-
minish its liability to occasion  strangury.   In  the cases of adults, when the
full  action of the flies is desired, and the object is  to produce a permanent
effect, the application should be continued for twelve hours, and  on the
scalp for twenty-four hours.   In very delicate persons, however, or those
subject to strangury, or  upon parts of a loose texture, or when the object is
merely to produce  a blister  to  be healed as quickly as possible, the plaster
should remain no longer than is necessary for the production of full redness 
PART II.
Cerata.
887
 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 often or twelve hours should, if pos-
 sible, be allowed between the shaving of the part and the application of the
 plaster; so that the abrasions may heal, and some impediment be offered to
 the absorption of the active principle of the flies.  After the blister has been
 formed, it should  be opened at  the  most depending  parts, and, the cuticle
 being allowed to remain, should be dressed with simple cerate;  but, if it be
 desirable to maintain the discharge  for a short  time, resin cerate should be
 used,  and the cuticle  removed, if it can  be done without inconvenience.
 The effects of an issue may be  obtained by employing 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 indisposition to heal, we have
 found nothing so effectual as the cerate of subacetate of lead, diluted with an
 equal weight of simple cerate.   When deep and extensive ulceration occurs
 in consequence of general debility, bark or sulphate of quinia should be  used,
 with nutritious aliment.
   Various preparations of cantharides have been proposed and employed as
 substitutes for  the cerate.   They consist for the  most part of  cantharidin,
 more or less pure, either dissolved in olive oil and applied to  the skin by
 means of a piece of paper saturated with it, or incorporated with wax and
 spread in a very thin layer upon fine waxed cloth, siik, or paper,  constituting
 the blistering cloth, blistering paper, vesicating taffetas, &c, of the shops.
 The advantages of these preparations  are  that they occupy less space, are
 more  portable, and, being very pliable,  are more  easily adapted to  irregu-
 larities  of  the surface.   Absolutely pure cantharidin  is expensive and not
 requisite;  as the extract of cantharides made with ether or boiling alcohol
 will answer every purpose.  Henry and Guibourt give  the following formula.
 Digest powdered cantharides in  sulphuric ether, distil off  the ether, evapo-
 rate 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 strong decoction of the flies in  olive oil or oil of turpen-
 tine, applied by means of paper, would  probably answer a similar purpose
 with these  more elaborate preparations.   But none of them is likely to super-
 sede the officinal cerate.   For very  speedy vesication, an infusion  of  the
 flies in strong acetic acid is sometimes employed.  (See Acetum Cantharidis.)
   It is said that the flies, by ebullition with  water, are deprived of their pro-

  * Dr. M. B. Smith, of Philadelphia, informed us that he had frequently employed  uva
 ursi as a preventive of strangury  from blisters,  and had never found it to fail.  He gave
a small wineglassful of the officinal decoction (sre Decoctum Uva  Ursi) every hour,
commencing two hours after the application of the blister. 
888
Cerata.
PART II.
 perty of producing strangury, while their vesicating powers  remain  unal-
 tered.  (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.   He boiled the unpowdered flies for fifteen minutes, esteeming a
 shorter time insufficient to deprive them of this property, while, if the boiling
 be continued  much longer, their blistering power is impaired.  (Journ. of
 the Phil. Col. of Pharm. iv. 185.)  In a letter addressed to one of the authors
 by Dr. James Couper, of Newcastle, Delaware, a similar method of preparing
 the flies is recommended as an expedient against  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.
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Picis cum Cantharide, U. S., Dub.       W.
   CERATUM  CETACEI. U.S., Lond.  Ceratum Simplex. Ed.
 Unguentum Cetacei. Dub.   Spermaceti Cerate.
   " Take of Spermaceti an ounce;  White Wax three ounces;  Olive Oil six
fluidounces.   Melt together the Spermaceti and Wax; then add the Oil pre-
 viously heated, and stir the mixture until cool." U. S.
   The London College directs two ounces of spermaceti, eight ounces of
 white wax, and a pint [Imp. meas.] of olive oil; the Edinburgh, six parts
 of olive oil, three parts of white wax, and one part of spermaceti; the Dublin,
 half a pound of white wax, a pound of spermaceti, and three pounds of lard.
   The direction to heat the oil  before adding it to the  other ingredients is
 peculiar to the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias.   If  added  cold, it is
 apt to produce an irregular congelation of  the wax and spermaceti, and thus
 to render the preparation lumpy.   This cerate is employed  as a dressing for
 blisters, excoriated surfaces, and  wounds;  and as the basis of more active
 preparations.  When the ingredients are pure and sweet, it is perfectly free
 from irritating properties.
   Off. Prep. Ceratum Cantharidis, Lond.; Ceratum Calaminae, Ed. W.
   CERATUM  HYDRARGYRI  COMPOSITUM.  Lond.   Com-
pound Cerate of Mercury.
   " Take of Strong  Mercurial Ointment, Soap Cerate,  each, four ounces;
 Camphor an ounce.  Rub them together until they are incorporated." Lond.
   This cerate is used as a discutient application to indolent  tumours.  W.
   CERATUM PLUMBI SUBACETATIS. U.S.  Ceratum Plum-
 bi 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 Wax, previously melted, with eight fluidounces  of the
 Oil;  then remove the mixture from the  fire, and,  when it begins to thicken,
 gradually pour  in  the Solution of Subacetate of Lead, stirring constantly
 with a wooden spatula till it becomes cool.  Lastly, add  the Camphor dis-
 solved in the remainder of the Oil and mix." U. S.
   The above process is that of the former London Pharmacopoeia.  In the
last edition of that work, three  fluidounces of the  solution of subacetate of
lead, and half a pint of olive oil,  having been substituted  for the  quantities
before  employed, the process  remaining in other respects  unaltered.  But
 when it is  considered that the  London  College  now employs  the Imperial
instead of the wine measure, the change will be seen to be less than it might
otherwise appear. 
PART II.
Cerata.
889
   This  preparation received the name by which  it is  commonly known
 from M. Goulard, by whom it was  employed and recommended.   It  is
 used to dry up excoriations, to relieve the inflammation of burns, scalds, and
 chilblains, and to remove cutaneous eruptions.  We have found it  more
 effectual than any other application to  blistered surfaces indisposed to  heal;
 and, on  the recommendation of  the late Dr. Parrish, have used it in the fol-
 lowing 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 favourite remedy with the late Dr.
 Wistar in similar complaints.                                     W.
   CERATUM  RESINS.  U.S., Lond.   Unguentum Resinosum.
 Ed. Unguentum Resins Alb.k.  Dub.   Resin Cerate.  Basilicon
 Ointment.
   "Take  of Resin five  ounces;  Lard  eight ounces;  Yellow Wax two
 ounces.  Melt them together, strain through linen, and stir them  constantly
 until cool."  U. S.
   The proportions directed by the Edinburgh College are the same as the
 above.   The London College orders of resin  and wax, each a pound, and
 of olive oil sixteen fluidounces.  The resin  and wax are melted together
 over a slow fire, the  oil then  added, and the mixture while hot strained
 through  linen.  By the Dublin process, four pounds of lard, two pounds
 of white resin, and one pound of yellow wax are  made into an  ointment,
 and  strained while hot through a sieve.
   The straining is directed in consequence of the  impurities which  resin
 often contains.   Resin  cerate, commonly called basilicon  ointment, is much
 used as a gently stimulant application  to blistered surfaces, indolent ulcers,
 burns, scalds, and chilblains.  We have found no application more effectual
 in disposing the ulcers  which follow burns to heal.
   Off. Prep. Ceratum  Sabinas,   U. S.; Linimentum Terebinthinae, U. S.,
 Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Cantharidis, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum
 Cupri Subacetatis, Dub., Ed.                                    W.
   CERATUM   RESINS   COMPOSITUM.   U.S.   Compound
 Resin Cerate.
   "  Take of Resin, Suet, Yellow Wax, each  a pound;  Turpentine half a
pound; Flaxseed Oil half a pint. Melt them together, strain through 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 Deshlcr's  salve, it is popularly employed in some parts of the
 United States.                                                  W.
   CERATUM SABINE. U.S., Lond., Ed. Unguentum Sabinje.
 Dub.  Savine  Cerate.
  " Take of Savine, in  powder,  two ounces ;  Resin  Cerate a pound.  Mix
 the Savine with the Cerate previously softened." U.S.
  The London College orders one pound of  fresh  savine, bruised, to be
mixed with half a pound of wax  and two pounds of lard previously melted
together, and  the  whole to be strained through linen.   The Edinburgh
College directs the  same ingredients, in  the same proportions, to be  boiled
together till  the leaves  become  friable, and then strained.  The Dublin
College employs only  half a pound of the leaves,  which it directs to be
    76 
890
Cerata.
PART II.
 boiled in the lard  till they become crisp.  The lard is  then to be strained
 with expression, the wax added, and the whole melted together.
   As the savine used in this country is generally brought from Europe in
 the dried state, we are  compelled to  resort to the  mode  of preparing  the
 cerate directed  in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  Nor have we found the pre-
 paration 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 (Juni-
perus  Virginiana) is  sometimes  substituted for that of savine, but is less
 efficient.
   Prepared according  to the processes  of the British Colleges, savine cerate
 has a fine deep-green colour, and the odour of the leaves.   It should be kept
in closely covered vessels, as its virtues are impaired by exposure.
   Savine cerate is preferable to the ointment of Spanish flies as a dressing
for perpetual blisters, from the circumstance that it  has no tendency to pro-
duce strangury.  The white coating which forms during  its  use upon the
blistered surface should be occasionally removed, as it prevents the  contact
of the cerate.  It is sometimes applied to seton cords, with the  view  of
increasing the discharge.                                          W.
   CERATUM SAPONIS.  U.S., Lond.  Soap Cerate.
   " Take of Solution of Subacetate of Lead two pints; Soap six ounces;
White Wax ten ounces;  Olive Oil a pint.   Boil the Solution of  Subacetate
of Lead with the Soap, over a slow fire, to the consistence of honey;  then
transfer to a water-bath and evaporate  until all the moisture is dissipated;
lastly add the Wax previously melted with the Oil, and mix."  U. S.
   "Take of Soap ten  ounces; Wax twelve ounces and a half; Oxide  of
Lead [litharge], in powder, fifteen ounces ; Olive Oil a pint [Imperial mea-
sure];  Vinegar a gallon  [Imp. meas].   Boil the Vinegar with the Oxide of
Lead, over a slow fire,  constantly stirring until  they unite;  then  add the
Soap, and again boil in a similar manner,until all the moisture is dissipated;
lastly, with these mix the Wax previously  dissolved in the Oil."  Lond.
   The present  U.S. formula is that of Mr. Durand, given  in  the American
Journal of Pharmacy (vol. 8, p. 27), and was substituted, in the last edition
of the Pharmacopoeia,  for the London formula, which had been  adopted in
the previous editions.  It has the  advantages of  being more precise in the
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 of lead  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 the Emplastrum Plumbi.   The wax and oil subsequently added
merely serve to  give due consistence  to the preparation.   Soap cerate  is
thought to  be  cooling  and sedative ; and is sometimes  used in  scrofulous
swellings and  other  instances of  chronic external inflammations.   It was
formerly employed  by  Mr. Pott  as  a dressing  for  fractured limbs;  but
answers  no other purpose in these  cases than to yield mechanical support.
   Off. Prep. Ceratum  Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond.             W. 
PART II.
Cerata.—Confectiones.
891
   CERATUM SIMPLEX.  U.S.   Ceratum. Lond.  Simple  Ce-
 rate.
   " Take of Lard eight ounces;  White Wax four ounces.  Melt them toge-
 ther, and stir them constantly until cool." U. S.
   The London College directs that four fluidounces of olive oil be  mixed
 with four ounces of wax previously melted.
   We prefer the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  Lard is preferable to
 olive oil, as it may always  be had perfectly sweet, and is the mildest appli-
 cation which can be made to  irritated surfaces.  In the preparation of this
 cerate, peculiar care should be taken that the oleaginous ingredient be entirely
 free from rancidity, and that the  heat employed be not sufficient to produce
 the slightest decomposition; for the value of the  preparation depends on its
 perfect blandness. It is used for dressing blisters, wounds, &c,  in all cases
 in which the object is to exclude the external air and preserve the moisture
 of the part, and  at the same time to avoid all irritation.   It is sometimes
 improperly employed as the vehicle of substances to be applied by inunction.
 For this purpose lard should be used  in winter, and  simple  ointment in
 summer; the cerate having too firm a consistence.                  W.
   CERATUM ZINCI  CARBONATIS.  U.S. Ceratum  Calami-
 ne.  Lond., Ed.  Unguentum Calamine. Dub.  Cerate of Car-
 bonate  of Zinc.  Cerate of Calamine.  Turner's Cerate.
   " Take of Prepared Carbonate of Zinc, Yellow Wax, each, half a pound;
 Lard two pounds.  Melt the Wax and Lard together, and, when upon cool-
 ing they begin to thicken, add the Carbonate of Zinc, and  stir the mixture
 constantly until cool."  U. S.
   The London College orders half a pound of [prepared]  calamine, half a
 pound of wax, and sixteen fluidounces of olive oil; the Edinburgh, one part
 of prepared calamine,  and five parts of simple cerate [Ceratum Cetacei,
 U. S.~] ;  the Dublin, one pound of calamine, and five pounds of  ointment of
 yellow wax.
   This cerate is an imitation of that recommended by Turner.   It is mildly
 astringent, and is much  used in excoriations  and superficial  ulcerations,
 produced by  the  chafing of the skin, irritating secretions, burns, or other
 causes.                                                         W.

               CONFECTIONES.  U.S., Lond.

                            Confections.
   Confectiones; Conserve; Electuaria. Dub. Conserves and
 Electuaries., Ed.
   Under the general title of Confections, the Pharmacopoeias of the United
 States  and of London include all those  preparations having the form of a
 soft solid, in which one or more medicinal substances are incorporated with
 saccharine  matter, with a view either  to their preservation or more conve-
 nient  administration.   The  Edinburgh College retains the old division into
 Conserves and Electuaries;  and, as there is some ground for the distinction,
 we shall make a few general remarks upon each division, before  proceeding
 to the consideration of the individual preparations.
  Conserves consist of recent vegetable substances and refined sugar beat
into a uniform  mass.   By means  of the  sugar, the vegetable matter is ena-
bled to resist for  some time  the decomposition to  which it would otherwise
be exposed in the undried state, and the  properties of the recent plant  are
thus  retained to a certain extent unaltered.  But as active  medicines even 
892
Confectiones.
PART II.
thus treated undergo some change, and  those  which lose their virtues by
desiccation cannot be long  preserved, the few conserves now  retained  are
intended rather as convenient vehicles of other  substances than for separate
exhibition.  The sugar used in their preparation should be reduced to a fine
powder by pounding and sifting, as  otherwise it will not mix uniformly with
the other ingredient.
  Electuaries  are mixtures  consisting of medicinal substances, especially
dry powders, combined with syrup or  honey, in order to render them less
unpleasant to the taste, and more  convenient for internal use.   They  are
usually prepared extemporaneously;  and it is only  when their complex
nature renders it convenient to keep them ready made in the shops, or some
peculiarity in the mode of mixing  the ingredients  requires  attention, that
they become proper objects for pharmaceutic direction.  Their  consistence
should not be so  soft, on the one hand, as to allow the  ingredients to sepa-
rate, nor  so firm, on  the other, as  to  prevent them from  being swallowed
without mastication.    Different substances require  different  proportions
of syrup.  Light vegetable powders usually require  twice their  weight,
gum-resins two-thirds of their weight, resins somewhat less, mineral sub-
stances 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 con-
trary, become dry and hard from  the mutual  reaction  of its  constituents,
more syrup should be added, so as  to give it the requisite consistence.   If
the dryness result from the mere  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 of syrup  prepared  from brown  sugar, which  is less
apt to crystallize than that made from the  refined.   Molasses would answer
the same  purpose; but its taste might be considered objectionable.   Some
persons employ honey, but this is not always acceptable to the stomach.
                                                                W.
   CONFECTIO AMYGDALAE. Lond. Conserva Amygdalarum.
Ed.  Confectio Amygdalarum. Dub.   Almond Confection.
   "Take of  Sweet Almonds eight ounces; Gum Arabic, in powder, an
ounce; Sugar four ounces.  Having macerated the Almonds in cold water,
and deprived them of their external  coat,  beat all the ingredients together till
they are  thoroughly incorporated.  The confection may be  kept longer, if
the Almonds, Gum Arabic, and Sugar, separately  rubbed, should be after-
wards mixed.  Then, whenever the confection is to be used, beat the  whole
together until incorporated." Lond.
  The directions of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges are essentially the
same as the above, except that these Colleges do not admit the alternative of
having the ingredients separately rubbed, and afterwards mixed.
  This preparation was adopted as  affording a speedy method of preparing
the almond  mixture, which when made immediately  from  the Almonds
requires much time, and which cannot be kept ready made in the shops.
But, from  its liability to be injured by keeping, it has been omitted in the last
edition of our Pharmacopoeia, which directs the almond mixture to be made
immediately from the ingredients. (See Mistura Amygdalae.)        W.
   CONFECTIO AROMATICA. U. S., Lond., Dub. Electuarium
Aromaticum. Ed.  Aromatic Confection.
  " Take of Aromatic  Vow&ex five ounces and a half; Saffron, in powder, 
 part ii.                    Confectiones.                        893

 half an ounce;  Syrup of Orange Peel six ounces; Clarified  Honey two
 ounces.  Rub the Aromatic Powder with  the Saffron; then add the Syrup
 and Honey, and beat them together until thoroughly mixed."  U. S.
   "Take of Cinnamon,  Nutmegs, each,  two ounces; Cloves an ounce;
 Cardamom ha/fan ounce; Saffron  two ounces; Prepared Chalk sixteen
 ounces ; Sugar two pounds.  Rub the dry ingredients together to a very fine
 powder, and keep them in a closed vessel.  But when the confection is to
 be used,  add  water gradually,  and mix  till a thorough incorporation is
 effected." Lond.
   The Dublin formula corresponds with that of the former London  Phar-
 macopoeia, which directed the same  ingredients as in the present formula,
 but added a pint of water to the dry materials, and incorporated the whole
 together  at one  time.  The Edinburgh College directs one part of their
 aromatic powder, and two parts of syrup  of orange peel, to be mixed, and
 triturated  into a uniform pulp.
   The preparation of the United States  Pharmacopoeia contains cinnamon,
 ginger,  cardamom, and nutmeg, without carbonate of  lime, which appears
 to us to be an unnecessary if not improper ingredient; as  it is not always
 indicated in cases which call for the use of the confection, and may be added
 extemporaneously when  required.  The aromatic confection affords a con-
 venient method of administering the spices which enter into its composition,
 and an agreeable vehicle for other medicines.  It is given in  debilitated states
 of the stomach, alone or  as an adjuvant to other substances.  The dose is
 from ten to sixty grains.
   Off.Prep.  Pilulas Digitalis et Scillae. Ed.                      W.
   CONFECTIO  AURANTII CORTICIS.  U.S.  Confectio  Au-
 rantii.  Lond.  Conserva Aurantii. Ed.   Confection of Orange
 Peel.
   " Take of Fresh Orange  Peel, separated  from the fruit by grating, a
pound; Sugar [refined] three pounds.  Beat the Orange Peel with the Sugar
gradually added,  till they  are thoroughly mixed." U. S.
   The directions of the 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  CASSUE. Lond.  Electuarium  Cassie. Dub.
Confection of Cassia.
   " Take  of Cassia [pulp]  half a pound; Manna two ounces; Tamarind
[pulp] an ounce; Syrup of Roses eight fluidounces.  Bruise  the  Manna,
and dissolve it in the Syrup; then mix in the Cassia and Tamarind [pulps],
and evaporate to a proper  consistence." Lond.
   The formula of the Dublin College corresponds with that of the London,
except that syrup of orange peel is substituted for the syrup of roses.
   The confection of cassia is slightly laxative; but is seldom  if ever prepared
in this  country, and might very properly be expunged from  the catalogue of
Preparations, as it is both  feeble and expensive.                    W.
   ELECTUARIUM CATECHU. Ed.   Electuarium  Catechu
Compositum. Dub.  Electuary of Catechu.
   " Take  of Catechu and  Kino,  of each, four ounces;  Cinnamon and Nut-
meg, of each, one ounce; Opium, diffused in a little Sherry, one drachm and
                                76* 
894
Confectiones.
PART II.
a half; Syrup of Red Roses, reduced to the consistence of honey, one pint
and a half [Imperial  measure].  Pulverize the solids, mix the opium and
syrup, then the powders, and beat  them thoroughly into a uniform mass."
Ed.
   " Take of Catechu/owr ounces; Cinnamon Bark two ounces; Kino three
ounces. Rub these to powder, and add of Turkey Opium, diffused in Spanish
White Wine, a drachm and a half; Syrup of Ginger, evaporated to the con-
sistence of honey, two pounds and a quarter.  Mix them." Dub.
   These preparations do not essentially differ.  They are aromatic and  as-
tringent, containing one grain of opium in about two hundred grains of  the
mass; and may be advantageously given in diarrhoea and chronic dysentery,
in the dose of half a drachm or a drachm more or less frequently repeated.
They may be taken in the form  of bolus, or diffused in water.        W.
   CONFECTIO  OPII.  U.S.,  Lond., Dub.   Electuarium Opii.
Ed.   Confection of Opium.
   " Take of Opium, in powder, four drachms and a half; Aromatic Pow-
der  six ounces;  Clarified Honey fourteen ounces.  Rub the  Opium with
the  Aromatic Powder;  then add the Honey, and beat them together until
thoroughly mixed." U. S.
   "Take of Opium,  in  powder, six drachms;  Long  Pepper an ounce;
Ginger two ounces;  Caraway three ounces;  Tragacanth, in powder, two
drachms;  Syrup sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure].  Rub them  to-
gether to a very fine powder, and keep them in a covered vessel.  But when
the Confection is  to be used, add sixteen fluidounces of Syrup previously
heated, and mix." Lond.
   The Dublin College, takes  the same dry materials, and in the same quan-
tities as the London; but first rubs the opium with a pound of heated syrup,
and  then mixes with these the remaining articles reduced to powder.
   "  Take of Aromatic Powder, six ounces; Senega, in  fine powder, three
ounces ; Opium, diffused in a little Sherry, half an ounce ; Syrup of Ginger
a pound.   Mix them  together, and  beat them into an electuary." Ed.
   This confection was intended as a substitute for those exceedingly com-
plex and unscientific preparations which were formerly known by the names
of theriaca and mithridate,  and which have been expelled from  modem
pharmacy.  The  seneka,  directed in the last edition of the Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeia, was probably put inadvertently for serpentaria, directed in the  old
Latin edition.  The former medicine has no property which adapts it to this
position.  The preparation is a combination  of opium  with spices, which
render it more stimulant, and more grateful to a debilitated stomach.  It is
given  in atonic gout, flatulent colic,  diarrhoea unattended with inflammation,
and  in various  other  diseases requiring the  use  of a  stimulant  narcotic.
Added to Peruvian bark or sulphate of quinia, it increases considerably  the
efficacy of this remedy in  obstinate cases of intermittent fever.   One grain
of opium  is contained in  about thirty-six grains  of the U. S.  and London
confections, in twenty-five grains of the Dublin,  and in forty-three of  the
Edinburgh.                                                    W.
   CONFECTIO PIPERIS  NIGRI.  Lond., Dub.  Electuarium
Piperis. Ed.   Confection of Black Pepper.
   "Take of Black Pepper,  Elecampane, each, a  pound;  Fennel  [seeds]
three pounds;  Honey, Sugar [refined], each, two pounds.   Rub the dry
ingredients together into a very fine powder, and  keep  them  in  a covered
vessel.  But whenever the confection is to be used, add the Honey, and beat
them until thoroughly incorporated." Lond. 
PART II.
Confectiones.
895
   The Dublin College  takes the same materials, in the same proportions,
 and in like manner reduces them to powder; but completes the process by
 immediately  incorporating  the honey  with the  other  ingredients.  The
 Edinburgh process agrees with the Dublin, except in substituting powdered
 liquorice root for elecampane.
   This preparation was intended as a  substitute for  Ward's paste, which
 acquired 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 re-
 peated two or three times a day.  Its stimulating properties render  it inap-
 plicable to cases attended with  much inflammation.                 W.
   CONFECTIO  ROS^. U.S. Confectio  Rose Gallice. Lond.
 Conserva Rose. Ed., Dub. Confection of Roses.  Conserve of Hoses.
   " Take of Red Roses, in powder, four ounces ; Sugar [refined], in pow-
 der, thirty ounces; Clarified Honey six ounces; Rose Water eight fluid-
 ounces.  Rub the Roses with the Rose Water at a boiling heat; then add
 gradually the Sugar and Honey, and beat them  together°until thoroughly
 mixed." U. S.                                 °                &  '
   " Take  of Red  Roses  [fresh] a pound; Sugar [refined] three pounds.
 Beat the Rose petals in a marble mortar; then add the Sugar, and beat again
 until they are incorporated." Lond.
   The Dublin process is the  same as the  London.  The Edinburgh  Col-
 lege directs the petals to be beaten into a pulp with the gradual addition of
 twice their weight of white sugar.
   In the British processes,  the  unblown  petals  only are used,  and these
 should be deprived of their claws;  in other words, the rose buds should be
 cut  off a short distance above their base, and the lower portion rejected.
 In the last  edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, dried roses were substituted
 for the fresh, as the latter are  not brought to our market.  The process is
 very similar to that of the French Codex.
   This confection  is slightly astringent, but is almost  exclusively  used as a
 vehicle of other medicines, or to impart consistence to the pilular mass. The
 Edinburgh College  employs it in most of their officinal pills.
   Off.Prep.  Pilulas Hydrargyri,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.          W.
   CONFECTIO ROS.E CANINiE. Lond.  Conserva Rose Fruc-
 tus.  Ed.  Confection of the Dog-rose.
   " Take of Dog-rose [pulp] a pound;  Sugar [refined], in powder, twenty
 ounces.  Expose the Pulp to a gentle heat in an  earthen vessel;  then add
 the Sugar gradually, and rub them together until they are thoroughly mixed."
 Lond.
   "Take any convenient quantity of hips, carefully deprived of their car-
 pels, beat them to a fine pulp, adding gradually thrice their weight of white
 Sugar." Ed.
   This preparation is acidulous and refrigerant, and is used in Europe for
 forming more active medicines  into pills and electuaries.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Hydrargyri Iodidi. Lond.                      W.
   CONFECTIO RUT,E. Lond.  Conserva Rute. Dub.   Confec-
 tion  of Rue.
   " Take  of  dried  Rue, Caraway, Laurel Berries, each, an ounce and a
half; Sagapenum half an ounce; Black Pepper two drachms; Honey [clari-
fied] sixteen ounces.  Rub the  dry ingredients together to a very fine pow-
der, and preserve them.   Then, as often as the Confection is to be used, add
the Honey,  and mix the whole together." Lond. 
 896                         Confectiones.                    part ii.

  The Dublin process differs only in the immediate addition of the honey to
 the other ingredients.
  The confection of rue is antispasmodic, and in Great Britain is employed
 in the form of enema in hysterical complaints and flatulent colic; but in this
 country it is not used.   From a scruple  to a drachm may be administered,
 diffused in half a pint of warm mucilaginous fluid.                  W.
  CONFECTIO SCAMMONII. Lond.  Electuarium Scammonii.
 Dub.   Confection of Scammony.
  " Take of Scammony, in powder, an ounce and a half; Cloves, bruised,
 Ginger, in powder, each, six drachms ; Oil of Caraway half a fluidrachm ;
 Syrup of  Roses a sufficient quantity.   Rub the dry ingredients into a very
 fine powder, and keep them ; then, when the Confection  is to be used, pour
 in the Syrup, and again rub them; finally add the Oil of  Caraway, and mix
-them all." Lond.
  The Dublin  College employs  the same materials in the same quantities,
 but immediately incorporates the syrup and oil with the dry ingredients.
  This confection is  actively  cathartic in the dose  of half a drachm or a
 drachm ; but is very little used, and was  omitted in  the  last edition of the
 U.  S. Pharmacopoeia.  The proportion of scammony is uncertain, from the
 indefinite quantity of syrup employed.                              W.
  CONFECTIO SENNiE.  U.S., Lond,   Electuarium  Senne.
 Ed., Dub.   Confection of Senna.  Lenitive Electuary.
  " Take of Senna eight ounces; Coriander [seed] four  ounces;  Liquorice
 Root, bruised, three ounces; Figs a pound; Pulp of  Prunes, Pulp of Ta-
 marinds, 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 re-
 sidue with the Figs  and  Liquorice Root,  in the Water, to  one-half;  then
 press  out  the liquor  and strain.   Evaporate the strained liquor, by means
 of a water-bath,  to a  pint and a half; then  add the Sugar and form a syrup.
 Lastly, rub the Pulps with the syrup gradually added, and, having thrown in
 the sifted powder, beat all together until thoroughly mixed."  U.S.
  The London process corresponds with the above.  The Edinburgh Col-
 lege 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 Dub-
 lin  College boils a pound of the pulp of prunes, and two  ounces of the pulp
 of tamarinds, in a pint and a half of molasses, to the  thickness of honey;
 then aMs four ounces of  senna in very fine powder, and, when the mixture
 cools, two drachms of oil of caraway;  and, lastly, mixes the whole inti-
 mately.
  The confection of senna, when  properly made, is an elegant preparation.
 The pulp of purging cassia is most conveniently obtained  by boiling the
 bruised pods in water, straining the  decoction, and evaporating to the con-
 sistence of an electuary.   The pulp of  prunes may be prepared by boiling
 the fruit in a small quantity of water to soften it, then  pressing it through a
 hair sieve, and evaporating to a proper consistence.  The tamarinds, when
 too dry for immediate use, may be treated in the same  manner.   In each
 case,  the  evaporation should be completed  by  means of a water-bath, in
 order  to  prevent the pulps from being burnt.  It is common to omit the
 cassia pulp in the preparation of  the confection, as the pods  are not always
 to be found in the  market.  But as this is next to senna the  most active  in-
 gredient, the  omission is to be regretted;  and there is no doubt that a steady 
PART II.
Confection es. — Cuprum.
897
demand for the  fruit would  be met by an abundant supply from the  West
Indies.
  This is  one  of our  best  and  most pleasant laxatives,  being admirably
adapted to cases  of habitual  costiveness, especially  in pregnant women and
persons affected  with piles.  It is also very useful in the constipation which
is apt to attend  convalescence from fevers  and other acute diseases.   The
mean dose is two drachms, to be taken at bed-time.                  W.


                            CUPRUM.

                    Preparations of Copper.

  CUPRI  SUBACETAS PR^PARATUM. Dub.  Prepared Sub-
acetate of Copper.
  " Let the Subacetate of Copper be ground to powder, and the finer parts
separated in the  manner directed for the  preparation of chalk." Dub.
  The object of this process is,  by levigation  and elutriation,  to reduce ver-
digris  to the state of a  very fine powder.   A chemical change  is at the same
time produced,  which  was  not originally contemplated.   The  diacetate of
copper which it contains, consisting of one equivalent of acid, two equiv.
of protoxide, and  six of water, is converted by the action of water into  a
soluble acetate  and an  insoluble  trisacetate.   The latter consisting of one
equiv. of acetic acid, three equiv.  of protoxide  of copper, and one and a half
of water, is  the Dublin prepared subacetate  of copper,  which, therefore,
differs from  commercial verdigris in  composition  as well as  in its state of
aggregation. (See Cupri Acetas.)  This preparation  is used only as an escha-
rotic and  stimulant application to unhealthy ulcers and obstinate cutaneous
eruptions.
  Off.Prep.  Oxymel Cupri  Subacetatis,  Dub.;  Unguentum Cupri Sub-
acetatis, Dub.                     ^                              W.
  CUPRUM AMMONIATUM. Z7. S., Ed., Dub.  Cupri  Ammonio-
Sulphas. Lond.  Ammoniated Copper.
  "Take of Sulphate  of Copper half  an ounce;  Carbonate of Ammonia
six drachms.  Rub them together in a glass mortar till  the effervescence
ceases; then wrap the Ammoniated Copper  in  bibulous paper, and  dry it
with a gentle heat.  Let it be kept in a well stopped glass bottle." U. S.
  The  processes of the British  Colleges are  essentially the same as  the
above, the ingredients, proportions,  and general mode of operating  being
identical.   The  London  College orders  that the salt be dried  in the air, and
omits the direction as to the  mode of keeping it; the Edinburgh directs that
the  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  ingredi-
ents to be triturated in an earthenware  mortar.
  When the two salts above mentioned are rubbed together, a reaction takes
place between them, attended with the extrication of the  water of crystalliza-
tion of the sulphate of copper, which renders the mass moist, and the simul-
taneous escape of carbonic acid gas  from the carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of
ammonia,  which occasions  an effervescence.   The colour is at the  same
time altered, passing from the light blue  of the  powdered sulphate of copper
to a beautiful deep azure.  The nature of the  chemical changes  which take
place is not precisely known.  One of the views which have  been taken is,
that the blue vitriol parts with  a portion  of its acid to the ammonia of the
carbonate, thus  forming a subsulphate of copper and sulphate of ammonia, 
898
Cuprum.
PART II.
which are either  mixed  together,  or chemically united  in  the  form of a
double salt, the  sulphate of copper and anynonia.   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 undecomposed sesquicarbonate of ammo-
nia.   It is highly probable  that  the  Cuprum Ammoniatum, independently
of the excess of sesquicarbonate of ammonia which it may contain, is iden-
tical  with  the crystallized  salt  obtained by dropping 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 equiv-
alent of sulphuric acid, one of oxide of copper, two of ammonia, and one of
water, which may be  supposed to be  combined in the form of a double salt
—the  cupro-sulphate of ammonia—consisting  of one equiv. of sulphate
of ammonia, one of cuprate of ammonia  in which the oxide of copper acts
the part  of an acid, and  one of water of crystallization NH3,S03 + Ntlg,
CuO-f HO.   But as half an ounce  of sulphate of copper would require
for  such a result  somewhat less than the same  weight of  sesquicarbonate
of ammonia, there must be  a considerable excess of the latter salt, unless
dissipated in the drying process.  In  the uncertainty which  exists as to the
precise nature of the  preparation, the name of ammoniated copper appears
to be  as appropriate for a  pharmaceutical  title as any that  could be adopted.
  This salt has a beautiful deep azure-blue colour, a strong ammoniacal
odour, and a styptic, metallic taste.   It is soluble in  water, and the solution
has an alkaline reaction on vegetable colours; but, unless there be an excess
of sesquicarbonate of  ammonia, the solution deposits subsulphate  of copper
if much diluted.   When exposed to  the air it parts with ammonia, and is
said to be ultimately converted  into sulphate of ammonia and  carbonate of
copper.  This change is apt to occur to a greater or less extent while it is
drying.  It should not,  therefore, be  prepared in large quantities at a time,
and should be kept in well-closed bottles.   By heat, the whole of it is dis-
sipated, except the oxide of copper.   Arsenious acid precipitates  a green
arsenite of copper  from its solution.  Potassa, soda, lime-water, and the acids
are incompatible with it.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Ammoniated copper is tonic, and is thought
to exercise an influence over the nervous system which renders it antispas-
modic.   It has been  much  employed in epilepsy, in which it was recom-
mended by Cullen.  There is good reason to believe that  it has occasionally
effected cures; but like all other remedies in that complaint it very  frequently
fails.  It has also been used in chorea, hysteria, and worms  ; and by Swediaur
as an  injection in  gonorrhoea and  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; accord-
ing to Cullen, not longer than a month.
  Off.Prep.  Cupri Ammoniati Aqua, Dub., Lond.; Pilulas Cupri Ammo-
niati,  Ed.                                                         W. 
PART II.
Cuprum.—Decocta.
899
   CUPRI AMMONIATI AQUA.  Dub.  Liquor Cupri Ammonio-
 Sulphatis.  Lond.  Cupri Ammoniati  Solutio. Ed.   Solution of
 Ammoniated Copper.
   "Take of Ammonio-Sulphate of Copper a drachm;  Distilled Water a
 pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Ammonio-Sulphate of Copper in the
 Water, and filter." Lond.
   The Edinburgh formula is the same  as  the London.   The Dublin  Col-
 lege employs one part of the salt to one hundred parts of distilled water.
   By  the quantity of water employed in these processes, the ammoniated
 copper, unless it contain an excess of carbonate of ammonia, which  it  pro-
 bably  does  when  recently prepared, is said by Mr. Phillips  to be  decom-
 posed, with a precipitation of one-half of the oxide of copper.   According to
 the same author, a smaller portion of water dissolves it perfectly.
   This  solution is sometimes employed as a stimulant to foul and indolent
 ulcers, and, diluted with water, as an application to the cornea when affected
 with  specks or opacity; but it is probably in no respect  superior for these
 purposes to a solution of sulphate of copper, and scarcely deserves  a place
 among the officinal preparations.                                    W.


                            DECOCTA.

                             Decoctions.
   Decoctions are  solutions of vegetable  principles, obtained  by boiling the
 substances  containing  these  principles in  water.   Vegetables  generally
 yield  their soluble ingredients  more  readily and in  larger proportion to
 water  maintained  at the point of ebullition, than to the  same liquid at  a
 lower  temperature.  Hence  decoction is occasionally preferred to infusion
 as a mode of extracting the virtues of plants, when the call for the  remedy is
 urgent, and the greatest possible activity in the preparation is desirable.  The
 process should be conducted in a covered vessel, so as to confine the  vapour
 over the surface of the liquid, and thus prevent the access of atmospheric air,
 which sometimes exerts an injurious agency upon the active principle.  The
 boiling, moreover, should not, as a general  rule, be long continued;  as  the
 ingredients of the vegetable are apt to react on each other, and thus lose, to a
 greater or less extent, their original character.   The  substance submitted to
 decoction, should if dry be either powdered or well bruised, if fresh  should
 be sliced, so that it may present an extensive surface to the  action of the  sol-
 vent;  and previous maceration for some time in water is occasionally useful
 by overcoming the cohesion of the vegetable fibre.
  All vegetable  substances are not proper objects for decoction.  In many
 the active principle is volatile at a boiling heat, in others it undergoes some
 change unfavourable to  its activity,  and in  a third  set is associated with
 inefficient or nauseous principles, which, though insoluble or but slightly-
 soluble in cool water, are abundantly extracted by that liquid at the boiling
 temperature, and thus encumber, if they do  not positively injure the  prepa-
ration.   In all these instances, infusion  is preferable to decoction.  Besides,
by the  latter process, more matter is often dissolved than the water can retain
in solution,  so that upon cooling a precipitation takes place, and the  liquid
is rendered turbid.   When the active principle is thus dissolved in excess,  the
decoction should always be strained while  hot;  so that the matter  which
separates on cooling, may be mixed again with the fluid by agitation at  the
time of administering the remedy.
  In compound decoctions, the ingredients may be advantageously added at 
900
Decocta.
PART II.
  different periods of the process, according to the length of boiling requisite for
  extracting their virtues; and, should any one of them owe its activity to a vo-
  latile principle, the proper plan is, at the close of the process, to pour upon
  it the boiling decoction, and allow the liquor to cool  in a covered vessel.
    As  a general rule, glass or  earthenware vessels should  be preferred ; as
  those made of metal are sometimes corroded by the ingredients of the decoc-
  tion, which thus becomes contaminated.   Vessels of clean  cast-iron or of
  common tin are preferable to those of copper, brass, or zinc; but iron  pots
  should not be used when astringent vegetables are concerned.
    Decoctions, from  the mutual reaction of their constituents, as well as from
  the influence of the air, are apt to spoil in a short time.  Hence they should
  be prepared only when wanted for  use, and  should not be  kept, in warm
  weather, for a longer period than forty-eight hours.                 W.
    DECOCTUM  ALOES  COMPOSITUM. Lond.,  Dub.  Decoc-
  tum Aloes, Ed.  Compound Decoction of Aloes.
    " Take of Extract of Liquorice half an ounce ; Carbonate of Potassa two
  scruples;  Hepatic Aloes  in powder,  Myrrh in powder,  Saffron,  each, a
  drachm; Water  a pint.  Boil together to  twelve ounces,  and strain; then
  add four fluidounces of Compound Tincture of Cardamom." Dub.
    The Edinburgh process may be considered  as identical  with  the Dublin,
  except that a choice is allowed between the socotrine and hepatic aloes.
    " Take of Extract of Liquorice seven drachms ;  Carbonate of Potassa a
  drachm; Aloes in powder, Myrrh in powder, Saffron, each, a drachm and
  a half; Compound Tincture  of Cardamom  seven fluidounces; Distilled
  Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure].   Boil the liquorice, Carbonate
  of Potassa, Aloes, Myrrh, and Saffron with the Water to a  pint,  and strain;
  then add the Compound Tincture of Cardamom." Lond.
    There is  no essential difference between  the  two processes. That of  the
  Dublin College is preferable  for  practical purposes  in  this country, as  the
  measures correspond with our  own ;  while those of the London and Edin-
  burgh Colleges, adopted  at the last revision of their Pharmacopoeias, being
  divisions of the British Imperial gallon, are wholly inapplicable here.
    The aloes, myrrh, and  carbonate of potassa should be  rubbed together
  before the addition of the other ingredients.   The effect of  the alkaline car-
  bonate is, by combining with the resin of the myrrh, and the*insoluble por-
  tion (apotheme of Berzelius) of the aloes, to  render them more soluble in
  water,  while  the liquorice assists in the  suspension of  the portion  not
  actually dissolved.   The tincture of cardamom is useful not only by its cor-
  dial property, but also  by  preventing spontaneous decomposition.
    Long boiling impairs the purgative property of aloes; and the same effect
^ is thought to be produced, to  a  certain  extent, by the alkalies,  which cer-
  tainly qualify its operation,  and render  it less apt  to  irritate the  rectum.
  This decoction, therefore, is  milder as a cathartic  than  aloes itself,  and  not
  so liable to  produce or aggravate hemorrhoidal disease. At the same time
  it is more tonic  and cordial from  the presence of the myrrh, saffron, and
  cardamom, and derives antacid properties from the carbonate of potassa.   It
  is given as  a gentle cathartic,  tonic, and emmenagogue; and is especially
  useful in dyspepsia, habitual  constipation, and those  complicated cases in
  which  suppressed  or retained  menstruation  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 bodies which  are incompatible with
  the alkaline carbonate employed in its preparation.                  W. 
PART II.
Decocta.
901
  DECOCTUM ALTH^^E. Dub.  Mistura Althee. Ed.  De-
coction of Marsh Mallow.
  " Take of the Herb and Root of Marsh Mallow, dried and bruised, four
ounces; Raisins, stoned,  two  ounces; Water  seven pints.   Boil down to
five pints, and strain  the liquor; then set it by till the dregs have subsided,
and decant." Dub.
  The Edinburgh  College takes four ounces of the root, two ounces of the
raisins, an&five pints [Imperial measure] of boiling water, and proceeds as
above, boiling down to three pints.
  This decoction is a simple mucilage flavoured with raisins ;  and may be
used advantageously as a drink, in all cases in which demulcents are indi-
cated.                                                          W.
  DECOCTUM CETRARIiE. U. S., Lond.  Decoctum Lichenis
Islandici. Dub.  Decoction of Iceland 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.   By the Dublin process, half an ounce of
the moss is digested  for two  hours in a close  vessel with a pint of boiling
water, then boiled for fifteen minutes, and the liquor strained while hot.
  As  the bitter principle is dissolved along  with the starch of the moss, this
decoction unites an unpleasant flavour to its demulcent properties; but the
plan which has been  proposed of  first extracting the bitterness by macera-
tion in water, or a very weak solution of an alkaline carbonate, and afterwards
preparing the decoction, is inadmissible; as the  peculiar virtues which dis-
tinguish the  medicine from the ordinary demulcents are thus entirely lost.
(See Cetraria.)  A pint of the decoction may be taken  in divided doses during
the twenty-four hours.                                           W.
  DECOCTUM  CHAMiEMELI COMPOSITUM. Dub.   Decoc-
tion of Chamomile.
  "Take of dried  Chamomile Flowers half an ounce; Fennel Seeds two
drachms ; Water a pint.  Boil for a short time, and strain." Dub.
  In preparing  this decoction, the  aromatic should not be added till near the
end of the process.   The decoction contains the bitter extractive of the cha-
momile, with little of its peculiar aroma, which is dissipated by the boiling.
It is inferior, therefore, for internal use, to the infusion; and is calculated
only for fomentations  and enemata.                               W.
  DECOCTUM  CHIMAPHILA. U.S., Lond.   Decoctum Py- m
role. Dub.  Decoction of Pipsissewa.  Decoction of Winter Green.
  " Take of Pipsissewa, bruised, an ounce; Water a pint and a half.  Boil
down  to a pint, and strain." U. S.
  " Take of Pipsissewa,  an ounce; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Im-
perial measure].  Boil to a pint, and strain." Lond.
  "Take of Pipsissewa  an ounce; Water two pints.   Macerate  for six
hours  ; then take out  the Pipsissewa, and having bruised it, return it to the
liquor, and evaporate  until enough remains to  afford one pint of decoction
strained with expression." Dub.
  The previous maceration directed by the Dublin  College is quite super-
fluous, especially in relation to the fresh leaves, which  may almost always
be obtained in this country.  The medical properties  and uses of pipsissewa
    77 
902
Decocta.
PART II.
    have been detailed under the head of Chimaphila.  One pint of the decoction
    may be given in the course of twenty-four hours.                    W.
      DECOCTUM CINCHONiE. U S., Ed., Dub.  Decoctum  Cin-
    CHONE CORDIFOLIE. DECOCTUM ClNCHONE LANCIFOLIE. DECOCTUM
    Cinchone Oblongifolie. Lond.   Decoction of Peruvian Bark.
      " Take of Peruvian Bark, bruised, an ounce ; Water a pint.  Boil for ten
    minutes in a covered vessel, and strain  the liquor while hot."  U. S.
      The London College directs  separate decoctions of the three varieties of
    bark, but in each case employs the same proportions, and proceeds in the
    same way.  The process is essentially the same as ours.  The Edinburgh
    College takes an ounce of either of its officinal varieties of bark, and twenty-
   four fluidounces [Imperial measure] of water, boils for ten minutes, allows
    the  decoction to cool, then filters it, and evaporates to sixteen fluidounces.
    The Dublin College, without specifying the length of boiling, orders an ounce
    of the  pale bark, in coarse powder, and enough water to yield a pint of the
    strained decoction.
      When the  physician directs the decoction according to the  U. S. formula,
    he should specify the variety of bark he wishes to be employed.
      The virtues of Peruvian bark, though extracted more rapidly by decoction
    than by infusion, are materially impaired by long boiling, in consequence of
    the changes effected in its constituents,  either by their mutual reaction, or by
    the  agency of atmospheric oxygen*, or by both causes united.  To prevent
    this  result, the process is directed to be performed in a covered vessel, and
    to be continued only ten minutes.  "But even with these precautions a consi-
    derable precipitate 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 tannin and starch, at the  boiling temperature, unite to  form
    a compound insoluble  in cold water; and, when  the decoction is allowed to
    cool, this compound is precipitated, together with a portion of the 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 recommends that a larger proportion of water, sufficient to
    retain the alkali in solution, be employed, that the decoction be filtered when
    cold, and then sufficiently concentrated  by evaporation.  This plan has been
    adopted by the Edinburgh College, but is unnecessarily tedious.   A better
    mode is to add to the liquid some acid  which may form  with the quinia and
#   cinchonia compounds  more  soluble than the native salts.  Lemon juice has
    been long employed as a useful addition to the decoction  of  cinchona, and
    we  can now understand  the manner  in which it acts.   Sulphuric acid in
    excess  answers the same purpose.  By acidulating the pint of water employed
    in preparing the decoction  with a fluidrachm of the aromatic or diluted sul-
    phuric  acid, we shall probably enable the menstruum to extract all the virtues
    of the bark.  The propriety of such an addition is confirmed  by the experi-
    ments of MM. Henry, Jun., and Plisson, who have ascertained that portions
    of the  alkalies exist in the bark connected with the colouring matter in the
    form of insoluble compounds, and that it is impossible, therefore, completely
    to 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. 
PART II.
Decocta.
903
   Numerous substances produce precipitates with this decoction ;  but com-
 paratively few affect its activity as a  medicine. (See Infusum Cinchonae.)
 Tannic, gallic, oxalic, and tartaric acids, and the substances containing them,
 should be excluded from the decoction;  as they form salts with the alkaline
 principles of the bark, which are either insoluble or but  slightly soluble in
 water.  The alkalies, alkaline earths, and salifiable bases generally should
 also be excluded, because, uniting with the kinic acid, they precipitate the
 quinia and cinchonia.
   The dose of  the decoction is two fluidounces, to be repeated more or less
 frequently according to circumstances.  Two drachms of orange peel, added
 to the decoction  while still boiling hot, improve its flavour, and render it more
 agreeable  to the  stomach.                                         W.
   DECOCTUM CORNUS FLORIDA.  U S.  Decoction of Dog-
 wood.
   "Take of Dogwood [bark], bruised, on  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 Peru-
 vian tonic is attainable.   The dose is two fluidounces.               W.
   DECOCTUM CYDONIA. Lond.   Decoction of Quince Seeds.
   " Take of Quince [seeds] two  drachms ; Distilled Water  a pint [Impe-
 rial measure].   Boil over a slow fire  for ten minutes; then strain." Lond.
   This decoction is viscid, nearly colourless, insipid, and inodorous l, and
 consists chiefly of the mucilaginous principle of the quince  seeds dissolved
 in water.   For  an account of the  properties  and uses of this mucilage see
 Cydonia.   It is  only employed externally.  As it speedily  undergoes decom-
 position, it should be used immediately after being prepared.         W.
   DECOCTUM DULCAMARA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Decoc-
 tion of Bittersweet.
   " Take  of Bittersweet, bruised, an ounce; Water a pint and a half.  Boil
 down to a pint and strain." U. S.
   The processes of the British Colleges correspond with the above.
   The slender twigs of the bittersweet are the part employed.  Their  pro-
 perties and uses  have been already detailed under the head of Dulcamara.
 The dose of the decoction is from one to two fluidounces three or four times
 a day, or more frequently.                                        W.
   DECOCTUM GEOFFROYA. Dub.    Decoction of Cabbage-
 tree Bark.
   " Take  of Cabbage-tree Bark, bruised, an ounce;  Water two pints. Boil
 down to a pint, and to the strained liquor add two ounces of the Syrup of
 Orange Peel." Dub.
  This decoction has the colour of Madeira  wine.   It is powerfully anthel-
 mintic, and is a popular  remedy in  the West Indies.    The disagreeable
effects which are said to arise from an  over-dose, or from drinking cold water
during its operation, may be counteracted, according to Dr. Wright, by
washing out  the stomach  with  warm water,  purging with castor oil,  and
administering lemonade freely.   The dose for  an adult is  two fluidounces,
for a child two or three years old, half a fluidounce, to be gradually increased
at eaeh successive administration till it produces nausea.              W. 
904
Decocta.
PART II.
   DECOCTUM GLYCYRRHIZA. Dub.  Decoction of Liquorice
Root.
   " Take of Liquorice Root, bruised, an ounce and a half; Water a pint.
Boil for ten minutes and strain." Dub.
   This decoction may be  used as a demulcent beverage, or as a vehicle for
medicines of unpleasant flavour.                                  W.
   DECOCTUM  GRANATI. Lond,  Decoction of Pomegranate.
   " Take of Pomegranate [rind] two ounces ; Distilled Water a pint and a
half [Imperial measure].   Boil down to a pint and strain." Lond.
   The dose  of this decoction is a fluidounce.  For its uses see Granatum.
   DECOCTUM  GUAIACI  COMPOSITUM.  Dub.   Decoctum
Guaiaci. Ed.  Compound Decoction of Guaiacum Wood.
   " Take of Guaiac turnings three ounces ; Raisins two ounces ;  Sassafras
[root] rasped, and  Liquorice Root  bruised, each,  one ounce;  Water eight
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.
   "Take of Guaiacum Wood, rasped, three ounces; Sassafras root, sliced,
ten drachms; Liquorice Root, bruised, two ounces and a half; Water ten
pints.  Boil the  Guaiacum Wood in the Water  down to one-half; near the
end of the boiling add  the Liquorice and Sassafras, and strain the liquor."
Dub.
   This is the old decoction of the woods.  Notwithstanding its former repu-
tation, it is little more than a demulcent drink ;  for water is capable of dis-
solving but a minute proportion of the active matter of guaiacum wood, and
one ounce of sassafras root can impart no  appreciable activity to  five pints
of menstruum.   It was thought useful in chronic rheumatism and  cutaneous
affections, and as an adjuvant to a mercurial  course in syphilis, or an altera-
tive course of antimonials.  As  the  patient was directed to be kept warm
during its use, it no doubt acted favourably in some instances as a  mere dilu-
ent, by promoting perspiration.   From one to two pints may be taken in the
course of the day, in doses of about four fluidounces.               W.
   DECOCTUM  HAMATOXYLI. U S., Ed.   Decoction of Log-
wood.
   " Take of Logwood, rasped, an ounce ; Water  two pints.   Boil down to
a pint, and strain."  U. S.
   "Take of Logwood, in chips, one ounce; Water  a pint [Imperial mea-
sure] ; Cinnamon, one drachm, in powder.  Boil the  Logwood in  the Water
down to  ten fluidounces, adding the Cinnamon  towards the end ; and then
strain."  Ed.
   This is an excellent astringent in diarrhoea; particularly in that  form of  it
which succeeds the cholera infantum of  this climate, or occurs as an original
complaint in children during summer.   The dose for an adult is  two fluid-
ounces, for a child  about two years old, two or three fluidrachms, repeated
several times a  day.  A little bruised cinnamon  may often be added with
advantage at the end of the boiling,  as directed by  the Edinburgh College.
                                                               W.
   DECOCTUM HORDEI. U. S., Lond., Dub. Decoction of Barley.
   "Take of [Pearl]  Barley two ounces; Water four pints and a half.
First wash away, with  cold water,  the  extraneous matters which  adhere  to
the Barley ;  then pour upon it half  a pint of the Water, and boil  for a short
time.  Having thrown  away this water,  pour the remainder boiling hot upon
the barley;  then boil down to two pints, and strain."  U. S. 
PART II.
Decocta.
905
   The processes  of the British Colleges do not essentially differ from the
 above.
   Barley water, as this decoction  is usually called, is much employed as a
 nutritive drink in febrile and inflammatory complaints, and, from the total
 absence of irritating properties, is peculiarly  adapted to cases in which the
 gastric or intestinal mucous membrane is inflamed. As the stomach of those
 for whom it is directed is often exceedingly delicate, and apt to revolt against
 any thing 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 preparation.  The use of  the washing with cold water,
 and of  the first short  boiling,  is  completely to remove any  mustiness,  or
 other disagreeable flavour, which  the  barley may have acquired from ex-
 posure.
   Off. Prep. Enema Aloes,  Lond.; Enema Terebinthinae, Lond.     W.
   DECOCTUM HORDEI COMPOSITUM.  Lond., Dub.   Mis-
 tura Hordei. Ed.   Compound Decoction of Barley.
   "Take of Decoction  of  Barley two pints  [Imperial measure];  Figs,
 sliced, two ounces and a half; Liquorice [root], sliced and bruised, five
 drachms; Raisins [stoned] two ounces  and a half; Water a pint [Imperial
 measure].  Boil down to two pints [Imp.  meas.], and strain." Lond.
   " Take of Pearl-Barley, Figs sliced, Raisins freed of the seeds, of each,
 two ounces and a  half; Liquorice Root, sliced and bruised, five drachms;
 Water five pints and a half [Imperial measure].  Clean the Barley, if neces-
 sary,  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 remaining pint of water;  and again  boil down to two pints ; then
 strain." Ed.
   "Take of  Decoction of Barley four  pints; Raisins stoned, Figs sliced,
 each, two ounces  ; Liquorice Root, sliced and bruised, half an ounce.  Dur-
 ing the boiling, add first the Raisins, then the Figs, and lastly the Liquorice
 Root  a short time  before it is  finished, when the strained decoction ought to
 measure  two pints." Dub.
   The compound decoction  of barley, in addition to the demulcent and
 nutritive properties of  the simple, is  somewhat laxative, and may be pre-
 ferably employed  where there is a  tendency to constipation.  But  it is  so
 often  necessary to  vary the nature of the sapid  ingredients to suit the taste
 of the patient, that it would be better to  leave  the preparation entirely to ex-
 temporaneous prescription.                                       W.
   DECOCTUM MALVA COMPOSITUM.  Lond.   Compound
 Decoction of Malloivs.
   "Take of dried Mallows an ounce;  dried  Chamomile Flowers  half an
 ounce;  Water a pint [Imperial measure].  Boil  for a quarter of an hour,
 and strain."  Lond.
   This  is intended only for fomentations and enemata.
   DECOCTUM MEZEREI. Ed.,  Dub.  Decoction of Mezereon.
   "Take of Mezereon, in chips,  two drachms; Liquorice Root, bruised,
half an  ounce; Water two pints [Imperial measure].  Mix them and boil
down with a gentle heat to a pint and a half, and then strain." Ed.
                                77* 
906
Decocta.
PART II.
   The Dublin process is essentially the same as the above.
   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.                  W.
   DECOCTUM PAPAVERIS.  Lond., Ed., Dub.   Decoction of
Poppy.
   "Take of White Poppy Capsules, sliced, four ounces ; Water four pints
[Imperial measure].  Boil for a quarter of an hour,  and strain."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh  and Dublin processes differ from the above  only in  the
proportion of water, which in  the former is three pints [Imp. meas.], in the
latter two pints.
   This decoction is used as an anodyne fomentation in  painful tumours and
superficial cutaneous inflammation or  excoriation.   It is recommended  not
to reject the seeds; as their oil, suspended in the water by  the mucilage of
the capsules, adds to the emollient virtues of the preparation.        W.
   DECOCTUM QUERCUS ALBA. U.S.   Decoction  of White
Oak Bark.   Decocutm Quercus. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Decoction of
Oak Bark.
   " Take of White Oak Bark, bruised, an ounce; Water apint  and a half.
Boil down to a pint, and strain." U.S.
   The London and Edinburgh Colleges take ten drachms of oak bark and
two pints [Imperial measure] of distilled water, and boil to a pint; the Dub-
lin College takes an ounce of the bark and two pints  [Apothecaries' measure]
of water,  and boils to a pint.
   This decoction contains the tannin, extractive, and gallic acid of oak bark.
It affords precipitates  with the decoction of Peruvian Bark and other sub-
stances  containing vegetable  alkalies,  with  solution of gelatin, and with
most  metallic salts, particularly those of iron.  Alkaline solutions diminish
or destroy its astringency.  Its uses have been already detailed.   The dose
is a wineglassful, frequently repeated.                              W.
   DECOCTUM  SARSAPARILLA. Dub.    Decoctum  Sarze.
Lond., Ed.   Decoction of  Sarsaparilla.
   "Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced, five  ounces ; boiling Distilled  Water four
pints [Imperial  measure].  Macerate  for four hours in  a  covered vessel,
near the fire, then take out the Sarsaparilla and bruise it.  Put it again  into
the liquor, and macerate it in the same  manner for two hours more, then boil
down to two pints [Imp. meas.] and strain."  Lond.
   The Dublin College orders four ounces of the root, previously washed,
and four  pints of boiling water, and  proceeds as  directed  by the  London
College, except that the second maceration is omitted.
   "Take of Sarza, in chips, five ounces; boiling Water, four pints [Impe-
rial measure].  Digest the root in the  Water for two hours at a temperature
somewhat below  ebullition, take out the root, bruise it, replace it, boil down
to two  pints [Imp. meas.], and then squeeze  out  the decoction and strain
it." Ed.
   There  can  be no occasion for the maceration  directed by  the British
Colleges; 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 
PART II.
Decocta.
907
by the 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 demonstrated by the experiments of Pope,* Hancock,! Sou-
beiran,;):  Beral, and  others.   Hancock  makes the following  observations.
" After long boiling, the peculiar odour which rises abundantly on the coc-
tion  of good sarsa,  is almost extinguished.  From  the  sarsa prepared  in
this way, I found no sensible results upon any patient, nor were its peculiar
nauseating, drowsy, and racking  effects produced by a  large quantity,  al-
though  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 sarsa-
parilla in cold water  for twenty-four hours; infused another  portion in boil-
ing water, and digested with a moderate heat for  two hours;  boiled a
third  portion bruised, and a fourth unbruised, in water for two hours ; and
in each instance used the same relative  quantities.   Testing these, various
preparations by the taste, he found  the cold and hot infusion scarcely differ-
ent in this  respect; and  both possessed of a stronger odour and more acrid
taste than the  decoctions, of which that prepared with the bruised root was
the strongest.   Beral has proved  that sarsaparillin, which is believed to be
the active  principle of the drug, is  volatile.  From all these  facts the  infer-
ence 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 properly conducted,  is a convenient,  and  no doubt efficient
mode of exhausting the root, so far as water will effect that object.  Decoc-
tioned 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. Pharmaco-
poeia, an infusion  of  sarsaparilla has been substituted for  the simple decoc-
tion.   It is probable  that, as in the case of the Peruvian  bark, a boiling of
ten or fifteen  minutes might be advantageously  resorted  to, when circum-
stances require the preparation to be made in less  time than is requsite  for
infusion.   In every  instance the root should be thoroughly bruised, or  re-
duced 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 the decoction of sar-
saparilla; but it has  not been ascertained how far such substances interfere
with its activity.   Those which merely throw down the fecula  do not injure
the preparation.
  The simple decoction  of sarsaparilla is chiefly used in the preparation of
the compound decoction.   If given alone, it may be administered in the dose
of four or six fluidounces four times a day.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Sarsaparillae Compositum. Dub., Lond., Ed.  W.

  * Trans, of the 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 beat sarsaparilla regions.
  t Journ. de Pharmacie, torn. xvi. p. 38. 
908
Decocta.
PART II.
   DECOCTUM SARSAPARILLA COMPOSITUM. U.S., Dub.
 Decoctum Sarz^e Compositum. Lond., Ed.   Compound Decoction
 of Sarsaparilla.
   " Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced and bruised, six ounces; Bark of Sassa-
 fras Root, sliced, Guaiacum  Wood, rasped, Liquorice Root, bruised, each,
 an ounce; Mezereon, sliced, three drachms ;   Water four pints.   Boil for a
 quarter of an hour, and strain."  U. S.
   " Take of decoction of Sarsaparilla,  boiling hot, four pints  [Imperial
 measure];  Sassafras  [root], sliced,  Guaiacum  Wood, rasped,  Liquorice
 Root [fresh], bruised, each, ten drachms ;  Mezereon three drachms.   Boil
 for a quarter ofan hour, and  strain."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh process differs from the London  only in the quantity of
 mezereon, which in the  former is half an  ounce.   The Dublin  College
 takes four pints of the  decoction, an ounce, each, of sassafras, guaiacum
 wood, and liquorice  root, and three drachms of mezereon, and  proceeds as
 above.
   The process  of  the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia  differs  essentially  from  the
 others in this respect, that, instead of taking  the  simple  decoction of sar-
 saparilla 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 sub-
 stances; and the preparation is  brought more nearly into accordance with
 the present state of knowledge in relation to this valuable  drug.  (See De-
 coctum Sarsaparillae.)   It might, perhaps, be a still farther improvement, if
 the ingredients were allowed, after the completion of  the boiling,  to remain
 in a covered vessel, in a  warm place, with  occasional  agitation, for  two or
 three hours before straining.
   This decoction is an imitation of the celebrated Lisbon diet drink.  The
 sarsaparilla and  mezereon are the  active ingredients; the guaiacum  wood
 imparting 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 rheuma-
 tism, and in various obstinate cutaneous affections.   The  dose is  from four
 to six fluidounces three  or  four times a  day.   The patient during  its use
 should wear flannel next the skin, and avoid unnecessary exposure to changes
 of temperature.*                                                    W.

  * The Decoction of  Ziltman (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 Pharmacopaeia, 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 3vi, white lead gvi, sulphate of
 zinc 3''j» white sugar §iss, white of egg and distilled vinegar, each q.s.), half  an ounce of
 calomel, and a drachm of cinnabar. Boil to  thirty pounds, and near the end of the boiling
 add of aniseed, fennel-seed, each, half an ounce, senna three ounces, liquorice root an ounce
 and a half.  Put aside the liquor under the name of the 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 aside 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 II.
Decocta.
909
   DECOCTUM  SCOPARII COMPOSITUM.  Lond.  Decoctum
 Scoparii. Ed.   Compound Decoction of Broom.
   "Take of Broom, Juniper Fruit, Dandelion, each,  half an ounce;  Dis-
 tilled Water a pint  and a half [Imperial measure].   Boil  down to a pint
 [Imperial measure], and strain." Lond.
   " Take of Broom-tops, and Juniper-tops, of each, half an ounce; Bitar-
 trate of Potassa two drachms  and a half;  Water a  pint and a half [Im-
 perial measure].   Boil them  together down to a pint [Imperial  measure],
 and then strain." Ed.
   This decoction  may be used as an adjuvant to more powerful diuretics in
 dropsy.  From half a pint to a pint may be taken during the day.     W.
   DECOCTUM  SENEGA.  U. S.,  Lond.,  Dub.   Decoction  of
 Seneka.
   "Take of Seneka, bruised, an ounce; Water a  pint and a half.   Boil
 down to a pint, and strain."  U. S.
   The London College boils ten drachms of the root with hvo 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
 decoction are essentially the same  as those of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.
 The Dublin College directs  a pint and a half  of water to be boiled down
 with three drachms of the root to eight ounces.
   It is  customary to add to the seneka an equal weight of liquorice root,
 which serves to cover its taste, and in some measure to obtund its  acrimony.
 The virtues and practical application of seneka have been already treated of.
 The dose of the decoction is about two fluidounces three or four times a  day,
 or a tablespoonful every two or three hours.                        W.

   DECOCTUM TARAXACI.  U.S., Ed., Dub.  Decoction of Dan-
 delion.
   " Take of Dandelion [root], bruised, two ounces ; Water two pints.  Boil
 down to a pint, and strain." U. S.
   The Edinburgh College takes seven  ounces of the fresh herb and root,
 and two pints [Imperial measure] of water, boils to one pint  [Imperial
 measure], and strains.   The Dublin  College takes four ounces of the fresh
 herb and root, and two pints of water, boils to a pint, expresses, and strains.
   This decoction is most efficient when prepared from the root alone.   The
 dose is a wineglassful two or three times a clay.  (See  Taraxacum.)  W.

   DECOCTUM  TORMENTILLA.  Lond.   Decoction of Tor-
 mentil.
   " Take of Tormentil, bruised, two ounces ; Distilled water a pint and a
 /ia//" [Imperial measure].  Boil down to a pint, and  strain." Lond.
   This decoction is astringent, and may be given in the dose of one or two
 fluidounces, three or four times a day.                            W.

   DECOCTUM ULMI. Lond., Dub.   Decoction  of Elm Bark.
   "Take of fresh Elm [bark], bruised, two ounces and a half; Distilled
 Water two pints [Imperial measure].  Boil down to a pint, and  strain."
Lond.
  The Dublin College orders two ounces of the bark and two pints of water
to be reduced, by boiling, to a pint.
  This decoction, being prepared from the bark of the  European elm, is not
used in this country. It has had some repute in England as a remedy forcer-
tain cutaneous disorders.  From four to six fluidounces are given two  or
three times a day.                                               W. 
910
Decocta.—Emplastra.
PART II.
  DECOCTUM UVA URSI. U. S., Lond. Decoction of Uva Ursi.
  " Take of Uva Ursi an ounce ; Water twenty fluidounces.  Boil down
to a pint, and strain."  U. S.
  " Take of Uva Ursi, bruised, an ounce; Distilled Water a  pint  and a
^//"[Imperial measure].   Boil down to a pint, and strain."  Lond.
  This decoction contains the tannin, extractive, and gallic acid of the leaves.
For an account  of its  uses see  Uva Ursi.   The  dose  is from one  to two
fluidounces three or four  times a day.                               W.
  DECOCTUM VERATRI. Lond., Dub.   Decoction of  White
Hellebore,
  " Take of White  Hellebore, in powder, ten  drachms; Distilled  Water
two pints [Imperial measure] ;  Rectified Spirit three fluidounces.   Boil the
White Hellebore with  the Water to  a pint, and when it has  cooled, add the
Spirit, express, and strain." Lond.
  The Dublin process corresponds with the above.
  The root of the white hellebore  imparts its  acrid properties to  boiling
water, and the decoction  is powerfully cathartic and emetic; but, in  conse-
quence of the harshness  of its  action,  it is not used internally.  As  an ex-
ternal  application it  is employed in psora, tinea capitis, lepra, and other
cutaneous  eruptions,  in  which  it  sometimes proves  highly beneficial.
When the skin is very irritable, it should  be  diluted with an equal measure
of water.   Even externally applied it  should be used with some caution;
as the veratria, upon  which its  activity depends, may possibly be absorbed.
As  the plant is not a  native of this country, the  Veratrum viride, which is
similar in medical properties, may be advantageously substituted for it in the
preparation of the decoction.                                       W.


                         EMPLASTRA.

                              Plasters.

  Plasters are solid compounds  intended  for external application, adhesive
at the temperature  of the human body,  and  of such a consistence as to
render the aid of heat necessary in spreading them.   Most of them have as
their basis  a compound  of olive oil and  litharge,  constituting  the Emplas-
trum Plumbi of the United States  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.   Only two of the latter class have gained admission
into our national Pharmacopoeia ; several of those directed by the British  Col-
leges  having been rejected as superfluous, and the Emplastrum Cantharidis
transferred to the Cerates, to which  class it properly belongs.
  In  the  preparation  of the  plasters,  care is  requisite  that the  heat  em-
ployed 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 a greater or less degree depend.   After having been
prepared,  they are  usually shaped  into cylindrical rolls and  wrapped in
paper to exclude the  air.   Plasters should be firm  at ordinary temperatures,
should spread easily when heated,  and after  being spread, should  remain
soft, pliable, and adhesive, without melting, at the heat of the human body.
When long kept, they are apt to change colour and to become hard  and
brittle ; and as this alteration is  most observable upon their  surface, it must
depend chiefly upon  the action of the air, which should therefore be as much 
PART II.
Emplastra.
911
as possible excluded.   The defect may usually be remedied by melting the
plaster with a moderate heat, and  adding a sufficient quantity of oil to give it
the due consistence.
   Plasters are prepared for  use by spreading them upon leather, linen, or
muslin, according  to the particular purposes they are intended  to answer.
Leather is most convenient when the application is made to the sound skin,
linen or muslin when the plaster is used as a dressing to ulcerated or abraded
surfaces, or with the view of  bringing and  retaining together the sides of
wounds.  The leather  usually preferred is white sheep skin.   A margin
about a quarter or half an inch broad  should usually be left uncovered, in
order to facilitate the removal of  the plaster, and to  prevent the clothing in
contact with its edges  from  being soiled.  An  accurate outline may  be  ob-
tained by pasting upon the leather a piece of paper, so cut as to leave in the
centre a vacant space of the required dimensions, and removing  the paper
when no longer required.  The same object may sometimes be accomplished
by 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. 765.)  These may be applied  in such a manner as  to enclose  with 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, cor-
responding  to  the required  outline.  The spreading of the  plaster  is most
conveniently accomplished by  means of a peculiar iron instrument employed
for the purpose ;  though a common spatula will answer.   This may be
heated by means of a spirit lamp.   A sufficient portion of the plaster  should
first be melted by the heated instrument, and, having been  received on a piece
of coarse  stiff paper, should, when nearly cool,  be transferred to the leather,
and applied evenly over its extended surface.   By this plan the melted plaster
is prevented from penetrating the  leather, as  it is apt to do when  applied too
hot.  When linen or muslin is used, and  the dimensions of the portion to be
spread are large, as is often the case with  adhesive plaster, the best plan is to
pass the cloth " on which the plaster has been laid, through a machine formed
of a spatula fixed  by screws, at a proper  distance from a plate of polished
steel."  A machine for spreading plasters is described by M. Herent in the
Journal de Pharmacie  et de  Chimie, (3e ser., ii. 403.)               W.
   EMPLASTRUM AMMONIACI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Am-
moniac Plaster.
  " Take  of Am moniac^ye ounces; Vinegar half a pint.  Dissolve the Am-
moniac in the Vinegar, and  strain ; then evaporate the solution  by  means
of a water-bath, stirring constantly until  it acquires a  proper consistence."
U.S.
   The London College takes five  ounces of ammoniac, and eight fluid-
ounces of distilled vinegar; dissolves  the ammoniac  in the vinegar; and
evaporates the  solution by a slow  fire,  stirring constantly, to the proper
consistence.  The Edinburgh  College takes five ounces of ammoniac and
nine fluidounces  of distilled vinegar; dissolves the ammoniac in the vine-
gar, and evaporates over the vapour-bath,  frequently stirring.   In the Dublin
process, the ingredients are  in the same proportion as in ours; but pure
ammoniac is  directed, the vinegar of squill is substituted for common vine-
gar, the straining  is omitted, and  the evaporation is  conducted without  the
water-bath.
  As ammoniac is not usually kept  purified in our shops, the straining of
the solution in vinegar is directed  as the most convenient method of separat- 
912
Emplastra.
PART II.
 ing 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 yel-
 lowish-white colour and more pleasant appearance."
   Medical Properties.  The ammoniac plaster is stimulant, and is applied
 over scrofulous  tumours and chronic swellings  of the  joints, to promote
 their resolution.   It often produces a papular eruption, and sometimes occa-
 sions considerable inflammation of  the skin.   Dr.  Duncan  has  described a
 fatal case of diffuse inflammation following its  use in a case of diseased knee-
 joint.                                                            W.
  EMPLASTRUM AMMONIACI CUM HYDRARGYRO. Lond.,
 Dub.   Emplastrum Ammoniaci et  Hydrargyri. Ed.  Plaster of
 Ammoniac with Mercury.
   "Take  of  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 Pure  Gum  Ammoniac  a pound;  Purified  Mercury three
 ounces;  Common Turpentine  two  drachms.  Rub the  Mercury with the
 Turpentine until the  globules disappear, then gradually  add  the Ammoniac
 previously  melted, and with  a moderate heat  rub them all together till they
 unite." Dub.
   Of these processes the latter  is preferable, as the  unpleasant odour of the
 sulphurated oil is avoided, as well  as  the action of the  sulphur upon the
 mercury, with which  it must form an inactive sulphuret. But it should be
 recollected  that the common turpentine of Great Britain is not the common
 white turpentine of our shops.   The former is a thick liquid, the latter a soft
 solid.  If the white turpentine be employed, it should be rendered sufficiently
 liquid by the admixture of Venice turpentine.  As ammoniac is  not fusible
 by heat, it  must  be  brought to  the proper consistence by dissolving it in a
 small 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  AROMATICUM. Dub.  Aromatic Plaster.
   "Take of Frankincense [concrete juice of the Abies excelsa] three ounces;
 Yellow Wax half an ounce; Cinnamon Bark, in powder, six drachms; Oil
 of Pimento, Oil of Lemons, each,  two drachms.   Melt the Frankincense
 and Wax together, and strain.   When, upon cooling, they begin to thicken,
 mix in the  powdered Cinnamon previously rubbed  with  the  Oils, and make
 a plaster."  Dub.
   As the virtues of this plaster depend  chiefly upon volatile  ingredients,
 it cannot be kept long without  injury, and should  therefore  be  extempora-
 neously prepared.  It  is not intended  to  be  very  adhesive, as,  in order to
 maintain the due impression, its  application  must be  frequently renewed.
 The volatility of the  oils  requires that it should be spread  without being
 melted or  heated more than is  absolutely necessary to produce  the  proper 
PART II.
Emplastra.
913
degree of softness.  We  are therefore recommended to spread it with the
fingers.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  This is an elegant  local  stimulant, calcu-
lated when applied over the region of the stomach to allay nausea and vomit-
ing, to correct flatulence, and to relieve the gastric uneasiness attendant upon
dyspepsia.                                                       W.
  EMPLASTRUM ASSAFCETIDA.  U.S., Ed.  Assafetida Plas-
ter.
  " Take of Assafetida, Lead  Plaster, each, a pound; Galbanum, Yellow
Wax, each, half a pound ;  Diluted Alcohol  three pints.  Dissolve  the As-
safetida and Galbanum in the Alcohol with  the aid  of a water-bath, strain
the liquor while  hot, and evaporate  to the consistence of honey ;  then add
the Lead Plaster and Wax previously melted together, stir the mixture well,
and evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S.
  "Take of Litharge [Lead] Plaster and Assafetida, of each, two ounces;
Galbanum  and Bees'-wax, of each,  one ounce.   Liquefy the  gum-resins
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 present U.S. Pharmacopoeia in relation to this plaster
are fuller than those of former editions;  as they indicate the mode  in which
the gum-resins may be brought to the liquid  state before being incorporated
with the other ingredients.   Galbanum melts  sufficiently by the aid of heat
to admit of being  strained; but this  is not the case with assafetida, which
must be prepared by dissolving it in  a small  quantity of hot water or diluted
alcohol, straining, and evaporating to the consistence of honey ; and even
galbanum may be  most conveniently treated  in the same way.   Formerly
these gum-resins were ordered merely to be melted and strained, and such is
at present the  direction of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia,  unless the term
" liquefy" be considered as leaving to the operator the choice of the mode in
which  they should be  brought into the liquid state.
  This plaster may be advantageously applied over the stomach or abdomen,
in cases of hysteria attended with  flatulence, and to the chest or between the
shoulders in hooping cough.                                      W.
  EMPLASTRUM BELLADONNA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
Plaster of Belladonna.
  " Take of Resin Plaster three ounces; Extract of Belladonna  an ounce
and a half.  Add the Extract to the Plaster, previously melted by the heat of
a water-bath,  and mix them." U. S.
  The London and Edinburgh processes are the • ame as the above.
  "Take of  the inspissated juice of the Deadly Nightshade [Extractum
Belladonnas] an ounce; Soap Plaster two ounces. Make a plaster." Dub.
  The most convenient method of forming this plaster, is to nib the ingre-
dients  together in  an earthenware mortar placed in hot water, and then,
having removed the mortar from the  water-bath, to continue  the trituration
till the mixture cools.   The preparation  is a useful anodyne  application  in
neuralgic and  rheumatic pains, and in dysmenorrhoea.   We have seen the conr
stitutional effects of belladonna result from its external use.           W.
  EMPLASTRUM CANTHARIDIS.  Lond., Ed., Dub.    Plaster
of Spanish Flies.
  See CERATUM CANTHARIDIS. U.S.
    78 
914
Emplastra.
PART II.
   EMPLASTRUM CANTHARIDIS COMPOSITUM. Ed.  Com-
pound Plaster of Spanish Flies.
   " Take of Venice Turpentine/owr* ounces and a half; Burgundy Pitch and
 Cantharides, of each, three ounces; Bees'-wax one ounce; Verdigris 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 pow-
 der 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 very urgent cases attended with much torpor of
 the skin;  but great care should be  observed not to allow it to remain on too
 long, as unpleasant and tedious ulceration, if not gangrene, might result.  To
 the cases of children it is  wholly inapplicable.                      W.
   EMPLASTRUM CERA.  Lond.    Emplastrum Simplex. Ed.
 Wax  Plaster.
   " Take of Wax, Suet, each, three pounds ;  Resin a pound.   Melt them
 together and strain."  Lond.
   " Take of Bees'-wax three ounces ; Suet and Resin, of each, two ounces.
 Melt them together with  a moderate heat, and stir the mixture briskly till it
 concretes  on cooling." Ed.
   These plasters  were originally intended  for dressing blistered surfaces, in
 order to maintain a moderate discharge, to which  purpose they are adapted
 by the  stimulant  properties of the  resin.   But their stiffness and adhesive-
 ness render them unpleasant and  of difficult  management; and they have
 been entirely superseded  by the resin cerate.
   Off.Prep.  Emplastrum Cantharidis, Lond.                     W.
   EMPLASTRUM  FERRI.  U.S., Ed.    Emplastrum  Thuris.
 Dub.   Emplastrum  Roborans.   Jron Plaster.    Strengthening
 Plaster.
   " Take of Subcarbonate of Iron  three ounces ;  Lead Plaster two pounds;
 Burgundy Pitch half a pound.   Add the Subcarbonate  of Iron to the Lead
 Plaster and  Burgundy Pitch, previously melted together, and stir them con-
 stantly  until they  thicken upon cooling." U. S.
   The  Dublin process differs from the above only in the employment of red
 oxide of iron instead of the subcarbonate, and of frankincense (see page 543)
 instead of Burgundy  Pitch.
   "Take of Litharge Plaster three ounces; Resin six drachms; Olive Oil
 three fluidrachms and a half; Bees'-wax three drachms;  Red  Oxide  of
 Iron [Subcarbonate of Iron, U.S.] one ounce.  Triturate the Oxide of Iron
 with the  Oil, and add the mixture to the other articles previously liquefied
 by gentle heat.   Mix the whole thoroughly." Ed.
   The present U. S.  process is a great  improvement upon that of the former
 editions,  yielding a finer, more adhesive,  and more efficient plaster.  The
 preparation has enjoyed some popular  celebrity,  under  the impression that
 it strengthens the parts to which  it is  applied; whence it has derived the
 name  of strengthening plaster.  It is used  in those  conditions of the loins,
 larger  muscles, and joints,  which, though usually ascribed to debility, are
 in fact most frequently dependent on rheumatic or other  chronic inflamma-
 tory affections, and, if relieved by the plaster, are sq in consequence of the
 gentle  excitation  which it produces in the vessels  of the skin.  It may also,
 in some instances, give relief by affording mechanical support; but neither
 in this, nor in any other respect, can it be deemed very efficient.    W. 
PART 11.
Emplastra.
915
   EMPLASTRUM GALBANI. Dub.   Galbanum Plaster.
   " Take of Litharge Plaster [Emplastrum Plumbi] two pounds; Galbanum
 half a pound; Yellow  Wax, sliced, four ounces.   Add the Litharge Plaster
 and Wax to the Galbanum previously melted; then melt the whole together
 with a moderate heat, and strain." Dub.
   This is essentially the  same in  properties as the following, though some-
 what less stimulating.                                            W.
   EMPLASTRUM GALBANI COMPOSITUM.  U.S.  Emplas-
 trum Galbani. Lond.   Compound Galbanum Plaster.
   "Take of Galbanum eight ounces;  Lead Plaster three pounds ;  Turpen-
 tine ten  drachms; Burgundy Pitch three ounces.   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 together." U.  S.
   The London process differs only in directing the common European tur-
 pentine instead of the white turpentine intended  by our Pharmacopoeia, and
 the concrete juice or unprepared resin of the Abies excelsa, instead of Bur-
 gundy pitch or the prepared resin.
   Before being  employed in this  process, the galbanum should be purified,
 as it often contains foreign matters which must injure the plaster.   It may
 be  freed  from these by  melting it with a little water or diluted alcohol, strain-
 ing, 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 with apparent advan-
 tage in some 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 when applied over  the whole lumbar region, and has been recom-
 mended in chronic gouty or rheumatic articular affections.   It should not be
 employed in the discussion of tumours in which any considerable inflamma-
 tory action exists.                                               W.
   EMPLASTRUM  GUMMOSUM. Ed.   Gum Plaster.
   " Take of Litharge Plaster [Emplastrum Plumbi] four ounces; Ammo-
 niac, Galbanum, and Bees'-wax, of each, half an ounce.   Melt the Gum-
 resins together  and strain them; melt also together the Plaster and Wax;
 add the former to the latter mixture, and mix the  whole thoroughly." Ed.
  The addition of ammoniac adds little to the virtues of this plaster, which
 closely resembles the compound galbanum plaster  in its effects.   The gal-
 banum and ammoniac are best prepared by dissolving them in a small quan-
 tity of hot water or diluted alcohol, straining the solution, and evaporating it
 to the proper consistence for mixing with the other ingredients.
   Off.Prep. Emplastrum Saponis, .Erf.                           W.
  EMPLASTRUM  HYDRARGYRI. U S., Lond., Ed.   Mercu-
 rial Plaster.
  " Take of Mercury six  ounces; Olive Oil, Resin, each, two ounces; Lead
 Plaster a pound.  Melt the Oil and Resin together, and  when  they  have
 become cool, rub the Mercury with them till the globules disappear;  then
 graduallv add the Lead Plaster, previously melted, and mix the whole toge-
 ther." 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 
916
Emplastra.
part ii.
adds  the sulphur  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 one-half of
the quantity of materials is employed, and  nine fluidrachms of olive oil are
directed instead ofan ounce.
   The sulphuretted oil employed by the London College is intended to faci-
litate  the extinguishment of the mercury ; but as it operates by the  union of
the sulphur with the metal forming an inefficient sulphuret, it impairs the
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 process are  deci-
dedly 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, dependent  on a syphilitic taint.  In these cases it sometimes acts as
a powerful discutient.   It is frequently also applied to the side in  chronic
hepatitis or splenitis.  In habits peculiarly susceptible  to the mercurial influ-
ence, it occasionally affects the gums.
   From  numerous  observations made in France by Messrs. Serres, Gariel,
Briquet, and  others (see Archives Generates, viii, 468, and vi, 3eme serie,
24), it appears that the mercurial plaster of the French Codex (Emplastrum
de Vigo cum  Mercurio), has the power, when applied  upon a portion of
skin affected with the eruption of small-pox,  before the end of the third day
of its appearance, to check the progress of the eruption and prevent suppura-
tion and consequent 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 impres-
sion is produced upon the system.   That the local effect is not ascribable to
the mere exclusion of air is proved by the  fact, that the application  of com-
mon lead plaster was  not followed by the  same results.   It is probable that
other mercurial preparations would answer the same purpose; and the  mer-
curial ointment of our Pharmacopoeia has proved effectual, in our own hands,
in rendering the eruption upon the face to a  considerable extent abortive in
one very bad  case of small-pox.  But  as  the most successful results were
obtained with the plaster above mentioned, we give the formula of the French
Codex for its preparation.  The weights mentioned are those of the French
metrical  pound.  (See table in the Appendix.)
   Emplastrum de  Vigo cum Mercurio.   " Take of simple plaster [lead
plaster] two pounds eight ounces; yellow wax two ounces; resin two ounces;
ammoniac, bdellium, olibanum, and  myrrh,  each,^ue drachms ; saffron three
drachms;  mercury  twelve  ounces; turpentine [common European] two
ounces; liquid storax six ounces ; oil of lavender two drachms.  Powder the
gum-resins and saffron, and rub the mercury  with  the storax  and turpentine
in an iron mortar until completely extinguished.   Melt the plaster  with the
wax and resin,  and add to the mixture the  powders and volatile oil.   When
the plaster shall have been cooled, but while it is yet liquid, add the mercu-
rial mixture, and incorporate 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  desired to protect.                          W. 
PART II.
Emplastra.
917
   EMPLASTRUM OPII.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Opium Plaster.
   " Take of Opium, in powder, two ounces ; Burgundy Pitch three ounces;
 Lead Plaster a pound; Boiling Water four fluidounces.  Melt together the
 Lead Plaster and Burgundy Pitch; then add the Opium previously mixed with
 the  Water, and boil them over a gentle fire to the proper consistence." U.S.
   " Take of Hard Opium, in powder, half an ounce; Resin of the Spruce-
 fir [unprepared concrete juice of  Abies excelsa~\, in powder, three ounces ;
 Lead Plaster a pound; Water eight fluidounces. To the melted Plaster add
 the Resin, Opium, and Water; and boil down with a slow fire until the in-
 gredients unite into a proper consistence." Lond.
   Take of Powder of Opium, half an ounce; Burgundy Pitch three ounces;
 Litharge plaster twelve ounces.   Liquefy the Plaster and Pitch, add the
 Opium by degrees, and mix  them  thoroughly." Ed.
   The Dublin process is the same as the Edinburgh.
   The formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia  is preferable, as containing a
 much  larger proportion of opium, which, in the others, is in a quantity too
 small for decided effect.  The use of the  water is to enable the opium to be
 more thoroughly incorporated with the other ingredients;  but care should be
 taken  that the  moisture be well evaporated.
   The opium  plaster is  thought to relieve rheumatic and other pains in the
 parts to which it is applied.                                       W.
   EMPLASTRUM PICIS. Lond., Ed.  Pitch Plaster.
   " Take of Burgundy Pitch two pounds ; Resin of the Spruce-fir [unpre-
 pared  concrete juice of Abies excelsa'] a pound; Resin, Wax, each four
 ounces;  Expressed Oil of Nutmegs an ounce; Olive Oil, Water, each, two
fluidounces.  To  the Pitch,  Resin, and Wax, melted together, add first the
 Resin  of the  Spruce-fir, then  the Oil of Nutmegs, the  Olive Oil, and the
 Water.  Lastly, mix the whole, and boil to the proper consistence." Lond.
   " Take of Burgundy Pitch, onepound 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 mix-
 ture acquires the proper consistence." Ed.
   We presume' that the London  expressed oil of nutmegs,  and  the  Edin-
 burgh oil of mace, in the  above formulas, though these terms are not defined
 in the respective Pharmacopoeias,  have reference to the substance denomi-
 nated,  in the Edinburgh Materia Medica catalogue, myristicse adeps or con-
 crete oil of nutmeg.  (See Myristicse Adeps, page 471.)  The driest  white
 turpentine may be substituted  for the resin  of the  spruce-fir, which  is not
 always to be obtained in this  country.
   This is a rubefacient plaster applicable to catarrhal and other pectoral affec-
 tions, chronic inflammation of the liver, and rheumatic pains in  the joints
 and muscles.  It often  keeps up a serous  discharge, which requires that it
 should be frequently renewed.   The irritation which it sometimes excites
 is so great as to render its removal  necessary.                      W.
   EMPLASTRUM PICIS CUM  CANTHARIDE. U. S.  Emplas-
 trum  Calepaciens. Dub.  Plaster of Pitch ivith 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 thern constantly till they thicken upon cooling."  U. S.
   The Dublin College employs the same proportions.
                                 78* 
918
Emplastra.
part ii.
  This plaster is an excellent rubefacient, more active than Burgundy pitch,
yet in general not  sufficiently so to produce vesication.  Still, however, in
consequence of peculiar susceptibility of the skin in some individuals it occa-
sionally blisters; and it has been recommended to lessen the proportion of
the flies.  But, while such a reduction would render the plaster insufficiently
active in  most cases, it would not entirely  obviate the objection;  as the
smallest proportion of flies would vesicate  in certain persons, and even the
Burgundy  pitch alone sometimes  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, how-
ever, may be accomplished by care in the preparation of the plaster, towards
obviating its tendency to blister.   If  the flies  of the Ceratum Cantharidis
have been coarsely pulverized,  the larger  particles, coming in contact with
the skin, will exert upon  the particular part to which they may be applied
their full  vesicatory effect, while, if reduced  to a very fine  powder, they
would be  more thoroughly enveloped in the other ingredients, and thus have
their strength much diluted.  Hence the cerate, when used  as an ingredient
of the warming  plaster, should contain the 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
temperature of 212°, and then strain it so as to separate the flies. (See Cera-
tum Cantharidis.) The mode frequently pursued of preparing the warming
plaster by simply sprinkling a very small proportion of powdered flies upon
the surface of Burgundy Pitch is altogether objectionable.
  The warming plaster is  employed in chronic rheumatism,  and various
chronic  internal  diseases  attended with  inflammation  or an inflammatory
tendency;  such as catarrh, asthma,  pertussis, phthisis, hepatitis, and the
sequelas of pleurisy and  pneumonia.                                W.
  EMPLASTRUM  PLUMBI.  U.S., Lond.   Emplastrum  Li-
thargyri.  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 be proper to add a little boiling water, if that employed at the commence-
ment be nearly all  consumed before the end of the process."  U.S.
  The above process was precisely that of the old London Pharmacopada.
In the edition of that work  for  1836, the quantities directed are six pounds
of the oxide  of lead, a  gallon of olive oil, and two pints of  wateT,  but, as
the Imperial measure is  employed, the  proportions are in fact nearly the
same as before.
  The Edinburgh College orders five ounces of litharge, twelve fluidoimces
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
that we should enter somewhat in detail into an 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
temperature, and  prevent  the  materials  from being  decomposed by heat.
The discovery, however,  was afterwards made, that this liquid was essential
to  the process; and that the oil and oxide  alone, though maintained at  a 
PART II.
Emplastra.
919
temperature of 220°, would not combine; while the addition of water, under
these circumstances, 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  this 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 abandoned ; 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 formation of  a  sweetish substance  called  glycerin, and of two acid
bodies, the oleic and margaric acids, to which, when animal fat is employed
instead  of  olive oil,  a third is added, namely, the  stearic.  The plaster is
formed by  a union of these acids with the oxide, and, prepared according to
the directions of the Pharmacopoeias, is  in fact an  oleo-margarate of lead.
The glycerin 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 inter-
vention of water.  According to a more recent chemical view, the fixed oils are
compounds of the oily  acids mentioned with the oxide of glycerule.   When
boiled with the oxide of lead  and water, the oily acids combine with the me-
tallic oxide to  form the plaster, and the oxide of glycerule takes an equivalent
of water and becomes  glycerin.   Glycerule is a hypothetical  compound of
carbon and hydrogen (C6H7), which unites  with five equivalents of oxygen
to form oxide  of glycerule (C6H705), also a hypothetical substance, and with
an additional equivalent of water to form glycerin  (C6H705+Aq.)
   Other oleaginous  substances and other metallic oxides  are  susceptible of
the same combination, and  some of them form compounds having the con-
sistence 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 the 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 re-
quired for completing the process than when the officinal formula is followed.
When minium is used,  the  necessity for its partial deoxidation  renders  a
longer continuance of the process necessary 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; and, adulterated
as it frequently is in commerce, it yields an imperfect product.
   Lead plaster has also  been prepared by double  decomposition between
soap  and acetate or subacetate of lead; but the results  have not been so ad-
vantageous as to lead to the general adoption of this process.   For particular
information on the subject the reader  is referred to the  American Journal of
Pharm., ix. 127, and to the Journal de Pharmacie, xxiii. 163 and 322.
   Preparation.   The vessel in which the  lead plaster is prepared,  should
be of such a size that the materials will not occupy more than two-thirds of
its  capacity.  The  oil  should be first introduced, and the  litharge  then
sprinkled in by means of a sieve, the mixture being constantly stirred with
a spatula.   The particles of the oxide are thus prevented from coalescing in 
920
Emplastra.
PART II.
small  masses, which  the oil would not easily penetrate, and which would
therefore delay the process.  Though water exerts an important  chemical
agency in the changes which occur, it is also useful by preventing too high
a temperature, which would decompose the oil and cause the reduction of the
metal.   The waste must, therefore, be supplied by fresh additions as directed
in the process ; and the water added for this purpose  should be previously
heated, as otherwise it would not only delay the operation,  but  by produc-
ing explosion might endanger the operator.   During the  continuance of the
boiling,  the materials  should be constantly stirred, and the spatula should be
repeatedly passed along the bottom of the vessel, from side to side, so  as to
prevent  any of the oxide, which  is disposed by its greater  density to sink
to the bottom,  from remaining  in that  situation.   The materials swell up
considerably in 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. (Chevallier.)   The
process  should not be continued longer than is  sufficient to produce com-
plete union  of  the ingredients, and  this may be  known  by  the  colour and
consistence  of  the  mass.   The  colour of the litharge gradually  becomes
paler, and at length almost white when the plaster is fully formed.   The
consistence  increases with  the progress of the  boiling,  and is  sufficiently
thick, when a portion of the plaster taken out and allowed to cool upon the
end  of a spatula, or thrown  into cold water, becomes solid, without adhering
in this state to  the fingers.  The  portion thus solidified should not present,
when broken, any red points, which would indicate the presence of a portion
of uncombined litharge.   When the plaster is formed, it should  be removed
from the fire, and after a short time cold water  should be poured upon  it.
Portions should  then be  detached  from the  mass, and  having been  well
kneaded under water, in order to separate  the viscid liquid contained in the
interior,  should be formed into cylindrical rolls, and wrapped in paper.  Such
at least has been  the  course of proceeding  usually recommended.   But M.
Davallon maintains that the presence of glycerin in the plaster is useful by
keeping  it in a plastic state, and that washing and  kneading are injurious, the
former by removing the glycerin, the latter by introducing  particles of air and
moisture into the mass, which is thus rendered  more disposed to rancidity.
(Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 274, from Journ. de Chim.  Med.)
   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. Jour, of Med. Sci., xxiii. 246.)   Its chief use is in the preparation of
other plasters.*

  * A plaster of carbonate of lead was originally introduced into  our  Pharmacopoeia as
a substitute for Mahy's plaster,  so much employed in some parts of the United States;
but was omitted in  the last edition.  It is a  good application to  surfaces inflamed or
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 Pharma-
copoeia 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 sort, perhaps, at first, but soon acquiring the proper
consistence. 
PART II.
Emplastra.
921
   Off.Prep. Emplastrum Assafcetidas, U. S., Ed.; Emp. Ferri, U.S., Ed.,
 Dub.; Emp. Galbani,  Dub.; Emp. Galbani Comp., U. S.,  Lond.; Emp.
 Gwmmosmn, Ed.; Emp. Hydrargyri, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Emp. Opii, U.S.,
 Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Resinae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Saponis,
 U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Saponis Comp., Dub.; Unguentum Plumbi
 Comp., Lond.                                                   W.
   EMPLASTRUM  RESINS. U. S., Land,  Emplastrum Resi-
 nosum. Ed.  Emplastrum Lithargyri  cum Resina.  Dub.  Em-
 plastrum Adh^sivum.   Resin Plaster.   Adhesive Plaster.
   "Take  of Resin, in  powder, half a pound; Lead Plaster three pounds.
 To the Lead Plaster melted over a gentle fire add the Resin, and mix them."
 U. S., Lond.
   The Edinburgh College orders five ounces of the lead plaster, and one of
 resin ; the Dublin, three pounds and a half of the former, and half a pound
 of the latter.
   This preparation differs from the  lead plaster in being more adhesive and
 somewhat more stimulating.  It is the common adhesive plaster of the shops,
 and is much employed for retaining the sides of wounds in contact, and for
 dressing ulcers according to the method of Baynton, by which the edges are
 drawn towards  each other, and  a firm  support is given to the granulations.
 It is  usually spread for  these purposes upon muslin ; and the spreading is
 best accomplished, on a large scale, by means of a machine, as described in
 the general observations upon plasters.  It is kept in the shops ready spread;
 but as the plaster becomes less  adhesive by long exposure to the air, the
 supply should be frequently renewed.   When  the skin  is very delicate, it
 occasionally excites some  irritation, and under these  circumstances a plaster
 may be substituted, containing a smaller proportion of resin. That originally
 employed by Baynton contained  only six drachms of resin to the  pound of
 lead plaster.
   In  order to render the plaster more adhesive, and  less brittle in cold
 weather, it is customary with many apothecaries to  employ a considerable
 proportion of Burgundy pitch or turpentine in  its preparation; but these
 additions  are objectionable, as  they greatly increase the liability of the
 plaster to irritate the skin, and thus materially interfere with the purposes for
 which the preparation was chiefly intended.  If the remarks of Dr. Duncan
 on the compound soap plaster of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia may be relied on,
 this might be advantageously substituted for the resin plaster in winter. (See
 Emplastrum Saponis Compositum.)
   Off.Prep.  Emplastrum Belladonnas.  U. S., Lond., Ed.           W.
   EMPLASTRUM  SAPONIS.  U S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.    Soap
 Plaster.
   " Take  of Soap, sliced, half a pound ; Lead Plaster three pounds.  Mix
 the Soap with the melted Plaster, and boil for a short time."  U. S.
   The London and Dublin Colleges mix the same ingredients, in the same
 proportions, and  boil to the proper consistence.
   " Take of Litharge 'Plaster four ounces ; Gum Plaster two ounces ;  Cas-
 tile Soap, in shavings, one ounce.  Melt the Plasters together with a moderate
 heat, add the Soap, and boil for a little." Ed.
   In relation to  the soap plaster of the London and Dublin  Colleges, and
 consequently to  that of the  U. S. Pharmacopaeia,  Dr. Montgomery, in his
 Observations upon the Dublin Pharmacopoeia,  makes the following remark.
 "I am informed  by Mr.  Scanlan, who  prepares this  plaster in large quan-
 tities,  that  the quantity of soap is twice too great, the plaster being, when
prepared by this formula, quite pulverizable, and falling into crumbs."  This 
922
Emplastra,—Enemata.
part n.
effect is in some degree obviated by the gum  plaster directed in the Edin-
burgh process.  After the addition  of the soap to the melted lead  plaster,
it is only necessary to continue the heat for a short time, till the soap is  in-
corporated.   Boiling is not necessary.
  Soap plaster is considered discutient, and is sometimes used as  an appli-
cation to tumours.
  Off.Prep.  Emp. Belladonnas, Dub.; Emp. Saponis Comp., Dub.   W.
  EMPLASTRUM  SAPONIS   COMPOSITUM  vel  ADHE-
RENS. Dub.  Compound Soap Plaster, or  Adhesive Plaster.
  " Take of  Soap Plaster two ounces ; Litharge Plaster with Resin [Em-
plastrum Resinas] three ounces.  Make a plaster,  which is to be melted and
spread on linen." Dub.
  Dr.  Duncan, in  his Dispensatory,  makes the  following observations in
relation to this preparation :  " The   common resinous  plaster is in cold
weather too  brittle, and  apt to crack off from  the linen  on which it is
spread; but by combining it in due proportion with soap  plaster, it acquires
greater pliability, without losing its adhesive property.  In  fact, this is the
plaster commonly spread by a  machine on webs of linen,  and sold under the
name of adhesive plaster."                                         W.


                           ENEMATA.

                               Clysters.

  These can  scarcely be considered proper objects for officinal direction; but
having been  introduced into the British Pharmacopoeias, the plan  of this
work requires that we should  notice them.   They  are  substances in the
liquid form, intended  to be thrown up the rectum, with  the view either of
evacuating the bowels, of producing  the peculiar impression of a remedy
upon the lower portion of the  alimentary canal and neighbouring organs, or
of acting on the system generally through the medium of the surface to which
they are applied.  They are usually employed to assist the action of remedies
taken by the  mouth, or to supply their place when the stomach rejects them,
or is  insensible to  their  impression.   Sometimes they are preferably used
when the seat of the disorder is in the rectum or its vicinity.  As a general
rule, three  times as much  of  any remedy is required to produce  a given
impression by enema, as  when taken into the stomach ; but this rule should
be acted on with caution, as the relative susceptibilities of the stomach and
rectum are not the same in all individuals; and with regard to all very active
remedies,  the best plan is to administer less than the  stated proportion.  At-
tention 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  ad-
ministered  should  be considerable.  For an  adult from ten fluidounces to a
pint, for a child  of eight  or  ten  years, half that quantity, for  an infant
within the year from  one to three fluidounces, are about the proper propor-
tions.   Much larger quantities  of  mild liquids  may  sometimes be given
with safety and advantage;  as  the bowels will occasionally feel the stimulus
of distension, when they are insensible to impressions of an irritating cha-
racter.
  When the design is to produce  the peculiar  impression of the  remedy
upon  the  neighbouring parts or the system, it is  usually desirable  that the
enema should be retained; and the  liquid vehicle should  therefore be bland 
 part ii.                     Enemata.                          923

 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 given should  seldom exceed two or three fluid-
 ounces.
    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 administering enemata is an accurate metallic
 syringe.                                                        W.
    ENEMA ALOES. Lond.  Clyster of Aloes.
    " Take of Aloes two scruples ; Carbonate  of Potassa fifteen grains ; De-
 coction 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 amenorrhoea attended with constipation.           W.
    ENEMA  CATHARTICUM.  Ed., Dub.   Cathartic Clyster.
    " Take of Manna an ounce.   Dissolve it in ten fluidounces of Compound
 Decoction  of Chamomile, and add  of  Olive Oil an ounce, Sulphate of
 Magnesia half an ounce."  Dub.
    " Take of Olive Oil one ounce; Sulphate of Magnesia half an ounce;
 Sugar one ounce; Senna half an ounce ; Boiling Water sixteen fluidounces.
 Infuse  the  Senna for  an  hour in  the  Water; then dissolve the  Salt and
 Sugar;  add  the Oil, and mix them by agitation." Ed.
    The  laxative enema most commonly employed  in this country, consists
 of a tablespoonful of common  salt, two tablespoonfuls of lard or sweet  oil,
 the same quantity of molasses, and a pint of warm water.  It has the advan-
 tage of consisting 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 preferable to it on ordinary occasions.
    Off.Prep. Enema Fcetidum. Ed.,  Dub.                        W.
    ENEMA COLOCYNTHIDIS. Lond.   Clyster of Colocynth.
    " Take of Compound Extract of Colocynth two scruples ; Soft Soap an
 ounce; Water a pint [Imperial measure].   Mix and rub them together."
 Lond.
*   This may be  employed whenever a very powerful  purgative  impression
 is required upon the lower bowels, as in cases of obstinate colic and consti-
 pation.                                                         W.
    ENEMA  FCETIDUM.  Ed., Dub.  Fetid Clyster.
    " This is made by adding to the Cathartic Clyster two drachms of Tinc-
  ture of Assafetida."  Dub., Ed.
    It  is carminative and antispasmodic, as well as laxative; but, when  the
  peculiar influence of assafetida is desired by way  of enema, we prefer  the
  gum-resin itself rubbed up with hot water, in the proportion of one or two
  drachms to half a pint,  of which the whole or a part may be given according
 to circumstances.                                               W.
    ENEMA  OPII. Lond., Dab.   Enema Opii vel Anodtnum. 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. 
 924                     Enemata.—Extracta.                part ii.

   The Dublin College mixes a fluidrachm of tincture of opium with six
fluidounces of warm water.
   Of  these processes that  of the London College is preferable, although
 the quantity of decoction of starch is  unnecessarily large.   In the  Dublin
 formula there is  too  much  both of the tincture and the vehicle.  It  must
 have  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 lauda-
 num injected into the rectum than by one-third of the quantity swallowed.
 The fluidrachm contains  at least  one  hundred drops  of laudanum of the
 ordinary size, and not less  than one hundred and twenty as they are often
 formed.  From  twenty to twenty-five drops  are  usually considered  as a
 medium dose; so that the Dublin College orders five times  as  much by the
 rectum as is  given by the mouth.  Sixty drops, equivalent  to about thirty
 minims, are abundantly sufficient.   As the object  is that the enema should
 remain in the  rectum, the  smaller the quantity of the vehicle the better; and
 a mucilaginous fluid is  preferable  to water, as it involves the tincture and
 prevents the irritation of the alcohol before the opium begins to take effect.
 The ordinary  anodyne enema, employed  in  this country, consists of about
 sixty drops of laudanum and one or two fluidounces of flaxseed tea or  solu-
 tion of starch.
   This is an admirable remedy in obstinate vomiting, strangury from blisters,
 painful affections of the kidneys, bladder, and uterus, and in the tenesmus
 of dysentery.  It may also frequently be  employed to produce the effects of
 opium  upon the system, when circumstances  prevent the administration of
 this medicine  by the mouth.                                      W.
   ENEMA  TEREBINTHINA.   Lond., Ed.,  Dub.  Clyster of
 Turpentine.
   " Take of  Oil of  Turpentine a fluidounce ; Yolk of Egg a sufficient
 quantity.  Rub  them together,  and add of Decoction  of Barley nineteen
fluidounces."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh College  employs the  same proportions, but  substitutes
 water  for decoction  of barley.
   "Take of Common  Turpentine half  an ounce; the Yolk  of one  Egg,
 Rub them together, and add gradually ten ounces of Water of a tempera-
 ture not exceeding 100°." Dub.
   As the common turpentine alluded to in the  Dublin formula is not  usually
 kept in the shops of this country,  we almost always employ the oil of tur-
 pentine, which is even more efficacious, and  in no respect inferior for the
 purpose.   (See Oleum  Terebinthinae.)                             W.


                           EXTRACTA.

                             Extracts.

   Extracts, as the term is employed in the U.S., London, and  Edinburgh
 Pharmacopoeias, are solid substances, resulting from the  evaporation of the
 solutions of vegetable  principles, obtained either by exposing  the vegetable
 to the action  of a  solvent,  or by expressing its juice in the  recent  state.
 The Dublin College makes  a distinction  between  those prepared from the
 infusions, decoctions, or tinctures, and those from the expressed juices of
 plants, calling the former Extracta, the latter Sued Spissati.   But 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 
PART II.
Extracta.
925
the simplicity  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 preparing
each.
   The composition  of extracts  varies with  the nature of the vegetable, the
character of the solvent, and the mode of preparation.  The object is gene-
rally 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 sepa-
rate the active ingredients from each other, when their effects  upon the sys-
tem are  materially  different; and this  maybe  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 essen-
tial oil—gum and starch being excluded when the menstruum is pure alcohol.
Of these substances, as  well as of others which, being  soluble, are some-
times necessarily present in extracts, we have taken occasion to treat  under
various heads in the Materia Medica.  There is one, however, which, from
its supposed almost uniform  presence in this class of preparations,  and from
the influence it is thought to  exert upon their  character, deserves particular
consideration in this place.   We allude to extractive, or,  as it  is sometimes
called, extractive matter.
   It has long been  observed, that  in most vegetables  there is a substance,
soluble  both in water  and alcohol, which, in the preparation  of  extracts,
undergoes some chemical change  during the process of evaporation, impart-
ing to the liquid, even if originally limpid, first a greenish, then a yellowish-
brown, and  ultimately a deep-brown colour, and  becoming itself insoluble.
This substance, originally called saponaceous matter by Scheele, afterwards
received the more expressive name of extractive,  derived from  its  very fre-
quent presence in extracts.   Its existence  as  a distinct principle is denied,
or at least doubted by some chemists, who consider 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  they are not always
present in the same  vegetable, nor can all the changes which have been attri-
buted 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 evapo-
rated in the open air to  the consistence of  an extract, then diluted, filtered,
and again evaporated, and the process repeated so long  as  any insoluble
matter is formed, the whole of the extractive will be separated from the liquid,
which  will then contain only  the gum, sugar, saline  matters,  &c, which
may have existed in  the plant.  If chlorine be passed through an infusion or
decoction, a  similar precipitate is formed with much  greater rapidity.   The
change  is usually ascribed to the  absorption of oxygen  by the  extractive,
which has, therefore, been called,in its altered condition, oxidized extractive;
    79 
926
Extracta.
PART II.
 but De Saussure ascertained that, though oxygen is absorbed during the pro-
 cess, an equal  measure of carbonic acid gas is given out, and the oxygen and
 hydrogen of the extractive unite to form water in such a  manner as to leave
 the principle richer in carbon than it was originally.   The name of oxidized
 extractive is, therefore,  obviously incorrect, and Berzelius  proposes to substi-
 tute for it that  of apotheme, synonymous with  deposit.   According to Ber-
 zelius, apotheme is not completely insoluble in water, but  imparts a slight
 colour to that liquid when cold, and is rather more soluble  in boiling water,
 which becomes turbid upon cooling.   It is still more  soluble in  alcohol, and
 is freely dissolved by solutions of the alkalies and alkaline  carbonates from
 which it is  precipitated by acids.   It has a great tendency, when precipi-
 tated  from solutions, to unite with other  principles, and to carry them along
 with it, thus acquiring properties somewhat different, according to the source
 from  which it is obtained.   In this way, also, even when  the extractive of a
 plant is itself medicinally inert, its conversion into apotheme  may be injurious
 by causing a precipitation of a portion of the active principle; and, in prac-
 tical  pharmaceutic operations,  this change should always, if  possible, be
 avoided.  With these preliminary views,  we shall proceed to the considera-
 tion of the  practical  rules necessary  to  be observed  in  the  preparation of
 extracts. We shall treat of the subject under the several heads, 1. of the extrac-
 tion of the soluble principles from the plant; 2. of the method of conducting
 the evaporation ; 3. of  the proper condition of extracts, the changes they are
 liable to undergo, and the best  method of preserving them; and  4. of the
 general directions of the several Pharmacopoeias in relation  to them.

               1. Extraction of the Soluble Principles.

   There are two distinct modes of obtaining, in a liquid state, the  principles
 which we wish to extract; 1. by expression; 2. by the agency of a solvent.
   1.  By expression.  This method is  applicable only to  recent vegetables.
All plants cannot be advantageously treated in this way,  as  many have too
 little juice  to afford  an appreciable quantity upon  pressure, and of those
 which are  succulent,  a considerable  portion do  not yield  all  their active
principles with their juice.   Succulent fruits, and  various acrid and  narcotic
plants, are  proper subjects  of this treatment.   The  plants  should be ope-
rated  upon, if  possible, immediately after  their  collection.   Mr. Battley, of
London, recommends that, if not entirely fresh, they should be revived by
the immersion  of the stalks in water for twelve or eighteen hours, and those
only used which recover their freshness by this" management. They should
 then be cut into pieces, and bruised in a stone mortar  till brought to a pulpy
consistence.    When the plant is not very succulent, it is necessary to add
a little water during this part of the process,  in  order to dilute the juice.
After sufficient contusion, the pulp is introduced into a linen or canvass
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 obtained is opaque and  usually green,  in consequence of the
 presence of green wax  or chlorophylle, and of a portion  of the undissolved
 vegetable fibre  in a state of minute division.   By heating the juice to about
 160°, the albumen contained in it coagulates, and, involving the chlorophylle
 and vegetable  fibre, forms a greenish  precipitate.  If the liquid be now fil-
 tered, it becomes limpid and nearly colourless, and is  prepared for  evapora- 
PART II.
Extracta.
927
tion.  The clarification, however, is not absolutely necessary, and is generally
neglected.   Sometimes the precipitate  carries with it a considerable portion
of the active principle; in which case it should be 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 ex-
tracted  only by  means of a liquid solvent.  The  menstruum 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 alcohol.  It has the advantage,  moreover,  that it may be  assisted
in its action, if necessary, by  a higher degree of  heat than the latter.  Pump
water  is  often unfit for  the  purpose,  in consequence of the  quantity of its
saline matter,  which, in some  instances, may exert an unfavourable influence
on the  active  principle, and  must always be left  in the extract.  Rain or
river, or distilled water should be  preferred.  Alcohol is employed when the
principles to  be extracted are insoluble,  or  but slightly soluble in water,
as in the case  of the resins ; when it is desirable to avoid in the extract inert
substances,  such as gum  and  starch, which  are  dissolved by water and not
by alcohol; when the heat required to evaporate  the aqueous  solution would
dissipate  or decompose  the  active ingredients  of  the  plant,  as the volatile
oils and the active principle of sarsaparilla;  when the reaction of the water
itself upon the vegetable principles is injurious, as  sometimes happens; and
finally, when the nature of the substance to be exhausted requires so long a
maceration in water as to endanger spontaneous decomposition.  The watery
solution requires to  be soon  evaporated, as this fluid rather  promotes than
counteracts  chemical  changes; while an alcoholic tincture may be preserved
unaltered for an indefinite  period.  An addition of alcohol to water is  suffi-
cient 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 rectified or diluted, alcoholic or spirituous extracts.
   The  method of preparing the  solution  is by no means a matter of indif-
ference.  The vegetable should  be thoroughly bruised or reduced to the
state of coarse powder, so as to  allow  the  access of the solvent to all its
parts, and yet not so finely pulverized as lo  prevent a ready precipitation of
the undissolved and inactive portion.  When water is employed, it is usual
to boil the medicine for a considerable  length of time, and, if the first portion
of liquid does not completely exhaust it, to repeat the operation with succes-
sive 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 pre-
pared with a less degree of heat.  From numerous experiments upon extracts,
Orfila  concluded that their virtues  were less in  proportion to the heat used
in their preparation.   It has,  therefore, been  recommended to substitute for
decoction the process of maceration, digestion, or hot infusion ; in the first of
which the liquid  acts  without  heat, in  the second is assisted by a moderately
increased temperature sustained for a considerable time, and in the third is
poured 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 
928
Extracta.
PART II.
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 more
than counterbalanced by the increased disposition to spontaneous decomposi-
tion.   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 albuminous substances, that the albumen is  coagulated, and
thus prevented from increasing the bulk of the extract, without any addition
to its virtues.  A convenient mode of performing this process, i3 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 opening.  This  operation may  be  repeated till the
water comes away without any obvious impregnation. It is always desirable
to obtain the  solution in the first place as concentrated  as possible, so as to
prevent the necessity of long-continued  evaporation, which has a tendency
to injure the extract.   It is better, therefore, to  incur the risk,  both where
decoction and infusion are employed, of leaving a portion of the active matter
behind, than to obtain a very weak solution.   When successive 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.
   When alcohol is employed as a menstruum, the  vegetable should be ma-
cerated in it for one  or two weeks, and care should be taken that the tincture
be as nearly saturated as possible.   The extraction may be hastened by sub-
stituting digestion for  maceration ;  as the  moderate heat employed, while it
facilitates the action of the alcohol, has in this case no effect in promoting
decomposition, and  the influence of the  atmospheric air may be excluded
by performing the  process in  close vessels.   When alcohol and water are
both  used,  it is best, as a general rule, to exhaust  the vegetable with each
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 vegetable matter is very  porous, and
absorbs large quantities of the solvent, expression must be resorted to.
   Acetic acid has recently been introduced into use as a menstruum in the
preparation of extracts.   It is  supposed to be a better solvent of the active
principles of certain substances than either water or alcohol alone.  Accord-
ing to Girolamo Ferrari, the acrid narcotics, such as aconite, hemlock, hyos-
cyamus, and stramonium, yield much stronger extracts with distilled vinegar
than with water,  and still stronger to alcohol to which strong acetic  acid has
been  added.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., i. 239.)   This acid is  used in the
preparation  of the acetic extract of colchicum of  the London and Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeias.
   The process of displacement has recently been  very advantageously ap-
plied to the preparation of extracts, both with  water and spirituous menstrua.
It has the following great advantages;  1. that it enables the soluble princi-
ples 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  obviatingr the risk of spontaneous decomposition;
and 3. that it affords  the opportunity of obtaining  highly concentrated solu-
tions, thus diminishing all the  injurious effects  of the subsequent evapora- 
PART II.
Extracta.
929
 tion.  While thus advantageous, it is  less liable in this particular case than
 in others to the objection of yielding imperfect results if not well performed;
 for, though  an inexpert  or  careless  operator may  lose  by an incomplete
 exhaustion  of the substance acted on, and the extract may be  deficient in
 quantity, it may still be  of the intended strength and quality,  which is not
 the  case with infusions  or  tinctures  unskilfully prepared upon this plan.
 For an  account of the mode of operating  in the process of displacement,
 and of the instruments used, the reader is referred to pages 763 and  769.
   Some prefer the mode of expression to that of displacement.   This also
 is applicable both to watery and alcoholic menstrua.   The substance to be
 acted upon  is  mixed with the menstruum, cold or hot according to  circum-
 stances; and  the  mixture is allowed  to stand  from  twelve to twenty-four
 hours.   The  liquid part is then filtered off, and the remainder submitted to
 strong pressure, in a linen bag, by means  of the common screw press, or
 other convenient instrument.  Another portion of the menstruum may then
 be added, and pressure again applied ;  and if the substance is not sufficiently
 exhausted, the same operation may be performed a third time.   Frequently
 only a single  expression is required, and very seldom a third.   The quan-
 tity of menstruum added must  vary with the solubility of the principles to
 be extracted.   According to Mohr, the method of expression has the advan-
 tage over  that  of displacement, that  it yields solutions  of more  uniform
 concentration,  that it does not require the  material to be  so carefully pow-
 dered  nor otherwise so  skilfully  managed in order  to  insure favourable
 results, and finally that it occupies less time. (Annul, der Pharm., xxi. 299.)

              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
 becoming insoluble at high temperatures  with the  access of air, and that
 other chemical changes are going on, sometimes not less injurious than  this,
 while the volatile  principles  are expelled with the vapour.   The operator
 should, therefore, observe two rules ;  1.  to conduct the evaporation at as low
 a temperature as is consistent with other objects; 2.  to  exclude atmospheric
 air as  much  as possible, and when this cannot be accomplished, to  expose
 the liquid the shortest possible  time to its  action.  According to Berzelius,
 the injurious influence of atmospheric air is much greater at the boiling point
 of water than at a less  heat, even allowing for  the longer exposure  in the
 latter case; and, therefore, a slow evaporation at a moderate heat is prefer-
 able 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  por-
 tion 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 solu-
 tion 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;
                                  79* 
930
Extracta.
PART II.
for the temperature cannot exceed  this, and the length of exposure is dimi-
nished. But even where this method is employed, it should not be continued
till  the completion of  the evaporation;  for when  most of the water  has
escaped, the temperature can no longer be kept down to the  boiling point,
and the extract is burnt. The caution, therefore, should always be observed
of removing the preparation  from the fire, before  it has attained the consist-
ence of thick syrup, and completing the evaporation either by means of a
water-bath, or in shallow vessels  at a moderate heat.  When large quantities
of liquid are to be  evaporated, it is best to divide  them into portions  and
evaporate each separately ; for, as each portion requires less time for evapo-
ration  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
process, is  safer than the  plan just mentioned, as it obviates all dano-er of
burning the extract;  but as  the  heat  is  not supplied directly from the fire,
the volatilization of the water cannot go  on so rapidly, and the temperature
being the same, or very nearly so, when the water-bath is kept boiling, there
is greater risk of injurious action  from the air.   The use of the vapour-bath,
as suggested by M. Henry,  is perhaps  preferable; as it requires  a smaller
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, com-
municating 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
excess of vapour.   The liquid to be evaporated is first distributed in two or
three capsules, but when considerably concentrated is transferred to a single
one, where it is stirred  towards the close of the process to hasten the evapo-
ration.   The heat  applied to the liquid, if there are four vessels,  is in  that
nearest the boiler  about 198° F., in the  fourth or most remote, about 135°.
An incidental advantage of this apparatus is, that  it affords a large  supply of
distilled water, which may be used for extracting the active matter from fresh
portions of the vegetable, or for other purposes.
   A good  plan of evaporation, though slow, is to place the liquid in a broad
shallow vessel, exposed in  a stove or drying room to a  temperature of about
100°,  or a little higher, taking care that the air have free access in order to
facilitate the evaporation.  This  mode is particularly applicable to  all those
cases in which  maceration or infusion is  preferred to decoction for extract-
ing the active  principles.  Berzelius says  that we  may thus  usually obtain
the  extract in the form of a yellowish  transparent mass, while  those  pre-
pared  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 smiths' bellows, over the surface of the liquid;  and, 
PART II.
Extracta.
931
in the case  of  those substances which are  injured by heat and not by the
action of atmospheric air, there is  no doubt that the plan would  be  found
useful.
  Plans  have  been proposed  and carried  into execution for performing
evaporation  without the admission of atmospheric air.   The apparatus for
evaporation  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 ajr 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  maintain-
ing a more  complete vacuum than can be done by the condensation  of the
vapour alone.   (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., i. 231.)  Another  method is to
place the liquid under an exhausted receiver, together with some  concentrated
sulphuric acid,  or chloride of calcium, which, by its affinity for water,  assists
the evaporation of  the liquid.  But from the expense and trouble of these
modes of evaporation, they are not calculated for general use. Dr. Christison
recommends as probably the most perfect and convenient method, especially
with watery infusions and  decoctions, to 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 more convenient  plan of excluding the air, though it does not at the
same time meet the object of reducing the requisite degree of heat, is to distil
off the water in close vessels.   Berzelius says that this is  the best mode of
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
performed;  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 in-
fusion, and  tincture  of the same vegetable have  been made separately, they
should be separately evaporated to the consistence of syrup, and then mixed
together, while they  are  of such  a  consistence as to incorporate without
difficulty.  The object of this separate  evaporation is,  that the  spirituous
extract may not be exposed to the degree of heat, or lengthened  action of
the air, which is necessary in the ordinary mode of concentrating the infusion
or decoction.
   In every instance, care should be taken to prevent any portion  of the ex-
 tract from becoming dry and hard on the sides of the evaporating vessel, as
 in this state it  will  not readily incorporate with the remaining mass.   The
 heat, therefore, should be applied  to the bottom, and not to tbe 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. 
932
Extracta.
PART II.
Those obtained from the expressed juices of plants are apt to attract mois-
ture from  the  air, in  consequence  of the deliquescent nature of the  salts
existing  in  the juice.   They are  thus rendered softer,  and more liable to
become mouldy upon the surface.   Others, especially  such as contain much
chlorophylle, harden by time, in consequence of the  escape of their mois-
ture;  and it not unfrequenfly happens that small crystals of saline  matter are
formed in their  substance.  Most extracts, especially those containing azo-
tized principles, are capable, when  left to themselves,  of producing nitrates.
The air, moreover, exercises  an unfavourable chemical influence over the
softer extracts, which are enfeebled, and  ultimately become nearly inert, by
the same changes which they undergo more  rapidly in the liquid  state at an
elevated  temperature.   If an  extract be  dissolved in  water, and  the liquid
be  saturated with common salt, or any  other very soluble salt of difficult
decomposition, the greater part of it is  precipitated, in  consequence of the
insolubility  of this class of substances in saline solutions.   The precipitate
may be again dissolved in pure water. (Berzelius.)
   Extracts, in  order that  they may keep well, should be placed  in  glazed
earthenware, glass, or  porcelain jars, and  completely protected, from  the
access of the air.  This may be effected by covering their surface  with a
layer of melted wax, or with a piece of  paper moistened with strong spirit,
then 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.  (Dun-
can.) 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.)
   Extracts from recent plants should always be prepared at  the season when
the plant is medicinally most active; and a good rule is to prepare  them once
a year.


                   4.  General Officinal Directions.

   "In the preparation of the Extracts,  evaporate the moisture, as quickly
as possible, in  a broad, shallow dish, by means of a  water-bath,  until  they
have acquired the consistence  proper for forming pills; and towards the end
of the process, stir them  constantly with a spatula.  Sprinkle upon the softer
Extracts a small quantity of Alcohol [Rectified Spirit, Lond.~].,, U. S.,Lond.
   " Extracts are usually  prepared  by evaporating the  expressed juices of
plants, or their  infusions and decoctions in water, proof spirit, or rectified
spirit, at a temperature not exceeding 212° F. by means of a vapour-bath.
Most of them, however, may be obtained of greatly superior quality by the
process of evaporation in vacuo.  And the extracts of expressed juices can-
not, perhaps, be better prepared  than by spontaneous evaporation  in shallow
vessels, exposed to a current of  air.  Extracts should  be evaporated  to such
a consistence as to form a firm pill-mass  when cold." Ed.
   The Dublin  College places the  inspissated juices  under a distinct head,
and gives directions for the watery  extracts under the  title of Extracta  Sim- 
PART II.
Extracta.
933
pliciora, omitting, probably through  inadvertence, the classification  of the
spirituous extracts which it also orders.
   1.  Succi Spissati.  "The leaves used in the preparation of the inspissated
juices should be  gathered about the  period when the herb begins to flower.
The  inspissation is  best effected by evaporating  the superfluous  moisture
with  a medium heat by means  of a vapour-bath, and constantly stirring with
a spatula towards the close of the process." Dub.
   2.  Extracta Simpliciora. "All simple extracts,  unless otherwise ordered,
are to be prepared according to the following rule.   Boil the vegetable mat-
ter in eight times its weight of  water, till the liquid is reduced one-half; then
express, and after the subsidence of the dregs filter; evaporate-the liquor
with  a superior heat (between  200°  and  212°) until it begins to  thicken;
finally, inspissate it  with a medium heat (between 100° and 200°)  obtained
by a  vapour-bath, frequently stirring, till it acquires the consistence proper
for the formation of pills." Dub.                                    W.
   EXTRACTUM ACONITI.  U. S., Lond., Ed.   Succus  Spissa-
tus  Aconiti. Dub.  Extract of Aconite.
   This is  prepared, according  to the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia, from fresh Aco-
nite,  in the manner directed for extract of stramonium leaves.  (See Extrac-
tum Stramonii Foliorum.)
   "Take of fresh Aconite Leaves a pound.  Bruise them in a stone mortar,
sprinkling  upon them a little water; then express the juice, and evaporate
it, without straining, to the proper consistence." Lond., Dub.
   " Take  of the Leaves  of Monkshood, fresh, any convenient quantity.
Beat  them  into a pulp; express  the juice; subject the residuum  to  perco-
lation with Rectified Spirit, so long as the Spirit passes materially coloured ;
unite  the expressed  juice and  the spirituous infusion; filter;  distil off the
spirit; and evaporate the residuum in the vapour-bath, taking care to remove
the vessel  from  the  heat so soon as the due degree of consistence shall be
attained." Ed.
   The U.S., London, and Dublin  processes for this extract are the  same;
all consisting in the  evaporation of the expressed juice of the leaves.  The
reader will find the general  officinal directions at the close of our introduc-
tory 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 service.   Having passed the expressed juice through a  fine hair sieve, he
places it immediately upon the fire.   Before  it boils, a  quantity of green
matter rises to the surface,  which in some plants is very abundant.  This is
removed by a perforated tin dish, and preserved.  It ceases to  appear soon
after the liquid begins to boil. The boiling is continued till rather more than
half the fluid has been evaporated, when the decoction is poured into a coni-
cal pan and allowed  to cool.   An abundant dark-green  precipitate forms,
from  which the supernatant liquid is  poured off, and, having been  reduced
one-half by a second boiling, is again allowed  to  stand.   The precipitate
which now falls is less green  than the first.  The remaining  fluid is once
more  placed over the fire, and allowed to boil till it assumes the consistence
of syrup, when  it is  removed.   The  matter at first collected  by filtration,
together with that precipitated, is now  incorporated  with it, and the whole 
934
Extracta.
part ii.
placed in a metallic pan, and by means of a water-bath evaporated to the con-
sistence of an extract.   In the latter part of the process, care is necessary to
prevent any part of the extract frbm 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
subjected for a shorter time to heat than if allowed to remain in the liquor,
and consequently are less deteriorated.  The matter which coagulates before
the fluid boils is chiefly albumen, embracing portions of chlorophylle and
of the undissolved  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  Pharma-
copoeia, 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  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 yel-
lowish-brown colour, with a disagreeable narcotic odour, and the acrid taste
of the plant.   Prepared according to the Edinburgh process, it is said to be
more acrid and more active as a medicine.  The extract of aconite may be
given in the dose of  one or two  grains, night and morning, to be gradually
increased till  the system is  affected.   Twenty grains or  more have been
given in the course of  a day.   Dr. Turnbull states, that he has tried several
extracts of aconite made by evaporating the expressed juice, and found them
almost inert.                                                       W.

  EXTRACTUM ACONITI ALCOHOLICUM. U.S.   Alcoholic
Extract of Aconite.
  " Take of Aconite, in coarse powder, a pound; Diluted Alcohol four pints.
Moisten  the  Aconite with half a pint of the Diluted Alcohol, and, having
allowed it to  stand for  twenty-four hours, transfer it to an apparatus for dis-
placement,  and add  gradually the remainder of the Diluted Alcohol.   When
the last  portion of this shall  have  penetrated the Aconite, pour in sufficient
water from time to time to keep the  powder covered.  Cease to filter when
the  liquid which passes begins to produce a precipitate, as  it falls, in that
which has  already passed.   Distil off the Alcohol from the filtered liquor,
and evaporate the residue to the proper consistence."  U.S.
  This is essentially the process of the French Codex.  The  water added
is merely intended to expel that portion of  the spirituous solution remaining
in the Aconite; and the  filtration is directed to cease when  a precipitate
begins to appear, because this is an indication that the water is passing.   It
is 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 
PART II.
Extracta.
935
time, this is a good  preparation of aconite, and  is believed to  be more
powerful, and to  keep better, than the  inspissated  juice.   The dose is half
a grain or a grain, to be gradually increased if necessary.            W.
   EXTRACTUM ALOES PURIFICATUM. Lond.  Extractum
Aloes Hepatic^:.  Dub.   Purified Extract of Aloes.
   " Take of Aloes, in powder,  fifteen ounces;  Boiling  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.
   The Dublin College prepares  this extract according to the  general direc-
tions. (See page 933.)
   The object of this process is to separate  from aloes  the resinous matter,
the apotheme of Berzelius, which is supposed to irritate the bowels, without
possessing purgative properties ;  but the truth appears  to be, that,  when de-
prived of a small  proportion of adhering extractive,  this  matter is quite inert.
It cannot, 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. Extractum Colocynthidis  Compositum, Lond.         W.
  'EXTRACTUM ANTHEMIDIS. Ed. Extractum Chamjemeli.
Dub.   Extract of Chamomile.
   " Take of Chamomile [dried  flowers] a  pound.  Boil it with  a gallon
[Imperial measure] of Water down to four pints;  filter the liquor  hot;
evaporate in the vapour-bath to the proper consistence." Ed.
   The Dublin College prepares this extract according to the general process
for simple extracts.  (See page 933.)
   According to Mr.  Brande,  one cwt.  of  dried chamomile flowers affords
upon an  average 48 pounds of extract.
   This extract has a deep-brown colour, and the bitter taste of chamomile,
but is wholly destitute of aroma,  the volatile oil having  been entirely driven
off during the process.  It does  not, therefore, possess the peculiar virtues
of the flowers; but is simply a  mild  bitter, which may sometimes be ad-
vantageously combined with  laxatives  and mineral  tonics  in debilitated
states of the digestive organs.   All the effects of  the  flowers may be  ob-
tained from it by adding a little of the oil of chamomile.   It is most used,
however, as a vehicle for other  tonics  in  the  pilular  form.   It  has been
omitted in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The  dose is from
ten to twenty grains.  An 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 ARTEMISIA ABSINTHII.   Dub.  Extract of
Wormwood.
  This extract, which is directed only by the Dublin   College, is  prepared
from the  tops of Wormwood according to the general  formula of that Col-
lege for simple  extracts.  (See page 933.)   It retains,  to a certain extent,
the bitterness of the plant, without the strong odour and peculiar taste de-
pendent on the volatile oil, which is driven off by  the  boiling. It is, how-
ever, in no respect superior to other bitter extracts, and is very seldom used.
The dose is from ten to twenty grains.                              W. 
936
Extracta.
part ii.
   EXTRACTUM  BELLADONNA.  U S, Lond., Ed.  Succus
Spissatus Belladonna. Dub.   Extract of Belladonna.
   This is  prepared from the fresh  leaves of the Atropa Belladonna in the
manner  directed by  the U.S.  Pharmacopoeia  for extract  of stramonium
leaves (see Extractum Stramonii Foliorum) ; and by  the  London and
Dublin for 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.
   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  filtering, and that coagulated by heat, are nearly  if not quite inert;
so that advantage might  result from clarifying the juice by these means be-
fore evaporating it.   (See General Observations  on Extracts, p. 927.)   Mr.
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 England.   It  has usually a dark-brown colour, a slightly narcotic not
unpleasant odour, a bitterish taste,  and a soft consistence which it long re-
tains.  Asparagin has been found in this extract.  (Journ. de. Pharm. xxi.
178.
   Its medical  properties and uses have been detailed  under the head of  Bel-
ladonna.   A few words  in relation to its mode of application may be proper
here.  For the  dilatation of the pupil, it is either mixed  with water to the
consistence of cream  and rubbed on the brow and eyelids, or dissolved in
water and  dropped  into  the eye.  In rigidity of  the os uteri, it is applied at
intervals to  the neck of  the uterus,  mixed with simple ointment in the pro-
portion of  two drachms  to an ounce.   In irritability of the bladder, chor-
dee, spasm  of the urethra, and  painful constriction  of  the  rectum, it may
either  be rubbed in the form of ointment  upon  the perineum, along the
urethra, &c, or may be  used  in  the form of enema ; but care is  requisite
not to introduce  it too freely  into the bowel.   It is  sometimes smeared  upon
the bougie  mixed with oil, in the treatment of stricture  of the urethra.  In
the form of ointment it has  been  beneficially employed  in phymosis and
paraphimosis, and in that of  plaster or ointment, in local  pains of  a neural-
gic or  rheumatic character.  (See Emplastrum Belladonnas.)  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 increase the  dose till the  effects of the medi-
cine 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.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.     W.
   EXTRACTUM  BELLADONNA   ALCOHOLICUM.    U.S.
Alcoholic Extract of Belladonna.
   This is  directed  by the U.S. Pharmacopoeia  to be prepared from  Bella-
donna, in coarse powder, in  the same manner  as the  alcoholic extract of
aconite.  (See Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.)  It is a  good preparation,
though less necessary than  some other spirituous extracts  of the narcotic
plants ; as  the inspissated juice or common extract of belladonna can  gene-
rally be procured of good quality.   It is one of  the officinals of  the French
Codex.  The dose  to begin with is  half a grain or a grain.           VV. 
PART II.
Extracta.
937
   EXTRACTUM  CINCHONA.  U. S.f  Ed:, Dub.   Extractum
Cinchona Cordifolia. Extractum Cinchona Lancifolia.  Ex-
tractum Cinchona Oblongifolia. L*ond.   Extract of Peruvian
Bark.
   "Take of Peruvian Bark,  in  coarse  powder, a pound;  Alcohol four
pints; Water a sufficient  quantity.  Macerate the Peruvian Bark with the
Alcohol  for four  days ; then filter by  means of an apparatus for displace-
ment, 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 con-
sistence  of thin  honey ;  then mix them, and evaporate  so as to form  an
extract." U. S.
   " Take of Cinchona Cordifolia, bruised, fifteen ounces ; Distilled Water
four gallons [Imperial measure].  Boil down with a gallon of Water to six
pints, and strain  the liquor while  hot.  In the same manner boil  down with
an equal measure of Water four times, and strain.  Lastly, having mixed all
the liquors together, evaporate them to the proper consistence.  Prepare the
Extract  of  Cinchona Lancifolia,  and Cinchona Oblongifolia, in the  same
manner as that of Cinchona Cordifolia."  Lond.
   " Take  of any of the varieties of Cinchona, but  especially the Yellow
or Red  Cinchona, in fine powder, four  ounces; Proof Spirit twenty-four
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.
   The Dublin College takes a pound of coarsely powdered pale bark and
six pints of water ; boils for fifteen minutes in a loosely covered  vessel, and
filters the decoction while hot; boils the residue again in  an equal quantity
of water, and filters as before; repeats the boiling and filtration in like man-
ner a third time;  then mixes the decoctions, and evaporates them  to a proper
consistence.  The College also directs that the extract should be kept soft,
so as to be fit for  forming pills, and hard, that it may be pulverized;
   Of the different officinal extracts of bark for wbich directions are  given
above, we decidedly prefer that of the United States or Edinburgh Pharma-
copoeia.   The  extract of the London and Dublin  Colleges is  an  injudicious
preparation.  In  the first place, the water does  not nearly exhaust the  bark,
and  in the second, the  boiling favours  the formation  of  an insoluble  com-
pound of starch and tannin, which carries with it a portion of the alkaline
principles, and, though retained in the extract, is probably less efficient as a
medicine than a more soluble  compound containing an equal proportion of
the active matter.   According to the suggestion of M.  Henry, Jun., it  is not
improbable that the different colouring matters in  the bark act in relation to
the quinia  and  cinchonia the part  of an acid, sharing at a high temperature
these bases with the kinic acid, and forming with them insoluble  if not inert
compounds.  Besides, we cannot by any means be certain that a long con-
tinued heat of 212° may not determine an actual decomposition of a portion
of these alkalies,  and the formation of new principles.  It is  very desirable
that  the evaporation, in the preparation  of this extract, should be  effected at
a low temperature.
   A very good extract of bark was  formerly prepared, in the  shops of Phi-
ladelphia, by macerating  cinchona  for a considerable  length  of time in a
large proportion  of water, and slowly evaporating the infusion, by a very
     80 
938
Extracta.
PART II.
 moderate heat, in large shallow dishes placed upon the top of a stove.  Be-
 fore 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 alco-
 holic 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 solvent, and more readily  separated after being exhausted.
 The extract should  always be brought to the hard dry state in which  it may
 be  pulverized ; 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  red or yellow  (Calisaya) bark.
  Medical Uses.  The extract of Peruvian bark is at present  much less em-
 ployed than before the discovery of quinia.  It is still, however, occasionally
 prescribed as a tonic in combination with other medicines;  and as  it pos-
 sesses, when properly prepared with a spirituous menstruum, almost  all  the
 active principles as  they exist in the  bark itself, it may be  used in  prefer-
 ence  to  the  sulphate of quinia, whenever it is  supposed that  the latter is
 incapable of exerting all the  curative influence  of cinchona.   The dose is
 from ten to  thirty  grains, equivalent to about a drachm  of  the  powdered
 bark.                                                            W.
   EXTRACTUM COLCHICI ACETICUM.  Lond.,  Ed.   Acetic
 Extract of Colchicum.
   " Take of fresh  Colchicum Cormus  [bulb] a pound; Acetic Acid three
fluidounces.   Bruise the Cormus, gradually sprinkling  in the Acetic Acid  ;
 then express the juice, and evaporate  it, in an earthen vessel not  glazed
 with lead, to the proper consistence." Lond.
   " Take of Bulb of Colchicum a pound ; Pyroligneous Acid three fluid-
 ounces.   Beat  the Colchicum to  a pulp, gradually adding the acid ; express
 the liquor and  evaporate it in a porcelain  vessel (not glazed with  lead) over
 the vapour-bath to the due consistence." Ed.
  The use of the  acetic acid  in this preparation, is to render more soluble
 the alkaline principle upon which the virtues of  meadow-saffron are thought
 to  depend.   The acetic extract of colchicum is highly commended  by  Sir
 C.  Scudamore, who, however, prefers  it  made  by evaporating, to the con-
 sistence 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 COLCHICI CORMI. Lond.   Extract of Col-
 chicum  Cormus.
   This is prepared in the manner directed for Extract of Aconite.
   There scarcely seems to be occasion  for both this and the preceding ex-
 tract of  meadow-saffron bulb.   Neither of  them can be generally prepared
 in this country, as the fresh bulb is scarce.  The dose is one or two grains.
   In Great  Britain a  preparation  called preserved juice of colchicum is
 given in  the dose  of five minims or more.  It is prepared by expressing
 the fresh bulb, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, so that the feculent
 matter may be deposited, then adding one-quarter of  its  bulk of  alcohol,
 allowing it again to stand for a short period, and ultimately filtering. 
part ii.                       Extracta.                          939

  EXTRACTUM COLOCYNTHIDIS. Lond.,  Ed.    Extractum
Colocynthidis simplex. Dub.   Extract of Colocynth.
  " Take of Colocynth, sliced, a pound; Distilled Water two gallons [Im-
perial measure].  Mix them and boil  with  a slow  fire  for six hours, occa-
sionally adding Distilled Water, so that it may always  fill the same measure.
Strain the liquor while hot; and, lastly, evaporate to the proper consistence."
Lond.
  The Edinburgh process corresponds closely with the London.
  " Take of Pulp  of Colocynth a pound; Water  a gallon.  Boil down to
four pints, and strain the liquor while hot; then evaporate it to a proper con-
sistence." Dub.
  In the formula of the Dublin College, the proportion  of colocynth is  too
large, if the pulp only, without the seeds, is  intended; as, in consequence
of the porous nature of the medullary matter, it absorbs nearly the whole of
the water, and almost precludes the possibility of  boiling as  directed.  Dr.
Duncan found half a pound of Colocynth to contain 2770  grains of seeds,
which,  boiled  by  themselves, yielded almost nothing to  water,  and 800
grains of pith, which was easily boiled in four pounds  of water, but absorbed
almost the whole of it.  The decoction, when expressed, although it con-
tained no starch, gelatinized on cooling.  By boiling  the residuum in four
pounds of fresh water, he obtained a decoction, which, mixed with that pre-
viously  obtained,  yielded upon  evaporation  360   grains of  a  pale-brown,
semi-transparent, dry, elastic extract, of intense bitterness.
  The decoction is ordered to  be strained while hot, because the gelatinous
consistence which  it assumes  on cooling prevents it from readily passing
through the strainer.  The French Codex directs,  instead of the decoction,
an infusion prepared by maceration in  cold water.   But the aqueous extract
of colocynth, however made, is not an eligible preparation; as water is  not
the best solvent of  the  active bitter  principle, while it takes up much inert
matter,  so that the officinal extract is  even  feebler  than  colocynth itself,
without having any peculiar merit to recommend it.  Besides, according to
Mr. Brande, it is invariably either mouldy, or so tough and hard  as to resist
trituration and formation into pills.   It has no place in our national Pharma-
copoeia, and is little used.   The dose is from five grains to half a drachm.
                                                                W.
  EXTRACTUM   COLOCYNTHIDIS  COMPOSITUM.  U.S.,
Lond., Dub.   Compound Extract of Colocynth.
  "Take of Colocynth, deprived  of  the  seeds  and sliced, six ounces;
Aloes, in powder,  twelve  ounces;  Scammony, in powder, four ounces;
Cardamom, in  powder, an ounce; Soap [Castile] three ounces;  Diluted
Alcohol a gallon.   Macerate the Colocynth in the Diluted Alcoliol, with a
gentle heat, for  four days.   Express and filter the liquor,  and add to it the
Aloes, Scammony, and Soap ;  then evaporate to the proper consistence, and,
near the end of the process, mix the Cardamom with the other ingredients."
U.S.
  The processes of the London  and Dublin  Colleges correspond with  the
above except in phraseology.   The former College, however,  directs  the
purified extract of aloes, the latter, hepatic aloes.
  The object of the soap in this formula is to improve the consistence of the
mass, which it renders more  soluble in the liquors of the  stomach when
hardened by time.   It may possibly also serve the  purpose of qualifying  the
action of the aloes.  Diluted alcohol is a much better solvent of the active
principle of colocynth than water.   The proper consistence, alluded to  in
this process, is  that which is adapted to the  formation  of pills. 
940
Extracta.
PART II.
    This extract is an energetic and  safe cathartic, possessing the activity of
 its three purgative ingredients, with comparatively little  of  the drastic cha-
 racter of the colocynth and scammony.  It  may be  still further and advan-
 tageously modified  by combination with rhubarb, jalap, calomel, &c, with
 one or more of which it is very often united in prescription.  In such com-
 bination it is much  employed wherever an active cathartic is desirable, par-
 ticularly in the commencement of fevers  and  febrile complaints, in conges-
 tion of  the liver or  portal system, and in obstinate  constipation.  In small
 doses it is an excellent laxative in that state of habitual costiveness depending
 on a  want of the due irritability of the bowels, which  often occurs  in old
 people.  The dose is from five to thirty grains, according to the effect to be
 produced, and the susceptibility of the bowels.  A very eligible combina-
 tion is the compound  cathartic pill of  the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.
    Off. Prep, Enema  Colocynthidis, Lond.; Pilulas  Catharticas Compositas,
 U.S.                                                              w.
    EXTRACTUM  CONII. U S, Lond., Ed.   Succus  Spissatus
 Conii. Dub.   Extract of Hemlock.
    This is prepared from fresh Hemlock Leaves, in the manner directed  by
 the U.S. Pharmacopoeia for  extract of stramonium leaves [see  Extractum
 Stramonii Foliorum], and by the London and Dublin for extract of aconite
 (see Extractum Aconiti).
    "Take of Conium  any convenient  quantify.  Beat it into a uniform pulp
 in a marble  mortar, express the juice, and filter it.  Let this juice be evapo-
 rated  to the consistence of a  very firm  extract either in  a vacuum with the
 aid of heat, or spontaneously in shallow vessels exposed to  a strong current
 of air freed  of dust by gauze-skreens.  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 evapo-
 rate the juice without an undue degree of  heat.   At a temperature of 212°
 or upwards, its active principle  undergoes rapid  decomposition,  being con-
 verted into resinous matter and ammonia.   This is  detected by the  operator
 by the ammoniacal odour mixed  with that which  is peculiar to the plant.
 When  evaporated over a fire, the juice always to a certain extent undergoes
 this decomposition, and is not exempt from it even when the heat is regulated
 by a  water-bath.  Hence the propriety of  the directions of the  Edinburgh
 College.  In Edinburgh, a very fine  extract is prepared by evaporating  the
 juice  first in a vacuum, and afterwards  in shallow vessels, with a current of
 air, at common temperatures.   Long-continued exposure to the air is pro-
 ductive of the same  result as too  much  heat, so that  old  extracts are fre-
 quently destitute of activity.  (Journ.  de Pharm., xxii. 416.) No one of  the
 extracts is more variable  in  its  qualities  than this.   The season at  which
 the herb is collected, the place and circumstances of its growth, the method of
 preparing the extract, are all  points of importance, and are all too frequently
 neglected. (See Conii  Folia.)  In this country the process is  often very
 carelessly conducted ; and large quantities of  an extract prepared by boiling
 the plant in  water and evaporating  the  decoction, have been sold  as  the
. genuine drug.   The  apothecary should always prepare  the extract himself,
 or procure it from persons in whom  he can have entire confidence.   That
 imported from London is  usually  the best.   The  activity of any specimen
 of the extract may be judged of by  rubbing  it  with potassa, which, disen-
 gaging the conia and  rendering it  volatile,  gives rise  to the peculiar odour
 of that principle.   If no odour be evolved under  these circumstances,  the
 extract may be deemed inert. 
PART II.
Extracta.
941
   Extract of hemlock should have a fresh olive or greenish colour, a strong
narcotic somewhat  fetid  odour, and a bitterish saline taste.   According to
Brande, from three to five pounds are  obtained from one cwt. of the leaves.
M. Recluz got rather more than an ounce from sixteen ounces.   Of  the
medical properties and application of this extract, we have spoken under the
head of Conii Folia.  The dose is three grains twice a day, to be gradually
increased till evidences of its action  upon the  system are afforded.  It may
be administered in pill or solution.
   Off. Prep. Pilulae Conii Compositae. Lond.                     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.)
   It is one of the French officinal extracts.   The same caution is requisite
in evaporating in this case as in that of the inspissated  juice or common  ex-
tract.  The dose, to begin with, is two or three grains.              W.
   EXTRACTUM DIGITALIS. Lond., Ed.   Extract  of Foxglove.
   This is  prepared from the fresh leaves, in the  manner directed by  the
London College  for extract of  aconite (see  Extractum Aconiti), by  the
Edinburgh, for extract of hemlock (see Extractum  Conii).
   It is a new preparation of the  London  and  Edinburgh Colleges, and  ap-
pears to us, considering the activity of the leaves themselves, and the at least
equal uncertainty  of the extract, to be quite superfluous.   The dose is from
half a grain to two grains.                                        W.
   EXTRACTUM DULCAMARA. U.S.  Extract of Bittersweet.
   This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Bittersweet,
in coarse powder, in the  manner directed for  extract of gentian.  (See Ex-
tractum Gentianae.)
   This has been  newly introduced into  the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.   It is a
preparation 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.    Ex-
tract of Gentian.
   " Take of Gentian, in  coarse powder, a pound;  Water a sufficient quan-
tity.  Mix the Gentian with a pint of the Water, and, after  allowing  the
mixture to  stand  for twenty-four hours, introduce it into an  apparatus  for
displacement, and pour Water upon it gradually until the liquid passes  but
slightly impregnated with  the properties of the  Gentian.   Heat the filtered
liquid to the boiling point, strain, and evaporate to the  proper consistence."
U.S.
  " Take of Gentian, sliced,  two pounds and a  half;  Boiling Distilled
Water two gallons  [Imperial measure].  Macerate  for twenty-four hours;
then boil down to a  gallon, and strain the liquor while hot;  lastly, evaporate
to the proper consistence." Lond.
  " Take  of Gentian any convenient quantity.  Bruise it to a moderately
fine powder, mix  it thoroughly with half its weight of Distilled Water; in
twelve hours put it into a proper percolator, and exhaust it by percolation
with temperate Distilled Water;  concentrate  the liquid,  filter  it before it
becomes  too  thick, and  evaporate  in  the vapour-bath  to  the due consist-
ence." Ed.
                                 80* 
942
Extracta.
PART II.
   The Dublin College prepares this extract according to the general process
of that College for simple extracts. (See page 933.)
   The  London and Dublin Colleges adhere to the  old mode of preparing
this extract by decoction;  but in the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias
the better process of percolation with cold water  has been adopted.  MM.
Guibourt and Cadet de Vaux obtained  by the maceration in cold water an
extract not only greater in amount, but more transparent, more bitter, and pos-
sessing more of the colour and smell of the root than that prepared by decoc-
tion.  Guibourt attributes this result to the circumstance that, as gentian con-
tains 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.  For rules  in relation to  the proper
management of the displacement process, the  reader is referred to pages 763
and 769; and for observations upon the best modes of evaporation in the
formation of extracts, to page  929.   Gentian,  according to Brande, yields
half its weight of extract by decoction.
   As ordinarily procured, the extract of gentian  is  nearly inodorous, very
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  Compositas, Lond.                      W.
   EXTRACTUM HAMATOXYLI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Extractum
Hamatoxyli Campechiani. Dub.  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 con-
sistence." 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 consist-
ence." Ed.
   The London College  prepares it in  the manner directed  for extract of
gentian (see Extractum Gentianae);  the Dublin College, according to  their
general process for simple extracts.  (See page 933.)
  The evaporation should be carried so  far, that the extract may be dry and
brittle when cold.  About  twenty pounds of  it are  obtained from one cwt.
of logwood. (Brande.)   It  is of  a  deep  ruby colour, and  an  astringent
sweetish taste ; and possesses all the medical virtues  of the wood from which
it is procured.  If given  in  pills, these  should  be recently made, as, when
long kept, they are said to become so hard as sometimes to pass  unchanged
through the bowels.  The extract, however, is best administered  in solution.
The dose is from  ten to thirty grains.   This  extract is  said to be prepared
largely in Yucatan and other parts of Mexico.  (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of
Pharm., vi. 87.)                                                  W.

   EXTRACTUM HELLEBORI.  U.S.    Extract of Black Helle-
bore.
  This  is  prepared, according  to  the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from  Black
Hellebore, 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
hellebore, 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
attention be paid  to conduct the evaporation at as  low a temperature, and 
PART II,
Extracta.
943
 with as little exposure to the air as possible, an efficient  extract will proba-
 bly be obtained.   It operates  as  a drastic purge  in  the  dose of twelve or
 fifteen grains, but is seldom employed.
   The former French Codex  contained a process for preparing the extract
 of hellebore, according to the  method of Bacher.   Two pounds of the root
 and  half a pound of carbonate  of potassa are digested, with a moderate heat,
 for twelve hours, in eight pounds of alcohol of 22° B.; the tincture is strained
 with expression, the residuum is again digested with eight pounds of white
 wine for twenty-four  hours; the  wine  is  expressed, and having stood four
 hours to settle is decanted;  the liquors are  then  mixed, and with a gentle
 heat evaporated to the consistence of an extract.   One ounce of this extract,
 mixed with the same quantity of  myrrh, and with ten scruples of the pow-
 dered  leaves of the Centaurea benedicta, and made into  pills of one  grain
 each, constitutes the preparation known as the tonic pills of Bacher, formerly
 much used in amenorrhoea 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, with-
 out disadvantage, be substituted for the wine in the preparation of the extract.
                                                                 W.
   EXTRACTUM  HUMULI  LUPULI.  Dub.  Extractum  Lu-
 puli.  Lond., Ed.  Extract of Hops.
   The London  College  prepares this  extract in the manner  directed for
 extract of gentian (see Extractum Gentianae); the Edinburgh,  in the same
 manner as extract of logwood  (see Extractum Hsematoxyli); and the Dub-
 lin, according to its general formula for simple extracts. (See p.  933.)
   Since  the discovery of the fact that the active properties of  hops  reside
 chiefly in the lupulin, this extract has not been  deemed an eligible prepara-
 tion, and has been little used.  It  has the peculiar bitterness of the strobiles,
 without their  aroma.   Lupulin may be advantageously substituted for it in
 all cases in which it  was formerly employed.   Mr. Brande says, that the
 average product of one cwt, of hops is forty pounds of the extract.  The
 dose is from ten to thirty grains.                                   W.

   EXTRACTUM  HYOSCYAMI.  U S., Lond., Ed.  Succus Spis-
 satus Hy/oscyami. 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
 Stramonii Foliorum), by the London and Dublin for extract of  aconite  (see
 Extractum  Aconiti),  and by  the Edinburgh for extract of hemlock (see
 Extractum Conii).
   MM. Solon and Soubeiran  have shown that the insoluble matter sepa-
 rated 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  advan-
 tageously clarified  before evaporation. (Amer. Jour,  of Pharm., viii. 228.)
 Extract of henbane is seldom, if ever,  made  in this country, being derived
 chiefly from England.   Mr. Brande  says, that  one cwt.  of the fresh herb
 affords between four and five  pounds.   M. Recluz obtained about one  part
from sixteen.
  The extract, as it reaches  us, is of a  dark-olive  colour almost black, of a
narcotic rather unpleasant odour,  and a bitterish,  nauseous,  slightly  saline
taste.  It retains its softness for a long time ; but at the end of three or four
years becomes dry, and exhibits,  when  broken, small crystals of nitrate of
potassa and  chloride of sodium. (Recluz.)   Like  all the  inspissated juices 
944
Extracta.
part ii.
it is of variable strength, according to its age, the care used in its prepara-
tion, and the character of the leaves from which it was procured. (See Hyos-
cyamus. ) In its use, therefore, it is advisable to begin with a moderate dose,
two or three grains for  instance, and gradually to increase the quantity till
some effect is  experienced, and the  degree of efficiency of the particular
parcel employed is ascertained.  It is usually given in pill.  It is sometimes
used externally for the same purposes as extract of belladonna.
   Off. Prep. Pilulas Colocynthidis et Hyoscyami, Ed.              W.
   EXTRACTUM  HYOSCYAMI  ALCOHOLICUM. U.S.  Alco-
holic Extract of Henbane.
   This is  prepared, according to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from  Henbane
Leaves, in  coarse powder,  in  the manner directed for  alcoholic extract of
aconite. (See Extractum Aconiti  Alcoholicum.)
   The alcoholic extract of henbane, if prepared from recently dried leaves,
is thought  to be more uniform and more powerful than the inspissated juice
or common extract.  It is one of the  preparations  of the French Codex.
The dose is one or two grains, to  be gradually increased until its effects are
obtained.                                                         W.
   EXTRACTUM  JALAPA.  U S., Lond., Dub.   Extract of
Jalap.
   This is  prepared, according to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from  Jalap, in
coarse powder, in the manner directed for extract of Peruvian bark.  (See
Extractum Cinchonae.)
   " Take of Jalap, in powder, two pounds and a half;  Rectified Spirit a
gallon [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water  two gallons [Imperial  mea-
sure].  Macerate the Jalap in the Spirit  for four days, and pour off the
tincture.  Boil the residue in  the  Water down to half a  gallon.   Filter the
tincture and decoction separately;  then distil  the former  and evaporate the
latter until  they thicken.   Lastly, mix the extract with the resin, and evapo-
rate to the  proper consistence.  Let the extract be kept soft, fit for forming
pills,  and hard, so that it may be powdered." Lond.
   The Dublin process is essentially the same as the above.
  Jalap contains  a considerable quantity of starch, which is extracted by
decoction, but left behind when cold  water is used as the menstruum.   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 temperatures, is preferable to the
London and Dublin, in   which decoction is resorted to.   The  use both of
alcohol and  water is necessary, in order to extract all the  medicinal qualities
of the drug, and they are employed successively, under the impression that
the previous removal of the resin by the former, facilitates the action of the
latter.   The use of  percolation, as  directed by  the U.  S. Pharmacoposia,
enables  the  cold water to extract the  soluble parts without the long mace-
ration 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 the use of displacement, the re-
siduum, 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 
PART II.
Extracta.
945
 aqueous extract and fifteen of resin.  The product of the former is  some-
 what less by  infusion than decoction ;  and the extract is  proportionably
 stronger.
   The  extract of jalap is of a dark-brown  colour, slightly translucent at the
 edges,  and tenacious  when not  perfectly  dry.   It contains the resin  and
 gummy extractive,  and, consequently, has  all the medical properties of the
 root; but it is not often exhibited alone, being chiefly  used as an ingredient
 of purgative pills, for  which it is adapted by the comparative  smallness of
 its bulk.   The dose is from ten to twenty grains, or  rather  more than half
 that of  jalap.
   Off.Prep.   Pilulas  Catharticas Composite,  U.S.;  Pulvis  Scammonii
 Compositus, Lond., Dub.                                          W.

   EXTRACTUM  sive  RESINA  JALAPA.  Ed.   Extract or
 Resin  of Jalap.
   " Take any  convenient quantity of Jalap, in moderately fine powder;
 mix it thoroughly with enough of Rectified Spirit to moisten it well; put it
 in twelve hours into  a percolator, and exhaust  the powder with Rectified
 Spirit;  distil off the greater part of the Spirit, and concentrate the residuum
 over the vapour-bath to a due consistence." Ed.
   This process yields the  resin  of jalap  in an  impure state.   It may be
 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 was found to purge actively.
 For practical purposes, however,  the Edinburgh preparation is  sufficiently
 pure.   It is dark-coloured,  brittle, and of a shining fracture.
   It is  now generally believed, that the resin  of jalap is  its sole purgative
 principle, the  gummy  extractive being  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 the Juglans cinerea,
 in coarse powder, in the manner  directed  for extract  of gentian. (See Ex-
 tractum Gentianae.)
   Most of this extract kept.in the shops is prepared by  the country people,
 who are said to use the bark of the branches, and even  the branches  them-
 selves, instead of the inner bark of the root, as  directed by the Pharmaco-
poeia.   The heat is also improperly regulated,  being applied too vigorously, 
946
Extracta.
PART II.
or continued too long, so that the preparation is  often injured.   That it
should have proved uncertain in the hands of many physicians is, therefore,
not a matter of  surprise.   It should always be prepared by the apothecary,
and from the inner bark of the root gathered in  May or June.
  The extract of butternut is of a black colour, sweetish odour, and bitter
astringent taste.  In the  dose of  twenty or  thirty  grains it acts as  a mild
cathartic.   (See Juglans.)                                        W.

   EXTRACTUM  KRAMERIA.  U.S.,  Ed.   Extract of Rha-
tany.
  This is  prepared from Rhatany, in coarse powder (U.S.), or in mode-
rately fine powder (Ed.), in the manner directed for extract of  gentian. (See
Extractum  Gentianae.)
  In selecting  a process  for the  preparation of this  new officinal, it was
undoubtedly wise to adopt the mode of displacement, with cold water as the
menstruum. (See pages 419 and  420.)   It  is  absolutely necessary to  the
success of this  process, that the  root should be well and uniformly com-
minuted;  and the "moderately fine powder" of the Edinburgh  Pharmaco-
poeia is,  therefore, preferable to  the  "coarse powder" of our own. The
wood of  the root yielded to Mr. Procter only 6*8 per cent, of  extract, while
the bark separated from the wood  yielded 33 per cent.   As the  wood is of
difficult pulverization, the inference is obvious,  that, in powdering the roots,
the ligneous portion  might be rejected with  advantage. (Am.  Journ. of
Pharm., xiv. 270.)  As a prolonged exposure of the infusion to the air is
attended  with the  absorption of  oxygen,  and -the production of insoluble
apotheme, it is  desirable that the evaporation  should be conducted rapidly or
in a vacuum.   There  scarcely appears to be occasion, in the case of rha-
tany, for heating and filtering the  infusion before evaporation, the only  use
of which would  be to get rid of albumen, which is not among the recognised
ingredients of rhatany.
  Very inferior  extracts of rhatany are often found in  the shops.   Such is
the South American extract, which is  occasionally imported.  As the pro-
duct obtained by decoction is greater than that afforded by the  officinal plan,
the temptation to substitute the former is not always resisted, although it  has
been shown to contain  nearly 50 per cent, of insoluble matter.   A substance
was shown  us by a respectable  apothecary of  this city, said  to have been
imported as  extract of rhatany from Europe,  which was nearly tasteless,
and was plausibly conjectured to be the dried coagulated matter of old tinc-
ture of kino.
  Extract of rhatany should have  a reddish-brown colour, a smooth  shining
fracture,  and a very astringent taste ; and should be almost entirely soluble in
water.  Its virtues  may be considered as in proportion to its solubility.  It
is much used for all the purposes for which the astringent extracts  are  em-
ployed.  The dose is from ten to twenty grains.
   Off.Prep. Syrupus  Kramerias,  U.S.                             W.

   EXTRACTUM  LACTUCA.  Lond.   Extract of Lettuce.
   This extract is prepared by the  London College from fresh Lettuce leaves
in the  same manner as  extract of aconite.  (See  Extractum Aconiti.)
   The extract of lettuce has been retained  by the  London  College, though
the lettuce itself from which it is prepared has been rejected.  Its claims to
favourable notice  are at least very questionable.  Consisting  chiefly of the
common sap of the plant, which is inert, with  a variable, but  always small
proportion of the milky secretion, on which  the activity of  lettuce depends, 
PART II.
Extracta.
947
it is at best a feeble  and uncertain preparation.  Lactucarium  possesses all
its virtues, with more strength and uniformity of action.   The dose of the
extract is from five to fifteen grains.                                W.
  EXTRACTUM NUCIS  VOMICA.  U. S., Ed., Dub.   Extract
of Nux Vomica.
  " Take of Nux Vomica a pound; Alcohol a sufficient quantity.  Expose
the Nux Vomica to  steam till it is softened; then, having sliced and dried it,
grind it  into powder.   Introduce it into an apparatus for displacement, and
pour  Alcohol upon  it gradually until the liquid passes without bitterness.
Distil off the greater part of the alcohol from the filtered liquor, and evaporate
the residue  to the proper consistence."  U. S.
  The  Edinburgh  College treats  the  Nux  Vomica in the same manner,
grinding it to powder in a coffee-mill; then exhausts it with rectified spirit,
either by percolation or repeated decoction;  and completes the  process as
above directed.
  "Take of Nux  Vomica, rasped, eight ounces;  Proof Spirit  two pints.
Digest in a close vessel for three  days; filter the liquor, and express the
remainder by a press.  Add to the residue one pint and a half of Proof
Spirit, digest for three days, and express.  Mix the  liquors, and having re-
duced them  by distillation to one-fourth, evaporate to a proper consistence."
Dub.
  This  extract is an active preparation  of nux vomica, though  not always
of uniform  strength, owing to the  variable proportion of strychnia in the
substance from which  it is prepared.   M.  Recluz obtained  from  sixteen
ounces  of nux  vomica, the average  product  of one  ounce and  a quarter.
The  dose of the extract is from half a grain to two grains, to be repeated
three times a day.                                                W.
  EXTRACTUM  OPII.  Ed.    Extractum  Opii  Purificatum.
L,ond.   Extractum Opii Aquosum. Dub.  Extract of Opium.
  "Take of Opium  one pound; Water five pints  [Imperial  measure].
Cut the Opium into small fragments, macerate it for  twenty-four hours in
a pint of Water, break down the  fragments with the hand; express the
liquid with pretty  strong pressure; break  down  the residuum again in
another  pint of the Water, let it macerate for twenty-four hours, and  express
the liquid ;  repeat the  maceration and  expression in the same way till the
water is all used.  Filter the successive infusions as they are made,  passing
them  through the same filter;  unite and evaporate them in the vapour-bath
to the clue consistence." Ed.
  " Take of Opium, sliced, twenty ounces; Distilled Water a gallon [Impe-
rial measure].   Add a  little of the Water to the  Opium, and  macerate  for
twelve hours that it  may become soft; then, adding gradually the remainder
of the Water, rub them until they are thoroughly mixed, and set the mixture
by that the  dregs may subside; lastly, strain the liquor, and evaporate it to a
proper consistence." Lond.
  " Take of Opium, sliced, two ounces; Boiling Water a pint.    Rub the
Opium with the Water for ten minutes, and, after a short interval, pour off
the liquor.   Triturate the remaining Opium with  an equal quantity  of boil-
ing Water,  for the  same length of time, and pour off the liquor as before.
Repeat the  trituration a third time ; then mix the  liquors, and expose the
mixture to the air for two days  in an open vessel.   Lastly, filter through
linen, and evaporate the filtered liquor slowly to the consistence  of  an ex-
tract." Dub.
  Of these processes, that of the Edinburgh or Dublin College should be 
948
Extracta.
PART II.
 preferred.   But we can discover no  advantage which either preparation  has
 over opium itself.  Though the dose may be somewhat smaller, yet that of
 opium  is sufficiently small; and, if there be any distinct principle  in this
 drug which modifies in an unpleasant  manner the action of the morphia, it
 is not left behind in  the  preparation of the watery extract.   Nor has this
 preparation the advantage of greater  uniformity ; as the gum, extractive, &c,
 taken up by the water, bear no fixed  proportion to  the anodyne principle.
 It is highly probable, moreover, that the opium is not  completely exhausted
 by either process.   It certainly is not by that of the  London College ;  for
 morphia may be extracted from the  residuum of the operation.  (Brande.)
 In the preparation, therefore, of the  extract of opium,  there is a loss of time
 and of active matter, without any equivalent  gain ; and there is  the  further
 disadvantage that, as the  extract does  not possess equally with opium those
 external characters by which its quality may be decided, it  is more liable
 to adulteration.   We should, therefore, in every instance, prefer opium to
 the extract; but it is necessary that the former should be selected of good
 quality, and should be freed from all adhering extraneous matters.
   Under the impression that the stimulating and unpleasant effects of opium
 are owing to the narcotina, it has been proposed to separate this principle by
 submitting the extract to  the operation of ether, which dissolves the narco-
 tina and leaves the morphia with the other ingredients.   Robiquet employed
 cold ether;  but M. Dublanc, convinced that the whole of the narcotina was
 not thus extracted, proposed the following plan.   "Take  of  watery  extract
 of opium 16 ounces;  dissolve it in 8 ounces of distilled  water; introduce
 the solution into the water-bath of a still; pour upon it 104 ounces  of pure
 ether; distil off 24 ounces of the ether ; take  apart the apparatus and decant
 the ether which floats  on the top of the  extract; wash the latter while hot
 with the 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  expen-
 sive 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 uni-
 form strength, are greatly preferable  to the denarcotized extract.
  The  dose of the extract of opium prepared by the  Edinburgh or Dublin
 process is about one-half that of opium itself.   The London extract, accord-
 ing to  Brande, is never  stronger,  and  is sometimes  weaker than opium.
 Recluz  obtained  from sixteen  ounces  of opium an average product of nine
 ounces by hot water and six by cold.
   Off. Prep. Vinum Opii, Lond.                                   W.
  EXTRACTUM  PAPAVERIS. Lond., Ed.   Extract of Poppy.
  " Take of Poppy [capsules], freed  from their seeds,  and bruised, fifteen
 ounces;  Boiling Distilled Water a  gallon [Imperial  measure].  Macerate
 for twenty-four hours, then boil down to  four pints, strain the liquor while
 hot, and evaporate it to a proper consistence." Lond.
  The  Edinburgh process  corresponds closely with  the above;  boiling
 water simply, instead of  boiling distilled water being employed, and  evapo-
 ration over the vapour-bath directed.
  Mr.  Brande observes in relation to this extract, that  if prepared over  the
open fire it is often nearty inert.   He states,  moreover, that it is apt to be
of a troublesome consistence, too hard to be formed into pills, and too tough
to be pulverized; and advises that it should  always be carefully dried till it
becomes sufficiently brittle to admit of being reduced to powder.   One cwt. 
PART II.
Extracta.
949
 of the capsules, without the seeds, yields, according to this author, the ave-
 rage product of 35 pounds of extract.
   This preparation is little used in the United States.  It possesses the vir-
 tues of opium, but is much inferior and less uniform  in strength.   The
 dose is from five to ten grains.                                      W.

   EXTRACTUM PAREIRA. Lond., Ed.   Extract of Pareira
 Brava.
   This is prepared by the London College from bruised Pareira  Brava  in
 the  manner directed for extract of gentian.  (See Extractum Gentianae.)
   The Edinburgh College directs the root to be cut into small chips, dried
 thoroughly with a gentle heat, then reduced to a moderately fine powder, and
 treated as directed for the extract of gentian.
   The dose is from ten grains to half a drachm.                    W.

   EXTRACTUM PODOPHYLLI.  U.S.   Extract of May-apple.
   This is prepared from the root of Podophyllum peltatum, in coarse pow-
 der, in the manner directed for the extract of Peruvian  bark.  (See Extrac-
 tum Cinchonas.)
   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 might be
 substituted in all cases for the extract of jalap*                       W.

   EXTRACTUM QUASSIA. U S., Ed.  Extract of Quassia,
   This  is prepared, according  to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from the  rasp-
 ings of Quassia, in the manner directed for the  extract  of gentian.   (See
 Extractum Gentianae.)
   The Edinburgh College prepares it by cutting the quassia into small chips,
 drying it thoroughly with a gentle  heat, reducing it to  a moderately fine
 powder, and proceeding as directed for the extract of gentian.
   According to M. Recluz, sixteen ounces of quassia  yield by infusion in
 water  seven  drachms of extract;  by maceration  in alcohol of 19° Baume,
 two  ounces five drachms and a half.  The difference between these quan-
 tities is  so great that we suspect some mistake in the  table of the Diction-
 naire 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 wkhin a given weight than any other extract
 of the simple bitters;  and may, therefore, be given with great advantage in
 cases in which it  is desirable to administer this  class  of  substances  in as
 small a  bulk, and with as little inconvenience  to the  patient as  possible.
 The  dose is about five grains, to be given  in the  form of pill.         W.

   EXTRACTUM QUERCUS. Dub.  Extract of Oak Bark.
   This is prepared  from  the bark  of the  Quercus Bobur, according to the
 general formula given by the Dublin College for the preparation of ihe simple
 extracts. (See page 933.)
  The Dublin College  alone  orders this preparation,  which may be consi-
dered as quite superfluous.  The dose is from ten grains to a drachm. W.

  EXTRACTUM RHEI. Lond, Ed,,. Dub. Extract of Rhubarb.
  " Take of Rhubarb,  in powder, fifteen  ounces ; Proof Spirit a pint [Im-
perial measure]; Distilled Water seven pints [Imp. meas.].   Macerate for
four days with a gentle heat, then strain, and set  the liquor by that the dregs
may  subside.   Pom* off the clear liquor, and evaporate it to the proper  con-
sistence." Lond,
    81 
950
Extracta.
PART II.
  The Dublin College employs a pound of Rhubarb, a pint of Proof Spirit,
and seven pints of Water; and proceeds as  above.
  " Take of Rhubarb one pound;  Water five pints [Imp. meas.] ;  cut the
Rhubarb into small fragments, macerate it for twenty-four  hours in three
pints of the Water,  filter  the liquor through a cloth, and  express it with the
hands or otherwise moderately ; macerate the residuum with the rest of the
Water for twelve hours at least, filter the liquor with the same cloth as before,
and express the residuum strongly.  The liquors, filtered again if necessary,
are then to be evaporated together to a proper consistence in the vapour-bath.
The extract, however, is obtained of finer quality by evaporation in a vacuum
with a gentle heat." Ed.
  Rhubarb yields all  its  active matter to water and alcohol;  but, unless the
evaporation is performed with great  care and with a very moderate heat, it
is certain that the 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  purgative  principle.  There is, moreover,
reason to believe  that this principle is volatilizable by heat, and that a por-
tion of it escapes with the vapour.   This extract may, therefore, be very
well dispensed with.  It  is not directed by the United States Pharmacopoeia.
The only advantage, if any, which it possesses over powdered rhubarb is,
that it may be given in solution ; and the same object may be accomplished
by employing the root itself in the state of infusion.  The dose of the extract
is from ten to thirty grains.
  Off Prep. Pilulas Rhei et Ferri, Ed.                             W.
  EXTRACTUM RUTA. Dub.   Extract  of Rue.
  This is  prepared by the  Dublin College from  the herb, in  the  manner
directed for the preparation of the simple extracts.  (See page 933.)
  The volatile oil, upon  which the stimulant and  antispasmodic properties
of rue depend, is driven  off in the preparation of the  extract, which, there-
fore, answers no other purpose than that of a  bitter tonic; and even in this
respect is inferior to  the other bitter extracts.  It is  not used in this coun-
try.   The  dose is from ten to twenty grains.                       W.
  SUCCUS SPISSATUS SAMBUCI. Dub.   Jnspissated Juice  of
Elder.
  This is  prepared by  the Dublin  College from fresh ripe elder berries
in the same manner with the inspissated juice of aconite.  (See Extractum
Aconiti.)
  The elder berries  employed  in Europe are those of the Sambucus ni-
gra ; but the berries of the  Sambucus Canadensis, which is a native of this
country, will answer equally well.  For the uses  of  this extract the reader
is referred to the  article Sambucus in the Materia Medica.           W.
   EXTRACTUM SARSAPARILLA. U. S.,  Dub.   Extractum
Sarza. Lond.   Extract of Sarsaparilla.
   The U. S. Pharmacopoeia prepares this extract  from Sarsaparilla, in
coarse  powder, in the  manner directed for alcoholic extract of  aconite.
(See  Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.)
   "Take  of Sarsaparilla  root, sliced, a pound;  Boiling Water a  gallon.
Macerate for twenty-four hours, and boil  down to four pints ; then strain
the liquor  while hot, and evaporate to the proper consistence."  Dub. 
PART II.
Extracta.
951
   The  London College prepares  the extract in the  manner  directed for
 extract  of gentian.  (See Extractum Gentianae.)
   The  extract  prepared according to  the London and Dublin processes can
 have little or no effect upon the system; as the active matter of sarsaparilla is
 either destroyed by  chemical change or driven off at the heat of boiling water.
 Besides, it appears  from the experiments of Hancock and others, that water,
 unless in very  large proportion, is incapable of exhausting the  root;  and
 waste would be incurred, even admitting that the  extract possessed some
 efficiency.   Very different  quantities have  been obtained  from different
 varieties of sarsaparilla, and even from different parcels of the same variety ;
 but as the matter taken up by boiling  water consists chiefly of starch, no in-
 ference  as to the relative value of any  particular specimen of the root, can be
 drawn  from  a  knowledge of the quantity of extract which  it is  capable of
 affording.  From ten grains to a drachm of this  preparation may be  given
 for a dose.
   The  spirituous extract of the  U.  S. Pharmacopoeia, which  is the same
 as  that of the  French  Codex, contains the  active matter of  the root.   Di-
 luted  alcohol extracts all the virtues  of sarsaparilla, leaving the inert fecula
 which encumbers the extract obtained by decoction;  while the temperature
 requisite for the concentration of  the tincture is insufficient  to destroy the
 active principle.  M. Beral obtained  from 32 ounces of sarsaparilla  about
 i ounces of extract by maceration  with  diluted alcohol.   As the product of
 this operation  is about  one-eighth of the sarsaparilla employed,  a  drachm
 of the extract represents an ounce  of  the root.   From ten to twenty grains
 of it may be given three or four times a day.  We have ascertained  by
 actual observation that it possesses in  a  high  degree the acrid taste of sarsa-
 parilla.                                                           W.
   EXTRACTUM  SARSAPARILLA  FLUIDUM. Dub.    Ex-
 tractum  Sarza  Fluidum. Ed. Fluid  Extract of Sarsaparilla.
   " Take of Sarza  in chips  one pound; Boiling Water six pints [Imperial
 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 the Root of Sarsaparilla, sliced, a pound; Water twelve pints.
 Boil them together  for  an hour, and  pour-off the liquor; then add twelve
 pints of water,  and  boil  and decant as before.  Express  the liquor strongly
 from the residuary  matter, and, having  mixed the decoctions, set the mix-
 ture by  that the dregs may subside; then evaporate by continued boiling to
 thirty ounces [fluidounces], and add two ounces [fluidounces] of Rectified
 Spirit." Dub.
  It is to be regretted that these processes are not more in conformity with
our present knowledge  in relation to the pharmaceutical  management  of
sarsaparilla.   There can be  little  doubt, we think, as  to the almost  total
inefficiency of"  the  fluid extract of the Edinburgh  and Dublin  Colleges.
We should ourselves prefer the  solid extract,  prepared according  to the U. S.
formula, to any concentrated liquid preparation; as we cannot  be certain that
the active principle  is held in solution  by a very small  proportion of water,
and if it be merely  suspended, there may be a risk that due  agitation may
not always  be practised  in dispensing  and administering the medicine.   But 
952
Extracta.
PART II.
if the popular inclination to this mode of preparation must be gratified, we
should give a decided preference to the following formula of William Hodg-
son, Jun., over any other which we have seen.
   "Take of Sarsaparilla  Root, bruised, sixteen  ounces; Liquorice Root,
bruised, Guaiacum Wood, rasped, Bark of Sassafras Root, each, two ounces;
Mezereon  six drachms; Diluted Alcohol  eight pints.  Digest for fourteen
days at a common temperature; then strain, express,  and  filter.   Evaporate
the tincture in a water-bath to twelve fluidounces;  then add eight ounces of
white sugar, and remove  from the fire as soon as the sugar is dissolved."
(Journ. of the Phil. College of Pharm., ii. 285.)
   Mr. Hodgson observes  that, during the process, a small quantity of  resin
separates, and adheres to the sides of the vessel, apparently derived from the
guaiacum wood.  The advantages of  this process are, that by means of the
alcohol all  the virtues of the  root  are extracted, while the low temperature
required in its evaporation is not sufficient to impair these virtues.  The pre-
paration  has been  used in  Philadelphia with  great  apparent  benefit  in
secondary syphilis.   The dose is a fluidrachm, equivalent to a drachm of the
root, three or four times a day.                                   W.

   EXTRACTUM sive  RESINA SCAMMONII. Ed.  Extract or
Resin of Scammony.
   " Take any convenient  quantity of Scammony in  fine  powder; boil it in
successive portions of Proof Spirit till the Spirit ceases to dissolve any thing;
filter; distil the liquid till little but water passes over.   Then pour away the
watery solution from the resin at the bottom ; agitate the resin with succes-
sive portions of boiling water till it  is well washed ; and lastly, dry it at a
temperature not exceeding 240°." Ed.
  The only advantage of this process is that  it separates the active matter
of scammony from  the  impurities with which the drug  is  almost  always
adulterated.   When pure  virgin scammony can be procured the extract is
unnecessary.  Prepared according to the above process,  the resin  is of a
dirty greenish-brown colour, with a feeble odour and taste  of scammony, and
is very 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 purgative property.  When rubbed with un-
skimmed milk it forms a uniform emulsion, undistinguishable from rich milk
itself.  This  is  an excellent mode  of administration.   The resin should
always be given either  rubbed up with some  mild powder, or in emulsion.
The dose is from five to twelve grains.
   Off.Prep.  Mistura Scammonii, Ed.                             W.

   EXTRACTUM SPARTII SCOPARII. Dub. Extract of Broom
Tops.
  This is prepared from the tops of the  Cytisus Scoparius, according to the
general formula  of the Dublin College for the preparation of their simple
extracts. (See page 933.)
   It has laxative and diuretic properties; but is not employed in this country,
and seldom in Europe.  The dose is from thirty grains to a drachm.  W.

   EXTRACTUM  STRAMONII FOLIORUM. U. S.  Extract of
Stramonium Leaves.
   " Take of Stramonium Leaves  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. 
PART II.
Extracta.
953
   Like all the other inspissated narcotic juices, this is an uncertain prepara-
 tion, varying in  strength according to the  care used in conducting the pro-
 cess, and the season at which the leaves are collected.  The reader will find
 at  page 933, and in  the preliminary  observations on the  Extracts,  some
 general  rules which will be found useful in conducting this process, and all
 those of which it is the officinal type.  The insoluble matter separated from
 the expressed juice by filtering, and that coagulated by heat, may be advan^
 tageously  rejected;  as,  according to the observations of  MM. Solon and
 Soubeiran, they are nearly or quite inert.  M. Recluz obtained half an ounce
 of  the extract from sixteen ounces of the leaves.   The dose is a grain  night
 and morning, to be gradually increased till it affects the system.      W.
   EXTRACTUM STRAMONII SEMINIS. U.S.    Extractum
 Stramonii. Lond., Ed., Dub.  Extract of Stramonium Seed.
   " Take  of Stramonium Seed,  ground  into  powder, a pound; Diluted
 Alcohol a sufficient quantity.   Having rubbed the powder with half a pint
 of Diluted Alcohol, introduce the mixture into an apparatus for displacement,
 and pour upon it gradually Diluted Alcohol till the liquid passes colourless.
 Distil off the Alcohol from the filtered liquor, and evaporate the residue to
 the proper consistence." U. S.
   " Take  of Seeds  of Stramonium  any  convenient quantity; grind  them
 well  in a coffee-mill.   Rub the powder into a thick mass with Proof Spirit;
 put the pulp into a percolator,  and transmit Proof Spirit till it passes colour-
 less ; distil off the spirit,  and evaporate what remains in the vapour-bath to a
 proper consistence." Ed.
   " Take of Stramonium seeds fifteen ounces; Boiling Distilled Water a
 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 tbe
 proper consistence." Lond.
  The Dublin College gives the same process as the London ;  but directs a
pound of the seeds, and a wine-gallon of undistilled water.
  The U. S. and Edinburgh processes, which may be considered identical,
 are preferable to the London and  Dublin;  as the  seeds yield  their virtues
 more freely to spirit than to water alone.   According to the  table of Recluz,
 sixteen ounces of the seeds afford  two ounces and two drachms of extract by
 maceration in diluted alcohol, and  one ounce and a half by  decoction.   The
 dose to  begin with is a quarter  or half a grain  twice a day, to be gradually
 increased.                                                       W.
  EXTRACTUM TARAXACI. U. S., Lond., Ed. Dub.  Extract
 of Dandelion.
  This  is prepared, according to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from the fresh
bruised  root of the Leontodon Taraxacum, in the manner  directed for ex-
tract of logwood.  (See Extractum Hsematoxyli.)
  The London  College prepares  it  in the manner directed for extract of
gentian (see Extractum  Gentianae); the Edinburgh, from  a pound of the
fresh root and a gallon [Imperial  measure] of boiling water, as  directed for
the  extract of poppy heads (see Extractum Papaveris).  The Dublin College
employs  both the herb and root, and proceeds according to  the general for-
mula for  the simple extracts. (See page 933.)
  This  extract is undoubtedly stronger, prepared from the   root alone  than
from the  whole plant.   Nor is it a matter of indifference at what season the
                                 81* 
954
Extracta.—Ferrum.
PART II.
root may be collected.   The  juice obtained from it by expression in  the
spring is thin, watery, and of feeble flavour;  in the latter part of summer,
and  in autumn, thick, opaque, cream-coloured, very bitter,  and abundant,
amounting to one-third or  one-half the weight of the root.   It may be col-
lected in August, and afterwards until severe frost.  According to Mr. Squire,
frost has the effect of diminishing the bitterness, and increasing the sweetness
of the growing root.  It is probable*that an extract prepared by the inspissa-
tion of this juice, would be found much more  efficient than that prepared in
the usual way by decoction.  The inspissation should  be effected *by ex-
posing the juice in  shallow vessels to a current of warm  dry air, or by eva-
poration in a vacuum, and should not be  unnecessarily protracted.  Long
exposure, during evaporation, is said to cause a change of the bitterness of
the juice into  sweetness, which  is a sign of inferiority.   As found in  the
shops, the extract is dark-coloured, sweet, and in all probability nearly inert.
Mr. Houlton took more  than  an  ounce of it in a day, without any sensible
effect. (Houlton  and Squire, Pharm. Journ. and Transact., i. 421.)  Mr.
Brande states that one cwt. of the fresh root affords  from twenty to twenty-
five pounds of extract by decoction in water.  The  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.
   This extract deteriorates by keeping, and should, therefore, be renewed
annually.   It  is  most conveniently given  dissolved in  cinnamon or mint
water.   The dose is from a scruple to a drachm three times a day.   W.
   EXTRACTUM UVA  URSI. Lond.   Extract of Uva Ursi.
   The  London  College  prepares  this extract  in the manner directed for
extract of gentian.  (See Extractum Gentianae.)
   The dose is  from five to thirty grains.                           W.


                             FERRUM.

                       Preparations of Iron.

   FERRI ACETAS.  Dub.  Acetate of Iron.
   " Take of Carbonate of Iron one part;  Acetic Acid six parts.   Digest for
three days and filter." Dub.
   As the carbonate of iron of the Dublin  Pharmacopoeia (the U. S. subcar-
bonate and the London sesquioxide) consists mainly of sesquioxide of iron,
associated with a little carbonate of protoxide, it is evident that this prepa-
ration is an aqueous  solution  of the acetate of sesquioxide of iron, contain-
ing a small proportion of the acetate of the protoxide.  From comparative
experiments made by Dr. Perceval, of Dublin, it was found that often grains
of the following ferruginous preparations digested in two drachms of acetic
acid, sp.gr. 1*065,  half a grain was dissolved of the scales of iron, one and
a quarter grains of the red  oxide (sesquioxide obtained by strong calcination),
three and a quarter of iron filings, and the whole of the so-called carbonate.
It was on account of the entire solubility of the latter preparation that it was
selected for solution in the acetic acid.
   Properties,  <y-c.   This solution  has a  deep-red colour, and an acid  and
strongly chalybeate taste.  When exposed to heat it yields  acetic acid.   It
possesses the general medical properties  of the preparations of iron.   The
dose is from ten to twenty-five drops, taken in water.  It is not used in this
country.                                                           B. 
PART II.
Ferrum.
955
   FERRI ACETATIS TINCTURA.  Dub.  Tincture of Acetate
 of Iron.
   "Take  of Acetate of Potassa two parts; Sulphate of Iron  one part;
 Rectified Spirit twenty-six parts.  Rub the Acetate of Potassa and sul-
 phate of Iron  together in an earthenware mortar, until they unite into a mass.
 Dry this with a medium heat, and triturate  it with the  Spirit.   Digest the
 mixture in a well stopped bottle for seven days, shaking it occasionally.
 Lastly, pour off the tincture  from  the sediment,  and  preserve  it in a well
 stopped bottle." Dub.
   This preparation was introduced into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia by Dr.
 Perceval.  In the  process, a double decomposition takes place between the
 salts employed, resulting in the formation of the  acetate of iron  which dis-
 solves in the spirit, and sulphate of potassa which remains behind, being
 insoluble in that menstruum.   The tincture also contains a portion of acetate
 of potassa; more  of this salt  being employed than is  necessary to decom-
 pose the sulphate of iron.
   Properties.  This  tincture is a transparent liquid, of a deep claret colour,
 and strong chalybeate taste.  When evaporated to dryness,  it yields a saline
 matter, which  is whitish from the presence of acetate of potassa.   It is ex-
 tremely liable to  spontaneous decomposition,  and is  decomposed by the
 alkalies and their carbonates, the strong acids, and astringent vegetable  infu-
 sions.
   Medical Properties  and Uses.  This  preparation is represented to be an
 agreeable chalybeate;  but  it possesses no particular virtue, which can  give
 it any advantage over other medicines of  the same class.  The dose is  from
 thirty drops to a teaspoonful,  mixed with water or some  other  convenient
 vehicle.                                                           B.

   TINCTURA  ACETATIS FERRI  CUM ALCOHOL.   Dub. '
 Tincture of Acetate of Iron with Alcohol.
   " Take of Sulphate of Iron, Acetate of Potassa, each, an ounce;  Alcohol
 two pints.  Rub the Acetate of Potassa and  Sulphate of Iron together in an
 earthenware mortar, until  they unite into a soft mass;  then dry  this with a
 medium heat, and  as soon  as it has  grown cold triturate it with the  alcohol.
 Digest the  mixture in a well stopped bottle for twenty-four hours, shakino- it
 occasionally.  Lastly, pour off the clear tincture from  the sediment, and keep
 it in a well stopped bottle." Dub.
  This  formula is nearly the  same  with  the last; the  points of difference
 being that equal weights of the saline materials are employed, and the men-
 struum is the alcohol of the Dublin College, and not rectified spirit.   The
 double decomposition takes place as in the preceding preparation, and  with
 the same results; but here, instead  of there  being an  excess of acetate of
 potassa  to  enter into the tincture, there  is an excess of sulphate of iron.
 The acetate of iron formed is a mixture of the acetates of the protoxide and
 sesquioxide; but the latter only is soluble in the strong alcohol of the Dublin
 College.  Hence this tincture  may be viewed as an alcoholic solution of the
acetate of sesquioxide of iron.  It  is necessary  here not to confound the
Dublin "alcohol,"  which has  the sp.gr. 0*810  with the U.S. "alcohol,"
which corresponds with the rectified spirit of the  British Colleges.
  This  preparation is stronger, and less liable to spontaneous decomposition
than the preceding; while its  sensible and medical properties  are nearly the
same.   The dose is  from  twenty drops to a teaspoonful.  A fluidounce of
it, when evaporated, yields  ten grains of a crimson-coloured extract, which 
956
Ferrum.
PART II.
at first has the consistency of wax, but afterwards, when  dried, is transpa-
rent.                                                              B.
   FERRI CARBONAS  SACCHARATUM. Ed., Saccharine  Car-
bonate of Iron.
   " Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces ; Carbonate of Soda^ue ounces;
Pure Sugar two ounces;  Waiev four pints [Imperial  measure].  Dissolve
the Sulphate and Carbonate, each, in two  pints of the water;  add  the  solu-
tions and mix them;  collect the precipitate on a cloth filter, and immediately
wash it with cold water, squeeze out as much  of the water as possible, and
without delay triturate the pulp which remains with the Sugar previously in
fine powder.  Dry the mixture at a temperature not much above  120°." Ed.
   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-
bluish precipitate.   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 carbo-
nate of the protoxide which has escaped  change; in other words,  it is con-
verted 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 precipitate undergoes was always matter of
regret, and various attempts were made to prevent it.  Now saccharine mat-
ter has been ascertained to possess the property of preventing this change,
and its power is brought into play, in  the preparation  under  consideration,
for preventing the protoxide of iron  of the carbonate as  first precipitated
from passing into sesquioxide, with loss of carbonic acid.
   Dr. Becker, a German physician, was the first to suggest the use of sac-
charine matter as a means of protection against  the absorption  of oxygen,
and the idea was carried out by Klauer, a German chemist, who first made
the saccharine carbonate of  iron.  When sugar is used in the way directed
in the above formula, the prevention of oxidation  is not complete; for  an
absorption of  oxygen takes place to a partial extent  during the washing and
squeezing of the precipitate, which are performed before  the admixture with
the sugar.  Mr. R. Phillips, jun., has improved the formula, by mixing the
washed precipitate, without being squeezed in  a  cloth, with the prescribed
quantity of sugar, first made into a thick syrup, and gently evaporating the
mixture to dryness. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii., 576.)  The protection
from oxidation, however, is  much more complete, when the  materials and
product of this process are maintained constantly in contact with saccharine
matter, by using weak syrup both for dissolving the salts and for washing the
precipitate, after the improved method of  Vallet,  of Paris.  This  improved
method of proceeding is adopted for forming the  U. S. pills of carbonate of
iron, or Vailet's ferruginous  pills. (See Pilulas Ferri Carbonatis, U. S.)
   Saccharine carbonate of iron is a grayish-green powder, permanent in the
air, possessing a sweet and strongly chalybeate taste, and wholly  and readily
soluble in muriatic acid, with brisk effervescence.  Its composition is not
well made  out.  According to the  Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia, it consists of
" 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 Vailet's ferruginous  pills.
   Medical Properties.   This  preparation forms 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.  It is much more active 
PART II.
Ferrum.
957
than the subcarbonate of iron, and must be  used in a  smaller dose.  It is,
however, inferior to Vailet's ferruginous mass, in the preparation of which
the anti-oxidating influence of saccharine matter is more fully applied.  The
dose of the saccharine carbonate of iron is  from five to thirty grains given in
the form of pill.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Ferri Carbonatis, Ed.                           B.
   FERRI ET  POTASSA  TARTRAS.  U. S.    Ferri Potassio-
Tartras. Lond. Ferrum Tartarizatum. Ed.  Ferri Tartarum-
Dub.   Tartrate of Iron and Potassa.   Tartarized Iron.
   "Take of  Subcarbonate of Iron three ounces; Muriatic Acid ten fluid-
ounces; Solution of Potassa five pints and a half;  Bitartrate  of  Potassa
seven ounces and a  half; Distilled Water a gallon and  a  half.  Mix the
Subcarbonate of  Iron with the  Muriatic  Acid,  and digest  for two hours;
then pour the solution into a  gallon  of the  Distilled water, set aside for an
hour, and  pour off the  supernatant  liquor.   To  this add  the  solution of
Potassa, wash the precipitate which is formed  frequently with water, and,
while it is  yet moist, mix it with the Bitartrate of Potassa and half a gallon
of the Distilled Water.   Keep the the  mixture at the  temperature 140° for
thirty hours,  frequently stirring; then  filter  the  solution, and evaporate by
means of a water-bath, at the same temperature,  to dryness." U. S.
   "Take  of Sesquioxide [Subcarbonate] of Iron three ounces;  Hydro-
chloric [Muriatic] Acid  half a pint [Imperial measure] ; Solution  of  Po-
tassa four pints and a half[\.mo. meas.] or a sufficient quantity ; Bitartrate
of Potassa eleven ounces and a half;  Solution of Sesquicarbonate  of Am-
monia a pint  [Imp. meas.] or a sufficient quantity;  Distilled Water three
gallons [Imp. meas.].   Mix  the  Sesquioxide  of Iron  with the Acid,  and
digest  for  two hours in a sand-bath.  To these  add two  gallons of the
Water and set aside for an hour ; then pour off the supernatant liquor.  The
Solution of Potassa being  added, wash what is precipitated frequently with
water, and, while moist, boil it with the  Bitartrate of Potassa, previously
mixed with a gallon of the Water.  If the liquor should be acid when tried
by litmus, drop into it the Solution of  Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia until it
is saturated.  Lastly,  strain the liquor, and evaporate it with a gentle heat,
so that the  salt may remain dry." I^ond.
  " Take of  Sulphate of Iron^ue ounces ; Bitartrate of Potash five ounces
and one drachm; Carbonate  of  Ammonia, in fine powder, a sufficiency.
Prepare the Rust  of Iron from the Sulphate  as directed under Ferrugo,  and
without drying it.  Mix  the pulpy mass with four pints [Imperial measure]
of Water;  add the Bitartrate; boil till the  Rust of Iron is dissolved ;  let the
solution cool; pour off the clear liquid, and add to this the Carbonate of
Ammonia so  long as it occasions effervescence.   Concentrate the liquid over
the vapour-bath to the  consistence of a thicjc extract, or  till the residuum
becomes on cooling  a firm solid, which  must be  preserved in well closed
vessels." Ed.
  "Take  of  thin Iron Wire  one part; Bitartrate  of Potassa, in very  fine
powder, four parts ;  Distilled Water eight  parts or  a sufficient quantity.
Mix them together, and expose them to the air  for fifteen days, in a wide
vessel.   Stir the mixture occasionally, and  keep it constantly moist by the
daily addition of water, taking care that the iron shall not be entirely covered
by the water.  Lastly, boil the product in  a sufficient quantity of water,
and, having filtered the  liquor, evaporate  it  to  dryness over a water-bath.
Keep the Tartar of Iron in  a well-stopped bottle." Dub.
  The object of  these processes is  to combine the excess  of acid  in the 
958
Ferrum.
part ii.
bitartrate of potassa with sesquioxide of iron.   The processes of the U.S.,
London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias are essentially the same, being that
of Soubeiran  with  modifications.    In Soubeiran's process, the moist hy-
drated sesquioxide  of iron  is dissolved to saturation  in a mixture of one
part of cream of tartar and six of water;  and the solution obtained is filtered
and evaporated to dryness by a gentle heat.  In the processes of the U.S.
and London Pharmacopoeias, the moist sesquioxide is obtained by precipi-
tating the sesquichloride (formed by dissolving  the  subcarbonate in  muriatic
acid) by means of the  officinal  solution of potassa.  Three eqs. of potassa
and one  of sesquichloride of iron  are decomposed, and there  are  formed
three  eqs. of chloride  of potassium  which remain  in  solution, and  one eq.
of sesquioxide of iron which precipitates in  the  hydrated state, (3KO +
FeaCI3=3KCl + Fe203).   In the  Edinburgh  process  the  sesquioxide is
obtained  as directed  under Ferrugo, by precipitating the tersnlphate  of the
sesquioxide by ammonia; but as one-fourth more sulphate of iron is directed
to be  converted into sesquioxide than in the Ferrugo formula, it will be found
practically inconvenient to increase  the quantity of the other materials in the
same  proportion.  The  sesquioxide, obtained  in  either way,  is  heated or
boiled, while yet in the moist state, with a mixture of cream of tartar and
water, in  which it dissolves. The solution thus obtained contains the tartrate
of iron and  potassa, and if it should prove acid, the London and Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeias direct that it be rendered neutral by the addition of carbonate
of ammonia.   The solution is now filtered and evaporated to dryness.  When
carbonate of ammonia is added to the solution,  it is to  be presumed  that the
resulting salt will contain a little tartrate of ammonia.   In the London form-
ula the quantity of cream of tartar taken is excessive and the water used
inconveniently large.   Some of the cream of  tartar is not dissolved in the
water, and  that which is dissolved is not fully saturated  by sesquioxide,
from deficiency of the latter.   It is better to have, as in the U.S. formula,
an excess of the oxide;  for then the  cream of tartar  is fully saturated and
the solution does not require the addition of carbonate  of ammonia to render
it neutral.
   The formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is that recommended by Mr. Wm.
Procter, Jun., of this city, founded on the results of Soubeiran and Capitaine.
It is superior to the London process, not only in avoiding an excess of water,
and the  necessity of  adding  carbonate  of ammonia,  which introduces  an
impurity into  the preparation, but  in  substituting  the  temperature  of 140°
instead  of that of ebullition for  promoting the solution of the  oxide in the
cream of  tartar and water.  Mr. Procter  finds  that this temperature, which
is recommended by Soubeiran and Capitaine, causes the sesquioxide of iron
to be  taken up in larger quantity than when ebullition is employed. (See Mr.
Procter's  paper on the Tartrate of Iron and Potassa, in the Amer. Journ. of
Pharm., xii. 188.)            •
   In the Dublin process metallic iron is employed.   By the combined action
of air and water it is converted into sesquioxide, which unites with the cream
of tartar to form the double  salt.  This process consumes much time, and is
now superseded by that of Soubeiran.
   The  wine  of  iron (Vinum  Ferri),  having  been  dismissed  from the
London Pharmacopoeia of 1836, is  no longer  officinal in any of the Phar-
macopoeias commented on in this work.  Yet,  as it is sometimes prescribed,
it may be well to  notice it in this place.   The old process for making it
was to macerate iron filings in wine.   The French Codex, in which this
plan is adopted, directs it to be made by macerating for six days in a matrass,
an ounce of pure iron filings with  thirty-two  ounces of good white wine; 
PART II.
Ferrum.
959
stirring from  time to time, and afterwards decanting and filtering the liquid.
In the dismissed London formula a drachm of iron  filings was  mixed with
six drachms  of cream of tartar, and oxidized by exposure to air and mois-
ture for six weeks, so as  ultimately to form the double  tartrate of iron and
potassa, with excess of cream of tartar.   This was then dried by a gentle
heat,  rubbed to powder, dissolved  in  thirty fluidounces of distilled  water,
the solution  filtered,  and  finally mixed  with twenty fluidounces of proof
spirit.  When this preparation  is made by macerating iron filings in wine,
a  tartrate of  iron and potassa may be supposed to  be formed, by means of
the tartar present in wine; but,  as this substance is  present in variable pro-
portion  in different  wines,  the strength of the preparation,  when  thus
made, must necessarily vary.  The preparation, as made  by the  old  Lon-
don formula, is also variable and  at  the same time deficient  in strength.
Wine is not capable of taking up  sufficient of the tartrate of  iron and po-
tassa to form a preparation of adequate strength.  A good wine of iron  may
be formed  by dissolving an  ounce of  the double  salt in 12  fluidounces of
water, mixed with  12 fluidounces of sherry wine.   When thus formed, each
fluidounce will contain a scruple of the double tartrate.   The  dose of a wine
of this strength is one or two tablespoonfuls two or three times a day.
   Dr. Ure has proposed  the tartrate  of protoxide of iron for  medical use.
He  makes it by acting on  clean iron  filings, or  bits  of iron wire, with a
solution of tartaric acid.   The  iron is protoxidized at the expense of the
water, and uniting  with the tartaric acid   produces the tartrate in the form of
a  powdery matter, which  is obtained separate by diffusing it  through the
liquid, decanting, and washing on a filter.  The salt formed is nearly white,
pulverulent,  insoluble in water, and possesses a mild chalybeate taste.
   Properties.  Tartrate of iron and potassa, as obtained  by the  U.S.  for-
mula, has  a  dark-brown colour.. When held, in thin pieces, between the
eye and the light it is ruby-red.   It  is wholly soluble in about  four parts of
water at 60°, and the solution has a dark-brown colour.  Its taste is feebly
chalybeate.  Prepared  according to the  London formula, it is  deliquescent
and has a dark  olive-green colour.   When kept  for  several  months, the
London preparation  assumes, according to Mr.  Procter, a  mottled, light-
green colour, is  much less  soluble than when first made, and exhales an
ammoniacal  odour.  When  pure, tartrate of iron and  potassa is perfectly
neutral to test paper, and  at  common  temperatures does not yield a precipi-
tate with  potassa,  soda,  or  ammonia.   Ferrocyanuret of potassium  does
not render it blue, unless an acid be added.   The non-action of this  test
shows that the iron is in a peculiar state of combination.  It is incompatible
with  astringent vegetable  infusions which  give rise to a dark-coloured  pre-
cipitate.   When prepared  by using the bitartrate and iron filings, it is apt to
contain metallic iron, detected by the magnet, and a large proportion of  it is
usually insoluble in water.
   Composition.   When  prepared  according to the U. S.  formula, it  has
the composition  assigned to it by Soubeiran and  Capitaine;  namely, one
eq. of tartrate of sesquioxide of iron, and one of tartrate of potassa.  When
it has this composition it contains 30 per cent, of sesquioxide of iron.   Ac-
cording to Phillips, the preparation made  according to the London formula
consists of one eq. of bitartrate  of sesquioxide of iron, and two of tartrate of
potassa, and  contains only 18 per cent, of sesquioxide.  The Edinburgh
preparation corresponds with the London.
   Medical Properties.  Tartrate of iron and potassa is an agreeable chaly-
beate, and, when  made according to  the U. S.  formula, may be depended
upon for activity and uniformity of composition.  From its  slight taste and 
960
Ferrum.
part n.
ready solubility, it forms  one of the best ferruginous preparations for ex-
hibition  to children.   The  dose for an  adult is  from ten grains to half a
drachm,  given in solution, or combined with an aromatic or bitter in the
form of bolus.                                                     B.
   FERRI FERROCYANURETUM. U.S.  Ferri Percyanidum.
Lond.   Ferri Cyanuretum. Dub.   Ferrocyanuret of Iron.  Pure
Prussian Bine.
   "Take  of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Sulphuric  Acid  three fluid-
drachms and a half; Nitric  Acid 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  portions, boiling  the liquid for a minute or two after each addition,
until it  no longer produces a dark  colour;  then allow the liquid  to cool.
Dissolve the Ferrocyanuret of Potassium in  the remainder of the Water,
and add  this solution  gradually 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 pow-
der." U.S.
   Prussian blue has  heretofore  been officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia
in the impure commercial form ; but, upon the last revision of  the  work, it
was thought advisable to introduce it in a pure  state, and hence the above
formula  was  devised for its preparation.  It  is officinal also in  the  London
and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, in which works  it is placed  in  the list of the
Materia  Medica.  In  the  Dublin Pharmacopoeia, the commercial  Prussian
blue is recognised; in the London, the pure substance  is, no doubt, intended,
as tests  are given for ascertaining its purity.
   In the process above given, the sulphate of  protoxide of iron  in  solution
is first  acidulated with  sulphuric acid, and then converted into the tersul-
phate of the sesquioxide by means of nitric acid.   The object of the  addition
of the sulphuric acid, is to provide for the higher saturating power of the
sesquioxide over the  protoxide, and thus to prevent the precipitation of the
subsulphate of the sesquioxide.  The tersulphate is then decomposed by the
gradual addition of a solution of ferrocyanuret of potassium.  Three eqs. of
ferrocyanuret, and two of tersulphate of sesquioxide of iron, are  mutually
decomposed, with the result of forming one eq. of Prussian blue, or the 3-4
ferrocyanuret of iron  which precipitates, and six eqs. of sulphate of potassa
which remain in solution.  Ferrocyanogen is a tercyanuret of iron (FeCy3);
and, representing it by its  symbol Cfy, we may compactly express the above
reactions by the  following  equation : 3CfyK3-f2(Fea03,3S03) = 3Cfy,4Fe-f
6(KO,S03).  Prussian blue contains the elements of six eqs. of water, which
cannot be separated without the destruction of the compound. Adding these
elements, we may suppose it to  become  a hydroferrocyanate of the sesqui-
oxide of iron, represented  by the formula, 3CfvII2,Fe408.   From the formula
given for the anhydrous compound, 3Cfy,4Fe, it is  evident that it contains
nine eqs. of cyanogen, and seven of iron.
   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 po-
tassa (pearlash of commerce), and animal matter, such as dried blood,  hair,
the shavings of  horn, &c, is  calcined at a  red  heat  in an iron vessel, until
it becomes pasty.  The  mass, when cold, is thrown, by portions at a time,
into twelve or fifteen times its weight of water, with which it  is stirred for
half an  hour.   The whole is then  put upon a linen filter; and  the  clear 
PART II.
Ferrum.
961
 solution obtained is  precipitated by a mixed  solution of two parts of alum
 and one of the  sulphate of protoxide of iron.   An  effervescence  occurs,
 due principally to carbonic acid; and a very abundant precipitate is thrown
 down, of a  blackish-brown colour.   This precipitate is washed  by decan-
 tation, by means of a large quantity of water, which is renewed every twelve
 hours.   By these washings, which last from twenty to twenty-five days,
 the precipitate becomes, successively,  greenish-brown,  bluish, and finally
 deep-blue.   When of the latter colour, it is collected and  allowed  to drain
 upon a cloth, after which it is divided into cubical masses, dried, and thrown
 into commerce.
   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  decom-
 position by strong sulphuric acid, forming a  white mass of the consistence
 of paste, from which the Prussian  blue may be precipitated unchanged by
 water.   Concentrated muriatic acid  decomposes it, dissolving sesquioxide of
 iron, and liberating hydroferrocyanic  acid.   Boiled with red oxide  of mer-
 cury it generates bicyanuret of mercury.  (See Hydrargyri Cyanuretum.)
 By the  contact of a red-hot body it takes fire and burns  slowly, leaving a
 residue of sesquioxide of iron.   When it is heated in close vessels, water,
 hydrocyanic acid, and  carbonate of ammonia are evolved, and carburet of
 iron is left.  Its composition has been given  above.   The Prussian blue of
 commerce was  discovered by accident, in  1710, by Diesbaeh, 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 appearance.  Besides  the constituents
 of pure  Prussian blue, it always contains alumina, derived  from the alum
 employed in its manufacture,  and which serves to give it a body as a pig-
 ment, and uncombined sesquioxide  of iron.   These substances may be de-
 tected by boiling the pigment with  diluted muriatic acid, and  precipitating
 the filtered  solution with ammonia.   Pure Prussian blue, treated in a similar
 manner, yields no precipitate, and may thus be discriminated from the com-
 mercial substance.
   Medical  Properties,  $*c.  Prussian blue is supposed to act as a tonic,
 febrifuge, and alterative.   Dr.  Zollickoffer, of Maryland, has recommended
 it as a remedy in intermittent and remittent fevers, and  deems it to  be par-
 ticularly adapted to such cases occurring in children, on account of the small-
 ness of the  dose and its want of taste.  He considers it more certain, prompt
 and efficacious than the bark ; while it has the advantage  of being admissible
 in the state of pyrexia, and of not disagreeing with the most irritable stomach.
 It has also been used by Dr. Kirchoff, of Ghent, in epilepsy with good suc-
 cess.  Dr. Bridges, of this city, exhibited it in a case of severe and protracted
 facial neuralgia, with considerable relief, after the usual remedies  in this
 complaint had been tried with little or no benefit.  It is sometimes employed
 as an application to ill-conditioned ulcers, mixed with some simple  ointment,
 in the proportion of a drachm to the ounce.  The dose of pure Prussian blue
 for an adult is from  three to five grains, repeated several  times a day, and
 gradually increased until some obvious effect is produced.
   Off.Prep. Hydrargyri Cyanuretum, U.S.,  Dub., Lond.            B.
   FERRI  IODIDUM. U.S., Lond., Ed.   Iodide  of Iron.
   " Take of Iodine two  ounces; Iron  Filings an ounce; Distilled Water a
pint and a  half.  Mix the Iodine with  a pint of the  Distilled Water, in a
     82 
962                            Ferrum.                        part ii.

porcelain  or  glass vessel, and gradually add the Iron Filings, stirring con-
stantly.   Heat the mixture gently until the  liquid acquires a light-greenish
colour; then filter, and after the liquid has passed, pour upon the filter half
a pint of  the Distilled Water boiling hot.  When this shall  have passed,
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.
  The London process is the same as that of  the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, ex-
cept that the  College  directs only two-thirds of the quantity of iron filings,
and orders that the preparation should be kept  from the light.
  " Take any convenient quantity of Iodine, Iron Wire, and Distilled Water,
in the proportions for making Solution [Syrup] of Iodide  of Iron.  Proceed
as directed for that process ; but before filtering the solution, concentrate it to
one-sixth  of its volume, without removing the excess of Iron Wire.  Put the
filtered liquor quickly in an evaporating  basin, along with  twelve times its
weight of quicklime around the basin, in some convenient apparatus, in which
it may be shut up accurately in a small space,  not communicating with the
general atmosphere.   Heat the whole apparatus in a hot air-press, or other-
wise, until the water be entirely evaporated ; and preserve the dry iodide in
small well-closed bottles." Ed.
  In  this  process  iron  is made to unite with  iodine by the intervention of
water.  The  mixture at first is orange-coloured, from the circumstance that
all the iodine has not united with the iron; but after the application of heat it
becomes fully saturated  and limpid, and assumes a greenish colour.   It is
now a solution of iodide of iron, and yields the  solid salt by evaporation.
The proportion of the iron, taken in the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias,
is the same, namely, half the weight of the iodine; in the  London, it is one-
third of the weight of the latter.    The London proportion  gives an excess of
iron; but  as  it is useful to keep the  iodide constantly in contact with  a con-
siderable quantity of metallic iron, the greater excess of metal ordered in the
U. S. and  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias  has its advantages, and is not objection-
able on the score of expense.  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 ex-
ceedingly difficult to obtain the solid salt perfectly pure, so great is the prone-
ness of the solution to absorb oxygen, whereby the iodide becomes, in part,
converted  into sesquioxide.  This change  is  prevented  to a certain extent
in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, by evaporating to dryness in an iron
vessel; and by the Edinburgh College, by concentrating the solution, before
filtering, in contact  with the excess  of iron wire, and afterwards evapora-
ing it in a hot air-press, subjected to  the drying influence of quicklime.
  Properties.  Iodide of iron is a crystalline substance, exceedingly deli-
quescent,  of  a greenish-black colour, and styptic, chalybeate taste.  " When
carefully  prepared  by the Edinburgh formula, it  has  a dark grayish-black
metallic appearance, and irregularly foliated texture, not unlike iodine itself."
(Christison's Dispensatory).  Its solution, by evaporation with as little 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 soluble  in  water, forming  a  pale-green  solution;  but if  made for
some time, it almost unavoidably contains some sesquioxide of iron,  from  a
partial decomposition, and will  not be entirely soluble.   The  aqueous solu- 
part ii.                       Ferrum.                            963

tion is very liable to spontaneous decomposition, becoming at last orange-red
from the generation of free iodine, and depositing sesquioxide of iron.  Ac-
cording to Mr. Richard Phillips, jun., the first step in this change is the
formation of protoxide of iron and hydriodic acid, from  the decomposition of
water.  As the protoxide immediately begins to be converted into sesqui-
oxide by absorbing oxygen from the air, and in this state is precipitated, the
hydriodic acid is set free;  and hence is accounted for the acidity of the  solu-
tion from the first moment the sesquioxide is deposited.    Afterwards, the
hydriodic acid is  decomposed by the action of air and light, and iodine libe-
rated.   When the solution is  prevented from generating free iodine, by  plac-
ing in it a coil of iron  wire, according  to the plan of Mr. Squire, the iron acts
by combining with the iodine of nascent hydriodic acid, and not with nascent
iodine.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,  iv. 19.)  The plan of Mr. Squire does
not prevent the deposition of sesquioxide, and has, therefore, been superseded
by the use of saccharine matter, which protects the solution from all change.
(See Liquor Ferri Iodidi.)  Iodide of iron is incompatible with aikalies 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 medi-
cine  by Dr. Pierquin  in 1824. (Memorial Pharmageutique.)  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. (Journ. of
the Phil. Col.  of Pharm., iv.  287. Jan.,  1833.)   Dr. A. T. Thomson, of
London, presented it to the notice of the profession in England, as a remedy,
in 1834.  (Obs. on the loduret and Hydriodate of Iron.)   Its powers are
those of a tonic, alterative, diuretic, and emmenagogue. As a therapeutic agent,
it acts more like the preparations of iron than like those of iodine.   It some-
times sharpens the appetite and promotes digestion, and occasionally acts as
a laxative and diuretic.   After having been continued for  several  days,  its
constituents may be  detected in the  urine.  When it does not act on the
bowels, it generally augments the urine.  Its use blackens the stools and les-
sens their fetor.   It is chiefly employed in  scrofulous  complaints, swellings
of the  cervical glands, visceral  obstructions attended with deficient action,
chlorosi.s, atonic  amenorrhoea,  and leucorrhoea.   In the  two diseases last
mentioned, Dr. Pierquin  employed it with success.   In  obstinate syphili-
tic 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 in-
creased the dose to 20 grains  in the course of twenty-four hours.  In secon-
dary syphilis, occurring in debilitated and  scrofulous  subjects, Ricord has
found it a valuable remedy.   The dose is  three grains, gradually increased
to eight or more.  For forming enemata, injections for the vagina, and lotions
for ulcers, one or two drachms of the salt may be dissolved in a pint of water.
It should  never be given in the form  of pill on  account of its deliquescent
property, and proneness to decomposition, unless it be protected by saccha-
rine matter; and even when  thus protected, the pills  become soft and lose
their shape.   Messrs. J. and  H. Smith, of Edinburgh,  have given a formula
for pills of this kind,  made from the anhydrous iodide of  iron  with refined
sugar and honey. (See  their paper, Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,  iii, 487.)
A similar pill had been previously devised by Dupasquier, and improved by
Mr. H. W.  Worthington, of this city,  in  wtiich the  protecting substances
are honey and tragacanth.  (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xv. 71.) In view of the
serious  objections which apply to the solid iodide of iron, it might well be 
964
Ferrum.
part ii.
 dispensed  with in the Pharmacopoeias.   Solutions for  external use  may be
 formed by reducing the U. S. saccharine solution (Liquor Ferri Iodidi) with
 water to any desired  extent, at the  moment of using them ; and, in cases in
 which it might be desirable to give the salt in the solid  state, the Edinburgh
 syrup could be reduced to a saccharine mass proper for making pills by eva-
 poration to dryness.  (See next article.)                               B.

   LIQUOR FERRf  IODIDI.  U.S.   Ferri  Iodidi Syrupus. Ed.
 Solution  of Iodide of Iron.  Syrup of Iodide of Iron.
   " Take of Iodine two ounces; Iron  Filings an ounce; Prepared  Honey
five fluidounces;  Distilled  Water  a sufficient quantity.  Mix the  Iodide
 with ten fluidounces  of the Distilled Water, in a porcelain  or glass vessel,
 and gradually add the Iron Filings, stirring  constantly.   Heat the mixture
 gently until the liquor acquires a light-greenish colour;  then, having added
 the  Honey, continue the  heat  a  short time, and  filter.  Lastly, pour the
 Distilled Water upon the filter, and allow it to pass  until the whole of the
 filtered liquor measures  twenty fluidounces.   Keep the  solution in closely-
 stopped bottles." U. S.
   "Take  of Iodine  (dry)  two  hundred grains;  fine Iron Wire, recently
 cleaned, one  hundred grains ;  White Sugar, in powder, four ounces and a
 half; Distilled  Water, six fluidounces [Imperial measure].  Boil the Iodine,
 Iron, and Water together in a glass matrass, at first gently to avoid the ex-
 pulsion 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.
   These preparations are  intended to furnish  a solution of iodide of iron,
 protected from  change by saccharine matter.  The saccharine matter selected
 in the U. S. formula  is honey; in the Edinburgh, sugar.  Both formulas
 direct a determinate  quantity of the preparation to  be made;  but the U. S.
 solution contains about 58 grains of the dry iodide of iron to the fluidounce;
 while the Edinburgh syrup contains, in the  same measure, only 40 grains.
 The  Edinburgh preparation is  strictly a syrup as it is called,  on account of
 the  large quantity of sugar it  contains ; whereas the  honey is  diluted to a
 Very considerable  extent in the U. S. formula.   The  mode of  making the
 iodide of iron in both the formulas is precisely  the same as that given under
 the head of Ferri Iodidum.  The Edinburgh College filters, while hot, into
 the  vessel  containing the  sugar;  so that, for  a short interval of time, the
 solution is  not under  the protecting influence of either the iron or sugar.  In
 the U. S. formula, the better plan is pursued of adding the saccharine mat-
 ter before filtration, and while the  solution is still in contact with the excess
 of iron.  The  Edinburgh  College  directs  the iodine to be dry, because, if
 moist, as the British  iodine often is, less  iodide of iron will be formed, and
 the syrup will be proportionably weaker. (See page 392 for  the method of
 drying iodine.)  In the U. S. formula, the iodine is assumed to be pure, and,
 therefore, dry.
   The plan  of protecting  the  solution of iodide of iron from change by
 saccharine  matter originated with  M. Frederking,  of Riga, who  published
 a formula for the purpose in Buckner's Repertorium in 1839. (See Amer.
 Journ. of the Med. Sci.  for £eb., 1840.)   The same plan was proposed in
 a paper by Mr. Win. Procter, Jr.,  contained in the Amer. Journ. of Phar-
 macy for April,  1840.  In  this  paper, Mr. Procter  detailed his experiments
 with  different saccharine substances, in order to determine  their relative 
PART 11.
Ferrum.
965
protecting power, pronounced in favour of prepared honey for that purpose,
and gave a formula for a permanent solution of the iodide, which is the basis
of that adopted in  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   In the Journal de Pharmacie
for March,  1841, Dr.  Dupasquier, of Lyons, claims to have made a pure
iodide of iron, protected  by the syrup of gum, as early as 1838.  In  the
Pharmaceutical Transactions for August, 1841, Dr. A. T. Thomson gave a
paper in which he confirmed the results of Frederking and Procter, and pro-
posed a formula for a strong syrup, which is  the basis of that adopted in the
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
   Properties. The U. S. solution of iodide  of iron is a transparent liquid,
free or nearly so from  sediment, and of a pale-greenish colour.  It becomes
brown on   the  addition of  sulphuric  acid,  and  emits violet vapours if
heated.  It  should not contain  any free iodine, which, if present, may be
detected by  the production of a blue colour with starch.  The  Edinburgh
syrup is a transparent liquid, either  colourless or pale yellowish-green, and
without sediment  even when exposed to the air.   When  concentrated it
becomes brown, and, if evaporated  to  dryness, it forms a mass which may
be  called the saccharine iodide, and which is not entirely soluble again, a
little sesquioxide being left.  This saccharine iodide, being protected by the
sugar it contains, is not liable to the same objections as the pure solid salt,
and may be made into  pills. (See page  963.)
   Medical Properties.   These have been detailed under the head of Ferri
Iodidum.  The dose  of the  solution  is from 30 to 75 drops, sufficiently
diluted with water; that of the Edinburgh syrup, one-half larger.   The di-
lution should be made by the patient at  the moment it is taken ; and, in order
to guard  against injury to  the teeth, the mouth should be carefully washed
after each dose.                                                    B.
   FERRI   OXIDUM HYDRATUM. U.S.   Ferrugo. Ed.  Hy-
drated Oxide of Iron.  Hydrated Sesquioxide of Iron.
   "Take of  Sulphate of Iron  four ounces;  Sulphuric  Acid three flui-
drachms and a half;  Nitric Acid six fluidrachms, or a sufficient quantity ;
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 the 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;  Nitric  Acid  (D. 1*380) nine fluidrachms ;
Stronger Aqua Ammonias  three fluidounces  and  a half;  Water  two pints
[Imperial measure].   Dissolve  the  Sulphate in  the Water, add  the Sul-
phuric Acid, and boil  the solution; add then the Nitric Acid in small por-
tions, boiling the  liquid for a minute or two after each  addition, until it
acquires a yellowish-brown 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  temperature 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.
                                 82* 
966
Ferrum.
PART II.
  This is a new officinal of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, in-
troduced on account of its importance as an antidote to the poison of arsen-
ious acid.  The first step of the  process is to convert the sulphate of
protoxide of iron into  the tersulphate of the sesquioxide, precisely as is done
in the U. S. formula for pure Prussian blue. The sesquioxide is then thrown
down in the hydrated state by the  addition  of ammonia in excess, and the
precipitate is washed  with water to remove adhering  sulphate of ammonia,
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 convenient for use as an
antidote.   The Edinburgh 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.
  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
exceeding 180°, and afterwards pulverized, it forms a reddish-brown powder,
not attracted 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 combined  water, and becomes  the  anhydrous sesquioxide, less
easily  soluble  in acids,  improper for medicinal use, and altogether without
effect as an antidote.  Hydrated oxide of  iron consists of one eq. of sesqui-
oxide  80, and two of water 18=98, and  is  represented  by the formula Fea
03+2HO.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The hydrated oxide, being  readily soluble
in acids, would no doubt form, in the dry state, a good ferruginous prepara-
tion for medicinal employment.   Its antidotal  powers in cases of poisoning
by arsenic, the manner in which  it acts, and the  mode of using it, are fully
explained under the head of arsenious acid, page 23.  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 arsenious  acid;  when not  a  trace of the metal can be
detected, even by sulphuretted hydrogen.  The hydrated oxide, as obtained
by the formula above  given, contains  a  little ammonia, which is thought by
some to assist its antidotal powers.   At least it has been  ascertained that the
sesquioxide, precipitated by potassa, is a less efficient  antidote to arsenic
than the officinal  preparation, and must be  used 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 the head of arsenious acid, that the officinal
subcarbonate of iron  (precipitated carbonate) possesses antidotal powers to
arsenic, though in an  inferior degree ; but this statement will  not apply to it,
if it has been exposed to a red heat, as is improperly done by  some  manufac-
turing  chemists.  By ignition in this way it becomes  anhydrous, and is ren-
dered altogether inefficient as an antidote.                           B.
   FERRI OXIDUM NIGRUM. Ed.  Ferri Oxydum Nigrum. Dub.
Black Oxide of Iron.   Martial Ethiops.
   "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, boiling the liquid after each addition briskly for a few minutes 
part ii.                       Ferrum.                           967

Dissolve the rest of the Sulphate in  the  rest of the boiling Water; mix
thoroughly the  two solutions; 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 pre-
cipitated by solution of  nitrate of  baryta, and dry it  at a temperature not ex-
ceeding 180°." Ed.
   " Wash the Scales of the Oxide of Iron, found at the blacksmith's  anvil,
with water; and having  dried them, separate them from impurities by means
of a magnet. Then reduce  them to powder, of which the  finest particles
are to be collected in  the manner directed for the preparation  of  chalk."
Dub.
   The preparations called black oxide of iron in the Edinburgh and Dublin
Pharmacopoeias are  not precisely identical.  The oxide of the  Edinburgh
College  is made by a  new process, that  recommended by Wohler, which
consists in precipitating  by ammonia, a solution of the mixed sulphates of pro-
toxide and sesquioxide of iron. Half the sulphate of iron taken in the formula,
after being dissolved in water, is acidulated with sulphuric 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 Ferro cyanuretum.)   The other half of the sulphate is dis-
solved in water, and the two solutions, being thoroughly mixed, form a com-
pound solution  of sulphate of the protoxide and sulphate 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.
   The black oxide of the Dublin College is obtained from the scales of the
oxide of iron.   The nature and  composition of these scales have been ex-
plained under the head of Ferrum,  Oxycli Squamae.  By washing, they are
freed from  accidental impurities;  and, as they are  not at the maximum of
oxidation, they are capable of further purification by the use of the magnet,
after which they are reduced to an  impalpable  powder.  This preparation,
besides occasionally containing metallic iron, varies in composition even as
an oxide, as explained at page 330. It is,  therefore,  not so eligible a prepara-
tion as that obtained by the new process  of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
The black oxide of the  French Codex is nearly equivalent in composition to
the  Edinburgh oxide, and is  obtained as follows.   Take of fine and pure
iron filings any quantity.  Place them in a stoneware dish, and add sufficient
water to wet  them  perfectly and  uniformly.  Heap up  the mixture, and
abandon it to the action of the air.  After  it has become warm, stir it with a
spatula, and add water  to make up for that which  may evaporate, so as to
keep the  mixture  constantly moist.  At  the end of two or three days the
oxidation will have terminated, when the product is  to be put in a  mortar, and
strongly triturated, in order to separate the oxide from the iron.   Throw the
whole upon a fine hair  sieve, and wash with abundance of  water, until the
washings no longer pass of a black colour.   The water thus obtained contains
the oxide, and  must be  decanted  with rapidity  after agitation.  The oxide,
after having subsided from the decanted water, is  put upon a linen cloth,
drained, and pressed.  It is then put between the folds of bibulous paper, and
rapidly dried, in order,  as far as possible, to avoid oxidation.
   Properties.  The  Edinburgh  oxide is  a  dark grayish-black powder,
unchangeable in the  air and slowly attracted by the magnet.  When dried
in mass  and then  broken, it presents a shining  fracture.  It is wholly solu-
ble in muriatic  acid without effervescence, and  may be thrown down again, 
968
Ferrum.
PART II.
 as a black precipitate, by ammonia.  When heated in close vessels it suffers
 no change except the loss of water; in  open vessels it absorbs  oxygen, and
 is converted entirely 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 is, therefore, not identical with the native black oxide, the
ferrosoferric oxide of Berzelius,  which consists of  single equivalents of
 the two oxides.  It is perceived by the  symbols  given, that the two oxides
 are united in such proportions  as to contain the same quantity of iron; and
 this composition corresponds with what it  should be, according  to the
 direction  given in the  formula  to divide the sulphate of iron  into two equal
 portions,  each  of which necessarily contains  the same quantity of metallic
 iron.
   Medical Properties.   The black  oxide  from the  scales of iron has  been
 long used as a chalybeate, and is highly esteemed.   The dose is from five
 to twenty grains, two  or three  times a  day.   The black oxide  of the Edin-
 burgh College  has not been tried as a medicine, so  far as we know; but it
 may be considered superior as a pharmaceutical preparation to the ordinary
 black oxide, on account of its uniform  composition, and permanency under
 the influence of air and moisture.                                    B.
   FERRI OXYDUM RUBRUM. Dub.   Red  Oxide of Iron.
   " Expose Sulphate of Iron  to heat,  until the water of crystallization is
 expelled.   Then roast it  by an intense fire as long as acid vapours arise.
 Wash the red  oxide until  the  washings, when examined by litmus, appear
 free from acid.   Lastly, dry it  on bibulous paper." Dub.
   When  sulphate  of iron, or green vitriol, is heated, it swells up  and un-
 dergoes the aqueous fusion, and afterwards, by losing  its water of crystalli-
 zation, becomes a dry grayish-white mass, consisting of anhydrous sulphate
 of iron.  This, by the application of a strong heat, is decomposed ; the iron
 becomes sesquioxidized at  the  expense  of part of the  acid, and sulphurous
 and sulphuric acids are given off.  The sesquioxide, however, is not perfectly
 pure, but  still contains a small portion of acid, to remove which  it requires to
 be washed.
   Properties, fyc.  Red oxide of iron is a reddish-brown, tasteless, insoluble
 powder, called  colcothar in 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 con-
 sists of two eqs. of iron 56, and three of oxygen 24=80.   It is, therefore, a
 sesquioxide of iron.  As it is  anhydrous, it has  no  effect as an antidote to
 arsenious acid.  (Orfila, Amer.  Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 331.)  This is a use-
 less preparation, and was properly  dismissed  from the U. S. and Edinburgh
 Pharmacopoeias upon their last revision.
   Off.Prep. Emplastrum Ferri, Dub.                               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 mix-
 ture by that the powder may subside;  lastly, having  poured off the super-
 natant liquor, wash the Phosphate of Iron with hot  water, and dry it with  a
 gentle heat." U. S,
   This preparation is  the result of a double  decomposition  between  the
 saline  materials employed.  The  sulphuric  acid combines with the soda
 and remains in solution as sulphate of  soda; while the phosphoric  acid, 
PART II.
Ferrum.
969
 uniting with the protoxide of iron, falls as phosphate of iron.   The amount
 of water dkected is useful to insure a prompt and  complete mutual reaction
 of the two  salts.   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.   It is in the form of an insoluble
 powder  of a bright slate  colour.  According to  Berzelius, it is a  mixture of
 the phosphates of the two oxides of iron.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Phosphate of iron  possesses the general
 properties of the ferruginous preparations, and has been given with  advan-
 tage in amenorrhoea and  some  forms of dyspepsia.   It was introduced into
 the U.S. Pharmacopoeia at the suggestion of 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.                                      B.
   FERRI RUBIGO.  Dub.   Rust of Iron.   ■
   "Take of Iron Wire  any quantity.  Cut it  into pieces and expose it to
 the air,  moistened with  water, until it is converted into rust.  Rub  this in
 an iron mortar; then  separate the finest powder  by  the affusion of water, and
 dry it."  Dub.
   Rust of iron is reduced to an impalpable  powder by levigation  and elutri-
 ation, and  then  made up  into small conical masses like prepared  chalk.
 According to Berzelius, it is a hydrated sesquioxide of iron, containing fre-
 quently  a little  carbonate  of protoxide.  It is formed in consequence  of the
 decomposition of the  water, the oxygen of which  converts the iron chiefly
 into sesquioxide, but partly also into protoxide,  which absorbs carbonic acid
 from  the atmosphere. Iron, in the form of wire, on account of its greater
 purity, is preferable to the filings for forming this preparation.
   Properties, fyc.   Rust of  iron is in the form of a red powder of a slightly
 styptic taste.  Its medical properties and dose are  the same as those  of the
 subcarbonate; but being less soluble in acids it is a less eligible preparation.
 It may be considered  as  a  superfluous article, and has been  very properly
 expunged from the officinal lists  of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmaco-
 poeias.
   Off Prep. Muriatis Ferri  Liquor. Dub.                           B.
   FERRI  SUBCARBONAS. U. S.   Ferri  Sesquioxydum. Lond.
 Ferri Oxidum Rubrum. Ed.  Ferri Carbonas. Dub.   Subcarbo-
 nate  of  Iron.  Sesquioxide of Iron,  Precipitated Carbonate of Iron.
   "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 hot  water, wrap  it  in bibulous paper,  and  dry it  with a  gentle heat."

   " Take of Sulphate  of Iron four pounds ;  Carbonate of Soda four pounds
 and two  ounces ;  Boiling Water six gallons [Imperial measure].   Dissolve
 the Sulphate of Iron and  Carbonate of Soda, separately, in three  gallons of
 Water.   Then mix the solutions together, and set them by that the powder
 may subside.   Lastly, the supernatant liquor  being poured  off, wash the
 precipitate with water, and dry it." Lond.
   "Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Carbonate  of Soda five ounces ;
 Boiling Water half a pint [Imperial measure];  cold Water three pints and
a half [Imp- meas.].  Dissolve the Sulphate in the boiling Water, add the 
970
Ferrum.
part ii.
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 twenty-five parts ; Carbonate of Soda twenty-
six parts ; Water eight hundred parts.   Dissolve  the  Sulphate of Iron in
the Water, then add the Carbonate of  Soda, previously dissolved in a suffi-
cient quantity of  water, and completely mix.  Wash the  Carbonate of Iron
which is thrown  down with warm water,  and then dry it."  Dub.
   When the solutions  of carbonate of soda and sulphate of iron are mixed
together, a hydrated carbonate of protoxide  of iron, of a pale bluish colour,
is thrown down, and sulphate of soda remains in solution.   The equivalent
quantities of the crystallized salts for mutual decomposition are  130*1 of
the sulphate  and 143-3 of the carbonate.   Taking the quantity of sulphate
of iron  at 8 parts, the  London and  Dublin Pharmacopoeias order of carbo-
nate of  soda 8-3 parts, the U. S. Pharmacopoeia 9 parts, and the Edinburgh
10  parts.   The  proportions of the  London and  Dublin Colleges coincide
most nearly with the equivalents.  The precipitate, during the washing  and
drying,  absorbs oxygen, and loses nearly the whole of its  carbonic acid,
whereby  it becomes converted  almost  entirely into sesquioxide of iron.
This being its chemical nature, the London  College, in their last Pharmaco-
poeia, have given it the new name of Ferri Sesquioxydum;  but as this name
is applicable to the  rust of iron, the  red oxide obtained by calcination from
the sulphate, and even to the hydrated oxide used as an antidote to arsenic,
the appellation adopted in the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia of Ferri Subcarbonas, i
in allusion to  the small  quantity of carbonic acid present in it,  is more dis-
tinctive.    Carbonate of potassa will answer to decompose the  ferruginous
sulphate; but carbonate of  soda is  preferred,  because it produces,  in the
double decomposition, the sulphate of soda, which, from its greater solubility,
is more readily washed away than the sulphate of potassa.
  Properties.  Subcarbonate of iron is a reddish-brown powder,  of a dis-
agreeable, slightly styptic taste; insoluble in water, but dissolving readily
in muriatic acid with very slight effervescence of carbonic acid.   After pre-
cipitation from its muriatic solution by ammonia, which throws  down the
sesquioxide of iron, the supernatant liquor should give no indications of
containing any other metal in solution.  It is incompatible with acids and
acidulous salts.   In composition it is a hydrated  sesquioxide of iron,  con-
taining a little protoxide and carbonic acid.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Subcarbonate  of iron is tonic, alterative,
and emmenagogue, and is employed for all the  purposes to which the pre-
parations  of iron are generally applicable.    It was  recommended by Mr.
Carmichael in cancer, and is said sometimes to prove useful.  Mr.  Hutchin-
son brought it into notice as a remedy for neuralgia;  and an extensive expe-
rience with it in that disease has established its  value.   It is also useful in
chorea,  in chlorosis, and, generally, in those diseases  in  which the blood is
deficient in colouring matter.    It has been used  by Dr. Woollam, Dr.
Shearman, Dr. Elliotson, and  others in  traumatic tetanus, with success in
twelve cases and failure in three.   In the  second stage of hooping-cough
Dr. Steymann represents  it to be a  prompt and efficacious remedy.  When
prescribed as a tonic, the usual  dose is  from five to thirty grains three times
a day, given in pill or powder, and frequently combined with aromatics and
vegetable tonics.   In neuralgia, chorea,  and tetanus, it  is  administered in
doses of from one to two teaspoonfuls.   No nicety need be observed in the 
PART II.
Ferrum.
971
dose; its only obvious effect in very large doses being a slight nausea, and a
sense of weight at the stomach.  Its use gives the stools a black colour.
   The subcarbonate of  iron acts as  an  antidote to the  poison of arsenious
acid, provided  it has not been exposed to a red heat; and, though not so
powerful as the hydrated oxide in the form of magma, should always be used
till the latter can be procured. (See page 24.)
   Off.Prep. Emplastrum Ferri, U. S., Ed.; Ferri Acetas,  Dub.; Ferri et
Potassas Tartras, U. S., Lond.; Ferrum Ammoniatum,  U..S.,< Lond.; Tinc-
tura Ferri Chloridi, U. S., Lond., Ed.                              B.

   FERRI SULPHAS. U. S., Lond, Ed., Dub.   Sulphate of Iron.
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, allowing the lower end  of the funnel to  touch the bottom of
the receiving vessel.   Evaporate the filtered liquor in a matrass until suffi-
ciently  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 Iron Filings eight ounces; Sulphuric Acid fourteen  ounces;
Water four pints [Imperial  measure].   Mix  the Sulphuric  Acid with the
Water,  and add the Iron to them. Then apply  heat, and when bubbles have
ceased to escape, strain the  liquor,  and set it aside that crystals may form.
Evaporate  the  liquor poured  off that it may again yield crystals,  and dry
them all." Lond.
   " If the  Sulphate of  Iron of commerce be not in transparent green crys-
tals, without efflorescence, dissolve  it in its own weight of boilincr water,
acidulated  with a little  Sulphuric Acid; filter, and set the solution aside to
crystallize.   Preserve the crystals in well-closed bottles." Ed.
   "Take of Iron Wire four parts; Sulphuric Acid [commercial?] seven
parts;  Water sixty parts.  Dissolve the metal by the aid of heat, and filter
the solution through paper.   Lastly, after due  evaporation, set the  solution
aside that crystals may form by slow refrigeration." Dub.
   The object of the U. S., London, and Dublin processes is to make a pure
sulphate of the protoxide of iron  by direct  combination.  Sulphuric  acid,
in a concentrated state, acts  but imperfectly on iron; but when diluted, a
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*1 of acid,
which is the proportion taken by the London and Dublin Colleges.  This
proportion is one of iron to one and three-quarters of acid.  The U. S. propor-
tion is one of iron to one and a half of acid, and gives a quantity of iron one-
sixth more than the acid can dissolve.   This excess of iron is desirable, as
it tends  to secure the production of a perfect sulphate of the protoxide.  The
remaining steps of the U.  S. process are peculiar, and are intended to secure
the formation of a salt entirely free from sesquioxide, by  the method of
Bonsdorff.   This chemist found that when a perfect sulphate of the prot-
oxide of iron was formed in  solution by heating dilute  sulphuric acid with
an excess of  iron, it might be crystallized free from sesquioxide, provided a
little excess of  sulphuric  acid be added to the liquid before it is filtered, in
order to hold in solution any sesquioxide that  may have been formed ;  at the
same time avoiding, as much  as possible, the  contact of  the air.  Hence the 
972
Ferrum.
PART II.
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 concen-
trated  liquid, when it is set aside to crystallize.  Iron wire, as being  purer,
is to be preferred to iron filings in making sulphate of iron.  The Edinburgh
College gives  no formula  for making this  salt, but  directions only for the
purification of the commercial  sulphate, when this happens to  be impure.
The salt is dissolved in boiling  water, and filtered, which separates the inso-
luble subsulphate ; after which  the solution is acidulated with sulphuric acid
on the plan of Bonsdorff, and crystallized.
  M.  Berthemot has proposed  a modified plan  of procedure,  to  render
sulphate of iron permanent.  He first  purifies  the commercial  sulphate
in the  manner  directed by  the  Edinburgh  College, and then  adds  it,  by
portions,  to boiling  distilled water, to  which afterwards some iron  filings
are added.  The solution  is then quickly filtered, while hot, into a  vessel
containing alcohol acidulated with sulphuric acid.   The pure sulphate of the
protoxide immediately precipitates in the form of a bluish-white  crystalline
powder;  while any sulphate of the sesquioxide which may have formed is
dissolved by the alcohol, and any free sesquioxide is taken up by the acid.
(Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 206.)
  Sulphate of iron, under  the  name of green  vitriol or copperas, is  manu-
factured on the large scale,  for the purposes  of the arts,  from  the  native
sulphuret of iron or  pyrites, by roasting, oxidation through exposure to  air
and moisture, and lixiviation.   The constituents  of the mineral become sul-
phuric  acid and  protoxide of  iron, which, by their  union, form the  salt in
question.   It is made also by our  manufacturers of sulphuric acid, by direct
combination, from the unconcentrated acid and scraps of old iron.
  Properties.   Sulphate of iron is in the form of transparent crystals, of a
pale bluish-green colour, and having the  shape of oblique rhombic prisms.
It has  a disagreeable  styptic taste, and  an acid reaction.   As prepared by
Bonsdorff's method, it is blue  verging to green.   When it becomes more
green than blue, or entirely  green, an indication is afforded that it contains
some sesquioxide.  When exposed to the air, the crystals absorb oxygen,
first become green,  and are ultimately covered with a yellow efflorescence  of
subsulphate of  the sesquioxide, insoluble in water.  Sometimes the crystals
are quite permanent when  made by Bonsdorff's method, owing to the slight
excess  of acid  which they contain.  Sulphate of iron is soluble in about
twice its  weight of cold water, and in three-fourths of its weight of boiling
water, but is insoluble  in  alcohol.  The aqueous solution is bluish-green;
but by standing it attracts oxygen, and  is rendered first green and then red-
dish, depositing, in  the mean time, a portion of subsulphate.  When  heated
moderately, it loses six-sevenths of its water of crystallization, and becomes
grayish-white.   At  a red  heat it  loses its acid, and is converted into the
anhydrous sesquioxide  of iron, called colcothar.  (See Ferri Sulphas Ex-
siccatum and Ferri  Oxydum Rubrum.)  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  subacetate  of  lead.   It is decomposed also by astringent vegetable
infusions, the tannic  and gallic acids of which form, if any sesquioxide  be
present, a black compound of  the  nature  of ink.   To what  extent this
change lessens  the  medicinal  activity  of the salt, is not well  ascertained.
Sulphate of iron, as it occurs in the shops, is often impure.  The commer-
cial  sulphate should  never be  dispensed by the apothecary until it has  un- 
PART II.
Ferrum.
973
 dergone a careful purification in the manner directed in the Edinburgh Phar-
 macopoeia.   The  perfectly pure salt is precipitated  white  by ferrocyanuret
 of potassium;  but that of ordinary purity gives a blue precipitate, more or
 less deep, with this test, owing to the presence of some sesquioxide of iron.
 Copper may be detected by immersing in the solution a bright piece of iron,
 on  which a cupreous film will be deposited.   Both copper and zinc may be
 discovered  by  sesquioxidizing 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 ammo-
 nia  by ebullition.   Sulphate of iron,  wrien crystallized, consists of one eq.
 of acid 40*1, one  of protoxide 36, and seven of  water 63=139*1, and its
 formula is FeO,SO?+7HO.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.   Sulphate of iron is astringent and tonic.
 In large doses it is  apt to produce  nausea and vomiting, and griping of the
 bowels; and its  use,  when long continued,  injures the  stomach.   It has
 been recommended as a remedy for the scrofulous diathesis, conjoined with
 extract of bark.  As an astringent, it is given in diseases  attended with im-
 moderate discharges, such as passive  hemorrhages, colliquative sweats, dia-
 betes, chronic  mucous  catarrh, leucorrhoea, gleet, &c.   As a tonic it is used
 in dyspepsia, and in the debility following protracted diseases.  In amenor-
 rhoea with deficient action, it is frequently resorted to with  advantage, either
 alone, or conjoined with the fetid and  stimulant gums.  Externally, the solu-
 tion is  used in eruptions of the face, chronic ophthalmia, leucorrhoea, and
 gleet, of various strengths, from one or two, to eight  or tengrains of the salt
 to the fluidounce of water.  The dose is from one to five grains in the form
 of pill. If  given in solution, the water  should be previously boiled to expel
 the  air, which,  if allowed to remain, would  partially  decompose the salt.
 Taken in an over-dose, it acts as a poison.
  Off.Prep.  Ferri Acetatis Tinctura, Dub.;  Ferri Carbonas  Saccharatum,
 Ed.; Ferri  Ferrocyanuretum, U. S.;  Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U. S., Ed.;
 Ferri Oxid. Nigrum, Ed.;  Ferri  Oxyd. Rubrum, Dub.;  Ferri Phosphas,
 U. S.;  Ferri Subcarbonas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Ferri Sulphas Exsic-
 catum,  Ed.; Ferrum  Tartarizatum, Ed.; Mistura Ferri Composita,  U. S.,
 Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pilulas Aloe's et Ferri, Ed.; Pil. Ferri Carbonatis,  U. S.;
 Pil.  Ferri Comp., U. S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura  Acetatis Ferri cum Alcohol,
 Dub.                                                              B.
  FERRI  SULPHAS EXSICCATUM. Ed.   Dried Sulphate of
 Iron.
  "  Expose any convenient quantify  of Sulphate of Iron to a moderate heat
 in a  porcelain or earthenware vessel, not glazed with  lead, till it is converted
 into  a dry grayish-white mass, which is to be reduced to powder." Ed.
  In this process, six eqs. out of seven of the  water of crystallization  of the
 salt are driven off.  The heat should  not exceed 212°, otherwise  the salt
 itself would  suffer decomposition. Dried sulphate of iron is used for making
 pills, the crystallized sulphate not being well adapted for this  purpose.   In
 prescribing dried sulphate of iron it is  necessary to recollect that three  grains
 are equivalent to five of the crystallized sulphate.
  Off.Prep. Pilulas Ferri Sulphatis,Ed.; Pil. Rhei et Ferri, Ed.     B.
  FERRI  SULPHURETUM.  Ed., Dub.  Sulphuret of Iron.
  " The best Sulphuret of Iron  is made  by  heating  an iron rod to a full
 white heat in a forge, and rubbing it with a roll of sulphur  over a deep ves-
sel filled with water to  receive the fused globules of  Sulphuret which form.
     83 
974
Ferrum.
PART II.
 An inferior sort, good enough,  however, for pharmaceutic  purposes,  is
 obtained by heating one part of Sublimed Sulphur and three of Iron Filings
 in a crucible in a common fire  till the mixture  begins to glow, and then
 removing the crucible and covering it, until the action, which  at first  in-
 creases considerably, shall come  to an .end." Ed.
    " Expose a rod of  Iron to the strongest heat of a forge, until It becomes
 white-hot; and upon  taking  it from the fire, instantly apply it to a roll  of
 sulphur.   Receive the Sulphuret of Iron in water, separate it from sulphur,
 and having dried it, keep it in a well-stopped bottle." Dub.
    Iron and  sulphur form  a number of sulphurets, among which the  most
 important are the  protosulphuret fhd  sesquisulphuret, corresponding with
 the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron, the bisulphuret or cubic pyrites,
 and magnetic pyrites, which  is a compound of five eqs. of  protosulphuret,
 and one of bisulphuret.   When the sulphuret is obtained by the  application
 of solid sulphur to  white-hot iron, the product corresponds in composition
 with magnetic  pyrites; but when prooured by heating  flowers  of sulphur
 with an excess of iron filings, as is directed in the second of the  Edinburgh
 processes, a protosulphuret is generated mixed with metallic iron.  When
 sulphur is  applied to  white-hot  iron, the  metal appears to  become hotter,
 burns with scintillations in the vapour of  the sulphur, and forms instantly
 the sulphuret, which,  being comparatively fusible, melts into globules, and
 drops into the water, which serves to extinguish them.  It is essential that
 the iron be raised to a white  heat, for  otherwise the process  succeeds but
 imperfectly.
   Properties, fyc.  The officinal sulphuret of  iron  has a yellowish colour
 and the metallic lustre.   When  obtained  over  water it is  in the form of
 brownish-yellow globules, having a somewhat crystalline texture.  When
 pure  it furnishes  a  yellow powder, and  dissolves   in dilute  sulphuric  or
 muriatic acid without  leaving  a residue  of sulphur, and with the  production
 of hydrosulphuric  acid  gas (sulphuretted  hydrogen), free  from  admixture
 of hydrogen.  As  prepared,  however, by the  officinal  processes, it is not
 entirely  soluble in dilute sulphuric acid, a portion  of uncombined sulphur
 being left.  The fused globules  have the composition of 5FeS+FeS3, or,
 according to some, 5FeS + Fe2S3. This preparation is employed exclusively
 as a pharmaceutical agent, for  the production of  hydrosulphuric acid gas.   It
 may be made to yield  this  gas by the action of diluted sulphuric acid.  Dur-
 ing the reaction water is decomposed; its hydrogen combines with the sulphur
 to form the hydrosulphuric acid, while the  oxygen  converts the iron into
 protoxide, with  which  the  sulphuric acid combines.  Hydrosulphuric acid
 is a colourless gas, having a smell like that of putrid eggs.   Its sp. gr. is
 1*1782.   It reddens litmus and saturates bases, for«iing salts called hydro-
 sulphates, sulphohydrates, or  hydrosulphurets.                       B.
   FERRUM  AMMONIATUM.  U S.   Ferri Ammonio-Chlori-
 dum. Lond.   Ammoniated Iron.   Ammonio-Chloride of Iron.
   "Take of Subcarbonate of Iron three ounces; Muriatic  Acid ten fluid-
 ounces ;  Muriate of Ammonia two pounds and a half; Distilled Water four
pints.   Mix the Subcarbonate of Iron  with  the  Muriatic  Acid in  a  glass
 vessel, and  digest for  two  hours; then  add the Muriate of Ammonia, pre-
 viously dissolved  in the Distilled Water, and,  having  filtered the liquor,
 evaporate to dryness.  Rub the residue to powder."  U. S.
   The process of the  London College is the same as the above, of which it
 was the  original.
   By the mutual action of muriatic  acid and the sesquioxide of iron of the 
PART II.
Ferrum.
975
 subcarbonate, water and sesquichloride of iron are formed ; and the solution
 of the latter, being  evaporated along with  that of the muriate of ammonia,
 yields a mixture of the two salts.  If any carbonate of iron be present in
 the  subcarbonate, a  portion of protochloride of iron must also be formed,
 which, however, would probably be converted into sesquichloride during the
 operation.   By the former process  of the U.S. and  Edinburgh Pharmaco-
 poeias, abandoned in the last edition of these works, a mixture of red oxide
 (sesquioxide) of iron and muriate of ammonia was submitted to sublimation.
 A portion of the muriate of ammonia was  decomposed, the ammonia  escap-
 ing,  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  sesquichloride of iron
 and  muriate of ammonia are chemically combined in the preparation.  Ac-
 cording to Mr. Phillips, they are in the proportion of 15 parts of the sesqui-
 chloride to 85 of the muriate.
  Properties.  Ammoniated iron, as usually found in the shops, is in crys-
 talline grains, of a yellow colour, a feeble  odour, and a sharp styptic  saline
 taste.   It is entirely soluble in water and diluted alcohol, is deliquescent,
 and requires to 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.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   This preparation unites aperient proper-
 ties 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 sub-
 limed  preparation  was formerly employed under  the names of flores mar-
 tiales, and ens martis.  From four to twelve grains maybe  given in  the form
 of pill, electuary, or solution, several times a day.
   Off.Prep.  Tinctura  Ferri Ammonio-Chloridi, Lond.               W.
  TINCTURA FERRI AMMONIO-CHLORIDI. Lond.  Tincture
 of Ammonio-chloride of Iron,
  " Take of Ammonio-chloride of Iron [Ammoniated Iron] four  ounces ;
 Proof Spirit a pint [Imperial measure].  Dissolve the Ammonio-Chloride of
 Iron  in the Spirit, and filter." Lond.
  This is simply a solution of  the preceding preparation in diluted  alcohol.
 It is  feeble  and uncertain as a chalybeate, and has no particular  claims to
 attention.                                                         W.
  TINCTURA FERRI CHLORIDI.  U S.  Tinctura Ferri Ses-
 quichloridi. Lond.   Ferri Muriatis Tinctura. Ed.  Muriatis
 Ferri Liquor. Dub.   Tincture of Chloride of Iron.  Tincture of
 Muriate of Iron.
  "Take of Subcarbonate  of Iron  half a pound; Muriatic Acid  a  pint;
Alcohol three pints.  Pour the Acid  upon  the Subcarbonate of Iron, and
shake the mixture occasionally  for three days ; then set it by that the  dregs,
if there be any, may subside; lastly, pour off the  liquor, and add to this the
Alcohol." U.S.
  " Take of Sesquioxide of Iron [Subcarbonate, U. S.] six ounces; Hydro-
chloric Acid a pint [Imperial measure];  Rectified Spirits three pints  [Imp. 
976
Ferrum.
part ii.
 measure].  Pour the Acid upon the Sesquioxide  of Iron in a glass vessel,
 and digest for three days, occasionally stirring.   Then add the  Spirit and
 filter." Lond.
   " Take of  Red Oxide [Subcarbonate] of Iron six ounces ;  Muriatic Acid
 (commercial) one  pint [Imp.  meas.]; Rectified  Spirit three pints  [Imp.
 meas.].   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 dis-
 solved ;  then  add the Spirit, and filter." Ed.
  ^ " Take of  Rust  of Iron one part; Muriatic Acid, Rectified Spirit, each,
 six parts.  Pour  the Acid upon the Rust in  a glass vessel, and shake the
 mixture  occasionally for three  days.   Then  set it  by  that the dregs may
 subside, and pour off the  clear liquor.   Evaporate  this  slowly to one-third,
 and when it is cold add the spirit."  Dub.
   The subcarbonate of iron  of the  shops consists of  sesquioxide of iron,
 mixed with a variable, but always small proportion of carbonate of the pro-
 toxide.   When acted on by muriatic acid it is  dissolved 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. formula dissolves nearly all  the subcarbonate, leaving
 behind,  according  to Mr. Phillips,  less  than  one scruple, including acci-
 dental impurities.   A reaction appears to  take place between the muriatic
 acid and the  alcohol, as the  preparation has a decided ethereal odour.  On
 exposure, the small quantity of protochloride  of iron present  is converted,
 by the absorption of oxygen, into sesquichloride and sesquioxide, the  latter
 of which is precipitated unless  there  be an excess- of muriatic  acid present.
 In  the U. S.  formula no  such  excess  exists,  and   the  tincture may conse-
 quently 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 preparations,  which
 have a considerable excess of acid, are liable to the more serious objection
 of being thus rendered more irritant to  the stomach.  In the Dublin process
 there is  a great waste of acid, of which  much more  is employed than is
 necessary to dissolve the quantity of rust of iron directed, the excess being
 driven off by  heat.  It is important that the apothecary should employ muri-
 atic  acid of the officinal specific gravity, as otherwise his preparation will be
 of uncertain  strength.   A  want of attention to this circumstance is proba-
 bly the cause  that the tincture, as found in the shops, is very unequal.  Of
 four specimens examined  by Mr. Phillips, one contained  in half a fluid-
 ounce 20 grains of sesquioxide of iron, another  12*1  grains, a  third 11*3
 grains, and the fourth only 9-3 grains.  A specimen  prepared by himself,
 precisely according to  the  directions  of the  former London Pharmacopoeia,
 which are at present  those of our  own national  standard, had the sp.gr.
 0*994, and contained, in half  a fluidounce, 16*8 grains of sesquioxide.  The
 present London preparation, according, to the same  authority, has the sp. gr.
 0*992, and contains in half a  fluidounce nearly  15  grains of  sesquioxide.
  Properties.  Tincture of chloride  of iron  is of a reddish-brown,  some-
 what yellowish colour, a sour  and very styptic taste, and an  odour resem-
bling that of muriatic ether.    The  sesquichloride of  iron, which  results
from  its  evaporation, is  a  deliquescent compound, of a dark-orange colour,
scarcely  crystallizable,  and consisting  of  two  eqs.  of  iron 56,  and   three
of chlorine 106*26 = 162*26.   The tincture is decomposed  by the alkalies,
alkaline earths, and their carbonates,  astringent vegetable infusions, and the 
 part ii.               Ferrum.— Gummi-resina.                  977

 mucilage  of gum Arabic, which produces with it a brown semi-transparent
 jelly.   All these substances are, therefore, incompatible with it in prescrip-
 tions.
    Medical Properties  and Uses.  This  is one of the most active and cer-
 tain preparations of iron, usually acceptable to the stomach, and much em-
 ployed for all the purposes to which the chalybeates generally are applied.  It
 has  been  particularly recommended as a tonic in scrofula, in  which it was
 formerly often given, conjointly  with the solution  of chloride of calcium, or
 chloride of barium.   It is supposed to be diuretic, and to have  a peculiar in-
 fluence  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, kid-
 neys, and bladder, it is thought to act advantageously, but should be confined
 to those of a passive character, or  employed only after  sufficient depletion.
 Externally it has sometimes proved useful in the destruction of venereal warts,
 and as a styptic in cancerous  and fungous ulcers.   The  dose is from ten to
 thirty minims, which may be  gradually increased to one, or even  two flui-
 drachms, two or three  times a day.  It is given diluted  with water.  W.


                        GUMMI-RESINA.

                             Gum-resins.

   These are concrete natural juices of plants, obtained by spontaneous  exu-
 dation or incision, and  consisting of gum and  resin, associated for the most
 part with  more or less  essential oil, and frequently with other substances,
 such as  extractive, bassorin, starch, wax, and various  salts.  The gum and
 resin are essential ingredients, but exist in very different proportions in the
 different varieties.  All the gum-resins  are partially soluble in alcohol and
 in water, but completely so in neither of these  liquids.  Diluted alcohol, on
 the contrary, dissolves  them almost entirely, especially  if assisted  by heat.
 With water they form an opaque  emulsion; the resin, essential oil,  and other
 insoluble constituents being held  in suspension  by  the dissolved gum. They
 are to a  certain extent soluble in vinegar.   Upon several  of them, especially
 myrrh and ammoniac, carbonate of potassa so reacts as to render them solu-
 ble in water, or capable of being  permanently retained  in suspension by that
 liquid.
   The  London  College gives the following  directions in relation to the
 gum-resins.
   " Those Gum-resins  are to  be preferred, which  may be chosen  so  per-
 fect as  not to require purification.  But if they do not  appear  to be suffi-
 ciently pure, boil them in water until they soften, and express them through
 a hempen cloth; then set them by that the resinous part may subside.  Pour
 off the supernatant liquid, and evaporate it by means of a water-bath, adding,
 towards the end of the process, the resinous portion, so  as to incorporate it
 with the gum.
  " The Gum-resins which melt easily, may  be  purified by putting them
 into an ox bladder, and  holding them in boiling water,  until they become so
 soft as to be capable of being separated from their  impurities by expression
 through a hempen cloth."
  The first of these  processes is applicable to the gum-resins only when
they are  intended  for external  use; for the essential oil, upon  which their
medicinal virtues  often in great  measure depend, is more  or less dissipated
                                  83* 
978               Gummi-resina.—Hydrargyrum.            part ii.

by the heat employed.  The latter process is preferable whenever practica-
ble, as it affects less the character of the medicine;  but several of the gum-
resins, such as assafetida and ammoniac, are  not sufficiently fusible at the
temperature of boiling water to admit of being strained with facility.  It is
always best to select those intended for internal exhibition, of such a quality
as not to require purification.  As they are usually brittle and pulverizable
when very cold, they may be  freed from the coarser impurities by  powder-
ing them  in the  winter  season, and  sifting  the powder, which afterwards
agglutinates with warmth.   This  plan  is recommended  by Mr. Brande, in
relation to assafetida, ammoniac, and galbanum. The French pharmaceu-
tists purify the gum-resins  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 diminishing 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.                                                  W.

                       HYDRARGYRUM.

                     Preparations of Mercury.

   HYDRARGYRUM PURIFICATUM. Dub.  Purified Mercury.
   " Take of Mercury six parts.   Draw off four parts by slow distillation."
Dub.
   The mercury of commerce is usually sufficiently pure for pharmaceutical
purposes;  but occasionally it contains foreign  metals, such as lead, tin, zinc,
and bismuth,  and hence the direction for its purification.  Mereury 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 dis-
tillation too far;  for in that event, some of the foreign metals,  particularly
bismuth, are apt to be carried over.   The Dublin College, on account  of
this danger, directs only  two-thirds of the mercury to be drawn over; but to
follow this direction causes  waste.  The distillation may  be performed over
a common fire, from  an  iron  retort into water contained  in a receiver.  A
wash-hand basin will answer as a receiver.   As it is difficult and troublesome
to purify  mercury by distillation, it is  better for the manufacturing chemist
to purchase pure samples of the metal, which may be always had in the mar-
ket, and thus  supersede the necessity of this process.  The U. S.,  London,
and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias do not  now include a formula for purifying
mercury by distillation,  but explain in their Notes that  the pure  metal is
intended by the term Hydrargyrum.
   Properties, 8fc.  Mercury is known to  be pure when it is bright and per-
fectly mobile.  Its freedom from foreign  metals may be  ascertained by the
negative indications of the tests mentioned under Hydrargyrum.      B.
   HYDRARGYRI ACETAS. Dub.  Acetate of Mercury.
   "Take  of  Purified Mercury, Acetate of Potassa,  each, n ine parts; Di-
luted  Nitric Acid eleven parts ; boiling Distilled Water one hundred parts;
Distilled Vinegar a sufficient  quantity.  Add the  Nitric Acid to  the Mer-
cury, and when the effervescence  shall have ceased, digest the  mixture, so
as to dissolve  the metal.   Dissolve the Acetate of Potassa in the Water,, and
add Distilled Vinegar until  acidity predominates in the solution.   To this,
boiling hot, add the solution of the Mercury  in the Nitric Acid, and strain
the mixture quickly through a double linen cloth ;  then let it cool that crys- 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
979
tals  may  form.   Wash these with cold Distilled Water, and dry them  on
paper with a very gentle heat.  In every step of this process, glass vessels
are to be used." Dub.
   The object of this process is to obtain an acetate of the protoxide of mer-
cury.  By the solution of  the  metal  in  diluted nitric acid, in the proportion
indicated, a nitrate of the  protoxide is formed; and this, when added to the
boiling solution of acetate of potassa, causes  a double  decomposition,  re-
sulting in the  formation of nitrate of potassa which  remains  in  solution,
and  acetate of  protoxide of mercury which  precipitates in crystals as the
solution cools.   The  nitric acid is used diluted in order to avoid  deutoxi-
dizing the metal; and for the same reason heat is not applied until the  action
of the acid has ceased in the cold, and then  only moderately.  Notwith-
standing every precaution, it is very difficult to get a perfect nitrate  of prot-
oxide of mercury ; and as water throws down a yellow subnitrate from the
nitrate of the deutoxide if the  solutions be neutral, the  College orders the
solution  of the acetate of potassa to be acidulated with distilled  vinegar,
which effectually prevents  this precipitation.  The straining of the  solu-
tion, while  hot, is intended to separate  any subnitrate which may  be  acci-
dentally formed.   As the crystals of the  acetate of mercury may be contami-
nated with a little nitrate  of the  deutoxide, which  is rendered yellow  by
the  action of water, some  authorities recommend that the washing should
be performed with water, acidulated with distilled vinegar.  The drying of
the  crystals  is an operation which requires great care, as  a slight heat is
sufficient to decompose them.   On this account it has been proposed to dry
them by compression between the folds  of bibulous paper.
  Properties, fyc.  Acetate of mercury  is a white salt, in the form of thin
elastic  scales of a pearly lustre.  Its  taste  is very disagreeable, but less  so
than that of most of the other soluble salts of  mercury.  It is not  affected
by air, but contracts a brown tinge by exposure to light.  It is insoluble in
alcohol, but dissolves  readily, with partial  decomposition, in boiling water,
from which, being only sparingly soluble  in cold water, it precipitates  in
crystals on cooling.  When it is a perfect acetate of the  protoxide, alkalies
throw down from its solution a black precipitate of protoxide; but if it  be
contaminated with acetate of the  deutoxide,  the same  reagents  cause a
yellowish precipitate.  It  consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of pro-
toxide of mercury 210, and four of water 36=297.
  Medical Properties. Acetate of mercury was introduced into regular prac-
tice, in consequence of its having been  supposed to be the active ingredient
in Keysets pills, which were at  one time esteemed to be a  mild and safe
antisyphilitic remedy,  and the mode of preparing  which was purchased
and  made  public  by  the French  government.  These pills, however, are
very unequal in their operation, and have been  ascertained by Robiquet  to
contain the acetate of  the deutoxide.   The officinal acetate is intended to  be
an acetate of the  protoxide; but even in this state it possesses no  peculiar
powers which give it  advantages over other mercurials in the  treatment of
syphilis;  and it is at present very little used.  The dose is a grain, given in
the form of pill, twice a day.   It is occasionally used as an external  applica-
tion  to cutaneous eruptions, in the proportion of a grain dissolved in a fluid-
ounce of rose-water.                                                B.

  HYDRARGYRI   CHLORIDUM  CORROSIVUM. U.S.    Hy-
drargyri  Bichloridum.  Lond.    Sublimatus  Corrosivus.  Ed.
Hydrargyri  Murias Corrosivum. Dub.   Corrosive Chloride  of
Mercury.  Bichloride of Mercury.   Corrosive Sublimate.
  " Take of Mercury two pounds; Sulphuric Acid three pounds ; Chloride 
980
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
of Sodium a pound and a half.   Boil the Mercury with the Sulphuric Acid
until the sulphate of mercury is left dry.   Rub  this,  when  cold, with the
Chloride of Sodium, in an earthenware mortar; then sublime with a gradu-
ally increasing heat." U. S.
   The London process  is  the same as the above.
   "Take of Mercury four ounces; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) two fluid-
ounces and three fluidrachms ; Pure  Nitric Acid half a  fluidounce ; Muriate
of Soda  three ounces.  Mix the Acids ;  add the Mercury; dissolve it with
the aid of a moderate heat; and then  raise the heat so as to obtain a dry salt.
Triturate this thoroughly with the Muriate of Soda, and sublime in a proper
apparatus." Ed.
   " Take of Persulphate of Mercury five parts ; dried  Muriate of Soda two
parts.  Rub them well together  in  an  earthenware mortar, so as to reduce
them to a very fine powder.  Then, with a heat gradually raised, sublime the
Corrosive Muriate of Mercury into a proper receiver."  Dub.
   In order to  understand  the above  processes, which  are the same in prin-
ciple, it  is necessary to premise that corrosive sublimate is  a bichloride of
mercury, consisting of two eqs. of chlorine and  one of mercury.   By
boiling sulphuric acid on mercury to dryness, a white salt is formed,  which
is a bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury.  (See Hydrargyri Persulphas.)
When this is mixed with  chloride of sodium (common salt), and the mix-
ture  exposed to a  subliming  heat,  a  mutual decomposition takes  place.
The chlorine of the common salt combines with the mercury, and sublimes
as bichloride of mercury; while the sodium, oxygen  of the deutoxide of
mercury, and  sulphuric acid unite to form sulphate of soda, which remains
behind.  The  quantities for mutual decomposition are  two eqs. of chloride
of sodium, consisting of two eqs. of chlorine and two  of sodium; and one
eq. of the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury, consisting of one eq. of
mercury, two of oxygen,  and  two  of sulphuric acid.  The two eqs. of
chlorine  combine with the one eq. of mercury, to form  one eq. of corrosive
sublimate; and  the two eqs. severally, of sodium, oxygen,  and  sulphuric
acid form, by their union, two eqs. of dry sulphate of soda.  The Edinburgh
formula is very much changed from that given in the previous edition of the
Ed. 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, according to tile  method  pursued by the Dublin College in forming
the Hydrargyri Persulphas.  The Dublin formula  is peculiar in ordering the
bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury ready formed, instead  of preparing it
as the first step of the process, as is done in the processes of the other Phar-
macopoeias. (See Hydrargyri Persulphas.)
  The names  given in the several Pharmacopoeias  to this chloride are,
unfortunately, very various.  It is called a chloride, as it is admitted to be,
in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, a muriate, agreeably to an aban-
doned theory, in the Dublin, and corrosive sublimate, irrespective of chemical
nomenclature, in the Edinburgh.  We  should be sorry  to share the opinion
of the Edinburgh College  that the adoption of the modern chemical nomen-
clature, to express  pharmaceutical substances, was a great 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 College name of bichloride for corrosive sublimate,
we think it not sufficiently distinct from chloride, adopted by the same
College for calomel.   Hence we prefer the use of the adjunct, corrosivum,
employed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,  as  serving to  fix attention  to  its
deleterious nature.
  Preparation  on the large scale, fyc.   The  first  step  is to form the bisul- 
part ii.                    Hydrargyrum.                         981

phate of the deutoxide of mercury, which  is effected by heating the sul-
phuric 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 sub-
limed in an iron pot lined with clay, and covered by an inverted earthen pan.
Recently Dr. A. T.  Thomson, of London, has taken out a patent for forming
corrosive sublimate, on  the large scale, by the direct  combination, by com-
bustion, of gaseous  chlorine with heated mercury.   The product is stated to
be perfectly  pure, and to be afforded at a lower price than the sublimate made
in the usual way.  In order that the combination  may take place, the mercury
need not be heated to  its  boiling point, but only to a temperature between
300° and 400°. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Sep. 1842.)   It is sometimes
useful  to a physician to know how to  make a  small quantity of corrosive
sublimate on an emergency.  This may be done by dissolving deutoxide  of
mercury (red precipitate) in muriatic acid, evaporating the solution  to dryness,
dissolving the dry  mass in water, and crystallizing.  In this case a  double
decomposition takes place, resulting  in the formation of water  and the bi-
chloride.
   Properties.  Corrosive chloride of mercury, as obtained by sublimation,
is in  the form  of colourless  crystals, or of white, semitransparent, crystal-
line  masses, of the sp. gr. 5*2,  permanent in  the air, and possessing an
exceedingly acrid, styptic, metallic, durable taste.  It dissolves in a little less
than twenty parts of cold water, and  in three of boiling water.  A boiling
saturated solution, upon cooling,  lets it  fall  in a confused  mass of crystals.
It is soluble also  in two and  a third  parts of cold alcohol, in about its  own
weight of boiling alcohol, and in three parts of ether.  Sulphuric, nitric, and
muriatic acids dissolve it without alteration.  When heated it  melts, and
readily  sublimes  in  dense, white, acrid vapours, which condense, on  cool
surfaces, in white shining needles.   Its aqueous solution renders green  the
syrup of violets, and is 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 deutoxide of mer-
cury, and is  formed in the process for  preparing the  aqua phagedaenica of
old pharmacy, which is obtained by mixing  a drachm  of corrosive sublimate
with a  pint  of  lime-water.   Corrosive sublimate forms  with  muriate  of
ammonia and chloride of sodium, compounds which are more soluble than
the uncombined mercurial salt.  It is  on this account that 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 ammonia was formerly called sul alembroth, or salt of wisdom.  (See
Liquor  Hydrargyri Bichloridi.)
   Corrosive sublimate has the property of retarding putrefaction  in a re-
markable degree.   Animal matters, immersed in its solution, shrink, acquire
firmness, assume a white colour, and become imputrescible.  It is on account
of this  property that it  is often usefully employed for the  preservation  of
anatomical preparations.
   Tests of Purity and Incompatible.1}.  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 pre-
sence of some impurity is proved.  If calomel be present, it may be detected
by its insolubility in water.   Corrosive sublimate is incompatible with many
of the metals, with  the alkalies and their carbonates, with  soap, lime-water,
tartar emetic, nitrate of silver,  the acetates of lead, the sulphurets of potassium
and sodium, and with all the hydrosulphates.  It is also decomposed by many 
982
Hydrargyrum.
part ii.
vegetable and some animal substances.  According  to Dr. Thomson (Lon-
don Dispensatory), it produces precipitates in infusions or decoctions of the
following vegetable substances ;—chamomile, horse-radish, columbo, catechu,
cinchona, rhubarb, senna, simaruba, and oak-bark.                   B.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Corrosive sublimate is a very powerful
preparation, operating quickly, and if not properly regulated, producing very
violent effects.   It is less apt  to salivate than most other mercurials.   In
minute doses, suitably repeated, it  may  exert its  peculiar influence without
any obvious alteration of the vital functions, except, perhaps, a slight increase
in the  frequency of the  pulse, and in the secretions from the skin and kid-
neys.  Sometimes, however, it purges; but this effect may be obviated by
combining it with  a little opium.  In larger doses  it occasions nausea, vomit-
ing, griping  pain in the bowels, diarrhoea, and other symptoms of gastric and
intestinal irritation ; and  in still larger quantities produces all the effects of a
violent corrosive poison.  It has long been used as a remedy in syphilis, in
all stages of which it is highly recommended by some authors.   It is said to
remove the symptoms more speedily than other mercurials, while its action
is less unpleasant,  as the mouth is less liable to be made sore.   For the latter
reason it is much  employed by empirics, and  is  an  ingredient  in almost all
those nostrums which have at various periods gained a temporary popularity
as anti-venereals.  But while it is  extolled by some  authors, others, among
whom  is Mr. Pearson, of London, deny its  extraordinary merits, and main-
tain that, though occasionally useful in arresting the progress of the complaint,
particularly  in the  secondary stage, it does not produce permanent cures, and,
in the primary stage, often fails altogether.  The general opinion at present
is in favour of its employment in secondary syphilis, and  there can be no
doubt that it occasionally does  much good.  It is also used advantageously
in cutaneous diseases of  a leprous character, and  in  obstinate  chronic rheu-
matism.   It is  usually associated  with alterative or diaphoretic medicines,
such as the  antimonials, and the compound decoction or syrup of sarsapa-
rilla ; 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 wdiich 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 fluid-
ounce, 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 pro-
portion 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 pha-
gedsenica of the older writers, employed as a wash for ill-conditioned ulcers.
The powdered  chloride  has  been  used as an  escharotic; but is, in general,
inferior to nitrate  of silver or  caustic potassa.   In  onychia maligna, how-
ever, it is employed with great advantage,  mixed with an equal weight of
sulphate of  zinc, and  sprinkled thickly upon the  surface of the ulcer, which
is then to be covered with a pledget of lint saturated  with tincture of myrrh.
The whole diseased surface is  thus  removed, and the necessity of  resorting
to the knife  avoided.  This practice was first  introduced, we believe, by the
late  Dr. Perkins,  of Philadelphia, and was highly recommended by Dr.
Physick.  We have employed it in several  instances with complete success.
^ The dose of corrosive sublimate is from the twelfth to the quarter of a grain, 
part ii.                    Hydrargyrum.
983
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 dif-
fused through the pilular  mass, before it  is divided.  Mucilaginous drinks
are usually given to obviate the  irritating effects of the medicine.
   Toxicological Properties.   Swallowed  in poisonous  doses,  it produces
burning heat in the throat, excruciating pain in the stomach and bowels, ex-
cessive 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, faint-
ings, insensibility, convulsions, and death.   The mucous membrane of the
stomach exhibits on dissection all the signs which mark the action 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,
<fec.   A case is on record of death, in an  infant, from the constitutional effects
of corrosive sublimate sprinkled upon an excoriated surface. In the inferior
animals, in whatever mode introduced into the system, it is said to occasion
irritation of the  stomach and  rectum, inflammation of the lungs, oppression
of the brain, and depression if not inflammation of the heart.  (Christison.) In
the treatment  of poisoning by corrosive sublimate, Orfila  recommends  the
free  use of the white of eggs beat up with 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 corrosive sublimate, when recently precipitated, is
soluble in acid and alkaline liquids, and in solutions of the chlorides of potas-
sium, sodium, and calcium. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxiii. 510.)   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. Tacldei, the same  effect as albumen.  Milk has also been recom-
mended, in consequence of the insoluble compound which casein forms with
the poison.  Besides  the antidotes mentioned, Peruvian bark, meconic acid,
protosulphuret of iron,  and iron  filings have been proposed,  all of  which
have the property of decomposing corrosive sublimate.   The protosulphuret
of iron was  found quite  successful by M. Mialhe in experiments upon  dogs,
if given immediately after the poison was swallowed, but failed when delayed
for 10 minutes.   It is of the utmost importance that whatever antidote is used
should be given without delay, and in this respect the one nearest at hand
may be considered the best.   Should neither of the substances mentioned be
attainable, mucilaginous  drinks should be  largely administered; and, in any
event, the patient should  be made to drink  copiously, so  long as vomiting
continues, or till the symptoms  are relieved.  Should he be unable to vomit,
the stomach should be washed  out by means of the stomach pump.  The
consecutive  inflammation  should  be  treated with general or local bleeding,
fomentations, and cooling mucilaginous drinks, and the attendant nervous
symptoms should be  alleviated by opiates.                          W.
   Tests for Corrosive Sublimate.  On  account of the extreme virulence of
this chloride as a poison, the reagents by which it may  be  detected form a
subject of  study of   the  utmost  importance,  as  connected with medico-
legal  investigations.   The  best tests for determining its mercurial nature,
mentioned in the order of their  delicacy, are ferrocyanuret of potassium,
lime-water, carbonate of potassa, iodide of potassium, ammonia, sulphuretted 
984
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
hydrogen, and protochloride of tin.  Ferrocyanuret of potassium gives rise
to a white precipitate (ferrocyanuret of mercury), becoming slowly yellow-
ish, and at length pale-blue.   Lime-water throws down a yellow precipitate
of hydrated deutoxide.  Carbonate of potassa causes a brick-red precipitate
of carbonate of mercury.   Iodide of potassium produces a very characteristic
pale scarlet precipitate of biniodide of mercury.  This precipitate frequently
appears at first yellow.   Ammonia gives rise  to  a fine, white,  flocculent
precipitate, the officinal ammoniated mercury or white precipitate.  Sulphu-
retted hydrogen occasions  a black precipitate of bisulphuret of mercury.  The
same effect is produced by hydrosulphate of ammonia. Finally, protochloride
of tin causes at first a white precipitate (calomel), and afterwards a grayish-
black one (mercury in a  finely divided  state), and, as a  test, is  not liable
to any fallacy.  Taking the results of Devergie, the relative delicacy of these
tests may be expressed numerically as follows:—Ferrocyanuret of potassium
1|;  lime-water 4 ; carbonate of potassa 7 ; iodide of potassium 8 ; ammonia
36;  sulphuretted hydrogen or hydrosulphate of ammonia 60; and  protochlo-
ride of tin 80.   To the above the following tests may be added, easily applied
even by those unacquainted with chemistry.   A bright plate of copper, im-
mersed in a solution containing corrosive sublimate, is instantly tarnished, and,
after the lapse of half an  hour, becomes covered with a gravish-white powder.
A polished piece of gold, moistened with  the mercurial solution, and touched
through the liquid with a piece  of iron,  contracts  a white  stain.   This test,
which was proposed by Mr. Sylvester and simplified by Dr. Paris, is con-
veniently applied  by moistening, with the suspected solution, a gold coin or
ring, and touching it through the moistened spot with the point of a penknife.
The object of the iron is  to form with the  gold a simple galvanic circle, which
enables  the latter metal to precipitate the mercury on its  surface.  Nearly
all the above tests merely  show the mercurial  nature of the substance acted
on.   To determine whether the metal is  united with chlorine, the mercurial
liquid may be precipitated  by lime-water, and the filtered solution,  acidulated
with nitric acid, then tested with nitrate of silver.   If the  mercury is in the
state  of chloride, the  filtered  solution will be one of chloride of calcium,
which,  with nitrate of silver, will  yield  a heavy white precipitate (chloride
of silver), insoluble in nitric acid, but soluble in ammonia.   The nitrate of
silver may be  added directly to the mercurial liquid ; and, if it contain corro-
sive 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, associ-
ated with organic substances, by which its presence is often greatly obscured.
When  it exists in organic mixtures, made by boiling the  contents or  sub-
stance of the  stomach in  distilled  water, Dr.  Christison recommends that a
preliminary trial be made with the  protochloride of tin, on a small portion
filtered  for the purpose.   If this causes  a grayish-black colour, he shakes
the mixture, as  recommended by Orfila,  with a fourth of its bulk of ether,
which dissolves the chloride 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 corrosive subli-
mate may be readily detected by the ordinary  tests.  If the trial test should
produce a light gray colour, the chloride 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 removed it without being  dried,  boil it, in a glass
flask, with a  moderately  strong solution of  caustic potassa,  until all the 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
985
 lumps disappear.   The alkali will dissolve all animal and vegetable matter ;
 and on allowing the solution to remain at rest, a  heavy grayish-black pow-
 der will subside, which  consists chiefly of metallic mercury, and in which
 small globules of the metal may sometimes be discovered by the naked eye,
 or by the aid of a magnifier.
   Off. Prep. Hydrargyri Binoxydum, Lond.; Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum,
 U. S.; Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Hy-
 drargyri Bichloridi, Lond.                                        B.
   LIQUOR  HYDRARGYRI BICHLORIDI. Lond.   Solution  of
 Bichloride of Mercury.
   " Take of Bichloride of Mercury [Corrosive Sublimate], Hydrochlorate
 of  Ammonia, each, ten grains ;  Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure].
 Dissolve the Bichloride of Mercury and Hydrochlorate of Ammonia together
 in the Water." Lond.
   This solution was intended to facilitate the dispensing of corrosive subli-
 mate in small doses.  The muriate of ammonia has been substituted for the
 alcohol formerly added to the  solution, probably in order to prevent the de-
 composition of the bichloride.    A solution of corrosive sublimate in water
 alone, under the  influence of  light, deposits calomel,  while muriatic and
 chloric acids remain in the  water, nor is this decomposition prevented by
 the addition of alcohol.   The  dose of  the solution, of which a  fluidounce
 contains half a grain of corrosive sublimate, is from one to four fluidrachms
 taken in flaxseed tea.                                             W.
   HYDRARGYRI  CHLORIDUM  MITE.  U.S.    Hydrargyri
 Chloridum. Lond.    Calomelas.  Ed.   Calomelas Sublimatum.
 Dub. Mild Chloride of  Mercury.  Calomel.
   " Take of Mercury four pounds; Sulphuric Acid three pounds; Chloride
 of  Sodium a pound and a half;  Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.  Boil
 two pounds of the Mercury with the Sulphuric Acid, until the sulphate of
 mercury is left dry.  Rub this, when cold, with the remainder of the Mer-
 cury, 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 glo-
 bules disappear; afterwards  sublime.  Reduce the sublimed matter to a very
 fine powder, and wash  it frequently with  boiling Distilled  Water, till the
 washings afford no precipitate  upon the addition of Solution of Ammonia;
 then dry it." U.S.
  The London formula is the  same as  the above, except that the testing of
 the washings is not directed.
   " Take of Mercury eight  ounces; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) two fluid-
 ounces and  three fluidrachms  [Imperial measure]; Pure Nitric Acid half a
fluidounce [Imp. meas.]; Muriate of Soda three  ounces.   Mix  the Acids,
 add four ounces of the Mercury, and dissolve it with the aid of a  moderate
 heat.   Raise the heat so as to  obtain a dry salt.   Triturate this with the
 Muriate of Soda and the rest of the Mercury  till the globules entirely disap-
 pear.   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 Persulphate of Mercury twenty-five parts; Purified Mercury
 seventeen parts; Dried Muriate of Soda ten parts.   Triturate together the
 Persulphate of Mercury and Purified Mercury, in an earthenware mortar,
 until the metallic globules completely disappear.   Then add the  dried Mu-
 riate of Soda, and mix them  well; and  from  a suitable vessel, with a heat
    84 
986
Hydrargyrum.
part ii.
gradually raised, sublime the mixture into a receiver.   Reduce the  subli-
mate to powder, and wash it with water so long as the decanted liquid is
precipitated by Water of Caustic Potassa.   Lastly  dry the Sublimed  Calo-
mel." Dub.
   The object of the above processes, which all coincide in the  principle on
which they are conducted, is to obtain the protochloride of mercury.  This
chloride  consists of one eq. of chlorine  and one  of  mercury, and conse-
quently contains  precisely half  as much chlorine  as  corrosive sublimate,
combined with the same quantity of mercury.  In the process  of the U.S.
Pharmacopoeia, as  in the case of corrosive sublimate, a  bisulphate of the
deutoxide is first formed;  but instead of being immediately  sublimed with
the chloride of sodium, it undergoes a preparatory trituration  with  the  same
quantity of  mercury as was  employed  in forming it.   This trituration may
be conceived to take place between one eq. of the bisulphate of the deutoxide
and one eq. of metallic mercury, which  are thus converted into  two equiva-
lents  of the monosulphate of the protoxide.   This change  will be easily
understood, 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 rubbed up with  one additional eq. of mercury, the whole becomes
two eqs. of acid, two of oxygen, and two of mercury, evidently correspond-
ing with two eqs. of the monosulphate  of the protoxide.  The two eqs. of
monosulphate thus formed, being heated with two eqs. of  common salt, the
two  eqs. of chlorine in the latter sublime in union  with the  two eqs. of
mercury in the former,  and generate  two eqs, of protochloride of mercury;
while the two eqs., severally, of  sulphuric acid, oxygen, and sodium,  unite
together to form  two eqs. of dry sulphate of soda, which  remain as a  fixed
residue.   It is hence apparent that the residue in this process  and in that for
corrosive sublimate  is the same.
  The calomel  in mass, as  sublimed, is liable to contain a little  corrosive
sublimate; and hence the directions of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, to reduce
the sublimed matter to a very fine  powder, and to wash it with boiling dis-
tilled water until ammonia produces no precipitate with the washings.  Am-
monia occasions a white precipitate  so  long as the  washings  contain corro-
sive sublimate;  and when it ceases to produce this  effect  the operator may
rest satisfied that the whole of the poisonous salt has  been removed.  The
London Pharmacopoeia prescribes a careful washing, but omits in the formula
any  directions for testing for corrosive sublimate.  The  proper  tests for
ascertaining the purity of calomel are, however, enumerated in the "Notes"
of the work, prefixed to the " Preparations."
  The Edinburgh formula is peculiar in ordering a  small  proportion of
nitric acid to assist the  sulphuric  acid in oxidizing  the mercury, as is done
also  in the corrosive sublimate process.  The washings are tested by iodide
of potassium, 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 sepa-
rate  formula, and designated by a  distinct name, persulphate  of  mercury.
It is, therefore, taken  ready formed, mixed with the  mercury and common
salt in the usual way, and the mixture sublimed.  The College has omitted
to mention  that  the water used  for washing should be boiling hot.   The
solution of  caustic  potassa,  used  to test the washings, is not  so  delicate a
reagent as either iodide of potassium or ammonia.
  Preparation  on  the Large Scale.  The process for making calomel by
means of  the bisulphate of deutoxide of mercury, was originally practised at
Apothecaries' Hall, London.  The proportions  taken, and  the  mode  of
proceeding, in that  establishment, are, according to  Mr. Brande, as follows: 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
987
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 40i
lbs. of mercury till the globules disappear, and the whole  is mixed  with 34
lbs. of common salt.   The mixture is then  sublimed from an earthenware
retort into an earthenware receiver, and the product is from 95 to 100 lbs. of
calomel.  The  sublimate is  next ground to  an impalpable powder, and
washed with a large quantity of distilled water.
  The  object of bringing calomel into a state of minute  division,  is more
perfectly accomplished by the  method of Mr. Joseph Jewell, of London,
improved by M. Ossian Henry.  It consists in  causing the  calomel in vapour
to come in  contact with  steam in a large  receiver, whereby it is  condensed
into an  impalpable powder, and perfectly washed from corrosive  sublimate,
in the  same operation.   Calomel made by this  process,  sometimes called
Jewell's 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  doux a la
vapeur).  M. Soubeiran, of Paris,  has   perfected a process for obtaining
calomel in an impalpable powder; 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 described by F. C. Calvert, see Journ. de Pharm., 3e
Ser. iij. 121.  Both these papers are copied into the Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
xv. 89 and 93.
  Properties.  Mild chloride of mercury is a tasteless, inodorous  substance,
insoluble in  water, alcohol, and ether,  less volatile than  corrosive  sublimate,
unalterable in  the air, but blackening by long exposure  to  light.   When in
mass its form  and  appearance depend  upon the shape and temperature of the
subliming vessel.  In this state, it is generally in the form  of a white fibrous
crystalline cake, soft and brittle, the interior surface of which is often  studded
with shining transparent  crystals, having the shape of quadrangular  prisms,
and a texture somewhat horny and elastic.  When the mass is  scratched it
yields a yellow streak, which is very characteristic.  Its sp. gr. is  7-2. The
officinal form  of this chloride is that of  powder, in  which state  it  always
exists in the shops. The powder has  a light buff or ivory colour, if obtained
by the levigation of sublimed masses ; but if condensed at once in the'form
ofan 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 conse-
quence of the formation of protoxide.  (See Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum.)
The composition of calomel has already been given.
  Tests of  Purity and  Incompatibles.   Calomel, when  pure, completely
sublimes on the application of heat,  and  strikes  a  black  colour, free from
reddish  tinge, by the action of the fixed alkalies.   The buff colour indicates
the  absence  of corrosive  sublimate; but whiteness by no means  shows the
presence of  impurity.  Its freedom from  the corrosive chloride may be de-
termined by heating a small portion of it in  distilled water, and then testing
the water with  ammonia, which will cause a white precipitate  in case the
water has taken up any of  this  chloride.   In using this test it is best not to
boil the water  on the calomel; as boiling water  is said to convert it to a slight
extent into corrosive  sublimate.  Besides  being incompatible with the alka-
lies and  alkaline earths, it is also  decomposed by the  alkaline carbonates,
soaps, hydrosulphates, and, according to some  authorities,  by iron, lead, and 
988
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
copper.   Calomel should  not  be given at the same time with nitromuriatic
acid, for  fear of generating  corrosive sublimate.   One of the authors  has
been informed of a case, in which death, with symptoms of violent gastro-
intestinal  irritation, followed their simultaneous use.   Agreeably to the ex-
periments of M. Deschamps (Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 27), calomel is decom-
posed 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 bicyanuret only.   Hence  this
writer considers it very dangerous to associate calomel with bitter almonds
or hydrocyanic acid in prescription.   This conclusion has been confirmed by
M. Mialhe, and M. Prenleloup.   According to M. Mialhe calomel is in part
converted into corrosive  sublimate and metallic mercury by muriate of  am-
monia, and by the chlorides of sodium and potassium, even at the temperature
of the body; and hence he believes that the conversion may take place in the
•primas viae. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 108.)    Popular belief coincides with
M. Mialhe's views in regard to the power of common salt  of increasing the
activity of calomel.  More recently M. Mialhe has extended his observations,
and now  believes that all the preparations of  mercury produce a certain quan-
tity of corrosive sublimate, by reacting with solutions of the chlorides of potas-
sium, sodium, and ammonium.  The deutoxide and similarly constituted com-
pounds  are most prone to this change.   Even metallic  mercury, digested
with the chlorides named,  is partly converted, under the influence of air,  into
corrosive sublimate. (Journ. de Pharm.,  3e Ser. ii. 439)  Dr. Gardner denies
the assertion of  M. Mialhe, that calomel is converted into corrosive subli-
mate by chlorides of the alkalifiable metals, maintaining, that it is merely  ren-
dered soluble by their solutions. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ii. 538.) 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 in-
 ferior 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 altera-
 tive action upon the hepatic or other secretory function, calomel, on account
 both of its certainty and mildness, is preferred to all other preparations, with
 the single exception of the blue pill,  which, though less certain, is still milder,
 and is sometimes preferably employed.   When used with  the above objects,
 the 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 give 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  anti-
 monials  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,
 attributable 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  climates, and all other affections attended  with  congestion of the
 portal system,  or torpidity of  the hepatic  vessels.  The  difficulty  with
 which it is  thrown  from the stomach, renders it  highly useful  in  some
 cases  of obstinate  vomiting, when other  remedies  are  rejected.   In the
 cases of children, it  is peculiarly valuable  from  the facility of its  adminis-
 tration ;  and, in the febrile complaints to which they are subject, appears to
 exercise a curative  influence, depending on some  other cause than its  mere 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
989
 purgative effect, and perhaps referable 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  causes to flow.  The
 slowness and uncertainity  of its  action, and  its liability to  salivate if too
 long retained in the bowels, render it proper either to follow or combine  it
 with other cathartics, in  order to ensure  its  purgative  effect.   When given
 alone, it should  be followed, if it do not  operate in six or seven hours, by a
 dose of castor oil or sulphate of magnesia.  The cathartics with which it  is
 most frequently combined  are jalap, rhubarb, aloes, scammony, colocynth,
 and gamboge. It is often added in small quantities to purgative combinations,
 with a view to its influence  on the biliary organs.
   In very large doses, calomel is supposed by some to act directly as  a
 sedative, and with this view has been given  in yellow  and malignant bilious
 fevers,  violent  dysentery,  malignant cholera, &c.  The quantities which
 have been  administered in such affections, with asserted impunity and  even
 advantage, are almost incredible.  A common dose is  one or two scruples,
 repeated every half hour, or hour, or less frequently, according to the circum-
 stances of the case.   We have had  no experience in this mode of administer-
 ing  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 pre-
 pared  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.  When  large doses  are given
 with this view,  it is often necessary to combine them with  opium.   As a
 purgative, from five to fifteen grains or more may be  given.   Calomel has
 the  peculiarity that its cathartic action is not increased in proportion to the
 dose, and enormous  quantities  have sometimes  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  hyper-
 catharsis; but this practice is justifiable only in  cases  of extreme urgency,
 in which the constitutional  action  of mercury as well as  purgation is  indi-
 cated.   Even  in very small doses  of not  more than  one,  two,  or three
 grains, calomel  purges some individuals briskly.  In  these persons, large
 doses, though they do not proportionably increase  the  evacuation, often oc-
 casion excessive  spasmodic pain in the stomach  and  bowels.  For children,
larger doses are  generally required in proportion than for  adults.   Not less
 than from three  to six grains should be given as a purge  to  a child  two or
three years old, and this  quantity often  fails to  act  on the bowels, unless
assisted by  castor oil, or  some  other cathartic.  Calomel may be given in
pill made with gum Arabic  and syrup, or in powder  mixed with syrup or
molasses.
  Off.Prep.   Hydrargyri  Oxidum  Nigrum, U.S.,  Lond.,  Dub.;  Pilulas
                                  84* 
990    .                     Hydrargyrum.                    part ii.

Calomelanos et Opii, Ed.; Pilulas  Catharticas  Compositae, U. S.; Pilulas
Hydrarg. Chloridi Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pilulas Hydrargyri  Chloridi
Mitis, U.S.                                                       W.

  CALOMELAS PRACIPITATUM. Dub. Precipitated Calomel.
   " Take of Purified  Mercury seventeen parts ;  Diluted Nitric Acid fifteen
parts.  Pour the Acid upon  the  Mercury in a glass vessel; and when the
mixture shall have ceased  to effervesce, digest with a  medium heat, with
occasional agitation, for  six hours.   Then  increase the  heat that the liquor
may boil for a short time, and afterwards pour it off from the residual Mer-
cury, and quickly mix it with four hundred parts of boiling Water, contain-
ing seven parts of Muriate  of Soda in solution.   Wash the powder which
subsides with warm Distilled Water, so long as the liquor decanted from it
is precipitated by the addition of a few drops of Water of  Caustic Potassa;
lastly, dry it." Dub.
   The method  of forming  calomel in the humid way,  or by  precipitation,
was first proposed  by Scheele.   It consists of two steps;  first, the forma-
tion of the nitrate of protoxide of mercury by dissolving the metal in  weak
nitric  acid, and  secondly, the decomposition of this  salt by means of a hot
solution of chloride of sodium  (common salt).   The nitric acid combines
with sodium and the oxygen of the protoxide, so  as to form nitrate of soda
in solution, while the chlorine  and mercury unite to form  protochloride of
mercury which  precipitates.  Though this  process is sufficiently simple in
theory, the performance of  it is attended with some difficulty.  It is neces-
sary, in the first place, to prepare a pure nitrate  of the protoxide, an object
which is apt to miscarry,  in consequence  of the liability  of  the metal to
become deutoxidized by the  action of nitric acid.   To guard against this
result, weak  nitric acid is employed, more mercury is ordered than the acid
can dissolve, and a moderate heat applied, and that only after the  efferves-
cence  has  ceased.  In the  next place, the operator must guard  against the
precipitation  of a subnitrate, which is always  thrown down by the action of
water  upon the  nitrate.  To  prevent the production of this impurity, it is
necessary slightly to acidulate the nitric  solution  of the  mercury with nitric
acid, or the solution of common salt with muriatic  acid ; for an excess of acid
in either of the solutions  effectually prevents the formation of the subnitrate.
This necessary precaution  has been omitted in the directions of the Dublin
College.  The reason why the  deutoxidation of the  metal, and consequent
production of binitrate of the  deutoxide are to be  avoided, is, that this salt,
by double decomposition with the solution of chloride of sodium, generates
corrosive sublimate.  The production of corrosive sublimate in this way will
not injure the precipitated calomel,  provided this be thoroughly washed; but
it is  objectionable as diminishing its quantity.  When, however, the subni-
trate is allowed to be formed,  it  contaminates the  precipitated  calomel; as,
from its insolubility, it cannot  be separated by washing. As, notwithstanding
every precaution, corrosive sublimate will be formed in this process, the liquor
poured off from  the precipitated calomel should  be  reserved for preparing
ivhite precipitate, as is  done  by the Dublin  College. (See Hydrargyrum
Ammoniatum.)
  Properties, iy-c.   Precipitated calomel, when properly prepared, scarcely
differs in properties from   sublimed calomel.  It is stated to  be  whiter,
smoother, and lighter  than  when  obtained by sublimation.   Another dif-
ference, according to  Gdttling,  is  that it assumes a gray,  while  the  sub-
limed  calomel assumes  a  black colour, when  triturated  with lime-water.
The presence of subnitrate  may be detected by digesting the preparation in
water  containing a little  nitric acid, and then testing the acid by an alkali, 
 part ii.                    Hydrargyrum.                        991

 which will cause a precipitate, if any subnitrate  has been taken up.   Cor-
 rosive sublimate  may be discovered in the manner stated under the head of
 sublimed calomel, page 987.
   The  medical properties of precipitated calomel are the same as those of
 sublimed calomel.  By some it is supposed to be more purgative.   It is not
 used, and may be viewed as a superfluous preparation.               B.
   HYDRARGYRI CYANURETUM.  U. S, Dub.   Hydrargyri
 Bicyanidum. Lond.   Cyanuret of Mercury.   Bicyanide  of Mer-
 cury.  Bicyanuret of Mercury.   Prnssiate of Mercury.
   " Take of Ferrocyanuret of Iron [Prussian blue]/owr ounces ; Red Oxide
 of Mercury three ounces, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water three
pints.   Put the  Ferrocyanuret of Iron and three  ounces of the  Oxide of
 Mercury, previously powdered and thoroughly mixed together, into a glass
 vessel; and pour upon them two pints of the Distilled Water.  Then boil
 the mixture, stirring constantly;  and,  if at the end of half an hour the blue
 colour remain, add small portions of the Oxide of  Mercury, continuing the
 ebullition until the mixture becomes of a yellowish colour; after which, filter
 it through paper.  Wash the residue in a pint of the Distilled Water and filter
 as before.  Mix the solutions, and evaporate till a pellicle appears; then set
 the liquor  aside  that crystals may form.  To purify the  crystals, dissolve
 them in Distilled Water, filter and evaporate the  solution, and set it aside to
 crystallize."  U.S.
   "Take of Percyanide of Iron [Prussian blue]  eight ounces; Binoxide of
 Mercury ten ounces ; Distilled Water four pints  [Imperial measure].   Boil
 them together for half an hour, and strain. Evaporate the liquor that crystals
 may form.   Wash what  remains frequently with boiling Distilled Water,
 and again evaporate the mixed liquors  that  crystals  may form.  Bicyanide
 of Mercury may be otherwise prepared by adding  as much Binoxide  of
 Mercury as will accurately saturate it to Hydrocyanic Acid, distilled from
 Ferrocyanide of Potassium with Diluted Sulphuric  Acid." Lond.
  "Take of Cyanuret of Iron [Prussian blue] six parts;  Nitric Oxide  of
 Mercury [red  precipitate] five parts; Distilled Water forty parts.  Mix the
 Cyanuret of Iron and Oxide of Mercury, and then add them  to the Water
previously warmed. Boil  the mixture with constant stirring, for half an
hour, and filter through bibulous paper.  Wash the residue frequently with
 warm Distilled Water.  Lastly, filter the liquors,  and evaporate  them, so
that, upon cooling, crystals may form." Dub.
  The above processes are essentially the  same; their object being to pre-
sent cyanogen and mercury to each other under favourable circumstances for
combination.   The compound formed  consists of  two eqs. of cyanogen, and
one  of  mercury.  It is,  therefore, properly speaking, a  bicyanuret.   As
Prussian blue  is  a compound of cyanogen  and  iron, the reaction  which
occurs is a case of double decomposition, resulting in  the formation of bicy-
anuret of mercury, and a mixture of the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron.
The reaction may  be thus expressed; 2Fe7Cy9-f 9Hg02=9HgCy2 + 6FeO-f
4Fe303.  This formula would be exact, if nothing  remained but the oxides
of iron; but in the residuum cyanogen appears to be present in an unknown
state of combination.  Taking the  Prussian blue  at the constant quantity  of
4 parts, the U. S. Pharmacopoeia uses  3, the Dublin 3*3, and the London 5
parts of the red precipitate.   As Prussian  blue is variable in quality, it is
impossible to know beforehand how much oxide maybe necessary to decom-
pose it.   Hence the U. S. Pharmacopoeia very properly leaves the quantity
to be determined in the progress of the process.   Of course, the pure Prus- 
992
Hydrargyrum.
part ii.
 sian blue of the U.S. and London Pharmacopoeias will  require more of the
 red precipitate than the commercial Prussian blue of the Dublin College.
   Winckler prepares the bicyanuret of mercury by the following  process.
 Mix 15 parts  of ferrocyanuret of potassium in powder with 13 parts of con-
 centrated sulphuric  acid, and 100 parts of water.   Distil the  mixture to
 dryness into a receiver containing 30 parts  of water.  The ferrocyanuret is
 decomposed, bisulphate of potassa is formed in the retort, and hydrocyanic
 acid distils over.   Of the acid thus obtained reserve a portion, and  mix the
 remainder with 16 parts of red  oxide of mercury in  fine powder,  and stir
 the mixture till the odour of hydrocyanic acid has entirely disappeared.
 Then decant the liquor, and add,  for the purpose of saturating it, the portion
 of acid that had been reserved.  This process gives 12 parts of the bicyanu-
 ret.   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 ex-
 cess, 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.  This process is  substantially the same with the
 second process given by the London College.
   Properties,  <y-c.   Cyanuret of mercury is a white substance, permanent in
 the air, and crystallized in  anhydrous right square prisms, which are some-
 times transparent, but usually white  and  opaque.   It has  a disagreeable
 styptic taste.  It is but sparingly soluble in alcohol, but dissolves readily in
 cold water, and much more abundantly in hot.   When acted on by  muriatic
 acid, hydrocyanic acid is evolved, recognizable by its odour, and  bichloride
 of mercury is left.   When heated it yields cyanogen, and mercury  remains
 behind.  It acts on the animal economy as a potent poison.  In medicinal
 doses it excites nausea and vomiting, and not  unfrequenfly ptyalism,  but
 does not produce  epigastric pain like  corrosive sublimate.   It  has been
 occasionally used as a remedy in  syphilis, and is preferred  by some practi-
 tioners to corrosive sublimate; as  it does not give rise to pain, and as it is
 not decomposed by alkalies and certain organic ^matters, as  corrosive subli-
 mate is.  The dose is from a sixteenth to an eighth of a grain or more.  Its
 composition has been already given.  For the  properties and composition
 of cyanogen, see page 790.
   Off.Prep. Acidum Prussicum, Dub.                             B.
   HYDRARGYRI IODIDUM. U S, Lond.   Iodide of Mercury
 Protiodide of Mercury.
   " Take of  Mercury an ounce ; Iodine^ue drachms ; Alcohol a sufficient-
 quantity.  Rub the Mercury and Iodine together, adding  sufficient  Alcohol
 to form  a soft  paste, and continue the trituration till the globules disappear.
 Then dry the Iodide in the dark, with a gentle  heat, and keep it in a well
 stopped bottle  from which the light is excluded." U.S.
  The London process  is the original of the one above quoted.
  The process above given for forming the protiodide of mercury is a case of
 simple combination, the  alcohol  facilitating the union by dissolving  the
 iodine.   This  iodide is also prepared by precipitation, by adding  a  solution
 of iodide of potassium to one of the nitrate  of protoxide of mercury; but as
 it is  difficult to  prepare  the nitrate  of the  protoxide, without being mixed
 with some nitrate of deutoxide, the protiodide, when thus obtained,  is apt to
be contaminated with  biniodide.   A better  way is to decompose calomel by
iodide  of potassium, in which case protiodide of mercury and chloride of
 potassium are  formed, the latter of which may be removed by washing.
 The formula  recommended by M. Boutigny is  to mix  twenty-nine  drachms
 of calomel with twenty of pulverized iodide of potassium in a glass mortar, 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
993
and to pour upon the mixture twelve ounces of boiling distilled water.   After
cooling, the  liquid is decanted, and the precipitate washed on  a filter with
distilled water, and dried in the shade. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 326,
from the Bull. Gen. de Therap.)
  Properties.  This iodide is in the form of a greenish-yellow powder, inso-
luble  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 de-
composed, and become of a  dark olive colour.  If quickly and cautiously
heated, it sublimes  in red  crystals which afterward become yellow.   It is
composed of one eq. of mercury 202, and one  of iodine  126*3=328*3.  Its
formula is Hgl.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Iodide  of  mercury  has been given in
scrofula  and scrofulous syphilis.   The  dose is a grain  daily, gradually in-
creased  to three or  four.   It  should never be  given at the same time with
iodide of potassium, which  converts it immediately into biniodide  and metallic
mercury. (Mialhe,  Journ.  de Pharm., 3e Ser. iv. 36.)
   Off.Prep.  Pilulas Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.;  Unguentum  Hydrargyri
Iodidi, Lond.                                                      B.
   HYDRARGYRI  IODIDUM   RUBRUM.  U.S.   Hydrargyri
Biniodidum. Lond., Ed.  Red Iodide of Mercury.  Biniodide of
Mercury.
  " Take of Corrosive Chloride of Mercury an ounce; Iodide of Potassium
ten drachms;  Distilled Water two pints. ' Dissolve the Chloride of Mer-
cury in  a pint  and a half, and  the Iodide of Potassium in half a pint of the
Distilled Water, and mix the solutions.  Collect the precipitate upon a filter,
and, having washed it with  Distilled Water, dry it with a moderate heat, and
keep it in a well-stopped bottle." U.S.
  " Take of Mercury an ounce;  Iodine ten drachms;  Alcohol a sufficient
quantity. Rub the Mercury and Iodine together, adding the Alcohol  gradu-
ally, until globules are no longer visible.   Dry the powder with a gentle heat,
and keep it in a well-stopped vessel."  Lond.
  " Take of Mercury two  ounces; Iodine two ounces and a half; concen-
trated solution of Muriate  of Soda a gallon.   Triturate the Mercury and
Iodine together, adding occasionally a  little Rectified Spirit till a  uniform red
powder  be obtained.  Reduce the product to fine powder, and dissolve it in
the solution of Muriate of Soda with  the aid of brisk ebullition.  Filter, if
necessary, through calico, keeping the funnel hot.  Wash  and dry the crystals
which form on cooling." Ed.
  In  the U. S. process for forming the  red iodide of  mercury, a double
decomposition  takes place  between the 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
formed is soluble in the reacting salts, and hence a loss of part of it is incurred
by an excess of either.  It is  best, however, to have a slight excess of the
iodide of potassium, which is furnished by the proportion of the U. S. formula;
as then the decomposition of the whole of the corrosive sublimate is insured,
and any contamination of the biniodide by it prevented.  The process of the
London  College is the same in principle as the U. S. and London  processes
for  the  protiodide;  namely, the  simple combination of the ingredients by
trituration, with the aid of alcohol, a double proportion of iodine, of course,
being  taken.  The Edinburgh College unites the ingredients of this  iodide
in the same manner; but after it is formed, the resulting mass is treated with
a boiling solution  of  common salt,  which dissolves the biniodide, to the ex- 
994
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
 elusion 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 of  many of the mercurial salts.   As
 obtained by the  Edinburgh  process, it is in splendid crimson acicular crys-
 tals.   When  heated it fuses readily into a yellow liquid, and sublimes  in
 yellow rhombic  scales, which  become  red on cooling.  It forms definite
 compounds with the iodides of  the  alkalifiable metals.  That formed  with
 iodide  of potassium has been used medicinally.  (See Iodo-hydrargyrate
 of Potassium in the Appendix.)  It  consists of one eq. of  mercury  202,
 and two of iodine 252*6=454*6. Its formula is Hgl3.  It  combines with the
 protiodide, so as to form a yellow sesquiodide, represented  by the formula
 Hgl+Hgl3, or Hg2I3.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Biniodide of mercury is a powerful irri-
 tant poison.  It  has  been  used in  similar diseases with  the  protiodide,
 namely, in  scrofula and syphilis, but is much  more active.  The  dose is a
 sixteenth of a grain,  gradually  increased  to a  fourth, given in pill, or dis-
 solved in alcohol.
    Off. Prep.  Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi, Lond.              B.
    HYDRARGYRI OXIDUM NIGRUM. U. S.   Hydrargyri Oxy-
 dum Nigrum. Dub.   HYDRARGYRI OXYDUM. Lond.   Black
 Oxide of Mercury.
   "Take of  Mild Chloride of Mercury [Calomel], Potassa, each, four
 ounces; Water a pint.  Dissolve the Potassa in the Water, and when the
 dregs shall have subsided, pour off the clear solution.  To  this  add the Chlo-
 ride of Mercury, 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.
   " Take of Sublimed Calomel one part;  Water of Caustic Potassa, heated,
four parts.   Rub them together until an oxide of a black colour is obtained.
 Wash this frequently with water, and dry it upon bibulous paper with a me-
 dium heat." Dub.
   " Take of Chloride of Mercury [Calomel] an ounce; Lime-water a gallon
 [Imperial measure].   Mix  and  frequently shake them.  Set aside the  mix-
 ture, and when the Oxide shall have subsided, pour off the liquor.   Lastly,
 wash it in Distilled Water till nothing alkaline can be perceived, and, having
 wrapped it in bibulous paper, dry it in the air." Lond.
   The object of these  processes is to obtain the protoxide  or black oxide
 of mercury, which was at one time believed to be the active  constituent of
 those  preparations  in  which the metal is minutely divided by trituration.
 The U. S. and Dublin  processes afford the protoxide  in a purer state  than
 the London.  The two former are essentially the same.  In both, calomel is
 completely decomposed by the solution of potassa; its chlorine being  con-
 verted by union with potassium into chloride of potassium, which remains in
 solution, while the mercury unites with the oxygen of the  potassa to  form
 protoxide of mercury which subsides.  More potassa  is employed than by
 calculation would seem to be requisite ; but it has been ascertained by experi-
 ment,  that a considerable excess is necessary for the complete decomposition
 of the  calomel.   In the U. S. process, however, the quantity is,  perhaps,
 unnecessarily large; being more than double the proportion contained in the
 " water of caustic  potassa," directed by  the Dublin College.  The use of
 the officinal solution of potassa is preferable,  on the score  of economy, to
 that of a solution extemporaneously prepared  from the caustic alkali.  In 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
995
order to ensure the success  of the process, the calomel,  very finely levi-
gated, 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 was introduced  into  use by Mr.
Donovan.
   In the London process the reaction takes place between  calomel and lime-
water.  An interchange of principles takes place ;  the calcium of the lime
taking the chlorine of the calomel to form chloride of calcium, which remains
in solution,  and the mercury uniting with the  oxygen  of the  lime  to form
protoxide of mercury,  which subsides.   But it is  extremely difficult  com-
pletely to decompose  calomel  in  this manner, on account of the  obstacle
which its insolubility,  and the dilute nature of  the  solution of lime present
to that  close contact of particles which  is essential to  chemical reaction.
Hence  the  protoxide, in  this preparation, is almost always mixed with a
portion  of calomel, which is greater or less, according to the care with  which
the process  has been conducted.  When the proportion is large, the powder
has a grayish colour; when very small, it scarcely  differs  in appearance or
properties from the U. S. and Dublin oxide.   From  the  uncertainty of its
composition it should be discarded from use.
   The oxide may also be prepared by decomposing a solution of the nitrate
of protoxide of mercury by the solution of potassa.   This nitrate may be
obtained by treating twenty parts  of mercury with eighteen parts  of nitric
acid of 25°  Baume, adding, when nitrous vapours cease to rise, ten parts of
warm distilled water, boiling for a short time, decanting the clear liquor, and
setting it aside  to crystallize.   The mother waters by evaporation will fur-
nish a new product of crystals of nitrate of protoxide.  (Ratier's Pharm.
Frang.)  The  preparation, formerly officinal in  the Dublin Pharmacopoeia
under the name of Pulvis Hydrargyri Cinereus,  made by  adding carbonate
of ammonia to  a solution of mercury in heated nitric acid,  was a mixture of
subnitrate of mercury and ammonia with the protoxide of mercury.
  Properties, fyc.   As first prepared, this oxide is greenish-black; but as
found in the shops it is almost  always  of an olive colour, owing, it is sup-
posed, to the chemical changes  which it undergoes. It is  inodorous, taste-
less, and insoluble  in  water and  alkaline solutions ;  and consists of one
equiv. of mercury 202, and one equiv. of oxygen 8=210.   On exposure
to light  or  heat it is decomposed, one part assuming the  metallic  state, in
consequence of the  loss of its oxygen, which converts  another  part into the
deutoxide.   The preparation, therefore, becomes a mixture of the protoxide,
the deutoxide, and metallic mercury, with which calomel is sometimes  asso-
ciated, in consequence of the incomplete decomposition of that originally
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 is dissolved by muriatic acid, and
may be detected in the solution  by the production of a white precipitate with
water of ammonia, and of 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 satu-
rated with nitric acid, will afford a white precipitate of chloride of silver on
the addition of  nitrate of silver. (Phillips.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The black oxide  is  alterative, sialagogue,
and purgative.    It may be employed for  the same purposes with calomel, 
996
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
 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. Coates, of this city, informs us that he uses it habitu-
 ally 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 probably erroneous.   Made into  an  ointment with lard according to the
 process of  Donovan, it may be applied  externally with good effect in bring-
 ing the system under the mercurial influence. (See Unguentum Hydrargyri.)
 Its dose as  an alterative is one-fourth or half a grain daily,  as a sialagogue
 from one to three grains two or three times a day, given  in the form of pill.
 It  was employed by Mr. Abernethy for mercurial fumigation ; the patient
 being placed, covered with  under  garments,  in a vapour-bath, and exposed
 for fifteen or twenty minutes to the vapours arising from two drachms of the
 oxide, put upon heated iron within the bath.                         W.

   HYDRARGYRI OXIDUM  RUBRUM. U S, Ed. Hydrargyri
 Nitrico-Oxydum. Lond.  Hydrargyri  Oxydum  Nitricum.  Dub.
 Red Oxide of Mercury.   Red Precipitate.
   " Take of Mercury, thirty-six ounces; Nitric Acid fourteen fluidounces;
 Water two  pints.  Dissolve the Mercury with a gentle heat, in the Acid and
 Water previously mixed together, and evaporate  to dryness.    Rub the dry
 mass into powder, and heat  it in a very  shallow vessel till red vapours cease
 to rise."  U.S.
   " Take of Mercury three pounds; Nitric Acid a pound and a half; Dis-
 tilled Water two pints  [Imperial measure].   Mix in a suitable vessel, and
 apply a gentle heat till the Mercury is dissolved.   Boil down the solution,
 and rub the residue into powder.  Put this into another very shallow vessel;
 then  apply a  gentle  fire, and gradually increase  it, till red vapour ceases to
 rise." Lond.
   "Take of Mercury  eight ounces; Diluted Nitric Acid (D. 1*280) five
fluidounces [Imperial measure].  Dissolve half of the Mercury in the Acid
 with the aid of a moderate heat; and continue fh,e heat till a dry salt is formed.
 Triturate  the rest of the Mercury with the salt till a fine uniform powder be
 obtained; heat the powder in a porcelain vessel and constantly stir it, till acid
 fumes cease to be discharged." Ed.
   " Take of Purified Mercury two  parts; Diluted Nitric Acid three parts.
 Dissolve  the Mercury, and let heat  be  applied until the  dried mass is con-
 verted into red scales."  Dub.
   In these processes the mercury is first oxidized at the expense of a portion
 of the nitric acid,  the remainder of which unites  with the oxidized metal to
 form either the nitrate of the  deutoxide of mercury, or a mixture of this with
 the nitrate of the protoxide.   The resulting mass when exposed to a strong
 heat is decomposed, giving out red nitrous fumes, and assuming successively
 a yellow, orange, and brilliant purple-red colour, which becomes orange-red
 on cooling.   These changes are owing to the gradual separation and decom-
 position of the nitric acid, by  the oxygen of  which the  protoxide  of mer-
 cury, if any be  present, is converted into deutoxide,  while nitric oxide gas
 escapes, and takes the form  of nitrous acid vapour on contact  with the air.
 The deutoxide of mercury is left behind; but in general not entirely free from
 the nitrate, which  cannot be wholly decomposed by heat, without endanger-
 ing the decomposition of the  oxide itself, and  the volatilization of the metal.
 The preparation  is,  in  common 'language,  called red precipitate.   The
 name of red oxide of mercury, by which it is designated in the U.S. Phar-
 macopoeia, is appropriate, as  the nitrate of mercury exists in it merely as an 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
997
 incidental impurity;  and there is no occasion to distinguish the preparation
 from the pure deutoxide obtained  by calcining mercury, as the latter is not
 recognised in our Pharmacopoeia, and is never employed in this country.
   In the  preparation of this mercurial, various circumstances influence in
 some measure  the nature of the product, and must be attended  to, if we
 desire  to  procure the oxide with  that fine  bright  orange-red  colour,  and
 shining scaly appearance, which are usually considered desirable.  Among
 these 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  pulverized,  as  directed in  the
 U.S.,  London,  and Edinburgh processes, it will  yield an  orange-yellow
 powder; if it be in the state of  large and dense crystals, the oxide  will have
 a deep  orange  colour.   Care must also be  taken  that the mercury and acid
 be free from impurities.   It is highly important that  sufficient nitric acid be
 employed fully to saturate the mercury.  M. Paysse, who  paid great atten-
 tion 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 Phila-
 delphia, that he has found, by repeated experiment, 7 parts of nitric acid of
 35° Baume, to be sufficient fully to saturate 6 parts of mercury.   Less will
 not answer, and  more would be useless.  It is not necessary that the  salt
 should  be removed from  the vessel in which it  is formed;  and it is even
 asserted that the  product  is always  more  beautiful when the calcination is
 performed in the same vessel.   A matrass may be used with a large flat bot-
 tom, so that an extended surface  may be exposed, and all parts heated equally.
 The metal and acid having been introduced, the matrass should be  placed in
 a sand-bath, and covered with sand  up to  the neck.  The solution of the
 mercury should be favoured by a gentle heat, which should afterwards be
 gradually increased till red vapours make their appearance,  then maintained
 as equably as possible till  these  vapours cease, and at last slightly elevated
 till oxygen gas begins to escape.   This may be known by the increased
 brilliancy with  which a taper will burn if placed in the mouth of the matrass,
 or by its rekindling if partially extinguished.   Too high  a temperature must
 be carefully avoided, as it decomposes the oxide, and volatilizes the  mercury.
 At the close of the operation, the mouth of the vessel  should be stopped, and
 the heat gradually diminished, the matrass being still allowed to remain in
 the sand-bath.  These last precautions are said to be essential  to the fine  red
 colour of the preparation.  It is best  to operate  upon  a large  quantity of
 materials, as the heat may  be thus more steadily and uniformly maintained.
 The direction of the Edinburgh College to rub a portion of mercury with  the
 nitrate before decomposing it, renders the process  more economical; as  the
 nitric acid  which is dissipated is thus employed in oxidizing an additional
 quantity of the  metal.
   As  the process is ordinarily conducted in chemical laboratories, the nitrate
 of mercury is decomposed in shallow earthen  vessels, several of which are
 placed upon a bed of sand in the chamber  of an oven or furnace  provided
 with a flue for  the  escape  of the vapours.  Each  vessel  may conveniently
 contain ten pounds of the nitrate.  There is always some loss in the opera-
 tion conducted in this way.
   Properties, fyc.   Red precipitate, when well prepared, has  a brilliant red
colour with a shade of orange, a shining scaly appearance, and an acrid taste.
It is very slightly soluble in water, of which Dr. Barker found 1000 parts to
take up only 0-62 of  the oxide.   Dr. Christison found  1  part of the oxide
to be dissolved by about 7000 parts of boiling water, and the solution to give
    85 
998
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
a black precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen.  Nitric and muriatic acids
dissolve it without effervescence. At a red heat it is decomposed and entirely
dissipated.   It is  essentially the deutoxide (peroxide) of mercury, consisting
of one equivalent  of the metal 202, and two of oxygen 16=218; but, in its
ordinary state, it always contains a minute proportion of nitric acid, probably
in the state of subpernitrate. According to Brande, when rubbed and  washed
with a  solution of potassa, edulcorated with distilled water, and carefully
dried, it may be  regarded as nearly pure deutoxide.  It is said to be some-
times adulterated with brickdust, red lead, &c.; but these maybe  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 presence 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 precipitate with lime-water.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  This  preparation is too harsh and irregu-
lar 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. (See
Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri.)
   Off.Prep.  Hydrargyri  Cyanuretum, U.S., Dub.; Unguentum Hydrar-
gyri Oxidi Rubri, U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.                         W.
   HYDRARGYRI OXYDUM  RUBRUM.  Dub.  Red  Oxide of
Mercury.   Precipitate per  se.  Calcined Mercury.
   " Take of Purified Mercury any  quantity.  Put it into an open glass
vessel, with a narrow mouth and broad bottom, and expose it to a  heat of
about 600°, till it is converted into red scales." Dub.
  As mercury requires for  its oxidation  a temperature little short of  its boil-
ing point, it is necessary that  the  vessel in which it is heated be  so con-
structed as to prevent the escape of the vapour which rises during the pro-
cess.   A glass  matrass is  usually employed, having  a narrow neck, drawn
out at top into an almost  capillary orifice. But the arrangement which serves
to confine the mercurial  vapour, impedes also the  free access of air, so that
the process is exceedingly tedious.  The mercury  introduced should  not
be more than sufficient to  cover  the  bottom of  the vessel, which should be
heated by means of a  sand-bath till vapours  begin to rise.  These are con-
densed  in the upper  part of the  matrass, and, by  maintaining the  tempera-
ture steadily at this point, a constant circulation of vapour is kept up within
the  vessel.   The metal very  slowly combines with the oxygen,  forming
first a  black, and then a red powder, molecules of which begin to appear
after some  days, and gradually increase till they cover the surface of the
mercury.  Care  must be  taken  not  to increase the heat  too much, as not
only is the mercury thus volatilized, but the oxide already formed is decom-
posed.   Several  weeks  are requisite for the complete oxidation of a small
portion of metal, and the process is  necessarily expensive.   The  prepara-
tion is  the hydrargyrum prascipitatum per  se, or precipitate per se of the
older chemical writers.
   Properties, fyc.  It is in minute, sparkling, crystalline scales, of a deep
red colour  becoming still deeper by heat, inodorous, of an acrid taste, very
slightly soluble  in water,  and freely soluble in nitric, muriatic, and some
other acids.  Its aqueous  solution  changes  the infusion of violets to green.
 It consists of one equiv. of mercury 202, and two of oxygen 16—218, and 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
999
 is therefore a deutoxide.  It is sometimes also called binoxide ox peroxide of
 mercury.   At a red heat it  is  decomposed, oxygen being given off, and the
 mercury revived.   Its solutions in the acids  afford, with potassa and soda,
 an orange-coloured precipitate of deutoxide, and with ammonia a  white pre-
 cipitate, consisting of the acid, deutoxide, and ammonia. Its high price affords
 an inducement for adulteration, to avoid which it should be kept in the crys-
 talline state.  If pure, it is wholly volatilized by a red heat.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  It has the general  properties of the mer-
 curial preparations, but is apt to vomit and purge, and to act otherwise vio-
 lently on  the stomach and bowels.   Though formerly used in the  treatment
 of syphilis, it has been entirely abandoned.   It has  been employed  exter-
 nally for   the same purposes with the red precipitate;  but  is much more
 costly,  without  having  any superiority. In this  country it is almost un-
 known as a medicine.  The dose may be from one-sixth  of a  grain to a
 grain.                                                           W.
   HYDRARGYRI BINOXYDUM. Lond,   Binoxide of Mercury.
   "Take of Bichloride of Mercury  [corrosive  sublimate] four ounces;
 Solution of Potassa twenty-eight fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Distilled
 Water six pints [Imperial measure].  Dissolve the Bichloride of Mercury
 in  the Water, filter, and add  the Solution of Potassa.  Having poured off
 the liquor, wash the precipitated powder in distilled water, till nothing alka-
 line can be perceived, and dry it with a gentle heat." Lond.
   This preparation differs  from  the  preceding only in containing  some
 water.  The process was introduced by  the London College into the last
 edition of  their Pharmacopoeia,  as a substitute for the much  more tedious
 one of oxidizing the mercury by the combined action of air and heat.  When
 a solution  of bichloride of mercury  is mixed with a solution of potassa, a
 mutual interchange of principles  takes place—the  two equivalents of chlo-
 rine seizing upon two  eqs. of  potassium to form two eqs. of chloride  of
 potassium, which remain in solution; while the liberated  equivalent of mer-
 cury combines with the two liberated equivalents of oxygen,  constituting the
 deutoxide or binoxide of mercury, which is deposited.
   Thus prepared, the binoxide of mercury is in the  form of an orange-red
 impalpable powder, having  the  essential  properties  of the  precipitate per
 se.  According to Phillips,  if it be  of a brownish colour,  the solution  of
 potassa employed was deficient  either in quantity or strength, and the pre-
 paration contains oxychloride of mercury.  If upon being dissolved in nitric
 acid and  treated  with nitrate of silver it afford a precipitate, the presence of
 a portion of undecomposed bichloride may be suspected.
   This preparation has the same medical properties, and  may be  employed
 for the same purposes and  in the same  doses as that last described.  (See
 Hydrargyri Oxydum Rubrum.)
   Off.Prep. Hydrargyri Bicyanidum, Lond.                        W.

   HYDRARGYRI PERSULPHAS. Dub.   Persulphate  of Mer-
 cury.
  "Take  of Purified Mercury, Sulphuric Acid, each, six parts;  Nitric
Acid one  part.  Expose  them  to heat in a  glass vessel, and increase the
heat until the mass becomes  white and perfectly dry." Dub.
  Cold sulphuric acid has no action on  mercury; but when an  excess of
acid is boiled to  dryness upon the metal, it is deutoxidized at the expense
of part of the acid, sulphurous acid is copiously evolved,  and the  deutoxide
formed unites with the undecomposed portion of the sulphuric acid, so as to 
1000
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
form  the  bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury, which is the persulphate
of the Dublin  College.  In the Dublin formula, the  oxidation of the metal
is assisted by  a small portion of nitric acid, the use of  which, though not
essential to the result, is  stated by Dr. Barker  to facilitate and shorten the
process, and to afford a much whiter salt than when sulphuric acid alone is
employed.  When nitric  acid is used, orange-coloured fumes are given off
on the first application of heat, and the acid  is totally decomposed.
   Persulphate of mercury, as obtained by a separate formula, is peculiar to
the Dublin Pharmacopoeia; but it is formed  as the first step of the processes
of the other Pharmacopoeias for preparing corrosive sublimate, calomel, and
turpeth mineral.   The adoption of a separate formula  and distinct officinal
name for  this  salt, is certainly an improvement on the part  of the Dublin
College ;  as it obviates the necessity of repeating the directions for obtaining
the same substance in several distinct formulas. On account of its import-
ant uses, it requires to be  made on a large scale by the manufacturing chej
mist, and  the process is  generally performed  in a cast-iron vessel,  which
should  be conveniently arranged for the  escape and decomposition  of the
sulphurous acid  fumes, which  otherwise  become a serious nuisance to the
neighbourhood.  The best way  to effect this purpose is to  allow them to
pass  off  through  a very lofty chimney mixed with  abundance of coal
smoke.
   Properties,  Sfc.  Persulphate  of mercury is  in the form of a white saline
mass.  It consists of two  eqs. of acid 80*2 and  one of deutoxide of mercury
218=298-2.  It has no medical uses.
   Off.Prep.  Calomelas  Sublimatum,  Dub.;  Hydrargyri Murias Corro-
sivum, Dub.;  Hydrargyri Oxydum Sulphuricum, Dub.              B.
   HYDRARGYRI  SULPHAS  FLAVUS.  U.S.    Hydrargyri
Oxydum Sulphuricum. Dub.   Yellow Sulphate of Mercury.  Tur-
peth Mineral.
   " Take of Mercury four ounces ; Sulphuric Acid six ounces.  Mix them
in a  glass vessel, and boil by means of a sand-bath till  a dry white mass
remains.   Rub 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.
   " Take of Persulphate  of Mercury one part; warm Water twenty parts.
Rub them  together in an  earthenware mortar, and  pour off" the supernatant
liquor.  Wash the yellow powder with warm  Distilled Water, so long as
the decanted liquor is precipitated  by the addition  of a few drops  of the
Water of  Caustic Potassa.  Lastly, dry the  Sulphuric  Oxide of Mercury."
Dub.
   By referring to the articles on corrosive sublimate and calomel, it will be
found that the  peculiar salt which is generated  by  boiling sulphuric acid on
mercury to dryness, is directed to be obtained as the  first  step for obtaining
these chlorides; and here  it is perceived that in the U. S.  formula, the same
salt is again directed to be formed.  The Dublin College has very properly
avoided these  repetitions, by adopting a distinct formula and  name for the
salt  in  question.  We have  already  mentioned that this salt  is  the bisul-
phate of  the  deutoxide of mercury.   When it is thrown  into boiling or
even  warm water it is  instantly decomposed, and an  insoluble salt  is pre-
cipitated,  which  is the turpeth  mineral.   According to Berzelius, turpeth
mineral is a basic sesquisulphate of the  deutoxide  of mercury, and the
supernatant solution contains  a supersulphate, consisting of six eqs. of acid
and one of base.   The same composition  for  turpeth mineral is given by 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1001
 Gay-Lussac;  and its accuracy has been recently verified by an analysis by
 Dr. Kane, of  Dublin. (See Pharm.  Journ. and Trans, for August, 1842.)
 The composition above  given  of turpeth mineral implies the decomposition
 of four eqs. of the bisulphate of the deutoxide, and the manner in which the
 reaction takes place is shown by the  following equation;—4(HgOa,2S03)=
 turpeth mineral, 3Hg02+2S03,-fsupersulphate, HgOa-f6S03.
   Properties, <y-c.  Yellow sulphate of mercury is in the  form of a powder
 of a lemon-yellow colour, and possessing a somewhat acrid taste.   It dis-
 solves in 2000 parts of cold water, and in about 600 parts of boiling water.
 When  exposed to a moderate heat, it becomes first red  and afterwards
 brownish-red, but regains its original colour on cooling. (Barker.)  At a red
 heat it is decomposed and dissipated, sulphuric acid being evolved, and metallic
 globules sublimed. It was originally  called turpeth mineral,  from the resem-
 blance of its colour to that of the root of the Ipomoea Turpethum, a plant
 formerly used in medicine.  Its composition is given above.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Turpeth mineral is  alterative, and power-
 fully emetic and  errhine.  As an alterative,  it  has been given in leprous
 disorders and glandular obstructions.   It has been employed with benefit as
 an emetic,  repeated every few  days, in chronic enlargements of the testicle;
 but it often operates with great violence, and is apt to excite  severe ptyalism.
 It proves useful in these cases upon the principle of revulsion, and by impart-
 ing  activity to the absorbents.   As an errhine, it has been used with advan-
 tage in chronic ophthalmia, and in diseases of the head;  and it sometimes
 produces salivation when thus employed.  The dose, as an alterative, is
 from a quarter to half a grain ;  as an emetic, from two to five grains.  When
 employed as an errhine, one grain may be mixed with five grains of starch
 or powdered liquorice root.                                        B.

   HYDRARGYRI SULPHURETUM NIGRUM. U.S., Dub. Hy-
 drargyri Sulphuretum cum Sulphure. Lond.   Black Sulphuret
 of  Mercury.   Sulphuret  of Mercury  with  Sulphur.   Ethiops
 Mineral.
   " Take of Mercury, Sulphur, each, a pound.  Rub them together till all
 the globules disappear."  U. S.
   The London and Dublin formulas  are similar to the  above.   The Dublin
 College merely adds that the trituration should be performed  in a stone-ware
 mortar.
   Mercury and sulphur  have a strong affinity for each other;  as is shown by
 the fact, that when they are triturated together in quantities, the mixture grows
 hot,  cakes,  and  exhales a sulphureous odour.   When rubbed together  in
 equal weights, as directed in the Pharmacopoeias, they are supposed to unite
 chemically;  but the proportion of sulphur is much greater than is necessary
 to form a definite compound.   Only two sulphurets  of mercury have been
 admitted by the  generality of chemists, a protosulphuret, and a bisulphuret
 or cinnabar; and the quantity of sulphur, directed in  the Pharmacopoeias, is
 much more than sufficient to form even the latter.  Thus, it  still remains an
 unsettled point, what is  the exact nature of the officinal black sulphuret, or
 ethiops mineral. Mr. Brande, from his experiments, considers it to be a bisul-
phuret mixed with sulphur.   Thus he found that, when boiled repeatedly in
a solution of potassa, sulphur was dissolved, and a black insoluble  powder
was left, which sublimed without decomposition, and gave a substance having
 all the characters of cinnabar.
  Ethiops mineral is sometimes obtained by melting the sulphur in a cruci-
ble, and adding the mercury to it; but when thus prepared, the sulphur is apt
                                 85* 
1002                      Hydrargyrum.                    part ii.

to become acidified, and the preparation to acquire an activity which does not
belong to it when obtained by trituration.   The latter method, accordingly,
should always be employed.
  Properties, <y-c.  Black sulphuret of mercury is a heavy, tasteless, insolu-
ble,  black  powder.  When  exposed to heat, it  becomes of a dark violet
colour, emits the excess of sulphur in sulphurous acid fumes, and sublimes
in brilliant red needles without residue.  If charcoal be present, it will remain
behind.  When well  prepared, no  globules of mercury are discernible in
it when viewed with a magnifier; and, if rubbed on a gold  ring, it should
not communicate a white stain.  Ivory black is detected in it by throwing a
small portion  on a red-hot  iron,  when a white matter (phosphate of lime)
will be left behind.  Adulteration by  sulphuret of antimony is  shown, if
muriatic  acid, boiled on  a portion of the powder, acquires  the property of
causing a precipitate  of 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 and Uses.  Ethiops  mineral is supposed to be altera-
tive, and as such is sometimes  prescribed in glandular  affections and cuta-
neous  diseases.  It has  been  given in scrofulous  swellings, occurring in
children;  and from the mildness of its operation is considered well suite* 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.  The late Dr.
Duncan stated  that he had  given it in doses of several drachms for a con-
siderable length of time, with scarcely any effect.                   B.
   HYDRARGYRI  SULPHURETUM RUBRUM. U.S., Dub.  Hy-
drargyri Bisulphuretum. Lond.  Cinnabaris. Ed.   Red Sulphu-
ret of Mercury.  Bisulphuret of Mercury.   Cinnabar.
   "Take of Mercury forty ounces ; Sulphur eight ounces.  Mix the Mer-
cury 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.
   "Take of Purified Mercury nineteen parts;  Sublimed Sulphur three
parts.   Mix the Mercury  with  the melted Sulphur;  and  if the mixture
takes fire, extinguish  the flame by  covering the vessel.  Reduce the mass
to powder, and sublime it."  Dub.
   Mercury and sulphur, when heated together, unite with great energy, and
a product is obtained,  which by sublimation  becomes the red or bisulphuret
of mercury.   In order to render the combination more prompt, the sulphur
is first mehed; and the addition of  the mercury should be  made gradually,
while the mixture is constantly stirred.   Dr. Barker  recommends the  addi-
tion of the metal by  straining it  upon the melted sulphur through a  linen
cloth,  whereby it falls in the form of a shower, in a  minutely divided state.
When the temperature has arrived at a certain point, the combination  takes
place suddenly with a slight explosion,  and with  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, be- 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1003
fore 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 arranged, exposed to a red heat.
The equivalent quantities for forming this sulphuret, are 32*2 of sulphur,
and 202 of mercury.
  Preparation on the Large Scale.   Cinnabar is  seldom or never prepared
on a small scale, being made  in large quantities for the purposes of the arts.
In Holland, where it is  principally  manufactured, the sulphur is  melted in
a cast-iron vessel,  and the mercury is added in a divided state, by causing it
to pass through  chamois leather.   As soon  as the combination has taken
place the  iron vessel is surmounted  by another, into which the cinnabar is
sublimed.  In proportion as  the quantity of the materials  employed in one
operation  is greater, will the  product have a finer  tint.   It  is also important
in the manufacture to use the materials pure, and to drive off' any uncom-
bined sulphur which may exist in the mass, before submitting it to sublima-
tion.
  Properties, fyc.   Red  sulphuret of mercury is in the  form of heavy, bril-
liant, crystalline masses, of a deep red colour and  fibrous texture.  It is in-
odorous and tasteless, and insoluble in  water and alcohol.   It is not acted on
by nitric, muriatic, or cold  sulphuric acid, or by»solutions of the caustic
alkalies;  but it is  soluble in  nitromuriatic acid, on account of the chlorine
which the mixed acid contains.   When  heated with potassa, it yields  glo-
bules of mercury.   In the open air it is decomposed by heat, the sulphur
becoming sulphurous  acid,  and  the mercury being volatilized.    In close
vessels at  a red heat it sublimes without decomposition, and  condenses  in a
mass  composed of a  multitude of small needles.   When  duly levigated, it
furnishes  a powder of a brilliant red colour, and in this  state constitutes the
paint called vermilion.   It occurs  native,  and  forms the  principal  ore
of mercury,  and  that  from   which the metal is exclusively  extracted.  It
should  not  be  purchased  in powder; as, in  that state,  it  is  sometimes
adulterated with red lead, dragon's  blood, or chalk.  If red lead be present,
acetic acid, digested with it,  will yield a  yellow precipitate (iodide of lead)
with  iodide of potassium.    Dragon's  blood may be  detected by alcohol,
which will take up the  colouring matter of this  vegetable product, if  pre-
sent; and if chalk be mixed with it, effervescence will be excited on the
addition of an acid.   This  sulphuret is  composed of  one eq. of mercury
202, and two of sulphur 32-2=234*2.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Cinnabar was  formerly considered to be
alterative  and anthelmintic, but is at present seldom or never given inter-
nally.   It is sometimes employed in the way of fumigation, as  a rapid siala-
gogue, in  venereal ulcers of the nose and throat, in cases in which it  is an
object of  importance  to  bring  the system under  the influence of mercury
in the shortest possible time.    The dose  for internal  exhibition is from ten
grains to half a drachm, in the form  of electuary or bolus.    When used by
fumigation, half a drachm may be thrown on a red-hot  iron, and the  fumes
inhaled as they arise.   These consist  of sulphurous acid gas and mercurial
vapour, the  former of which must prove  highly  irritating  to  the  patient's
lungs.   A better  substance  for  mercurial fumigation is  the  black  oxide of
mercury.                                                          B. 
1004
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
   HYDRARGYRUM   AMMONIATUM.  U.S.     Hydrargyri
 Ammonio-Chloridum. Lond.  Hydrargyri Precipitatum Album.
 Ed,   Hydrargyri Submurias Ammoniatum.  Dub.  Ammoniated
 Mercury.   White Precipitate.
   " Take of Corrosive Chloride of Mercury six ounces;  Distilled Water a
 gallon; Solution of Ammonia eight fluidounces.   Dissolve the Corrosive
 Chloride of Mercury in the Water,  with the aid of heat, and to the solution,
 when  cold, add the Solution of Ammonia, frequently stirring.   Wash the
 precipitate till it becomes tasteless, and dry it."  U. S.
   The London  and Edinburgh processes  are essentially the same as the
 above.
   " Add to the liquor poured off from Precipitated Calomel, as much Water
 of Caustic  Ammonia  as  may  be sufficient completely  to precipitate the
 metallic salt.   Wash  the precipitate with cold Distilled Water, and dry it
 on bibulous paper."  Dub.
   All the Pharmacopoeias now agree in obtaining white precipitate by pre-
 cipitating  a solution of corrosive sublimate by ammonia.  The Dublin pro-
 cess is not an exception ; for the liquor poured off from precipitated calomel is
 in part a solution of corrosive sublimate.  When ammonia, in slight excess, is
 added to a cold solution of corrosive  sublimate, muriate of ammonia is formed
 in solution, and the white precipitate of the Pharmacopoeias is thrown down,
 which, according to Dr. Kane,  has a composition corresponding to one eq.
 of protochloride of mercury, united  with one eq. of a compound represented
 by one eq. of ammonia, minus one  eq. of hydrogen.   To this  compound,
 represented by NH2, Kane has given the name of amidogen, the amide of
 other chemists.  The reaction may be thus explained.  Two eqs. of ammo-
 nia are decomposed into one eq. of  ammonium (NH4) and one eq. of amide
 (NH2); and one eq. of corrosive sublimate is resolved  into one eq. of chlo-
 rine and one eq. of calomel.   The chlorine unites with the ammonium and
 remains in solution as chloride of ammonium (muriate of ammonia), and the
 calomel precipitates with the  amide as white precipitate.   In symbols the
 reaction is thus denoted; 2NH3 + HgCI2=NH4Cl + HgCl,NH2.   For an
 explanation of what is meant by ammonium see page 80.  The analysis of
 Kane forms  a virtual agreement 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  con-
 stituents found by Kane.
   Properties, 8fC. Ammoniated  mercury is in powder or pulverulent masses,
 perfectly white, insoluble in water and alcohol, and having a taste, at first
 earthy  and afterwards  metallic.   When heated with a solution  of caustic
 potassa, it yields ammonia and becomes yellow.  Exposed to heat it is decom-
 posed,  and resolved  into nitrogen, ammonia, and protochloride of mercury
 or calomel.   Adulteration with  white lead, chalk, or sulphate of lime, may
be detected by exposing a sample  to a strong red heat, when  these impuri-
ties will remain.   Should starch be  mixed with  it, a charry residuum will
be obtained on the application of heat.  Lead and  starch may also be found
by digesting the  white  precipitate with acetic  acid,  and testing the acetic
solution with iodide of potassium,  which,  if lead be  present,°will give a
yellow precipitate, and if starch, a blue one.  The absence of protoxide of
mercury is shown by its not being blackened when rubbed with lime-water.
  Medical Properties.   Ammoniated mercury is  used only as an external
application in the form of ointment.
   Off.Prep. Unguentum Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.;
 Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum,  U. S.                           B. 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1005
   HYDRARGYRUM   CUM  CRETA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
 Mercury with  Chalk.
   " Take of Mercury three ounces; Prepared Chalk ^we ounces.  Rub them
 together till all the globules disappear." U. S., Lond., Ed.
   The Dublin College prepares it in the same manner as Mercury with
 Magnesia, only substituting  precipitated carbonate of lime for carbonate of
 magnesia.
   When mercury is triturated  with  certain dry  and pulverulent substances,
 such as  chalk or  magnesia, it gradually loses its fluidity and metallic lustre,
 and assumes the form of a blackish or dark-gray  powder.   A similar change
 takes  place when it  is rubbed with viscid or  greasy  substances, such as
 honey or lard.   The globules disappear, so as in  some instances not to be
 visible even through a good lens; and the mercury is said to be extinguished.
 It was formerly thought that  the metal was oxidized in the process, and that
 the medical activity of the preparation depended  on the presence of the black
 or protoxide of mercury. At present, the change  is  generally attributed to the
 mechanical division of the  metal, which in this state is supposed to be capa-
 ble of acting on the system.  There is good reason, however, to believe that
 in this, as in all the analogous preparations of mercury, in  which the metal
 is extinguished by trituration, a very small portion is converted into protox-
 ide, while by far  the greater part remains in the metallic state.
   Mercury  with  chalk is a grayish powder, in  which  globules of  mercury
 can generally be seen  with  the aid of a microscope; as the metal can scarcely
 be  completely extinguished with chalk alone by  any length of trituration.
 Mr. Jacob Bell found that by powerfully pressing it, a considerable quantity
 of metal was separated in the form of globules.   Mr. Phillips states that the
 extinguishment of the mercury is greatly accelerated by the addition of a little
 water.  Mr. Stewart, of Baltimore, proposes the following process, by which
 he states that the preparation may be  completed in a short time, so that no
 globules shall be  visible with a powerful lens.  Three ounces of  mercury
 and six ounces of resin are to  be rubbed together  for three hours; five ounces
 of chalk are to be added, and  the trituration continued for an hour;  the mix-
 ture 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.)   It is said that a precipitated
 oxide of mercury  is sometimes added with a view to save time in the tritura-
 tion.   But this  must be considered as an adulteration, until it can be shown
 that the same oxide exists,  in the same proportion, in the preparation made
 according to the officinal directions.  The mercury contained in this prepa-
 ration  is volatilized by heat.    The remaining chalk is dissolved  by dilute
 acetic acid, and the solution is not coloured by sulphuretted hydrogen.  The
 presence of any probable metallic impurity may be detected in this way.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Mercury with  chalk is a very mild mercu-
 rial, similar  in its properties to  the blue pill, but  much weaker.   It  is some-
 times used as an alterative, particularly in the complaints of children,  attended
 with deficient biliary secretion, indicated by white or clay-coloured stools.
 The chalk is antacid, and, though in small quantity,  may sometimes be a
 useful  accompaniment of the mercury  in  diarrhoea.   Eight grains of the
 preparation, according to the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias,
 contain three grains of  mercury.  The dose  is from  five  grains  to  half a
 drachm twice a day.  Two or three grains is the dose for a child.   It should
 not be  given in  pill with substances which become hard on keeping:  as the
 contraction of the mass presses out the mercury, which, in time, appears in
globules in the interior of the pill.                                   W. 
1006
Hydrargyrum.—Infusa.
PART II.
   HYDRARGYRUM CUM MAGNESIA.  Dub.  Mercury  ivith
Magnesia.
   " Take of Purified Mercury, Manna, each, two parts ; Carbonate of Mag-
nesia one part.  Rub the Mercury with the Manna in an earthenware mor-
tar, dropping in sufficient water to give to the mixture the consistence of
syrup, and continue  the trituration  till the globules disappear.  Then add,
still rubbing, an eighth part of the Carbonate of Magnesia; and, when  this is
well mixed with  the  other ingredients, add sixteen parts of hot water, and
agitate the mixture.  Let this stand for  some  time that the sediment may
subside, and then  decant the fluid.  Repeat the washing twice, that the  whole
of the Manna may be removed : and with the sediment, while it is still  moist,
mix the remainder of the Carbonate of  Magnesia.   Lastly, dry the powder
on bibulous paper."  Dub.
   The use of the manna in this process is merely to facilitate the extinction
of the mercury;  as  it is wholly washed away, and the metal is left  mixed
with carbonate of magnesia.   This  preparation has  the  same virtues with
the preceding, but may be preferably used in the complaints of children at-
tended with constipation.                                           W.


                              INFUSA.

                              Infusions.

   These are aqueous solutions obtained by treating with water, without the
aid of ebullition, vegetable products which are only partly soluble in that
liquid.  The water employed may be hot or cold, according to the objects to
be accomplished.   Infusions  are generally prepared by pouring boiling water
upon  the vegetable substance,  and  macerating in a lightly closed  vessel till
the liquid cools.   The soluble principles are thus extracted more  rapidly,
and, as  a general rule, in  larger proportion than  at a lower temperature.
Some substances,  moreover,  are dissolved in this manner, which are nearly
or quite insoluble in cold water.  A prolonged application of heat is in some
instances desirable ; and this  may be effected by  placing the vessel near the
fire.  Cold water is preferred, when the  active principle is highly volatile,
when it is injured by heat, or when any substance of difficult solubility at a
low temperature exists in the vegetable, which it is desirable to avoid  in the
infusion.   A longer continuance of the maceration is necessary in this case;
and, in warm weather, there  is sometimes danger that  spontaneous decom-
position  may commence before the  process is  completed.  When a very
strong infusion is required,  the process by displacement may be advanta-
geously resorted to. (See pages 763 and 769.)  The water employed should
be  free  from saline  impurities, which frequently produce  precipitates, 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 employed in
the state of powder; but this last condition is seldom requisite, and is always
inconvenient, as it requires that the infusion should be filtered through paper
in order completely to  separate the  undissolved portion.  In other cases, it
is sufficient to strain through fine linen or musiin.  When, however, per-
colation or displacement is  resorted to, the substance should be more or
less finely powdered.  Infusions are usually prepared in glazed earthenware
or porcelain vessels  fitted with covers.  Mr. Brande  suggests the  use of
clean metallic  vessels, which,  when finely polished, retain the heat for  a 
PART II.
Infusa.
1007
greater length of time;  but they are also more liable to chemical alteration,
and may sometimes injuriously affect the preparation.
  As  infusions do not  keep well, especially in warm weather, they should
be made  extemporaneously and in small  quantities.  In this country they
are usually prepared in  families, and the propriety of the/r introduction into
the  Pharmacopoeia has been  doubted;  but it is desirable to have certain
fixed  standards for the  convenience of the medical practitioner;  and it is
sometimes  convenient to  direct infusions  from the apothecary, for whose
guidance  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 the attendants
upon the sick.  For a mode of preserving infusions, the reader is referred to
the introductory observations to the second part of this work,  pages 765 and
766.
  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 ANGUSTURA.  U. S., Dub.  Infusum  Cusparije.
Lond., Ed.   Infusion  of Angustura Bark.
  " Take  of Angustura Bark, bruised, half an ounce ; Boiling Water a pint.
Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
  The London College directs five drachms to a pint [Imperial measure]
of boiling  distilled water ; the Edinburgh, five  drachms to a pint [Imp.
meas.] of  boiling water;  the Dublin, two drachms to half a pint of boiling
water; and all proceed as above.
  The dose of the infusion is two fluidounces repeated every two,  three, or
four hours.                                                      "VV.

  INFUSUM  ANTHEMIDIS. U S, Lond., Ed.   Lnfusum Cha-
m^meli. Dub.  Infusion of  Chamomile.
  '" Take  of Chamomile half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for
ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain."  U. S.
  The London College orders five drachms of the flowers to a pint [Impe-
rial measure] of boiling distilled water, and proceeds  as above ; the Edin-
burgh, five drachms to a pint [Imp. meas.] of  boiling water, and infuses
for twenty minutes.   The Dublin College takes two drachms of the flowers
and half a pint of boiling water, digests for  twenty-four hours,  and strains
through linen.
  The infusion of chamomile  has the  odour and taste of the flowers.   It
affords precipitates  with  gelatin,  yellow  Peruvian bark, sulphate  of iron,
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 ope-
ration 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  ARMORACIA. U S.   Infusum Armoracia Com-
positum.  Lond., Dub.  Infusion of Horse-radish.
  " Take  of Horse-radish [fresh root], sliced, Mustard [seed], bruised, each,
an ounce ; Boiling Water a pint.  Macerate for two hours in a covered ves-
sel, and strain." U. S. 
1008
Injusa.
part II.
   The London College macerates an ounce of the root, and an ounce of the
 seeds in a pint  [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water, in a covered
 vessel,  for two hours, and strains; then adds a fluidounce of compound spirit
 of horse-radish.  The process of the Dublin College differs from that of the
 London only in employing a wine-pint of boiling water, and a digestion of
 six hours.
   This infusion is rendered turbid by the deposition of vegetable albumen,
 and  in  warm weather speedily runs into the putrefactive  fermentation.  It
 affords  precipitates with the infusions of galls and Peruvian bark,  with the
 alkaline carbonates,  nitrate of  silver, and corrosive  chloride  of mercury.
 (London  Dispensatory.)  It has the stimulant properties  of its  two active
 ingredients, and is  occasionally used  in  paralytic, scorbutic, and dropsical
 affections attended with general debility.  The dose is about two fluidounces
 three or four times a day.                                         W.

   INFUSUM AURANTII  COMPOSITUM. Lond., Dub.   Infu-
 sum Aurantii. Ed.   Compound Infusion of Orange Peel.
   " Take  of dried Orange  Peel half an ounce; fresh Lemon Peel two
 drachms; Cloves, bruised, a drachm; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Im-
 perial  measure].  Macerate for a quarter of an hour,  in  a lightly covered
 vessel, and strain." Lond.
   The  Edinburgh process differs from the above  only  in the use of boiling
 water not  distilled, and in straining through linen  or calico.   The Dublin
 College takes  two drachms of dried orange peel, a drachm  of fresh lemon
 peel, half a drachm of bruised cloves, and half a pint of boiling water;
 and digests for a quarter of an hour.
   This infusion is given as a grateful stomachic in the dose of  two  or three
 fluidounces.                                                     \V.

   INFUSUM CARYOPHYLLI. U S., Lond., Ed.  Infusum  Ca-
 ryophyllorum. Dub.   Infusion of Cloves.
  " Take of Cloves, bruised, two drachms;  Boiling Water a pint.  Mace-
 rate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
  The  London College takes  three drachms  of cloves, and a pint [Imperial
 measure]  of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, three drachms of cloves
 and a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; the  Dublin,  a drachm of cloves,
 and half a pint of boiling water ; and all proceed as above.
  The infusion of cloves affords precipitates  with  lime-water, and with the
 soluble salts of iron, zinc, lead, silver, and antimony.  (Phillips.)  The dose
 is about two fluidounces.                                         W.

  INFUSUM  CASCARILLA.  U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.  Infusion
 of Cascarilla.
  " Take of Cascarilla, bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.   Mace-
 rate 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;  the Dublin, half an
ounce of the bark to half a pint of boiling water ; and all proceed as above.
  This  infusion affords precipitates with lime-water, infusion of galls, nitrate
of silver, acetate and subacetate of lead, sulphate  of zinc, and sulphate of
 iron.   (London Dispensatory.)  The medium dose is two fluidounces.
  Off.Prep. Mistura Cascarillae Composita, Lond.                 W 
PART II.
Infusa.
1009
   INFUSUM  CATECHU  COMPOSITUM.  U. S,  Lond.,  Dub.
Infusum Catechu.  Ed.   Compound Infusion of Catechu.
   "Take of Catechu, in  powder, half an ounce;  Cinnamon,  bruised, a
drachm; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate for an hour in a covered vessel,
and strain." U. S.
   " Take of  Extract of Catechu,  in  powder, six  drachms; Cinnamon,
bruised, a  drachm; boiling Distilled Water  a pint [Imperial  measure].
Macerate for an hour in a lightly-covered vessel, and strain." Lond,
   "Take of Catechu, in powder,  six-drachms; Cinnamon, in  powder,
one drachm; Syrup three fluidounces ; boiling Water seventeen fluidounces.
Infuse the Catechu and  Cinnamon with the Water for two  hours, strain
through linen or calico, and add the Syrup." Ed.
   " Take of Extract of Catechu two drachms and  a half;  Cinnamon,
bruised, half a drachm ; boiling Water half a pint.  Digest for an hour in a
covered vessel, and strain through linen." Dub.
   This is an elegant mode of administering catechu.  The dose is from one
to three fluidounces, repeated three or four times a day, or more frequently.
                                                                W.
   INFUSUM CHIRETTA.  Ed.   Infusion of  Chiretta.
   " Take of Chirettaybwr drachms ; boiling Water [Imperial measure] one
pint.   Infuse for two hours, and strain through linen or calico." Ed.
   The dose of this simple bitter is from one to three fluidounces.     W.
   INFUSUM  CINCHONA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Infusion of
Peruvian B.ark.
   "Take of Peruvian 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  Bark, in
coarse powder,  in  the  following manner:—Having moistened the  Bark
thoroughly with Water, introduce it  into an  apparatus for displacement,
press  it slightly,  and pour Water upon its surface so as to  keep it covered.
So long as the liquid passes  turbid, return it into the apparatus; then allow
the filtration to continue  until one pint of clear infusion is obtained."  U. S.
   " Take of Bark of the Cinchona lancifolia [pate bark], bruised, an ounce;
boiling Distilled  Water a pint [Imperial measure].  Macerate for six hours
in a lightly-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.
   " Take of Bark  of the Cinchona lancifolia, in coarse powder, an ounce ;
cold Water twelve fluidounces.   Triturate the Bark  with a tittle of the Water,
and add  the remainder  during the  trituration.  Macerate  for twenty-four
hours, with frequent agitation, and decant the clear liquor." Dub.
   We can discover no good reason for the exclusive  employment by the
London and Dublin Colleges of the  pale bark in the preparation of this in-
fusion.  The U. S.  and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, wisely, we think, leave
the particular variety to the choice of the physician.
   Though  the infusion with boiling  water  is more  quickly prepared than
the cold infusion of the  Dublin College,  and therefore better adapted to
cases  of emergency, yet the latter is a more elegant  preparation, not turbid
like the former, and at least equally efficient.  The  trituration directed by
the Dublin College facilitates the process, by thoroughly wetting  the  pow-
der, and thus  enabling it to be  more  readily diffused  through the liquid.
    86 
1010
Infusa.
PART II.
We  should  prefer,  however, the cold  infusion prepared by percolation, as
directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, supposing the process to  be  skilfully
conducted.  Perhaps it would be better that the  bark should be in  mode-
rately fine than in coarse powder.
  The infusion  of  cinchona affords precipitates with the alkalies, alkaline
carbonates, and alkaline earths; the soluble salts of iron, zinc, and silver;
corrosive chloride of mercury, arsenious acid, and tartar emetic ; gelatinous
solutions; and various  vegetable infusions and decoctions, as those of galls,
chamomile,  columbo, cascarilla,  horse-radish,  cloves, catechu,  orange-peel,
foxglove,  senna,  rhubarb, valerian, and simaruba.  In  some instances the
precipitate occurs immediately, in others not  for several hours.  (London
Dispensatory.)   Few, however, of these  substances  diminish  the efficacy
of the infusion, as they do  not  affect the active principles.  The alkalies,
alkaline  earths, and vegetable astringents  are really incompatible.  The
same is said to be  the case with tartaric and oxalic acids, and the soluble
tartrates and oxalates.  For an elaborate account of the effect of the infusions
of the different varieties of Peruvian bark on other substances, the reader is
referred to a paper in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix.  128.
  The infusion of  cinchona may be advantageously administered  in cases
which require tonic treatment, but do not call for the full powers of the bark.
The medium dose is two fluidounces to be repeated three  or  four times a
day, or more frequently in acute diseases.                           W.
  INFUSUM CINCHONA COMPOSITUM.  US.   Compound
Infusion of Peruvian Bark.
  "Take of Peruvian Bark, in powder, an ounce;  Aromatic Sulphuric Acid
a fluidrachm; Water a pint.  Macerate for twelve hours, occasionally shak-
ing, and strain."  U. S.
  This  is an elegant and  very efficient preparation.  Water extracts from
bark the kinates of quinia and cinchonia, but  leaves behind  the compounds
which these principles form with the cinchonic red.  The ordinary infusion,
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 yellow Calisaya  or best red  bark should be  selected, when a strong
preparation is desired.   The bark might be more quickly and perhaps more
thoroughly exhausted by the method of percolation, as directed in the simple
infusion ;  but in this case care should be taken to employ a glass or porcelain
percolator, and the acid should be added to the portion of water first employed
to moisten the powder.  The medium dose of the infusion is two fluidounces,
equivalent to a drachm of the bark.                                 W.
  INFUSUM COLOMBA. U.S., Dub.  Infusum Calumb^:. Lond.,
Ed.  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; the Dublin, two drachms of columbo to
half a pint  of boiling water; and both proceed as  above.
  "Take of Calumba, in coarse powder, half an ounce; cold  Water about
a pint  [Imperial measure].   Triturate the  Calumba  with  a  little of the
Water, so as to moisten it"thoroughly; put it into a percolator,  and transmit
cold Water till sixteen fluidounces of infusion be obtained." Ed.
  The infusion prepared with boiling water contains a portion of the starch
of the columbo, and very soon spoils,   That made with cold water, whether 
PART II.
Infusa.
1011
 by maceration, or  by percolation as directed by the Edinburgh  College, is
 destitute of starch  and keeps better.   The hot infusion, however, is a good
 preparation when  wanted for immediate use.   The infusion of Colombo is
 not disturbed by salts of iron, and may be  conveniently administered  in
 connexion with them.   The dose is two fluidounces three  or four times a
 day.                                                           W.
   INFUSUM DIGITALIS. U.S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.   Infusion  of
 Foxglove.
   "Take  of  Foxglove [dried  leaves] a drachm,;  Boiling Water half a
 pint;  Tincture of Cinnamon a fluidounce.   Macerate the  Foxglove with
 the Water for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain;  then add the Tinc-
 ture of Cinnamon."  U. S.
   The London College takes a drachm of the dried leaves, a fluidounce  of
 spirit of cinnamon, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water;
 macerates the leaves  in the water for  four hours ; and, having  strained the
 liquor, adds  the spirit.  The Dublin process corresponds with that of the
 U.S. Pharmacopoeia, except that half a fluidounce of the  spirit of cinna-
 mon is employed instead of a fluidounce of the tincture.  The Edinburgh
 College takes two drachms  of the leaves, two fluidounces of spirit of cinna-
 mon, and eighteen fluidounces of boiling water; and, having macerated the
 leaves in the water for four hours, strains through  linen or calico, and adds
 the spirit.
   The U.S. infusion is essentially the same with that employed by With-
 ering.   It affords precipitates with the sulphate of iron, acetate  of lead, and
 infusion of Peruvian bark. (London Dispensatory.)  The dose is  usually
 stated  at half a fluidounce, repeated twice a day  under ordinary  circum-
 stances, every eight hours in urgent cases, until the system is affected. The
 proportion of digitalis is not half as great in the London preparation, and the
 dose, of course, is proportionably larger.  It will not, however, escape the
 close observer, that the stated dose of digitalis in infusion is much larger than
 in substance, for which there does not appear to be a good reason.  It might
 be safer to  give only  half the quantity, and increase if necessary.     W.
   INFUSUM  DIOSMA. U.S., Lond.   Infusum Bucku. Ed.  In-
 fusum Buchu. Dub.  Infusion of Buchu.
   "Take of Buchu  [leaves] an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate
 for four hours  in a  covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
   The London College takes  ah ounce of the leaves, and a  pint  [Imperial
 measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, the same quantities of
 the leaves  and of  boiling water; the Dublin, half an  ounce of the leaves
 and half a pint of boiling water;  and all proceed essentially as  above.
   This infusion has  the odour and  taste, and the medical virtues  of the
 leaves; and affords a  convenient mode  of administering the medicine.  The
 dose is one or two  fluidounces.                                    W.

   INFUSUM EUPATORII. U.S.  Infusion of Thoroughwort.
  "Take of Thoroughwort [the dried herb] an  ounce; Boiling Water  a
pint.   Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain."  U. S.
  As a tonic, this infusion should be taken cold  in the  dose of two fluid-
 ounces three or four times a day, or more frequently ; as an emetic and dia-
 phoretic, in large tepid draughts.                                   W.

  INFUSUM GENTIANA COMPOSITUM. U.S., Lond., Dub.
 Infusum Gentianje. Ed.  Compound Infusion of Gentian.
  " Take of Gentian, bruised, half an ounce; Orange  Peel [dried  peel of 
1012
Infusa.
PART II.
the Seville orange] bruised, Coriander  bruised,  each a drachm; Diluted
Alcohol four fluidounces; Water [cold] twelve fluidounces.   First pour on
the Alcohol, and, three hours afterwards, the water; then macerate for twelve
hours and strain."  U. S.
   The above was copied from the Edinburgh formula, which differs only
in having four fluidounces (Imperial  measure) of proof-spirit (Ed.),  and
sixteen fluidounces (Imp. meas.) of cold  water.
   The London College takes of sliced gentian  and dried orange peel, each,
two drachms, of fresh lemon peel, four  drachms, of  boiling  distilled water
a pint (Imperial measure); the Dublin takes a drachm of each of the solid
ingredients and twelve fluidounces of water; both macerate for an hour in a
lightly covered vessel, and strain.
   The U.S. and Edinburgh infusion differs materially from the London and
Dublin.    The former has much more gentian in proportion  to the solvent
than the latter, and is therefore  a much  stronger bitter; while, by the use
of cold  instead of boiling water, less  of the  inert  mucilaginous  matter is
extracted.  The use of the diluted alcohol is to assist  in dissolving the bitter
principle, and at the same time to contribute towards the preservation  of the
infusion, which, without this addition,  is very apt to spoil. The preparation,
however, may be considered rather in the light of a very weak tincture than of
an infusion, and  should be used accordingly.
   The dose of the infusion of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia is a fluidounce, that
of the  preparation of the London College two  or three  fluidounces, to be
repeated three  or four times a day.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Gentianas Composita, Lond.                  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 lightly covered vessel, and strain."
Lond.
   The dose of this infusion is one or two fluidounces.              W.
   INFUSUM  KRAMERIA.  U.S., Lond.   Infusion of Rhatany.
   "Take of Rhatany, bruised, an ounce ; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate
for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
   "Take of Rhatany  an  ounce;  boiling Distilled  Water  a pint  [Imp.
meas.].   Macerate for four hours in a  lightly covered vessel, and strain."
Lond.
   The  infusion  of rhatany would probably be more efficient, if prepared
by the mode of percolation with  cold water from  the root in a state of mode-
rately fine powder, as directed for Peruvian Bark.  The dose of the infusion
is one or two fluidounces.                                        W.

   INFUSUM  LINI. U.S., Ed.  Infusum Lini Compositum. Lond.,
Dub.   Infusion of Flaxseed.
   "Take of Flaxseed half an ounce; Liquorice Root, bruised, two drachms;
Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate  for four hours in a covered  vessel, and
strain."  U. S.
   The  London  College  directs six drachms  of   bruised  flaxseed, two
drachms  of sliced liquorice root, and a pint (Imperial measure)  of  boiling
distilled water;  the Edinburgh, the same except boiling  water for  boiling
distilled water;  the Dublin, an ounce of flaxseed, half an ounce  of liquor- 
 part ii.                        Infusa.                           1013

 ice  root, and two pints of boiling water; all complete the process in  the
 manner directed  in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that  the London and
 Edinburgh Colleges direct the maceration to take place near the fire.
   This is a useful demulcent drink in inflammatory affections of the mucous
 membrane of the  lungs and urinary passages.  It may be taken ad libitum.
                                                                W.
   INFUSUM MENTHA  SIMPLEX. Dub.  Simple Infusion of
 Mint.
   "Take of the  Dried  Leaves  of Spearmint two  drachms;  boiling Water
 sufficient to afford six ounces [fluidounces] of strained liquor." Dub.
   This is common mint tea, and may be taken ad libitum.           W.
   INFUSUM  MENTHA  COMPOSITUM.  Dub.   Compound
 Infusion of Mint.
   "Take of the Dried Leaves of Spearmint two drachms;  boiling Water
 sufficient  to afford six ounces  [fluidounces] of  strained liquor.  Digest for
 half an hour in a  covered vessel, and strain the liquor  when cold ;  then add,
 of Refined Sugar two drachms, Oil of Spearmint three drops dissolved in
 half an ounce [fluidounce] of Compound Tincture of Cardamom" Dub.
   This is  an  agreeable aromatic infusion, useful in allaying nausea  and
 vomiting, and  affording  an eligible vehicle for unpleasant medicines.  The
 dose is one or two fluidounces frequently repeated.                  W.

   INFUSUM PAREIRA. Lond., Ed.  Infusion of Pareira Brava,
   "Take of Pareira  Brava six drachms; boiling Distilled  Water  a pint
 [Imperial  measure].  Macerate for two hours,  in a lightly covered vessel,
 and strain." Lond.
   The Edinburgh process differs only in having boiling  water instead of
 boiling distilled water.
   The infusion of pareira brava is highly esteemed by some English prac-
 titioners as a remedy in irritation and  chronic inflammation of the urinary
 passages, 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 prepared by boiling half an ounce  in  three pints of water down to a
 pint, and gave in the quantity of from eight to twelve fluidounces daily.
                                                                W.
   INFUSUM PRUNI  VIRGINIANA. U.S.  Infusion of Wild-
 cherry Bark.
   " Take of Wild-cherry Bark, bruised, half an ounce; Water [cold] a pint.
 Macerate for twenty-four hours,  and strain." U.S.
   This is a  peculiarly  suitable  object for  officinal  direction,  as, in conse-
 quence of the volatile nature of one of its active ingredients, and for another
 reason before stated (see page 577), it  is better prepared  with cold water
 than  in the ordinary mode. The infusion of wild-cherry bark is one of the pre-
 parations to which the process of percolation or displacement is well adapted.
 (See  pages 763 and 769.)  In this way the virtues  of the bark can be more
rapidly and  thoroughly exhausted than by  maceration alone.   When pro-
perly 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.
                                 86* 
1014                          Infusa.                       part ii.

  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
 (Imperial measure) of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, a drachm of
 quassia in chips, and a pint (Imp. meas.) of boiling water; the Dublin, a
 scruple of quassia, and half a pint of boiling  water;  all macerate for  two
 hours.
  The proportion of quassia directed in the British Pharmacopoeias is much
 too small.   The London infusion contains the strength of only two  grains
 of  quassia in a fluidounce, the Dublin two grains and a half, and the Edin-
 burgh 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, there-
 fore, prefer  the proportions directed by our national Pharmacopoeia.   Boil-
 ing water may be employed when it is desirable  to obtain  the  preparation
 quickly;  but cold  water  affords a clearer infusion.  The dose  is two fluid-
 ounces three or four times a day.                                  W.

   INFUSUM RHEI. U. S, Lond, Ed.,  Dub.   Infusion of Rhu-
 barb.
   " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, a drachm; Boiling Water half a pint.   Di-
 gest for two hours in a covered  vessel, and strain." U. S., Dub.
   " Take of Rhubarb, sliced, three drachms;  boiling Distilled Water a pint
 [Imperial measure].   Macerate for two hours, in a lightly covered vessel,
 and strain." Lond.
   "Take of Rhubarb, bruised into coarse  powder,  one ounce;  Spirit of
 Cinnamon two fluidounces ; boiling Water eighteen fluidounces.  Infuse the
 Rhubarb for twelve hours,  in the Water, in a covered vessel, add the Spirit,
 and strain through linen or  calico." Ed.
   In order that the rhubarb may be exhausted, it should be  digested  with
 the water near the fire at a temperature somewhat less than that of  boiling
 water.   It  is customary to  add some aromatic, such  as  cardamom, fennel-
 seed, or nutmeg, which improves  the  taste of the infusion, and renders it
 more acceptable to the stomach.  One drachm of either of these spices may
 be  digested  in connexion with the rhubarb.
   This infusion may be given as a gentle laxative, in the  dose of one or two
 fluidounces, every  three or four hours, till  it operates.   It is occasionally
 used as a vehicle of tonic, antacid, or more active cathartic medicines.  The
 stronger acids and most metallic solutions are incompatible with it.   W.
    INFUSUM  ROSA   COMPOSITUM.  U S, Lond.   Infusum
 Ros.e. Ed.  Infusum Ros^* 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 six hours instead of half an hour.  The Edinburgh
 process corresponds with  the London, except that  boiling water  is  used 
PART II.
Infusa.
1015
instead  of boiling distilled  water, the  maceration  continues  only for an
hour, and the  acid is added  after the maceration instead of before it.  The
Dublin  process  corresponds with that  of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except
that the petals  are directed without their claws, and three pints of water are
employed instead of two pints and a half.
  The  red roses serve little other  purpose than to impart a fine  red colour
and a slight astringent flavour to the preparation, which owes  its medicinal
virtues almost  exclusively to the sulphuric acid.   It is refrigerant  and astrin-
gent,  and affords a useful and not unpleasant drink in hemorrhages and colli-
quative  sweats.   It is much used by British practitioners as  a vehicle for
saline medicines, particularly sulphate of magnesia, the taste of which it serves
to cover.   It is also employed as a gargle, usually in connexion  with acids,
nitre, alum, or tincture of Cayenne pepper.  The dose is from two to four
fluidounces.                                                      W.
  INFUSUM  SARSAPARILLA. U.S.   Infusum  Sarsaparillje
Compositum. Dub.   Infusion of Sarsaparilla.
  " Take of Sarsaparilla, bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water, a pint.  Digest
for two hours  in a covered vessel, and strain.
  " This infusion  may also be prepared  by the  process of displacement, in
the manner directed for Infusion of Peruvian Bark."  U.  S. (See Infusum
Cinchonas.)
  " Take  of  Sarsaparilla Root, previously cleansed  with cold  water and
sliced, an ounce; Lime-water a pint.  Macerate for twelve hours in a covered
vessel, with occasional agitation, and strain." Dub.
  From the experiments of  Soubeiran it appears that, by maceration in cold
water for twenty-four  hours, the active principle of sarsaparilla is extracted
as effectually as  by infusion  in boiling water and digestion for two hours, and
that in either case the infusion is stronger than the decoction; but the aqueous
preparation which he found  to possess most of the sensible properties of the
root,  was made by infusing  the spirituous extract in water. (See  page  951.)
In all his experiments, M. Soubeiran employed  the same proportions of the
root and of water.  (Journ. de Pharm., xvi. 43.)  These observations corre-
spond with those long since made by Hancock, and subsequently confirmed by
Mr. T. J. Husband, of this city, so far as relates to the greater solvent power
of spirit than  of water  over sarsaparilla. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 6.)
Water does not appear  competent completely to exhaust  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 Soubeiran is, that it is of little consequence
whether the infusion be made with hot or cold  water, supposing  time to be
allowed in the latter case.   It is probable that percolation,  as directed by the
U. S. Pharmacopoeia in the  second formula above given,  will  be found the
most efficacious plan.  The sarsaparilla  should  in this case be  reduced to
powder.  No  advantage can result from the use of lime-water as directed by
the Dublin  College.   From two to four  fluidounces of the infusion may be
taken three times a day.                                            W.
   INFUSUM  SCOPARII. Lond.   Infusion of Broom.
  "Take  of  Broom  an ounce;  boiling Distilled Water  a pint [Imperial
measure].   Macerate for four hours, in a lightly covered vessel, and strain."
Lond.
  Used occasionally as a diuretic and aperient in dropsy.  The dose is from
one to four fluidounces.                                             W. 
1016
Infusa.
PART II.
   INFUSUM SENEGA. Ed.   Infusion of Seneka.
   "Take of Senega ten drachms; boiling Water one pint [Imperial mea-
 sure].   Infuse for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain." Ed.
   The efficacy of the officinal decoction of seneka  has been proved by so
 long an experience, that we should be cautious in allowing it to be super-
 seded by the  infusion on  hypothetical  grounds alone.  The  dose  of  the
 preparation is from one to three fluidounces.                       W.

   INFUSUM SENNA. U.S., Ed.   Infusum Sennje 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
 sliced ginger, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water;  the
 Edinburgh, an ounce and a half of senna, four scruples of ginger, and
 a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; and the Dublin, an ounce of senna, a
 drachm of ginger, and a pint of boiling water; all macerate as above directed.
   We decidedly prefer the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The pro-
 portions of  senna  directed by the London and  Edinburgh  Colleges  are
 unnecessarily large; and coriander is a better addition than ginger to an in-
 fusion very  often 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 neutral salts,
 which both increase its efficacy and render it less  painful in its  operation.
 The following is a good formula for the preparation of senna  tea.  Take of
 senna half an ounce; sulphate of magnesia, manna, each, an ounce;  fennel
 seed a drachm; boiling water half a pint.  Macerate in a covered vessel  till
 the liquid cools.  One-third may be given  for a dose, and repeated every
 four or five hours till it operates.  The dose of the infusion of the U. S.
 Pharmacopoeia  is about four fluidounces.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Gentianae Composita, Lond.                  W.
   INFUSUM SENNA CUM TAMARINDIS. Dub.    Infusum
 Senn.e  Compositum. Ed.   Infusion of Senna with  Tamarinds.
   "  Take of Senna one drachm; Tamarinds one ounce; Coriander, bruised,
 one drachm; Muscovado [sugar] half an ounce;  boiling Water eight fluid-
 ounces.  Infuse for four hours, with  occasional stirring in a covered vessel,
 not glazed with lead, and then strain through linen or calico.
   "  This infusion may be likewise made with twice or thrice the prescribed
 quantity of senna." Ed.
   The process of the Dublin College corresponds closely with the above, but
 does not admit the triple quantity of senna.  In this infusion the unpleasant
 taste of the senna is covered by the acidity of the tamarinds and sweetness of
 the sugar.  It is aperient and refrigerant,  and is well adapted to  febrile com-
 plaints when a laxative operation is desired.  The dose is from two to four
 fluidounces.                                                      W.

   INFUSUM SERPENTARIA. U S., Lond., Ed.    Infusion  of
 Virginia Snakeroot.
   "Take of Virginia Snakeroot half an ounce;  Boiling Water a pint.
Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U.S.
   The  London College  employs half an  ounce of the  root with a pint
 [Imperial 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. 
PART II.
Infusa.
1017
   This is the ordinary form in which serpentaria is employed.  The dose
 is one or two fluidounces, repeated every two  hours  in low forms of fever,
 but less  frequently in chronic affections.                            W.

   INFUSUM SIMARUBA. Lond., Ed., Dub.  Infusion of Sima-
 ruba,
   "Take  of Simaruba [bark], bruised, three  drachms;  boiling Distilled
 Water  a pint [Imperial measure].   Macerate for two  hours in a lightly
 covered  vessel, and strain." Lond.
   The Edinburgh process differs only in the use of boiling water instead
 of boiling distilled water.
   The Dublin College takes half a drachm of the bark, and half a pint of
 boiling water, and proceeds as above.
   This  preparation  is little used in the United  States.  The  dose is two
 fluidounces.                                                      W.

   INFUSUM SPIGELIA.  US.  Infusion of Pinkroot.
   " Take of Pinkroot  half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate for
 two hours in a covered vessel, and strain."  U.S.
   The dose of this infusion, for a child two or three years old, is from four
 fluidrachms to a fluidounce; for an adult, from four to eight fluidounces, re-
 peated morning and  evening.  A quantity of senna equal to that of the spi-
 gelia is usually added,  in order to insure a cathartic effect.            W.
   INFUSUM TABACI. U. S, Dub. Enema Tabaci. Lond., Ed.
 Infusion of Tobacco.
   "Take of Tobacco  a drachm; Boiling Water a pint.  Macerate for an
 hour in a covered vessel, and strain."  U.S., Dub.
   The London College takes a  drachm of tobacco, and a pint (Imperial
 measure) of boiling distilled water, macerates for an hour, and strains.  The
 Edinburgh College takes horn fifteen  to thirty grains of tobacco, and eight
fluidounces of boiling water, infuses for half an hour, and strains.
   This is used only in the  form of enema in  strangulated  hernia, obstinate
 colic,  and retention  of  urine from spasm of the urethra.   Only half of the
 pint should be employed at once; and if this should not produce  relaxation
 in half an hour, the remainder may be injected.   Fatal consequences have
 resulted from too free a use of tobacco  in this way.                   W.

   INFUSUM ULMI. U. S.   Infusion of Slippery Elm Bark.
   "Take of Slippery  Elm Bark, sliced and  bruised, an ounce; boiling
 Water apint.  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.                                     W.

   INFUSUM VALERIANA.  U. S., Lond., Dub.    Infusion of
 Valerian.
   "Take of Valerian half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.  Macerate for an
 hour in a covered vessel, and strain."   U. S.
   The London College takes half an  ounce of valerian, and apint (Impe-
 rial measure) of boiling  distilled water,  macerates for half an  hour in a lightly
 covered vessel, and  strains.   The Dublin College directs two  drachms of
 valerian,  in coarse powder, seven fluidounces of boiling water, digestion for
an hour, and straining after the liquid has become cold.
  The dose of this infusion  is two fluidounces, repeated three or four times
a day, or more frequently.                                        W. 
1018
Iodinum.—Linimenta.
part ii.
                            IODINUM.

                      Preparation of Iodine.

   LIQUOR IODINI COMPOSITUS. U S.   Iodinei Liquor Com-
positus.  Ed.   Liquor Potassii Iodidi  Compositus. Lond.   Com-
pound Solution of Iodine.
   "Take of Iodine six drachms;  Iodide of Potassium an ounce and a half;
Distilled Water apint.  Dissolve the Iodine  and Iodide of Potassium in the
Water." U.S.
   " Take of Iodine two drachms ; Iodide of  Potassium  an  ounce;  Distilled
Water sixteen fluidounces  [Imperial  measure].   Dissolve the  Iodide and
Iodine in the Water with gentle heat and agitation."  Ed.
   "Take of Iodide of Potassium ten grains; Iodine five grains;  Distilled
Water apint [Imperial measure].   Mix that they may  dissolve." Lond.
   Although these preparations are all aqueous solutions  of iodine and iodide
of potassium, yet they differ very much in strength.  Iodine is but sparingly
soluble in water, but readily dissolves when associated with twice its weight
of iodide of potassium.  The U. S. solution corresponds in strength with
Lugol's concentrated solution of iodine in iodide of potassium, and is in-
tended to facilitate  the administration of  the combination in drops.   The
Edinburgh preparation is a weaker form of the same concentrated solution,
in which the iodide of potassium is taken at a quantity four times  the amount
of the iodine,  instead of twice its amount,  the  usual  proportion  adopted.
Assuming 16 Imperial fluidounces to  be  the same as the wine  pint, and it
is only 5 fluidrachms less, then it will  be found, on comparing the formulas,
that the Edinburgh solution  is one-third as strong in iodine, and two-thirds
as strong in iodide of potassium as that of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.   The
London preparation is a weak solution, and is just twice as strong as Lugol's
ioduretted mineral water of medium strength, assuming the Imperial fluid-
ounce to be the same as  the  French ounce.   The medicinal properties of
these solutions depend mainly on the free iodine present in them, by which
their dose must be regulated, and not by the iodide of potassium.  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.  For children, the dose is proportionably less. (See
page 394).  The Edinburgh solution  may  be given in doses about three
times as  large.   The London  preparation  may be viewed  as the foregoing
solutions, brought  nearly to  the proper degree of  dilution  for  exhibition.
The dose is a fluidounce,  containing  a quarter of a grain of iodine, to be
diluted with an equal bulk  of water, and  gradually increased to two fluid-
ounces or more.                                                   B.


                          LINIMENTA.

                            Liniments.

   These are preparations intended for external use, of such a consistence as
to render them conveniently applicable to the skin  by  gentle friction with
the hand.   They are usually thicker  than  water,  but thinner than the oint-
ments; and are always liquid at the temperature of the body.        W. 
PART II.
Linimenta.
1019
   LINIMENTUM AMMONIA.  U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Lini-
 ment &f 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 Dub-
 lin College directs two fluidrachms of  " Water of  Caustic Ammonia"  and
 two fluidounces of the oil.
   The U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, having adopted a solu-
 tion of ammonia of  the same strength, accord at present in the  proportion of
 the solution and of  oil  employed  in  the liniment.  In this preparation, the
 ammonia unites  with the oil to form a soap,  which is partly dissolved, partly
 suspended in the water, producing a white, opaque emulsion.  The liniment
 is an excellent rubefacient, frequently employed  in inflammatory affections
 of  the throat,  catarrhal and other  pectoral  complaints of children, and in
 rheumatic  pains.  It is  applied by rubbing it  gently  upon  the  skin, or
 placing a piece of flannel saturated  with it over the affected part.   Should it
 occasion too much  inflammation, as sometimes  happens,  it must be diluted
 with oil.                                                       W.

   LINIMENTUM  AMMONIA  COMPOSITUM. Ed.   Com-
pound 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 may be
 also made weaker for some purposes with three fluidounces of Tincture of
 Camphor and two of Spirit of Rosemary." Ed.
   The  compound liniment of ammonia 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 one-half.   They are  nothing more than dilutions  in  different
 degrees of the  officinal Liquor Ammoniae Fortior,  which  is itself  too
 powerful for convenient use.  The tincture  of camphor and spirit of rose-
 mary can scarcely exercise,  in this case,  any  peculiar therapeutical influence.
 These preparations are  employed as prompt  and powerful rubefacients, vesi-
 catories, or escharotics,  in  various  neuralgic, gouty, rheumatic, spasmodic,
 and inflammatory affections, in  which strong  and speedy counter-irritation
 is indicated.  When mere  rubefaction is desired, the weaker lotion may be
 used; and even for blistering or cauterizing, unless a very prompt effect is
 necessary.   In  the  latter case the stronger lotion  should be  resorted  to.
 They are applied by means of linen folded  several  times,  or a thick piece
 of flannel saturated  with the liniment.   A  convenient mode is to fill  the
 wooden cover of a large  pill or ointment box, an'inch or two  in diameter,
 with patent lint, saturate  this with  the liquid, and press  it upon the part.
 The ammonia  is thus prevented from escaping,  and  a definite boundary
given to  the inflammation.   The  application will generally produce rube-
faction in a length of time varying from  one  to six or eight minutes, vesica-
tion in from three to ten minutes, and  a  caustic effect in a somewhat longer
period.                                                         W.
  LINIMENTUM AMMONIA SESQUICARBONATIS. Lond.
Liniment of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia.
  " Take of Solution of Sesquicarbonate of  Ammonia a fluidounce ; Olive
Oil three fluidounces.  Shake them  together  until they unite." Lond.
  In this, as in the  liniment of  ammonia, a  kind  of liquid soap is  formed; 
1020
Linimenta.
PART II.
 but  the union between the oil and alkali is less perfect, and after  a short
 time the soapy matter separates from the water.  The preparation is there-
 fore less elegant; and, as the end which it was probably intended to  answer
 of affording a  milder rubefacient, may be obtained by diluting the liniment
 of ammonia with olive oil, there seems to be no good reason for retainino-
 it.                                                             W.  °
   LINIMENTUM CALCIS. U S., Ed., Dub.  Liniment of Lime.
   "Take of Lime-water, Flaxseed Oil, each a fluidounce.  Mix  them."
 U.S.
   The Edinburgh College directs equal measures of the same ingredients;
 the Dublin, three fluidounces of lime-water,  and  three of olive oil.
   The lime forms a soap with  the oil, of which  there is a great excess, that
 separates upon standing.  Olive oil, as directed by the  Dublin College, is
 often substituted for that of flaxseed ; but possesses no other advantage than
 that of having  a less  unpleasant odour.  This  is a very useful liniment in
 recent burns and scalds.  It is sometimes  called Carron oil, from  having
 been much employed at the iron works of that name in Scotland.     W.
   LINIMENTUM  CAMPHORA. U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed.   Oleum
 Camphoratum. Dub.   Camphor Liniment.
   "Take of Camphor  half an ounce; Olive Oil two fluidounces. Dis-
 solve the Camphor in the Oil." U. S.
   The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct  an ounce of camphor, and
four fluidounces of olive oil;  the Dublin College, a drachm of  the former
 and  an ounce of the latter.
   This is employed as an  anodyne  embrocation in sprains, bruises, rheu-
 matic  or gouty affections  of the joints, and  other local pains.  It  is also
 supposed to have a  discutient effect when rubbed upon glandular swellings.
   LINIMENTUM  CAMPHORA COMPOSITUM.  Lond., Dub.
 Compound Camphor Liniment.
   " Take of Camphor two ounces and a half; Solution of Ammonia seven
fluidounces  and  a  half;  Spirit of Lavender a pint [Imperial  measure].
 Mix the Solution of Ammonia with  the Spirit; then, from a glass retort,
 with a slow fire, distil a pint; lastly, dissolve the Camphor in the distilled
 liquor."  Lond.
   The Dublin  College takes  two ounces of camphor, six fluidounces of solu-
 tion of ammonia, and a pint of spirit of lavender; and proceeds in the same
 manner.
   This preparation  deserves a place rather  among  the Spirits or Tinctures
 than the  Liniments.   It  may be imitated by dissolving a little oil of laven-
 der  in tincture of camphor,  and adding spirit of ammonia.   It is used as a
 rubefacient and at the same  time  anodyne embrocation,  in local pains, par-
 ticularly  of a rheumatic character.                                 W.
   LINIMENTUM CANTHARIDIS.  U S.   Liniment  of  Span-
 ish Flies.
   " Take of Spanish Flies,  in  powder, an ounce ; Oil of Turpentine half a
pint.  Digest for three hours by means of a  water-bath, and strain."  U. S.
   Oil  of turpentine  is  an  excellent  solvent of the active  principle of  can-
 tharides, and,  when  impregnated  with it, acquires  in addition to its  own
rubefacient properties those  of a powerful  epispastic.   This  liniment was
 introduced  into notice by Dr. Joseph  Ilartshorne, of Philadelphia,  who
 employed it with great advantage  as  an external stimulant in the prostrate 
PART II.
Linimenta.
1021!
states of typhus fever.   Caution, however, is necessary in its use, both to
graduate its strength to the  circumstances of the case, and not to apply it
very extensively,  lest it may  produce  severe and troublesome, if not dan-
gerous vesication.  If too powerful in its undiluted state, it may be weakened
by the addition of olive  or linseed oil.                              W.
   LINIMENTUM  HYDRARGYRI  COMPOSITUM.    Lond.
 Compound Liniment of Mercury.
   " Take of Stronger Mercurial Ointment, Lard, each, four ounces ; Cam-
phor an ounce;  Rectified Spirit a fluidrachm;  Solution of Ammonia four
fluidounces.  Rub the  Camphor first with the  Spirit, then with the Lard
and Mercurial Ointment; lastly, add gradually the Solution of Ammonia, and
mix the whole." Lond.
   This is a stimulating liniment,  employed for the discussion of chronic
glandular enlargements, swellings  of the joints, and venereal tumours, and
to promote the absorption of collections of fluid.   It is said to be more apt to
salivate than mercurial ointment.  One drachm of it is to be rubbed upon the
affected part night and  morning.                                  W.
   LINIMENTUM  OPII. Lond., Ed.  Linimentum Saponis cum
Opio  vel Linimentum  Anodynum.  Dub.    Liniment  of  Opium.
Anodyne Liniment.
   " Take of Castile  Soap six ounces ; Opium an ounce and a half;  Cam-
phor three ounces ; Oil of Rosemary six fluidrachms;  Rectified Spirit two
pints [Imperial measure].  Macerate the Soap and  Opium in the Spirit for
three days; filter, add the Oil and  Camphor, and agitate briskly." Ed.
   The  London and Dublin Colleges merely  mix  their liniment of soap
[Tinctura  Saponis Camphorata) with  tincture of opium ;  the former, in
the proportion of six measures of  the  liniment  to two of the tincture; the
 latter,  of four parts to three.
   This is commonly known  by the  name of anodyne  liniment, and is
 employed as an anodyne  and gently rubefacient embrocation in sprains,
bruises, and rheumatic  and gouty  pains.  It differs  from  the camphorated
tincture of soap only in  containing opium, and is most conveniently pre-
pared by extemporaneously mixing that tincture with laudanum, as directed
by the London and Dublin Colleges.                              W.
   LINIMENTUM  SAPONIS CAMPHORATUM. U.S.   Cam-
phorated Soap Liniment.   Opodeldoc.
   "Take of Common Soap three ounces; Camphor an  ounce; Oil of
Rosemary, Oil  of Origanum, each  a fluidrachm; Alcohol apint.  Digest
the Soap with the Alcohol, by means of a sand-bath,  till it is 'dissolved ; then
add the Camphor and Oils, and when they are dissolved, pour the liquor into
broad-mouthed bottles.  This Liniment has,  when cold, the consistence of a
soft ointment."  U. S.
   This preparation differs from the common soap liniment (Tinctura Saponis
 Camphorata) chiefly in being prepared  with common white soap, made with
animal fat, instead of Castile soap, which is made with olive oil.  The former
is peculiarly adapted to the purposes  of this  formula, in consequence of
assuming, when  its alcoholic solution cools, the  consistence characteristic of
the liniment. It is customary, after the solution of the soap has been  effected,
to pour the liquor into  small wide-mouthed  glass bottles, containing about
four fluidounces, in which it solidifies  into a soft, semitransparent, uniform,
yellowish-white  mass.  This liniment melts with  the heat of the body, and
therefore becomes liquid when rubbed upon the skin.  It is much used, under
     87 
1022
Linimenta.—Magnesia.
PART II.
the name of opodeldoc, as an anodyne application in sprains, bruises, and
rheumatic pains.                                                W.

   LINIMENTUM SIMPLEX. Ed.   Simple Liniment.
   " Take of Olive Oil four parts; White Wax one part.  Dissolve the Wax
in the Oil with a gentle heat, and  agitate well as the fused  mass cools and
concretes." Ed.
   This is little  employed.  It may be used for keeping the skin soft and
smooth in cold weather.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Zinci, Ed.                              W.
 - LINIMENTUM TEREBINTHINA. U. S, Land., Dub.  Lini-
mentum Terebinthinatum. Ed.   Liniment of Turpentine.
   " Take of Oil of Turpentine half apint; Resin Cerate a pound. Add the
Oil of Turpentine to the Cerate previously melted, and mix them." U. S., Dub.
   " Take of Soft Soap two ounces ; Camphor an ounce ; Oil of Turpentine
sixteen fluidounces.   Shake them  together until they are mixed." Lond.
   " Take of  Resinous Ointment four ounces;  Oil of Turpentine five fluid-
ounces ;  Camphor half an ounce.  Melt the ointment, and gradually mix
with it the Camphor and Oil, till a uniform  liniment be obtained." Ed.
   This preparation, made according to the U. S. and Dublin 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 occurrence of the accident as possible, and should be discontinued  when
the peculiar inflammation  excited by the fire is removed.  The best mode of
application  is  to cover the burned or scalded surface with pledgets of patent
lint saturated  with the liniment.  It should not be allowed to come in contact
with the sound parts.  This liniment may also be successfully applied in
other  cases of cutaneous  inflammation requiring stimulation, as in certain
conditions of  erysipelas.  The liniment of the  London College, which  has
been substituted, in the last edition of their Pharmacopoeia, for the mixture
of resin cerate and oil of turpentine, directed in the former edition, is a stimu-
lating mixture,  applicable wherever a powerful  rubefacient impression is
desired.                                                        W.

                          MAGNESIA.

                    Preparations of Magnesia.

   MAGNESIA. U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Magnesia.
   " Take of  Carbonate of Magnesia any quantity.  Put it  into  an earthen
vessel, and expose it to a red heat for two  hours, or till the carbonic acid is
wholly expelled." U.S.
   " Take of  Carbonate of Magnesia four  ounces.  Burn it for  two  hours
in a strong fire." Lond.
   " Take any convenient quantity of Carbonate of Magnesia, expose it in
a crucible to a full red heat for two  hours, or till the powder, when suspended
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 quantity.  Put it into a crucible,
and subject it to a strong  heat for  two hours.  When the Magnesia has be-
come cool, preserve it in a glass vessel." Dub.
   By exposure to a red heat, the  water and carbonic acid  of the carbonate
of magnesia  are expelled, and  the earth is obtained pure.  According to
Dr. Black, the  carbonate loses  seven-twelfths of its weight by calcination. 
PART II.
Magnesia.
1023
 Brande says that the loss varies from 50 to 60 per cent, of which from 15 to
 20 per cent,  is water.  About the close of the process the earth exhibits a
 luminous or phosphorescent appearance, which is said to be a good criterion
 of its freedom from  carbonic acid.  (Duncan.)   A  more certain  indication,
 however, is the absence of effervescence when muriatic acid is added  to a
 little of the magnesia, previously mixed with water.  It is an  error to sup-
 pose 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.   The  magnesia  may thus  be  obtained of greater
 density;  but  this is an equivocal recommendation;  and the French pharma-
 ceutical 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 carbonic acid  and water from the air; but, as the absorp-
 tion 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.  (Journ. of the Phil, Col. of
 Pharm., iii. 198.)  The density of Henry's magnesia, which is at least four
 times that of the earth prepared  in the ordinary way, has been ascribed to
 this cause.   It has also been attributed to the influence of intense heat em-
 ployed in the  calcination.  The conjecture has even been advanced,  that this
 magnesia, which  has  enjoyed so great a popularity in England and this coun-
 try, 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 precipi-
 tating the sulphate  of magnesia with carbonate of soda, is softer to the touch,
 and bears a closer resemblance to Henry's  than  that prepared from the ordi-
 nary 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 crystal-
 lized  sulphate of  magnesia  and crystallized carbonate of soda  be boiled
 together in  water, the mixture evaporated  to dryness, the residual salts  cal-
 cined, and the  sulphate of soda dissolved out by water, the magnesia obtained
 will be dense.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi., 118., from the Pharm. Journ.)
 The advantages of  Henry's magnesia, independently of the convenience of
 its less bulk, are its greater softness, and more ready miscibility with water.
   Properties,  8,'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, 
1024
Magnesia,
PART II.
requiring, according to  Dr. Fyfe, 5142 parts of water at 60°, and 36,000
pans  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 magnesium 12*7,  and one of oxygen 8=20-7.  Magne-
sium is a white, very brilliant.metal, resembling silver, malleable, fusible at
a low temperature, and convertible into magnesia by the combined  action of
air and  moisture.   There is  a hydrate of magnesia consisting of one equiv.
of the earth  and one of water.   Magnesia forms with nitric  and  muriatic
acids, salts which are soluble in alcohol and very deliquescent.  It is precipi-
tated 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  pre-
cipitated 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  pro-
duced 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 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  precipitates, the former of oxalate, the lat-
ter of carbonate of lime.   As magnesia is completely dissolved by muriatic
acid, silica and  other impurities 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. (Christison1s Dispensatory.)  If the magnesia contain a soluble
sulphate or carbonate from insufficient washing of the carbonate of magnesia
from which it was prepared, chloride of barium will reveal it by producing a
precipitate with water digested on  the magnesia.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Magnesia is antacid and laxative; and is
much employed, under the name  of calcined magnesia, in dyspepsia,  sick
headache, gout, and other  complaints  attended with sour  stomach  and  con-
stipation.  It is  also a favourite remedy in the complaints of children, in
which acidity of the primas viae is often a  prominent symptom.  Its antacid
properties render it very useful in gravel  attended with an excessive secre-
tion of  uric acid.  Its advantages over carbonate of magnesia are that it  may
be given  in a smaller dose, and does not occasion flatulence.  The  dose as a
laxative is from thirty grains to a drachm, as an antacid merely, or antilithic,
from ten to thirty grains twice a day.  When it meets with no acid, it is apt
to linger in the  stomach or bowels, and should in this  case be followed by
lemonade.  It should be administered in water or  milk,  and should be tho-
roughly triturated so  as to render  the mixture uniform.  If mixed with  less
than  14 or 15 times its weight of water, and allowed to stand for a day or
two, magnesia is  apt to form  with the liquid a more  or less concrete mass,
owing to the production of a hydrate of the earth, and the solidification of a
portion of the water.   This  change does not  take  place, or  at least much
less readily, when magnesia already saturated with  moisture is employed
instead  of that  freshly  calcined.   The conjecture  has been  advanced, that
anhydrous magnesia might prove injurious in the stomach by solidifying its
liquid  contents;  and  the earth which  has become  saturated with moisture
by exposure to a damp  air  is  preferably recommended. (Journ. de Pharm.,
3e Ser., iv., 360., and v. 475.)
   Off. Prep.  Trochisci Magnesias, U. S.; Pulvis Rhei Compositus, Ed. 
PART II.
Magnesia.—Me Hit a.
1025
   MAGNESIA  SULPHAS  PURUM.  Dub.  Pure Sulphate of
Magnesia.
   " Take of Commercial Sulphuric Acid twenty-five parts; Water one hun-
dred parts; Carbonate of Magnesia twenty-four parts, or as much as may
be sufficient to saturate the Acid.  Mix the Sulphuric Acid and Water, and
then gradually add the Carbonate of Magnesia.  Lastly, evaporate the  fil-
tered liquor, so that crystals may form when it cools." Dub.
   As the sulphate of magnesia prepared in the large way  is sufficiently pure
for medical purposes, the above process is superfluous.              W.


                           MELLITA.

                      Preparations of Honey.

   Honey  is used in pharmacy only as the vehicle of more active medicines.
It is said  to have this  advantage over syrup, that its preparations are  less
apt to become candied; but as it contains principles which disagree with  the
stomachs of many persons, and as its variable consistence prevents the same
exact 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 1*261
(30° B.) at the boiling point of water.                              W.
   MEL  DESPUMATUM. U. S, Dub.   Clarified Honey.
   Take of Honey any quantity.  Melt it by means of a water-bath, and then
remove  the scum." U. S., Dub.
   Honey by the heat of  the water-bath becomes  so fluid, that the wax and
other lighter impurities which it  contains rise to the surface and  may be
skimmed off; while the heavier substances which may have been  acciden-
tally or  fraudulently added, such as sand or other earth, sink  to the bottom.
   The following method of clarifying honey is practised in France.  Take
of white honey 3000 parts ; water 750  parts  ; carbonate of lime, powdered
and washed, 96  parts.   Mix  them  in a suitable vessel, and boil for three
minutes, stirring constantly.   Then add  96  parts of animal charcoal pre-
viously  washed,  heated to redness, powdered, and sifted, and boil for a few
minutes.  Lastly, add the whites of two eggs beat up  with 500 parts of
water, and bring the liquid to the boiling point.  Withdraw the  vessel from
the fire, and, after the mixture has cooled for fifteen minutes, strain it through
flannel,  and repeat the straining till the liquid  passes perfectly clear.  Should
it not have the proper consistence, it should be concentrated sufficiently by
a quick  boiling.  The  French Codex simply directs six pounds of white
honey to be heated with  three pounds  of  water, skimmed, concentrated to
30° B. while boiling hot, and then strained through flannel.
  The following process for clarifying common honey was proposed by  M.
Borde, and approved by the Society of Pharmacy at Paris.   Take of com-
mon honey 5000 parts; vegetable charcoal, in powder, 320  parts; animal
charcoal, in powder, 160 parts; nitric acid of 30° or  32° Baume 40 parts;
water 320 parts.  Rub  the two  kinds of charcoal, in a porcelain  mortar,
with the water and acid.; then add the honey, and put the whole into a tinned
                                 87* 
1026
Mellita.
PART II.
pan.  Place the vessel over  the fire, and allow it to remain for eight or ten
minutes without suffering it to boil; then add 1600 parts of milk in which the
white of an egg has been beaten, and boil for four or five minutes.  Remove
the liquid from the fire, and pass it through  a strainer  in a warm place,
repeating the straining if the first portions  are not clear.   Of the nitric acid
employed in  the process, a portion is  saturated by the lime of the animal
charcoal, and the remainderlmites with the caseous matter of the milk, which
it thus causes to coagulate; none remains in the honey. (Diet. Des Drogues.)
   Honey clarified by these  processes  is as clear  and colourless  as syrup
made with sugar, but  still retains a peculiar flavour.   It is less  disposed to
ferment than  crude honey, and is said not to be so  liable to produce griping
pain when swallowed.
   Off. Prep.   Confectio Aromatica, U. S.; Confectio Opii, U. S.; Confec-
tio  Rosae, U. S., Dub.;  Conserva Rutae,  Dub.;  Mel Boracis,  Dub.;  Mel
Prasparatum, U.S.; Mel Rosas, U.S.,  Dub.; Oxymel, Dub.; Oxymel  Col-
chici, Dub.;  Oxymel  Scillae, U. S., Dub.; Pilulas  Ferri Carbonatis, U. S.;
Tinctura Opii Camphorata, U. S.                                 W.
   MEL PRAPARATUM.  U. S.   Prepared Honey.
   "Take of Clarified  Honey half apint; Diluted  Alcohol apint;  Prepared
Chalk half an  ounce.    Having mixed  the Honey  and Diluted Alcohol, add
the Prepared Chalk, and allow the mixture to stand for two hours, occasion-
ally stirring it.   Then heat it to ebullition, filter, and  by  means of a water-
bath evaporate the clear  liquor, so that when cold it may have  the specific
gravity 1*32."  U.S.
  This process was  intended to prepare honey,  so as to fit it better for
addition  to the  salts of protoxide of iron, as well  as to the protiodide and
protochloride, in order to prevent the absorption of oxygen.   The prepared
chalk neutralizes any  acid which it may contain, while impurities insoluble
in diluted alcohol are left behind, and the honey is  deprived of colour.
   Off.Prep.  Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S.                           W.
   MEL BORACIS. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Honey of  Borax.
  " Take of Borax, in powder, a drachm; Honey [Clarified Honey, Dub.]
an ounce.  Mix them." Lond., Ed., Dub.
   This preparation  might well be left to extemporaneous prescription.  It is
used in aphthous ulcerations of the mouth.                         W.
   MEL ROSA.  U.  S.j Lond,, Ed., Dub.  Honey of Roses.
   "Take of  Red Roses two ounces;  Clarified Honey two pints; Boiling
Water a pint and a half.  Macerate  the Roses in  the Water for two hours,
and  strain; then add  the Honey,  and  evaporate by means of a water-bath
to the proper consistence.   The specific gravity  of the  Honey of-Roses
should be 1*32." U.S.
   The London College  macerates four ounces of dried red roses  in two pints
and a half [Imperial  measure] of boiling water for six hours, then strains,
adds five pounds of honey, and evaporates  by a  water-bath  to the proper
consistence.  The Edinburgh College, operating  upon the same  materials,
in the same quantities,  infuses the petals for  six hours in the water, strains
with  expression, allows  the  impurities to subside, decants the  clear liquor,
adds  the honey, and evaporates in the vapour-bath to the consistence of syrup,
removing the scum  which forms.   The Dublin process corresponds with the
London, except that three wine, pints of water are  used instead of two and
a half Imperial pints, and the scum which forms  during the evaporation is
directed to be removed. 
part ii.                       Mellita.                          1027
   This preparation has the flavour of the rose with its slight astringency,
 and forms a pleasant addition to the gargles employed in inflammation and
 ulceration of the mouth and throat.                                 W.
   OXYMEL.  Lond, Dub.   Oxymel.
   " Take of Honey ten pounds ; Acetic Acid a pint and a half [Imperial
 measure].   Mix the Acid  with the Honey previously heated."  Lond.
   The Dublin College takes two pounds of crude honey, and a pint of dis-
 tilled vinegar; and boils them  to the consistence of syrup, removing the
 scum as it rises.
   This mixture of honey and vinegar forms  a pleasant addition to gargles,
 and is sometimes used as a vehicle of expectorant medicines, and to impart
 flavour to drinks in febrile complaints.  If it  be prepared according to the
 London formula, care must be taken to employ the acetic acid of the strength
 directed by that  College.                                         W.

   OXYMEL COLCHICI. Dub.   Oxymel of Colchicum.
   " Take of  the fresh Bulb of Colchium, cut into  thin slices, an ounce;
 Distilled Vinegar  a pint;  Clarified  Honey  two pounds.    Macerate the
 Colchicum with the Vinegar, in a glass vessel, for forty-eight hours.  Strain
 the liquor, with strong expression, from the root, and add the Honey. Lastly,
 boil the mixture, frequently stirring it with a wooden spatula, to the consist-
 ence of a syrup." Dub.
   This preparation is seldom used in this country, and could  not indeed be
 conveniently prepared, according to the above directions, as we have not the
 fresh  bulbs.  It is in no respect superior to the wine of colchicum, by which
 it has been superseded.  The dose is a fluidrachm, repeated twice a day, and
 gradually increased till it produces the desired  effect.                W.
   OXYMEL CUPRI SUBACETATIS. Dub.  Linimentum Aru-
 ginis. Lond.   Oxymel of Subacetate of Copper.
   " Take of Verdigris in  powder [Prepared  Subacetate of Copper, Dub.]
 an  ounce;  Vinegar [Distilled Vinegar,  Dub.] seven fluidounces; Honey
 [Clarified Honey,  Dub.] fourteen ounces.  Dissolve the Verdigris in the
 Vinegar, and strain the solution through linen ;  then gradually add the Honey,
 and boil down to the proper consistence." Lond., Dub.
  This is an external  stimulant and escharotic, and was  formerly called met
 Mgyptiacum.   It is  employed  either undiluted  or  mixed with some mild
 ointment, to  destroy fungous  granulations, or to repress their growth.  In the
 latter  state, it  is a useful  stimulant  to flabby, indolent,  and ill-conditioned
 ulcers, and, largely diluted  with water, has been used as a gargle in venereal
 ulcerations of the mouth and throat.   It is sometimes also applied undiluted
 to those ulcers in the fauces by means of a camel's-hair  pencil.       W.

  OXYMEL SCILLA. U. S, Lond, Dub.   Oxymel of Squill.
  " Take of Clarified Honey three pounds;  Vinegar of Squill two pints.
 Mix them, and evaporate by means of a water-bath to the proper consistence.
 The specific gravity of the Oxymel of Squill should be  1*32."  U. S.
  The London College takes three pounds of honey and a pint and a half
 [Imperial measure] of vinegar of squill;  the Dublin, three pounds of clari-
fied honey and two pints of  vinegar of squill; both  boil in  a glass vessel,
with a slow fire,  to the proper consistence.
  This preparation has the virtues of  squill, but is in no respect  superior
to the syrup.   Prepared according to the directions of the  London  and
Dublin Colleges, it would be very  liable  to  be  injured by heat.  It is 
1028
Mellita.—Misturce.
PART II.
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 fluidrachms.   In large doses it is emetic, and
as such may sometimes  be given with  advantage in infantile croup and
catarrh.                                                          W.


                           MISTURA.

                              Mixtures.

   This term should be restricted, in the language of pharmacy, to those
preparations 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 medi-
cines ; and their perfection depends  upon  the intimacy with which the in-
gredients are blended.  Some skill and care are requisite for the production
of a uniform and perfect  mixture.  As a general rule, the body to  be sus-
pended should be thoroughly mixed  by trituration with  the  substance in-
tended to  act as the intermedium, before  the watery vehicle is added.   In
the case of the  liquid  balsams  and oils, if gum Arabic be employed as the
intermedium, it  should be previously brought to  the  state of mucilage of
the consistence  directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The white of eggs
is frequently ordered by physicians as the suspending substance;  but it is
inferior for this  purpose to the yolk, or to gum Arabic.   When the white
is used it  should be well  beaten, and incorporated with the  oleaginous or
balsamic substance before the water is added.*  Mixtures  are generally the
objects of extemporaneous prescription;  but a  few  have been deemed of
sufficient  importance to merit a place in the Pharmacopoeias.  They should
be prepared only when wanted  for use.                             W.
   MISTURA  ACACIA. Ed.   Emulsio  Arabica. Dub.   Gum
Arabic Mixture.   Gum Arabic Emulsion.
   " Take of Mucilage [of Gum Arabic] three fluidounces ; Sweet Almonds
one ounce and two drachms; Pure Sugar five drachms;  Water two pints
[Imperial 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 con-
stantly, then strain through linen or calico." Ed.
   "Take  of Gum Arabic, in  powder, two drachms;  Sweet Almonds,
blanched,  Refined Sugar, each,  half an ounce ; Water a pint.   Dissolve the
Gum in the heated Water, and when the solution  is  almost cold, gradually
pour it upon the Almonds, previously well beaten with the Sugar, triturating
at the same time so as  to form an emulsion ; then strain."  Dub.
   Used as a demulcent in the dose of one or two fluidounces, or as a vehicle
for various medicines in inflammatory affections of the bronchial, alimentary,
and urinary mucous membranes.                                   W.

  * For some good practical observations  upon the preparation of mixtures, the reader
is referred  to a communication published in the Journal of  the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy,  vol. iv.  p. 11, by W.Hodgson, Jun. 
PART II.
Misturce.
1029
   MISTURA AMMONIACI. U. S, Lond., Dub. Ammoniac Mix-
 ture.
   " Take of Ammoniac two drachms ;  Water half a pint.  Rub the Am-
 moniac with the Water gradually added,  until they are thoroughly mixed."

   The London College takes five drachms of ammoniac, and a pint [Impe-
 rial measure] of water, and proceeds as above.  The Dublin College directs
 a drachm of ammoniac to be rubbed with eight fluidounces of pennyroyal
 water, and the mixture to be strained through linen.
   In this mixture the insoluble part of the ammoniac is suspended by means
 of the gum, imparting a milky appearance  to the preparation, which, from
 this circumstance, was formerly called lac ammoniaci or milk of ammoniac.
 The greater portion of the resin subsides upon standing.   The  mixture is
 slightly curdled by acids.  The dose is from one to two tablespoonfuls.
                                                               W.
   MISTURA AMYGDALA.  U S,  Lond.  Mistura Amygda-
 larum. Ed., Dub.   Almond Mixture.   Almond Emulsion.
   " Take of Sweet Almonds half an ounce ; Gum  Arabic, in powder, half
 a drachm; Sugar two drachms ; Distilled Water eight fluidounces.   Mace-
 rate the Almonds  in  water, and, having removed their external coat, beat
 them  with the Gum  Arabic and  Sugar, in  a  marble  mortar, till they are
 thoroughly mixed ; then rub the mixture with the Distilled Water gradually
 added, and strain." U.S.
   " Take of Almond Confection two ounces and a half;  Distilled Water a
pint [Imperial  measure].   To the  Almond 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.
 measure].  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
 Mistura Acacias." Ed.
   " Take of Sweet Almonds, blanched, an ounce and a half; Bitter Almonds
 two scruples ; Refined Sugar half an ounce ; Water two pints and  a half.
 Triturate the Almonds  with the Sugar,  adding the  Water by degrees, and
 strain." Dub.
  Of  the above modes of preparing the almond emulsion, we prefer that
 of the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which  was very  properly substituted, in  the
 last edition of that work, for the mixtnre made with  almond  confection
 directed in the previous edition.   This  confection  very  speedily spoils if
 kept,  and it would be  a very  unnecessary  complication  of the process  to
 prepare it each time that the emulsion might be wanted.   The London and
first Edinburgh  processes are, therefore,  objectionable.   In the second pro-
cess of the latter College, mucilage is  employed instead of powdered gum
Arabic,  which is preferable, as less likely to  have undergone  change.   The
Dublin process is distinguished by the use of bitter almonds, which, though
in too small proportion for medicinal effect,  impart a flavour  which is not
acceptable to all individuals, and  should be left to  the choice of the  pre-
scriber.    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 
 1030                         Mistura.                       part ii.

 insoluble  ingredients  of the  almonds.   In  the  Mistura Acacias above de-
 scribed it is the prominent ingredient.   The  same formula will answer for
 the preparation of an  emulsion of bitter almonds, which may be  preferred
 to the  present when a slight influence of hydrocyanic acid is desired.
   The oleaginous matter of the almonds is suspended in the water by means
 of their albumen, gum, and sugar, forming a milky emulsion.   When the
 almonds themselves  are employed, as  in  the U.S. process, care should be
 taken to reduce them to the consistence of a paste previously to the addition
 of the water; and with each  successive portion of fluid a uniform mixture
 should be  formed before another portion is added.  Common water, when
 not very impure, may be properly substituted for the distilled.  Great care
 should be  taken  to select the almonds perfectly free  from rancidity.   The
 mixture is not permanent.  Upon standing, the oil  rises like thick cream to
 the surface, and the separation is effected more quickly  by heat, alcohol, and
 the acids, which coagulate  the  albumen.  It has a close analogy to milk in
 chemical  relations as well as  in appearance.   The preparation, in  warm
 weather, soon becomes sour, and unfit for use.
   The almond mixture  has a bland taste, and may be used  as  an agreeable,
 nutritive demulcent in catarrhal and dysenteric  affections,  and irritation of
 the urinary passages.   To be of service it must be freely employed.   From
 two to  eight fluidounces may be taken at once.  It is occasionally employed
 as the  vehicle of less agreeable medicines ; but  should not be used in con-
 nexion with any considerable quantity  of tinctures, acidulous salts, or other
 substances containing an excess of acid.                            W.
   MISTURA ASSAFCETIDA. U.S., Lond.   Mistura Ass^fos-
 tid.2e.  Dub.   Assafetida Mixture,
   " Take of Assafetida two drachms;  Water half a pint.   Rub  the Assa-
 fetida  with the  Water gradually added, until they are  thoroughly mixed."
 U.S.
   The London College directs five drachms of assafetida and apint [Impe-
 rial  measure] of water; the Dublin,  one  drachm  of assafetida and eight
fluidounces of pennyroyal water.
   This mixture, from its whiteness and opacity, is frequently called lac assa-
foetidae, or milk of assafetida.  It is, as a general rule,  the  best form for the
 administration of this antispasmodic, being less stimulant than the tincture,
 and  more prompt  in its  action than  the pill.   Its excessively disagreeable
 smell and taste are, however, objections, which induce  a frequent preference
 of the last-mentioned preparation.    It is very often employed as an enema.
 The dose is from one to two  tablespoonfuls frequently repeated.  From two
 to four fluidounces may be given by the rectum.                     W.

   MISTURA   CAMPHORA  CUM  MAGNESIA. Ed,,  Dub.
 Mixture  of  Camphor with Magnesia.
   " Take of Camphor twelve grains; Carbonate of Magnesia half a drachm;
 Water  six ounces [fluidounces].  Triturate the Camphor with the Magnesia,
 adding the Water gradually, and mix." Dub.
   The Edinburgh College takes ten  grains of camphor, twenty-five grains
 of carbonate of magnesia, and six fluidounces  of  water,  and proceeds as
 above.
   This differs from the Aqua Camphorae of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, in
 which, though the camphor is dissolved by the intervention of magnesia,
 the  latter  is afterwards separated  by filtration.  In  the  above mixture the
 carbonate  of magnesia  is retained;  and an  anodyne,  antacid,  and laxative 
PART II.
Mistura.
1031
draught is  formed, which, though it may sometimes be given with advan-
tage, hardly deserves a place among the officinal preparations.        W.
   MISTURA CASCARILLA  COMPOSITA. Lond.   Compound
Mixture of Cascarilla.
   " Take of Infusion of Cascarilla seventeen fluidounces; Vinegar of Squill
a fluidounce; Compound Tincture  of  Camphor  two fluidounces.  Mix
them." Lond.
   This mixture combines tonic, expectorant, and anodyne properties, and is
said to have been  employed advantageously in chronic  bronchial inflamma-
tion ;   but it  would have been better left to extemporaneous prescription.
The dose is from one to two fluidounces twice or thrice daily.        W.
   MISTURA CREASOTI. Ed.   Creasote Mixture.
   "Take of Creasote  and Acetic Acid, of each,  sixteen minims; Com-
pound  Spirit of Juniper and Syrup, of  each, one fluidounce; Water four-
teen fluidounces. Mix the Creasoie with the Acid, then gradually the Water,
and lastly the Syrup and Spirit."  Ed.
   The dose of this mixture is a fluidounce containing a minim of creasote.
   MISTURA CRETA. U S, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Chalk Mixture.
   " Take of Prepared Chalk half an ounce; Sugar [refined], Gum Arabic
in powder, each, two drachms; Cinnamon Water, Water, each, four fluid-
ounces.  Rub them together till they are thoroughly mixed." U. S.
   The  London  College  orders half an ounce  of prepared  chalk, three
drachms of sugar,  a fluidounce and a  half of mixture (mucilage) of gum
Arabic, and  eighteen fluidounces  of  cinnamon water; the Dublin College,
half an ounce of prepared chalk,  three drachms of refined sugar,  an ounce
of mucilage of gum Arabic, and apint of water.  The Edinburgh College
takes ten drachms of prepared chalk, five drachms of pure sugar, three fluid-
ounces 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.
   This mixture is  a convenient form for administering chalk, and is much
employed in looseness of the bowels accompanied with acidity.  Laudanum
and kino or catechu are very often added to increase its  astringency.  The
dose is a tablespoonful frequently  repeated.                        W.

   MISTURA  FERRI AROMATICA. Dub.   Aromatic Mixture
of Iron.
   "Take of Crown  Bark, in coarse powder, an ounce; Columbo Root,
sliced,  three drachms; Cloves, bruised, two drachms; Iron filings half an
ounce.   Digest for  three  days in  a close vessel, with occasional  agitation,
with such a quantity of  Peppermint Water as will yield a mixture of twelve
ounces after filtration ; then add, of Compound Tincture of Cardamom three
ounces; Tincture of Orange Peel three drachms.'''' Dub.
   This is an aromatic infusion of  Peruvian  bark and columbo, and has not
the slightest claim to the title given it in the Pharmacopoeia ; as it contains
but a very small proportion of iron, and  that in a state of solution, not  of
mixture.  In  consequence of  the action of some of the vegetable principles
upon the filings, enough of the metal is taken up to impart a greenish-black
colour to the liquor; but the quantity is not  appreciable, as the filings seem
to  be scarcely diminished by the process.   The preparation may  be given
as  a tonic in the dose of one or two fluidounces.                    W. 
1032
Mistura.
PART II.
    MISTURA   FERRI  COMPOSITA.  U.S.,  Lond,  Ed., Dub.
 Compound Mixture of Iron.
    "Take of Myrrh, a drachm; Carbonate of Potassa twenty-five grains;
 Rose Water seven fluidounces and a half; Sulphate  of Iron, in powder, a
 scruple;  Spirit of Lavender half a fluidounce; Sugar [refined] a drachm.
 Rub the Myrrh with the Rose Water gradually added; then mix  with these
 the Spirit of Lavender,  Sugar,  and Carbonate of-Potassa, and  lastly,  the
 Sulphate of  Iron.  Pour the mixture immediately into a glass bottle, which
 is  to be well stopped." U. S.
    "Take of Myrrh, in powder,  two drachms;  Carbonate of Potassa a
 drachm; Rose Water eighteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Sulphate of
 Iron, in powder, two scruples and a half;  Spirit  of Nutmeg a fluidounce;
 Sugar two drachms.   Rub the Myrrh with  the Spirit of Nutmeg and Carbo-
 nate of Potassa; and to these, while rubbing, add  first  the Rose Water with
 the Sugar, and then the Sulphate of Iron.   Put the mixture immediately into
 a suitable glass vessel, and stop it." Lond.
    The Edinburgh process differs from the  London only in using the myrrh
 bruised, and  the sulphate of iron  in coarse powder.  The Dublin College
 takes a drachm of myrrh, twenty-five grains of carbonate of potassa, seven
 ounces and  a half  of rose-water, a scruple of sulphate  of iron, half  an
 ounce of spirit of nutmeg, and a drachm of refined sugar; and proceeds as
 directed by the London College.
    This is very nearly the same with the celebrated tonic or antihectic myrrh
 mixture of Dr. Griffith. The sulphate of iron is decomposed by the carbonate
 of potassa, with the  production of  sulphate of potassa  and carbonate of pro-
 toxide of iron ;  while the excess of the alkaline carbonate forms a saponaceous
 compound with the myrrh. The mixture is at first of a greenish colour, which
 it loses upon exposure to the air, in  consequence of the conversion of the'pro-
 toxide of iron of the carbonate into  the red or sesquioxide. It may, 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 it is wanted  for
 use. The sugar contained  in it probably  contributes somewhat to retard
 the further oxidation of the  protoxide of iron, and if considerably increased
 in  amount would act still more efficiently.   The  finest pieces of myrrh  in
 lump should  be selected, and rubbed down for the occasion with a little of the
 rose water;  as the powdered myrrh of the  shops  is often impure, and does
 not make a good mixture.
   This mixture is a  good tonic in debility of the digestive organs, especially
 when attended with  derangement  of the menstrual function.   Hence it is
 used with  advantage in chlorosis and hysterical affections,  It is also much
 employed in  the hectic fever of phthisis and chronic catarrh.   It is contra-
 indicated by  the existence of inflammation of the gastric mucous membrane.
 The dose is one or two fluidounces two or three times  a day.        W.

   MISTURA   GENTIANA  COMPOSITA. Lond.   Compound
 Mixture 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.
   We can discover no propriety in making such formulas as the  above offi-
 cinal.   Numerous combinations prescribed every day by physicians are quite
 as much entitled to a place  in the Pharmacopoeia.   The  dose is one or two
 fluidounces.                                                     W. 
PART II.
Mistura.—Morphia.
1033
   MISTURA GUAIACI. Lond, Ed.   Guaiac Mixture.
   "Take of Guaiacum Resin three drachms;  Sugar half an ounce; Mix-
 ture of Gum Arabic half a fluidounce ; Cinnamon Water nineteen fluid-
 ounces.  Rub the Guaiacum Resin with the Sugar, then with the Mixture
 of Gum  Arabic, and to these, while  rubbing, add gradually the  Cinnamon
 Water." Lond.
   The Edinburgh process differs only in using  an additional  half fluid-
 ounce of cinnamon water.
   From one to three tablespoonfuls of this  mixture may be given  for a dose,
 and repeated two or three times a day, or more frequently.          W.
   MISTURA MOSCHI. Lond.   Musk Mixture.
   "Take of Musk, Gum  Arabic  in powder, Sugar, each, three drachms;
 Rose Water a pint [Imperial measure].   Rub the Musk with the Sugar,
 then with the Gum, adding gradually the Rose Water." Lond.
   The musk should be thoroughly rubbed with the gum  and  sugar before
 the addition of the water.   The  mixture will  be  more  permanent if made
 with twice the quantity of  gum directed.  The dose is a fluidounce. W.
   MISTURA SCAMMONII. Ed.  Scammony Mixture.
   "Take of Resin  of Scammony seven grains; unskimmed Milk three
fluidounces.  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 Mix-
 ture.
   "Take of Brandy, Cinnamon Water, each, four fluidounces ; the yolks of
 two Eggs; Sugar [refined] half an ounce; Oil of Cinnamon  two minims.
 Mix them." Lond.
   A stimulant and nutritive draught, applicable to the sinking  stage of  low
 forms of fever, but scarcely entitled to a place in the Pharmacopoeia. W.


                          MORPHIA.

                   Preparations of Morphia.

   MORPHIA.  U.S., Lond.   Morphia.
   " Take of Opium, sliced, a  pound; Distilled  Water, Alcohol, each, a
 sufficient quantity;  Solution of Ammonia six fluidounces.   Macerate  the
 Opium with four pints of Distilled Water  for twenty-four hours, and, hav-
 ing worked it with the hand, digest for twenty-four hours  and strain.  In
 like manner, macerate  the  residue twice successively with Distilled Water,
 and strain.  Mix  the infusions, evaporate to six pints, and filter;  then  add
 first five pints of Alcohol, and afterwards three fluidounces of  the Solution
 of Ammonia, previously mixed with half a pint of Alcohol.  After twenty-
 four  hours, pour in the remainder of the Solution of Ammonia,  mixed, as
 before,  with half a pint of Alcohol; and set the liquor aside for twenty-four
 hours, that crystals may form.   To purify  these, boil them with two pints
 of Alcohol  till they are  dissolved, filler the solution,  while  hot,  through
 Animal Charcoal, and set it aside to crystallize." U. S.
    88 
1034
Morphia.
PART II.
  "Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Morphia an  ounce; Solution  of
Ammonia five fluidrachms ; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. To
the Solution of Ammonia, with an ounce of Distilled Water, add the Hydro-
chlorate of Morphia previously dissolved in a pint of the Water, shaking
them together.   Wash the precipitate with distilled water, and dry it with a
gentle heat." Lond.
  The London process consists in a simple decomposition of the muriate  of
morphia by means of ammonia, which takes the  muriatic acid and remains
in solution as  muriate of ammonia, while the morphia, being  insoluble, is
deposited.   The  process  of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia  will  be  better  under-
stood 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.  It is insoluble
or nearly so in  cold water, soluble in rather less than 100 parts of water at
212°, slightly soluble in cold alcohol, and freely so in boiling alcohol, which
deposits it upon cooling.   It is dissolved  also by  the fixed  and volatile oils,
but very slightly if at all by ether.  Its  solution  restores the blue colour  of
litmus paper reddened by acids, and turns the yellow of turmeric to brown.
With the acids it  forms salts, which are  generally soluble, and are decom-
posed by the alkalies.   The solutions of potassa  and  soda are also capable
of dissolving morphia, which is precipitated slowly on exposure  to the air,
in consequence of the 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.   Mor-
phia and its salts,  by the  contact of nitric acid, assume a blood-red colour,
which 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 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 decom-
posed by an  alkali.  Water, acids, and alkalies, added  in large quantity  to
the blue compound formed, destroy its colour.  According to Pelletier, how-
ever, there occasionally exists in opium a principle which he called pseudomor-
phia, 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 con-
taining  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 ingredients of mor-
phia is somewhat  differently given by different writers.  According to  the
most recent authorities, anhydrous  morphia consists of one equiv. of nitro-
gen 14, thirty-five of carbon 210, twenty of  hydrogen 20, and six of oxygen 
PART II.
Morphia.
1035
 48, =292, to which in the crystals are added two eqs. of water 18, or about
 5*8 per cent.
   Various processes for preparing morphia have  been employed.   In most
 of them the morphia  is extracted  from opium by  maceration  with water
 either pure or acidulated, is then precipitated  by ammonia, and afterwards
 purified  by the  agency of alcohol,  or  by repeated solution in a dilute acid
 and precipitation.   According to another plan, the morphia is removed from
 the infusion of opium by means of  double decomposition, and obtained first
 in the form of a muriate, from which the alkali is separated by solution and
 precipitation.   The former  of these  modes  of proceeding will be  noticed
 here, the latter under the head of muriate of  morphia.
   Sertiirner, the discoverer of morphia, made  an infusion of  opium in dis-
 tilled water, precipitated the morphia  by ammonia in  excess, dissolved the
 precipitate in dilute sulphuric acid, precipitated anew by ammonia,  and puri-
 fied by solution in boiling alcohol, and crystallization.
   The process  adopted in the French Codex is  a  modification of that of
 Sertiirner.  It is as follows.   " Take of opium 1000 parts, solution of am-
 monia a sufficient quantity.   Exhaust the opium, by means of cold water,
 of all its parts soluble  in this menstruum.  For this  purpose,  it is  sufficient
 to treat the opium, four times consecutively, with ten  parts of water to one
 of the drug, provided  care be taken to macerate the  opium for some hours,
 and to work it with the hands.  Filter the liquors, and evaporate  them to a
 quarter of their volume.  Then add sufficient ammonia to  render the liquor
 very  sensibly alkaline.  Boil for some minutes, always maintaining  a slight
 excess of  ammonia.   Upon  cooling,  the  morphia,  impure and much co-
 loured, 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  refrige-
 rator."
  The process  of  the  U. S.  Pharmacopoeia is an improvement upon the
 above, and is essentially the same  with that of  Dr. Edward  Staples, pub-
 lished in  the Journal of the  Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Vol. I. p.
 15.   Without repeating a description  of the process, we shall  make  such
 remarks  upon its several steps, as  appear to us likely to be of practical ad-
 vantage.    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 Vogel  states that the  product  thus obtained is much
 greater than when  water  alone is used.   But when the opium  is  properly
 comminuted, either by being reduced to a coarse  powder when  dry, or by
 being finely sliced, in   its ordinary state, water alone will be found suffi-
 ciently to extract the morphia, by a protracted maceration or digestion in
 successive  portions of  water, assisted by kneading, as directed in the Phar-
 macopoeia.  The acids  have  this disadvantage, that they dissolve more of
 the narcotina than  pure water, and thus render the  ultimate  product more
 impure;  for the narcotina which is originally taken up continues associated
 with the  morphia in all the   subsequent steps of  the  process.  It  has  been
proposed to expose the opium  to  fermentation with  water  and  yeast,  in
order  to facilitate the extraction of the morphia.   By this plan  M. Blondeau 
1036
Morphia.
PART II.
succeeded in procuring  more of the alkaline  principle than he could obtain
by the ordinary mode;  and his results were confirmed by the experiments
of MM. Robiquet and  Guibourt.   According  to these latter chemists, no
alcohol is 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 solvent power of the menstruum.  Alco-
hol was proposed as the solvent by M. Guillermond, but is liable to the
objection  that it dissolves also the  resin, a portion  of which is afterwards
precipitated with  the  morphia and  embarrasses the  process.  Much of the
resin, however, may be separated by distilling  most  of the alcohol from the
tincture, and then  adding water.  The  resin is precipitated, and the liquor
may now be treated in the  same manner as the aqueous infusion.  On the
whole, however, the officinal mode of extraction will  probably be found  most
satisfactory; and Mohr states that opium thus exhausted yields no more  mor-
phia even to muriatic acid;  but he recommends that  each maceration should
be followed by strong expression.   The  solution of  opium having been pre-
pared, 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 vegetable alkali;  but much colouring matter is
thrown down along with the latter, occasioning some trouble to separate it,
unless measures  are taken  to obviate  this effect.   The object is gained by
mixing the infusion with alcohol, previously to the addition of the ammonia,
and by employing the solution of ammonia itself in connexion with alcohol,
as directed in the Pharmacopoeia.   This  is the  peculiarity and chief merit of
the process  of Dr. Staples.   By the presence of  the alcohol in all parts of
the liquor, the colouring matter is dissolved as  soon  as it is 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  circumstances, of dissolving the morphia
in some degree, and will therefore lessen  the product, while waste is incurred
by  its own unnecessary consumption.   Very little  more should  be  added
than is sufficient to saturate the acid present.  The solution of  ammonia of
the shops is often much below the officinal standard,  and this  should always
be attended to in  the process.   Alcohol is mixed with the ammonia before it
is added, in order that every particle of the separated morphia may come in
contact with the particles of this fluid, and thus  have the opportunity of being
deprived of colouring matter.  The crystals of  morphia obtained by this first
operation have a light yellowish colour, and are  much purer  than when no
alcohol is added to the  infusion before the precipitation by ammonia.   Ac-
cording to Dr. Staples,  opium yields from 10 to 12| per cent, of these  crys-
tals.   Their purification by solution in boiling  alcohol, is  the concluding
step of the operation.   The liquid, on  cooling, deposits the morphia in a
crystalline  state  and nearly free from   colour.  As cold  alcohol  retains a
portion of the morphia in  solution, it should  not be employed in  too  large
a  quantity.   Alcohol  somewhat  reduced  by water, is preferable to the
highly rectified spirit; as it is less  capable of holding the morphia in  solu-
tion when  cold.   It  is  sufficiently strong  for the  purpose  at  25° Baume
(sp. gr. 0*9032).  The  impure  morphia remaining in the alcohol may be
obtained by distilling off the  latter, and when sufficiently accumulated may
be purified by a separate operation.  The crystals of morphia  may also be
purified by solution in dilute sulphuric  acid, digestion with animal charcoal 
PART II.
Morphia.
1037
deprived of earthy matter, filtration,  and precipitation by ammonia.   If
alcohol be  added to the solution  previously to  the  ammonia,  the digestion
with animal  charcoal  may be  dispensed with, as the alcohol  retains the
colouring matter.  Morphia procured in this way always contains narcotina,
from which it may be freed by  ether, as directed in the French Codex pro-
cess, or in  some of the modes hereafter to be indicated.
   Magnesia was employed by Robiquet, instead of ammonia.  To the solu-
tion obtained by macerating opium in water, he  added magnesia  in the pro-
portion of  5  parts to 100 of the opium used; collected the precipitate on a
filter;  and, having washed it with water and allowed it to dry,  removed it
from the filter,  powdered  it, and digested it repeatedly in alcohol of 22°
Baume, until this liquid ceased  to extract any thing.   The colouring  matter
being  thus removed, the  residue was treated with  successive portions  of
boiling alcohol, which dissolved the morphia, and, being filtered and allowed
to cool, deposited it in crystals.  The mother liquors afforded a fresh sup-
ply by evaporation  at  a low temperature.  If  still  coloured,  the morphia
was purified by boiling it with alcohol and animal  charcoal, filtering the
liquid  while hot, and allowing it to crystallize.  But the process of Robiquet
was soon  abandoned,  as it was found  to occupy more  time, to require  a
greater consumption of alcohol, and to be attended with  a greater loss  of
morphia  in consequence  of the  previous washing, than the  processes in
which  ammonia was employed  as the precipitant.
   A process for extracting morphia without the employment of alcohol was
devised by MM. Henry, Jun.,  and  Plisson.  The opium  was  exhausted by
water  acidulated with muriatic  acid; the resulting solution was  sufficiently
concentrated, then  filtered, and decomposed by ammonia; the  precipitate
was washed and treated with muriatic acid to saturation ; and the muriatic
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 repeated  solution and crystallization, and finally
decomposed by ammonia. (Journ. de Chim. Med.,  Mars,  1828.)
   More recently, Mohr has proposed a process founded upon the solubility
of morphia in water mixed with lime, which he recommends  highly as the
shortest and easiest method of procuring the alkali, without the use of  alco-
hol, and  without the  possibility of contamination from narcotina.  Opium
is three or four times successively macerated with three parts of water, and
each time strongly expressed.   The liquors are then  added to a  boiling hot
milk of lime, containing a quantity of lime equal to about a sixth or a quarter
of the  opium used ; and the mixture is boiled for a few  minutes.   It is then
strained through linen, and  the residue washed with  boiling wateT and ex-
pressed.  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  about double the weight of the opium, then quickly filtered
through paper, and heated to ebullition.   Muriate of ammonia  is  now added
to it in the  proportion of 1  part to 16 of the opium used ; and the morphia
is abundantly precipitated.   The  use of animal  charcoal  is unnecessary in
the process, as the hme acts even  more powerfully as a decolorizing agent.
The crystallized  morphia obtained  is  somewhat coloured, but may be ren-
dered quite pure by solution in dilute muriatic acid, boiling with milk of lime,
filtration, and precipitation  by muriate  of ammonia.  (Annal. der Pharm.,
xxxv.  119,  and Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 60.)
   Various other processes, or modifications of those  above described,  have
been proposed; but for the preparation of small quantities of morphia by the
apothecary, none are probably  better adapted than  that of the U. S  Phar
                                 88* 
1038
Morphia.
PART II.
macopceia, unless indeed  the  plan  of  Mohr should be found  to equal the
representations in its favour.
  It has been already stated that  morphia, obtained in the ordinary manner,
contains a considerable proportion of  narcotina.   It is highly  probable that
this  ingredient exercises  no influence, either beneficial or injurious, upon
the operation of the morphia ; but as the contrary has been supposed, various
methods have been employed for separating it.  The simplest and easiest
is to submit the mixture to the action of sulphuric ether, which  dissolves the
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  may be
recovered  from the acetic solution by saturating the acid  with ammonia.
Another mode is to dissolve  the mixed bases in  strong acetic acid (of 7°
Baume, or sp. gr. 1*0511, for example),  and expose  the solution  to  heat.
The narcotina is deposited, and the morphia, remaining in  solution,  may be
precipitated by diluting  the liquid and adding  ammonia.   (See Journ. de
Pharm., xvii.  p. 640.)   Witlstock advises one of the following methods.
Dissolve the impure morphia in  dilute muriatic acid, evaporate to the point
of crystallization, and strongly express the crystals, which  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 dis-
solve the  morphia  at the  moment of  its  separation, while  the narcotina is
precipitated; then immediately filter the liquor, and separate the morphia by
neutralizing the alkali.  If the potassa  be in considerable excess a small por-
tion of the narcotina is redissolved.  (Berzelius, Traite de Chimie.)  Mohr
recommends to dissolve the morphia in dilute muriatic acid, and to  boil the
solution with lime, which throws down the narcotina  and holds the morphia
dissolved.   The liquid being filtered yields the morphia upon the addition of
sal ammojiiac.  (Annul, der Pharm., xxv,  123.)
  The proportion of pure  morphia which Turkey opium is capable of afford-
ing, varies from nine per cent, or less,  to fourteen per cent.,  according to the
quality of the drug; but much less than the least quantity mentioned is often
obtained, in consequence of the  incomplete exhaustion of the opium, or the
loss in the process for preparing  it.
  Medical Properties.  There can be no doubt that morphia is the chief,
if not the exclusive narcotic  principle of opium, from which, however, it
differs somewhat in its mode of action.  Whether the difference arises from
the peculiar state of combination  in which morphia exists in opium,  or from
other narcotic principles being associated  with it,  has not been determined;
but the former would seem to be the probable  cause, from the  circumstance
that, long  before the discovery  of this alkali, preparations of opium were
habitually used, in  which  the properties of the medicine  were somewhat
similarly modified by the agency of vinegar, lemon-juice, or other vegetable
acid.   In  consequence of  its  insolubility in water, morphia in  its pure state
is less certain in its effects than some of its saline  compounds; as the mode
and degree of its action must, in some measure, depend on the presence or
absence of acid in the 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 
PART II.
Morphia.
1039
diaphoretic properties  of  opium ;  but  are  less stimulant,  less disposed to
constipate the bowels, and less apt to  leave behind them headache, nausea,
or other unpleasant effect.  They are  usually also more acceptable to the
irritated stomach, and will often be  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 as stimulants in low forms of disease.  We have found them
especially useful in the mania arising from intemperance.   A great advantage
which they possess  is the convenience of  their  external  application to
blistered surfaces, and  the certainty of  their effects  when thus  applied.  In
cases which do not admit of  the internal use of opium or its preparations,
the acetate or  sulphate of morphia, sprinkled, in triple the ordinary dose,
upon a blistered  surface denuded  of the cuticle, will  be found to exercise
upon the system all the influence it is  capable of exerting when  taken into
the stomach.   Applied in this manner, these salts  are peculiarly useful in
relieving violent  neuralgic pains, and  controlling obstinate sickness  of the
stomach.   When intended to act on the system through  the medium of the
skin, they should be  applied preferably to the epigastrium ;  when to act
locally, as near the affected part as possible.  When given  in doses nearly, but
not quite sufficient to produce sleep, they sometimes give rise to a very trouble-
some condition of the  brain, amounting almost to delirium ; but this always
subsides spontaneously, or vanishes immediately upon the increase  of the
dose.
   In over-doses, morphia and its salts produce  the symptoms of narcotic
poisons, though not perhaps in the same degree with a  quantity of opium,
equivalent  in anodyne effect.  The toxicological treatment is  precisely the
same as in the case of laudanum. (See Opium.)
   As the proportion  of acid necessary to  neutralize morphia is very small,
the dose of the alkali is the same as that of its salts.   One-sixth  of a grain
may be considered equivalent to a grain of  opium of the medium strength.
   Off.Prep. Morphias Acetas, U.S., Lond., Ed.;  Morphias Murias, U.S.;
Morphias Sulphas, U.  S.                                           W.
   MORPHIA ACETAS.  U.S., Lond., Ed.   Acetate of Morphia.
   "  Take  of  Morphia,  in powder, freed from  narcotina by  boiling  with
Sulphuric Ether, an ounce; Distilled Water half apint;  Acetic Acid a suffi-
cient 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 powder."
U.S.
   "Take  of Morphia six drachms;  Acetic Acid  three fluidrachms;  Dis-
tilled Water four fluidounces.   Mix the Acid with the Water, and pour the
mixture upon  the Morphia to saturation.   Evaporate the  solution with  a
gentle heat, so that crystals may form." Lond.
   "  Take of Muriate of Morphia any convenient quantity.   Dissolve it in
fourteen times its weight  of warm Water,  and when the solution is cool add
Aqua Ammonias gradually and with constant agitation until there is a perma-
nent 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.
Concentrate the solution over the vapour-bath  and set it aside to  crystallize: 
1040
Morphia.
PART II.
Drain and squeeze  the crystals, and dry them  with a gentle  heat.  More
Acetate of Morphia may be obtained on concentrating the  mother liquor."
Ed.
  In  all these processes, morphia is saturated with acetic acid ;  in the first
two it is taken already prepared, in the last it is  procured  by the decomposi-
tion of the muriate by means of ammonia.   Acetic  acid  is employed in
preference to vinegar for saturating the morphia,  because  it can leave  no
impurity in the resulting salt.   The solution of  the  morphia in the water is
an 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 requisite
not to employ too great a heat in the evaporation, as the acetate is  readily de-
composed, a portion  of the acetic acid escaping, and leaving  an  equivalent
portion of uncombined morphia.  With attention to arrest the evaporation at
a certain point, the acetate may be obtained in the state of crystals; but the
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, previously to the addition
of the acetic acid.   A less heat is thus required in  the evaporation, and im-
purities in the morphia may often be detected, as they are  apt to be insoluble
in alcohol.   To ascertain, in this case, whether  the morphia is saturated, it
is necessary to employ litmus paper, the blue colour of which should not be
restored, if previously reddened by an acid.   If the morphia  used in 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 the  application  of heat.  Under these  circumstances it
dissolves only the morphia,  leaving the narcotina nearly or quite untouched.
(See  notice by William  Hodgson, Jun., in the Journ. of the  Phil. Col. of
Pharm., vol. v. p. 35.)
  Acetate of morphia crystallizes in the form of slender needles united in
fasciculi.  It is readily dissolved by water, and  less easily  by alcohol.  As
ordinarily obtained, however, by evaporation to dryness, it is not entirely
soluble in water, a  portion  of it being uncombined morphia.   To render it
soluble, all that is necessary is to add a little distilled vinegar.
  The Edinburgh College gives  the following  mode  of  testing  its purity:
" One hundred measures of a solution of ten grains in half a fluidounce of
water and five minims of acetic  acid, heated near to 212°,  and decomposed
by a faint excess of  ammonia, yield by agitation a precipitate which in  24
hours occupies 15*5 measures of  the liquid."
  From an eighth  to a quarter of a grain may be given for a  dose, and  re-
peated, if necessary, in order to obtain the anodyne and soporific effect of the
medicine.  One-sixth of a  grain is about equivalent  to  a  grain  of opium.
It may be given  in  pill or solution.  It is  frequently employed  externally,
sprinkled on blistered surfaces, to obtain its  effects upon the system.  W.
  MORPHIA  MURIAS. U.S., Ed.    Morphije  Hydrochloras.
Lond.   Muriate of Morphia.   Hydrochlorate of  Morphia.
  " Take of Morphia, in powder, an ounce; Distilled Water half a pint;
Muriatic Acid a sufficient quantity.  Mix the Morphia with the Water; then
carefully drop in the  Acid, constantly stirring, till the  Morphia is saturated
and dissolved.  Evaporate the solution by means of a  water-bath so  that it
may crystallize upon  cooling.  Dry the crystals  upon bibulous paper." U.S.
  "Take of Opium, sliced, a pound; Crystals of Chloride  of Lead two
ounces, or a sufficient  quantity; Purified  Animal Charcoal  three ounces
and a  half; Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid, Distilled Water, Solution of 
 part ii.                       Morphia.                          1041

 Ammonia,  each, a  sufficient quantity.  Macerate  the Opium, for thirty
 hours, in four pints  [Imperial  measure] of Distilled Water, and  bruise it;
 then digest it for twenty hours, and press it.  Macerate the residue a second
 and a third time in Water, so that it may be deprived  of taste, and as often
 bruise and press it.   Mix the liquors, and evaporate  them  with a heat  of
 140°  to  the consistence of syrup.  Then add three pints of Distilled Water,
 and, when all the dregs have subsided, pour off the supernatant liquor.  To
 this add gradually two ounces of Chloride of Lead, or a sufficient quantity,
 previously dissolved  in  four pints of boiling Distilled Water, until  nothing
 more  is  thrown down.  Pour off the liquor, and wash the residue frequently
 with Distilled Water.  Then evaporate the mixed liquors, as before, with a
 gentle heat, and set them aside to crystallize.   Press  the crystals in a linen
 cloth, then dissolve them in a pint of Distilled Water, and, having digested
 with an  ounce and a half of Animal  Charcoal, at 120°, filter the solution.
 Finally,  having  washed  the charcoal, cautiously evaporate the liquors,  in
 order to obtain pure  crystals.   To the liquor, poured off from the crystals
 first  separated, add  a pint  of Water, and gradually  drop in,  occasionally
 shaking, sufficient Solution of Ammonia to precipitate all the Morphia.  To
 this, washed  with Distilled  Water, add Hydrochloric Acid so as to saturate
 it; then  digest with  two ounces of  Animal Charcoal, and filter.   Lastly,
 having thoroughly washed the Charcoal, cautiously evaporate the liquors, so
 as to obtain pure crystals." Lond.
   " Take of Opium twenty ounces; Water eight pints  [Imperial measure] ;
 Muriate  of Lime [chloride of calcium] one ounce, or a slight excess. Mace-
 rate 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  successively with two pints more of the Water till the whole  is
 made use of.   Concentrate  the whole infusions  over the vapour-bath to one
 pint, and add the Muriate of Lime dissolved in four fluidounces of  Water.
 Set the whole  aside to settle; pour off the liquid; wash the sediment with
 a  little water, adding  the washings to the liquid.   Evaporate the liquid suffi-
 ciently 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
 repeated  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 resinous fluid  obtained by expression, on merely allowing it to
 remain at rest for a few months, when a little muriate of morphia may be
 deposited in an impure condition.
   "The  opium wbich yields the largest quantity of precipitate by carbonate
of soda, according to  the formula  [given in page 518],  yields  muriate of
morphia not only in greatest proportion, but likewise with the fewest crys-
tallizations." Ed.
  In relation to the process of the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia, the remarks made
upon the preparation of the sulphate of morphia are equally applicable here. 
1042
Morphia.
PART II.
(See Morphiae Sulphas.)  The London and Edinburgh processes are based
upon the plan, originally suggested by Wittstock, of obtaining the muriate of
morphia immediately from opium without the use of alcohol.   The Edin-
burgh  process is that of Dr. Wm.  Gregory, which was an improvement
upon Wittstock's.  The London is a modification, but scarcely an improve-
ment of Gregory's.  In both processes, the meconate and a small proportion
of sulphate of morphia extracted by water from opium are decomposed; in
the Edinburgh, by chloride of calcium, yielding muriate of morphia  in solu-
tion, and meconate and sulphate of lime as precipitates ; in the London, by
chloride of lead yielding muriate of morphia as in the former case in solution,
but meconate and sulphate of lead as precipitates.  The remaining steps of the
operation consist in obtaining the muriate of  morphia from the solution by
evaporation and  crystallization, and  in freeing it from colouring impurities.
For the latter purpose the Edinburgh College  directs  the alternate  addition
of  marble and muriatic acid, and repeated solution, concentration, and crys-
tallization; advising,  when the process is conducted upon a small scale, the
use of animal charcoal after two crystallizations.  The London College spares
the trouble of these repeated operations, and contents itself with the decolor-
izing influence of the animal charcoal.  The  Edinburgh  College prevents
waste by operating upon all the expressed liquids except that separated by the
first expression, in the same manner as upon the original infusion of opium
after concentration and the addition of muriate of lime;  the London,  by pre-
cipitating the mother  liquors with ammonia, saturating the precipitated mor-
phia with  muriatic acid, and  decolorizing  with  animal charcoal.   Points
deserving of particular notice in these processes are, to obtain the  original
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
or of lead before  instead of after the concentration, as, according to Christison,
a larger and  purer product  is obtained, in the former way, with fewer crys-
tallizations.  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 labora-
tory of the  manufacturing  chemist, than for  the smaller operations of the
apothecary, who will probably find the U. S.  process more convenient.
   The muriate  of morphia procured by the  processes of the British  Col-
leges always contains  a  portion of muriate  of codeia, which, however, is
scarcely sufficient to affect its  operation upon the system.  Dr. Christison
found  the proportion  to vary between a 60th  in  the muriate prepared from
good  Turkey  opium, a 30th  in that from  inferior  samples of the same
variety, and  a  12th in that  from the East  Indian.   This impurity may be
separated by precipitating the morphia from a solution of the salt by means
of ammonia; the codeia being left in solution.   The salt is quite free from
narcotina.
   Dr. A. T. Thomson has  published  a process  for  procuring muriate  of
morphia which  he has found considerably more productive than that of the
British Colleges.  After macerating the opium in  water as directed by the
Colleges  for thirty hours, and  expressing, he  rubs  it in a mortar with  an
equal  weight of pure white sand, and  enough  water  to  form the  mixture
into a paste, which he  places in a percolator, and subjects  to the  action of
distilled water  till the fluid passes without  colour and taste.   He then con-
centrates the liquors to  the consistence of a thin syrup, adds  diacetate of
lead, dilutes the solution with  twice its bulk of distilled water, allows it to
stand  for twenty-four hours, decants the supernatant liquid, washes the pre-
cipitate with warm water, adds the washings  to the decanted  solution, and 
PART II.
Morphia.
1043
concentrates to one-half.   To free the liquid  from any remaining  acetate of
lead he adds diluted  sulphuric acid in slight excess, decants the liquid from
the precipitate, washes the latter, adds  the washings to the  solution, and
boils for some minutes to drive  off acetic acid.  To convert the sulphate of
morphia now contained  in  the  solution  into  muriate, he adds  a saturated
solution of chloride  of barium,  washes the precipitate, evaporates the con-
joined washings  and solution  to the point of  crystallization,  presses the
crystals, dilutes and again evaporates the mother liquor so long  as it affords
crystals, and finally purifies the crystalline product by means of animal char-
coal,  and  by  repeated solution, evaporation,  and crystallization. (Pharm.
Journ. and Trans.,  i. 459.)
   Muriate of  morphia crystallizes in tufts of feathery acicular crystals.  It
is white, inodorous, bitter, soluble in 16 parts of water at  60°, and in its own
weight  at  212°, and soluble also in alcohol.   A saturated solution in boiling
water forms  a solid crystalline mass on cooling.  The crystals are said to
consist  of one equivalent of morphia 292, one  of muriatic  acid 36*42, and
six of water 54.  Dr. Christison states that he constantly found the crystals,
when dried at 150°,  to contain  12*7 per cent, of water; and the Edinburgh
College states, that the loss of weight at  212°  is not above 13  per cent.
The salt may  be known  to be a muriate by the  test of nitrate of silver, and
to contain morphia by tests for  that alkali.
   This preparation  of morphia is much used in Great Britain, but, in this
country, less than either the sulphate or acetate.   The dose of it, equivalent
to a grain  of  opium, is about one-sixth of a grain.
   Off. Prep.   Morphia, Lond.; Morphias Acetas, Ed.;  Morphias Muriatis
Solutio, Ed.;  Trochisci  Morphias, Ed.; Trochisci  Morphias  et Ipecacu-
anhas, Ed.                                                        W.

   MORPHIA  MURIATIS SOLUTIO. Ed.  Solution of Muriate
of Morphia.
   " Take  of Muriate of Morphia one drachm and a  half; Rectified  Spirit
five fluidounces ; Distilled Water fifteen fluidounces.  Mix the Spirit and
Water, and dissolve the Muriate of Morphia in the mixture with the aid of a
gentle heat."  Ed.
   The use of the alcohol is to prevent  spontaneous decomposition.   The
solution was intended to have the strength of  laudanum.   Eighteen minims
contain  about one-sixth of a grain of the muriate, equivalent to about a grain
of opium.                                                         W.
   MORPHIA  SULPHAS. U. S.   Sulphate of Morphia,
   "Take  of  Morphia, in powder, an ounce; Distilled Water half apint;
Diluted Sulphuric Acid a sufficient quantity.   Mix  the Morphia with the
Water,  then carefully drop in the Acid,  constantly stirring till the Morphia
is saturated and dissolved.  Evaporate the solution by means of a water-bath,
so  that  it  may crystallize upon cooling.  Dry  the crystals upon bibulous
paper." U. S.
   In this  process the morphia is known to be saturated when it is wholly
dissolved by the water.  To ascertain whether the acid  is added in excess,
litmus paper may be resorted to.  If the morphia employed contain  narco-
tina, this will remain in the mother liquor, and will not contaminate the pro-
duct.   The mother liquor remaining after the  first crystallization may be
evaporated so as to obtain a fresh supply  of the sulphate; but if the morphia
was not originally quite pure, the second  product will  contain the impurities,
and should not be used  till it  has  undergone farther preparation.  When
impure morphia is employed, the mother liquor should be mixed with alcohol, 
1044
Morphia.—Mucilagines.
PART II.
 or boiled with washed animal charcoal and filtered, and then decomposed by
 ammonia, which will precipitate the morphia.  This may then be converted
 into the sulphate in the manner directed by the Pharmacopoeia.
   Another mode of obtaining sulphate of morphia, is to dissolve the alkali in
 boiling  alcohol of 36° Baume (sp. gr. 0*8428), saturate it  while  hot with
 sulphuric-acid, add animal charcoal previously washed with muriatic acid,
 boil for a few minutes and filter  the solution, while at the boiling tempera-
 ture.  Upon cooling, it  deposits most of the  sulphate; and the remainder
 may be  obtained by evaporating the mother liquor.
   Sulphate of morphia  crystallizes in beautifully white,  minute,  feathery
 crystals, which  are soluble in cold water, and  in twice their weight of boil-
 ing water.  They contain, according to Liebig, in 100 parts, 14-29 of water,
 10*33 of sulphuric acid, and 75*38 of morphia.   By exposure to a heat of
 248° F. they lose 9-66  parts of the water,  but cannot be  deprived  of the
 remainder without decomposition.  Their equivalent composition  is  stated
 to be one equivalent of morphia 292, one of  sulphuric acid  40*1, and  six of
 water 54, of which five are water of crystallization, and may be expelled by
 heat.  The tests for it are those for sulphuric acid and for morphia.
   The dose of sulphate of morphia is from an eighth to a quarter of a  grain,
 which may be given in pill or solution.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Morphias Sulphatis, U.  S.                     W.
   LIQUOR MORPHIA SULPHATIS. U S.  Solution  of Sul-
phate of Morphia.
   "Take of Sulphate of Morphia eight grains; Distilled Water half a pint.
 Dissolve the Sulphate of Morphia in the  Water."  U. S.
   Sulphate of morphia, as found  in the shops,  is not always entirely soluble
 in water.   This sometimes, perhaps,  arises  from adulterations; but  more
 frequently,  in all probability, from the mode in which  the  sulphate is pre-
 pared.   In the preparation of this salt, the quantity of  water employed for
 the suspension of the morphia is sometimes insufficient to hold the resulting
 sulphate in solution; and the consequence is  that, upon the addition of sul-
 phuric acid, the crystallization of the sulphate  takes place before the whole
 of the morphia has been  saturated by the acid.  A  portion of uncombined
 morphia is  therefore necessarily mixed with  the  salt; and  this is probably
 the cause of the incomplete solubility of  the sulphate of morphia alluded to.
 This explanation is rendered still more  probable by the fact, that the addition
 of a little sulphuric acid  usually remedies the defect and renders the whole
 soluble.   Pure sulphate of morphia is readily and entirely soluble  in water.
  This solution is very convenient, by enabling the physician to prescribe a
 minute dose, which, in consequence of the great energy of the preparations
 of morphia, is very often  necessary.   It  has the advantage that it may be
 kept for a very considerable length of time unchanged.   The full dose  for an
 adult is from one to two fluidrachms, containing from an eighth to a quarter
 of a grain of the sulphate.                                         W.


                        MUCILAGINES.

                             Mucilages.

  Mucilage, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and in the sense in which
 it is employed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, is  an aqueous solution of gum or
 of substances closely allied to it.  As used by  the British Colleges it appears 
PART II.
Mucilagines.
1045
 to signify any bland, viscid, aqueous, vegetable solution, resembling that of
 gum in sensible properties.                                       W.

   MUCILAGO  ACACIA.  U.S.    Mucilago.  Ed.   Mucilago
 Gummi Arabici. Dub.   Mistura  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.
   The London College takes ten ounces of powdered gum  Arabic, and a
 pint [Imperial measure]  of boiling  water, and proceeds as above.   The
 Edinburgh College directs nine ounces of gum Arabic to be dissolved in
 apint [Imp. meas.]  of cold water, without heat, but  with occasional  stir-
 ring, and then to be strained through linen or calico.   The Dublin College
 takes four ounces  of  the  gum, in  coarse powder, and four fiuidounces of
 warm  water, digests  the ingredients  with frequent  agitation till the  gum is
 dissolved, and strains the resulting mucilage through linen.
   Straining through  linen is necessary  to separate the foreign  substances
 which are often mixed with gum  Arabic.  This mucilage is semitransparent,
 almost colourless if prepared from  good gum, viscid, tenacious, of a feeble
 peculiar odour, and nearly tasteless.  If the solution of gum  should  be co-
 loured, it may be rendered colourless by the addition of a concentrated solu-
 tion of chlorine ; and, by boiling for about half an hour so as to drive off the
 chlorine and  muriatic acid, it may be rendered fit for use. (Guerin.)  By
 keeping, mucilage becomes sour in consequence of the spontaneous genera-
 tion of acetic  acid ; and this happens even though  it be enclosed in well-
 stopped bottles.  But, according to M. Guerin, the aqueous solution of pure
 gum undergoes no  change  in vacuo.  Heat in its preparation is said to favour
 the production of acid, in  which case the Edinburgh formula is preferable.
 Mucilage is employed chiefly in the formation of pills, and for the suspension
 or diffusion of insoluble substances in water.
   Off. Prep.  Mistura Acacias, Ed.; Mistura Amygdalarum, Ed.; Mistura
 Cretas, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Mistura Guaiaci, Lond., Ed.            W.
   MUCILAGO  AMYLI. Ed., Dub.   Decoctum  Amyli. Lond.
 Mucilage of Starch.
   " Take of Starch four drachms; Water a pint [Imperial measure].  Rub
 the Starch with the  Water gradually added; then boil  for a short time." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College takes  half an  ounce of starch and a pint [Imp.
 meas.] of  water; the Dublin, six drachms of the former and apint of  the
 latter; both proceed according to the directions of the London College.
   This mucilage has an opaline appearance, and gelatinous consistence,  and
 is much used  as a vehicle for laudanum  and other active remedies given in
 the form of enema.  In consequence of its demulcent properties, it may be
 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,  Lond.                                 W.
   MUCILAGO TRAGACANTHA.  U.S.,  Ed.   Mucilago Gum-
 mi Tragacantha.  Dub.  Mucilage of Tragacanth.
  "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.
    89 
1046              Mucilagines.— Olea Deslillata.           part ii.

  The Edinburgh College takes two drachms of tragacanth and nine fluid-
ounces of boiling water, macerates for twenty-four hours, then triturates, and
expresses through linen or calico.  The Dublin College takes two drachms
of tragacanth,  in  powder, and eight fluidounces of water, macerates in a
covered vessel  till the gum is dissolved, and then strains through linen.
  A part only  of tragacanth is soluble in water.  The remainder swells up
and forms  a soft tenacious mass, which may be mechanically mixed with
water, but does not form  a proper solution.  Hence trituration is necessary
to complete the incorporation of the ingredients. This mucilage is thick and
very viscid, but not permanent;  as the water separates from the insoluble
portion of the tragacanth on standing.   It is chiefly  used in making pills and
troches.  In consequence of  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, U.S.;  Trochisci  Magnesiae,  U.S.;
Trochisci Menthae  Piperitae, U. S.                                W.


                   OLEA DESTILLATA.

                          Distilled Oils.

  For an account of the general  properties of the  volatile, essential,  or dis-
tilled 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.  Se-
parate the Distilled Oil from the water  which comes over with it.
  " In this manner prepare Oil of Anise, from Anise; Oil  of Caraway,
from Caraway; Oil of  Wormseed, from Wormseed; Oil of Fennel, from
Fennel-seed; Oil of Partridge-berry, from  Partridge-berry  [leaves] ; Oil
of  Pennyroyal [Oleum Hedeomas],  from Pennyroyal; Oil of Juniper,
from Juniper [berries]; Oil of Lavender, from Lavender [flowers]; Oil
of Peppermint, from Peppermint; Oil of  Spearmint, from Spearmint; Oil
of Horsemint, from Horsemint; Oil of Origanum, from Origanum [Mar-
joram] ; Oil of Pimento, from Pimento ; Oil of Rosemary, from Rosemary
[tops] ; Oil of Savine, from Savine;  and Oil of  Sassafras, from Bark of
Sassafras Root." U. S.

                   OLEA  DESTILLATA. Lond,
  " Oil of Anise, of Chamomile, of Caraway, of Juniper,  of Lavender,
of Peppermint, of Pennyroyal [Mentha Pulegium], of Spearmint, of Ori-
ganum, of Pimento, of Rosemary, of Elder Flowers.
  " The fruit of Anise, Caraway, and  Juniper, the flowers of Chamomile,
Lavender, and Elder, the berries of Pimento, the tops of Rosemary, and the
fresh herb of the  other plants, are to be employed.  Put any one of these
into an alembic, and add sufficient Water to cover it; then distil the Oil into
a large refrigeratory." Lond.

                      VOLATILE  OILS.  Ed.
  " Volatile oils are obtained chiefly from the flowers, leaves, fruits, barks, 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1047
 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, answer equally well if they have been preserved by beating
 them into a pulp with about twice their weight of muriate of soda, and keep-
 ing the mixture in well-closed vessels.
   " Substances yielding  volatile oils must be distilled with water, the pro-
 per proportion of which varies  for each article, and for  the several  quali-
 ties 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 con-
 trivances must be resorted to for  the same purpose.   These  chiefly consist
 of  particular modes of applying heat so  as  to maintain a regulated tempe-
 rature not much above 212°.   On the small scale heat may be thus conveni-
 ently applied by means of a bath of a strong solution  of muriate of lime,
 or  by means of an oil-bath, kept at a stationary temperature with the  aid of
 a thermometer.  On the large scale heat is often applied by means of  steam
 under regulated pressure.   In other operations it is  found sufficient to hang
 the material within the still in a cage or bag of fine net-work; and sometimes
 the material is not mingled with the water at all, but is subjected  to a current
 of steam  passing through it.
   " The  best  mode of collecting the oil is  by means of  the refrigeratory
 described in the preface [see page 772];  from which the water and oil drop
 together into a tall narrow vessel, provided with a lateral tube or  lip near the
 top, and  another tube rising from the bottom to about a quarter of an inch
 below the level of the  former.   It is  evident that,  with a receiver of this
 construction, the water will escape by the lower tube ; while the  volatile oil,
 as it accumulates,..will be discharged by the  upper  one, except  in the very
 few instances where the oil is heavier than the water.
   " By attending  to the general principles  now explained, Volatile Oils
 may be readily obtained of excellent quality  from  the flowers of Anthemis
 nobilis, Lavandula vera, and Ruta graveolens ;  from  the fruit of Ane-
 thum  graveolens bruised,  Carum Carui  bruised,  Eugenia Pimenta
 bruised,  Fceniculum  officinale  bruised,  Juniperus communis bruised,
 Piper Cubeba  ground, and Pimpinella  Anisum  ground; from the  unde-
 veloped dried flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus; from the tops  of
 Juniperus Sabina, and Rosmarinus officinalis ; from the entire herb  of
 Mentha  Piperita, Mentha  Pulegium, Mentha  viridis, and Origanum
 Majorana [vulgare?]; and also from the  bruised root of Sassafras offici-
 nale." Ed.

                  OLEA ESSENTIALIA. Dub.
  " Oil of Aniseed, of Caraway, of Fennel,  from the  seeds  dried  with
 a medium  heat; of Sassafras, from the bark  and  wood;  of Juniper,  of
 Pimento, from the berries ; of Lavender,  from the flowers ; of Peppermint,
 of Spearmint, of Origanum,  of Pennyroyal, of Rosemary, of  Rue, from
 the leaves and  flowers of the plant while in flower; of Savine, from the
 leaves.
  " Put the substance, previously macerated in  water, into an alembic ;
 then, by means of the vapour  of boiling water, distil  into a receiver.  Sepa-
rate by a  proper apparatus, the Oil which floats  on  the surface, or sinks to
the bottom, according  as  it is lighter or  heavier than water.  In distilling
the seeds of Caraway and Fennel, the leaves  of Peppermint, Spearmint, and
Pennyroyal, and the berries of Pimento,  the  liquor which comes over with 
1048
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
the oil is to be kept for use in the manner directed under the head of Distilled
Waters." Dub.
  The substances from  which the volatile oils  are extracted may be em-
ployed 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 dis-
tilled while fresh, and are directed in this stale by the London  College;
although it is thought by some  that,  when moderately dried, they yield a
larger and more  grateful product.   Dried substances, before being  submitted
to distillation, require to be  macerated in water  till they are thoroughly
penetrated by this  fluid;  and to facilitate the action of the water, it is neces-
sary that, when  of a hard or tough consistence, they should be properly com-
minuted  by slicing, shaving, rasping,  bruising, or  other similar mechanical
operation.
  The water which  is put with  the subject of distillation into the alembic,
answers  the double purpose of preventing the  decomposition of the vege-
table matter by  regulating the temperature, and of  facilitating the  volatiliza-
tion 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 decom-
posed.   Some oils, however, will  not ascend readily with steam at  212°;
and in the distillation  of these it is customary to  use  water  saturated with
common salt, which does not boil under 230°.  Recourse may also be had
to  a bath  of strong solution of  chloride of calcium, or  to an oil-bath the
temperature of which is regulated by a thermometer, as suggested by the
Edinburgh College in their general directions (see page 1047).   Other oils
again may be volatilized with water  at a temperature  below the boiling
point; and, as  heat  exercises an injurious influence over the oils, it is de-
sirable 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 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 quantity of water added is not  a matter of  indifference.   An excess
above what is  necessary acts injuriously  by holding the oil in solution,
when  the  mixed  vapours are condensed ; and, if the proportion be very
large, it is possible that no oil whatever may be  obtained separate.   On the
contrary, if the quantity be  too  small, the whole of the oil will not be dis-
tilled ; and there will be danger of the substance in the alembic adhering to
the  sides of the vessel,  and  thus becoming  burnt.  Enough water should
always be added to cover the solid material, and prevent this latter acci-
dent.  Dried plants  require  more water  than those  which  are  fresh and
succulent.  The  whole  amount of  materials in  the  alembic  should  not
exceed three-fourths of its capacity ; as otherwise there  would be danger of
the liquor boiling  over.   The form of the  alembic has a considerable influ-
ence over  the  quantity  of water distilled, which  depends more  upon the
extent of surface than the amount of liquid  submitted to evaporation.  By
employing a  high and narrow vessel, we may obviate  the disadvantage of
an  excess of  water.   The broad shallow alembic, suitable for the distilla- 
 part ii.                    Olea Destillata.                       1049

 tion of alcohol and the spirituous liquors,  will not answer so well  in  this
 case.   Sometimes the proportion of  oil contained in the substance employed
 is so small that it is wholly dissolved in the  water  distilled, even though the
 proportion of the liquid  in  tile alembic is not greater  than  is  absolutely
 essential.   In this  case  it is necessary to  redistil the same  water  several
 times from fresh portions of the  plant, till the quantity of oil exceeds its
 solvent power.  This process is called cohobation.
   The more volatile of the oils pass with facility along with the steam  into
 the neck of the  common  still; but some which are  less volatile  are apt to
 condense in the head, and thus return into the alembic.  For the distillation
 of the latter,  a still should be  employed with a. large and very low head,
 having a rim  or gutter around its  internal circumference, into which the  oils
 may be 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 ordi-
 nary still.  It  should be recollected, moreover, that certain oils, such as those
 of anise and fennel, become solid at  a comparatively high temperature;  and
 that, in the distillation of these, the water employed for refrigeration  should
 not  be below  42° F.
   The mixed  vapours are condensed into a  milky liquid, which is  collected
 in a receiver,  and after standing for some time separates into a clear solution
 of the oil in water, and into the oil itself, the latter floating on  the surface,
 or sinking to the  bottom, according as  it is  lighter or heavier  than  water.
 The distillation should be continued  so long as the fluid which comes over
 has  this milky appearance.
   The last step in the process is to separate the oil from  the  water.   For
 this purpose the  Florence receiver may be  used.   This is a conical glass
 vessel, broad at the bottom and narrow towards the  top, and  very near its
 base furnished with a tubulure or opening, to which is adapted, by means of
 a  pierced cork, a  bent tube so  shaped as to rise perpendicularly  to  seven-
 eighths of the height of the receiver,  then to pass off from it at right angles,
 and  near the end to bend downwards. The  condensed liquid being admitted
 through the opening at the top of the receiver, the  oil  separates, and  rising
 to the top, 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 necessarily begin  to flow out through the latter, and may
 be received in bottles.  The oil  thus accumulates so  long as the  process con-
 tinues ; but it is evident that the plan is  applicable only to  the oils lighter
 than water.  For the heavier  oils,  cylindrical  vessels may be employed, to
 be renewed as fast as they are  filled.  But as  all the water cannot be removed
 by these plans, it is necessary to resort  to some other method of effecting a
 complete separation.  An instrument called a  separatory is usually employed
 for this purpose.   It consists  of a glass  funnel, bulging at the top, where it
 is  furnished with a stopper, and  prolonged at  the  bottom into  a  very narrow
 tube. (See figure, page 758.)  The lower opening being closed, the mixed
 liquids are introduced and allowed to stand till they separate.  The orifice
 at  the bottom is then opened, and the stopper  at top being a little loosened so
 as  to admit the air, the heavier liquid slowly flows out, and may  be  sepa-
rated to the last drop from the  lighter, which floats above  it.  If the  oil is
heavier than the water, it passes out of the separatory ; if  lighter it remains
within.  Another  mode of separating the oil is to introduce into the vessel
                                  89* 
1050
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
containing the two liquids, one end of a cord of cotton, the other end hang-
ing out, and terminating in a suitable receptacle beneath the level of that im-
mersed in the liquid.   The oil at top passes through the cord, and may thus
be wholly removed.   The last drops may be collected by pressing the cord
between the fingers.
   The water saturated with oil should be preserved for future  distillations,
as it can now dissolve no  more  of the oil, and  will therefore yield a larger
product.
   When first procured, the oil has a disagreeable empyreumatic odour, from
which it may be freed by allowing it to stand for some days in vessels loosely
covered witb paper.   It 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, the oils may sometimes be nearly or quite  restored to their
original appearance and quality by agitation with a little recently heated ani-
mal charcoal; and the same method  may be employed for freeing oils from
adhering water.
   The volatile oils have the medical properties of the plants from which they
are derived ; and, as their remedial application has been mentioned under the
heads  of these plants respectively, it  will be unnecessary to  treat of it in
this  place.   They  may be administered dropped on a lump of  sugar; or
triturated with  at least ten times their weight of sugar, forming an oleosaccha-
rum, and then dissolved  in water; or  made into an emulsion  with water,
sugar, and gum Arabic.  They are frequently kept dissolved in alcohol under
the name of essences.                                              W.
   OLEUM  ANETHI. Ed.   Oil  of Dill.
   The fruit of dill yields about  3*5 per  cent, of volatile  oil.   This  is of a
pale yellow colour, with the odour of the fruit, and a hot sweetish  taste. Its
specific gravity is stated  at 0*881.   It is employed to prepare  dill water,
and may be given as a carminative in the  dose of from three to  four drops;
but it is little used in this country.                                  W.
   OLEUM ANISI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Oil of Anise.
   The product of oil from anise is  variously stated  from 1*56 to 3*12 per
cent.  The oil employed  in this country is almost all imported.  It is colour-
less 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  variously given from 0*9768 to 0*9903.   It is soluble in all
proportions in alcohol of  0-806; but alcohol of 0-840 dissolves at 77° only
42 per cent.  It  consists  of two oils, one solid at ordinary temperatures and
heavier than water (stearoptene), the other liquid and more volatile (eleop-
tene), both  of  which are  said to have the same atomic constitution, and  to
consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (C10H6O).   It absorbs oxygen
from the air and  becomes less disposed to concrete.   Oil of anise is said  to
be sometimes adulterated with spermaceti, wax, or camphor.  The first two
may be detected by their insolubility in cold alcohol, the last by its odour.
 The dose of the oil is from five to fifteen drops.  Its  comparative mildness
 adapts it to infantile cases.   The oil of star aniseed (oleum badiani), which
resembles it in flavour, is frequently substituted for it in this country.
   Off.Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillae  Compositus,  U.S.;  Tinctura  Opii Am-
 moniata, Ed.; Tinct. Opii  Camphorata,  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tro-
 chisci Glycyrrhizae et Opii, U.S.                                   W.
   OLEUM  ANTHEMIDIS. Lond., Ed.  Oil  of Chamomile.
   This is never prepared and little  used in this country.  Baume obtained 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1051
 thirteen drachms of the oil from eighty-two pounds of the flowers.   It has
 the peculiar smell of chamomile, with a pungent somewhat aromatic taste.
 When recently distilled it is of a sky-blue colour, which changes  to  yellow
 or brownish on exposure.  The sp. gr. of the English oil is  said to be 0-9083.
 It has sometimes  been  used in spasms 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 the Matricaria Cha-
 momilla is employed under the name of oil of chamomile.  It is  dark blue,
 thick, and nearly opaque, becoming brown and unctuous by time.   It has the
 odour of the plant from which it is derived, and an aromatic taste.     W.
   OLEUM CARI.  U S.   Oleum Carui. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Oil of
 Caraway.
   This oil is prepared to a considerable extent by our distillers.   The fresh
 fruit  yields on  an  average about 4-7 per cent. (Recluz);  but the  product is
 very  variable.  The oil of caraway is somewbat viscid,  of a pale  yellow
 colour becoming brownish by age, with the odour of the fruit, and an aro-
 matic acrid taste.   Its sp. gr.  is 0-946  according to Baume, 0-931  according
 to Brande.  Its constituents are  carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.   It is much
 used  to  impart flavour  to medicines, and to correct  their  nauseating and
 griping effects.   The dose is from one to ten drops.
   Off.Prep.    Confectio Scammonii,  Lond., Dub.;  Electuarium Sennas,
 Dub.; Pilulae Aloes Compositae, Lond., Dub.;  Pilulas Rhei Compositae,
 Lond.                                                          W.
   OLEUM CHENOPODII. U. S.   Oil of Wormseed,
   This oil is peculiar to the  United States.  It  is of a light yellow  colour
 when recently  distilled, but becomes deeper yellow, and even brownish by
 age.  It has in  a high degree the peculiar flavour of  the  plant.   Its  sp. gr.
 is 0*908.   It is used as an anthelmintic, in the dose  of from four to eight
 drops for a child, repeated morning and evening for three  or four  days, and
 then followed by a brisk cathartic.                                 W.
   OLEUM COPAIBA. Ed.  Oil of Copaiba.
   "Take of Copaiva one ounce;   Water one pint  and  a half [Imperial
 measure].  Distil, preserving the water;  when most of the water has  passed
 over,  heat it, return it into the still, and resume  the distillation;  repeat this
 process  so long as a sensible quantity of oil passes over with the water." Ed.
  This oil is sufficiently described under Copaiba, page 271.         W.
   OLEUM  FCENICULI. U.S., Ed,   Oleum  Fceniculi Dulcis.
 Dub.   Oil of Fennel.
  Fennel seeds  yield about 2*5 per cent,  of oil.  That used in this country
 is imported.  It is colourless or yellowish, with the odour and taste  of the
 seeds.   Its sp. gr. is 0*997.  It  congeals below 50° into a crystalline  mass,
 separable by pressure into a solid and liquid oil (stearoptene  and  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, C,3H8Oa.   The
dose is from five to fifteen drops.
  Off.Prep. Aqua Foeniculi, U. S.                                 W. 
105£
Olea Destillata.
PART n.
   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 the  Gaultheria procumbens; but the whole plant is usually em-
ployed.   It has been obtained by  Mr. Wm. Procter, Jun., of Philadelphia,
from the bark of the Betula lenta, and has been supposed  to exist also in
the root of the Polygala paucifolia, and the roots and stems of the Spiraea
ulmaria,  Spiraea  lobata, and Gaultheria hispidula, which have its peculiar
flavour.  The oil of partridge-berry when freshly distilled is nearly colourless,
but  as found  in the shops has a brownish-yellow or reddish  colour.   It is
of a sweetish, slightly pungent, peculiar taste, and  a very agreeable charac-
teristic odour,  by  which it may be  readily distinguished from all other offici-
nal oils.   It is the heaviest of the known  essential oils, having  the sp. gr.
1*173.  Its boiling point is  412°.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., iii. 199,  and
xiv. 213.)   Its unusual weight affords a convenient  test of its purity.   Mr.
Procter proved it to possess acid  properties, and to be closely analogous to
saliculous 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, page 623.)  By M. Cahours it has since been shown to have the
same composition as the saliculate of methylene;  and a product having its
properties was obtained by distilling a mixture of pyroxylic spirit, saliculic
acid, and  sulphuric acid. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 211,  and xv. 241.)
Oil of gaultheria is  used cbiefly, on account of its pleasant flavour, to cover
the taste of other medicines.
   Off.Prep. Syrupus  Sarsaparillas Compositus, U. S.              W.
   OLEUM  HEDEOMA. U.S.   Oil of Pennyroyal.
   This, though analogous in properties to the oil of European pennyroyal,
is derived from a  distinct  plant—the  Hedeoma  pulegioides—peculiar  to
North America.   It has a light yellow colour, with the  odour and taste of
the herb.   Its sp. gr. is 0*948.   It  may be used as a  remedy in flatulent
colic and  sick stomach,  to  correct the operation  of nauseating  or griping
medicines, and to impart flavour to mixtures.   The dose is from two to ten
drops.                                                           W.
   OLEUM  JUNIPERI.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Oil of Juniper.
   The proportion of oil which juniper  berries  afford is  stated very  dif-
ferently by  different authors.  Trommsdorff obtained one  per cent.   The
highest quantity given  in the table of Recluz is 2*34, the  lowest 0*31  per
cent.  The berries are most productive when bruised.   The oil of juniper
consumed in this  country is brought from Europe.  It is colourless, or of a
light greenish-yellow,  with a terebinthinate  odour, and  a hot acrid taste.
Its sp. gr.  is 0*911.   It  is  not  very soluble  in  alcohol.   According to
Blanchet,  it contains two isomeric oils, of which one is colourless, and the
other coloured and less volatile.  It is, when pure,  a carbo-hydrogen, and is
said to have the  same  composition as oil of turpentine (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 considerably  less than that
of the unadulterated oil of juniper.
   This  oil is  stimulant, carminative, and  diuretic;  and  may be employed
advantageously in debilitated dropsical cases, in connexion with other medi-
cines, especially digitalis.   It is  this oil which  imparts to  Holland gin its 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1053
peculiar flavour and diuretic power.   The dose  is from five to fifteen drops
two or three times a day, and may be considerably increased.         W.

   OLEUM  LAVANDULA. U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.    Oil  of
Lavender.
   Dried lavender flowers yield from 1 to 1*5 per cent, of a very fluid, lemon-
yellow oil, having the fragrance of the flowers, and an  aromatic, burning
taste.  That met with in commerce has the sp. gr. 0.898 at 68° F., which
is reduced to 0-877 by rectification. (Berzelius.) According to Brande, the
sp.gr. of the oil obtained from the whole herb is 0-9206.  Alcohol of 0*830
dissolves the oil of lavender in all proportions;  that of 0*887, only  42 per
cent.  (Berzelius.)  Proust states that, when allowed to stand in  imperfectly
stopped bottles, it lets fall a  crystalline deposit (stearoptene), which often
amounts to one-fourth of the  weight of the oil.  It is said that  the  portion
of oil first distilled is most agreeably fragrant, and is often kept separate, and
sold at a  higher price.  The oil of lavender is used  chiefly as a perfume,
though possessed  of carminative  and stimulant properties, and sometimes
useful in cases of nervous langour and headache.  The dose is from one to
five drops.
   The oil of spike is procured from  the broad-leaved variety  of lavender
which grows wild in  Europe, the Lavandula  Spica of De Candolle.  Its
odour is less fragrant than that of the common oil of lavender, and is some-
what analogous to that of oil  of turpentine, with which it is §aid to be often
adulterated.  It is  much used  by artists in the preparation of  varnishes.
   Off.Prep. Tinctura Ammonias Composita, Lond.                  W.
   OLEUM MENTHA  PIPERITA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.   Oleum
Mentha  Piperitidis. Dub.   Oil of Peppermint.
   Peppermint varies  exceedingly in the quantity of  oil which it affords.
Four pounds of the fresh herb yield, according to Baume, from a  drachm and
a half to three drachms of the oil.   The  product is generally less  than  one
per cent.   This oil is largely  distilled  in  the  United States.  It is of a
greenish-yellow  colour or nearly  colourless, but becomes reddish by age.
Its odour is strong and aromatic; its taste,  warm, camphorous, and very pun-
gent, but succeeded, when air is admitted  into the mouth, by a sense of cool-
ness.   Its sp.gr. is stated differently from 0*902 to 0920; its boiling point
at 365°.   Upon long standing it  deposits a stearoptene, which, according
to Kane, has the same  composition as the oil, viz., C21H20O3.   Berzelius
states that at 8° below zero the oil deposits small capillary crystals.
   Oil of peppermint is stimulating  and carminative, and is  much used in
flatulence,  nausea, spasmodic pains  of the  stomach and  bowels,  and as  a
corrigent  or adjuvant  of other medicines.  The dose is  from one to three
drops, and  is most conveniently given rubbed up with sugar and  then  dis-
solved  in water.   The oil is also very frequently employed  in  the form of
essence of peppermint, prepared by dissolving two fluidounces in a  pint of
alcohol, and given upon sugar in the dose of ten or  twenty drops.   This is
now officinal under the name  of Tinctura Olei Menthae Piperitx.
   Off.Prep. Aqua Menthae Piperitae, U.S., Lond.; Pilulae Rhei Compositae,
U.S., Ed.; Spiritus Menthae Piperitae, Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Olei Menthae
Piperitas, U. S.;  Trochisci Menthae Piperitae, U. S.                  W. 
1054
Olea Destillata.
PART n.
  OLEUM MENTHA PULEGII. Lond.   Oleum Pulegii. Ed.,
Dub.   Oil of European Pennyroyal.
  About 1 part of this oil on an average  is obtained from  100 parts of the
plant.   When freshly distilled it is yellowish, but becomes reddish by a<re.
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 Menthae Pulegii, Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Menthae Pulegii,
Lond., Dub.                                                     W.
  OLEUM MENTHA  VIRIDIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Oil
of  Spearmint.
  According  to Lewis, ten pounds of spearmint  yield an ounce of oil; by
others the product is stated not to  exceed one part from five hundred.   The
oil is largely  distilled in this  country.  It is pale  yellow or  greenish when
recently  prepared,  but becomes red with age,  and ultimately almost of a
mahogany colour.  Its flavour is analogous to that of the oil of peppermint,
but is less agreeable and less  pungent.   Its sp. gr. is stated differently from
0*914 to 0*975; its  boiling point, at 320°.  Kane gives  the formula  C^H^O,
as representing its composition.  It is used for the same purposes  as the oil
of peppermint, in the dose of from two to  five drops.  An essence  of spear-
mint is prepared by dissolving two fluidounces of the oil in a pint of alcohol,
and may be gi^en in the quantity of from twenty to forty drops, upon a lump
of sugar.  This  was introduced  among  the  officinal tinctures in the last
edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
  Off. Prep.  Aqua  Menthae Viridis, U. S., Lond., Dub.;  Infusum Menthae
Compositum, Dub.; Spiritus Menthae Viridis, Lond.,  Dub.;  Tinctura Olei
Menthae Viridis,  U. S.                                           W.
  OLEUM MONARDA. U.S.   Oil of Horsemint.
  This is prepared by our distillers from the fresh herb of Monarda punc-
tata.   It has a  reddish-amber  colour,  a fragrant odour, and  a warm, very
pungent taste.  Applied to the skin it acts as a powerful rubefacient, quickly
producing heat, pain, redness, and even vesication.  This property of the
oil was made known to the  profession by Dr. Atlee, formerly of  Philadel-
phia, who employed it externally with  advantage  in  low forms  of typhus
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 carminative,
in the dose of two or three drops mixed with sugar and water.       W.
  OLEUM ORIGANI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Oil of Origanum.
  This is obtained  from the common marjoram, Origanum  vulgare, and is
frequently called oil of marjoram.  The plant varies exceedingly in the pro-
portion which it affords.   The  mean product may be  stated  at from four to
six  parts from a thousand.  The recent oil, when properly prepared, is of a
yellow colour; but  if too much heat is used in the distillation, it is  said to be
reddish, and  it acquires the same tint by age.  It may be obtained  colourless
by 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 C50H40O.
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. 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1055
  It can scarcely be doubted that the  oil directed by the Edinburgh College
from the Origanum Majorana, or  sweet marjoram, was intended for that
of the O. vulgare; as the latter plant is indicated, under the name of Ori-
ganum, 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, U. S.              W.  .
   OLEUM PIMENTA. U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Oil of Pimento.
  The berries yield from 1  to more than 4 per,cent, of oil, which, as found
in the shops, has a brownish-red colour, and the odour and taste of pimento,
though warmer and more pungent.   It is said, when freshly distilled, to be
colourless or yellowish.   Nitric acid reddens  it.   Bonastre states that it
combines with salifiable bases like the oil of cloves.  Its sp.gr. has  been
stated at 1*021, but varies.   It consists, like the oil of cloves, of two dis-
tinct oils, a lighter and heavier, the  former of which comes over first in dis-
tillation.  They may be separated  by distilling the  oil with  caustic potassa.
The light oil  comes over, and the heavy remains combined with the potassa.
The latter may be obtained by distilling the residue with sulphuric acid.  The
light oil is lighter than water, and is a pure carbo-hydrogen.  The heavy has
the acid property  of forming crystalline compounds  with the alkalies.   The
two are closely analogous with the  light and  heavy  oil of cloves.  (Pereira.)
The oil of pimento may be  given for  the same purposes with the  other aro-
matic stimulant oils.   The dose is from three to six drops.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Pimentae, Lond.;  Emplastrum Aromaticum, Dub.   W.
   OLEUM  ROSMARINI. U. S., Lond., Ed.  Oleum  Rorismarini.
Dub.  Oil of Rosemary.
  The fresh leaves of rosemary yield, according to Baume, 0*26 per cent, of
oil; but the product is stated  much higher by other  authors.  According to
Brande, a pound of the fresh herb  yields about a drachm of the  oil, which
is about one per cent.  This  oil is  colourless, with  an odour similar to that
of the  plant,  though  less agreeable.  Its sp.gr. is  0*911, but is reduced to
0*8886 by rectification.  It is soluble in all proportions in alcohol of 0-830;
but requires for solution at  64°, forty parts of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0*887.
(Berzelius.)   Kane gives  its sp. gr.  0*897, its  boiling  point 365°, and its
composition  C4i\i[m02.  Kept in bottles imperfectly stopped, it deposits a
stearoptene  analogous to camphor, and sometimes  amounting, according to
Proust, to one-tenth of the oil. Bucholz states that  it affords camphor when
digested with from one-half its weight to an equal  weight  of potassa, and
distilled.  It is  said to be sometimes  adulterated with the  oil of turpentine,
which may be 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 possessed of stimulant properties, but is employed chiefly
as an ingredient of rubefacient liniments.  The dose is from three  to six
drops.
   Off.Prep.  Linimentum Opii, Ed.; Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum,
U. S., Ed.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, Ed.; Spiritus Rosmarini,  U. S.,
Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Saponis Camphorata, U. S., Ed.             W. 
1056
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
   OLEUM RUTA. Ed., Dub.  Oil of Rue.
   Rue yields a very small proportion of a yellow or greenish oil, which be-
comes brown with age.  It has the strong unpleasant odour of the  plant,
and an acrid taste.  Kane gives its sp. gr. 0-837, its boiling point 446°, and
its composition C28H2g03.  It is stimulant and  supposed to be antispasmodic,
and has been given in hysteria, convulsions, and amenorrhoea.  The dose is
from  two to five drops.                                            \V.

   OLEUM SABINA.  U.S., Ed., Dub.  Oil of Savine.
   The statements in relation to the proportion of volatile oil obtained from
savine vary exceedingly.   While according  to Hoffmann  and Murray the
leaves afford about 16 per cent.;  others  state the product at  considerably
less than one per cent.   The highest percentage in Recluz's table, next to
Hoffmann's is  about  1*7, in  Christison's table 2*5.  (Dispensatory.)   The
oil is  nearly colourless or yellow, limpid, strongly odorous, and of a  bitter-
ish, extremely  acrid taste.   Kane gives its sp.gr. 0-915, its boiling  point
315°, and  its composition Ct0H8, equivalent to that  of oil of turpentine.
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 amenorrhoea, and with a view to  produce
abortion, and in some instances with fatal effects.   The dose is from two to
five drops.                                                        W.

   OLEUM SAMBUCI.  Lond.   Oil of Elder Flowers.
   Elder flowers yield but a very small proportion of volatile oil, which is of
a butyraceous consistence when cold, and scarcely deserves a place  in the
Pharmacopoeia.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Sambuci, Lond.                                W.

   OLEUM SASSAFRAS.  U. S, Ed., Dub.   Oil of Sassafras.
   The proportion of oil yielded by the  root of sassafras is  variously  stated
from less than 1 to somewhat more  than 2 per cent.  The bark of the root,
directed by the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia,  would afford a  larger quantity.   The
oil is of a yellow  colour,  becoming  reddish by age.   It has the fragrant
odour of sassafras, with a warm  pungent aromatic taste.   It is among the
heaviest of the volatile  oils,  having tbe  sp. gr. 1*094.  According to Bo-
nastre, 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 turpentine  existing as an adulteration in the oil of sassafras.
Nitric acid  colours it  red, and fuming nitric  acid inflames  it more readily
than most other  oils.  It has  the  useful property of dissolving caoutchouc.
When kept for a long  time  it deposits transparent  crystals, having the same
odour as  the liquid oil. It is stimulant, carminative, and supposed to be dia-
phoretic; and may be employed for the same purposes with the bark from
which it is  derived.  The dose is from two to ten drops.
   Off. Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillae Compositus, U. S.                W.

   OLEUM SUCCINI.  U S, Dub.   Oil of Amber.
   " Take of Amber, in powder, any quantity.  Put the Amber,  previously
mixed with an equal  weight of sand, into a glass retort,  which  is  to be
only half filled; then distil, by means of a sand-bath, with a gradually in-
creasing  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 unrectified oil of amber  is not among the  preparations directed by 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1057
 the London College.   The Dublin College  obtains it by the same  process
 by which succinic acid is prepared.  (See Acidum Succinicum.)
   The amber in this process undergoes decomposition, and affords, among
 other products, an empyreumatic oil which floats in the receiver upon  the
 surface of an acid liquor.   The heat requisite  for the complete decomposi-
 tion 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 immediately 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 employed as a liniment;  but for internal use it should
 be rectified.    It  is  said that the scrapings of copal and the resin dammar
 are often substituted for amber, and yield an oil scarcely distinguishable from
 the genuine. (Pereira's Mat. Med.)
   Off. Prep.  Oleum Succini Rectificatum, U. S., Dub.              W.
   OLEUM   SUCCINI  RECTIFICATUM. U S,  Dub.   Oleum
 Succini. Lond.  Rectified Oil of Amber.
   " Take of Oil of Amber  a pint; Water six pints.  Mix them  in a glass
 retort, and distil until four pints of the Water  shall have passed with the oil
 into the receiver; then separate the Oil from the  Water, and  keep it in well
 stopped bottles."  U. S.
   The Dublin  College employs a pound of oil  of amber and six pints of
 water ; distils  until  two-thirds of  the water  have passed into the receiver;
 and then separates the oil.
   " Put Amber into an alembic, and distil from  a  sand-bath, with a heat
 gradually increased, an Acid Liquor, an Oil, and  a  Salt contaminated with
 oil; then distil the Oil a second and  third time."  Lond.
   By successive distillations the oil  of amber is  rendered thinner and  more
 limpid, till at  length it is obtained  colourless.   The first portions which
 ditsil are  less  coloured than those which follow, and may be separated  for
 keeping, while the remainder is submitted to another distillation.   For  prac-
 tical purposes, however, the oil  is sufficiently  pure  when once redistilled,
 as directed in  the processes of the U.S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias.   As
 usually found in  the shops, the  rectified oil  is of a light  yellowish-brown
 or amber colour.  When quite pure it  is colourless, as  fluid as alcohol, of
 the sp.gr. 0*758 at 75°, and boils at 186°.  It has a strong, peculiar,  unplea-
 sant odour, and a hot, acrid taste.   It imparts  these  properties in some
 degree to  water  without being perceptibly dissolved.   It is soluble in eight
 parts of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-847 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.
  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  amenorrhoea,  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
considerably employed as a liniment  in chronic rheumatism and palsy, and
in certain spasmodic  disorders, as hooping cough  and infantile convulsions.
    90 
1058                ,:  Olea Destillata.—Pilula.               part ii.

In the latter affection it should be rubbed along the  spine, and was highly
recommended by the late Dr. Parrish,  mixed  with an equal measure of
laudanum, and diluted with three or four parts of olive oil and of brandy.
   Off. Prep. Tinctura Ammoniae Composita, Lond.                 W.
   OLEUM  TEREBINTHINA  PURIFICATUM. Lond.,  Ed.
Oleum Terebinthina Rectificatum. Dub. Purified  Oil of Tur-
pentine.
   " Take of Oil of Turpentine a pint; Water four  pints.  Carefully distil
the Oil."  Lond.
   " Take of Oil of Turpentine one pint; Water four pints.  Distil as long
as Oil comes over with the Water." Ed.
   " Take of Oil of Turpentine two pints; Water four pints.  Distil a  pint
and a half of the Oil."  Dub.
   Oil  of  turpentine becomes impure by exposure,  in consequence  of the
absorption of oxygen and the production of resin.   From this it  may be
freed by  distillation, as above directed, or by the agency  of alcohol. (See
Oleum  Terebinthinae.)  The process for distilling it is attended with some
inconvenience, in  consequence of the great  inflammability of the vapour,
and its rapid formation,  which  causes  the liquid 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
small proportion of resin does not interfere with its efficiency as a medicine.
                                                                 W.


                             PILULAE.

                                 Pills.

   These  are  small globular masses of a size convenient for swallowing.
They are well adapted for the administration of medicines which are unplea-
sant 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 im-
mediately 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
 wanting.   Substances which are very soft, or in the  liquid  state, are  formed
 into the pilular  mass by  incorporation with dry and  inert powders, such  as
 crumb  of bread, wheat flour, starch, and powdered  gum Arabic.  Powders
 must be mixed with soft  solid bodies, as extracts, confections, soap,  &c,  or
 with tenacious  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  solu-
 bility in  the  liquors  of the stomach, and, if metallic  substances are mixed
 with it, the mass does not work well.   A mixture of syrup and powdered
 gum Arabic is not subject to the same inconveniences, and is an excellent
 material  for the formation of pills.   Conserve  of  roses  and molasses are
 among the best excipients, when the pills are to be long kept.  For the
 same purpose of keeping the pill soft, a small portion of some fixed oil or 
part ii.                        Pilula.                           1059

deliquescent salt has been recommended as an addition to the mass.  Many
powders require only the addition of water.   Such are all those which con-
tain ingredients capable of forming an adhesive or viscid  solution with  this
liquid.   Care should always be taken, that the matter added be not incom-
patible with the main ingredients 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 convenient, in some instances, to keep the mass  in a
state fit to be divided when wanted for use.   This may be done by wrapping
it in bladders, putting it in covered pots, and occasionally moistening it as it
becomes dry.
   The mass, having been duly prepared, is made into pills by rolling it with
a spatula into  a cylinder of precisely the same thickness  throughout, and of
a length  corresponding to the number of pills  required.   It  is  then divided
as equally as possible by the hand, or more  accurately by a machine made
for the purpose.   The pills receive a spherical form by being rolled between
the fingers.   In order to prevent  their adhesion  to  one another, or to the
sides of  the vessel  in which they  may be placed,  it is customary to agitate
them with some dry powder, which gives  them  an external  coating,  that
serves  also to  conceal their taste.   For this purpose, carbonate of magnesia,
starch, or powdered liquorice root may be  used.   Carbonate  of magnesia
is  sometimes  incompatible with one of the  ingredients of the pills, starch
is  almost too  light, and liquorice  root will, as a general rule, be found the
best.   The powder of lycopodium is much employed on the  continent of
Europe; and  it was formerly the custom to give the  pill a coating of gold or
silver leaf.
   It has been proposed by  M. Garot  to cover  pills  with gelatin, which
answers  the  purpose  of  concealing  their taste,  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 ope-
ration by holding the pin  in the flame of a  taper so as to melt the gelatin
near its point, and  then withdrawing it from  the  pill so as to close  up the
orifice.   The  purest  glue should be selected  for this purpose,  melted with
the addition of two or three drachms of water to  an ounce of the glue,  and
kept in the liquid state by means of a salt-bath.   (See  Amer.  Journ. of
Pharm., x. 229.)
   Pills which  are to be long kept should be put into  glass bottles with accu-
rately fitting stoppers, so as to prevent the escape of moisture.
   Though  the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia,  in almost every  instance, orders  the
mass to be divided into pills; yet it should  be  understood rather as indicating
the number of pills to be made from a certain quantity of the mass when par-
ticular  directions are not given by the physician, than as requiring the divi-
sion to be made  immediately after the materials have been mixed.  It will
generally be found convenient by  the apothecary to keep a portion of  the
mass undivided.                                                   W.
  PILULA ALOES.  U. S., Ed.   Aloetic Pills.
  " Take of  Aloes,  in  powder, Soap, each, an   ounce.  Beat them with
water so as to form a mass, to  be  divided  into two  hundred and forty
pills."  U.S.
  The  Edinburgh College directs equal  quantities of Socotrine or East 
*
1060                             Pilula.                         part ii.

India aloes, and Castile soap to be beat with conserve of red roses into a
mass fit for forming pills.
   The soap,  in this formula, not only serves to impart a proper pilular con-
sistence  to the aloes, but is thought  to  qualify its  operation  and diminish
its liability to irritate the rectum.   Five pills, containing ten grains of aloes,
may be given with a view to  their purgative effect; but the  preparation is
usually employed as a laxative in cases of habitual costiveness, in the quan-
tity of one, two, or three pills, taken before breakfast,  before dinner, or at
bedtime.                                                             W.

   PILULA  ALOii.S  COMPOSITA.  Lond., Dub.   Compound
Pills of Aloes.
   " Take  of  Aloes  [Hepatic Aloes, Dub.],  in powder,  an ounce; Extract
of Gentian half an ounce ; Oil of Caraway forty minims; Syrup a sufficient
quantity.  Beat them together, till they are thoroughly incorporated." Lond.,
Dub.
   A reaction  takes  place between the  aloes and extract of gentian when
rubbed too-ether, which  renders  the mass so soft as sometimes to require the
addition  of a  light powder.   The use of syrup is  therefore unnecessary and
improper.   This combination is well adapted as a  laxative to the  costiveness
of sedentary and dyspeptic persons.  The dose  is from five to twenty grains,
according  to the degree  of effect desired.*                            W.

   PILULA  ALOES  ET ASSAFCETIDA.  U.S., Ed.   Pills of
Aloes and Assafetida,                                      %
   " Take  of Aloes,  in powder, Assafetida, Soap, each, half an ounce.  Beat
them with water so as  to form a  mass,  to be divided into one hundred and
eighty pills."  U. S.
   The Edinburgh College takes equal parts of Socotrine or East India aloes,
assafetida, and Castile soap, and beats them into a  mass with conserve of red
roses.
   These pills are peculiarly  adapted, by  the  stimulant and carminative pro-
perties of  the assafetida, to cases of costiveness attended with  flatulence and
debility of the digestive organs.   Each pill contains about four grains of the
mass.   From two to five  may be given for a dose.                   W.
   PILULA ALOES ET FERRI.  Ed.   Pills of Aloes  and Iron.
   "Take  of Sulphate of Iron three parts ; Barbadoes Aloes two parts ; Aro-
matic Powder six parts ; Conserve of Red Roses  eight parts.   Pulverize

   * The following is the formula for the aloetic pills usually called dinner pills, or Lady
Webster's pills. They are the pilula. stomachicce of the fifth edition of the Paris Codex,
A. D. 1758.  Take of  the  best Aloes six drachms; Mastich and Red  Roses, each, two
drachms; Syrup of Wormwood sufficient to form a mass,  to be divided  into  pills of three
grains each. Common syrup may be substituted for  the syrup  of wormwood.  One or
two of these pills, taken shortly before a meal, will usually produce one free evacuation.
   The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy has adopted  formula? for the compound aloetic
preparations commonly called Hooper's and Anderson's pills, of which  the following are
copies.
   " Hooper's female pills.  R Aloes Barbndens=is ^viij., Ferri Sulphatis Exsiccati ^ij.,
giss., vel Ferri  Snlphutis Crystal, ^iv., Extracti Hellebori gij., Myrrhae ,^ij., Saponis §ij-,
Canellse in  pulv. tritge ^j, Zingiberis in pulv. trit. §j.— Beat thorn 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 Scots1 pills.  R Aloes Barbadensis t^xxiv.,Saponis §iv., Colocynthidis t^j.,
Gambogiae §j., Olei Anisi f§ss.   Let the aloes, colocynth, and gamboge be reduced to a
very fine powder; then beat them and the soap with water into a mass, of a proper con-
sistence to divide into pills, each containing three grains." Ibid 
PART II.
Pilula.
1061
 the Aloes and Sulphate of Iron separately; mix the whole ingredients; and
 beat them into a proper  mass; which is to be divided into five grain pills."
 Ed.
   It is said that the  laxative power of  aloes is increased, and its  tendency
 to irritate the rectum diminished, by combination with the sulphate of iron.
 (Christison^  Dispensatory.)  This combination is useful in constipation
 with debility of stomach, especially when attended with amenorrhoea.   The
 dose is from one to three pills.                                   W.

   PILULA^ALOES ET MYRRHA. U.S., Ed.  Pilule Aloes
 cum Myrrha. Lond., Dub.   Fills  of Aloes and Myrrh.
   "Take of Aloes, in powder, two  ounces;  Myrrh, in powder, an ounce;
 Saffron half an ounce ; Syrup a sufficient quantity.  Beat the whole toge-
 ther so as to form a mass, to be divided into four hundred and eighty pills."
 U.S.
   The processes of the  London  and Dublin Colleges differ from the above
 only in directing a double proportion of saffron, in the specification of hepatic
 aloes by the latter, and in not dividing the mass.  The Edinburgh Colllfge
 takes four parts of Socotrine or  East India aloes, two parts of myrrh, and
 one part of saffron ; and  beats them with conserve of red roses.
   This composition  has been long in use, under the name of Rufus'spills.
 It is employed as a warm stimulant cathartic in debilitated states of the sys-
 tem, attended  with constipation, and  retention or suppression of the menses.
 From  three to six pills, or from  ten to twenty grains of  the  mass may be
 given for a dose.                                                W.

   PILULA 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
 very convenient form for administering  assafetida, the unpleasant odour and
 taste of which  render it very offensive in the liquid state.            W.
  PILULA CALOMELANOS COMPOSITA. Ed., Dub. Pilulje
 Hydrargyri Chloridi Composite. Lond.   Compound Calomel
 Pills.   Compound Pills of Chloride of Mercury.
   " Take of Chloride of Mercury [Calomel], Oxysulphuret of Antimony,
 each, two drachms; Guaiacum Resin [Guaiac], in powder, half an ounce;
 Molasses two drachms.   Rub the Chloride  of Mercury with the Oxysul-
 phuret of Antimony,  then  with the Guaiacum Resin and Molasses, so that
 they may be incorporated." L,ond.
   The Edinburgh College takes  of  calomel and golden sulphuret of anti-
 mony,  each, one part; guaiac, in fine powder, and treacle, each, two parts;
 mixes the solids in fine powder, then the treacle, and beats the whole into
 a mass, to be divided into six grain pills. The Dublin College agrees with
 the London, employing  half the  quantity of the active ingredients, and  a
 sufficient quantity of molasses.
   We  prefer the title " compound calomel  pills" of the  Edinburgh  and
 Dublin Pharmacopoeias;  as, though not scientific, it is not, like the London
 name, liable  to be confounded with that of corrosive sublimate.  The anti-
 monial  employed by the  Colleges  is  the same, though under  different
 names, and is  identical with the  U. S.  precipitated  sulphuret.   According
 to Vogel, a reaction takes place between the calomel and sulphuret of anti-
mony, resulting in the production  of  chloride of antimony and sulphuret of
                                90* 
106&
Piiula.
PART II.
mercury. (Annal. der Pharm., xxviii. 236.)   The preparation  was origi-
nally 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
indications  is so various, that  such a combination as the above is scarcely a
proper subject for officinal direction.                                W.
  TlLULA  CATHARTICA  COMPOSITA. U.S.   Compound
Cathartic Pills.
  " Take of  Compound  Extract of Colocynth, in powder, half an ounce;
Extract of Jalap, in powder, Mild  Chloride  of  Mercury [Calomel], each,
three drachms; Gamboge, in powder, two scruples.  Mix them together;
then with water form them into a mass, to be divided  into  one hundred and
eighty  pills." U. S.
  This cathartic compound was first made  officinal in the  second edition of
the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  It was intended to combine smallness  of bulk
with efficiency 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 at-
tended with  congestion of the liver and  portal circle  generally, so much
abound.  The  object of smallness  of bulk is accomplished by  employing
extracts and the more energetic cathartics; that of a peculiar tendency to the
liver, by the use of calomel; and that of efficiency with mildness of opera-
tion, by the union of  several powerful purgatives.  It  is a fact  abundantly
proved by experience, that drastic cathartics become milder by combination,
without losing any of their purgative power.   Nor  is it  difficult, in this
case, to  reconcile  the result of observation  with  physiological  principles.
Cathartic medicines act on different parts of the alimentary  canal  and organs
secreting into it.   In small  doses, both the irritation which they occasion
and their purgative effect are proportionably lessened.   If several are ad-
ministered  at the same  time, each in a diminished dose, it is obvious that
the combined purgative effect of all  will be experienced, while the irritation,
being feeble in each part  affected, and diffused over a larger space, will be
less sensible to the patient, and will more readily subside.  In the compound
cathartic pills, most of the active purgatives  in common use are associated
together in proportions corresponding with their  respective doses, so that
an excess  of any  one ingredient is guarded against, and  violent irritation
from this cause prevented.  The  name of the preparation  may at first sight
seem objectionable, as it might be applied to any compound pills possessing
cathartic properties; but  when it is considered 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 repre-
sentative of numerous cathartics, and calculated for a wide range  of applicaj
tion. the name  will  not be considered an inexcusable deviation from ordinary
medical nomenclature. 
PART II.
Pilula.
1063
   Three of the pills, containing 10| grains of the mass, area 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 particularly applicable to  the early stages of bilious fevers, to hepatitis,
 jaundice, and all those derangements of the alimentary canal or of the gene-
 ral health which depend on congestion of the portal circle.           W.
   PILULA  COLOCYNTHIDIS  COMPOSITA. Dub.   Pilulje
 Colocynthidis. Ed.   Compound Pills of Colocynth.
   " Take of Socotrine or East India Aloes, and Scammony, of each, eight
 parts;  Colocynth four parts; Sulphate of Potash and Oil of  Cloves, of
 each, one part; Rectified Spirit a sufficiency.  Pulverize the Aloes,  Scam-
 mony, and Sulphate  of Potash together; mix with them the Colocynth  pre-
 viously reduced to fine powder; add the Oil of Cloves ; and with the aid of
 a small .quantity of Rectified Spirit beat the whole into a proper pill  mass ;
 which is to be divided into five grain pills." Ed.
   " Take of Hepatic Aloes, Scammony, each, an ounce; Pulp of Colocynth
 half an ounce;  Castile Soap two  drachms;  Sulphate of Potassa,  Oil of
 Cloves, each, a  drachm; Molasses  a sufficient quantity. Reduce the Aloes
 and Scammony  to powder with the Sulphate of Potassa; then mix the Pulp
 of Colocynth and the Oil, and lastly, rub  all together  into a mass with the
 Soap and Molasses." Dub.
   The  sulphate of potassa, in  these formulae, is intended to  promote the
 more complete  division  of the aloes and scammony.   Rectified  spirit  has
 been substituted, in the last edition of  the  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, for
 mucilage of gum Arabic before used ; because it  is believed to be retained
 by the mass more firmly than water, and  thus to preserve the due consistence
 longer.   The preparation is actively cathartic in the dose of from eight to
 sixteen grains.                                                  W.

   PILULA COLOCYNTHIDIS ET HYOSCYAMI. Ed.   Pills
 of Colocynth and Henbane.-
   "Take of  the Colocynth-pill mass two parts;  Extract of Hyoscyamus
 one part.  Beat  them well together, adding  a few  drops of Rectified  Spirit
 if  necessary ; and divide the mass into five grain pills." Ed.
   It  is  asserted  that  the compound pill and compound extract of colocynth
 are almost entirely deprived of their griping tendency by combination, as above,
 with the extract  of hyoscyamus, without losing any of their purgative power:
 The dose is from five to twenty grains.                             W.

   PILULA CONII COMPOSITA.  Lond.    Compound  Pills of
 Hemlock.
  "Take of Extract of Hemlock five drachms; Ipecacuanha, in powder, a
 drachm; Mixture [Mucilage] of Gum  Arabic a sufficient quantity.  Beat
 them together until they are incorporated." Lond.
  An anodyne and expectorant combination useful  in chronic  bronchial  dis-
 eases.   The dose is five grains three times a day.                   W.
  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. 
1064
Pilula.
PART II.
   When copaiba is  mixed with pure magnesia, it gradually loses its fluid
consistence, 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 the production of this change, vary  with  the condition  of the
copaiba; being greater in proportion to the fluidity of this substance, or, in
other words, to the amount of volatile oil which it contains.   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 volatile oil, it is necessary either to augment the proportion of magne-
sia,  or  to  expose  the mixture for a much longer time, or to diminish the
volatile  oil of the copaiba by evaporation.   The magnesia combines che-
mically with the resin, but, in relation to the volatile oil, acts merely as an
absorbent; for, when the solidified mass is submitted to the action of boiling
alcohol, a part is  dissolved, abandoning the  magnesia with which  it was
mixed, while the resin combined with  another portion of the earth remains
undissolved.  (Journ. de Pharm.,  xvii. 105.)  According to Guibourt, co-
paiba not solidifiable by magnesia, may be made  so by adding one-sixth of
Bordeaux or common European turpentine.  (Ibid., xxv. 499.) The magnesia
employed in this process, should not have been allowed to become hydrated
by exposure to a moist air or otherwise. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Se
Ser., v.  475.)  In the preparation of the pills of copaiba, care should be taken
to divide the mass before it has become too hard.   The advantage of this
preparation is, that the copaiba is  brought to the  state of pill with little in-
crease of its 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 a formula which he
proposes.  He takes 15 parts of copaiba and one  part of slaked lime, mixes
them in a marble mortar, transfers the mixture to an open vessel, places this
upon a sand-bath, and sustains the  heat for  four hours, occasionally stirring.
It is necessary that the hydrate of lime should have been freshly prepared
from recently burnt  lime.   The mixture loses only a twenty-fourth of its
weight,  which  is chiefly the water of the hydrate.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e
Ser., i.  310.)                                                     W.
   PILULA  CUPRI  AMMONIATI. Ed.  Fills  of Ammoniated
Copper.
  "  Take of Ammoniated Copper, in fine powder, one part; Bread-crumb
six parts ;  Solution of Carbonate of Ammonia a sufficiency.   Beat them
into  a proper mass, and divide it into pills, containing each half a grain of
ammoniated copper." Ed.
  This  is  a convenient form for administering ammoniated copper.  One
pill may be given night and morning, and the dose gradually increased to five
or six pills.                                                      W.

   PILULA  DIGITALIS  ET SCILLA. Ed.   Pills of Digitalis
and Squill.
  "Take of Digitalis and Squill, of each, one part; Aromatic  Electuary
two  parts.  Beat  them into a proper mass with  Conserve of Red Roses;
and divide the mass into four grain pills." Ed.
  These pills  combine the diuretic properties of digitalis and squill, and
may be given in dropsy.   One or two pills constitute a dose.         W. 
PART II.
Pilula.
1065
   PILULA FERRI CARBONATIS. U. S., Ed.   Pills of Carbo-
 nate of Iron.   VallePs Ferruginous Pills.
   " Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces ; Carbonate of Soda^ue ounces ;
 Clarified Honey two ounces and  a  half;  Syrup, Boiling Water, each, a
 sufficient quantity.  Dissolve  the Sulphate of Iron and Carbonate of Soda,
 each, in a pint of the Water, and to each solution add  a fluidounce of  Syrup;
 then mix the two solutions in a bottle just large enough  to contain them,
 close it accurately with a stopper, and set it by that the carbonate of iron may
 subside.   Pour off the supernatant liquid, and, having washed the precipi-
 tate with warm water,  sweetened with  Syrup in  the proportion of a fluid-
 ounce of the latter to a  pint of the former, until the washings no longer  have
 a saline  taste, place it upon a flannel cloth, and express as much of the water
 as possible; then immediately mix it with Honey.  Lastly, heat the  mix-
 ture, by means of a water-bath, until it attains a pilular consistence." U.S.
   " Take of the Saccharine Carbonate of Iron four parts ; Conserve  of Red
 Roses one 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 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 car-
 bonate which first precipitates absorbs oxygen, and loses nearly all its carbo-
 nic acid  in the processes of wrashing 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 the same substance, the
 absorption of oxygen and loss of carbonic acid, during the separation  of the
 precipitate, are almost  completely prevented.  It only remains, therefore, to
 preserve it unaltered, and  to bring it  to  the pilular consistence, and  this is
 effected by admixture  with  honey, and evaporation  by means of a  water-
 bath.  Of course it is  essential to the success of this process, that the sul-
 phate of iron should be pure;  otherwise some  sesquioxide will  be present
 in the  product.  The  process  just explained  is that of M. Vallet, of  Paris,
 after whom the preparation is  popularly called.   The Edinburgh  pill of
 carbonate of iron is made in a different  manner.  The saccharine carbonate,
 a preparation peculiar to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, is brought to a  pilular
 consistence by being mixed with conserve of roses.   This process is infe-
 rior  to  that of Vallet;  for in  the first place, the saccharine  carbonate is
 admitted to contain sesquioxide of iron, and secondly, conserve of roses is a
 less efficient preservative of the pilular mass than honey. (See Ferri Carbo-
 nas Saccharatum.)
   Properties.   The U. S. preparation is in  the  form  of a soft pilular mass,
 of a uniform black colour  and strong  ferruginous taste.   When carefully
 prepared, it is wholly and  readily soluble in  acids.   It contains nearly  half
 its weight of carbonate  of  protoxide of iron.   The Edinburgh pill may be
 supposed to contain one-third of ferruginous  matter.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.   The U. S. pill  of carbonate of iron, or
 Vailet's ferruginous mass, is admirably adapted to cases in which ferruginous
 preparations are indicated.   It  is considered particularly useful in chlorosis,
amenorrhoea, and other female complaints, and appears  to act favourably by in-
creasing  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 
1066
Pilula.
PART II.
course of the day, and continued for a month or six weeks, if improvement
takes 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 can be
but little doubt, that, in cases in which the alterative effects of iron are called
for, Vailet's preparation is  superior to  any other derived from  that metal.
Its chief merits are its unchangeableness and ready solubility  in acids.  For '
further information respecting it, see  the favourable report made on  Vailet's
ferruginous  pills  to the French Royal  Academy  of Medicine, in 1837, by
M. Soubeiran, republished  in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. x.  241, and the
paper on carbonate of iron by Mr. Wm. Procter, Jr., contained in the same
journal, x. 272.                                                   B.

   PILULA  FERRI  COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond.,  Dub.   Com-
pound Fills of Iron.
   " Take of Myrrh,  in powder, two drachms ; Carbonate of Soda, Sulphate
of Iron, each, a drachm; Syrup a sufficient quantity.  Rub the Myrrh with
the Carbonate of Soda; then add the Sulphate of Iron, and again rub them;
lastly, beat  them with the  Syrup so as  to form a mass, to  be divided into
eighty pills."  U. S.
   The  directions of the British Colleges are essentially the same as the
above.   The London College orders a drachm of molasses, the Dublin, a
drachm of brown sugar, instead of the syrup.  With brown sugar alone, the
reaction  of the materials in our climate does  not  always  produce sufficient
moisture to  give the  mass a pilular consistence.   The direction for dividing
the mass into pills is peculiar to our Pharmacopoeia.
   This preparation is closely analogous  to the Mistura Ferri Composita in
properties and composition.  It is a good emmenagogue and antihectic tonic.
As its peculiar advantages  depend upon the presence  of carbonate  of prot-
oxide of iron, which speedily changes  into the sesquioxide on exposure, it
is proper that only so much of the mass  should be prepared as may be wanted
for immediate use.  It is said that the  iron will  be better preserved in the
state  of  protoxide, if, instead of mixing the ingredients as directed in the
Pharmacopoeia, the operator should first dissolve  the sulphate of iron, finely
powdered, in  the syrup, with a  moderate heat, then  add the carbonate of
soda, stirring till 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 SULPHATIS.  Ed.   Pills of Sulphate of
Iron.
   "Take of Dried Sulphate of Iron two parts ; Extract of Taraxacum five
parts;  Conserve of Red Roses two parts; Liquorice-root powder three
parts.  Beat them together into a proper mass,, which is  to be divided into
five grain pills."  Ed.
   There may be some doubt of the propriety of mixing the sulphate of iron
with the confection of roses, by the tannic acid of which it must be decom-
posed.   The dose is from five to twenty grains.                    W.
   PILULA GALBANI COMPOSITA. U. S., Lond,, Dub.  Pil-
ule AssAFffiTiD^:. Ed.   Compound Pills of Galbanum.
   " Take of Galbanum, Myrrh, each, an ounce and a half;  Assafetida half
an ounce;  Syrup a sufficient quantity.  Beat them together so as to form
a mass, to be divided into four hundred and eighty pills."  U. S.
   The London College directs of Galbanum an ounce, of Myrrh and Saga-
penum, each, an ounce and a half, of Assafetida, half an ounce, and of Syrup
a sufficient  quantity; and orders them  to be beaten together until thoroughly 
PART II.
Pilula.
1067
incorporated.  The Dublin College  gives the same directions, substituting
molasses for the syrup.  The Edinburgh College takes of assafetida, gal-
banum, and  myrrh, each, three parts, conserve of red roses four parts or a
sufficient quantity, mixes them, and beats them into a proper pilular mass.
  This  compound is given as an antispasmodic and emmenagogue in chlo-
rosis and hysteria.   The dose is from ten to twenty grains.           W.
  PILULA  GAMBOGIA COMPOSITA. Dub.   Pilule  Cam-
bogle  CoMPosiTiE.  Lond.  Pilule  Cambogi^*. Ed.   Compound
Pills of Gamboge.
  " Take of Gamboge, in powder, a drachm; Aloes, in powder, a drachm
and a half;  Ginger, in powder, half a drachm; Soap two  drachms.  Mix
the powders together;  then add the  Soap, and beat the whole  together  till
they are thoroughly incorporated." Lond.
  The Dublin formula  differs from  the  above only in designating hepatic
aloes, and in the addition of molasses to impart more readily the pilular con-
sistence.
  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 whole 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  HYDRARGYRI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Mercurial
Pills.  Elite 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 Confection 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 quar-
ter only of the quantity of materials  being used.   The Dublin  process dif-
fers from the London only in substituting extract of liquorice  root for the
root  itself.   Neither of these Colleges orders the mass to be divided into
pills.  The Edinburgh process corresponds with that of the U. S. Pharma-
copoeia,  except that the relative  quantity of the ingredients is expressed in
parts, and the mass is divided into five grain pills.
  This preparation is very  generally known by the name of blue pill.  The
mercury constitutes one-third of the mass ;  and consequently the pill of our
Pharmacopoeia, which weighs three grains, contains one grain of the metal.
  The condition  of the mercury in this preparation is a point which has not
yet been  precisely  determined.  There is no  doubt that 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 the black or
protoxide of mercury, and that this is the ingredient upon which the activity
of the pill  depends.  The  supposed oxidation is attributed  partly to the
influence of  the air upon the  surface of  the metal, greatly extended by the
separation of its particles, partly to the action of the substance used in the
trituration.   If the mercury be not oxidized during the trituration, there can
be little doubt that it becomes  so to a slight extent by subsequent exposure.
The  obvious changes which the  mass undergoes by time  can be explained
in no other way; and protoxide of mercury is asserted to have been actually
extracted from  the old  mercurial pill.  Nevertheless, it scarcely admits of 
1068
Pilula.
part ii.
dispute that the metal, quite independently of oxidation out of the body,
is capable of producing the peculiar mercurial effects upon the system when
introduced into the stomach, probably undergoing chemical changes there.
According to M. Mialhe, mercury is slowly converted into corrosive sublimate
in the  stomach, under  the combined agency of air and chloride of sodium.
(Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Se Ser, ii. 440.)  All agree that the efficacy
of the preparation is proportionate to the extinction of the mercury, in other
words, to the degree  in which the metallic globules disappear.  This extinc-
tion 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 affording  greater facilities, and
being less liable to objection than any other.  The mercury is known to be
completely extinguished, when, upon rubbing a small  portion of the mass
with the end of the finger upon a piece of paper or glass, no metallic globules
appear.  The powdered liquorice root is  added in order to give the  due
degree of consistence to the mass.  As the trituration requires to be continued
a considerable length of time, and renders the process very laborious, it is
customary in  Great Britain to prepare  the  mass  by  machinery;  and 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."   The preparation slowly changes colour
upon being  kept, assuming  an olive and sometimes even a reddish tint, in
consequence, probably, of the further oxidation of the mercury.  Much of the
mercurial pill employed in this country is imported from England.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  These pills  are among the mildest of the
mercurial preparations, being less  liable than  most of the others to act upon
the  bowels, and exercising  the peculiar  influence of the remedy upon the
system with less  general irritation.   They are much employed for produc-
ing  the  sialagogue and alterative action of mercury.  For the former pur-
pose, one pill may be  given two or three  times a day; and if the case be
urgent the dose may be increased.   Even  this preparation sometimes  dis-
turbs the bowels.   It should then be given combined with a small proportion
of opium, or in very minute doses,  as half a grain or a grain of the mass
repeated every hour  or two through  the day, so as to allow of  its  absorp-
tion before a sufficient  quantity has been administered  to  act as  an irritant.
With  a view to the  alterative effect of the preparation 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 some  laxative medicine.   From five to  fifteen grains of the
mass are occasionally given  as a cathartic, in cases requiring a peculiar im-
pression upon the  liver; but, when used for this purpose, it should always
either be combined or speedily followed by a more certain purgative.  The
blue mass may frequently  be administered with advantage, suspended in
water by the intervention of thick mucilage; and it forms an excellent 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; Sy rup 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. 
 part ii.                       Pilula.                          1069

   This is a convenient form for administering calomel, of which one grain
 is contained in  each pill.   Soap, which  was directed in the preparation  of
 this pill in the first edition of the Pharmacopoeia, is objectionable on account
 of  its chemical incompatibility with calomel.   Mucilage  of gum  Arabic
 alone does not form a sufficiently plastic mass ;  but gum and syrup united,
 as in the officinal formula, answer admirably well, forming a mass which is
 easily made into pills, and which readily yields to the solvent power of the
 stomach.                                                       W.
   PILULA  HYDRARGYRI  IODIDI. Lond.   Pills of Iodide  of
 Mercury.
   " Take of Iodide  of Mercury a  drachm; Confection  of the Dog Rose
 three drachms; Ginger, in powder, a drachm.  Beat  them together until
 they are incorporated." Lond.
   The dose of this preparation is from five to ten grains.            W.
   PILULA   IPECACUANHA  COMPOSITA. Lond.    Com-
 pound Pills of Ipecacuanha.
   " Take of Compound  Powder of Ipecacuanha [Dover's powder] three
 drachms;  Squill, recently dried,  Ammoniac,  each, a drachm;  Mixture
 [Mucilage] of Gum Arabic a  sufficient quantity.   Beat them together until
 they are incorporated." Lond.
  An anodyne, somewhat stimulating, and expectorant combination, appli-
 cable to cases of chronic  bronchial disease.   The  dose is from five to ten
 grains.                                                         W.
   PILULA  IPECACUANHA  ET  OPII. Ed.    Pills  of Ipe-
 cacuanha and Opium.
  " Take  of Powder of Ipecacuanha and Opium three parts ; Conserve  of
 Red Roses one part.   Beat them into a proper mass,  which  is to be divided
 into four grain pills."  Ed.
  This is  merely the Dover's  powder in a pilular form ; as there can scarcely
 be a doubt, that the College intended by the name " powder of ipecacuanha
 and opium," to designate  the  preparation which  they now call " compound
 powder  of ipecacuanha."   These  pills  are narcotic and sudorific.  The
 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.   Piltjlje Opii sive Thebaic^. Ed.  Pills
 of  Opium.
  "Take  of Opium, in powder, a drachm; Soap twelve  grains.   Beat
 them with water so as to form  a mass, to be divided  into sixty pills."  U. S.
  "Take of Opium one part; Sulphate  of Potassa three  parts; Conserve
 of Red Roses  one part.   Beat  them into a proper  mass,  which is to be
 divided into five grain pills." Ed.
  The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is designed merely to furnish a
 convenient formula for putting  opium into the pilular form, preferable to the
 mode sometimes practised of making the pills directly from the unpowdered
 mass of opium as found in commerce.   The soap answers no other purpose
 than to give a due consistence, and is therefore in small proportion.  Each
 pill  contains a grain of opium.
  The object intended to  be  answered  by  the  Edinburgh preparation is
 somewhat uncertain.  The proportion of the opium corresponds with that in
 the Pilulae Saponis Compositae of the other Pharmacopoeias, but the name
 given to the preparation indicates that there could  be no intention to conceal
its nature;  while the direction  to divide  the  mass into pills  of five grains,
    91 
1070
Pilula.
PART II.
each containing a grain of opium, shows that the design was not to offer the
means of exhibiting small doses of that narcotic in the  pilular form.  The
object probably was  merely to  separate the particles of opium by the inter-
vention of sulphate of potassa, and thus to render it more soluble in the gas-
tric liquors.   In this  case, the preparation ranks rather with the  U. S. pills
of opium, with which we have placed  it, than with the compound pills of
soap.
  Of either of these pills, one  is  a  medium dose in  reference  to the full
effects of opium.                                                W.
  PILULA PLUMBI  OPIATA. Ed.   Opiate Pills of Lead.
  " Take of Acetate  of Lead six parts ; Opium one part; Conserve of Red
Roses about one part.  Beat them into a proper mass, which is to be divided
into four grain pills.  This pill may be made also with twice the  quantity of
opium."  Ed.
  This pill would be better left to extemporaneous prescription ; the requi-
site proportion of opium to the acetate of lead varying constantly  in different
cases.  Besides, to have two preparations under the same name,  one con-
taining twice as much opium  as the other, must lead to  great confusion, and
is altogether objectionable.   The tannic  acid of the confection of roses will
decompose a portion of the acetate;  but the resulting tannate of lead is not
inert.  Each pill contains three grains of acetate of lead, which is  generally
too much for a commencing dose.                                 W.
  PILULA  QUINIA  SULPHATIS. U.S.  Pills of Sulphate of
Quinia.
  " Take of Sulphate of Quinia an ounce ;  Gum Arabic, in powder, two
drachms; Syrup a sufficient quantity.  Mix together the Sulphate of Quinia
and the Gum; then  beat them with the  Syrup so as to form a  mass, to be
divided into four hundred and eighty pills." U. S.
  Each pill contains  a grain of sulphate of quinia, and twelve are equivalent
to an ounce of good  Peruvian bark.                               W.
  PILULA  RHEI. U S., Ed.  Pills of Rhubarb.
  " Take of Rhubarb, in powder, six drachms ;  Soap two drachms.  Beat
them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into one hundred and
twenty pills." U. S.
  "Take of Rhubarb, in  fine powder, nine parts; Acetate of  Potash one
part; Conserve of Red Roses five parts.  Beat  them into  a proper mass,
and divide it into five grain pills."  Ed.
  Rhubarb is so often  given in the pilular  form, that it is  convenient both
for the physician and apothecary to have an officinal formula, indicating the
mode of preparing the  pills, as well as the quantity of rhubarb to be contained
in each.   Soap, as directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, has stood the test
of  long experience as a good excipient for rhubarb.   The medicine is suffi-
ciently disposed to constipate without the addition of the confection of roses
ordered by the Edinburgh College.  The acetate  of potassa directed by the
College is  probably  intended to keep the pill soft.  The U. S. formula is
decidedly preferable.   According to both, each pill contains three  grains  of
rhubarb.                                                         W.

   PILULA RHEI COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond.,Ed.   Compound
Pills of Rhubarb.
   " Take of Rhubarb, in powder, an ounce ; Aloes, in powder, six drachms:
Myrrh, in powder, half an ounce;  Oil  of Peppermint half a fluidrachm;
Syrup of Orange Peel a sufficient quantity.  Beat the whole together so as
to form a mass, to be divided into two hundred and forty pills."  U. S. 
part ii.                       Pilula.                          1071

  The London College  takes the same quantities of powdered rhubarb,
aloes, and myrrh;  mixes them ; then adds a drachm  of  soap, half a flui-
drachm of oil of caraway, and sufficient syrup; 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 red roses^ve parts ; mixes them, and beats  them into a mass,
which is  divided into five grain pills.   This College also allows the pills to
be made  without oil of peppermint, when so preferred.
  This is a warm tonic  laxative, useful in costiveness with debility of sto-
mach. From two  to four pills,  or from ten to twenty grains of the mass,
may be taken twice a day.                                       W.
  PILULA RHEI ET FERRI. Ed. Pills  of Rhubarb and Jron.
  "Take of Dried Sulphate of Iron four parts; Extract of Rhubarb ten
parts; Conserve of Red Roses five parts.   Beat them  into a proper  pill
mass, and divide it  into five grain pills." Ed.
  Tonic  and laxative in the dose of two or three pills.               W.
  PILULA SAGAPENI COMPOSITA. Lond.  Compound Pills
of Sagapenum.
  "Take of Sagapenum an  ounce;  Aloes half a drachm;  Syrup of Gin-
ger a sufficient quantity.  Beat them together until they  are incorporated."
Lond.
  A stimulant, antispasmodic,  and laxative preparation, which may be used
in cases of flatulent colic, with costiveness, dependent on deficient irritability
of the bowels.  The dose is from ten  to thirty  grains.                W.
  PILULA  SAPONIS   COMPOSITA.  U.S., Lond.    Pilulje
Saponis cum Opio. Dub.   Compound Pills of Soap.
  "Take of Opium, in  powder, half an ounce;  Soap two  oicnces.  Beat
them together so as to form a pilular mass." U. S.
  The directions of the London and Dublin Colleges correspond with those
of the U.S.  Pharmacopoeia.
  This preparation  is useful by affording the opportunity of conveniently
administering opium, in a pilular and  readily soluble form, in small fractions
of a grain.   The name  adopted in  the U. S. and  London Pharmacopoeias
was  probably intended to conceal the nature of the  preparation  from  the
patient.  That of the Dublin College is inappropriate; as opium, though in
small proportion as  to quantity, is yet the ingredient of greatest importance,
and that which gives character to the  pill.  One grain  of opium is contained
in five of the mass.                                               W.

  PILULA  SCILLA COMPOSITA.  U.S., Lond., Dub.  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,
and proceeds in the  same manner, except that the mass is not divided into
pills.   The  Dublin process  differs from the London only  in  employing
three drachms of ginger,  in adding the ammoniac  without previously pow-
dering it,  and in giving the due  consistence by molasses instead of syrup.
The Edinburgh College  takes of squill, in fine powder, ^n-e parts; ammo-
niac, ginger  in fine  powder, and Spanish  soap, each,/ow»* parts;  conserve 
 1072                   Pilula.—Plumbum.                 part ii.

 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.
   This  is  a  stimulant  expectorant compound, depending for  its  virtues
 chiefly on the squill, and applicable to the treatment of chronic affections of
 the  bronchial 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.

   PILULA STYRACIS  COMPOSITA. Lond.   Pilule Sty-
 racis. Ed.  Pilule e Styrace. Dub.  Compound Pills of Storax.
   "Take of  Storax, strained, three drachms; hard  Opium, in powder,
 Saffron, each, a drachm.   Beat them together, until they are thoroughly
 incorporated." Lond.
   The process of the Dublin College is essentially the same as the above.
 The Edinburgh College takes of opium and saffron, each, one part, and of
 extract of storax two parts, and beats them into a uniform mass, which is
 divided into five grain pills.
   In these pills the storax and saffron  are added merely to conceal the taste
 and  smell of the opium, as the name of the  pills is intended to conceal their
 real character.  This contrivance is deemed necessary ;  as some individuals
 have a prejudice against the  use of opium,  which reason  cannot overcome.
 Five grains  of the mass contain a grain of opium.                    W.


                           PLUMBUM.

                      Preparations of Lead.

   LIQUOR  PLUMBI SUBACETATIS. U.S.  Liquor Plumbi
 Diacetatis. Lond.  Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor. Dub.  Plumbi
 Diacetatis  Solutio. Ed.  Solution of Subacetate  of Lead.
   " Take of Acetate of  Lead sixteen ounces; Semivitrified 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 ; 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;
 lastly filter." Lond.  The sp. gr. of the solution is 1*260.
   " Take of Acetate of Lead six ounces and six drachms; Litharge, in fine
 powder, four ounces; Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure].  Boil
 the Salt and Litharge with the  Water for half an hour, stirring occasionally.
 When the solution is cold add Water, if  necessary,  to make up a pint and a
 half; and then filter.   Preserve the solution in well-closed  bottles." Ed.
   " Take of Semivitrified Oxide of Lead one part;  Distilled Vinegar twelve
parts.  Boil together in a glass vessel until eleven parts of the fluid remain;
 then let the liquor rest, and when the impurities have subsided, let it be fil-
 tered." Dub.
   Crystallized  acetate of lead consists of one equivalent  of acetic acid 51,
 one of protoxide of lead 111*6, and three of  water 27=189-6.  Litharge,
 as usually found in the shops, is an impure protoxide of lead.  When a solu- 
PART II.
Plumbum.
1073
 tion of the former is boiled with the latter, a large quantity of the protoxide
 is dissolved, and a subacetate of lead is formed which remains in solution.
 The  precise composition  of  the subacetate  varies  with  the  proportions of
 aqetate 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, forming a trisacetate ; when the two substances are
 mixed in proportions corresponding 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.   As the quantity of litharge directed in the former
 U. S. Pharmacopoeia was intermediate  between these proportions, it is pro-
 bable that the  solution which resulted  contained both the diacetate and tris-
 acetate.   In the present edition, the proportions have been so arranged as to
 result in the production of the diacetate; and the preparation is thus rendered
 identical  or  nearly so with those of the London  and  Edinburgh  Colleges.
 The  former of these  Colleges originally prepared  this  solution  by boiling
 together vinegar and litharge; but, at the last revisal of their Pharmacopoeia,
 a process was adopted analogous to that of our national standard.   The pre-
 paration  was newly  introduced  into  the  last edition  of  the Edinburgh
 Pharmacopoeia.  In executing the process, the litharge should be employed
 in the state  of  very fine powder, and, according to Thenard,  should  be pre-
 viously 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 solu-
 tion of  the acetate.
   The  process  of the  Dublin College  also results in the production of a
 subacetate of lead,  one equivalent  of the acetic acid of the vinegar combin-
 ing directly  with two equivalents of the protoxide of the litharge, to form a
 diacetate.  That a trisacetate is not produced may be  inferred from the fact,
 ascertained by  Dr. Barker, that distilled vinegar  dissolves only about one-
 twelfth  of its weight of the litharge, which is not nearly sufficient to afford
 three  equivalents of protoxide to one  of the acid.   Besides, according to
 Phillips  and Duncan, the  resulting salt has been  proved  by  the  analysis of
 Dr. Bostock  to be composed of one equivalent of acid and two of base.  The
 strength of the  solution necessarily varies with the strength  of the vinegar,
 and this is an objection against the Dublin process, to which the others are
 not equally liable.  We are  told by Phillips,  that the sp. gr.  of the solution
 prepared  with  distilled vinegar  of 1*007  is  1*220, with that of 1*009 is
 1*309;  while Dr. Barker  states the specific gravity  of  the  saturated solu-
 tion, prepared by himself  with distilled vinegar,  to be only 1*118 at 68°.
 Common vinegar yields a dark brown solution, and is therefore not employed.
  Properties. The solution of subacetate of  lead of  the U.S., Edinburgh,
 and London Pharmacopoeias is colourless, that of  the  Dublin College has a
 pale greenish-straw colour, arising from impurities  in  the distilled vinegar.
 Its taste is sweetish and astringent.   When  concentrated by evaporation, it
 deposits on cooling crystalline plates, which, according to  Dr.  Barker, are flat
 rhomboidal prisms with dihedral summits. It has an alkaline reaction, tinging
 the syrup of  violets green, and reddening turmeric paper.  One of its most
 striking properties  is  the  extreme facility  with  which  it is decomposed/
 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
atmosphere.  It affords precipitates also with the alkalies, alkaline earths,
and their  carbonates, with sulphuric and muriatic  acids free or combined,
                                   91* 
1074                         Plumbum.                      part ii.

with hydrosulphuric 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 yield-
ing 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
inflammation 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 flui-
drachms to a fluidounce, added to a pint of distilled water, forms a solution
sufficiently strong in ordinary cases of external inflammation.  When applied
to the  skin denuded  of  the  cuticle, the solution  should be still  weaker, as
constitutional effects might result from the absorption of the lead.  Paralysis
is said to have been produced by its local  action ; but we have not witnessed
such an effect.  The solution has  the common name of Goulard's extract,
derived from a surgeon of Montpellier by  whom  it was introduced into gene-
ral notice, though previously employed.
   Off.Prep. Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, U.S., Lond.;  Ceratum Saponis,
U. S.;  Liquor Plumbi  Subacetatis Dilutus, U. S.,  Lond., Dub.; Plumbi
Oxydum Hydratum, Lond.                                       W.
   LIQUOR PLUMBI  SUBACETATIS  DILUTUS. U.S.   Li-
quor  Plumbi 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
apint [Imperial measure]  of  distilled water, and two fluidrachms of proof
spirit; the Dublin, a fluidrachm  of the solution, with a pint  of distilled
water, and a fluidrachm of proof-spirit.
   This preparation is convenient; as, in  consequence of the subsidence of
the carbonate of lead usually formed on the dilution of the  strong solution,
it enables the apothecary to furnish  clear lead-water when it is called for.
The strength, though doubled in the last edition  of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia,
might be still further increased without disadvantage.  The British prepara-
tions are much too feeble.   The old French Codex  directed two drachms of
the strong solution to a pound  of distilled water, and an ounce of alcohol of
22° Baume, and thus formed  the  vegeto-mineral water  of Goulard.  The
minute proportion of proof-spirit  added  by the British Colleges can have
little sensible effect.                                               W.
   PLUMBI CHLORIDUM. Lond.   Chloride of Lead.
   "Take of Acetate of  Lead nineteen ounces; boiling Distilled  Water three
pints [Imperial measure]; Chloride  of Sodium  six  ounces.  Dissolve sepa-
rately  the Acetate of Lead and Chloride of Sodium, the former in three pints
of Distilled  Water, the latter in one pint of Distilled Water.   Then mix the
solutions, and wash the precipitate, after it has become cool, with Distilled
Water, and dry it." Lond. 
PART II.
Plumbum.
1075
   In this process, a mutual decomposition of the acetate of lead and chloride
of sodium takes place; the sodium of the latter changing place with the lead
of the former, so as to produce acetate of soda which remains in solution,
and chloride of lead which is precipitated.
   Chloride  of  lead is soluble in thirty parts of water at 60°, and in twenty-
two parts at 212°, and from its saturated boiling solution separates in small,
brilliant, anhydrous crystals.   It is colourless and fusible, and, upon cooling
after fusion, assumes a horn-like appearance, from which it has received the
name of horn  lead.  The London College gives as characters of it, besides
its relation with water above  mentioned, that it becomes  yellow with heat,
and black upon the addition of hydrosulphuric acid.   It was introduced into
the last edition of the London Pharmacopoeia merely as one of the substances
employed in the preparation of muriate of morphia.                  W.
   PLUMBI IODIDUM. Lond., Ed.   Iodide of Lead.
   " Take of Acetate of Lead nine ounces ; Iodide of Potassium seven ounces;
Distilled Water a gallon [Imperial measure].  Dissolve the Acetate of Lead
in six pints  of  the Water and filter; and to  these add the Iodide of  Potas-
sium previously dissolved in two pints of the Water.  Wash the precipitate
and dry it." L,ond.
   " 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.
Let any undissolved matter subside, maintaining the temperature near the
boiling point;  and pour off the clear  liquor, from which the iodide of lead
will crystallize on cooling." Ed.
   In the process of the London College, the acetate of lead gives up its metal
to the iodine from which it  receives  the potassium—the operation  taking
place between single equivalents of the several ingredients.   The acetate  of
potassa thus formed remains  in solution', while the  iodide of lead is preci-
pitated.   The  saturating proportions of crystallized acetate  of lead and
iodide of potassium are  189*6 of the former and 165-45 of the  latter, or 9
to 783; so  that  the acetate is slightly in excess.   The  proportions should
be as nearly as possible those of exact saturation.   An excess of the iodide
of potassium has  the disadvantage of holding a portion of the iodide of lead
in solution :  while, according to  Christison, an excess of lead over the iodine
disposes  to  the formation of  the lemon-yellow insoluble oxyiodide of lead.
The latter result is very apt to take place;  as the acetate of lead is liable  to
contain  an excess of  oxide, and the iodide  of  potassium is often impure.
To obviate the disadvantage of  an excess of oxide  in the acetate, it is re-
commended  to add a little acetic  acid to the solution of this salt before mixing
it with the iodide of potassium.   Besides the oxyiodide above mentioned, a
carbonate of lead is liable to  be formed from the frequent  presence of the
carbonate of potassa in the iodide of potassium of the  shops.   It is  to free
the precipitated iodide of  lead  from these  impurities  that  the  Edinburgh
College directs it to be boiled with water acidulated  with  acetic acid, which
readily dissolves any carbonate or acetate of lead present, as well as the iodide,
and deposits only the last upon cooling.
  The Edinburgh College employs the nitrate instead of the acetate of lead
as more easily obtained  pure;  but the  advantage of  the former salt over the
latter is scarcely sufficent to warrant the introduction of a new officinal for
this sole purpose.  In the Edinburgh process, a double decomposition takes 
1076
Plumbum.
PART II.
place,  as  in the London, resulting in the production of nitrate of potassa
which  is retained in solution, and iodide of lead which falls.   The saturating
proportions are 165*6 of the nitrate  and 165-45  of  the iodide, or almost
precisely  equal quantities.
  As obtained by the London process, iodide of  lead  is in the form of a
bright  yellow, heavy, tasteless, and inodorous powder.  It is soluble in 1235
parts of cold water (Soubeiran, Trait,  de Pharm.), and is considerably more
soluble in boiling water, which, on cooling, deposits  it in  minute, shining,
golden-yellow, crystalline scales.  In this form it is presented by the Edin-
burgh  process.  It melts by heat, and is dissipated in vapours which are at
first yellow, and ultimately violet in  consequence of  the disengagement of
the iodine.  It consists of one equivalent of iodine 126*3,  and  one of lead
103*6=229*9.  As a test of  its  purity, the  Edinburgh College states that
five grains are  entirely dissolved, with  the aid of heat, by a fluidrachm of their
pyroligneous acid, diluted with a fluidounce and a half of distilled water; and
golden crystals are copiously deposited when the solution cools.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   This compound is supposed  to have the
resolvent  properties of iodine, combined with  those  which are peculiar to
lead, and  was  at one  time recommended in tuberculous diseases, in which,
however,  it has proved wholly inefficient.  It  is said to have been usefully
employed in the discussion of scrofulous tumours  and other indolent swell-
ings, 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 Dispensa-
tory.)   The dose is from half a grain  to three or four grains.  Dr. O'Shaugh-
nessy states that ten grains are borne without inconvenience.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond.                    W.
   PLUMBI  NITRAS. Ed.  Nitrate of Lead.
  " Take of Litharge four  ounces and a half; Diluted Nitric Acid a pint
[Imperial measure].   Dissolve the Litharge  to saturation with the aid of a
gentle  heat.  Filter and set the liquor aside to crystallize.   Concentrate the
residual liquid to obtain more crystals." Ed.
  In this  process  the nitric  acid  unites directly with the protoxide to form
the nitrate.  This  is in beautiful white, nearly opaque, tetrahedral or octohe-
dral  crystals, which are permanent in the air, of  a  sweet astringent taste,
soluble in water and  alcohol,  and composed of one equiv. of nitric  acid,
54, and one of protoxide of lead 111*6, without water of crystallization.
When  heated the salt first melts and is then decomposed, with the evolution
of nitrous  fumes, and  a residue of metallic lead.
  Nitrate  of lead  is not employed as a medicine ; and was introduced into
the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia merely as one  of the substances employed in
the preparation of the iodide of lead.
   Off. Prep. Plumbi  Iodidum, Ed.                                W.

  PLUMBI  OXYDUM HYDRATUM.  Lond.   Hydrated Oxide of
Lead.
  " Take of Solution of Diacetate of  Lead six pints ; Distilled Water three
gallons; Solution  of  Potassa  six  pints, or as  much  as may be required to
precipitate the Oxide.   Mix them, and wash  the precipitate  with water until
nothing alkaline remains." Lond.
  In this process the  potassa takes the acetic  acid of the diacetate and sepa-
rates the protoxide of lead, which becomes a  hydrate  by uniting with a por-
tion of water at the moment of separation, and, being insoluble, is  precipitated
in the form of a white powder.  It was introduced by the London College 
 part ii.                 Plumbum.—Potassa.                    1077

 into their Pharmacopoeia as one of the substances employed in their pro-
 cess for  preparing sulphate of  quinia; but, as this  process  has not been
 practically adopted, the hydrated oxide of lead may be considered as altoge-
 ther useless in pharmacy.                                        W.

                            POTASSA.

                     Preparations of Potassa.

    LIQUOR POTASSA. U. S., Lond.   Potass^ Aqua. Ed.   Fo-
 tass.e Caustics Aqua. Dub.   Solution of Potassa.
    " Take of Carbonate of Potassa a pound; Lime half a pound;  Boiling
 Distilled  Water a  gallon.   Dissolve  the Carbonate of Potassa in half a
 gallon of the Water.   Pour a little of  the  Water on the Lime, and  when it
 is  slaked, add the remainder.  Mix the hot liquors, and boil for ten minutes,
 stirring constantly; then set the mixture aside, in a covered vessel, until it
 becomes  clear.  Lastly, pour off the supernatant liquor, and keep it in well
 stopped bottles of green glass." U.S.
    "Take of Carbonate  of Potassa fifteen  ounces; Lime eight ounces;
 boiling Distilled Water a gallon [Imperial   measure].  Dissolve the Car-
 bonate of Potassa in half a gallon of the Water.   Sprinkle  a little of the
 Water upon the Lime in an earthen vessel, and, the Lime  being slaked, add
 the remainder of the Water.   The  liquors being immediately mixed to-
 gether in  a close vessel, shake  them frequently until they are cold.   Then
 set the mixture by, that the carbonate of lime  may subside.   Lastly, pour
 off the supernatant liquor, and keep it in a well stopped green  glass  bottle."
 Lond.
   " Take of Carbonate of Potash (dry) four ounces; Lime, recently burnt,
 two ounces; Water forty-five fluidounces  [Imp. meas.].   Let the Lime be
 slaked and converted into milk of Lime with seven fluidounces of the  Water.
 Dissolve the Carbonate in the remaining thirty-eight fluidounces of  Water;
 boil the  solution, and  add to it the milk of Lime in  successive portions,
 about an  eighth at a time, boiling briskly for a few minutes  after each ad-
 dition.  Pour 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  Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash,  fresh burnt Lime, each,
 two parts; Water  fifteen parts.   Sprinkle  one part  of  the Water, pre-
 viously  heated, on  the  Lime, placed  in an earthen vessel; and when it is
 slaked, mix the salt with it immediately, and  then add the remainder of the
 Water.   When the mixture  has cooled, put it into a well-stopped  bottle,
 and, shaking it  frequently, keep it for three days.  When  the  carbonate
 of lime  has subsided, decant the supernatant liquor, and keep it in green
 glass bottles, well stopped.   The specific gravity of this solution is 1*080."
 Dub.
  The object of these processes is to separate carbonic acid from the carbo-
 nate of potassa, so as to obtain the alkali in a caustic state.  This is effected
 by  hydrate of lime; and  the chemical  changes which take place are most
intelligibly explained by supposing the occurrence  of a double decomposi-
tion.  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 unites with the  potassa, and  remains in solution as
hydrate of potassa.  The proportion indicated by theory for this decompo- 
1078
Potassa.
part ii.
sition would be 69*15 of the  dry carbonate to 285 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 formulae  the alkaline salt is treated with half its weight
of lime; in the London, with eight-fifteenths; and in the Dublin, with  its
own  weight;  proportions,  the lowest  of  which  exceeds  the  theoretical
quantity.   The disadvantages  of using a large excess of lime, as is done
by the Dublin College,  are the necessity of employing larger vessels,  on
account of the bulk of the  materials, and  the  loss of a portion of alkaline
solution  which is retained  by the spongy residuum.   The proportion of
water  employed  has a  decided influence  on the result.  If the water  be
deficient in quantity, the decomposing power of  the  lime, on account of its
sparing  solubility, will  be  lessened ;  and  more of  it will  be  required to
complete  the   decomposition  of the carbonate  than if the solutions  had
been  more dilute.   The quantity ordered  is ample,  in  the  U. S., London,
and  Edinburgh formulae, but  is deficient in the Dublin process.   Thus,
taking the  lime at the  same quantity in each formula, the quantity of water
directed is expressed  by the following numbers  nearly; 59  Ed.,  58  U. IS.,
52  Lond., and 22 Dub.  Straining must not be  used; as the  operation
causes a prolonged  contact with the air, and risk  of the absorption of car-
bonic acid, and is apt,  moreover, to introduce organic matter into the solution
derived from the  strainer.  The direction to keep the solution in green glass
bottles is judicious;  as white flint glass is slightly acted  on.
  As the solution of potassa is frequently made by the manufacturing chemist
in considerable quantities, the following details, taken from Berzelius, of the
best mode of  conducting the  process, may not be  without  their use.  Dis-
solve 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
standing.   Boil the solution in an iron vessel, and while  it is boiling, add, at
intervals, small quantities of slaked lime reduced  to a thin paste with water;
allowing the solution to  boil a few  minutes  after  each addition.   One  and a
half parts of pure lime will be  more than sufficient to decompose one part of
the carbonate.  When about  half the  hydrate of lime has been added, take
out about a teaspoonful of the  boiling solution, and after dilution and filtration
through paper, test it by adding it to some nitric acid,  or by mixing it with an
equal bulk of lime-water.  If the solution has not been completely freed from
carbonic acid, the first reagent will cause an effervescence, and the second a
milky appearance; in  either of which events the addition of the lime must be
continued as before, until the above-mentioned tests give negative indications.
In conducting the process, two advantages are gained by  keeping the solution
constantly boiling.   One is  that the carbonate of lime formed is in this way
rendered granular and heavy,  and more disposed to subside; and the other,
that it prevents the precipitated carbonate from coalescing into a mass  at  the
bottom of the  vessel, an occurrence which causes  the ebullition, when subse-
quently renewed, to take place imperfectly and by jerks.   The process here
described is essentially the same with  that introduced into the last edition of
the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
  Properties, fyc.  Solution of potassa  is a limpid, colourless liquid, with-
out smell, and having an acrid caustic  taste, and alkaline reaction.   It acts
rapidly on animal and vegetable substances, and when rubbed between  the
fingers,  produces a soapy feel, in  consequence  of a partial solution of the
cuticle.  It dissolves gum, resins, and extractive  matter,  and by  union
with oily  and  fatty bodies forms  soap.   The  officinal solution is  never
perfectly pure, but  contains either some undecomposed carbonate, or free
lime, in addition to minute  portions of sulphate  of potassa, chloride of po- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1079
tassium, silica, and alumina, impurities usually present in  the  carbonate of
potassa obtained  from pearlash, which is  used in its preparation.  Unde-
composed carbonate may be detected in  the  manner explained in  the pre-
ceding paragraph, and free lime, by the production of a milky appearance
on the addition of  a few drops of  carbonate  of  potassa,  which serves to
precipitate the lime  as a carbonate.  When saturated  with nitric acid, it
gives little or no  precipitate with carbonate of soda, chloride of barium, or
nitrate of  silver.  It  is incompatible with  acids, acidulous  salts, and all
metallic and earthy preparations held  in solution  by an acid;  as also with
all ammoniacal salts, and with calomel and corrosive sublimate.   The offi-
cinal  solutions of potassa vary in strength ;  the U. S. solution having the
specific gravity of 1*056; the London, of 1*063 ;  the Edinburgh, of 1*072;
and the Dublin, of 1*080.  These solutions are quite dilute ; for, according
to a table given by Dalton,  a solution having  the sp. gr. 1-06, contains only
4*7 per cent, of alkali.  On account of its strong attraction for carbonic acid,
the solution of potassa should be  carefully preserved from contact with the
air.                                                                B.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Solution  of potassa is  antacid, diuretic,
and antilithic.  It has been much employed in calculous complaints, under
the impression that it has the  property of  dissolving urinary concretions in
the kidneys and  bladder;  but experience has  proved that the stone once
formed cannot be removed by remedies  internally administered,  and the
most  that  the alkaline medicines can effect,  is to  correct that disposition to
the superabundant secretion of uric acid, or the insoluble urates, upon which
gravel and stone often  depend.  For this purpose, however, the  carbonated
alkalies are preferable to caustic potassa, as  they  are less apt  to irritate the
stomach,  and  to produce injurious effects when  long  continued.  It has
been proposed to dissolve calculi by injecting immediately into the bladder the
solution of potassa in a tepid state, and so much diluted that it can be held
in the mouth ; but this mode of employing it has not been found to answer in
practice.  This solution has also been highly recommended in lepra, psoriasis,
and other cutaneous affections ; and is said to. have proved peculiarly useful
in scrofula ; but in all these cases it probably acts  simply by its antacid pro-
perty, and is not superior to the  carbonate of potassa or of soda.  Exter-
nally it has been used in a diluted state as a stimulant lotion in rachitis and
arthritic swellings, and concentrated, as  an escharotic in the bite of rabid or
venomous animals.   The dose is from ten  to thirty minims, repeated two or
three  times a day, and gradually increased  in cutaneous affections to one or
two  fluidrachms ; but the remedy should not be too long continued, as it is
apt to debilitate the  stomach.   It may be given in  sweetened water or some
mucilaginous fluid.   Veal broth and table  beer have been  recommended as
vehicles ;  but the fat usually present in the  former  would be liable to convert
the alkali  into  soap, and the acid in the latter would neutralize it.  In dyspep-
tic cases it may be associated with the simple bitters.  In excessive doses it
irritates, inflames, or corrodes  the stomach.  Oils and the milder acids, such
as vinegar and lemon-juice, are the antidotes  to its poisonous action.  They
operate by neutralizing the alkali.
   It is employed pharmaceutically in the preparation of the Precipitated
Sulphuret  of Antimony (U. S., Lond., Ed.), Tartrate of Iron  and Potassa
(U. S., Lond.), Ethereal Oil (U. S„ Lond.), Binoxide of Mercury  (Lond.),
Black Oxide of Mercury (Dub.), and Hydrated Oxide of Lead (Lond.).
   Off.Prep. Potassa, U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.;  Potassa cum  Calce, Ed.,
Dub.                                                             W. 
1080
Potassa.
PART II.
   POTASSA. U.S., Ed.  Potassa Hydras. Lond. Potassa Caus-
 tica. Dub.   Potassa.  Hydrate of Potassa.   Caustic Potassa.
   " Take of Solution of Potassa a gallon.   Evaporate the water rapidly, in
 a clean iron vessel, over the fire, till ebullition ceases, and the Potassa melts.
 Pour this into suitable moulds, and keep it, when cold, in well stopped bot-
 tles." U.S.
   The London formula is essentially the same with the above.
   " Take any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassae; evaporate it in a clean
 and covered iron vessel, increasing gradually the heat, till  an oily-looking
 fluid remains, a drop of which, when  removed on  a rod, becomes  hard on
 cooling.  Then pour out the liquid upon a bright iron plate, and as soon as
 it solidifies, break it quickly, and put it into glass bottles secured with glass
 stoppers." Ed.
   " Take of  Water  of Caustic Potassa any quantity.   Evaporate  it over
 the  fire  in  a  perfectly clean silver or  iron vessel, until the ebullition shall
 have ceased,  and the  saline matter, on increasing the  heat,  shall  remain
 perfectly at rest in the vessel.   Pour out the  liquefied Potassa  on a silver or
 iron plate, and,  whilst concreting, cut it into pieces  of a proper size,  which
 are immediately to be introduced  into  a well stopped bottle.   The operator
 should carefully avoid the drops which  are ejected from the vessel during the
 evaporation." Dub.
   The concrete alkali, obtained by these processes, is the hydrate of potassa,
 sufficiently pure for medical purposes.   The  solution of the alkali freed from
 carbonic acid having been obtained by another formula (see Liquor Potasses),
 the formation  of the present preparation requires  merely the evaporation of
 this solution,  until the whole of its uncombined water is  driven  off.   The
 evaporation is required to be  performed  in metallic  vessels, as those of glass or
 earthenware are acted on by the alkali;  and it  should be completed as quickly
 as possible, in order to abridge the  period during which the solution would be
 liable to  absorb  carbonic acid from the  atmosphere.   When poured out on a
 metallic plate, the cake, just  as it concretes, may  be marked with a knife in
 the  directions in which it is to be divided, and when cold it readily breaks
 in those  directions.   A better plan, however, is to run the fused  alkali into
 suitable moulds, as directed in the U. S. and London formulae.  These should
 be made of iron and have a cylindrical  shape, which is the most convenient
 form of the alkali for the use of the surgeon.  Green glass bottles with ground
 stoppers are the best adapted for preserving  this  preparation,  as  white flint
 glass is slightly  acted on.
  Properties,  S/-c.  In its officinal impure form, potassa is usually in  sticks
 which have a fibrous fracture, a dingy gray or greenish colour, occasionally
 a bluish tint, and the peculiar odour of slaking lime.   It is extremely caustic
 and  very deliquescent, and dissolves in  less than its weight of water.   It is
 also readily soluble in alcohol.  When exposed to  a low red  heat it melts,
 and at bright redness is volatilized.  On account of its deliquescent property,
 and  its strong attraction for carbonic  acid, it requires to be kept in very
 accurately stopped bottles.   In the state here described, the alkali always
 contains  combined water as a  part of its composition.  It contains also
 several impurities, which, however, do not interfere with its medicinal  value,
 such as sulphate of potassa, chloride and teroxide  of potassium, sesquioxide
 of iron, lime,  silica, alumina, and  a portion of the alkali itself still in a car-
bonated state.   The insoluble impurities, according  to the Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeia, should not exceed 1*25 per cent.   It may be freed from impurity
by digestion in alcohol, which  takes up only  the pure hydrated  alkali, eva-
porating the alcoholic solution to dryness, and fusing the dry mass obtained. 
 part ii.                       Potassa.                          1081

 Pure hydrate of potassa, when thus procured, is  usually called alcoholic
 potassa.  It is generally in the form of flat white pieces, which are dry,
 hard, and brittle, and extremely caustic.  Its other properties are similar to
 those of the impure hydrate above described.  It may be discriminated from
 the other fixed 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*15, and one of water 9=
 56*15.  Dry potassa is  formed of  one eq.  of potassium 39*15, and one of
 oxygen  8=47*15. (See Potassium.)                                B.
   Medical Properties and Uses. This is the old causticum commune acer-
 rimum,  or strongest common  caustic.  It is  a very powerful escharotic,
 quickly  destroying the life of the part with which it comes in contact, and
 extending its action to  a considerable depth beneath the  surface.   In this
 latter respect, it differs  from  the nitrate of silver or lunar  caustic, to which
 it is,  therefore, preferred for  the purposes of forming  issues and opening
 abscesses.   It has been used for removing stricture of  the urethra ; but in
 consequence of its tendency to spread, it may, unless carefully applied, pro-
 duce such a  destruction of the lining membrane, as to open a passage  for
 the  urine into the cellular tissue, and thus involve the patient in danger.
 The most convenient mode  of  applying  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 to  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 solutions of potassa of definite strength, whether
 for medicinal or pharmaceutic use.  A  solution of one drachm and a half of
 caustic potassa in two fluidounces of distilled water, is highly recommended
 by Dr. Hartshorne, of Philadelphia,  as an application to the  spine in tetanus.
 It may be applied  by means of a sponge attached to the end  of a stick, which
 should be drawn quickly along the back from the nape of the neck to the
 sacrum.   It produces a very powerful rubefacient effect.
   The U. S. Pharmacopoeia employs caustic potassa in the preparation of the
 black oxide  of mercury.
   Off. Prep. Potassa cum Calce. Lond.                            W.

   POTASSA CUM CALCE. Lond., Ed.   Potassa  Caustica cum
 Calce.  Dub.   Potassa with Lime.
   "Take of Hydrate of Potassa,  Lime, each,  an ounce.   Rub them to-
 gether, and keep them in a well-stopped vessel." Lond.
   " Take any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassae;  evaporate  it in a
 clean, covered iron vessel  to one-third of its volume; add  slaked Lime till the
 fluid has  the consistence of firm pulp.  Preserve  the product in carefully
 covered vessels." Ed.
   " Evaporate Water of  Caustic Potassa to one-fourth ;  then  add as much
 fresh burnt Lime, in powder, as will form a mass of the  proper consistence,
 which is  to be preserved in a well-stopped bottle." Dub.
  The London  preparation  is a mere  mixture  of hydrate  of  potassa with
lime.   The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges employ the  solution of potassa,
 which is  first concentrated, and then thickened by the addition of lime until
the mixture becomes a pulpy mass, consisting of the mixed hydrates of potassa
and lime.
     92 
1082                          Potassa.                        part ii.

  The Edinburgh and Dublin " potassa with lime," like the officinal potassa,
is used as a caustic ; but it is more manageable than the  latter preparation,
owing to the presence of the  lime, which renders it milder, slower  in its
operation, and less deliquescent, and causes it to spread less beyond the part
intended to be  affected.   This  preparation was formerly called causlicum
commune mitius, or milder common caustic.  The London preparation is
a powder sometimes called  Vienna caustic, and is still slower in producing
an eschar.   It is prepared for use by being made up into a paste with a little
alcohol.  The paste is applied  to the part to be cauterized for  ten or fifteen
minutes, and is conveniently limited in its operation by a piece of adhesive
plaster, in the manner explained under potassa.  Dr. Filhos has improved the
Vienna caustic by forming  it  in sticks.  To prepare it thus, the potassa is
perfectly fused  in an iron spoon, and one-third of its weight of quicklime is
added in divided portions; the whole being stirred with an iron rod.  The
fused mass is then run into lead tubes, closed at one end, about three inches
long, and from  a quarter to half an inch in diameter in the clear. The sticks
are kept, still enclosed in the lead tubes, with the open end downwards,
in thick glass tubes, containing some powdered quicklime, and  closed  with a
cork, between which and the stick some cotton is put to steady the caustic.
When employed, as much of the caustic is uncovered at the end, by scraping
off the lead, as it is proposed to use.  This form of caustic is particularly
recommended for cauterizing the neck of the uterus. (Journ. de Pharm., Se
Ser.  iv.  137.)                                                      B.
   POTASSA  ACETAS.  U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.    Acetate  of
Potassa.
   " Take of Acetic Acid apint; Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity.
Add the Carbonate of Potassa gradually to the Acetic  Acid  till it is satu-
rated ; then filter, and evaporate cautiously, by means of a sand-bath, until
a dry salt remains.  Keep this in closely stopped bottles." U. S.
   " Take of Carbonate of Potassa a pound;  Acetic Acid twenty-six fluid-
ounces [Imp.  meas.]; Distilled  Water twelve fluidounces [Imp. meas.].
To the acid, previously mixed  with the Water, add the Carbonate of Potassa
to  saturation ;  then strain.  Evaporate the liquor in a sand-bath, with a heat
cautiously applied, until the salt is dried." Lond.
   "Take of Pyroligneous Acid apint and a half [Imp. meas.];  Carbonate
of Potash (dry) seven ounces or a sufficiency.   Add the  Carbonate gradually
to the Acid till complete neutralization is accomplished.  Evaporate  the so-
lution over the vapour-bath till  it is so concentrated as to form a concrete mass
 when cold.  Allow it to cool  and  crystallize in a solid cake; which must be
 broken up and immediately put into well closed bottles." Ed.
 ~* "  Take of carbonate of Potassa from Crystals  of Tartar  any required
 quantity.   Pour on it, by repeated additions, Distilled Vinegar of a medium
 heat, and  in quantity about five  times the weight  of the salt.  When  the
 effervescence  shall have ceased, and the liquor have  been  evaporated for
 some time, repeat  the addition of Distilled Vinegar at  intervals until effer-
 vescence shall have completely ceased.   Evaporate to dryness, and, by cau-
 tiously  raising the heat, liquefy the salt.  When  the salt has cooled, dissolve
 it  in water, filter the  solution, and boil it  down, until,  when  removed from
 the fire, it  shall  form, on cooling, a mass of crystals, which should be per-
 fectly white.  Put these immediately into bottles which should be carefully
 stopped." Dub.
    The  process  for forming  acetate of potassa  is a case of single  elective
 affinity.  The form of acid employed for generating the salt  in the several
 Pharmacopoeias, is acetic acid (U. S. and London), pyroligneous acid (Edin- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1083
 burgh), corresponding nearly with the U. S. and London  acetic acid, and
 distilled vinegar (Dublin). (See  page 781.)   Distilled vinegar is not proper
 for forming this salt, on account of its containing organic matter, which gives
 the solution, when concentrated, a reddish or brownish colour.  This colour-
 ing matter is destroyed in the Dublin process by fusing the salt,  dissolving it
 in water, and concentrating the solution so that it may concrete into a mass
 on cooling.  When this process is followed, great care must be  taken not to
 use too high a  heat in effecting the fusion; otherwise part of the acetic acid
 will be decomposed, and  a colourless salt will not be obtained.  H. Oenicke,
 in order to avoid this decomposition,  and to  get the salt white, recommends
 the solution of  a small portion of the fused salt, as a  test, in the smallest
 possible quantity of  water.  If the solution is colourless, the salt has been
 heated long enough.   The salt  is then dissolved in  the  smallest adequate
 portion of water,  is acidulated with a little acetic acid, and evaporated in a
 water-bath  to dryness. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt., 1843, p. 351.)   In the  other
 formulae, a pure acid being used, it forms,  when saturated  with the carbonate
 of potassa, a colourless solution.  This is evaporated to dryness, according
 to the  U. S.  and London  Pharmacopoeias, and  to such a degree as to concrete
 into a mass when cold, according to  the Edinburgh.   The  quantity of car-
 bonate necessary for saturation cannot be accurately  determined beforehand,
 and, therefore, it is injudicious in the  London College to  attempt to  fix it in
 the formula.  A better plan  is that of the U. S. formula, in which  a  suffi-
 cient quantity for  saturation  is directed to  be taken, the exact amount  to  be
 determined in the  process.  The  same plan  is adopted  by the  Edinburgh
 College, with the addition of indicating about  the quantity required.  As a
 sufficiency of the  carbonate is thus ordered, it would seem quite unnecessary
 for the College to direct that it should be dry.   For  drying the acetate  of
 potassa, Dr.  Christison  considers  the heat of a  vapour-bath too low, and
 that of a sand-bath apt to become too high.  He, therefore, recommends the
 use, when operating  on a small scale, of a bath of chloride of calcium.  In
 conducting this  process, 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 be obtained, also, by  double  decomposition be-
 tween acetate of lead and sulphate of potassa.   When thus procured it  is
 very white and  pure, but liable to the  objection, for medical use, that it may
 possibly contain lead.  Another method by double decomposition is between
 acetate of lime  and sulphate of potassa.
   Properties, 8fc.   Acetate of potassa, when pure, is a white salt, perfectly
 neutral to test paper, unctuous to  the touch, and possessing a warm, pungent,
 saline  taste.   When unskilfully prepared, it is apt to be more or less coloured.
 Its state of aggregation differs with the manner in which it is prepared.   As
 obtained by evaporating the solution  to dryness, agreeably to the directions
 of the U.S. and London Pharmacopoeias, it is in  the  form of soft  fibrous
 masses.  As usually prepared  and found in the shops it  has a foliated tex-
 ture, which is given to it by fusion and cooling.  On account of this appear-
 ance 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 bottles.    It dissolves in about  half its
 weight  of water, and  twice  its weight of alcohol.  Any thing  remainino-
 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,  acetic  acid vapours are copiously evolved, and  sulphate of 
1084
Potassa.
PART II.
potassa is formed.  The most usual impurities contained in it are the sul-
phate and tartrate of potassa, chloride of potassium, and the salts of lead and
copper.  A soluble  sulphate  may be  detected by chloride of barium ;  and
chloride of potassium, or any soluble  chloride, by nitrate of silver added to
a dilute solution.   If tartrate of potassa  be present, it will remain undis-
solved when the salt is acted on  by alcohol.   Lead and  copper may be
detected  by sulphuretted  hydrogen and  ferrocyanuret of  potassium;  the
former test producing with the lead a blackish, and the latter with the cop-
per a brown precipitate.   Since the introduction of the  cheap  method of
obtaining pure acetic  acid from wood this salt has scarcely been subject to
adulteration.   Acetate of  potassa is  incompatible with  the mineral  acids,
which expel the acetic acid ; with sulphate of soda and sulphate of 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 espe-
cially in  the sap of  trees ; and is  the source of the carbonate  of potassa
existing in the ashes of wood.   It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one
of potassa 47*15, and two of water  18=116*15.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Acetate of potassa acts  as a diuretic in
doses of  from a  scruple to a drachm, and  as a mild cathartic when given to
the extent of two or three  drachms.   It is employed in  dropsies, and often
with good  effect.   The late  Dr. Duncan  considered  it to  be a  medicine of
great efficacy, and one of  our best saline  deobstruents.  We have ourselves
used it in dropsical  affections, and can bear testimony to its powers.  The
acetate, ready prepared, being  an  expensive preparation, the salt, equally
efficacious, may be made extemporaneously in the liquid form by saturating
distilled vinegar with the  carbonate of potassa.    Two drachms  of the car-
bonate saturated with vinegar, will sometimes produce  in hydropic cases
ten or twelve stools, and a  copious  discharge  of urine. (Duncan.)  Acetate
of potassa, like  the other  alkaline salts containing a  vegetable acid, may be
given in  the uric acid diathesis, to render  the urine alkaline; for  the experi-
ments of Wohler have shown that the acid of these salts undergoes decom-
position in the digestive and  assimilating processes, while the alkali enters
the current of the circulation.   From  the decided properties which this salt
possesses of increasing the secretion of the kidneys, it was formerly called
sal diureticus or diuretic salt.
   Off.Prep.  Acidum  Aceticum,  Dub.; Ferri  Acetatis  Tinctura,  Dub.;
Hydrargyri Acetas, Dub.; Pilulae  Rhei, Ed.; Tinctura Acetis Ferri  cum
Alcohol,  Dub.;  Zinci Acetatis Tinct.,  Dub.                          B.
   POTASSA  CARBONAS. U. S, Lond,, Ed.   Potassje Carbo-
nas e Lixivo  Cinere.  Dub.   Carbonate of Potassa.   Carbonate
of Potassa from Pearlash.
   " Take of Impure Carbonate of Potassa [pearlash] three pounds ;  Water
two pints and a half.  Dissolve the Impure Carbonate  of Potassa  in  the
Water, and filter the solution;  then  pour it into a clean iron  vessel, and
evaporate the water over a  gentle fire  till  the  solution  thickens;  lastly,
remove it from the  fire, and stir it constantly with an iron spatula till the salt
granulates."  U. S.
   " Take of Impure Carbonate of Potassa two pounds ;  Distilled Water a
pint and a  half [Imperial measure].   Dissolve the Impure Carbonate of
Potassa in the Water, and  strain; then pour  off  the solution into a proper
vessel, and evaporate the water that the liquor may thicken;  afterwards stir
it constantly with a spatula until the  salt concretes.   Carbonate of Potassa
may be  prepared more pure from the crystals of Bicarbonate of Potassa
heated to redness." Lond. 
PART H.
Potassa.
1085
   " Take of Pearlash, in coarse powder, cold Water, each, one part.    Mix
 them by trituration, and macerate for a week, in  a wide vessel, with occa-
 sional agitation.   Then filter the lixivium, and evaporate it  to dryness in a
 very clean silver or iron  vessel.   Towards the end of the evaporation, stir
 the  saline  mass constantly with an iron spatula.   Having in this  manner
 reduced it to a coarse powder, preserve it in close  vessels.  If the Pearlash
 is not sufficiently pure, roast it in a crucible until  it becomes white, before
 dissolving it in the Water." Dub.
   The Edinburgh  College, in the last edition of its Pharmacopoeia,  has
 removed carbonate  of  potassa from among the " Preparations," and  placed
 it in  the Materia  Medica list  with  this note.    " Carbonate  of potash  not
 quite  pure, obtained by  lixiviating, evaporating, and  granulating by fusion
 and  refrigeration the potashes [pearlash] of commerce."
   The object  of  the above processes is to  purify the impure carbonate of
 potassa  or  pearlash.  This generally contains certain  insoluble impurities,
 as well as small portions of sulphate and silicate of potassa, and chloride of
 potassium, as  explained  under  another  head.  (See Potassae Carbonas Im-
purus.)   By dissolving  it in  a  due proportion of water, and filtering  the
 solution, the insoluble  impurities are got rid of, as well  as  the greater part
 of the foreign salts, whicli, being  much less soluble  than the carbonate of
 potassa, are excluded by  the superior affinity of this salt for the water. The
 proper way of conducting the  purification is to mix  the impure carbonate
 with an  equal  weight of cold water, and to  allow the  mixture to stand for a
 day  or two, stirring it frequently to  promote the action of the water.  The
 clear liquor, obtained by decantation or filtration, is then  evaporated to dry-
 ness.  The  different officinal  processes  are conducted very  much  in this
 way;  cold water being employed, and  equal  weights of alkali and water
 being  used in the  Dublin formula, and about equal weights in  the processes
 of the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias.   The  prolonged  contact  of  the
 water with the salt, and the occasional stirring of the mixture, ordered by
 the Dublin College, are useful directions.  In no case should the undissolved
 residue be washed  with a fresh portion of water, as, by such a proceeding,
 the foreign salts, which it is the object of the process  to  separate, would be
 dissolved.   Iron or silver vessels are directed, because these  metals  are not
 acted on by the alkali,  while glass is  attacked by it.  In granulating the salt
 by stirring, it is better to keep it on the fire until the process is finished than
 to remove it the moment it thickens.
   According to Berzelius, a more productive process for purifying pearlash,
 though the salt is  not so  pure as when obtained in the way just described,
 is to dissolve the impure  salt in more than its weight of water, to evaporate
 the solution till it has the density of 1*52, and  then to put it in a cool place,
 that  the foreign salts, principally sulphate of potassa and  chloride of  potas-
 sium, may  crystallize.   The  solution is then decanted,  and evaporated to
dryness.
   Properties, fyc.   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  potassa  should be  kept in  bottles
with accurately ground stoppers.  If exposed, in its usual state, to  a red
heat, it retains its carbonic acid, but loses about sixteen per cent, of water.
                                   92* 
1086
Potassa.
PART II.
When pure it is  completely soluble in water; but, generally, a small inso-
luble portion is left of  earthy matter.   An aqueous solution, when saturated
with  an acid, slowly  deposits  a slight gelatinous  precipitate, derived from
silica.   The usual impurities are earthy matter, sulphate of potassa, chloride
of potassium, and silica in the state, probably, of silicate of potassa.   When
dissolved in water and supersaturated with nitric acid, it affords a faint cloudi-
ness 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 chlo-
ride.  If the indications of these tests are more decided, the salt is below the
officinal standard  of purity.  It is incompatible with acids and acidulous salts,
muriate and acetate of ammonia, lime-water, chloride of calcium,  sulphate of
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, and, therefore, may be
associated with it in prescriptions.
   Composition.   Carbonate of potassa, after exposure to a red  heat, is an
anhydrous salt, consisting of one eq. of carbonic  acid 22, and one of potassa
47*15=69-15.  As obtained by the officinal  formulae, it is, according  to Mr.
Phillips, a sesquihydrate, consisting of two eqs. of carbonate and three of
water.                                                             B.
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Purified pearlash is the form of carbo-
nate of potassa usually employed in  this country, where  it  is  frequently,
though incorrectly, called salt of tartar, the  latter  name being strictly appli-
cable to the purer carbonate, obtained by decomposing cream of tartar.  It
is occasionally used as an antacid in dyspepsia, as a diuretic  in dropsy, and
as an antilithic in gravel attended with red deposits from the  urine; but the
purpose to which it is most commonly applied is the formation of the neutral
mixture and effervescing draught. (See Liquor  Potassae Citratis.)  It is
worthy of observation, that its solution, on  exposure  to the  air, or  on the
addition ofan acid, deposits flocculi consisting of hydrate of silica, resulting
from  the decomposition of the silicated potassa,  which is always present
as an  impurity.   The spontaneous  deposition of  silica is  owing  to the
absorption of carbonic acid.   Carbonate  of  potassa is also used with much
advantage in some cases of jaundice, in whicb it probably operates by enter-
ing the circulation and directly exciting the hepatic function.  It has enjoyed
some popular reputation mixed with cochineal in hooping-cough, and is sup-
posed by some, in common with other alkaline  remedies, to operate  favour-
ably in those inflammations in  which  there is a disposition to the exudation
of coagulable lymph, or the formation  of false membranes.  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.
   Carbonate of Potassa is used in the formulae for Sulphuric Ether (Lond.,
Dub.), Spirit of Ammonia (Lond.),  Aromatic  Spirit of Ammonia  (U.S.,
Lond.), and Fetid Spirit of Ammonia (Lond.).
   Off.Prep.  Decoctum  Aloes Compositum, Lond., Ed.;  Enema Aloes,
L,ond.;  Liquor  Potassae,  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.;' Liquor Potassae  Arsenitis,
Lond.,  Ed.; Liquor Potassae Carbonatis,  U. S.,  Lond.;  Liquor Potassae
Citratis,  U. S.;   Magnesiae Carbonas, Dub.;  Mistura Ferri  Composita,
 U.S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Potassae  Acetas,  U.S., Lond., Ed.;  Potassae
Bicarbonas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae  Bisulphas, Dub.; Potassae
Sulphas, Dub.;  Potassae Tartras, U.  S„ Lond., Ed.,  Dub.; Potassii Bro-
midum, Lond.; Potassii Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Potassii Sulphuretum,
 U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.                                           W. 
PART II.
Potassa.
1087
   POTASSA CARBONAS PURUS.  U.S.   Potassje  Carbonas
Purum. Ed.   Potass^  Carbonas e Tartari Crystallis. Dub.
Pure Carbonate  of Potassa.  Carbonate  of Potassa from  Crys-
tals of  Tartar.   Salt of  Tartar.
   "Take of Bitartrate of  Potassa [cream of tartar] two pounds; Nitrate
of Potassa a pound.   Rub  them separately into powder; then  mix and
throw them  into a brass vessel heated nearly  to redness, that they may
undergo  combustion.   From the residue prepare the Pure Carbonate  of
Potassa,  in the manner directed for  the Carbonate."  U.S.
   " Pure Carbonate of  Potash may be  most readily obtained by heating
crystallized Bicarbonate of Potash to redness in a crucible, but more cheaply
by dissolving Bitartrate of Potash in thirty parts of boiling Water, separating
and washing the crystals which form on cooling, heating these  in a loosely
covered crucible to  redness so long as fumes are discharged, breaking down
the mass, and roasting it in an open crucible for two hours, with occasional
stirring,  lixiviating  the product with Distilled Water, filtering  the solution
thus obtained,  evaporating the  solution  to  dryness, granulating  the  salt
towards the close by brisk agitation, and heating the granular salt nearly to red-
ness.  The product of either process must be kept  in well-closed vessels." Ed.
   "Take of  Crystals of Tartar any quantity.   Heat them to redness in a
silver crucible, loosely covered, until they cease  to emit vapours.    Reduce
the residue to a  coarse powder, and roast it  for two hours  in the same cru-
cible, without a cover, stirring it frequently; then boil it with twice its weight
of water for a quarter of an hour, and, after the requisite  subsidence, pour
off the clear liquor.   Repeat  this three times.   Filter the  mixed solutions,
and evaporate them in a silver vessel.  Granulate the residual salt by fre-
quently stirring it while it is becoming  dry, and then heat it to dull redness.
Before it is perfectly cold, take it out of the vessel, and preserve it in well-
stopped bottles." Dub.
   The product of the above processes  is a carbonate of potassa, purer than
that  described under  the preceding head.   In the U.S. formula  the salts
employed undergo decomposition by the deflagration to which they are sub-
jected: the  tartaric  and nitric acids are totally decomposed, and  sufficient
carbonic  acid is  formed, as one of the products of their decomposition,  to
saturate the common base of the two salts, and thus to generate carbonate  of
potassa.  The alkali, however, is mixed with  a portion of redundant charcoal,
which gives to it a black  colour; and from its colour and use in  this state  it
was  formerly called black flux.  It is freed  from carbonaceous matter by
solution in water, filtration, evaporation, and granulation.
   The Dublin  College forms  this  carbonate by incinerating the bitartrate
without nitre ; and this forms the second process of the Edinburgh  Pharma-
copoeia.  The tartaric acid, which consists  of carbon, hydrogen, and oxy-
gen, 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 those pre-
existing  in  the bitartrate.  These  are  carbonate of lime,  arising from the
decomposition of tartrate  of lime, alumina, silica, and minute portions of the
oxides of iron and  manganese; and, being all insoluble in water, are left
behind when the mass is acted on by that liquid, the alkaline carbonate alone
being taken up.
  The London College does not recognise a separate preparation under the
title of " pure carbonate  of potassa," but, to the formula for preparing the
ordinary  carbonate,  subjoins directions  for obtaining the pure carbonate by
igniting the bicarbonate. (See preceding article.)   When thus prepared, the 
1088                          Potassa.                        part ii.

second equivalent of carbonic acid, and  the water of crystallization of the
bicarbonate are expelled, and nothing remains but the carbonate in a very pure
state.  This  is a ready and eligible mode of obtaining a pure carbonate of
potassa, and forms the first process given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopueia.
  Properties, fyc.   Pure carbonate of potassa, obtained from cream of tartar
or from the  bicarbonate, differs from the same salt procured from pearlash
only in containing fewer impurities.  It was formerly called salt  of tartar,
in allusion to its source;  but at present this  name is familiarly applied to
any  pure carbonate of potassa, without  reference to  its mode of prepara-
tion.  It may, indeed, be very much doubted whether the real salt of tartar
is often kept  in our  shops;  the ordinary carbonate as purified  from pearlash
being generally substituted for it,  and answering every medicinal purpose
that could be expected from the use of  the purer salt.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  These are precisely the same with those
of the carbonate  of potassa described  in the preceding  article.   The pure
carbonate furnishes the best material  for forming the solution of citrate of
potassa, or neutral mixture.
   Off.Prep.  Liquor Potassae Arsenitis, U. S.,  Dub.; Potassae Acetas, Dub.;
Potassae  Carbonatis Aqua,  Dub.                                    B.
  LIQUOR POTASSA  CARBONATIS. U S., Lond.   Potass*
Carbonatis Aqua. Dub.   Solution of Carbonate of Potassa.
  "Take of  Carbonate of  Potassa a pound; Distilled Water, twelve fiuid-
ounces.   Dissolve  the Carbonate  of Potassa  in the Water,  and  filter the
solution."  U. S.
  "Take of  Carbonate of Potassa twenty ounces; Distilled Water a pint
[Imperial measure].  Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water, and
strain." Lond.
  "Take of Carbonate of Potassa from  Crystals of Tartar one part; Dis-
tilled Water two parts.  Dissolve and filter.   The specific gravity of this
solution is 1-320."  Dub.
  This is simply a  solution of carbonate of  potassa in water, and furnishes
a convenient  form for the administration of the  salt.  An ounce is dissolved
in a  fluidounce of water in the U.S. formula,  and in an imperial  fluidounce
in the London.   This will be understood, when the fact is adverted to that
the London  pint contains  twenty imperial fluidounces.  The London solu-
tion is somewhat stronger than that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; because the
imperial  fluidounce weighs a little less  than  a fluidounce, wine  measure.
Thus the sp. gr. of the London  solution, is 1*473; of the U. S. solution,
1*446.  The Dublin process differs in  using the pure form of the  carbonate,
and in furnishing a  solution considerably weaker.  This  solution  should be
colourless and inodorous, and possess the general alkaline  qualities of the
salt from which it is formed.  The dose  of the  U. S. or London  solution is
from  ten  minims to a fluidrachm, sufficiently  diluted with  water or other
bland liquid.
   Off. Prep.  Potassae Hydriodas, Dub.                             B.
  POTASSA  BICARBONAS. U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Bicarbo-
nate of Potassa.
  " Take of Carbonate of Potassa four pounds; Distilled  Water ten pints.
Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water, and pass Carbonic Acid
through the solution till it is fully saturated.   Then filter, and evaporate the
filtered liquor that  crystals may  form, taking  care that the heat does  not
exceed 160°.  Pour off the  supernatant liquid, and dry the crystals upon
bibulous  paper.   Carbonic Acid  is obtained  from Marble by the addition of
dilute Sulphuric  Acid." U. S. 
PART II.
Potassa.
1089
   " Take of Carbonate of Potassa six pounds; Distilled Water a gallon
 [Imperial measure].   Dissolve  the  Carbonate  of  Potassa in the Water;
 afterwards  pass Carbonic  Acid through the solution to saturation.   Apply a
 gentle heat, so that whatever crystals have been  formed may be again dis-
 solved.   Then  set aside the solution, that crystals may be again  formed;
 and, having poured off the liquor, dry them.   Carbonic Acid  is very easily
 obtained from Chalk, rubbed to  powder, and  mixed with water to  the con-
 sistence of  a syrup, upon which Sulphuric Acid is then poured, diluted with
 an equal weight of water." Lond.
   " Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash, one part;  Distilled Water
 two parts.   Dissolve, and expose the solution, in a suitable apparatus, to a
 current  of  Carbonic Acid  gas, evolved from white marble  by the action of
 dilute Muriatic Acid, until the liquid becomes turbid.   Then  filter it, and
 again expose  it  to the  stream Of Carbonic Acid gas, until the  alkali is satu-
 rated.   Lastly, put  the solution in  a  cool place, that crystals may form,
 which are to be dried without heat, and kept in a well-stopped bottle." Dub.
   "Take of Carbonate  of Potash  six ounces; Carbonate  of Ammonia
 three ounces and a half.   Triturate the Carbonate of Ammonia to a very
 fine powder;  mix it with the Carbonate of Potash; triturate  them thoroughly
 together, adding by degrees  a  very little water, till a  smooth  and  uniform
 pulp be  formed.  Dry this gradually at a temperature not exceeding 140°,
 triturating occasionally towards the close;  and continue the desiccation till
 a fine powder be obtained, entirely free of ammoniacal odour."  Ed.
   In these  processes, the monocarbonate of potassa, consisting of one eq.
 of acid and one of base, is combined  with an additional equivalent of  car-
 bonic acid.   In the  U. S., London, and Dublin  processes  the  combination
 is effected by  passing a stream  of this acid through a solution of the  car-
 bonate, so long as it is absorbed.   The solution employed is directed of
 different strengths.   In the U.S. formula, the distilled water taken is  about
 three times  the  weight of the carbonate; in  the London and  Dublin pro-
 cesses, it is  twice the  weight  of the  latter.    As the bicarbonate of potassa
 requires  four times its weight of water to dissolve it, the  quantity of  water
 ordered in these processes would seem not  to be sufficient to  dissolve  the
 new salt; unless it be assumed  that the  solution  becomes heated in conse-
 quence of the reaction.  The non-solution  of the whole  of the new salt is
 not material, in case filtration is  not  practised, which would remove  part of
 the bicarbonate with the impurities.   The London College  omits filtration,
 applies a gentle heat to dissolve any crystals which may have  formed,  and
 allows them to form again more  perfectly by the  slow cooling  of the solu-
 tion.   In conducting the process  filtration is not necessary, provided the
 carbonate of potassa employed  is perfectly pure ; but  the  Pharmacopoeias
 order the  carbonate, as procured from pearlash, and when  thus obtained it
 always contains silica.  As, during the progress of the saturation, the silica
 is deposited, this should be got rid of by straining, conducted in such a way
 as to avoid the removal of a part of the bicarbonate.   These  two  objects
 might, probably, be effected by heating  the  solution before filtration, taking
 care that the  temperature  does not  exceed 160°.  A  heat thus regulated
 would keep  the bicarbonate in solution, without risk of its decomposition.
 In the U.S.  process filtration is performed after the saturation is completed;
 in the Dublin so soon as the solution  becomes  turbid by the  liberation of
 silica.  If it be  questionable whether the proportion of water  used in  the
 U. S. formula  is sufficient, the lesser quantity ordered by the  Dublin Col-
lege must be quite inadequate to hold in solution the generated salt.  On a
small scale this process is best performed in  a Wolfe's apparatus  of three
bottles, the  first containing water, to  wash the carbonic acid gas, the two 
1090
Potassa.
PART II.
others, solutions of the carbonate.  The bottles should be connected by means
of wide  tubes, to prevent their  being obstructed  by  the  crystals  formed.
On a large scale, the saturation is  performed in strong vessels, into which
the carbonic acid is driven under pressure.   Sulphuric acid is  always used
by  the  manufacturing  chemist for generating  the carbonic acid ; but for
small operations, muriatic acid, diluted with twice its bulk of water, is more
convenient; inasmuch as it generates with the marble or chalk a soluble
salt (chloride of calcium), which does not interfere with the extrication of the
carbonic acid as the insoluble sulphate of  lime does.
  In the Edinburgh process,  carbonate  of ammonia, in very fine powder,
is thoroughly incorporated with carbonate of potassa, by the  assistance of a
little water, so as to  form a uniform pulp, which  is dried by a gentle  heat.
By the combined influence of the volatility of the ammonia, and the affinity
of the carbonate of potassa for carbonic acid, the carbonate of ammonia is
totally decomposed; its carbonic acid generating  the  bicarbonate with the
potassa,  and its ammonia being evolved during the drying of the pulp, which
is thus reduced to the  state of a fine powder.  This  process is  alleged by
Dr. Christison to be superior  to  the other process, "in point of economy,
despatch, and certainty in small operations."
   Mr. Brande gives the following  proportions for  the  preparation of bicar-
bonate of potassa on the large  scale ; " 100 lbs.  of  purified  carbonate of
potassa  are dissolved  in  17 gallons of water,  which,  when  saturated with
carbonic acid, yield  from 35 to 40 lbs. of crystallized bicarbonate; 50 lbs. of
carbonate of potassa  are then  added to the mother liquor, with a sufficient
quantity of water to make up 17 gallons, and the operation repeated."
   Wohler states that charcoal,  when mixed with the carbonate, facilitates, by
its porosity, in a remarkable degree, the formation of the bicarbonate.  Thus
he found that when  crude tartar was charred in a  covered crucible, and the
carbonaceous  mass, after having  been slightly moistened with water, was
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 that
had been formed.   When the temperature  diminished, the  saturation was
known to be completed.  The mass was lixiviated in the smallest quantity of
water at the temperature of from 85° to 100°, and the solution, after filtration
and cooling, deposited the greater  part of the bicarbonate in fine crystals.
(Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 82, from the Annalen  der Physik und Chemie.)
   M. Behrens has  proposed to obtain bicarbonate  of potassa by partially
saturating 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.)  A similar production  of the bisalt takes  place
when the carbonate is saturated with weak lemon juice,  in forming the citrate.
(See page 1092.)
   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 fermentation.   The  alkali is  thus  surrounded by an atmosphere  of
carbonic acid, and by absorbing it, crystallizes into bicarbonate in the  course
of five or six weeks.   Distillers and brewers are enabled with  great facility
to prepare this salt by suspending the alkaline solution in the fermenting tun.
The salt in powder called sal ae'ratus, which is made principally in the New 
PART II.
Potassa.
1091
England States, is, we believe, prepared in this way.   In composition it is
between a carbonate and bicarbonate.
   Properties, <y-c.   Bicarbonate  of potassa is  in transparent, colourless, in-
odorous crystals, slightly alkaline to  the taste and  to  test paper, permanent
in the  air, and having the  shape of  irregular  eight-sided prisms  with two-
sided summits.  It dissolves in  four times its weight of cokbwater, and in
five-sixths of its weight of boiling water, by which  it is  partially decom-
posed, and converted into sesquicarbonate.  It is insoluble in  alcohol.  Ex-
posed to a low red heat, it loses 30*7 per cent., comprising  half its carbonic
acid and  the whole of its water  of crystallization,  and returns  to the state
of carbonate, which, when thus obtained, is free from silica, and otherwise
very pure.   This method is now adopted by the Lond. and  Ed.  Colleges for
obtaining the pure carbonate.  Supersaturated with nitric  acid, it should give
a clear  solution, the  transparency  of which  is not disturbed  by chloride of
barium, nitrate of silver, or carbonate of soda.   When a perfect bicarbonate,
its  solution,  unless heated, does  not precipitate a solution of sulphate of
magnesia.   This negative  indication,  however, cannot  be depended upon
as showing the  absence  of carbonate;  for, according to  Dr.  Christison, no
precipitate will be occasioned, even when fifty per cent,  of this impurity is
present.   Calomel is  not decomposed by it, and, when dissolved in 40 parts
of water, it  produces a white haze merely with a solution of corrosive sub-
limate, instead of the brick-red one caused by  the carbonate.  (Ed. Pharm.)
Bicarbonate  of potassa consists of two eqs. of carbonic acid 44, one of potassa
47*15, and one of water 9= 100*15.
   Medical Properties.  The medicinal properties  of  this salt are the same
as those of the carbonate, to which it is preferable on account of its  milder
taste, and greater acceptability to  the stomach.  The dose is from twenty
grains to a drachm.
   Off.Prep.  Liquor Potassae  Effervescens, Lond., Ed.; Pulveres  Effer-
vescentes, Ed.                                                    B.

   LIQUOR  POTASSA EFFERVESCENS. Lond.    Potassa
Aqua Effervescens. Ed.   Effervescing Solution of Potassa.
   "Take of  Bicarbonate  of Potassa a drachm;  Distilled  Water  a pint
[Imperial measure].  Dissolve  the  Bicarbonate of Potassa in the Water;
and pass into it Carbonic Acid, compressed by force, more  than is sufficient
for saturation.  Keep the solution  in  a well-stopped vessel." Lond.
   The Edinburgh  formula is the same as the above.
  This preparation may be considered as the bicarbonate of potassa dissolved
in carbonic acid water.  It is, however,  altogether  superfluous in this coun-
try, in consequence of the general introduction into the  shops of carbonic
acid water (artificial Seltzer water), which may be readily employed for dis-
solving any desired proportion of the bicarbonate, with the result of forming
a much brisker preparation.   This solution has the general sparkling quas-
hes  and  acidulous taste of carbonic  acid water;  the  alkaline taste  being
covered in a great measure by the large excess of carbonic acid.   The after-
taste is more  purely saline than that of the corresponding preparation made
with soda. (See Liquor  Sodae Effervescens.)                         B.

  LIQUOR  POTASSA CITRATIS. U.S.  Solution of Citrate of
Potassa. Neutral Mixture.
  " Take of fresh Lemon-juice half apint; Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient
quantity.  Add the Carbonate of Potassa gradually  to the Lemon-juice till it
is perfectly saturated ; then  filter.  Or,
  " Take of Citric Acid half an ounce; Oil of Lemons two minims;  Water
half apint; Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity.  Rub the  Citric 
1092
Potassa.
PART II.
Acid with the  Oil of Lemons, and  afterwards with  the Water till it is die-
solved ; then add the Carbonate of Potassa gradually till the Acid is perfectly
saturated ; lastly, filter." U. S.
   These are equivalent preparations; the solution  of citric  acid flavoured
with oil of lemons being intended as a substitute for fresh lemon-juice when
this cannot be had.  In both, the potassa of the carbonate unites with the
citric acid, and the carbonic acid is liberated.  A portion of the latter remains
in the solution, and a portion escapes with effervescence.  The result, there-
fore, 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.   A  flocculent precipitate is,
in either  case, apt to exhibit itself in small quantity, owing to the silicate of
potassa generally present as an impurity in the carbonate of potassa.   This
gives up its base to the citric acid,  and the silica is deposited  in the  state of
a hydrate.  It is to separate this  impurity that the solution  is directed to be
filtered.   About 33 grains of pure and  perfectly dry  carbonate of potassa, or
45 grains of the hydrated  salt found in the  shops, are sufficient to saturate a
fluidounce of good lemon-juice; but the strength of the juice is variable, and
the 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 the test of litmus paper, which
should not be  rendered bright-red by the solution, nor restored to its blue
colour if previously reddened by an acid.
   The bicarbonate of potassa has been sometimes employed instead of the
carbonate to saturate the acid.  It is  recommended by its greater purity; and,
as it contains no  silicate of potassa, it produces  no precipitate of hydrate of
silica.  But as the carbonate is less expensive, and  the impurities which it
contains are not such  as affect its  medicinal efficacy, it has been preferred
in the arrangement of the officinal formula.  About one-third  more of the
bicarbonate is required than of the dry carbonate to saturate the acid.
   The inequality of strength in the lemon-juice renders the neutral mixture
more or less uncertain ; though, if the apothecary select ripe and sound fruit,
and  express the juice himself, the preparation will be found to approach suf-
ficiently near a uniform standard  for all  practical  purposes.   Nevertheless,
if the physician  wish absolute precision, he  may order the neutral mixture
to be made with  crystallized citric acid as directed in the second officinal
formula; or he may pursue the following plan  suggested in former editions
of this work.   Dissolve two drachms of bicarbonate of potassa in two fluid-
ounces of water;  saturate the solution  with good fresh lemon-juice, and
strain ; and lastly add enough water to make the mixture measure six fluid-
ounces.  A fluidounce of this solution, containing the alkali in twenty grains
of the bicarbonate, may be given  for a  dose.
   Effervescing Draught.   Under this name, the citrate  of potassa is often
prepared  extemporaneously, and  given in the state of  effervescence.   The
most convenient 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 pre-
sent 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 
PART II.
Potassa.
1093
 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  bicarbonate in
 the preparation of the effervescing draught, because it will always effervesce
 with lemon-juice, no  matter what  may be the strength of the latter.   But
 this is an objection.   The carbonate serves, by the absence of effervescence,
 to indicate when the lemon-juice is very weak in acid; and the defect may
 then be easily remedied by the addition of more juice.  When the bicarbonate
 is used, if there should be a deficiency of acid, it is not discovered; and the
 patient takes a considerable portion of undecomposed bicarbonate, instead of
 the full quantity of citrate intended.
   The citrate of potassa  in substance  has within a few years been intro-
 duced into  notice, and  is  now kept in  many shops.  It is very  readily
 obtained by evaporating to  dryness  a  solution of citric acid saturated by
 carbonate of potassa.   It is a deliquescent and very soluble salt, of difficult
 crystallization.   Its solution in water was proposed  by Mr. Scattergood as
 a  substitute for  the neutral mixture, which  is liable to the  disadvantage,
 when  prepared with lemon-juice, of being of uncertain strength.  According
 to Mr. Scattergood, fifty grains of  it equal the amount of the salt contained
 in a fluidounce of ordinary lemon-juice saturated with potassa.  (Journ. of
 the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 16.)  ,■
   Medical  Properties and Uses**'The  solution  of citrate of potassa has
 long been used  under the name of neutral mixture,  saline mixture, or
 effervescing draught.   It is an excellent refrigerant diaphoretic, adapted
 to almost all cases of fever with a hot dry skin, and especially to  the  pa-
 roxvsms 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 powers of the  salt its own cordial in-
 fluence over the stomach.  No preparation with which we are acquainted is
 equally efficacious in allaying irritability of stomach,  and producing diapho-
 resis, in our remittent fevers.  It is  usually also very grateful to the stomach.
 In order to  increase the sedative and diaphoretic properties of the  neutral
 mixture, it is customary to  add  to  it  a portion of  tartar emetic;  and a little
 sweet spirit of nitre will be found an excellent adjuvant in fevers with nervous
 disturbance.  Should the solution irritate the bowels, as occasionally happens,
 it may  be combined with a little laudanum or solution of sulphate of morphia.
 Sugar  may be added if desired by the patient.
   The dose of  the officinal solution is a tablespoonful or half  a fluidounce,
 which  should be  somewhat diluted  when  taken.  The whole  of each effer-
 vescing draught,  prepared as above stated, is to  be taken at once.   The
 solid citrate  may be given in the quantity of twenty-five grains, dissolved in
 a fluidounce of water.   Each dose  should be repeated every  hour, two, or
 three hours,  according to the urgency  of the symptoms.             W.
   POTASSA  NITRAS  PURIFICATUM.  Dub.   Purified  Ni-
 trate of Potassa.
  " Take of Nitrate of Potassa one part.  Dissolve it in two  parts of boil-
 ing Water, filter the solution, and set it aside, so  that, on  cooling, crystals
 may form."  Dub.
  The purified nitre of commerce is sufficiently pure for medicinal use; so
 that this formula of the Dublin College is entirely unnecessary.  The pro-
perties of nitre, and the manner in  which  it is purified, have been fully ex-
plained under another head. (See Potassae Nitras.)
  Off.Prep. jEther Nitrosus, Dub.                                B,
    93 
1094
Potassa.
PART II.
  POTASSA SULPHAS  CUM  SULPHURE. Ed.   Sulphate of
Potassa  with Sulphur.
  " Take  of  Nitrate of  Potash and  Sulphur  equal  parts.  Mix them
thoroughly; throw khe mixture in small successive portions  into a  red-hot
crucible; and when the deflagration is over, and the salt has cooled, reduce
it to powder, and preserve it in well-closed bottles." Ed.
  When  the mixture, indicated in this formula,  is thrown into a  red-hot
crucible, each  successive  portion melts, and  the  sulphur floats on the sur-
face of the nitre with the appearance  of a brown oil,  burns vividly, and
gives rise  to a copious evolution of sulphurous acid gas.   The  product of
the deflagration is  a grayish-white  friable  mass, intermixed  apparently with
undecomposed sulphur.
  The  nature of this  preparation has  not been well determined.   On the
supposition that it is the  sulphate of potassa,  mixed with a portion of sul-
phur, as the Edinburgh name implies, its  formation may be thus  explained.
By the combined  influence of the  sulphur and of the heat employed, the
nitric acid of the nitre is  totally decomposed, and  is thus enabled to furnish
sufficient  oxygen  to  convert a portion of the  sulphur into sulphuric  acid,
wdiich,  as soon as  formed, combines with  the base of the nitre, to form the
sulphate of potassa.   This  is  left mixed with  a portion of sulphur which
has escaped combustion;  but the greater  part of the  latter  undergoes  ordi-
nary combustion, and is dissipated as sulphurous acid fumes.
  Supposing the saline matter to be a sulphate containing a little free sul-
phur, this  combustible is  evidently used in great  excess;  but whether this
excess is necessary to obtain the exact preparation desired by the Edinburgh
College, it is not easy to determine.   The late Dr. Duncan ascertained that
the product amounted  only to four-tenths of the materials employed.  It is,
therefore,  smaller  than it ought to  be, even  supposing that the residue con-
sisted of nothing but sulphate of potassa.
  Dr. Duncan was of  opinion that the preparation under consideration can-
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 yellowish 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 small  portion of sulphite of potassa is pre-
sent in  the preparation, or at least  some sulphurous acid in a state of 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 Edinburgh, who
believes that this  preparation   contains sulphuret of  potassium. (See  his
remarks on it, in the Pharm, Journ. and Trans, for Jan., 1842.)
  Properties, Src.   This  salt has an  acid and  sulphurous  taste, and an acid
reaction 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,
however,  not a uniform preparation ; different specimens, apparently pre-
pared with equal  care, exhibiting some points of difference in  properties.
It was fcalled  by the  earlier chemists sal polychrestus Glaseri or sal poly-
chrest.  Its other properties coincide  generally  with those  of sulphate of
potassa, which may be considered as  its basis.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The medical  effects of this preparation
differ but  little, if at all,  from  those  of sulphate  of potassa.   Its action on
the  system is stated  by Dr.  Duncan to resemble that of the  sulphurous
mineral waters which  contain  a portion of neutral salt.   The dose is from
half a drachm to a drachm.                                         B. 
PART II.
Potassa.
1095
   POTASSA   BISULPHAS. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Bisulphate  of
 Potassa.
   " Take of the Salt which remains after the distillation of Nitric Acid two
pounds;  Sulphuric Acid a pound; boiling Water six pints [Imperial  mea-
 sure].  Dissolve the Salt in  the  Water, and  add the Acid  to it, and  mix.
 Lastly, boil down  the  solution, and set it aside that crystals  may form."
 Lond.
   The Edinburgh formula is  the  same with the London, the sulphuric acid
 being merely taken by measure, equivalent to a pound by weight.
   " Take of commercial Sulphuric Acid two parts; Carbonate of Potassa
 from Pearlash a sufficient quantity ;  Water six parts.   Mix one part of the
 Sulphuric Acid with the Water, and saturate the mixture with the Carbonate
 of Potassa;  then add the other part of the Acid to the liquor, and evaporate
 it, so that on cooling crystals  may form." Dub.
   The Dublin  process  for forming this bisalt is more precise than  those of
 the London and Edinburgh Colleges, but at the same time less  economical.
 The object  being to obtain a  salt, containing  twice as much sulphuric acid
 as exists  in the neutral  sulphate,  it is plain  that by dividing the acid em-
 ployed into  two equal parts, and saturating  one of these parts with  potassa,
 the resulting neutral sulphate must be converted into a bisulphate by the  addi-
 tion of the other part.  By this process a pure bisulphate cannot be obtained
 in crystals.   If the attempt be  made to procure  them by allowing  a mode-
 rately concentrated solution to  cool, crystals of  neutral sulphate will be chiefly
 deposited.  In  order to  get the bisulphate  pure  by the  Dublin process, the
 solution must be so far concentrated as to form on cooling a uniform crystal-
 line  mass.  In  explaining the  other formulae, it is only necessary to  recall to
 the reader's attention a  part  of the  explanations given under  the  head of
 Nitric Acid.  It was there stated  that, for the proper decomposition of  nitre
 for the purpose of obtaining  nitric acid, it is necessary to use two eqs. of
 sulphuric  acid to one of the salt.  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 evaporated, in order
to obtain the salt in crystals.   But Mr. Phillips states that, when the bisul-
phate of  potassa is dissolved  in water, and the solution is allowed to crys-
tallize, some sulphate  and much sesquisulphate  are obtained instead of
bisulphate, owing to the  water retaining a part of the excess of acid in solu-
tion.  This result is prevented by  the sulphuric acid directed to be added by
the London and Edinburgh Colleges, and, consequently, the real bisulphate
is obtained in crystals.
  Properties, §-c.   Bisulphate of  potassa is a white salt, having the form of
a right rhombic  prism,  so flattened as to be  tabular, and a bitter  and ex-
tremely acid taste.   It is soluble  in  twice  its weight of cold water, 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  state of neutral  sulphate.   From its excess of
acid, it acts precisely as an acid on  the carbonates, causing them to effervesce.
It is  incompatible 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*2, one of potassa 47*15,  and two of
water 18=145*35.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.   Bisulphate  of  potassa unites the proper- '
ties of  an  aperient with  those  of a tonic, and  may be given in cases of  con-
stipation with languid appetite, such as often occur  in  convalescence  from 
1096
Potassa.
PART II.
acute diseases.  Dr. Paris states that it forms a grateful  adjunct to rhubarb.
It answers, also, according to  Dr. Barker, for  preparing an  aperient effer-
vescing draught at little expense.   Equal weights, a drachm for instance, of
the bisulphate and of carbonate of soda, may be dissolved separately, each in
two fluidounces of water, then mixed, and taken in the state of effervescence.
The dose of the bisulphate is one or two drachms.                   B.
   POTASSA  TARTRAS.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tartrate of
Potassa.   Soluble Tartar.
   "Take  of  Carbonate  of Potassa sixteen  ounces; Bitartrate of Potassa
[cream of tartar], in fine powder, three pounds or a sufficient quantity; Boiling
Water a gallon.  Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water; then  gra-
dually add the Bitartrate of Potassa to the solution till it is perfectly saturated,
and boil.  Filter the liquor, evaporate it until a pellicle forms, and  set it aside
to crystallize.   Pour off the liquid, and, having dried the crystals on bibulous
paper, keep them in closely stopped bottles."  U.S.
   " Take  of  Bitartrate of Potassa, powdered, three pounds ; Carbonate of
Potassa  sixteen ounces, or a sufficient quantity;  boiling Water six pints
[Imperial measure].  Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the boiling Water;
then add the Bitartrate of Potassa, and boil. Strain the liquor, and afterwards
boil it down till a pellicle appears, and set it aside that crystals  may form.
The liquor being poured off, dry these, and again  evaporate the  liquor  that
crystals may form." Lond.
   The Edinburgh process is the same as the London.
   " Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash five parts ;  Bitartiate of
Potassa/owr/em parts ; boiling Water forty-five parts.  Add gradually the
Bitartrate of Potassa, in very fine powder, to the Carbonate of Potassa,  dis-
solved in the Water.  Filter the solution through paper, and evaporate it, so
that on cooling crystals may form." Dub.
   In these  processes, the excess of acid in the bitartrate is saturated by the
potassa of the carbonate, the carbonic acid is  extricated with effervescence,
and the  neutral tartrate of potassa is obtained.   On  account of  the greater
solubility of the carbonate than of the bitartrate, the former is first dissolved,
and the  latter added to the solution to full saturation.  As the bitartrate is
gradually added, the mutual action of the salts should be promoted by constant
stirring; and  the addition should be continued so long as effervescence takes
place, which is a better mode of proceeding than to add any specified quantity
of the bisalt;  since, from its variable quality,  it is impossible to  adjust  pre-
cisely the proportions applicable to all cases.  It is necessary that the solution
should be exactly neutral, or a little alkaline ; and  hence, if inadvertently too
much bitartrate has been  added, the proper state may be restored by adding
a little of the  alkaline carbonate.   When the saturation has been completed,
the solution is filtered in order to separate the tartrate of lime, which appears
in white flocks, and which is always present in cream of tartar as an impu-
rity.   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 in 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.) 
PART II.
Potassa.
1097
    Properties, Sfc.  Tartrate  of potassa, prepared according to the officinal
 processes, is in white crystals, which  are  slightly deliquescent, and usually
 in the form of irregular six-sided prisms with dihedral summits.  Its taste is
 saline and bitter.  It dissolves in about twice  its weight of cold water, and
 in much less boiling water, and is nearly insoluble in alcohol.  Exposed to
 heat it  undergoes fusion, swells up, blackens, and is  decomposed;  being
 converted into  carbonate of potassa.   For  medicinal use, it should always
 be  crystallized; but as it  ordinarily occurs in the  shops, it  is  in a white
 granular powder, 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 it be obtained
 by evaporation to dryness,  it is liable to contain an excess of carbonate or of
 bitartrate  of potassa, when it will have either  an alkaline or acid  reaction.
 It is decomposed by all the strong acids, and  many acidulous salts, whicli
 cause the precipitation of minute crystals of bitartrate of potassa, by abstract-
 ing one eq. of alkali from two of the salt.  Acetate of lead occasions a  white
 precipitate of tartrate of lead, distinguishable from sulphate of lead by  being
 wholly soluble in diluted nitric acid. Tartrate of potassa is composed of one
 eq. of tartaric acid  66,  and one of potassa 47*15=113-15.   According to
 Berzelius, the crystals contain no water of crystallization.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Tartrate of potassa is  a mild cooling
 purgative, operating, like most of the  neutral salts, without  much  pain, and
 producing watery stools.   It  is  applicable to febrile diseases,  and is  occa-
 sionally combined with senna, the griping effects of  which it has a tendency
 to obviate. The dose is from a drachm to an ounce,  according to the degree
 of effect  desired.                                                    B.
   POTASSII BROMIDUM. Lond.   Bromide of Potassium.
   "Take of Bromine two ounces ;  Carbonate of Potassa two ounces and a
 drachm ; Iron Filings an ounce; Distilled Water three pints [Imperial mea-
 sure].  First add  the Iron,  and afterwards the Bromine, to a pint and a half
 of the Distilled Water.  Set them  by  for  half an hour, frequently stirring
 them with a spatula.   Apply a gentle heat, and when a greenish colour oc-
 curs, pour in the  Carbonate of Potassa dissolved in the remainder of the
 Water.   Strain, and wash what remains in two pints [Imperial measure] of
 boiling Distilled Water, and again strain.   Evaporate the mixed liquors, so
 that crystals may form." Lond.
   In the first step of this process, a  solution of bromide  of iron is  formed;
 and this, by the addition of the solution of carbonate of potassa, is decom-
 posed so  as  to  generate carbonate of the protoxide  of  iron which precipi-
 tates, and bromide of potassium in solution.  By straining, the  precipitated
 carbonate is  separated, and from the strained liquor  crystals of bromide of
 potassium are obtained by due evaporation.
   Properties, fyc.  Bromide  of potassium is a permanent, anhydrous, colour-
 less salt, crystallizing in cubes or quadrangular prisms, and having a pungent,
 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  bromide  of  potassium  by the  London
 College.   " Totally soluble in water.   It does not alter the colour of litmus
 or turmeric.  Chloride of barium throws down nothing from the  solution.
 Sulphuric acid  and starch  added together render it  yellow.  Subjected to
heat it loses no weight.  Ten grains  of this salt decompose just 14-28 grains
of nitrate  of silver, and precipitate a yellowish  bromide  of silver, which is
dissolved by ammonia, and  but very sparingly by nitric acid."  The object 
1098
Potassa.
PART II.
of adding sulphuric acid along with the starch is to set free the bromine.  If
iodine  be set free at the same time, the starch will  give rise to a violet or
feeble blue colour.  To test for iodine in this salt, Lassaigne recommends to
add to  its solution a few drops of a weak solution of chlorine, and then to
introduce a piece of starched white paper.  If iodine be present, the starch
will become violet, or faintly blue.  If the salt decomposes more nitrate of
silver than is above stated, its saturating power is greater than it .should be,
and the  presence of a chloride, probably of potassium or sodium, may be
suspected.  Bromide of  potassium consists of one eq. of bromine 78-4, and
one of potassium 39*15=117-55.
   Medical Properties. Bromide of potassium  is deemed alterative and resol-
vent.  In  1828, Pourche  used it  with benefit, both internally and in the
form of ointment, in the treatment of bronchocele and scrofula.  It was intro-
duced  into the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836, in consequence of the favour-
able results obtained by Dr. Williams, of London, from its use as an internal
remedy  in several cases of enlarged spleen.   It may  be given in the form of
pill or in sweetened water, in doses of from three to ten grains, three times
a day.   In irritable conditions of  the bowels  it is apt to occasion diarrhoea,
to obviate which effect it may be  necessary to give opium.  The ointment
may be  made by mixing from a scruple to two drachms of the bromide with
an ounce of lard.  Of this from half a drachm to a drachm may be rubbed
on a scrofulous tumour, or other part where its local  action is desired, once
in twenty-four hours.  Sometimes bromine  is added to this ointment in the
proportion of thirty minims to the ounce of lard.                     B.
   POTASSII   CYANURETUM. U S.  Cyanuret of Potassium.
   "Take of Ferrocyanuret of Potassium,  in powder,  eight ounces; Dis-
tilled Water six fluidounces.  Expose the Ferrocyanuret to a moderate heat
until it becomes nearly white, and is wholly deprived of its water of crystal-
lization.  Put the residue in an earthen retort, with the beak loosely stopped,
and expose it to a red heat for two hours, or till gas ceases to be disengaged.
Withdraw the retort from the fire, close the orifice with lute, and then let the
whole remain until  quite  cold.  Break  the  retort, remove the black mass,
reduce it to coarse powder, introduce it into a bottle of the capacity of twelve
fluidounces, and then add the Distilled Water. Agitate the mixture occasion-
ally for  half an hour, throw it on a filter,  evaporate the filtered  solution
Rapidly to dryness, and keep the dry mass in a closely stopped bottle." U.S.
   In order to understand the process adopted for obtaining this new officinal
of the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia, it is necessary  to  bear in mind that the  ferro-
cyanuret of  potassium consists of  two eqs. of cyanuret of potassium, one of
cyanuret of  iron, and  three of water.  The salt is first deprived of its water
of crystallization by exposure to a moderate heat, and then calcined at a red
heat for two hours, in order to decompose  the cyanuret of iron.  The pro-
 duct 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 decom-
 posed, 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  potas-
 sium, which is obtained in a solid state by  a rapid  evaporation  to  dryness.
 During the evaporation,  a small portion  of the cyanuret is  decomposed,
 attended with the  evolution of ammonia, and the production of formiate  of
 potassa.  A portion  of this salt, therefore, contaminates the cyanuret,  as
 obtained by this process;  but the ] quantity is too small to interfere with its 
PART II.
Potassa.
1099
 medicinal action.   The  decomposition here referred to takes place between
 one eq. of cyanuret of potassium and four of water, and is represented by
 the following equation, in which the cyanogen  is expressed by its full symbol
 NC2,  and formic  acid  by  C2HOs;—K,NC2 + 4HO=NH3 + KO,C2H03.
 This decomposition is avoided by exhausting the black mass with boiling
 alcohol of 60 per  cent. (0-896) instead of water.  The alcoholic  solution,
 by evaporation to  a pellicle, lets  fall the salt, upon cooling, as a crystalline
 precipitate, perfectly white and pure.
   According to the  process of the  French Codex, this  cyanuret is  obtained
 in the dry way, without the use of any  solvent.  The calcination is performed
 in a coated  stone-ware retort, half-filled  with  the  ferrocyanuret, 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 temperature, at
 which it is kept for a quarter ofan hour.  When the calcination is thus con-
 ducted, the retort will be found to contain a black matter, covered  by a fused
 layer of pure  cyanuret  of  potassium, resembling white enamel.  This  is
 detached by means of a knife, and immediately transferred to a bottle, with
 an accurately  fitting stopper.  The black  matter,  under the name  of black
 cyanuret, is also kept for medicinal use; but the dose of this cannot be accu-
 rately fixed, on account of  its containing, at different times,  more or less
 impurity.
   The French Codex  process is commended by Mr. Donovan,  of Dublin,  as
 being the best  for obtaining  this salt.   He has modified it by substituting an
 iron mercury bottle for  the stoneware retort.   The details of his  mode  of
 proceeding are given by  him in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ii.  578.
   The  process of Wiggers, which is said to excel  all others, consists  in
 passing hydrocyanic acid into a receiver, containing an alcoholic  solution  of
 potassa.   The hydrocyanic acid  is formed by slowly distilling two parts  of
 ferrocyanuret of potassium, contained  in a retort,  with one  and a half parts
 of sulphuric acid,  previously diluted  with an equal weight of  water and
 allowed to cool.  The acid  is made to pass into a  cooled receiver, furnished
 with a safety tube,  and containing one part of pure hydrate of potassa, dis-
 solved in three or four parts of alcohol of 90 per cent. (0-822).   As soon  as
 the ebullition  slackens, the operation   should be stopped ; and  the liquor  in
 the receiver will be found thick from the  precipitated cyanuret of potassium,
 mixed with the alcoholic solution of the undecomposed potassa.  The preci-
 pitate is then collected on a filter, freed from the mother-water,  washed with
 alcohol, and  without  being  removed from  the  filter,  pressed and  dried.
 (Pharm. Trans., Dec, 1841.) The ferrocyanuret of potassium yields about
 a tenth of its weight of cyanuret by this process.   It will be noticed that the
 hydrocyanic  acid is here generated by the  same process as  that adopted for
 obtaining it in the last  U. S., Lond., and Ed. Pharmacopoeias ; but instead  of
 being condensed by itself, it is allowed  to  pass into a solution  of potassa. (See
 page 786.)  Liebig has proposed  the following process, which  gives a large
 product of cyanuret of potassium, but contaminated with cyanate of  potassa.
 Mix eight parts of ferrocyanuret of potassium, well dried, with  three of dry
 carbonate of potassa, and throw the mixture into a red-hot Hessian crucible,
 which is to be  maintained at this  heat.   The  melted mass  becomes succes-
 sively brown and yellow ; and finally, when it becomes white, which will be
 known by  its  concreting in a brilliant white mass  on a warm  glass rod
 dipped into the liquid, it is to be  poured  out into a warm porcelain capsule
 to solidify.   Two eqs. of ferrocyanuret of potassium react with two eqs.  of
 carbonate of potassa.  The iron is set free, the carbonic acid evolved, and a
 compound of five eqs. of cyanuret of potassium and one of cyanate of potassa
is formed.  The reaction is explained  by the following equation:—2(FeCy 
1100
Potassa.
PART II.
2KCy)+2(KO,C02)=5KCy+KO,CyO+2Fe+2COfl.  (Pharm. Journ.
and Trans., Aug., 1842.)   The cyanate of potassa may be readily detected
by saturating the cyanuret, as thus obtained, with an  acid, which will cause
an effervescence of carbonic acid, and the generation of a salt of ammonia.
   Properties.  Cyanuret of potassium is a white substance, having a sharp,
somewhat alkaline and bitter-almond taste,  and an alkaline reaction.  If yel-
low it contains  iron.   It is deliquescent in moist air, very soluble in water,
and sparingly soluble in  strong alcohol.   The salt and its  solution, when
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 ener-
getic 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 as found in the shops, independently
of the effects of time  and exposure.   Mr. David Stewart, of Baltimore, exa-
mined six samples of this cyanuret, on sale for medicinal use, and found them
to vary considerably in purity.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 134, from the
Maryland Med. and Surg. Journ.)   Besides water, the usual impurities
are carbonate, cyanate, and formiate of potassa.  Effervescence on the addi-
tion of an acid shows a carbonate or cyanate, and a blackening when heated,
1 the presence of a formiate.  Cyanuret of potassium consists of one eq. of cya-
nogen and one of potassium.
   Medical Properties.   Cyanuret of potassium is pre-eminently poisonous,
acting precisely like hydrocyanic acid as a poison and as a medicine.  (See
Acidum Hydrocyanicum.)   The  grounds  on which it has been proposed as
a substitute for  that acid by Robiquet and Villerme, are its uniformity as a
chemical product,  and its less liability to undergo decomposition.   The dose
is the  eighth of a grain, dissolved  in half a fluidounce of distilled water, to
which may be  added  half a fluidrachm of syrup of lemons, if the prescriber
wishes to set free hydrocyanic acid. (Donovan.)  The  spurious  cyanuret,
formed by calcining dried muscular flesh with potash, consists principally of
carbonate  of potassa, and is but slightly poisonous.  (Orfila.)   A  solution,
made with from one to four grains to  the fluidounce of water, has  been re-
commended in neuralgic and other local pains, applied by means of pieces
of linen.  Mr.  Guthrie found that a solution of from  three to six grains to
the fluidounce of distilled water, formed an admirable remedy, applied by
drops every other  day, for removing the olive-coloured stains of the conjunc-
tiva, caused by  nitrate of silver.                                    B.
   POTASSII IODIDUM. US., Lond., Ed.  Potassje Hydriodas.
Dub.  Lodide  of Potassium.  IIydriodate of Potassa.
   "Take of Iodine  six ounces;  Iron Filings three ounces; Carbonate of
Potassa four ounces, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water four pints.
Mix the  Iodine with three pints  of the Distilled Water, and  add the Iron
Filings, stirring frequently with a  spatula for half an hour.   Apply a gentle
heat, and, when the  liquor  assumes  a greenish  colour, add gradually the
Carbonate of Potassa, previously dissolved  in half a pint of  the  Distilled
Water, until it ceases to produce a precipitate.   Continue the  heat for  half
an hour, and then  filter.  Wash  the residuum with half a pint of the Distilled
Water boiling hot, and filter.  Mix ihe filtered  liquors, and evaporate so that
crystals may form.   Pour off  the liquid, and  dry the crystals on bibulous
paper." U. S.
   The London College takes six ounces of iodine, two ounces of iron filings,
four ounces of carbonate of potassa, and six pints [Imp. meas.] of  distilled
water, and proceeds as above; except that the quantity of carbonate of potassa 
PART II.
Potassa.
1101
in solution, added to the solution of iodide of iron, is taken at a fixed weight,
and not left to be determined by the amount necessary to complete the pre-
cipitation, and that, after the precipitation of the carbonate of iron, heat is not
applied for some time before the liquid is filtered.
   "Take of Iodine (dry) five ounces;  fine Iron Wire three ounces; Water
four pints [Imp. meas.];  Carbonate of Potash (dry) two ounces  and six
drachms.  With the Water, Iodine, and  Iron Wire prepare the solution of
iodide of iron as directed [under Ferri Iodidi  Syrupus].    Add immediately,
while it is hot, the  Carbonate of Potash previously dissolved in a few ounces
of water, stir carefully, filter the product, and wash the powder on the filter
with a little water.   Concentrate the liquor at a temperature short of ebulli-
tion, till a dry salt be obtained, which is to be purified from a little red oxide
of iron and other impurities, by dissolving it in less than  its own weight of
boiling water, or  still better by boiling it  in  twice  its  weight of rectified
spirit, filtering the solution, and setting it aside to crystallize.   More crystals
will be obtained by concentrating and cooling the residual liquor."  Ed.
   " Take  of Iodine one part;  Sulphuret  of Iron, in coarse  powder, five
parts;  Sulphuric  Acid seven  parts;  Distilled  Water forty-eight  parts;
Water of  Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient  quantity ;  Rectified Spirit six
parts.  Mix the Iodine by trituration with sixteen parts of the Water, and put
the mixture into a glass vessel.   Pour the Acid, previously diluted with thirty-
two parts of the Water, on  the Sulphuret, contained in  a matrass;  and by
means of a tube adapted to the neck of  the matrass, and  reaching  to the bot-
tom of the vessel containing the Iodine  and Water, transmit the gas through
the mixture, until the Iodine entirely disappears.  Filter the liquor, and im-
mediately  evaporate  it,  by a superior heat,  to one-eighth part,  and again
filter  it;   Then gradually  add as much Water of Carbonate  of Potassa as
will be sufficient to saturate the acid, which   is known by the cessation of
the effervescence.    Then expose the mixture  to heat until the residual salt
is dry and  of a white colour.  On this pour the Spirit, and digest  by the aid
of heat.   Lastly, from the  remaining salt, pour off the solution, evaporate
it to dryness, and keep the residuum in  a close vessel."  Dub.
   In  the last edition of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, the process of Baup and
Caillot was substituted for that previously adopted for obtaining iodide of po-
tassium.   The  French Codex  and  London Pharmacopoeia had previously
adopted this process; and  the Edinburgh College, upon  making this iodide
officinal for tbe first time in the last edition of its Pharmacopoeia, has selected
it also.  The first step of the process is to form the iodide of iron in solution,
precisely as is done in the formula for that compound; and the second to de-
compose it by carbonate of potassa, which gives rise to iodide of potassium in
solution, and a precipitate of carbonate of protoxide of iron. The solution of
iodide of potassium is then separated by filtration from the precipitated  car-
bonate, and evaporated so that crystals  ma3r form.   As the precipitated car-
bonate, after the filtration, still retains a portion of the  solution of iodide of
potassium, it is washed, in order to dissolve this  portion, and the resulting
solution, after filtration, is  added to that first obtained.   Messrs. T. and H.
Smith, of Edinburgh, instead  of washing the precipitate,  prefer the plan of
pressing it strongly in a cloth, in order to extract the remains of the solution.
The mass  left is broken up in a  portion of distilled water  equal to about
two-thirds of the weight of the iodine employed, and pressed a second time.
Proceeding thus, less water is used, and less evaporation is necessary.  The
London College takes the iron at one-third the weight of the  iodine, instead
of one-half as in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia ; and the Messrs. Smith prefer the
London proportion, which still gives the iron  in excess.   The London pro- 
1102
Potassa.
PART II.
cess varies disadvantageous^, in several particulars, from that of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia.  In the first place it is not easy to fix beforehand the quantity
of carbonate of potassa necessary to decompose the iodide of iron, on account
of the variable quality both of iodine and the alkaline carbonate.  It is, there-
fore, better to add the alkaline solution only so long as it produces  a precipi-
tate ;  and, this rule being adopted,  the quantity  added in different operations
will be found sometimes  more and sometimes  less.   The direction of the
London College to strain immediately after the addition of the alkaline carbo-
nate, gives rise to the inconvenience of obtaining  a  liquid, which becomes
turbid from a fresh formation Of the ferruginous precipitate, and whicli requires
a new filtration before it can  be submitted to evaporation.   This inconve-
nience is avoided by continuing the heat for half an hour after the addition of
the alkaline  solution, during which interval the  salts  fully  react on  each
other, and the precipitate is rendered less bulky, and more"easily separable
by  the subsequent filtration.   The  London College has erred  in using in the
different steps  of its process, a  quantity of  water inconveniently large,
which causes a waste of time and fuel in bringing  the solution of the iodide
of potassium.to the necessary  degree  of concentration.   The Edinburgh
College, for no obvious reason,  abandons the proportion of the iodine to the
iron of 2 to  1, given in its formula  for Ferri Iodidi Syrupus,  and adopts the
ratio of 2 to 1-2, thus using a still  greater excess of  metal.   The  carbonate
of potassa is ordered in less proportion than in the U.S. and London formulae,
because it is directed  to be dry.  We have already expressed our preference
of the plan of  using a quantity of  the  alkaline  carbonate, just adequate to
complete the decomposition of the  iodide of iron; and the use of the pure
carbonate, obtained by igniting  the crystallized bicarbonate,  as  is done by
the Messrs. Smith, would form an  improvement in the process.   The pro-
portion of alkaline carbonate taken  by the London and Edinburgh Colleges
is not in  excess, provided the iodine be dry ; but  if  it contain considerable
moisture,  the carbonate  ordered will be more  than sufficient to decompose
the iodide of iron formed. The solution of iodide  of potassium, obtained by
filtration, is directed by the Edinburgh College  to be evaporated to dryness,
and the  dry salt is purified from  iron and  other impurities by solution in
water or alcohol, filtration, and crystallization.  The evaporation to dryness
here directed would be unnecessary, if the plan had been adopted of com-
pleting the reaction between the iodide of iron and  alkaline carbonate, by the
application of heat for a  short time before filtration.  However carefully the
alkaline solution may be added, so as just to decompose the  iodide of iron,
the concentrated solution prepared for  crystallization will show an alkaline
reaction.  This excess of alkali is best  neutralized by gradually adding a
solution of iodide of iron, until the liquid ceases  to restore the blue colour
of reddened litmus.   A new filtration must now be practised to separate the
additional precipitate.  By the Messrs. Smith  this solution is evaporated to
dryness, and the  dry salt carefully fused in  an iron  pot, in order  to free  it
from colour.  It is then dissolved, and the solution, by filtration, concentration,
and cooling, furnishes a perfectly pure iodide nearly to the very last. (Pharm.
Journ. and Trans., iii.  14.)
   In the Dublin  process, a stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas being passed
through water in which iodine is diffused, the gas is decomposed, its sulphur
is  precipitated, and  its hydrogen  by combining with  the iodine, generates
hydriodic acid  which remains in solution.  The sulphur being separated by
filtration,  and the  solution duly concentrated, the acid is converted into iodide
of  potassium by saturating it with carbonate of potassa.    By evaporation
to dryness the  iodide is  obtained in  the  solid state.    But lest it should be
contaminated  with some iodate and carbonate  of potassa, the dry  mass  is 
PART II.
Potassa.
1103
digested with rectified spirit, which takes up the iodide, and leaves these salts
behind.  The alcoholic solution is then evaporated to dryness, and the pure
iodide obtained in the solid state.  This process is not an  eligible one; as it
requires the formation of hydriodic acid, and the use of  alcohol.
  The simplest process for preparing iodide of potassium in quantity, is  to
add iodine  to a hot solution of caustic potassa until the alkali is neutralized,
when iodide of potassium and iodate of potassa will be generated, to evapo-
rate  to  dryness, and to fuse  the  dry mass by a gentle red heat, in order to
decompose the iodate.    The fused mass is then dissolved in water, and the
solution obtained  crystallized.  According to Mr. Scanlan,  the deoxidalion of
the iodate  is easily effected by the  intermixture of powdered charcoal with
the two salts before they are subjected to heat. (Pereira.)
  Properties, fyc.  Iodide of potassium is in opaque white or  transparent
crystals, permanent in a dry air,  slightly  deliquescent in a moist one, and
having a sharp saline taste.  According "to the Messrs. Smith, it is not at all
deliquescent when perfectly  pure.   It generally crystallizes in cubes.  It is
soluble in about two-thirds of its weight of cold water, and freely in rectified
spirit; and when a hot saturated alcoholic solution is allowed to cool, it de-
posits the salt in  crystals.  Its solution imparts a blue colour to starch  upon
the  addition of sulphuric  acid, which acts by setting  free iodine.   Ether
partially decomposes  it,  developing  a yellow colour,  and setting iodine free.
(Vogel.)   The aqueous  solution is  capable of taking up a large quantity of
iodine, forming a liquid, containing  the ioduretted iodide, of a deep brown
colour.   Exposed to heat it fuses, without losing weight, into a mass having
a crystalline and pearly aspect,  and at a red heat is volatilized without decom-
position.   The most usual impurities contained in this salt are the chlorides
of potassium and  sodium, and iodate and carbonate of potassa.  The iodate
and carbonate may be  detected by their insolubility in  alcohol.   Iodide  of
potassium, containing iodate, becomes  yellow by keeping, and evolves the
odour of iodine.   The iodate may be detected by adding  a  solution of tartaric
acid to a solution of the suspected iodide. Bitartrate of potassa will be precipi-
tated, and,  if the  iodide be pure, a yellow colour is soon developed from the
action of the air on the liberated hydriodic acid;  but if any iodate be present
the test will set free both iodic  and hydriodic acid, which, by their reaction,
will instantly develope free iodine. (Pereira.)  Carbonate of potassa is gene-
rally present in the proportion  of  from  one to ten per cent., owing to faulty
preparation ; but  sometimes  it is fraudulently introduced.  Dr.  Christison
has detected 74-| per cent, of  this impurity, and Dr. Pereira as high as 77 per
cent.  An  adulteration by the carbonate under  ten per  cent, docs not alter
the crystalline  appearance of the iodide, but gives  it a  greater tendency  to
deliquesce  than the pure salt possesses ; but when it is larger it renders the
salt granular and  highly deliquescent.   This impurity may be detected  by
chloride of barium, which throws down a white precipitate of carbonate of
baryta; by lime-water, which  causes a milkiness (carbonate of  lime) ; and
by tincture of iodine, the colour  of  which  is destroyed.  The presence  of
a chloride  may be determined by  the use of nitrate of  silver.   This test
will  throw down  nothing from the  pure salt  but iodide of silver, which is
scarcely soluble in ammonia;  while chloride  of silver is  readily soluble  in
it.  If then a solution of the suspected 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 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  ammonia  will only take up a  minute
quantity of iodide of silver, and  the addition of the nitric acid will scarcely
disturb  the transparency of the solution.   Iodide of potassium consists  of 
1104
Potassa.
PART II.
 one eq. of iodine 126*3, and one of potassium 39*15=165*45.   It contains
 no water of crystallization.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This salt produces very marked effects on
 the secretions in general, which it greatly increases, and into which it readily
 passes.   It has  a tendency to irritate the mucous membrane of the  air-pas-
 sages, as is  shown by its sometimes occasioning slight  bronchitis, and an
 affection like cold in the head.   When its use is long continued, it occasion-
 ally excites ptyalism, distinguishable from that  produced  by mercury by the
 less viscidity of the  saliva, and  by the absence of inflammation and fetor.  Its
 obvious effects on the system are very variable,  arising probably either from
 peculiarities of constitution, or from the unequal quality of the  medicine it-
 self.   Thus  in  some cases it  produces nausea, pain in  the stomach, and
 diarrhoea, in  moderate doses;  and in others is borne in large  doses without
 inconvenience.   Sometimes it increases the appetite and the flesh.  By some
 practitioners it is preferred for the purpose  of  producing  the constitutional
 effects of iodine.  Dr. De Renzy, of Carnew, used it with great success in
 haemoptysis, and Dr. Graves,  of Dublin, employed it with advantage in a
 very obstinate erythematic swelling of the hand.  Dr. Williams, of London,
 considers it applicable to the treatment of various forms of secondary syphilis.
 He used it with  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 extraordinary
 powers in the  treatment of  syphilis.  Dr. Isaac Parrish, of  this city, em-
 ployed it  successfully in several cases of strumous inflammation of the eye,
 given in the compound syrup of sarsaparilla.  It appeared to be particularly
 useful in promptly relieving the severe, neuralgic, circumorbital pain.  (Medi-
 cal Examiner, N. S., i. 241.)  MM. Guillot and Melsens gave it with  advan-
 tage, in doses of from a drachm to a drachm and a  half  daily, in mercurial
 tremors and lead poison. (Arch. Gen., 4e Ser.,  iv. 517.)  Dr. G. L. Upshur,
 of Virginia, recommends its use in the suppurative stage of pneumonia. (Med.
 Exam., vii. 145.)   The dose is from two to ten grains or  more, three times
 a day, given in solution. Ricord rarely exceeded three scruples a day. Some
 practitioners  have reported the exhibition of enormous doses, such as two,
 four, and  even six drachms daily, without inconvenience.   Dr. Buchanan, of
 Glasgow, assures us that he  has  given  the pure salt in doses of  half an
 ounce, without  any precaution being observed  by the patient,  except  that
 of drinking freely of diluents.   Notwithstanding this  testimony, Dr. Law-
 rie, of the same  city, reports several cases  of  dryness and irritation  of the
 throat, ending in severe spasmodic  croup, and  one  case of death following
 the sudden occurrence of dyspnoea, caused by the use of small doses of this
 iodide. There are certainly wanting new facts, to  explain these  discrepancies.
  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.
  According to Ricord, this salt  produces in some  constitutions peculiar effects;
 such as various  eruptions of the skin, excessive diuresis, vascular injection of
 the conjunctiva and tumefaction of the eyelids, cerebral excitement like that pro-
 duced by alcoholic drinks, and discharges from the urethra and vagina, resem-
bling Menorrhagia.  These effects go off upon the suspension of the medicine.
  Iodide of potassium is employed as an external application in the form of
 ointment,  either  alone or  mixed with iodine.  (See Unguentum Potassae
Hydriodatis, and Unguentum  lodini Compositum.)
  Off. Prep.  Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum,  U. S.;  Liquor lodini Compo-
situs, U. S.,  Lond.,  Ed.; Plumbi  Iodidum, Lond., Ed.; Tinctura  lodini 
PART II.
Potassa.
1105
 Composita, U.S., Lond.;  Unguentum  lodini Compositum, U.S., Lond.,
 Ed.; Unguentum Potassae Hydriodatis, Dub.                        B.
   POTASSII  SULPHURETUM.  U S,  Lond,  Ed.    Potassje
 Sulphuretum. Dub.    Sulphuret of Potassium.    Sulphuret  of
 Potassa.
   "Take of Sulphur an  ounce; Carbonate of Potassa  two ounces.   Rub
 the  Carbonate  of  Potassa, previously dried,  with the Sulphur;  melt the
 mixture in  a covered crucible over the fire; then pour it  out, and when it is
 cold put it into  a bottle,  which is to be well stopped." U. S.
   " Take of Sulphur an  ounce; Carbonate of Potassa four ounces.   Rub
 them together,  and place the mixture over the fire in a covered crucible, until
 they unite." Lond.
   The Edinburgh and Dublin processes are essentially the same as that of the
 London College.
   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  sulphuric  acid,  which combines
 with  the undecomposed 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.   It may be presumed that  the product of the
 processes of the British Pharmacopoeias has the same constituents, plus a
 certain portion of undecomposed carbonate of potassa, on account of the large
 excess of alkali taken.  In performing  the process, the  mass, after it has
 become completely fused, should be poured out on a marble slab, and, as
 soon as it concretes, should be broken into pieces, and  immediately trans-
 ferred to a well-stopped  bottle.
   The different Pharmacopoeias  use the  carbonate of potassa from pearlash ;
 but this is  considered by  some as not sufficiently pure.  In the process of
 M. Henry, which is  stated to be  the best that has yet  been devised, the pure
 carbonate 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
 mixture into flat-bottomed  matrasses, which should be only  two-thirds filled
 by it.  These are placed on a sand-bath, at equal distances, 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 be-
 come 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, fyc.  Sulphuret of potassium, when properly prepared, is a
 hard brittle substance, having a nauseous, alkaline,  and bitter taste.  Its
 colour is liver-brown, and hence its former  name of hcpar 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 small portion of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas.  It is
completely soluble in water, forming a liquid ofan orange-yellow colour, and
exhaling the  smell of sulphuretted  hydrogen.   By exposure  to the  air it
attracts oxygen, and the  sulphuret of potassium  is gradually converted into
     94 
1106
Potassa.
PART II.
 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 in the
 state of hydrate.  It is also incompatible with solutions of most of the metals,
 which are precipitated as sulphurets.                                B.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Sulphuret of potassium is a local irritant,
 and, in  small frequently repeated doses, is said to increase the frequency of
 the pulse, the heat of skin, and the different secretions,  especially those of
 the mucous membranes.  Occasionally it vomits and purges.  It acts, more-
 over,  as an antacid,  and produces  the general effects of  sulphur upon the
 system.  By some it  is maintained to be sedative, and directly to reduce the
 action of the  heart.   This effect it probably produces, when taken in con-
 siderable 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.  The complaints in which
 it has been most advantageously employed are chronic rheumatism and gout,
 and various cutaneous affections.   It has been  given  with less benefit in
 painter's colic, asthma, and chronic catarrh,  and acquired a short-lived repu-
 tation 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 hemlock.  In consequence of its property of  forming insoluble
 sulphurets when mixed with the metallic salts, it has been proposed as an
 antidote for some of the mineral poisons, such as corrosive sublimate, arseni-
 ous acid, the salts of copper, and the preparations  of lead.   Orfila, however,
 has  proved that it does not  prevent the effects of these poisons, but on the
 contrary is itself highly poisonous when given in  large doses.  Dissolved in
 water it has proved very 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 quantity 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 ointment  is made by
 mixing half a  drachm of the sulphuret with an ounce of lard.
   The dose of sulphuret of potassium is from two to  ten grains, repeated
 several times a day, and given in pill with liquorice, or in solution  with syrup.
 In infantile cases of croup, from one to four grains were given every  three or
 four hours.                                                        W.

   POTASSA  SULPHURETI AQUA. Dub.   Water  of Sulphu-
 ret  of Potassa.
   " Take of Washed  Sulphur one part;  Water  of Caustic Potassa eleven
parts.    Boil for ten minutes,  and filter through paper.  Keep the liquor in
 well stopped bottles.   The specific gravity of this solution is 1*117." Dub.
   When sulphur is boiled with  a  solution of caustic  potassa, sulphuret of
 potassium and hyposulphite of potassa are  formed  in solution. Accordingly,
 this preparation is not a solution  of sulphuret of potassa, as it is called by the
 Dublin College;  neither is it  identical with an aqueous solution  of  the pre-
 ceding preparation.
   Properties, 8fC.  This  liquid  has an unctuous feel  and  a  deep  orange
 colour.  It is  decomposed by acids, which cause an effervescence of hydro-
 sulphuric acid,  and  a milky  appearance  from the precipitation of sulphur.
 Upon  exposure to the air it is gradually converted into a solution of  the sul-
 phate of potassa.  It is similar in medical  properties to the last preparation,
 and  is used internally and externally for the most part in cutaneous eruptions. 
part ii.                  Potassa.—Pulpa.                     1107

The dose is from ten minims to a fluidrachm, diluted with water, and given
two or  three times a day.   When used as a bath it imparts an orange colour
to the skin.                                                      B.

                             PULP.E.

                               Palps.
  The  following general directions are given in the Pharmacopoeias in rela-
tion  to  the extraction of pulps:
  "  Fruits of which the pulps are to be extracted, if unripe, or ripe and dry,
are to be  boiled in  a little  water until  they become soft.  Then  the pulps,
expressed through a hair sieve, are to  be slowly evaporated to a proper con-
sistence." Dub.
  "  Set pulpy fruits, if unripe, or ripe and  dry, in a moist place to soften;
then express  the pulps through a hair sieve ; afterwards boil them  with  a
gentle  fire, frequently stirring ; lastly, evaporate the  water  by means of  a
water-bath, until the pulps become of a proper consistence.  Of fruits which
are ripe and fresh, express the pulp or juice through a sieve, without boiling."
Lond.
  There  are very few fruits the pulps of which are now employed in phar-
macy.  For these few the directions of the Dublin College are preferable to
those of the London, which are indeed impracticable;  as dried fruits often do
not become sufficiently moist, by mere exposure in a damp place to admit of
the subsequent treatment ordered, and besides, would  almost always become
mouldy.                                                        W.
  CASSIA FISTULA PULPA.  U.S.   Cassia. Lond.   Cassle
Pulpa. Ed.   Cassia Fistula. Dub.   Pulp of Purging Cassia.
  " Take of Purging Cassia, bruised, a convenient quantity.  Pour boiling
water on the bruised pods so that the pulp  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.
  " Pour boiling Water upon bruised  Cassia Pods, so that the pulp may be
washed out, and press this first through a coarse sieve, and afterwards through
a hair sieve; then evaporate by means of a water-bath until the pulp acquires
a proper consistence." Lond.
  Cassia  pulp has a blackish  colour,  a slight  rather sickly  odour, and  a
sweet mucilaginous taste.   It is apt to  become sour by exposure. For its
composition and effects, see Cassia Fistula.
  Off.Prep. Confectio Cassiae, Lond.; Confectio Sennae, U. S., Lond.

  PRUNI PULPA.  U.  S.   Pulp of Prunes.
  "Take of Prunes a convenient quantity.   Soften the Prunes in the  va-
pour of boiling water, and, having separated the stones, beat the remainder in
a marble mortar, and press  it through a hair sieve." U. S.
  The  prunes may  be softened, as above directed, by placing them on a per-
forated  plate or diaphragm,  or a wire sieve, or suspending them in a net over
boiling  water.
  Off. Prep. Confectio Sennae, U. S.                              W.
  TAMARINDI PULPA. U.S.  Tamarindus.  Lond., Ed. Tama-
rindus Indica. Dub.  Pulp of Tamarinds.
  " Take of Tamarinds a convenient quantity.  Digest them with a small
quantity of water until they become of a uniform consistence ; then separate
the seeds and filaments by  pressing through a hair sieve." U.S- 
1108
Pulpa.—Pulveres.
PART II.
  They should be digested in an unglazed earthenware vessel over hot ashes,
or by means of a sand-bath.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Cassiae, Lond.; Confectio Sennae, U. S., Lond.
                                                                W.

                          PULVERES.

                              Powders.
  The form of powder is convenient for the exhibition of substances which
are not given in very large doses, are not very disagreeable to the taste, have
no corrosive property, and do not  deliquesce rapidly on exposure.  As the
effect of  pulverization is  to expose a more extended surface to  the action of
the air, care should be taken to keep substances which are liable to be injured
by such exposure, in closely  stopped bottles.  In many instances it is also
important to exclude the  light, which exercises a very deleterious influence
over  numerous  medicinal agents  when  minutely divided.  In  relation to
substances most liable to  injury from these causes, the best plan is to powder
them in small quantities as they are wanted for use.
   Powders may be divided into the simple, consisting of a single substance,
and  the  compound, of two or more  mixed together.  The latter only are
embraced under the present head.  In the preparation of the compound pow-
ders, the ingredients, if of different degrees of cohesion or solidity, should be
pulverized separately and then united.  An exception, however, to this rule,
is the employment of one substance to facilitate by its greater 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 ; the  former, because  by
absorbing moisture they  render the preparation damp  and liable to spoil, the
latter, because they are apt to become rancid, and impart  an unpleasant odour
and taste to the mixture.
   The lighter powders may  in general be  administered suspended in water
or  other thin liquid; the heavier,  such as  those of metallic substances, re-
quire a  more consistent  vehicle, as syrup,  molasses, honey, or some of the
confections.   Resinous powders, if given in  water, require the intervention
of mucilage or sugar.
   The Dublin College gives the following general directions for the prepara-
tion of powders: " The substances to be powdered, having been previously
dried, are to be beaten in an iron mortar.  The powder is  then to be separated,
by sifting it through a hair sieve, and is to be kept in  close vessels." These
directions, however, are not sufficiently explicit.   It is not proper to beat the
substance  in the  mortar till  it  is completely pulverized; as the portion al-
ready powdered interferes with the action of the pestle upon that remaining
unpowdered,  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 pulverization and sifting, until the whole is
brought to the proper degree of fineness.                            W.
   PULVIS ALOES  COMPOSITUS.  Lond., Dub.   Compound
Powder of Aloes.
   " Take of  Aloes an ounce and  a half; Guaiacum Resin an ounce; Com-
 pound Powder of Cinnamon half an ounce.   Rub the Aloes and  the Guai-
 acum Resin,  separately, into powder; then  mix them with the  Compound
 Powder of Cinnamon."  Lond.
   The Dublin College gives the same directions, particularizing the hepatic
t 
PART II.
Pulveres.
1109
 aloes, and substituting their own aromatic powder for the compound powder
 of cinnamon of the London College.
    The tendency of pulverized guaiac to  concrete, and the excessively bitter
 taste of aloes, which is but imperfectly concealed by the aromatic  addition,
 render the form of powder ineligible  for the exhibition of these medicines.
 The preparation is a warm stimulant cathartic, but is little used.  The dose
 is from fifteen to thirty grains.                                   W.
    PULVIS  ALOES ET CANELLA.  U.S.   Pulvis  Aloes cum
 Canella. Dub.   Powder of Aloes and Canella.   Hiera Picra.
   " Take  of Aloes [hepatic, Dub.~] a pound; Canella three ounces.  Rub
 them separately into a very fine powder, [into powder, Dub.~\ and mix them."
 U.S., Dub.
   This preparation has long been known under the name of hiera picra. The
 canella serves to correct the  griping property, and imperfectly to cover  the
 taste of the aloes; but the unpleasant bitterness of the latter is still very
 obvious in the mixture,  which  would be better given in the form of pill than of
 powder.  It is a popular remedy in amenorrhoea, and may be used for all  the
 purposes  to which aloes is applied.  It is sometimes administered in  domestic
 practice, infused in wine or spirit.  The dose is from ten to twenty grains.
                                                               W.
   PULVIS  ALUMINIS COMPOSITUS.  Ed.   Compound Pow-
 der of Alum.
   "Take of Alum four ounces; Kino one ounce.  Mix  them and reduce
 them to fine powder." Ed.
   A solution of alum is decomposed by a solution of kino, and it is  probable
 that the same effect takes place when the  two substances, mixed in  the state
 of powder, are introduced  into the  stomach;  but whether their astringency
 is materially affected by the change is uncertain.  The preparation may be
 employed in  diarrhoea, menorrhagia, and hemorrhage from the stomach or
 bowels, and externally to suppress hemorrhage, or as an astringent applica-
 tion to flabby ulcers.   The dose is from five to twenty grains.        W.

   PULVIS AROMATICUS.  U S, Ed., Dub.   Pulvis Cinnamomi
 Compositus.  Lond.   Aromatic  Poivder.
   "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 Dub-
 lin, two ounces of cinnamon, an ounce of cardamom  seeds freed from their
 capsules, an ounce of ginger, and a  drachm of long pepper.
   The cardamom seeds should always be separated from their capsules before
 pulverization; and the powder, when  prepared, should be kept in well-stopped
 bottles.  The London and Dublin  preparations are more pungent than those
 of the  U. S. and Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeias, in consequence of the long
 pepper which they contain.  These  powders are stimulant and carminative,
 and may be given  in the dose of from ten to thirty  grains, in cases of en-
 feebled digestion accompanied  with  flatulence; but they are chiefly used as
 corrigents and adjuvants of other medicines.
   Off.Prep. Confectio Aromatica, U.S.,  Ed.; Confectio Opii, U.S., Ed.;
Pilulae  Aloes et  Ferri, Ed.; Pilulae Cambogiae,  Ed.; Pulvis Aloe's Comp.,
Lond., Dub.                                                    W.
                               94* 
1110
Pulveres.
PART II.
  PULVIS ASARI COMPOSITUS. Dub.   Compound Powder of
Asarabacca.
  " Take of dried Leaves of Asarabacca an ounce; dried Lavender Flowers
a drachm.  Rub them together to powder." Dub.
  This is an agreeable and efficacious errhine, useful in some cases of obsti-
nate headache, toothache, and chronic ophthalmia.  Five or six grains snuffed
up the nostrils at bedtime, excite sneezing and a copious discharge of mucus,
which continues to flow on the following day.                      W.
  PULVIS  CRETA COMPOSITUS. Lond., Ed.,  Dub.    Com-
pound Powder of Chalk.
  "Take of Prepared Chalk half a pound; Cinnamon four ounces; Tor-
mentil, Gum Arabic, each, three ounces; Long Pepper half an ounce.  Rub
them  separately into very fine powder, and then mix them." Lond., Dub.
  "Take of Prepared Chalk four ounces; Cinnamon, in fine powder, one
drachm and a  half; Nutmeg,  in fine  powder, a  drachm.  Triturate them
well together." Ed.
  In  the Edinburgh preparation, the aromatics are in too small a quantity to
serve any other purpose than to  give an agreeable flavour to the chalk, which
is the only active  ingredient.  The powder of the London and Dublin Col-
leges  is, on the contrary, warm, stimulant, and astringent, as well as antacid;
and is well calculated for diarrhoea, connected with  acidity and without inflam-
matory symptoms.  In such a combination, however, the proper proportion,
and even the choice of the  ingredients, varies so  much with the symptoms
of the case, that they might with propriety be left  to extemporaneous pre-
scription.  The dose is from ten to  twenty  grains,  given in mucilage or
sweetened water,  and frequently repeated.
   Off. Prep.  Pulvis Cretae Comp. cum Opio,  Lond., Ed., Dub.    W.
   PULVIS  CRETA COMPOSITUS CUM OPIO. Lond., Dub.
Pulvis  Cret^* Opiatus. Ed.   Compound  Powder of Chalk with
 Opium.
   " Take of Compound Powder  of Chalk six  ounces and  a  half;  hard
Opium, in powder,/owr scruples.   Mix them." Lond., Dub.
   "Take of  Compound Chalk  Powder  six  ounces;  Powder of Opium
four  scruples.  Triturate them  together thoroughly." Ed.
   The addition of the opium greatly increases the efficacy of  the compound
powder of chalk  in diarrhoea;  and its equal  diffusion through the powder
presents this  advantage, that it may be  conveniently given in minute doses
applicable to infantile cases.  Two scruples of the London or Dublin pow-
 der, and thirty-seven grains of the Edinburgh, contain a grain of opium. In
 the diarrhoea of adults from ten to twenty grains may be given  for a dose, and
 repeated several times a day, or after each evacuation.              W.
   PULVERES EFFERVESCENTES. Ed.   Effervescing  Pow-
 ders.
   " 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 different colours." Ed.
   This is a formula, introduced into the last edition of the  Edinburgh Phar-
 macopoeia, for a preparation which has been long  in use under the name of
  Soda powders.  The common  soda powders contain the ingredients in some-
 what different proportions ; consisting of twenty-five grains  of the acid in one 
PART II.
Pulveres.
1111
paper, and thirty of the bicarbonate in the other.  They are always prepared
with the bicarbonate of soda;  while the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia allows a
choice between that and the bicarbonate of potassa.   This want of precision
is highly objectionable in officinal formulae.  If it  was thought advisable that
the practitioner should have the  opportunity of prescribing either of these
preparations at his option, they should have had different names.
  The powders  are  administered  in  solution.   An acid  and an alkaline
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 ren-
dered 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 tartaric acid  seizes the alkali of the  bicarbonate, forming a
tartrate of soda or of potassa as the  case may be, while the  carbonic acid
escapes with effervescence.   The effervescing powders  are refrigerant and
very slightly laxative;  and afford an agreeable and refreshing drink, suitable
to febrile complaints.                                             W.
   PULVIS IPECACUANHA ET OPII. U S.  Pulvis Ipecacu-
anha  Compositus. Lond., Ed.,  Dub.    Powder   of Ipecacuanha
and Opium.  Dover's Powder.
  " Take  of Ipecacuanha, in  powder, Opium, in powder, each, a drachm ;
Sulphate 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  College having ordered them in the state
of powder, simply directs them  to be mixed  together.  The Edinburgh
College orders eight times the amount of the materials, and directs them to
be triturated thoroughly together.   The Dublin College first rubs the  opium
and sulphate of potassa together into powder, and  then mixes the pulverized
ipecacuanha with them.
  The sulphate of potassa in this preparation serves, by the hardness of its
particles, to promote that minute division  and consequent thorough intermix-
ture of the  opium and  ipecacuanha, upon which the  peculiar virtues  of the
compound depend.  It also  serves to  dilute the active ingredients, and thus
allow of their division into minute doses adapted to  the complaints of chil-
dren.   This composition, though usually called  Dover's powder, does not
precisely correspond with that originally recommended by Dr. Dover, which
was prepared as follows.   Four ounces of nitrate of potassa and the same
quantity of sulphate of potassa were  mixed together in  a red-hot crucible,
and afterwards very finely powdered; one ounce of opium, sliced, was then
added, and  ground to  powder with the saline  mixture;  lastly, an ounce of
ipecacuanha and an ounce of liquorice root, in powder, were mixed with the
other ingredients.   This process was adopted  in the  former French Codex,
and has been retained with very slight change in the present.
  This powder is an admirable anodyne diaphoretic, not  surpassed, perhaps,
by any other combination in its power of promoting the cutaneous secretion.
Opium itself  has a strong tendency to the skin, evinced  both  by the  occa-
sional diaphoresis and by the itching and  tingling sensation which it excites.
While the vessels of the skin are stimulated by this ingredient, the secreting
orifices are relaxed by the  ipecacuanha, and the combined effect is much
greater than that which results from  either separately.   At the same  time
the general  stimulating influence  of the  opium, and  its  tendency to operate
injuriously on the brain, are counteracted; so that the mixture may be given 
1112                         Pulveres.                      part ii.

with safety in cases which might not admit of the use of opium alone.  The
preparation is applicable to all cases  not attended with much fever, or cere-
bral disease, or sick stomach, in which there is an indication for profuse dia-
phoresis, especially in painful affections, or those connected with unhealthy
discharges.   It is  admirably adapted to the  phlegmasiae, particularly rheu-
matism and pneumonia, when complicated with a typhoid tendency, or after
a sufficient reduction of arterial excitement by the lancet or other mode of
depletion.  Under similar circumstances it is useful in dysentery,  diarrhoea,
and the various hemorrhages, especially that from the  uterus.  It is some-
times also given in dropsy.  In bowel  affections, and whenever the hepatic
secretion is deranged, it is frequently combined with small doses of calomel.
   Ten grains of the powder contain one grain of opium.  The dose is from
five to fifteen grains, given diffused in water, or mixed with syrup, or in the
form of bolus, and repeated at intervals of four, six, or eight hours, when it
is desirable to maintain a continued diaphoresis.  Its action may be materially
promoted by  warm drinks, such as lemonade, or balm tea, which,  however,
should not be given immediately after  the powder, as they might provoke
vomiting.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulae Ipecacuanhas  Compositae, Lond.;  Pilulae Ipecacuanhas
et Opii, Ed.                                                    W.
   PULVIS  JALAPA   COMPOSITUS. U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.
Compound Powder of Jalap.
   " Take of Jalap, in powder, an ounce; Bitartrate of Potassa, in powder,
two ounces.  Mix  them." U. S.
   The London College takes three ounces of jalap, six ounces of bitartrate of
potassa, and two drachms of ginger.   The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges
take the same ingredients in the same proportion as the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
and direct them to  be rubbed together to a very fine powder.
   The bitartrate, by being  rubbed with the  jalap, is thought to  favour its
more  minute  division, while it increases its hydragogue effect.  A  combina-
tion of these  two  ingredients, though with a larger proportion of cream of
tartar (see Jalapa), is much  used in this country as a cathartic in dropsy and
in scrofulous  affections of the joints and glands.   The dose of the officinal
powder is from thirty grains to a drachm.                          W.
   PULVIS KINO COMPOSITUS. Lond., Dub.   Compound Pow-
der of Kino.
   "Take  of  Kino fifteen drachms; Cinnamon half an ounce; hard Opium
a drachm.  Rub them separately to a very fine powder, and then mix them."
Lond., Dub.
   This is  an  anodyne astringent powder, useful in some forms of  diarrhoea,
but of which the composition would be better  left to extemporaneous pre-
scription, as the proportion of the ingredients should vary with the circum-
stances of the case.   Twenty grains contain one grain of opium.   The dose
is from five grains  to a scruple.                                    W.
   PULVIS PRO CATAPLASM ATE. Dub.  Powder for a  Ca-
taplasm.
   " Take  of Flaxseed  which remains  after the  expression  of  the oil  one
part; Oatmeal  two parts.   Mix them." Dub.
   This is  a good material for the formation of poultices, but hardly deserves
a place among the officinal preparations.   The unpressed flaxseed meal is
preferable  to that which has been pressed, as the oil which it contains causes
it to retain longer a soft consistence.                               W. 
PART II.
Pulveres.
1113
   PULVIS RHEI  COMPOSITUS.  Ed.   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 well closed bottles." Ed.
   This is a very good antacid laxative combination, well  adapted to  bowel
 complaints, especially in children.  The  dose  for an adult  is from half a
 drachm to  a  drachm, for a child two or  three years old, from  five to ten
 grains.                                                        W.

   PULVIS SALINUS  COMPOSITUS.  Ed,, Dub.   Compound
 Saline Powder.
   " Take of Pure Muriate of Soda, Sulphate of Magnesia, each, four ounces;
 Sulphate of Potassa three ounces.  Dry the salts separately with a gentle
 heat, and pulverize each, then triturate them well together, and preserve the
 mixture in well closed vessels." Ed.
   The Dublin process is essentially the same as the above.
   This is an aperient powder, and may be given with advantage in costive
 habits, in the dose of two or three drachms, dissolved in half a pint of water
 or carbonic acid water, before breakfast.                           W.
   PULVIS  SCAMMONII   COxMPOSITUS.  Lond, Ed.,  Dub.
 Compound Powder of Scammony.
   " Take of Scammony, hard Extract of Jalap, each, two ounces; Ginger
 half an ounce.  Rub them separately to a very fine powder; and then mix
 them." Lond., Dub.
   " Take of Scammony, and Bitartrate of Potash, equal parts.  Triturate
 them together to a very fine powder." Ed.
   It should  be observed, that the compound of the  Edinburgh  College is
 essentially different from that of the London and Dublin Colleges ; but we do
 not think that either of them is an eligible  preparation.  The cream of tartar
 in the former can serve little other purpose than to assist in the pulverization
 of the scammony, which does not require any 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 closel/resembles the scam-
 mony in its mode  of operation to exert any important modifying influence
 upon it  The dose of the London powder is from ten  to  twenty grains,
 of  that  directed by the  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, from fifteen to thirty
 grains.                                                        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.
   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,  mixed with water  or  other mild
 liquid.                                                         W. 
1114
Quinia.
PART II.
                              QUINIA.

                     Preparations of Quinia.

   QUINIA SULPHAS.  U S.  Quina  Disulphas. Lond.  Quina:
Sulphas. Ed.   QuiNiNiE Sulphas. 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 ;  Sub
phuric Acid, Alcohol, Animal  Charcoal, each, a sufficient quantity.   Boil
the Bark in one-third of the Water mixed with one-third of the Muriatic Acid,
and strain through linen.   Boil the  residue twice successively with the same
quantity  of Water and Acid as before, and strain.   Mix the decoctions,  and,
while the liquor  is hot, gradually add the Lime, previously mixed with two
pints of water, stirring, constantly, until the quinia is completely precipitated.
Wash the precipitate with  distilled  water, and, having pressed and dried it,
digest 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 neutral, 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 Char-
coal, filter, and set aside  to crystallize.  Wrap the crystals in bibulous paper,
and dry them with a gentle heat.  The mother-waters may be made to yield
an additional quantity of Sulphate of Quinia by precipitating the Quinia  with
Solution  of Ammonia, and treating the precipitated alkali with Water,  Sul-
phuric Acid, and Animal  Charcoal, as before." U. S.
   The London College exhausts yellow bark by water acidulated  with sul-
phuric acid, throws  down the  acid by hydrated oxide of lead, washes the
precipitate with distilled water, boils down the liquors  to a fourth part, filters,
adds water of ammonia  in order to  decompose the kinate of quinia, washes
the precipitated quinia till the water ceases to be rendered alkaline, saturates
the residue with  diluted  sulphuric acid, digests with animal  charcoal, filters,
and finally, having thoroughly washed the charcoal, cautiously evaporates the
liquor so that it may crystallize. This process, however, has not been found
to answer well in practice.  It may  not be irrelevant to mention here that the
London College,  though  it  thus gives a process for the  preparation of sulphate
of quinia, places  the alkali itself, under the name of Quina, in its Catalogue
of tbe Materia Medica.
   "Take of Yellow Bark, in coarse powder, one pound; Carbonate of  Soda
eight ounces;  Sulphuric Acid  half a fluidounce ; Purified Animal Charcoal
two drachms.  Boil the  bark for an  hour in four pints [Imperial measure] of
water, in which half the carbonate of soda has been dissolved ; strain and ex-
press strongly through linen or calico; moisten the residuum with water and
express again ; and repeat this twice.  Boil the residuum for half an hour with
four pints of water  and half the Sulphuric  Acid;  strain, express strongly,
moisten with water, and express again.   Boil the residuum  with three  pints
of water and a fourth part  of the Acid;  strain and squeeze  as before.  Boil 
PART II.
Quinia.
1115
 again the residuum with the same quantity of water and Acid, strain and
 squeeze as formerly.  Concentrate the whole  acid liquids to about a pint; let
 the product,cool; filter it, and dissolve in it the remainder of the Carbonate of
 Soda.  Collect the impure quinia on a cloth, wash it slightly, and squeeze out
 the liquor with the hand.  Break down the moist precipitate in a pint of dis-
 tilled water, add one fluidscruple of Sulphuric Acid, heat it to 212°, and stir
 occasionally.  Should any precipitate retain its gray colour, and the liquid be
 neutral, add Sulphuric Acid drop by drop, stirring constantly, till the  gray
 colour disappears.  Should the liquid redden litmus, neutralize it with a little
 carbonate of soda.  Should crystals form on the surface, add boiling distilled
 water to dissolve them.  Filter through paper, preserving the funnel hot; set
 the liquid aside to crystallize ; collect and squeeze the crystals ; dissolve them
 in a pint of distilled water  heated to 212°;  digest the solution for fifteen
 minutes with the Animal Charcoal ; filter and crystallize as before. Dry the
 crystals with a heat not exceeding 140°. The mother liquors  of each crys-
 tallization will yield a little more salt by concentration and cooling." Ed. It
 should be observed, that the Imperial measure is employed in the above process.
    The Dublin College exhausts the bark by digestion with water acidulated
 with sulphuric acid, adds to the liquor sufficient lime to saturate the acid, dries
 the precipitate on blotting paper, digests it  with  rectified spirit, filters, distils
 to dryness, adds diluted sulphuric acid to the residuum in  slight excess, and
 finally crystallizes by concentration and cooling.
    The present U.S. process, which is essentially that of the French Codex,
 differs from  the one given in the Pharmacopoeia  of 1830, in the use of muri-
 atic instead  of sulphuric acid for acidulating  the water first employed, and
 in the greater minuteness of  the details.   Both  this and the  French  Codex
 process, as well as that of the Dublin College, are modifications  of the plan
 originally proposed by M. Henry,  Jun., of Paris, for which he  received a
 prize from the  French Academy of Sciences, and which has been  almost
 universally employed where alcohol is not too expensive.  Henry's process,
 with all its details, may be found in previous editions of this work.  An explana-
 tion of the several directions given in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia will be useful
 to the student,  by enabling him to comprehend each step of the process.
   The yellow bark (Calisaya, or royal yellow) is the variety selected, because
 this contains quinia in the largest proportion, and most  free from  admixture
 with cinchonia.  The alkali exists in the bark  combined with kinic acid, and
 probably also with one or more  of the colouring  principles, as suggested by
 M. Henry.   As in this  latter state  it is of difficult solubility, if it be  not
 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  process.  By the addition
 of lime to the  filtered and mixed decoctions, the salt of quinia is decom-
 posed, 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 impuri-
 ties.   If  sulphuric acid  was  employed in  the commencement of the pro-
 cess, sulphate of lime is deposited along with the quinia; but if muriatic
 acid was employed, the resulting chloride of calcium is retained in solution;
and a reason  is thus afforded for the preference of the latter acid.  But, in 
1116
Quinia.
PART II.
either case, the excess of lime, and a compound formed of the lime and colour-
ing 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 every thing soluble in water,  the  next step is to separate the quinia from
the insoluble impurities.  This is accomplished by the agency of alcohol, which
dissolves the former, and leaves most of the latter behind.  The whole of the
alkali having been abstracted, the alcoholic solution of quinia is then concen-
trated so as to afford a brown viscid mass, which is impure quinia.  Portions
of this  may be reserved, if thought advisable, for the preparation of other
salts of quinia.  The mass is treated with boiling distilled water  acidulated
with sulphuric acid, which forms a disulphate (the officinal sulphate) with the
quinia, and, being somewhat in excess, enables the salt to be readily dissolved.
The animal charcoal now added should be the unpurified bone-black, the car-
bonate of lime contained in which neutralizes a portion of the sulphuric acid,
and thus facilitates the crystallization of the sulphate of quinia when the solu-
tion 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 completely
filtered.  If, on the contrary, the bone-black has been deficient, and the solu-
tion 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 neces-
sary to obtain the  salt of quinia free from  colour;  and sometimes, it cannot
be  rendered perfectly white without a third. It is essential  that the heat
employed in drying  the crystals should be  gentle, in  order to  prevent their
efflorescence.   The small quantity of cinchonia contained  in Calisaya bark is
extracted in this process along with the quinia, but, as the sulphate of the former
alkali is more  soluble than that  of the latter, it remains in the mother liquors.
  According to M. Calvert, the proportion of sulphate  of quinia obtained
from bark is never certain when muriatic acid is employed as the solvent, and
lime as the precipitant; for quinia  is  dissolved by a solution  of chloride of
calcium, and by lime-water; and  a portion  therefore  remains in the liquid
unprecipitated, which is greater when the lime employed is in excess.  Hav-
ing ascertained by experiment  that  quinia is not dissolved by a solution of
soda, and in scarcely appreciable proportion by chloride  of sodium,  he pro-
poses to substitute this alkali for the lime ; first neutralizing the excess of acid
by the carbonate, and then precipitating the  quinia by caustic  soda. (Journ.
de Pharm. et  de Chim., Se 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 prificiples, 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 car-
bonate 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 favour-
ably of  this process; but it  is  scarcely probable  that  it  will  supersede the
former where  alcohol can be had cheaply. 
PART II.
Quinia.
1117
    According to the French Codex, 1000 parts of yellow bark ought to yield
  from 29 to 30 parts of sulphate of quinia, when treated by the process first
  described.   But this amount is not often reached.  We have been informed
  by Mr. John Farr, of Philadelphia, who is largely concerned in the manu-
  facture of sulphate of quinia, that the  Calisaya bark employed by him yields
  an average product of about two per cent, of the salt;  and a manufacturer in
  London told Dr. Christison, that the extremes which he obtained from differ-
  ent specimens of bark were one and a half and three per cent.
    Sulphate of quinia may be obtained from any of the varieties of  Peruvian
  bark by the above processes ; but should any other than the Calisaya bark be
  employed, a large proportion of sulphate of cinchonia will necessarily result
  from the operation, and being much more soluble than  the sulphate of quinia,
  will  remain dissolved in the residuary liquor from which the latter will have
  crystallized.   To obtain the cinchonia separate, the following method, ori-
  ginally suggested by Pelletier and Caventou, may be employed.  Magnesia,
  lime, or  a solution of potassa  as  employed by M. Callaud, 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 pre-
  cipitate is collected  on a filter,  washed  with  hot  water, then dried, and
  treated with boiling  alcohol, which dissolves the vegetable  alkalies. The
  alcoholic solution is filtered  while  hot, and the residue afterwards treated in
  the same manner with successive portions of alcohol, till  it is quite  ex-
 hausted.   The solutions having been mixed together, are now concentrated
 by the distillation of the  alcohol, and allowed  to cool, when they deposit
 cinchonia in  the  crystalline state.   Successive evaporations and refrigera-
 tions afford new crops  of crystals, and the process should be continued 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 which remains in the mother
 liquors, as  it will not crystallize, may be obtained by evaporation to dry-
 ness, or may be converted into  the crystallizable sulphate by the addition
 of sulphuric acid.   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 pre-
 viously washed with  muriatic acid, and filter the  liquor 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.
   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 a  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 solu-
 ble in about 60 parts of  cold alcohol of 0-835, but only to a very small ex-
 tent in ether.   The diluted acids, even tartaric  and oxalic  acids  in excess,
dissolve it with  great facility.  With  an  additional equivalent of sulphuric
acid it forms another  sulphate, which  is much  more soluble in water than
the officinal  salt, and  crystallizes from  its solution with much greater diffi-
culty.   This is  now  generally believed to be strictly neutral,  and therefore
    95 
1118
Quinia.
PART II.
entitled to the name of sulphate of  quinia; while the officinal salt is thought
to contain two equivalents of base  to one of acid, and is therefore properly
a subsulphate or disulphate of quinia.   The latter name  has been adopted
by the London  College.   In  the  U.S., Dublin,  and Edinburgh Pharmaco-
poeias, as well as in the French Codex, the name  of sulphate of quinia, ori-
ginally 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.   It is  the  proper sulphate, formerlv
called supersulphate, which remains in the mother waters when an excess of
acid is added in  the process for procuring the sulphate of quinia.   According
to M. Baup, it  is  soluble in 11 parts  of water at 54° F., and in  its own
water of crystallization at the boiling point.    It is very soluble in diluted,
and somewhat less  so in absolute alcohol.  It may be obtained by adding to
a boiling concentrated solution  of  the ordinary sulphate, as much sulphuric
acid as already exists in the salt, and then evaporating the solution.
   Composition.  The officinal sulphate  of quinia, the disulphate of chemists,
is the only one used in medicine, and to this we have allusion in the  present
work whenever the sulphate of quinia is  mentioned  without any  distin-
guishing epithet.   In the crystalline form it is stated to consist of one equi-
valent of sulphuric acid 40*1, two  equiv. of quinia 324, and eight equiv. of
water 72=436*1.  On exposure to  the air, or to a heat of 212°, it effloresces,
losing one-half  of  its  water of crystallization, (according to Soubeiran, six
equivalents,) and at 240° it loses  one-half of the remainder, retaining two
equivalents  or about 4 per cent, of water, of which  it cannot be deprived
without undergoing decomposition. (Phillips.)
   Incompatibles and tests.  Sulphate of quinia is  decomposed by the alka-
lies, their carbonates, and the alkaline earths.   In solution, it affords white
precipitates  with potassa,  soda,  and ammonia,  which are partly soluble in an
excess of alkali.   It  is also  precipitated by vegetable  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 pro-
duced by the salts  of baryta is insoluble in the acids.   A freshly prepared
solution  of  chlorine, added to a solution of the sulphate of quinia,  and fol-
lowed by the  addition of water of ammonia, occasions an emerald-green
colour, and, in certain proportions, the deposition of a green  precipitate.
   Adulterations.   The high price of sulphate of  quinia has led to  various
attempts at  adulteration.    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 sul-
phate in different  menstrua, and to  its chemical relations with other sub-
stances already described, there can be little difficulty in  detecting these
adulterations.   The presence  of any mineral substance not readily volati-
lizable, may be  at once ascertained by exposing the salt to  a red heat, which
will completely dissipate  the sulphate of quinia, leaving the mineral  behind.
A volatile ammoniacal salt may be  detected by the smell of ammonia emitted
upon the addition  of potassa.   Gum and starch  are left behind by alcohol,
and  fatty matters by water acidulated with sulphuric acid.   Sugar and man-
nite  cause a solution of the salt in acidulated water to have a sweet taste after
the precipitation of the quinia by an alkaline carbonate.   Salicin imparts the
property of becoming red upon the contact of sulphuric acid.  Caffein alters
the degree  of solubility 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  pr«cipitate soluble in  an excess of the latter; while a solu- 
PART II.
Quinia.
1119
 tion 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 with lime-water, and solution of ammonia ; and solu-
 tion 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.
 These  tests  may,  therefore,  be  employed to detect the admixture of  the
 former with   the latter salt.  (Journ.  de Pharm., Se Ser., ii.  394.)  The
 Edinburgh College gives  the following  mode of testing the purity of sul-
 phate  of quinia.   " A solution  of ten grains in a  fluidounce of distilled
 water and two or three drops of sulphuric acid, if decomposed by a solution
 of half  an ounce  of carbonate of soda in two waters [twice its weight of
 water], and heated till the  precipitate shrinks  and fuses,  yields on cooling a
 solid mass, which  when dry weighs 7-4 grains, and in powder dissolves
 entirely in solution of oxalic acid."
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Sulphate  of  quinia  produces upon  the
 system, so far as we are  enabled to judge by observation, the same effects
 with Peruvian bark, without  being so apt to  nauseate and oppress the sto-
 mach.  (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 the ordinary therapeutical doses, it often produces consi-
 derable 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 much more  liable to these effects than others,
 and in some  even small closes produce them.   A certain  degree of this  ob-
 servable action on  the brain is rather desirable than  otherwise, as the evi-
 dence that the medicine is  affecting the  system.   In very large quantities,
 as from a scruple to a drachm or more, besides the phenomena mentioned,
 it has  been observed to occasion severe  headache, vertigo, deafness,  dimi-
 BUtion or loss of sight, dilated and immovable pupil,  loss of speech,  gene-
 ral tremblings, intoxication or delirium,  coma, and  great prostration.  In
 some instances the pulse has been remarkably diminished in frequency,  down
 to fifty or even a smaller number of beats 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. (Annuaire de Therapeutique for  1843,
 p. 176.)  Besides its effects on the brain, sulphate of quinia sometimes also
 occasions great  gastric and  intestinal   irritation, marked by  oppression at
 stomach, nausea, abdominal pains, vomiting, and purging.  In general  these
 effects  of excessive doses gradually pass off, although  partial deafness  often
 continues for several days, and sometimes much longer.  It is even said that
 permanent  deafness has resulted.   We  have seen no well-authenticated case
 of death produced by the direct action of sulphate of quinia in  health.  Given
 largely in diseased  states it has been the  obvious  cause of fatal results,  not
 so much however by its peculiar action, as by co-operating with the  disease
 in establishing intense local irritation or inflammation.   Though capable,
 therefore, of doing much 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 ; and the observations hitherto reported  are not such  as to enable us
to come to a just conclusion.  In most instances in which the effect was  ob-
served  the  patient was in a morbid  state,  sometimes labouring under malig- 
1120
Quinia.
PART II.
nant diseases; and in such cases it is well known that  powerful  stimulants
often have the effect of diminishing the frequency of the pulse.  In the case
observed by Giacomini, the patient was not seen until some hours after taking
the sulphate, and might have  been in the condition of  universal prostration
which  follows all excessive excitement.   In the present state of our know-
ledge upon  the  subject, it is safest to consider  the sulphate  of quinia in a
greater or less degree excitant, in whatever dose it may  be taken.
   Sulphate of quinia maybe substituted for cinchona in  all diseases to which
the latter is applicable ; and, in the treatment of intermittents, it has proved so
efficacious as to  have almost entirely superseded  the use of bark.   It has the
advantage over this 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
besides  the  quinia  and  cinchonia, the latter of  which  possesses properties
analogous to those of the former; nor that the mode of combination in which
these principles  exist, may not so modify their action as  to render them more
effectual in certain  forms of disease.   The  question can be  solved only by
careful and long-continued observation.   In  the mean time, we may resort to
the bark if the sulphate of quinia should not answer the ends in view; and
instances have occurred, under our own  notice,  in  which it has proved suc-
cessful in intermittents after the salt has failed.
   Sulphate of quinia may be given in pill or solution, or suspended in water
by the intervention of syrup and mucilage.   The form of pill is usually pre-
ferred.  (See Pilulae Quiniae  Su/phatis.)   The   solution may  be readily
effected by the addition  of a litfle acid of almost any kind to the water.  Eight
grains of the sulphate will dissolve in a fluidounce  of water,  acidulated witb
about twelve minims of the diluted sulphuric acid, or aromatic sulphuric acid
of the Pharmacopoeias; and this is the most eligible mode of exhibiting the
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 sto-
mach is disposed to be sickened, or the bowels to be disturbed by the quinia.
   Twelve grains of the sulphate of quinia are equivalent to  about an ounce
of good bark.   The dose varies exceedingly, according to the circumstances
of the patient and the object to  be accomplished.   As a tonic simply, a grain
may be given three or  four times a day, or more  frequently in acute cases.
In intermittents, from twelve to twenty-four grains should be given between
the paroxysms,  divided into smaller or larger doses according to the condition
of the stomach,  or the length of the intermission.   From one to four grains
may be given at once, and some even advise the whole amount.   In malig-
nant intermittents and  remittents, the quantity  may be increased to  thirty
grains or even  a drachm  between  the  paroxysms.  M.  Maillot gave one
hundred and twenty-eight grains,  in the  course of a few hours, in a case of
malignant fever occurring in Northern  Africa, with the  happiest results.
(Bell, in Stokes and Belts Lectures on Theory and Practice, fyc.)  The
caution, however, is necessary,  not to employ this  heroic  practice against
easily conquerable diseases.  Very large  doses of the sulphate have recently
been given in acute rheumatism, and with great asserted success;  butat least
one fatal case from inflammation of the brain should lead to some hesitation
in this employment of  the remedy.   When the stomach will not retain the
medicine, it  may be  administered with nearly as  much efficacy  by enema;
from six to twelve grains, with two  fluidounces of liquid starch, and from 
 part n.                   Quinia.—Soda.                       1121

 twenty to forty drops of laudanum, being injected  into the rectum, in ordi-
 nary 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 sur-
 face denuded of the  cuticle.  The  epigastrium, or the inside of the thighs
 and arms, would be the proper place for the blister.   The sulphate has also
 been employed by friction in the form  of ointment, in  cases of malignant
 intermittent.  The ointment should  be  made  by incorporating a saturated
 alcoholic solution of  the salt with lard,  and  should be applied to the inside
 of the thighs and arms.
   Off.Prep.  Pilulae Quiniae Sulphatis,  U. S.                       W.


                                SODA.

                       Preparations of Soda.

   SODA CARBONAS EXSICCATUS.  U.S.    Sodjs  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 in a
 proper vessel, until it is dried, and, having subjected it to a red heat, rubs it
 to powder.  The Edinburgh College heats any convenient  quantity in a
 shallow vessel till it is dry, then urges it with a red heat in a crucible, and
 reduces it to powder when cold.
   "Liquefy the crystals of Carbonate of Soda in a silver crucible  over the
 fire.   Then, having  increased the heat, stir  the liquefied salt, until, by the
 evaporation of the water, it becomes dry.  Reduce the residual  salt to fine
 powder, and keep it in close vessels." Dub.
   Carbonate of soda contains ten equivalents of water  of crystallization, and
 when heated, readily undergoes  the  watery fusion.  Upon continuing the
 heat, the water is dried off, and a while porous mass remains, which is easily
 reduced to powder.   The London and Edinburgh Colleges expose the dry
 mass to  a  red heat before powdering it.   Dried carbonate of  soda is in the
 form of a white powder, and differs in no respect from  the carbonate, except
 in being devoid of water of crystallization. (See  Sodae Carbonas.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  This  preparation was  introduced  into
 regular practice on the recommendation  of Dr. Beddoes, who extolled its
 virtues in calculous complaints.   It is applicable to the cure of such affec-
 tions only when dependent on a morbid secretion of uric acid.  Its advantage
 over  the common carbonate is that it admits of being made up into  pills, in
consequence of being in  the  dried state.  As  the  water of  crystallization
forms more than  half of the carbonate, the dose of the  dried salt must be
reduced in proportion.  From five to fifteen grains may be given three times
a day in the form of pill, prepared with  soap and aromatics.  The  general
medical  properties of this salt have been given  under another head.  (See
Sodae Carbonas.)
  Off. Prep.  Sodae Bicarbonas, Ed.                                B.
95* 
1122
Soda.
PART II.
   SODA  CARBONATIS AQUA. Dub.   Water of Carbonate of
Soda.
   "Take of  Carbonate of Soda any  quantity.   Dissolve  it in Distilled
Water so as to form a solution of the specific gravity 1-024.  A solution of
this density is  obtained by dissolving an ounce of Carbonate  of Soda in a
pint of Distilled Water." Dub.
   This preparation furnishes a solution of carbonate of  soda of determinate
strength, each  fluidounce of which contains  half a drachm  of the salt.  It
is convenient for prescribing the alkali in solution, and forming effervescing
draughts, each  fluidounce being saturated, on an  average, by half a fluid-
ounce of lemon juice.   The dose is from one to two fluidounces, sufficiently
diluted with water, and given two or three times a day.               B.
   SODA BICARBONAS. U.S., Ed., Dub.  Somb Slsquicarbonas.
Ijond.   Bicarbonate of Soda,  Sesquicarbonate of Soda.
   "Take of Carbonate of Soda, in crystals, a convenient quantity.  Break
the ciystals in  pieces, and put them into a wooden box, having a transverse
part i on near the bottom pierced  with  numerous  small holes, and a cover
whim can be tightly fitted on.   To a bottle having two tubulures, and half
filled  with water, adapt two tubes, one connected with an apparatus for gene-
rating carbonic acid and  terminating under the water in the bottle, the other
commencing at the tubulure in which it is inserted, and entering the box by
an opening near the bottom, beneath the partition.   Then lute all the joints,
and cause a stream of Carbonic Acid to  pass through the water into the box
until the Carbonate of Soda is fully saturated.  Carbonic Acid is obtained
from Marble by the addition of dilute Sulphuric Acid."  U. S.
   "Fill  with fragments of Marble a glass jar, open at the bottom and tubu-
lated at the top;  close the bottom  in such a way  as to keep  in the  Marble
without preventing the free passage of a  fluid ; connect the tubulature closely
by a bent tube  and corks with an empty bottle, and this in like manner with
another bottle, filled with one part of Carbonate of Soda and  two parts of
Dried Carbonate  of Soda well triturated together; and let the tube be long
enough to reach the bottom of the bottle.  Before closing the last cork closely,
immerse the jar to the top in diluted Muriatic Acid, contained in any con-
venient 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 tempera-
ture not above  120°."  Ed.
   "Take  of Carbonate  of Soda  seven pounds;  Distilled Water a gallon
[Imperial measure].   Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in  the  Water,  and
strain ;  then  pass Carbonic Acid into the solution to saturation,  that the salt
may subside.   Dry this  with a gentle heat,  after  it has been wrapped  and
pressed in a linen cloth." Lond.
   "Take of Carbonate  of Soda, two parts ; Water five parts.   Dissolve,
and in a  proper apparatus, expose  the solution to a stream of Carbonic Acid
gas, evolved during the  solution  of White Marble in dilute  Muriatic Acid,
until  it ceases to absorb gas ;  and let it  remain at rest that crystals may be
formed.   Then,  with a heat not exceeding 120°, evaporate the solution that
crystals  may again be formed, which are to be mixed with  those first ob-
tained, dried, and preserved in  a close vessel."  Dub.
   The object of  these processes  is to combine the soda with an additional
equivalent of carbonic acid, whereby it becomes converted into the bicar-
bonate.  The officinal processes are different, and, therefore, require a sepa-
rate notice. 
PART II.
Soda.
1123
   The process adopted in the last U. S. Pharmacopoeia, is that which  has
 been practised for many years in ihe United States, and which was described
 in 1830, by Dr. Franklin R. Smith, in the first volume of the Journal of the
 Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.  This process is attributed to Dr. Smith
 by Soubeiran, who characterizes it as the best that can be employed. (Nouv.
 Traite de Pharm.)   It was adopted in the French  Codex on its revision of
 1837.  A stream of carbonic acid is passed into a suitable vessel, containing
 the  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 considerable  quantity of water  is liberated.
 This water would finally dissolve the bicarbonate formed, were it not for the
 diaphragm, through  which it  is allowed to drain off, holding in solution  a
 part of the carbonate.   When  the saturation is completed,  the pieces of
 crystals, still supported  on the  diaphragm, are found to have retained their
 original form, but  to have become of a  porous texture.
   The process newly adopted in the  last Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia is that
 of Berzelius, described in former editions of this Dispensatory.   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 recommended
 by Berzelius accomplishes this  purpose.  Thus the salt which he prepares
 to be submitted to the carbonic acid, is an  intimate  mixture, in fine powder,
 of four parts of effloresced carbonate, with one of the crystallized salt.  The
 proportion adopted by the Edinburgh College is 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 bicarbonate.
 Hence the  Edinburgh process furnishes a damp salt, which is  dried in  the
 air without heat, or  at  a  temperature not  exceeding 120°.  The apparatus
 employed by  the College for  generating the carbonic  acid  is precisely  the
 self-regulating reservoir devised by Dr. Hare on the 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.
   Artus has given a  process for obtaining bicarbonate of soda, similar to that
 of Wiihler for forming the corresponding salt of potassa.  (See page 1090.)
 In this process, the effloresced monocarbonate, mixed with half its weight of
 freshly ignited  and finely powdered charcoal, is saturated by a stream  of car-
 bonic acid, derived from the fermentation of sugar.  The presence of the char-
 coal  greatly promotes the absorption. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1843, p. 254.)
   The London College employs the old process of dissolving the carbonate
 in water before submitting it to the action of carbonic  acid.   The solution,
 when saturated, lets  fall the sparingly soluble bicarbonate in  minute crystals,
 whicli  are pressed  in a linen cloth, and dried by a gentle heat.   In this pro-
 cess, the mother water is not evaporated, although it contains a considerable
 portion of bicarbonate.   The reason of this omission is, no doubt, the diffi-
 culty of applying heat in such a manner as not to decompose the salt.  The
 Dublin process is  similar to the  London.   The points of difference are that
a weaker alkaline solution is employed, and that the mother water is evapo-
rated at a heat not exceeding 120° for  the production of a second  crop of
crystals.  Both these processes are unproductive,  and,  besides, furnish an
imperfect bicarbonate.  At present they are superseded by processes similar
to those of the U. S.  and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. 
1124                            Soda.                        part n.

  Properties, ire.   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 apo-
thecary these masses are reduced to powder.   As procured by the Edinburgh
process, it is in small,  white,  opaque, irregular scales.  The London and
Dublin preparation is in minute, colourless, indistinct crystals.   Bicarbonate
of soda is permanent in  the air, and slightly alkaline to the taste and  to tur-
meric paper.  It is soluble in thirteen  parts of cold water.   When the solu-
tion is exposed to heat, the salt  gradually parts with carbonic acid, and, at
the temperature of 212°, is converted  into sesquicarbonate.   At a red heat,
the water of crystallization and the second  equivalent of  carbonic acid are
expelled,  and the anhydrous monocarbonate is left.  One eq., or 84-3 parts
of the crystallized bicarbonate, should lose, by complete decomposition by
dilute sulphuric acid, two eqs. or 44 parts of carbonic acid. The salt is seldom
so perfect as to withstand  this  test; as good commercial samples generally
contain from two  to three per  cent, of carbonate.  The presence of this
impurity may be known by a decided  alkaline taste and reaction, by a cold
solution of the salt yielding a precipitate with sulphate of magnesia, and by a
solution  in  forty  parts  of water, affording,  without agitation,  an  orange-
coloured or reddish-brown  precipitate with corrosive sublimate;  whereas the
pure salt produces a slight  opalescence only  with  the latter test.  This test
is adopted in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and, according to Dr. Christison,
readily detects  one  per cent, of carbonate.   The pure bicarbonate  is  not
precipitated  by  chloride of platinum, or, when  supersaturated with nitric
acid,  by  chloride of barium or nitrate of silver.   The  non-action of these
tests proves the absence of salts  of potassa,  and of sulphates and chlorides.
The incompatibles of this salt are the same as those of the carbonate, except
sulphate  of  magnesia in the cold, which decomposes the carbonate, but not
the bicarbonate.
   Composition,  Bicarbonate of soda, when perfect, consists of two  eqs. of
carbonic  acid 44, one of soda 31*3, and one of water 9=84*3; but, as found
in the shops, it seldom contains so large a proportion of carbonic acid.   The
London  College calls the   product of  its formula,  a sesquicarbonate; but,
though it may contain less carbonic acid than  the bicarbonate, it by no means
has a constant  composition corresponding with the sesquisalt.  Indeed, it
has been proved by Hermann, that the sesquicarbonate, called  trona, when
native, cannot  be formed  by  crystallization  from  aqueous solutions.  The
London name for this salt should, therefore, be abandoned, as an  unsuccessful
attempt to express its composition when imperfectly made.  It is admitted that
the bicarbonate is now made nearly perfect  on a large  scale; and the U. S.
and Edinburgh processes furnish a pure salt.
   Medical. Properties and Uses.  This salt has  the general medical pro-
perties 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 predominant uric acid.   When the car-
bonate is given  in these cases, its  continued use  is liable to induce phos-
phatic deposits, after the removal of  the uric acid.  According to D'Arcet,
who made the  observation at  the springs of Vichy, this objection does not
lie to the bicarbonate,  especially when taken  in  carbonic acid  water;  for
this salt, by  its superabundant  acid, has the power of maintaining the phos-
phates in solution, even after the alkali has  caused the uric acid to disap-
pear.  The same remark is applicable to the bicarbonate of potassa.  Bicar-
bonate of soda has been given in  infantile  croup, with apparent advantage
in promoting the expectoration of the  false membrane, in the dose of a grain 
 part ii.                        Soda.                           1125

 every five minutes, dissolved in milk and water.  The dose for an adult is
 from ten grains  to a drachm, and is taken most conveniently in a glass of
 carbonic acid water.  This salt is principally consumed in making what are
 called soda and Seidlitz powders. (See page 52.)  It is sometimes made into
 lozenges.   (See  Trochisci Sodae Bicarbonatis.)
    Off. Prep. Liquor Sodae  Effervescens, Lond., Ed,;  Pulveres Efferves-
 centes, Ed.; Trochisci  Sodae Bicarbonatis, Ed.                     B.
    LIQUOR SODA  EFFERVESCENS.  Lond.  Sod^ Aqua Ef-
 fervescens. Ed.  Effervescing Solution of Soda.
    "Take of  Sesquicarbonate of Soda a drachm;  Distilled Water a pint
 [Imperial  measure].  Dissolve  the Carbonate of Soda in the Water, and
 pass into it, compressed by force, more Carbonic Acid than is  sufficient  for
 saturation.   Keep the solution in a well-stopped vessel."  Lond.
    The Edinburgh formula corresponds with the above.
    This is  merely a solution of bicarbonate of soda in carbonic acid water,
 in  the proportion of three grains to the Imperial  fluidounce.  Such a solu-
 tion, however, is not a proper  object of officinal direction.   The names
 given to it are incorrect.  Indeed, the authors of  the London Pharmacopoeia
 appear to have been undecided what  to call this  preparation;  as they have
 denominated it by another name, " Sodae  Carbonatis  Liquor Effervescens,"
 in  their " Notes."                                                B.

   AQUA  CARBONATIS SODA ACIDULA. Dub.   Acidulous
 Water of Carbonate  of Soda.
   " Take of Carbonate  of Soda any quantity.   Dissolve it in such a quan-
 tity of Water that each  pint  may contain a drachm of Carbonate of Soda.
 Then, in an apparatus adapted for retaining the gas, subject it to a stream of
 carbonic acid  gas,  evolved during the  solution of pieces of White Marble
 in  Muriatic Acid, diluted with six times its weight of water, until the car-
 bonic acid is in excess." Dub.
   This preparation  is a  solution of carbonate of soda in carbonic acid water.
 As, however, an  excess of carbonic  acid is passed  into the solution,  the
 alkali may be  presumed  to become a bicarbonate ; and if  so, the preparation
 is equivalent to that  last  described.  It corresponds with the solution formerly
 called soda water, which was made by impregnating, under strong pressure,
 a weak solution of carbonate of soda with carbonic acid ;  but at present, this
 name is applied, in  popular language, to carbonic acid water without  soda.
 This solution, however,  is superfluous as an officinal preparation; as it may
 be  made extemporaneously by adding any desired quantity of  carbonate of
 soda to carbonic acid water.                                        B.

  LIQUOR  SODA   CHLORINATA.  U.  S.,  Lond.  Solution  of
 Chlorinated Soda,  Solution of Chloride of Soda.   Labarraque's
 Disinfecting Soda 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,
 stirring the mixture  after each  addition.  Set the mixture by for several hours
 that the dregs may subside; then decant the clear liquid, and mix it with  the
solution of Carbonate of  Soda.  Lastly, decant the clear liquor from the pre-
cipitated carbonate of lime, pass it through a linen cloth, and keep it in  bot-
tles secluded from the light."  U.  S.
  "Take of Carbonate of Soda a pound;  Distilled Water forty-eight fluid- 
1126
Soda.
part II.
ounces [Imperial measure] ;  Chloride of Sodium four ounces ; Binoxide of
Manganese three ounces ; Sulphuric Aei<\ four ounces.   Dissolve the Carbo-
nate of Soda in two pints of Water.   Then put  the Chloride of Sodium and
Binoxide of Manganese, rubbed to powder, into a retort;  and add  to them
the Sulphuric  Acid, previously mixed with  three fluidounces of Water and
cooled.   Heat the mixture, and  pass  the  chlorine first through  five fluid-
ounces of Water, and afterwards into the solution of Carbonate  of Soda
above directed."  Lond.
   This solution was first brought into notice as  a disinfecting agent by La-
barraque, an  apothecary of Paris.  It was  afterwards used as a medicine,
and found to  possess valuable properties.  The process of  the U. S. Phar-
macopoeia is  that of Payen, which was adopted in the French  Codex  of
1837.  It consists in decomposing  a solution of Carbonate of soda by one
of chlorinated  lime.  Carbonate of lime  is precipitated and the  chlorinated
soda remains in solution.  The proportion employed gives an excess of car-
bonate of  soda, the presence of which  renders the solution more permanent.
The London process is that of Labarraque.  All the chlorine generated from
the prescribed  quantity of  the materials for forming that gas, is passed into
the solution of carbonate of soda; and when the gas is limited to this quan-
tity, 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
convert the alkali into  common salt.
   Properties.   The U.  S. solution  is  a colourless liquid.   The London
preparation  has a pale yellow colour, and  a sharp, saline,  astringent taste.
When it is boiled, chlorine is not given off, nor is its bleaching property sen-
sibly impaired; and, when carefully evaporated, a mass of damp crystals is
obtained, which, when redissolved  in water, possess  the properties of the
original liquid.  Both  solutions contain an  excess of carbonated  alkali, and,
therefore,  have an alkaline reaction.   Hence they are precipitated  by lime-
water, which  throws down carbonate of lime.   They both decolorize the
solution of sulphate of indigo, and  emit a  slight odour of chlorine.  When
dilute muriatic acid is added to them, carbonic acid and chlorine are extricated.
Exposed to the air, carbonic acid is  absorbed, and chlorine  slowly evolved.
It is on  this  property of  gradually evolving chlorine that their disinfecting
power depends.
  Nature and Composition.   The chemical  nature  of  these solutions is
different.   Assuming  the chlorinated  lime to be essentially hypochlorite of
lime with chloride of  calcium (see  page 151), the U. S. solution will con-
tain hypochlorite of soda  with chloride of sodium.   Besides  these  there
will be present more or less  carbonate of soda, according as there happens
to be in the chlorinated lime more or less  chlorine to  decompose it.  In  all
cases,  however, there  will be an excess of carbonate; as the best chlorinated
lime does not contain  sufficient  chlorine to effect its  entire decomposition,
in the proportion in which it is taken in the formula. The  constitution of
the London preparation  is more  complicated.   As it  is a peculiarity in  its
formation that no carbonic acid is evolved, it is  necessary to assume the pre-
sence of all the carbonic acid of the carbonate of soda; and hence it is con-
sidered to be a combination of hypochlorite of soda, chloride of sodium, and
bicarbonate of soda.   The reaction is  supposed to  take place between four
eqs. of carbonate of soda and two of chlorine.  By a transfer of carbonic acid
from two eqs. of carbonate to the remaining two eqs. of the  same salt, two
eqs. of bicarbonate  are  formed,  and  two of soda  left.  The sodium and
oxygen of one eq. of soda, unite,  each, with  one eq. of chlorine, so as to
form one  eq. of chloride of sodium, and one of hypochlorous acid.  This 
PART II.
Soda.
1127
acid then unites with the remaining eq. of soda to form hypochlorite of soda.
The view here taken makes these solutions analogous in constitution ; but
differing in one containing the carbonate, the other the bicarbonate of soda.
In  the London preparation, half the soda remains carbonated ;  in the U.S.
solution, from a half to a third, according to the quality of the chlorinated lime
used.  It is  not easy to compare these solutions as to their chlorine strength;
but it may be roughly estimated that the London  preparation is between two
and  three times as strong as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  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  condi-
tions which indicate the propriety of its use are great prostration of strength,
fetid evacuations, and  dry and furred tongue.  Under such circumstances  it
promotes 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 intermittents as a  substitute for quinia,
secondary syphilis, scrofula, bilious disorders as a substitute for chlorine, and
chronic diseases of the skin.   M. Chailly speaks in praise of it in suppressed
or deficient  menstruation. In  asphyxia from  sulphuretted hydrogen it forms,
like  chlorinated lime, an efficacious antidote.  The dose of the U. S. solution
is from  thirty drops to a teaspoonful, given in a  cupful of water  or mild
aqueous liquid, and repeated every two or three hours.
   As a local  remedy it is susceptible of many  valuable  applications,  and
acts  not merely in its quality of disinfectant, but as a peculiar stimulant to the
living -tissues.   It is found useful in  all external affections attended with
fetor, such  as gangrenous, cancerous, scrofulous, and syphilitic ulcers, ulcer-
ation of the gums,  carbuncle, ozaena, mortification,  putrid  sorethroat,  &c.
In these cases it is applied, in a more  or less dilute state, as  a gargle,  wash,
ingredient of poultices, or imbibed by  lint.   In the sloughing of the  fauces
attendant  upon  severe  cases  of  scarlatina, Dr.  Samuel  Jackson, late of
Northumberland, found it efficacious,  used  as  a  gargle, or injected  into the
throat. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xxii. 45.)  In  the sore mouth from  ptyal-
ism, it forms a good mouth-wash, when diluted with eight parts or more of
water.  In fetid discharges from the vagina, uterus, and bladder,  it has been
employed with advantage as an  injection, diluted with from fifteen to  thirty
parts of water for the vagina and uterus, and with sixty parts when the  object
is to wash  out the bladder by means  of a double  canula.  The  solution of
chlorinated soda has also been  applied successfully to burns, and to cutaneous
eruptions, particularly psoriasis, tinea capitis, scabies, and obstinate herpetic
affections.   In these cases it is diluted  with from ten to thirty parts of water,
the strength varying according to circumstances. For the cure of sore nipples,
Dr. Chopin found nothing so  successful as  frequently repeated lotions with
this solution.
  Solution of chlorinated soda is a powerful disinfectant, possessing in  this
respect the  same general properties  as  chlorinated lime.   It is, however,
much better suited for disinfecting operations than the latter; as it does not,
when exposed to the air, become covered with a  crust of carbonate of lime,
an objection to which  the solution of the bleaching salt is liable.   Yet the 
1128
Soda.
PART II.
 comparative expensiveness of chlorinated soda will restrict its use to disin-
 fecting operations  on a small scale.  In the bed-chambers of the sick, espe-
 cially with  infectious diseases, it will be found  highly useful, sprinkled on
 the floor or bed, and added to the vessels intended to receive the execretions.
 In short it is applicable to most of  the disinfecting purposes detailed under
 the head of Calx Chlorinata, to which title the reader is referred.      B.
   SODA ET POTASSA TARTRAS.  U.S., Dub.   Sovk Potas-
 sio-Tartras. Lond.  Potass^ et Sod^e Tartras. Ed.   Tartrate
 of Potassa and Soda.   Tartarized Soda.  Rochelle. Salt.
   "Take  of Carbonate of Soda a pound;  Bitartrate of Potassa [cream of
 tartar], in  powder, sixteen ounces ;  Boiling Water^ue pints.   Dissolve the
 Carbonate of Soda in the Water, and  gradually add the Bitartrate of Po-
 tassa.  Filter  the solution, and evaporate until a pellicle forms ;  then set it
 aside to crystallize.   Pour off the liquor, and dry  the crystals  on bibulous
 paper.  Lastly, again evaporate the liquor, that it may furnish more crystals."
 U. S.
   The London and Edinburgh processes correspond with the above.
   "Take  of Carbonate of Soda five parts;  Bitartrate of Potassa,  in very
 fine  powder, seven parts;  boiling Water fifty parts.  Dissolve the Carbonate
 of Soda in the Water, and gradually add the  Bitartrate of Potassa.   Filter
 the liquor  through  paper, evaporate, and set it aside, so  that on slow  cooling
 crystals may form." Dub.
   This  is a  double salt, consisting of tartrate of potassa combined with tar-
 trate  of soda.   The theory of its  formation  is exceedingly simple, being
 merely the saturation of the excess of acid in the bitartrate of potassa by car-
 bonate of soda, the carbonic  acid of which is extricated with effervescence.
 The proper quantities of the  materials for mutual saturation are 143-3 parts
 of carbonate  to 188*15 of bitartrate, or one eq.  of each.  This gives the ratio
 of 10  to 13*1.  The proportion  adopted in the U. S.,  London, and  Edin-
 burgh Pharmacopoeias, is as 10 to 13-33, which is  very near the theoretical
 quantities.  As the  salts employed are apt to vary in composition and purity,
 the carbonate from  the presence of more or less water of crystallization, and
 the bitartrate from  that of tartrate  of lime, it  is, perhaps, best  in all cases,
 after indicating the nearest average proportion as a  general guide, to  present
 to the operator the alternative of using the cream  of tartar to the point of
 exact saturation.
   Berzelius  states  that this  salt may be formed  by saturating six  parts of
 cream of tartar by means of carbonate of  potassa, and then  adding to the re-
 sulting tartrate a solution of five part? of crystallized  sulphate of soda.  On
 evaporation,  sulphate of potassa will first crystallize, and afterwards  the tar-
 trate of potassa and soda.  The rationale is obvious.
   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.  Its taste is saline and  slighly  bitter.   It dissolves
 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.   When exposed  to a strong heat, the tartaric  acid is de-
 stroyed, and  a mixture of the carbonates of  potassa and  soda is left.  It
 sometimes  contains tartrate of lime, which may be removed by solution and
 crystallization;  but when the crystals are large and well defined, it may be
assumed to be pure.  It is  incompatible with most acids, and with all acidu- 
PART II.
Soda.
1129
 lous salts except the bitartrate of potassa.  It is also decomposed by the
 acetate and subacetate of lead, by the soluble salts of lime, and by those of
 baryta, unless the solution of the tartrate be considerably diluted.  The way
 in which acids  act in  decomposing it, is by combining with the soda, and
 throwing down bitartrate of potassa as a crystalline precipitate.  This double
 salt was discovered by Seignette, an apothecary of Rochelle; and hence it is
 frequently called Seignette's salt, or Rochelle salt.
   Composition.  Tartrate of potassa and soda consists of two eqs. of tartaric
 acid 132, one of potassa 47*15, one of soda 31*3, and eight of  water 72 =
 282*45; or, considered as a double salt, of one eq. of tartrate of potassa 113*15,
 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
 associated with that salt in solution.  It is an  ingredient in the effervescing
 aperient called  Seidlitz powders.   (See page 52.)   The  dose  as a  purge is
 from half an ounce to an ounce.  Given in small and repeated doses, it does
 not purge, but is absorbed and  renders the urine alkaline.  When this hap-
 pens, the tartaric acid may be presumed to be digested.  (Millon and Laveran,
 Journ. de Pharm., Se Ser., vi. 222.)                                B.

   SODA 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 new formula of the Edinburgh College is  unnecessary.   If com-
 mercial samples of chloride of  sodium  cannot be found pure enough to form
 muriatic acid, the salt may be purified as a preparatory step to the process for
 obtaining that acid;  as is ordered by the College in the formula for Acidum
 Muriaticum Purum,  where the directions for purifying the salt are unne-
 cessarily repeated, after the admission of a  distinct formula for that purpose.
 Pure muriate of soda is ordered by the  College, with needless  refinement,
 as an ingredient in the compound saline powder.
   Off. Prep. Pulvis Salinus Compositus, Ed.                        B.

   SODA  PHOSPHAS.  U S, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   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 pow-
 dered 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  fre-
 quently 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
     96 
1130
Soda.
PART II.
 and crystallize, so long as crystals are produced.  Lastly, preserve the crys-
 tals in a well stopped bottle." U. S.
   The Edinburgh  College takes  the same  materials and in the  same pro-
 portion, and  proceeds substantially as above.   The  two  pints  and four
 fluidounces (Imperial measure) of  sulphuric acid ordered by  the College
 weigh six pounds.   The London College made this salt officinal for  the
 first time in its Pharmacopoeia  for 1836, but has placed it in the  list of the
 Materia Medica.
   " Take of burnt Bones, in powder, ten parts; Commercial  Sulphuric Acid
 seven parts.   Mix  the powder, in  an earthen vessel, with  the  Sulphuric
 Acid, add gradually  seven parts of water, and stir the mixture.   Digest for
 three days, occasionally adding  more water to prevent the mixture from be-
 coming dry, and continue the stirring: then add seven parts of boiling water,
 and strain through  linen, repeatedly pouring on boiling water, until  all  the
 acid is washed  out.   Set the liquor by that the  dregs  may subside, from
 which pour it off when clear, and reduce it by evaporation to one-half. Then
 add eight parts of Carbonate of Soda, dissolved in hot water, and filter; and
 by alternate evaporation and refrigeration, let crystals be formed, which are to
 be kept in a well-stopped  vessel.  If the salt be not sufficiently pure, dissolve
 it again in  water and recrystallize." Dub.
   The  incombustible  part of bones, or bone-earth, 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 decom-
 posed, giving rise to effervescence.   The phosphate of lime undergoes par-
 tial 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 super-
 phosphate of lime, holding dissolved a certain portion of the sulphate of lime.
 In order to separate the superphosphate from the  precipitated mass of sulphate
 of lime, boiling water is added to the mixture, the whole is strained, and  the
 sulphate washed as long as superphosphate is removed, which is known by
the water passing through in an acid state.   The different liquids which
have passed  the strainer, consisting of the solution of superphosphate of
lime, are mixed and allowed to  stand,  and by cooling a portion of sulphate
of lime is  deposited, which is got rid of by decantation.   The bulk of  the
liquid is now reduced by evaporation, and, from 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 is now
 saturated by means of carbonate of soda. The carbonic acid is extricated with
 effervescence, and the alkali, combining with the excess of acid of the super-
phosphate, generates phosphate of soda;  while the superphosphate of lime,
 by the loss of its excess of acid,  becomes the neutral phosphate, and precipi-
 tates.  This precipitate is  next separated by a new filtration ;  and the filtered
liquor, consisting of  the solution of phosphate of soda, is evaporated so as to
 crystallize.
   In the U. S. and Edinburgh process, the calcined bone  is to the acid as
 10 to 6 ; in the Dublin process  as 10 to 7.  The proportion  recommended
 by Berzelius is  intermediate—as 10 to 6*66.   The acid, in the officinal pro-
 cesses,  is added to  the calcined bone  in  the  concentrated state,  and after-
 wards  diluted with more  or less water.  In the process given by  Berzelius
 it is first diluted with twelve times  its weight of  water.  The Dublin Col-
 lege prescribes  the  quantity of  carbonate  of soda to effect  the saturation;
 but the exact quantity cannot be  known beforehand, and  must vary under 
 part ii.                          Soda.                            1131

 different circumstances.   All the writers state that this salt crystallizes more
 readily by allowing  its  solution to be slightly  alkaline; and a remarkable
 fact is  that a neutral solution, when  it crystallizes, leaves a  supernatant
 liquid which is slightly acid  and uncrystallizable.   Hence it is necessary,
 after getting each  successive crop of crystals, to render the  mother water
 neutral or slightly alkaline, before it will furnish an  additional quantity.
   M. Funcke, a German chemist, has given the following method for obtain-
 ing phosphate of soda, which is stated to  be cheaper and more  expeditious
 than the  process  above  described.    Add to the powdered  calcined bone,
 diffused in water, sufficient dilute sulphuric acid to decompose all the car-
 bonate of lime which it  contains.   As soon as the  effervescence has ceased,
 the  matter is acted  on  with nitric acid, which  dissolves the phosphate  of
 lime, and leaves the  sulphate.   The  nitric solution  of the phosphate is then
 treated  with sulphate of soda, equal  in quantity  to the bone employed; and
 after the reaction is completed, the nitric acid is recovered by distillation.  In
 consequence of a double decomposition, sulphate of lime and phosphate  of
 soda are  formed, the latter of which is then separated from the  sulphate by
 the  action of water, and  crystallized in the usual  manner.
   Properties, Spc.  Phosphate of soda is in large, colourless crystals,  which
 are  transparent at first, but quickly effloresce and become opaque when ex-
 posed to the air, and which have the shape of oblique rhombic  prisms.   It
 possesses a pure saline taste, resembling that of common salt.   With tests
 it displays a slight  alkaline reaction.  It dissolves in four  parts of cold  water,
 and two of boiling water, but is insoluble in alcohol.  Before the blowpipe
 it first undergoes 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 any adulterations, but sometimes contains carbonate of soda, from this salt
 being added in  excess;   in which case it will effervesce with acids.   If it
 contain  sulphate of soda, or any other soluble sulphate, the precipitate caused
 by chloride of barium will be a mixture of sulphate and phosphate of baryta,
 and  will not be totally soluble in nitric acid.   If a  chloride be present, the
 yellow precipitate caused by nitrate of silver will  be  a mixed one of chloride
 and  phosphate of silver,  not entirely soluble in the  same  acid.   It is incom-
 patible with soluble salts of lime,  with which it gives a precipitate of  phos-
 phate of lime, and with  neutral metallic solutions.  Phosphate of soda is
 found in  several of the  animal secretions, particularly  the urine.  When
 crystallized it consists of one eq. of phosphoric acid 71*4, two of soda 62*6,
 and  twenty-five of water 225 = 359.   When heated gently, it loses twenty-
 four eqs. of water, retaining one  which acts the part of a base.  At a red heat
 the remaining eq. of water is driven off, and the salt is altered  in its proper-
 ties, and becomes pyrophosphate of soda, which is characterized  by giving a
 white precipitate with nitrate of silver.
  Medical Properties and Uses. This salt was introduced into regular prac-
 tice  about  the year 1800, on the recommendation  of Dr. Pearson,  of London.
 It is a mild purgative, and, from its pure  saline taste, is well adapted  to the
 cases of children, and of persons of delicate stomach.   The dose  is from one
 to two ounces, and  is  best given in gruel or weak broth, to which it commu-
nicates a taste, as if seasoned  with common salt.  Heretofore its expensive-
ness, compared with the cost of other saline purgatives, has prevented it from
coming into general use.
  Off.Prep. Ferri  Phosphas, U. S.                                 B. 
1132
Spiritus.
PART II.
                 SPIRITUS.  U. S., Lond., Dub.

                            Spirits. Ed.

  Spirits, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, are alcoholic solutions of
volatile principles, obtained by distillation.  They are prepared chiefly from
aromatic vegetable substances, the essential oils of which rise with the vapour
of alcohol, and condense with it in the receiver.  Some of the oils, however,
will not rise at the temperature of boiling alcohol, but may be distilled with
water.  In this case it is necessary to employ proof spirit or diluted alcohol,
with the water of which the oil comes over in the latter part of the process.
As the proof spirit of the  shops is often  impregnated with foreign matters,
which give it an unpleasant flavour,  it is better to use alcohol  which has
been  carefully rectified, and to dilute it with the due proportion of water, as
directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  In preparing the spirits, care should
be taken to avoid the colour and empyreumatic flavour arising from the
decomposition of the vegetable matter by heat.  Sufficient water must, there-
fore, be added to cover the vegetable matter after the alcohol shall have been
distilled; and, as a  general rule, the heat should be applied by means of a
water-bath, or of  steam.   The aromatic should be macerated  for some days
with the alcohol, before being submitted to distillation; as the  oil, being thus
dissolved, rises more readily with the  spirituous vapour than  when confined
in the vegetable  tissue.  It is necessary,  during the process, frequently to
renew the water  in the refrigeratory, as otherwise a considerable portion of
the vapour will escape condensation.  A good apparatus for the purpose is
described and figured in page 772.
  The aromatic spirits are used chiefly to impart a pleasant odour and taste
to mixtures, and  to correct the nauseating  and griping effects  of other  medi-
cines.  They  serve  also  as  carminatives in flatulent colic,  and agreeable
stimulants  in debility of stomach;  but their frequent use may lead to the
formation of intemperate habits, and should, therefore, be avoided.    W.
  SPIRITUS ANISI. Lond,  Spirit of Aniseed.
  "Take of Anise  [seeds], bruised, ten ounces; Proof Spirit a gallon
[Imperial measure] ; Water two pints [Imperial measure].  Mix them ; then
with a gentle fire, distil a gallon." Lond.
  SPIRITUS ANISI  COMPOSITUS. Dub.   Compound Spirit of
Aniseed.
  " Take of Anise Seeds, bruised,  Angelica  Seeds,  bruised, each, half a
pound; Proof Spirit a gallon; Water  sufficient to  prevent  empyreuma.
Macerate for twenty-four hours, and distil a gallon." Dub.
  The dose of  this and the  preceding preparation, as stomachics and car-
minatives, is  one or two fluidrachms.  The compound spirit is a simplifica-
tion of the Irish usquebaugh.                                      W.
   SPIRITUS ARMORACIA COMPOSITUS. Lond., Dub.  Com-
pound Spirit of Horse-radish.
  " Take of Horse-radish [root], sliced, Dried Orange Peel, each, twenty
ounces;  Nutmeg, bruised,five  drachms; Proof Spirit a  gallon [Imperial
measure] ; Water two pints [Imp. measure].   Mix them ; then, with a slow
fire, distil a gallon." Lond.
  The Dublin College takes of horse-radish and orange peel,  each, a pound,
bruised nutmeg half an ounce; proof spirit a gallon, and water sufficient to
prevent empyreuma ;  macerates for twenty-four hours, and distils a gallon. 
PART II.
Spiritus.
1133
   This may be used advantageously as an  addition to diuretic remedies, in
 dropsy attended with debility, especially in the cases of drunkards.   The
 dose is from one to four fluidrachms.
   Off.Prep. Infusum Armoraciae Compositum, Lond.              W.
   SPIRITUS  CARUI. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Spirit of Caraway.
   "Take of Caraway [seeds], bruised, twenty-two ounces;  Proof Spirit a
 gallon  [Imperial measure]; Water two pints [Imperial measure].   Mix
 them ;  then with a slow fire distil a gallon." Lond.
   " Take  of Caraway  Seeds, bruised, a pound; Proof Spirit a gallon;
 Water sufficient to prevent empyreuma.   Macerate  for twenty-four hours
 and distil a gallon." Dub.
   " Take  of Caraway, bruised, half a pound; Proof  Spirit seven pints
 [Imperial  measure].  Macerate for  two days in a  covered vessel; add a
 pint and a  half  [Imp. meas.] of water; and distil off seven pints." Ed.
   The dose as a carminative is one or two fluidrachms.
   SPIRITUS  CASSIA. Ed.  Spirit  of Cassia.
   " Take  of Cassia, in coarse powder, one pound.  Proceed as for  the
 spirit of caraway." Ed. (See Spiritus Carui.)
   This is essentially the same as the spirit of cinnamon.
   SPIRITUS  CINNAMOMI. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Spirit  of Cin-
 namon.
   " Take of Oil of Cinnamon  two drachms ; Proof Spirit, a gallon [Im-
 perial measure]; Water apint [Imperial measure].  Mix them, then with a
 slow fire distil a gallon." Lond.
   " Take  of Cinnamon Bark, bruised, a pound; Proof Spirit  a gallon;
 Water sufficient to prevent empyreuma.  Macerate for twenty-four  hours,
 and distil a gallon." Dub.
   By the Dublin  College the  spirit is also prepared by distilling together
 six scruples of the oil, and a gallon of proof  spirit.   The Edinburgh Col-
 lege prepares it  from a pound of cinnamon, in coarse powder, in the same
 manner as spirit of caraway. (See  Spiritus Carui.)
   The  spirit of cinnamon is an agreeable aromatic cordial, and may be
 given in debility of the stomach in  the dose of one or two fluidrachms.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Digitalis, Ed.; Infus. Rhei, Ed.; Mistura Cretae, Ed.

   SPIRITUS  JUNIPERI COMPOSITUS.  U. S, Lond., Ed. Dub.
 Compound Spirit of Juniper.
   "Take of Juniper [berries], bruised, a pound;  Caraway [seeds], bruised,
 Fennel-seed, bruised, each, an ounce and a half;  Diluted Alcohol a gallon;
 Water two pints.   Macerate the Juniper, Caraway, and Fennel-seed in  the
 Diluted Alcohol for twenty-four hours ;  then add the Water, and with a slow
 fire distil a  gallon."  U. S.
   "Take of Juniper Fruit,  bruised,  fifteen ounces;  Caraway  [seeds],
 bruised, Fennel  [seeds],  bruised, each,  two  ounces ;  Proof Spirit a gallon
 [Imperial measure];  Water two pints [Imperial measure].   Mix them ;
 then with a slow fire distil a gallon."  Lond.
   The Dublin and Edinburgh processes are essentially the same with that
of the  U.S. Pharmacopoeia; the Edinburgh  directing seven pints  [Imp.
 meas.] of Proof Spirit,  and two pints [Imp. meas.] of water, macerating
for two days, and distilling seven Imperial pints.
   This spirit is a useful addition to diuretic infusions and mixtures in debili-
tated cases of dropsy.  The dose is from two to four fluidrachms.
   Off Prep. Mistura Creasoti, Ed.                               W.
                               96* 
 1134                         Spiritus.                      part ii.

   SPIRITUS LAVANDULA. U. S, Lond, Ed., Dub.   Spirit of
 Lavender.
   "Take  of  Fresh Lavender [flowers]  two pounds;  Alcohol a gallon;
 Water two pints.   Mix them, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U. S.
   The London College takes  two pounds and a half of the fresh flowers,
 a gallon [Imperial measure] of rectified spirit,  and two pints of water;
 mixes them; and distils a gallon.  The Dublin College employs two pounds
 of the flowers, a gallon of proof spirit, and sufficient water  to prevent em-
 pyreuma;  macerates for twenty-four hours;  and distils five pints.   The
 Edinburgh College takes two pounds and a half of the fresh flowers, and
 a gallon [Imp. meas.] of rectified spirit;  mixes them, and with  the heat of
 a vapour-bath  distils seven pints.
   The Dublin process, in which proof spirit is employed, is said to yield a
 product less highly impregnated  with the oil of lavender  than  the others.
 Mr. Brande asserts that the dried flowers  produce as fragrant a spirit as the
 fresh.  Spirit  of Lavender is used chiefly as a perfume, and as  an ingredi-
 ent in other preparations.   The perfume usually sold  under the name of
 lavender water is not  a distilled spirit, but an alcoholic solution of the oil,
 with the addition of other odorous  substances. The following  is given by
 Mr. Brande as one of  the most approved recipes for preparing it.  " Take
 of rectified spirit of wine five gallons, essential oil of lavender twenty ounces,
 essential oil of bergamot five ounces, essence of ambergris [made by digest-
 ing one drachm  of ambergris  and eight grains of musk in half  a pint of
 alcohol]  half an ounce. Mix."
   Off.Prep. Linimentum Camphorae Compositum,  Lond., Dub.; Mistura
 Ferri Composita,  U. S.;  Spiritus  Lavandulae Compositus, U. S., Lond.,
 Ed., Dub.                                                     W.

   SPIRITUS LAVANDULA COMPOSITUS.  U S, Ed., Dub.
 Tinctura Lavandula  Composita. Lond.    Compound Spirit of
 Lavender.
   "Take of Spirit of Lavender  three pints; Spirit of Rosemary a pint;
 Cinnamon,  bruised, an ounce;  Cloves,  bruised, two drachms;  Nutmeg,
 bruised, half an ounce; Red  Saunders, rasped, three drachms.    Macerate
 for fourteen days, and filter through paper."  U. S.
   The London College takes apint and a half [Imperial measure] of spirit
 of lavender, half a pint [Imp. meas.] of spirit of rosemary, two drachms
 and a half of  bruised cinnamon,  the same quantity of bruised nutmegs, and
five  drachms of sliced  red saunders; and  proceeds as above.   The Edin-
 burgh College takes  tivo pints [Imp. meas.] of spirit of lavender,  twelve
fluidounces of spirit of rosemary, an  ounce of cinnamon in coarse powder,
 two  drachms of bruised cloves, half an ounce of bruised nutmeg, and three
 drachms of red saunders;  macerates for  seven days, and then  strains the
 liquor through calico.   The Dublin College orders half an ounce only of
 cinnamon, and an  ounce  of red saunders, and digests for ten days ; but in
 other respects  conforms with the  directions of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia.
   This is a delightful compound of spices, much employed  as an adjuvant
 and  corrigent  of other medicines, and as a remedy  for gastric  uneasiness,
 nausea, flatulence,  and  general  languor or faintness.  The dose is from thirty
 drops to  a fluidrachm, and is most conveniently administered on a lump of
 sugar.
   Off.Prep.  Aqua Laurocerasi, Ed.;  Liquor Potassae Arsenitis, U.S.,
 Lond., Ed.                                                    W. 
PART II.
Spiritus.
1135
   SPIRITUS MENTHA PIPERITA.  Lond., Dub.   Spiritus
Mentha. Ed.   Spirit of Peppermint.
   " Take of Oil of Peppermint three drachms; Proof Spirit a gallon [Im-
perial measure]; Water apint [Imperial measure].   Mix them ; then with
a slow fire distil a gallon." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College prepares this spirit from  one pound and a half
of fresh peppermint, in the same manner as spirit of caraway. (See Spiritus
Carui.)
   "Take of Oil of Peppermint, by weight, half an ounce;  Rectified Spirit
a gallon.  Add the Spirit to the Oil, and pour on them as  much water as
will prevent empyreuma, after distillation ; then by a gentle fire, distil a gal-
lon." Dub.
   The spirit of peppermint has no advantage over a simple  solution of the
oil in  alcohol.  Such a solution is usually kept in the  shops, under the
name of essence of peppermint, and was adopted among the officinal prepa-
rations, at the last  revision  of  the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, with the title of
tincture of oil of peppermint.  (See Tinctura Olei Menthae Piperitae.) W.
   SPIRITUS MENTHA PULEGII. Lond., Dub.  Spirit of Eu-
ropean Pennyroyal.
   This is prepared by the London College from the oil of European penny-
royal, in the  manner directed by the same College  for the preparation of
spirit of peppermint.  The Dublin College prepares it by distilling together
six scruples of the oil and a gallon of proof spirit.  It is never used in this
country.                                                      W.
   SPIRITUS MENTHA VIRIDIS. Lond., Dub.  Spirit of Spear-
mint.
   This  is prepared by the London and Dublin  Colleges from the oil of
spearmint, in the manner directed by the two Colleges respectively for the
preparation of the  spirit of peppermint.
   The two spirits are used for the same  purposes, in the dose  of  from
thirty drops to a fluidrachm.                                     W.
   SPIRITUS  MYRISTICA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.   Spiritus  Nucis
Moschata. Dub.   Spirit of Nutmeg.
   "Take of  Nutmeg,  bruised,  two ounces; Diluted  Alcohol  a gallon;
Water apint.  Mix them, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U. S.
   The London  and Edinburgh Colleges take two ounces  and a  half of
bruised nutmegs, a gallon [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit, and apint [Imp.
meas.] of water; mix them ; and distil a gallon.  The Dublin College mace-
rates together  for twenty-four  hours two ounces of bruised nutmeg, a gallon
of proof spirit, and enough water to prevent empyreuma, and then distils a
gallon.
   The spirit of nutmeg is used chiefly for its flavour, as an addition to other
medicines.  The dose is one or two fluidrachms.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Ferri Composita, Lond., Ed.                 W.
   SPIRITUS PIMENTA. U S, Lond, Ed., Dub.   Spirit of Pi-
mento.
  "Take of Pimento, bruised,  two  ounces; Diluted  Alcohol a  gallon;
Water a pint.  Macerate the Pimento in the Diluted Alcohol for twenty-
four hours;  then add the Water, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U. S.
  The London College  orders it to be prepared in the  same manner as
spirit of nutmeg; the Edinburgh, from half a pound of bruised pimento, in
the same manner as spirit of caraway.  The Dublin macerates together for 
1136
Spiritus.—Spongia.
PART II.
twenty-four hours three ounces of bruised pimento, a gallon of proof spirit,
and sufficient water to prevent empyreuma, and then distils a gallon.
  This  preparation  may be  used  for the  general purposes of the  aromatic
spirits, in the dose of one or two fluidrachms.                      W.
  SPIRITUS ROSMARINI.  U.S., Lond., Ed.   Spiritus  Roris-
marini. Dub.   Spii'it of Rosemary.
  " Take of Oil of Rosemary [by  weight] two drachms; Alcohol a gallon;
Water a pint.  Mix them, and with a slow fire distil a gallon."  U.S.
  The London College takes  two drachms  of oil  of rosemary, a gallon
(Imperial measure)  of rectified spirit, and a pint (Imp. meas.) of water;
mixes them;  and  then, with  a slow fire, distils a gallon.  The Edinburgh
College  takes two pounds and a half of rosemary, and proceeds as for the
spirit of lavender.  The Dublin  College employs a pound and a half of
the fresh tops and a gallon  of proof spirit, and distils  five  pounds with a
moderate heat.  This  College also prepares the spirit by distilling together
six scruples of the oil, and a gallon of proof spirit.
  Spirit of rosemary is a grateful perfume, and is used chiefly as an ingre-
dient in lotions or liniments.
   Off.Prep.  Linimentum Ammoniae Compositum, .Erf.;  Linimentum Sa-
ponis, Lond., Dub.;  Spiritus Lavandulae Compositus,  U.S., Lond., Ed.,
Dub.            •                                              W.

                           SPONGIA.

                     Preparation of Sponge.

  SPONGIA USTA. US.  Pulvis  Spongia  Ustje. Dub.   Burnt
Sponge.
  " Take of Sponge a convenient quantity.   Cut it into pieces, and beat it,
that any extraneous  matters  may be separated; then burn it  in a close iron
vessel until it becomes black and  friable; lastly, rub it  into very fine pow-
der." U.S.
  The Dublin process does not materially differ from the above.
  The sponge is decomposed, the volatile matters.being driven off by the heat,
and a black friable coal remaining.   Preuss found that, of 1000 parts of sponge
submitted to calcination, 343-848 were dissipated; and the residue consisted
of 327*0 parts of carbon and insoluble matters, 112*08 of  chloride of sodium,
16*43 of sulphate of lime, 21*422 of iodide of sodium,  7*57 of bromide of
magnesium,  103*2 of carbonate of lime, 350 of phosphate of lime, 4*73 of
magnesia, and 28*72 of protoxide of iron. (Pharm.  Cent. Blatt, 1837,169.)
Herberger found in  burnt sponge one per cent, of iodide of potassium, and
0*5 per cent,  of bromide of potassium. (Annal. der Pharm.,  xx. 204.) As
the remediate value  of burnt sponge depends chiefly upon the  presence of
iodine, it cannot be esteemed good unless it afford purple fumes when acted
on by sulphuric acid assisted  by heat. It is said that the preparation is most
efficient as a remedy  when the sponge is kept on the fire no longer than is
necessary to render it friable.  Tbe powder is then of a much lighter colour.
Guibourt recommends that the sponge  selected for burning  should be un-
washed, of a strong odour, firm, and compact, that it should be put into a
roaster similar to that sometimes used for coffee, and heated over a moderate
fire till it becomes of a blackish-brown colour, that it should then be removed,
powdered, and  enclosed in a well-stopped glass bottle.  It is best when re-
cently prepared; as  the iodine is  dissipated by time, and  the specimens  at
first richest in this principle, contain little of it at the end  of a year.  (Journ. 
 part ii.           Spongia.—Stannum.—Strychnia.              1137

 de Chim. Med., Dec, 1831.)  According to Herberger, the fine and coarse
 sponges do not materially differ in the proportion of their organic  consti-
 tuents ; so that the coarse may be selected for this operation.
   Burnt sponge has been highly recommended in goitre, glandular swellings
 of a scrofulous  character,  and obstinate  cutaneous  eruptions.  It is most
 conveniently administered  mixed with  syrup or honey, in the form of an
 electuary, with the addition of some aromatic, as powdered cinnamon. The
 dose is from one to three drachms.                                 W.


                           STANNUM.

                        Preparation  of Tin.
   PULVIS  STANNI. U.S.   Stanni Pulvis. Ed., Dub.  Powder
 of Tin.
   " Take of Tin a convenient quantity.  Melt it in an iron vessel over the
 fire, and,  while it is cooling, stir it until it is reduced to a powder, which is to
 be passed through a sieve." U. S.
   " Melt Tin in an iron vessel; pour it into an earthenware mortar,  heated
 a little above the melting point of the metal; triturate  briskly as  the metal
 cools, ceasing as soon as a considerable  proportion is pulverized ;  sift the
 product, and repeat the process with what remains in the sieve." Ed.
   " Take of very pure Tin any quantity.  Having  melted it over the fire,
 agitate it strongly while congealing, so that it may be converted into  a pow-
 der, which, when cold, is to be passed through a sieve." Dub.
   Tin,  being a very fusible metal, is easily granulated by fusion and  subse-
 quent agitation when in the act of congealing.  The process is most  conve-
 niently  performed, on a small scale, in a wooden box,  the inside of  which
 has been well rubbed with chalk.  This should be afterwards washed away
 by water;  and, as the granulated powder is of unequal degrees of fineness,
 the coarser particles must  be separated by a sieve.   For the  properties of
 this metal and the tests of its purity, see  Stannum.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   Powder of tin is  used exclusively as an
 anthelmintic, and is supposed to act by its mechanical properties.  It  is con-
 sidered  particularly adapted to the  expulsion of the  Ascaris  lumbricoides,
 and is sometimes employed to expel the tape worm, though for this purpose
 oil of turpentine is more efficacious.  For internal exhibition it should  be free
 from oxidation.  The dose  is half an ounce, mixed with molasses, given for
 several  successive mornings, and then  followed by a brisk cathartic.  Dr.
 Alston was in the habit of administering larger doses for the expulsion of the
 tape worm.   He began by giving an ounce on an empty stomach, which was
 followed, for two successive days, by half an ounce each day, and finally  by
 a brisk purge.                                                    B.

                         STRYCHNIA.

                             Strychnia.

   STRYCHNIA.  U. S, Lond, Ed.   Strychnia.
   "Take  of Nux Vomica, rasped, four pounds; Lime,  in  powder, six
ounces;  Muriatic Acid three fluidounces; Alcohol, Diluted Sulphuric Acid,
Solution of Ammonia, Purified Animal  Charcoal, Water, each, a sufficient
quantity.   Digest the Nux Vomica in two gallons of Water, acidulated with
a fluidounce of the Muriatic Acid, for twenty-four hours; then boil for two
hours, and strain with expression through a strong linen bag.  Boil the resi-
duum twice successively in the same quantity of acidulated Water, each time 
1138
Strychnia.
PART II.
straining as before.  Mix the decoctions and evaporate to the consistence of
thin syrup; then add the Lime previously mixed with a  pint of Water, and
boil for  ten minutes, frequently stirring.   Pour the mixture into a double
linen bag, and, having washed the precipitate well with water, press, dry, and
powder it.  Treat the powder repeatedly with boiling Alcohol, until deprived
of its bitterness ; mix the liquors; and distil off the Alcohol by means of a
water-bath.  Mix the residue with Water, and, having applied heat, drop in
sufficient Diluted Sulphuric Acid to neutralize and dissolve the Strychnia;
then add Purified Animal Charcoal, boil for a few minutes, filter, evaporate,
and crystallize.  Dissolve the crystals in  Water, and add sufficient Solution
of Ammonia  to precipitate  the Strychnia.  Lastly,  dry the precipitate on
bibulous paper."  U.S.
   " Take of Nux Vomica,  bruised, two pounds;  Rectified Spirit three gal-
lons [Imperial measure]; Diluted  Sulphuric Acid,  Magnesia, Solution of
Ammonia, each, a sufficient quantity.  Boil the  Nux Vomica  with a gallon
of the Spirit, for  an hour, in a retort,  with a receiver fitted to  it.   Pour off
the liquor, and boil the residue  again, and a third  time,  with another gallon
of the Spirit,  and with the Spirit recently distilled, and  pour off the liquor.
Press the Nux Vomica,  and, having mixed and filtered the liquors,  distil the
Spirit.   Evaporate the residue to the proper consistence ofan extract.   Dis-
solve this in cold water and  filter. Evaporate the solution, with  a gentle heat,
to the consistence of syrup.  To  this, while yet warm, gradually add the
Magnesia to saturation, shaking them together.  Set aside for two days, and
then  pour off the  supernatant liquor.  Press what  remains wrapped in a
linen cloth.  Boil it in Spirit, then  filter,  and distil the spirit.   Add to what
remains a very little Diluted Sulphuric Acid mixed with  water, and  macerate
with a  gentle  heat.  Set it aside for twenty-four hours that  crystals may
form.   Press  these and  dissolve them.   To their  solution in water add
Ammonia, occasionally shaking, that the  Strychnia  may be thrown down.
Lastly, dissolve this in boiling Spirit, and set it aside that pure crystals may
form."  Lond.
   "Take  of  Nux Vomica one pound; Quicklime one ounce  and a half;
Rectified Spirit a sufficiency. Subject the Nux Vomica  for two hours to the
vapour  of steam, chop or slice it, dry it thoroughly in the vapour-bath,  or hot
air-press, and immediately  grind it in a coffee-mill.   Macerate it for twelve
hours in two pints [Imperial measure] of  water and boil it; strain through
linen or calico, and squeeze the residuum; repeat the maceration and decoc-
tion twice with a pint and  a half of  water.   Concentrate the  decoctions to
the consistence of thin  syrup;  add the Lime in  the form of milk of lime;
dry the precipitate in the vapour-bath ; pulverize  it,  and boil it with succes-
sive portions of Rectified Spirit till the Spirit cease to acquire  a bitter taste.
Distil off the spirit till the residuum be  sufficiently concentrated  to crystallize
on cooling.  Purify the crystals by repeated crystallizations."  Ed.
   It should be recollected that the British Imperial measure is employed by
the London and Edinburgh Colleges throughout these processes.
   In preparing strychnia, the first step is properly  to  comminute the nux
vomica.   This may be  done by rasping the seeds, or, as directed  in the
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, by  first softening them  by  steam, then slicing,
drying,  and grinding them.  The  next  object is to extract the strychnia.
For  this purpose  water acidulated  with  muriatic acid  is  employed  in the
 U.S. process, alcohol in the London, and water alone in the Edinburgh.  In
the two latter, the native igasurate  of strychnia is taken up, in the first, the
 muriate, which is a very soluble salt.  The menstruum of the U. S. Phar-
 macopoeia is less costly, than the London, and probably more  effective than
 the Edinburgh.   Besides, when alcohol  is used, it is necessary to  evaporate 
PART II.
Strychnia.
1139
the tincture, and then treat the extract with water, in order to get an aqueous
solution of the alkali.   The salt of strychnia existing in the solution is next
decomposed  either by lime, as in the U. S.  and Edinburgh  processes, or by
magnesia, as in the London. The alkaline base is precipitated along with the
excess of lime or magnesia and impurities.   The strychnia  is extracted from
the precipitate by boiling  alcohol, and may be obtained  in crystals by the
concentration of the solution.   But  in this state it is much coloured  and
impure.   The Edinburgh College contents  itself with directing it to be puri-
fied  by repeated  solution and crystallization.  In the two  other processes,
the impure strychnia is converted into a sulphate by  the addition of sulphuric
acid, and precipitated again by ammonia ; being, while in the state of the sul-
phate, decolorized, according to the  directions of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia,
by  means of animal  charcoal.  The London  College proceeds one step
further, and  obtains the alkali in  crystals by  dissolving  the precipitated
powder in boiling alcohol, and  setting the  solution  aside  to  crystallize.
Throughout the process, the brucia contained in the nux  vomica attends the
strychnia, and is only left behind in the mother liquors, when  the latter alkali
crystallizes from the alcoholic solution upon cooling; brucia being much more
soluble than  strychnia in  cold alcohol.  It would, therefore, be better to
conclude the  U. S.  process by one or more  solutions  and crystallizations in
alcohol, as directed by  the London and Edinburgh  Colleges.  With  this
addition, we  should give the preference to our own officinal process.  To
free the strychnia entirely from brucia requires repeated crystallizations, and
a little of the latter principle is consequently almost  always  retained; but the
impurity is not injurious;  as the effects of the two alkalies  upon the system
are very similar.   The bean of St.  Ignatius  yields strychnia more easily and
more largely  than nux vomica; but is less plentiful.
   If  thought  desirable, brucia may be in great measure  separated from the
strychnia of  the  shops, by dissolving  the  latter in nitric  acid, very much
diluted, filtering,  and concentrating to the point of crystallization.  The
nitrate of brucia crystallizes in short, thick,  dense prisms, grouped together;
the nitrate of strychnia in radiated tufts of long, light, capillary needles.  By
gentle agitation with water, the latter salt is suspended and may be poured
off, leaving the former.  The alkalies may be obtained by dissolving the
salts  separately in water,  and precipitating with ammonia.  (Christison^
Dispensatory.)
   As usually kept in the shops, strychnia is a grayish-white powder.   When
rapidly crystallized from its  alcoholic solution, it has the  form of  a white,
granular powder;  when slowly crystallized, that of elongated octohedra, or
quadrilateral  prisms with quadrilateral terminations.  It is  permanent in  the
air, inodorous, but excessively  bitter, with a metallic after taste.  So intense
is its bitterness, that one part of strychnia is said to communicate a sensible
taste to 600,000  parts of water.   It melts  like  a resin,  but is not volatile,
being decomposed at a comparatively low temperature. It is soluble in 6667
parts of water at 50°, and  about 2000 parts at  the boiling point.   Boiling
officinal alcohol dissolves it without difficulty, and deposits it upon  cooling.
In  absolute alcohol and in ether it is very  sparingly soluble.  The volatile
oils dissolve it freely.   It has an alkaline reaction on test paper, and forms
salts with the acids.   Nitric acid does not  redden  it if  perfectly pure, but
almost always reddens it as found  in the shops, in  consequence of the pre-
sence of brucia.   M. Eugene  Marchand proposes the  following  test,  by
which a very minute proportion of strychnia may be detected.  If a little of
the alkali be  rubbed with a few drops of concentrated  sulphuric acid contain-
ing one-hundredth of nitric acid, it will be dissolved without change of colour;
but if the least quantity of peroxide of lead be added to the mixture, a magni- 
1140
Strychnia.—Styrax.
PART II.
ficent blue colour will be instantly developed, which will pass rapidly into
violet, then gradually to red, and ultimately become yellow.  (Journ.  de
Pharm., Se Ser., iv. 200.)  Strychnia consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen ; but the proportion of its constituents is very differently given
by different authors.  Liebig states the composition to be N2C44H2s04.  The
salts of strychnia are for the most part soluble  and crystallizable.   Their
solution is decomposed by the alkalies and  their carbonates, and by tannic,
but not by gallic acid ; and is not affected by the salts of sesquioxide of iron.
Strychnia is apt to contain impurities, of which the chief, besides  brucia, are
colouring matter, and lime or magnesia.   The Edinburgh College gives the
following test of its purity.   "A solution of 10 grains in 4 fluidrachms of
water by means of a fluidrachm of pyroligneous  acid, when  decomposed by
one fluidounce of concentrated solution of carbonate of soda, yields on brisk
agitation a coherent mass, weighing when dry 10 grains, and entirely soluble
in solution of oxalic acid."
  Medical Properties and  Uses, fyc.  The effects of strychnia upon the
system  are  identical  in  character with  those of nux vomica, and it is em-
ployed for the same  purposes as a medicine. (See Nux Vomica, page 478.)
It operates in the same way by whatever avenue it may enter into the circu-
lation ; but is said to act most powerfully when injected into the veins  or
applied to a fresh wound.  The blood  of an animal under its influence pro-
duces similiar  effects  in another if transfused into its veins.   In  over-doses
it is a most violent poison.  Pelletier and  Caventou killed  a  dog in half a
minute with one-sixth of a grain of the pure alkali.  One grain or even less
might  prove fatal in the  human  subject.   According to M. Duclos, the poi-
sonous effects of strychnia upon animals  subside under the application  of
negative  electricity, while they  are  aggravated by the positive.   (See Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 154.)   Different persons are very differently suscep-
tible to its  action, and some are powerfully affected by the smallest doses.
Besides, being  more or less impure as kept in the shops, it cannot be relied
on with certainty.  Hence the necessity of great caution in prescribing it,
and of  carefully watching  the  patient during its use.   The best plan  is
always to begin with very small doses, and  gradually increase till its effects
are observed.   From one-twelfth to one-sixth of a grain internally, and from
a quarter to  half a grain externally, upon a blistered surface, may be employed
at first; but, if the alkali is very pure, the dose may be still further reduced
with propriety.   It is most conveniently given in the form of pill.  It may
be given also  dissolved  in water acidulated with  sulphuric,  muriatic, nitric,
or acetic acid.    In this form it is  in saline combination ; but the effects of its
salts are the same as those of the pure alkali.                        W.

                            STYRAX.

                      Preparation of Storax.
  STYRAX  PURIFICATA. U S.  Styrax  Colatus. Lond.  Ex-
tractum Styracis. Ed.   Purified Storax.
  " Take of Storax, Alcohol, each, a sufficient  quantity.  Dissolve the
Storax in the Alcohol, and strain the solution ; then distil off the alcohol with
a gentle heat, until the Storax acquires the proper consistence." U. S.
  The purification of storax is directed by the London College, in a similar
manner, under  the head of the gum-resins.
  " Take any  convenient quantity of Storax, in fine  powder.   Exhaust it
by boiling it in successive quantities of Rectified Spirit;  filter the spirituous 
 part ii.                   Styrax.—Sulphur.                     1141

 solutions; distil off the  greater part of the spirit;  evaporate the remainder
 over the vapour-bath to the consistence of a thin extract." Ed.
   Storax, as found in the shops, is usually so much adulterated as to render
 its purification necessary, before it can be applied to the purposes for which
 it is officinally directed.   As it is  wholly soluble in alcohol, and little of its
 active matter is driven off  at the boiling  point of that fluid, there can  be no
 chemical  objection to the above process.   Another method, sometimes fol-
 lowed, is to express between heated iron plates the balsam from the foreign
 matters with which it is associated ;  but, if the process be not very carefully
 conducted, the heat employed to melt the storax will be sufficient to dissipate
 a portion  of the benzoic  acid, which is one of its essential ingredients.
   Off.Prep. Pilulae Styracis Compositae Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Tinctura Ben-
 zoini Composita,  U.S., Lond., Dub.                               W.


                             SULPHUR.

                     Preparations of Sulphur.

   SULPHUR  PRACIPITATUM. U.S.   Lac Sulphuris.  Pre-
 cipitated Sulphur.  Milk of Sulphur.
   " Take of Sulphur [sublimed] a pound; Lime a pound and a half; Water
 two gallons ;  Muriatic Acid a sufficient quantity.   Slake the Lime with a
 small portion of the Water, and, baving  mixed it with the Sulphur, add the
 remainder of the Water, boil for two or three hours, occasionally adding water
 so as to preserve  the measure, and filter.  Dilute the filtered  liquor with an
 equal bulk of water; then drop into  it sufficient Muriatic Acid to precipitate
 the  Sulphur.   Lastly, wash the  precipitate  repeatedly with  water till the
 washings  are tasteless, and dry it." U.S.
   In this process two eqs.  of lime react with six of sulphur, so  as to form
 two eqs. of bisulphuret of calcium, and one of hyposulphurous acid, which
 latter then unites with one eq. of lime to  form hyposulphite of lime. On the
 addition of the muriatic acid, six eqs. of sulphur are precipitated (four from
 the two eqs. of bisulphuret of calcium and two from  the one eq. of hyposul-
 phurous acid),  and the calcium and  oxygen unite with the muriatic acid, so
 as to form chloride of calcium and water.  This  acid is the most eligible
 precipitant for the sulphur, as it gives  rise to chloride of  calcium, which is
 a very soluble  salt, and  easily washed away.  Sulphuric acid is altogether
 inadmissible ;  as it generates sulphate of  lime,  which, from its sparing solu-
 bility, becomes necessarily intermingled with the precipitated sulphur.   Ac-
 cording to Schweitzer, the best material from which to precipitate  the sulphur
 is the sulphuret of potassium, formed by boiling sulphur with caustic potassa.
 Dr. Otto,  of Brunswick, contends that sulphuret of potassium is apt to contain
 sulphuret  of copper, and, therefore, prefers sulphuret of calcium.   (Pharm.
 Cent. Blatt, Jan., 1845.)
   Properties, fyc.   Precipitated sulphur  is in friable lumps  having a  white
 colour, with a pale yellowish-green tint, and consisting of finely divided par-
 ticles, slightly cohering  together.   When recently prepared,  it is devoid of
 taste, but  possesses a peculiar smell.   When long exposed, in a moist state,
 to the  air, it becomes strongly contaminated  with sulphuric acid. (Annalen
 der Pharm., xx. 151.) From its colour it was formerly called lac sulphuris,
 or milk of sulphur.  It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in a boiling solu-
 tion of caustic  potassa.  When of a brilliant white  colour, the presence of
sulphate of lime  may be  suspected, in which case the sulphur will not be
wholly volatilized  by heat.  When pure  it communicates a harsh feel when
     97 
1142
Sulphur.—Syrupi.
PART 11.
rubbed  between  the  fingers, owing to  the  friction between  the  crvstalline
particles.  (Dr. Bridges.)  We have seen a sample of so-called precipitated
sulphur, which consisted  almost  entirely of sulphate of lime.  Precipitated
sulphur differs from  sublimed sulphur, in  being  in a state of  more minute
division, and in presenting, after fusion, a softer and less brittle mass.  Its
peculiarities are supposed to depend upon a portion  of water,  which, how-
ever, is present in too small a quantity  to constitute a regular hydrate.  Ac-
cording to Rose, its while colour depends upon the presence of a small pro-
portion of bisulphuretted hydrogen.   Soubeiran states that it always contains
some sulphuretted hydrogen, which causes  it to differ as a  therapeutic agent
from sublimed sulphur.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Precipitated  sulphur possesses  similar
medical properties with sublimed sulphur,  but is  preferred by some  practi-
tioners on account of its freedom from colour.   Its state of extreme division
renders it more readily suspended in liquids than sublimed sulphur;  but its
liability to become acid by keeping is an objection  to it.  It is  sometimes
selected for forming ointments, which have the advantage of  appearance, in
being of a lighter colour than when made of sublimed sulphur.  The dose is
from two to three drachms. (See Sulphur.)                         B.
   SULPHURIS IODIDUM. U.S.  Iodide of Sulphur.
   " Take of Iodine four ounces; Sulphur  an ounce.  Rub the Iodine  and
Sulphur together in  a glass, porcelain, or marble  mortar until they are tho-
roughly mixed.   Put the  mixture in a matrass, close  the orifice loosely,  and
apply a gentle heat so as to darken  the  mass without  melting it.  When the
colour has become uniformly dark throughout, increase the heat  so as to melt
the Iodide; then incline the matrass in different directions, in order to return
into the mass any portions of Iodine which may have condensed on the inner
surface of the vessel; lastly, allow  the matrass to  cool, break it, and put the
Iodide into bottles, which  are to be  well stopped." U. S.
  The above process  is that of the French Codex.  The combination maybe
conveniently effected in a Florence flask. The resulting iodide has a grayish-
black colour, and radiated crystalline appearance like  sulphuret of antimony.
Its smell resembles that of iodine, and it stains the cuticle in a similar manner.
It is entirely volatilized by heat, and when boiled with water is  decomposed,
iodine escaping with  the  steam, and sulphur being  deposited nearly pure.
It has not been analyzed, but is probably a  bisulphuret.   Iodide  of sulphur
has  been  used by Biett,  Rayer,  Lugol, and others, as an  external applica-
tion in various  skin  diseases, such  as tinea capitis, lupus,  lepra,  &c. It is
applied in the form of  ointment, made by mixing from ten  to thirty grains
of the iodide with an ounce of lard.  Of this a drachm may be used at each
friction.                                                           B.

                              SYRUPI.

                                Syrups.
   Syrups are concentrated solutions of sugar in watery fluids, either with
or without medicinal impregnation.   When the solution is made with pure
water, it is named syrup or simple syrup, when with  water charged with one
or more medicinal agents, it is called in general  terms a  medicated syrup,
and receives its  particular  designation  from the substance  or  substances
added.
   Medicated  syrups are  prepared  by  incorporating sugar  with vegetable
infusions, decoctions, expressed juices, fermented liquors, or simple aqueous
solutions.   When the  active matter of the vegetable is not readily soluble
in water, or is volatilized  or decomposed by a heat of 212°, it is  sometimes 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1143
 extracted by  diluted alcohol,  the  spirituous ingredient of which  is subse-
 quently  driven  off.   Medicated syrups  are  also occasionally  prepared  by
 adding a tincture  to simple syrup  and evaporating the alcohol.  Since the
 introduction into use of the process of filtration by displacement, it has been
 applied very advantageously to the preparation of various syrups, especially
 of those  made from vegetables of which the active principle  is injured or
 dissipated by  decoction.   But, unless the operator be at once skilful and very
 careful, there  will be great danger of imperfectly extracting the active matters,
 and thus  making a feeble preparation. For the  mode of properly conducting
 this process the reader is referred to pages 763  and 769.
   The quality and quantity of the sugar employed are points of importance.
 Refined sugar should aluays be preferred, as it often  saves the necessity of
 clarification, and makes a clearer and better flavoured syrup than the impure
 kinds.  The  U. S. Pharmacopoeia  simply directs sugar, but explains  that it
 is the  purified or refined  sugar  which is indicated by that term.  In relation
 to the quantity of sugar, if in  too small proportion,  fermentation is  apt to
 occur, if  too abundant, crystallization.  The proper proportion is about two
 parts to one of the liquid.   A somewhat smaller quantity will answer where
 an acid, such  as lemon juice or vinegar, is used.
   As it is desirable, in many instances, that the active matters should be in
 as concentrated a state as possible in the syrup, it is often necessary to eva-
 porate a large  proportion of the watery fluid  in which they are dissolved.
 This may be  done either before the addition of the sugar or afterwards.   In
 either case, care is requisite not to apply a heat too great or too long con-
 tinued, lest  the active principles should  be injured.   When these are very
 volatile or easily decomposed by heat, it is necessary  to dispense with con-
 centration altogether. Some substances which are volatilized or decomposed
 at the  temperature of boiling water, remain fixed and unaltered  at that which
 is necessary for the evaporation of alcohol.  These, as before observed, may
 be dissolved in diluted alcohol,  and the concentration effected by evaporating
 the spirituous part of  the solvent.   Independently of the injury which the
 medicinal ingredient of the  syrup may sustain,  the syrup itself is apt  to be-
 come brown  by a long-continued application of heat, even when the degree
 is not  excessive.  It is recommended, therefore, that syrups which admit of
 concentration, should be  boiled  briskly over a lively fire, so as to accomplish
 the object as  quickly as  possible.   It is  important to  be  able  to  ascertain
 positively when they have attained the due consistence.  An operator skilled
 in their preparation  can  judge   with  sufficient accuracy by various  familiar
 signs;—such as the slowness with which the parts of a drop of syrup coalesce
 when  previously separated  by  the  edge of a blunt instrument; and the re-
 ceding of the last portion of each drop, when the syrup, after being cooled,
 is poured out drop  by drop.   A pellicle  forming upon the surface of the
 syrup  when it cools, indicates that it  has  been too much boiled.  But these
 signs are  not  to be relied on except by those who have acquired much ex-
 perience.   The easiest method of ascertaining  the proper point of concen-
 tration is by the use of Baume's hydrometer.   This  should stand at 30° in
 boiling syrup  (30^ in hot weather), and at 35° in the  syrup when it is cool.
 Another  very  accurate though less  ready  method is to ascertain the sp.gr.
 by weighing  a portion of the  liquid.  Syrup when  boiling should have a
 sp.gr.  of about 1-261—when cold, about 1-319.  Thomson and Duncan are
 mistaken in  giving the proper  sp.gr. of  cold  syrup as 1-385.  We found
 that of a  specimen of simple syrup  made  with two  pounds and a half  of
sugar to a pint of water,  to be 1-326 at 68° F.; and this consistence is rather
too o-reat for practical convenience in cold weather.  A third method of ascer-
taining the proper point  of concentration is by  the thermometer, which, in 
1144
Syrupi.
PART 11.
boiling syrup of the proper  consistence, stands at 221° F.   This indication
is founded on the fact,  that the  boiling point of syrup rises in proportion to
the increase of its density.
  When carefully  prepared with double  refined sugar, syrups generally
require  no other clarification  than to remove any scum  which ,may rise to
their surface upon standing,  and to pour them off from any dregs which may
subside.   Should they, however,  want the  due  degree of clearness, they
may be filtered  through flannel,  or, when not likely to be  injured by the
treatment, may be clarified by means of the  white of eggs  or animal charcoal,
as mentioned under the head of Syrupus.
  The medicated syrups are liable to undergo various alterations, according
to their nature and mode of  preparation.   The acid syrups, when too much
boiled, often let fall  a copious white precipitate, which is said to be a saccha-
rine matter analogous to the  sugar  of grapes, produced by the reaction of
the acid upon  the sugar.  It has been shown  that, even at ordinary tempera-
tures, acids  slowly  convert  common sugar into the sugar of grapes, which
being less  soluble  than the former, is gradually deposited  in the form of
crystalline  grains.   Syrups  which  contain too little  sugar are  apt to pass
into the vinous fermentation,  in consequence of the presence of matters
which act as a ferment.  Those which contain too much, deposit a portion
in the  crystalline state, and the crystals, attracting the  sugar remaining in
solution, gradually   weaken the  syrup, and  render  it liable to the same
change as when originally made with too little sugar.   The want of a due
proportion  of  saccharine  matter frequently also  gives  rise  to mouldiness,
when air has access to  the syrup.   It is  said that syrups, enclosed, while
they are still hot, in bottles, are apt to ferment; because the watery vapour,
rising  to the  surface  and there condensing,  diminishes  the  proportion of
sugar, so as to produce a commencement of chemical action, which gradually
extends through the whole  mass.   When syrups  undergo  the vinous fer-
mentation, they  become  covered at the  surface with froth, produced by the
disengagement of carbonic acid, and acquire a vinous odour from the  presence
of alcohol; while their  consistence is  diminished by the  loss of a portion
of the sugar which  has been converted into that liquid.   When the quantity
of alcohol has increased to  a certain  point, the fermentation ceases or goes
on  more slowly, owing to the  preservative influence of that principle; and,
as the active ingredient of  the syrup  has  frequently  undergone no material
change, the preparation may often be recovered by boiling so as to  drive off
the alcohol and carbonic acid, and  concentrate the  liquid sufficiently.  A
syrup thus  revived is less liable afterwards to undergo change, because the
principles which acted as ferments have been diminished or consumed.  It
is obvious that syrups  which depend for their virtues upon a volatile ingre-
dient, or one readily changeable by heat, cannot be restored to their original
condition.
   At best, syrups are too apt to change, and various measures  have been
proposed for their preservation.  According to Dr. Macculloch, the addition
of  a little sulphate  of  potassa, or  of chlorate of potassa, which is  tasteless,
prevents their fermentation.  M. Chereau  has found  sugar of milk  effectual
to the same end, in the instance of the syrup of  poppies;  and it may prove
useful in others.  The proportion which be employs is 32  parts of the sugar
of  milk to 1000 of  the syrup.   Mr. E. Durand has found that 1*3  per cent.
of  Hoffmann's anodyne (Spiritus Mtheris Sulphurici  Compositus), added
to syrups, has the  property of completely arresting or  preventing fermenta-
tion, probably through the  agency chiefly of the oil of wine which it con-
tains.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 185.)   But the best plan is  to make
small quantities of  syrups at a time, and to keep  them, unless when wanted 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1145
for immediate use, in bottles quite full and well stopped, which should be
put in the cellar or other cool place.
   The following general officinal directions are given in relation to syrups.
   " Syrups whose density is not precisely determined by the proce'ss, should
have the specific  gravity 1-261 when boiling, and  about 1*319  at ordinary
temperatures." U. S.
   " Let the syrups be preserved in a place where the  heat never exceeds
55°." Lond.   It would be difficult to comply exactly with  such a rule in
this country.
   "When no mention is  made of the weight of sugar or the mode of dis-
solving it, syrups are to be prepared according to the  following  rule.  Take
of Refined Sugar, in fine powder, twenty-nine ounces;  of the  Liquor  pre-
scribed a  pint.   Add the Sugar by degrees, and digest it with a  medium
heat [from 100°  to 200°  F.] in a  covered  vessel, frequently shaking,
till it is dissolved ; then set aside the solution for twenty-four hours ; remove
the scum, and pour off the syrup from the dregs  if there be any." Dub.  W.
   SYRUPUS.  US., Lond.  Syrupus  Simplex. Ed., Dub.   Syrup.
Simple Syrup.
   " Take of Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half; Water a  pint.  Dis-
solve the Sugar in the Water with the aid of heat, remove  any scum which
may form, and strain the solution while hot." U. S.
   " Take of  Sugar [refined] tenpounds ;  Water three pints [Imperial mea-
sure].   Dissolve  the Sugar in the Water with a gentle heat." Lond,
   " Take of Pure Sugar  ten pounds; boiling Water three pints [Imperial
measure].  Dissolve the Sugar in the Water with the aid of a gentle  heat."
Ed.
   " Take of  Refined Sugar, finely powdered,  twenty-nine  ounces;  Water
apint.  Add the  Sugar gradually to the Water,  and digest it with a medium
heat [from 100° to 200° F.] in a close vessel till it is dissolved, frequently
stirring;  afterwards pour off from the dregs if there be any." Dub.
   This  syrup, when  properly  prepared,  is inodorous, of a  sweet taste
without peculiar  flavour, thick,  viscid,  nearly colourless, and perfectly
transparent.  If somewhat turbid, as it is apt to be when made with sugar
not well refined, it  may be clarified by beating the white  of an egg to a
froth with three or four ounces of water, mixing this with the syrup, boiling
the mixture for a short time that the albumen may coagulate, and taking off
the scum which rises to  the  surface,  or  separating it by filtration through
paper or flannel.   Two gallons of the syrup may be thus  clarified.  Any
colour  and peculiar flavour  which it may possess, may be removed by
treating  it, at the same time,  with a  small proportion (about 5 per cent.) of
animal charcoal.
   The white  of egg  is beaten to a froth in order that, when  it coagulates, it
may be  rendered  by the air which  it contains  specifically lighter than  the
syrup, and thus rise to the surface.   If not thus treated, it floats when  coagu-
lated in  the syrup, or sinks  to the bottom.  Now  it is  obvious that, if the
syrup and albumen be heated together, the latter must be deprived of  a  por-
tion of the air which it contains, before the point of coagulation  is attained,
and thus be rendered less disposed to rise  to the surface.  Guibourt, there-
fore, recommends that the albumen  should not be added till the  syrup is
boiling hot, and should then  be poured into it from  a height  in  order to in-
crease the quantity of air entangled in it.
   M. Salles, an apothecary  of  Clermond-Ferrand, in France, recommends
that syrups which require clarification  should  be treated in the following
                                  97* 
1146
Syrupi.
PART II.
manner.  Allow the liquor with which the syrup is to be prepared, without
previously decanting or filtering it, to become quite cold;  then  mix with  it
the white of eggs  unbeaten, in the proportion of one egg for every five or
six pounds (avoirdupois) of sugar employed ; and, having added the sugar
or honey, boil  the whole for half an hour, or until a  portion of the syrup
upon cooling exhibits flocculi of albumen floating in a transparent medium.
During the ebullition  care must be taken  to agitate the syrup in such  a
manner as to prevent the formation of foam upon its surface.  When allowed
to  cool, the coagulated  albumen with impurities subsides, and  the clear
syrup floats  above,  and may  be drawn  off or decanted.   In this process
the  albumen sinks because not incorporated with  air.   M. Salles  calls  it
clarification per descensum, and states that it is applicable to  all  syrups of a
density below  30° Baume at  the boiling  point.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv.
490.)
   Syrup is very useful in the formation of pills and mixtures, and in  various
other pharmaceutical operations in which sugar in solution is required.
   Off.Prep. Confectio Opii, Lond., Dub.; Infusum Catechu, Ed.; Syrupus
Rhei Aromaticus, U. S.;  Syrupus Tolutani,  U. S.,  Ed., Dub.; Syrupus
Zingiberis,  U.  S.                                                 W.
   SYRUPUS ACETI. Ed.  Syrup of Vinegar.
   "Take of Vinegar, French in preference, eleven fluidounces ;  Pure Sugar
fourteen ounces.   Boil them together." Ed.
   Syrup of  vinegar forms with water a  refrigerant and  grateful drink in
febrile complaints. It may be added to barley water and other farinaceous and
mucilaginous beverages and mixtures, when a vegetable acid is not contra-
indicated.                                                        W.
   SYRUPUS ALLII.  U. S.  Syrup of Garlic.
   "Take of Fresh Garlic, sliced,  six ounces;   Distilled Vinegar a pint;
Sugar [refined] two pounds.   Macerate the Garlic in the Vinegar, in a glass
vessel, for four days; then express  the liquor, and  set it by that the dregs
may subside; lastly, add  the  Sugar to the clear liquor, and proceed in the
manner directed for Syrup."  U. S.
   This preparation  is made upon  correct principles, as vinegar is a much
better solvent of the active matter of garlic than water.   In the last edition
of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, the proportion of  garlic has been judiciously
increased to three  times its former amount.  The syrop is given in chronic
catarrhal affections of the lungs,  and is  particularly  beneficial in infantile
cases, by the stimulus  which it affords to the nervous system.  A teaspoon-
ful may be given for a dose to a child a year old.                    W.
   SYRUPUS ALTHAA. Lond.,   Ed., Dub.   Syrup  of Marsh-
mallow.
   "Take of Marshmallow Root, bruised,  eight ounces ; Sugar [refined] tioo
pounds and a half;  Water four pints [Imperial measure].  Boil down the
Water with the Root to one-half, and express  the liquor when cool.  Set
it by for twenty-four hours that the dregs may subside ;  then pour off the
liquor, and having added the  Sugar, boil  down  to the proper consistence."
Lond.
   The Edinburgh  process  corresponds with  the  above, except that  it
closes with dissolving  the sugar with the  aid of  heat,  without boiling down
the syrup.
   The Dublin College takes half a pound of the fresh root, two pounds of
refined sugar, and four pints of water, and proceeds in the same manner as
the London College. 
part 11.                        Syrupi.                          1147

   This syrup contains a considerable quantity of starch, besides mucilage,
and is very liable to ferment.   The French prepare  it with cold water, and
thus avoid the starch.   It is simply demulcent;  but  is inferior to the  muci-
lage of  gum Arabic, and in this country is very seldom prepared.     W.
   SYRUPUS  AMYGDALA. U S.  Syrup of Almonds.   Syrup
of Orgeat.
   " Take of Sweet Almonds a pound; Bitter Almonds four ounces; Water
three pints; Sugar six pounds.   Having blanched  the Almonds, rub  them
in a mortar to a  very fine paste, adding, during the trituration, three fluid-
ounces of the Water and a pound of the Sugar.   Mix the paste thoroughly
with  the  remainder of the Water, strain  with strong expression, add the
remainder of the Sugar to the strained liquor, and dissolve  it with the aid
of a gentle heat.   Strain the Syrup through fine linen, and, having allowed
it to cool, put it into bottles, which must be well stopped, and kept in a cool
place." U. S.
   This process corresponds closely with that of the French Codex.  Orange-
flower water, however, which is an ingredient of the French preparation, is
wanting in ours.   It may be  added to the syrup in the  quantity of  half a
pint immediately after the sugar is dissolved.
   This is an elegant syrup much employed in  Europe, and occasionally in
this country.   It is demulcent, nutritive, and, in consequence of the hydro-
cyanic acid of the bitter almonds, somewhat sedative.  It is said very much
to impair the odour of musk and  of assafetida, when mixed with  them.
(Annuaire de Therap., 1843, p.  59.)   It may be added to cough  mixtures,
or used for flavouring drinks administered in complaints of the chest.  W.
   SYRUPUS  AURANTII  CORTICIS.  U.S.   Syrupus Aurantii.
Lond., Ed., Dub.   Syrup of Orange Peel.
   "Take of Orange Peel, bruised, two ounces; Boiling Water  a  pint;
Sugar [refined] two pounds and  a half.  Macerate  the Orange Peel  in the
Water, in a covered vessel, for twelve hours, and strain ; then add the Sugar,
and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup."  U. S.
   The British Colleges direct the fresh peel of Seville Oranges.   The Lon-
don College takes two ounces and a half of the fresh peel,  a  pint [Impe-
rial measure] of boiling  water,  and  three pounds of refined sugar;  mace-
rates the peel in  the water for twelve hours, in a lightly covered vessel; then
pours off the  liquor, and  adds the sugar to  it.  The Edinburgh College
takes the same materials in the same quantities ; infuses the peel in the water
for twelve hours  in a covered vessel, pours offthp liquor, filters if necessary,
adds the sugar, and dissolves  it with the aid of heat.  The Dublin College
employs eight ounces of the peel, six pints of boiling water, and the  quan-
tity of sugar  in its general directions  (page 1145); and dissolves the sugar
without heat.
  In the preparation of this syrup, the  solution of the sugar  in the infusion
of orange peel should be effected with as little heat as possible, in consequence
of the volatile nature of the active principle of the peel; and  to facilitate the
solution, the sugar should be previously powdered.
   The syrup has an' agreeable flavour, for which  alone it is  employed.  A
fluidounce of the tincture of orange peel added to a pint  of simple syrup,
affords a preparation little inferior to the officinal, though the presence of the
spirit may in some instances be objectionable.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Aromatica, U. S., Ed.;  Electuarium  Cassiae, Dub.;
Pilulae Rhei Compositae, U. S.                                     W. 
1148
Syrupi.
PART II.
    SYRUPUS  CROCI. Lond., Ed.   Syrup of Saffron.
    " Take of Saffron ten drachms; boiling  Water a pint  [Imperial mea-
 sure]; Sugar [refined] three pounds.  Macerate the Saffron in the Water for
 twelve hours, in a lightly covered vessel;  then strain the liquor, and add the
 Sugar."  Lond.
    The Edinburgh College takes the same materials, in the same quantities,
 and proceeds in the manner directed for syrup of orange peel.
    This is slightly stimulant, but is valued chiefly for its fine  colour.  W.

    SYRUPUS  IPECACUANHA. U.S., Ed.  Syrup of Ipecacu-
 anha.
    " Take of Ipecacuanha, in coarse powder, an ounce; Diluted Alcohol a pint;
 Syrup two pints.   Macerate the Ipecacuanha  in  the Alcohol for  fourteen
 days, and  filter.   Evaporate  the filtered liquor to  two  fluidounces,  and
 again filter; then mix it with the syrup, and evaporate by means of a water-
 bath to the proper consistence.
    " Syrup of Ipecacuanha may also be prepared  by putting the Ipecacuanha,
 previously moistened with  Diluted Alcohol, into an apparatus for displace-
 ment; pouring  upon  it gradually Diluted Alcohol until a pint of filtered
 liquor is obtained ; then evaporating to two fluidounces, and completing the
 process as above directed." U. S.
    " Take of Ipecacuanha,  in coarse powder,/owr  ounces; Rectified Spirit
 one pint  [Imperial  measure];  Proof Spirit  and Water, of each, fourteen
fluidounces ;  Syrup seven pints.  Digest the Ipecacuanha in fifteen fluid-
 ounces of the Rectified Spirit at a gentle heat  for twenty-four hours ; strain,
 squeeze the residuum and filter.    Repeat this  process with the residuum
 and Proof Spirit, and again with the Water.   Unite the fluids, and  distil off
 the Spirit till the residuum amount to  twelve  ounces ;  add to the residuum
 five fluidounces  of the rectified spirit, and then the Syrup." Ed.
   By the U.S. process, a tincture of ipecacuanha is first formed with diluted
 alcohol, then concentrated, and incorporated with syrup.   The alternative of
 preparing the tincture by maceration or percolation is allowed ; but the latter
 mode  should be resorted to  only by those  experienced in  the  process.  The
 tincture is by concentration reduced  chiefly to  an  aqueous solution of the
 active principles of ipecacuanha; and the  water contained in it is evaporated
 after incorporation with the syrup.   The  French Codex dissolves the alco-
 holic extract of ipecacuanha in water,  and then mixes it with syrup; but it
 is obvious that the  U. S. process is preferable, as it spares the continued heat
 requisite to reduce the tincture to dryness.  The Edinburgh process  is unne-
 cessarily  complex;  and the addition of the rectified spirit to the  syrup, if
 thought necessary for its preservation,  might have been dispensed with, had
 the direction been given to concentrate the syrup.
   This syrup is chiefly applicable to the cases of children.   One fluidounce
 of  it, prepared according to the U. S. formula, should contain the virtues  of
fifteen grains of  ipecacuanha.   The dose of it, as an emetic,  is for  an adult
from one to two fluidounces, for a child a year or two old, from one to two
fluidrachms, to be  repeated every fifteen or twenty minutes till it operates.
As an  expectorant, the dose for an adult  is one or two fluidrachms, for a
child from five to twenty minims.  The Edinburgh syrup is somewhat, but
not materially, weaker.                                           W.

   SYRUPUS  KRAMERIA.  U S.   Syrup of Rhatany.
   "Take of Extract of Rhatany two  ounces;  Water a pint;  Sugar two
pounds and a half.  Dissolve the Extract in the Water and filter;  then add
the Sugar, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup."  U. S.
   In making this syrup care should be taken to select the extract of rhatany 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1149
 as free as possible from insoluble matter; and that prepared according to the
 U. S. process will  be found the best. (See Extractum Krameriae.)   This
 preparation affords  a convenient mode of exhibiting rhatany to infants.  The
 dose for an adult is  half a fluidounce, for a child a year or two old, twenty or
 thirty minims.                                                   W.

   SYRUPUS LIMONIS. U. S, Dub.  Syrupus Limonum. Lond.,
 Ed.  Syrup of Lemons.
   "Take of Lemon-juice, strained, a pint; Sugar [refined] two pounds.
 Add the Sugar to the Juice, and proceed in the manner  directed for Syrup."
 U. S.
   " Take of Juice of Lemons, strained, a pint [Imp. meas.] ; Sugar [refined]
 two pounds and a half. Dissolve the Sugar in the Lemon Juice, with a gentle
 heat;  then set it aside for twenty-four  hours.; afterwards remove the  scum,
 and pour off the clear liquor from the dregs, if there be any." Lond.
   Take of Lemon-juice, freed from impurities by subsidence and filtration,
 apint [Imp. meas.] ; Sugar two pounds and a half.  Dissolve the Sugar in
 the  Lemon-juice with the aid of a gentle heat, and after twenty-four hours'
 rest remove the same, and pour the  clear liquor from the dregs." Ed.
   " Take of Juice  of fresh Lemons two pints.   As soon as the dregs have
 subsided, put the Juice into a matrass, and subject it for fifteen minutes to
 the heat of boiling  water.   When cold, strain it through a sieve, and form a
 syrup." Dub.
   This syrup forms  a cooling  and  grateful addition to beverages in febrile
 complaints, and serves to  conceal  the  taste of  saline  purgatives given  in
 solution.                                                         W.
   SYRUPUS  MORI. Lond.  Syrup of Mulberries.
   " Take of  Mulberry Juice, strained, a pint [Imperial measure] ; Sugar
 [refined]  two pounds and a half.  Dissolve the  Sugar  in the Mulberry
 Juice, with a gentle heat, and proceed  in the manner directed for Syrup of
 Lemons." Lond.
   This may be used for the same purposes with lemon syrup.  In like man-
 ner  syrups may be prepared from various  succulent  fruits, such as  straw-
 berries, raspberries, pineapples, fyc.  When the juice  is thick, it may be
 diluted with from one-third of its bulk to an equal bulk of water, previously
 to the  addition of the sugar.   In the  preparation of raspberry syrup, which,
 as ordinarily  made,  is apt to  gelatinize, M. Blondeau recommends that the
 strained juice be  allowed to stand from eight to fifteen  hours, according  to
 the temperature, in order to  ferment.  The juice  separates into two por-
 tions, the  upper thick, the lower clear.  The latter  is to be separated by
 straining and  made into a syrup  with the usual proportion of sugar.  These
 syrups are employed to flavour  drinks, and are much used as grateful addi-
 tions to carbonic acid water.                                       W.
   SYRUPUS  PAPAVERIS. Lond,,  Ed.    Syrupus Papaveris
 Somniferi. Dub.   Syrup of Poppies.
   " Take of Poppy [capsules] three pounds; Sugar [refined] five pounds;
boiling Water five  gallons [Imperial measure].  Boil down the Capsules
in the Water  to two gallons,  and press strongly.  Boil down the strained
liquor again to four  pints, and strain  it while hot.  Set it by for twelve hours
that the dregs may subside, then boil down the clear liquor to  two pints, add
the Sugar, and dissolve." Lond.
   " Take of Poppy-heads, without the  seeds, one pound and a half; boil-
ing Water fifteen pints [Imperial  measure];  Pure  Sugar  three pounds.
Slice the Poppy-heads, infuse them in  the Water  for  twelve hours,  boil 
1150
Syrupi.
part ii.
down to five  pints, strain and  express  strongly through calico, boil again
down to two pints and a half;  then  add the Sugar and  dissolve it with the
aid of heat." Ed.
   " Take of the Capsules of  the White Poppy, dried, deprived of their
seeds, and bruised, seventeen ounces; boiling Water two gallons.   Macerate
the Capsules in the Water for twenty-four hours; then, by means of a water-
bath, boil dowfl to a gallon, and strongly express.  Boil down the strained
liquor again to two pints, and strain it while bot.  Set it  by for twelve hours
that the dregs may subside ;  then boil down the  clear liquor  to a pint and
form a syrup." Dub.
   As the capsules contain variable proportions of the  narcotic  principle, the
syrup prepared from  them is necessarily of  variable  strength.  It is, more-
over, very apt to spoil.  Its place might, with  great  propriety, be supplied
by a syrup prepared from one  of the salts of morphia, which would  keep
well and have the advantage of uniform strength.  Four grains of the sul-
phate of morphia  dissolved in  a pint of syrup, would afford  a preparation
at least  equal to the  average strength of the syrup  of  poppies, and much
more certain in its operation.   Mr. Southall recommends that the syrup of
poppies should be prepared with a cold infusion made  by  percolation; the
same proportions being employed as directed by the London Pharmacopoeia.
The virtues  of the capsules are thus extracted without those principles which
cause the syrup to ferment speedily. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  xv. 140, from
Lond.  Pharm. Transact.)
   The  syrup of  poppies  is employed,  chiefly in infantile cases, to  allay
cough,  quiet restlessness, relieve pain,  and promote sleep.  The dose  is
from half a fluidrachm to a fluidracbm for an  infant, from half a fluidounce to
a fluidounce for an adult.                                           W.
   SYRUPUS RHAMNI. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Syrup of Buckthorn.
   " Take of fresh Juice of Buckthorn [berries] four pints [Imperial mea-
sure];  Ginger, sliced, Pimento, in powder, each,  six drachms; Sugar [re-
fined] four  pounds.   Set by the Juice  for three days that the dregs may
subside, and then strain  it.   To  a pint of the  clear  Juice  add the  Ginger
and Pimento; then macerate for four hours with a gentle heat, and strain.
Boil down the remainder  of the Juice to a pint and a  half; mix the liquors;
add the Sugar  and dissolve it."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh process is the same as the above.
   " Take of the fresh Juice  of Buckthorn Berries two pints and a half;
Ginger  Root,  sliced,  Pimento  Berries,   in   powder,  each,  three  drachms.
Set by  the Juice that the  dregs may subside, and then  strain  it.  Add the
Ginger  and  Pimento to ten ounces of the clear Juice, macerate for twenty-
four hours, and  filter.  Boil down the remaining Juice to  a  pint, mix the
liquors, and  form a syrup." Dub.
   The  syrup  of buckthorn is  a brisk cathartic, but  having  an unpleasant
taste, and being apt to gripe violently, is  very seldom employed. In Europe
it is used occasionally as an  adjunct to other medicines in  cathartic and
diuretic mixtures.  The dose is  from  half a fluidounce to a fluidounce.  The
patient should  drink freely of thin gruel,  or other demulcent beverage, during
its operation.                                                     W.
   SYRUPUS  RHEI.  U.S.   Syrup of Rhubarb.
   " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two ounces ; Boiling Water a pint;  Sugar
[refined] two pounds.  Macerate the Rhubarb in the Water for twenty-four
hours,  and strain;  then add the Sugar, and  proceed in the manner directed
for Syrup." U.S. 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1151
  This is a mild cathartic, adapted to the cases of infants, to whom it may
be given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms.
  It has been proposed to form the syrup of rhubarb in the manner directed
in the  U.S. Pharmacopoeia  for the aromatic syrup, by first  preparing a
tincture with diluted  alcohol, then  evaporating the spirituous portion  by
means  of a water-bath, and incorporating the remainder with sugar.  It is
questionable, however, whether this would be an improvement on the offi-
cinal formula;  as, though a stronger syrup might  be obtained,  there would
be some  risk that  a  portion of the  alcohol might remain, and render  the
preparation too stimulating to meet the indication for which it was originally
intended.                                                        W*.

   SYRUPUS RHEI AROMATICUS.  US.   Aromatic Syrup of
Rhubarb.
   " Take of Rhubarb,  bruised, two ounces and a  half;  Cloves, bruised,
Cinnamon, bruised, each, half an ounce; Nutmeg,  bruised, two drachms;
Diluted Alcohol two pints; Syrup six pints.  Macerate the Rhubarb and
Aromatics in the Diluted Alcohol for fourteen days, and strain; then, by means
of a water-bath, evaporate the liquor to a pint, and, while it is still hot, mix
it with the Syrup previously heated.
   " Aromatic Syrup  of  Rhubarb may also be  prepared by putting the Rhu-
barb and Aromatics, previously reduced to coarse powder and moistened with
Diluted Alcohol, into an apparatus  for displacement; pouring upon them
gradually Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor  are obtained;
then evaporating to a pint, and  completing  the process as above directed."
U.S.
   Of these two modes  of proceeding,  the first should always  be preferred
by those not experienced in conducting the process of filtration by displace-
ment.  In preparing  the syrup, the apothecary should be careful to employ
aromatics of the best  quality, and to effect  the evaporation of  the tincture,
according to the officinal direction, by means of a water-bath.
   The aromatic syrup of rhubarb is a  warm  stomachic  laxative, too feeble
for adult cases,  but well calculated for the bowel-complaints of infants which
are so frequent  in our cities during the summer season, and as a remedy for
which the preparation, or one analogous to it, has been long in use under the
name of  spiced syrup of rhubarb.  The dose for an infant with diarrhoea is
a fluidrachm, repeated every two hours till the passages indicate by their
colour that the medicine has operated.                             W.
   SYRUPUS RHfAADOS.  Lond., Ed.   Syrupus Papaveris Rhce-
adis Dub.  Syrup of Red Poppy.
   "Take of Red Poppy [petals] a pound; boiling Water a pint [Imperial
measure]; Sugar [refined] two pounds  and a half.  To the Water heated by
a water-bath, gradually  add the Petals, occasionally stirring; then, having
removed the vessel, macerate for twelve hours  ; express the liquor, and when
the dregs have subsided add the Sugar,  and dissolve it."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh process is a close imitation of the London.
   " Take of the fresh  Petals of the Red Poppy a pound;  boiling Water
twenty fiuidounces.   Add the Petals gradually to the boiling Water; then,
having removed the  vessel  from the fire,  macerate with an inferior heat
[between 90° and  100°] for twelve hours; express the liquor, and set it by
that the dregs may subside;  lastly, add the Sugar, and form a syrup." Dub.
   The object of introducing the petals  into water heated by a water-bath, is
that they may shrink by being scalded, as otherwise they could not be com-
pletely immersed  in  the quantity of water directed.  After  this has been 
1152                          Syrupi.                       part ii.

accomplished, they should be immediately removed from  the fire, lest the
liquor should become too thick and ropy.   The fine red colour of this syrup
is its only recommendation.   It has no medical virtues, and is very liable to
ferment.                                                        W.
   SYRUPUS ROSA. Lond., Dub.   Syrupus Ros^ CENTiFOLiiE.
Ed.   Syrup of Roses.
   "Take of Hundred-leaved Roses, dried seven ounces; Sugar [refined] six
pounds; boiling Water three pints [Imperial  measure].   Macerate the pe-
tals in  the water for twelve hours, and strain. Evaporate the strained liquor,
by means of a water-bath, to two pints ; then add the Sugar, and dissolve it."
Lond.
   The Dublin process  differs from the above  only  in having four pints
[wine  measure] of water, evaporating to two pints and a half, and using the
proportion of sugar directed in its general formula. (See page 1145.)
   " Take of fresh Damask-rose Petals one pound; boiling Water three pints
[Imp.  meas.]; Pure Sugar three pounds.   Infuse the Petals in the Water for
twelve hours, strain the  liquor, and dissolve the Sugar in  it with the aid of
heat."  Ed.
   This syrup is gently laxative, and, on account of its mildness, may be given
with advantage to infants and persons of delicate habit.   It is without the
fragrance of the rose; but has a reddish colour which  is rendered bright red
by acids, and green or yellow by alkalies.  The dose is from two fluidrachms
to one  or two fluidounces.
   Off.Prep.  Confectio Cassiae, Lond.; Confectio Scammonii, Lond.  W.
   SYRUPUS ROSA GALLICA. Ed.   Syrup of Red Roses.
   "Take of dried Red-rose Petals two  ounces; boiling  Water  one pint;
Pure Sugar twenty ounces.  Proceed as for the Syrup of damask-rose." Ed.
   The syrup of red roses is mildly astringent; but  is valued more for its
fine red colour, on account of which it is occasionally added to mixtures.
   Off. Prep.  Electuarium Catechu, Ed.                           W.
   SYRUPUS SARSAPARILLA. Dub.  Syrupus  Sarzje. Lond.,
Ed.   Syrup of Sarsaparilla.
   "Take of Sarsaparilla,  sliced, fifteen  ounces; boiling  Water a gallon
[Imperial measure]; Sugar^/ifeen ounces.  Macerate the Sarsaparilla in the
Water for twenty-four hours; then boil down to four pints, and  strain the
liquor  while hot;  afterwards add the Sugar and evaporate to the proper con-
sistence." Lond.
   The Edinburgh process  is the same as the above.
   The Dublin College  obtains  in the same manner four pints of a concen-
trated strained decoction, and prepares a  syrup with this, according  to the
general directions of the College.  (See page 1145.)
   This syrup  is necessarily a weak if not inert preparation ; the virtues of
sarsaparilla being only partially extracted by water, at least by the quantity
of this menstruum ordinarily employed, and  being injured or destroyed by
long boiling.   It is scarcely used in this country, our own compound syrup
being preferred.                                                  W.
   SYRUPUS  SARSAPARILLA  COMPOSITUS. US.    Com-
pound Syrup of Sarsaparilla.
   " Take of Sarsaparilla, bruised, two pounds;  Guaiacum Wood, rasped,
three ounces;  Hundred-leaved Roses, Senna, Liquorice Root, bruised, each,
tivo ounces; Oil of Sassafras, Oil of Anise, each, five minims; Oil of Par-
tridge-berry three minims; Diluted Alcohol ten pints; Sugar eight pounds. 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1153
Macerate the Sarsaparilla, Guaiacum  Wood, Roses,  Senna, and  Liquorice
Root  in  the Diluted Alcohol  for fourteen days;  then express and  filter.
Evaporate  the tincture  by means of a water-bath to four pints, filter, add
the Sugar,  and proceed  in the manner directed for  Syrup.   Lastly, having
rubbed the Oils with a small quantity of the Syrup, mix them thoroughly
with the remainder.
   " Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla may also  be prepared in the follow-
ing manner:—Take of Sarsaparilla, ground into coarse powder, two pounds;
Guaiacum  Wood,  rasped,  three  ounces;  Hundred-leaved  Roses, Senna,
Liquorice Root, each, in coarse powder, two ounces;  Oil of Sassafras, Oil
of Anise, each, five minims; Oil of Partridge-berry three minims ;  Water
a  sufficient quantity ;  Sugar  eight pounds.  Mix the Sarsaparilla,  Guai-
acum Wood, Roses, Senna, and Liquorice  Root  with three pints of Water,
and allow the  mixture  to  stand for twenty-four  hours.  Then transfer the
whole to an apparatus for  displacement, and pour  on water gradually until
one gallon of filtered liquor is obtained.  Evaporate this to four pints ; then
add the Sugar, and proceed  in  the  manner directed  for Syrup.   Lastly,
having  rubbed  the  Oils with  a  small  portion  of the  Syrup, mix  them
thoroughly with the remainder."  U. S.
   In  the original edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia  published in 1820, a
process for a syrup of sarsaparilla  was adopted, intended to represent the
famous French Sirop de Cuisinier.   This was very much improved  in the
revised edition published in 1830; and the amended process is retained with
little alteration in the present edition, being the first of the two quoted above.
In the original  process, the sarsaparilla was subjected to long decoction with
water.   Now it  has been proved  that  diluted alcohol more  thoroughly
extracts the  acrid principle  of the root,  upon which its activity probably
depends, than water, and that this princple is either dissipated or  destroyed
by the long-continued application of a boiling heat.*  In the present formula,
therefore, which employs diluted alcohol as the menstruum, the  root is more
completely  exhausted of its active  matter;  while the heat applied to the
concentration, being no higher  than  is requisite for the  evaporation of the
alcohol, is insufficient to injure the preparation.   The spirituous menstruum
has, moreover, the  advantage of  not  dissolving  the inert fecula,   which
encumbers  the syrup prepared by decoction, and  renders it liable to spoil.
At the last revision of the  Pharmacopoeia, the pale or hundred-leaved roses
were very properly substituted for the red ; as their  slightly laxative property
accords better with the character of the preparation.   The operator should
be careful to comply exactly with the  directions of the  Pharmacopoeia  in
relation to  the  period of maceration, and the use of the water-bath.   The
essentLl oils, being intended solely to communicate an agreeable flavour, are
used in very small proportion.   A syrup prepared according to  this process
has been for several years  in use, and has given general satisfaction.   The
only objection  to it is  that a portion of the resin, extracted by the alcohol
from the guaiacum wood, is deposited during the  evaporation of the tincture:
but this is separated by the filtration  directed, and is  therefore of no  disad-
vantage to the preparation.
   It is  perhaps unfortunate  that the  second process above  quoted was
adopted by the revisers of the Pharmacopoeia.  It yields a handsome syrup,
containing a certain amount of the active matter of  the  sarsaparilla; but has

  * See a paper by J. Hancock, M. D., republished in the Journ. of the Phil. Col. of
Pharm  i  295; a communication by M. Beral to  the Journal de Pharmacie, xv. 657;
another'by M. Soubeiran in the same Journal, xvi. 38;  and a paper by T. J. Husband in
the American Journ. of Pharm., xv. 6.
    98 
1154
Syrupi.
PART II.
 been shown by the experiments of Mr. Husband to have less of the sensible
 properties, and consequently, in all  probability, of the medical virtues of the
 root, than the syrup prepared with diluted alcohol. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
 xv. 6.)  We  would strongly advise an  adherence  to the  first of the  two
 officinal formulae.   But the practitioner  should be aware that much of the
 sarsaparilla as it exists in the market is nearly or quite inert, and should be
 prepared to meet with disappointment in  the use of this or any other prepara-
 tion, unless satisfied of the good quality of the drug from which it is made.
   The dose of the syrup  of sarsaparilla is half a fluidounce, equivalent to
 somewhat less than a drachm of tbe root, to be taken three or four  times a
 day.                           .                                 W.

   SYRUPUS SCILLA. U. S, Ed.   Syrup of Squill.
   " Take of Vinegar of Squill apint;  Sugar [refined] two pounds.   Add
 the Sugar to the Vinegar of Squill, and proceed in  the manner directed for
 Syrup." U.S.
  " Take of Vinegar of Squill  three pints; Pure  Sugar, in  powder, seven
pounds.  Dissolve the Sugar in the Vinegar of Squill, with the aid  of a
 gentle heat and agitation."  Ed.
   This Syrup is much employed as an expectorant, especially in combina-
 tion with a solution of tartarized antimony.  The dose is about a fluidrachm.
 In infantile cases  of catarrh and other pectoral complaints, it is sometimes
 given, in the same dose, as an emetic.                              W.
   SYRUPUS  SCILLA COMPOSITUS.  U S.   Compound Syrup
 of Squill.   Hive-syrup.
   " Take of Squill, bruised, Seneka, bruised, each, four ounces; Tartrate
 of Antimony and  Potassa forty-eight grains;  Water four pints ;  Sugar
 three pounds and a half.   Pour the Water upon the Squill  and Seneka, and
 having boiled to one-half, strain and add  the Sugar; then evaporate to three
 pints, and, while the Syrup is still  hot, dissolve in  it the Tartrate of Anti-
 mony and Potassa.
   " Compound Syrup  of  Squill  may be  advantageously  prepared in  the
 following  manner by those familiar with the process  of displacement:—
   " Take of  Squill, in coarse  powder, Seneka, in  coarse  powder, each,
four  ounces;  Tartrate of Antimony and  Potassa forty-eight  grains; Alco-
 hol half a pint; Water  a sufficient quantity; Sugar three pounds and a
 half.   Mix the Alcohol with two  pints  and a  half of Water, and macerate
 the Squill and Seneka in the mixture for  twenty-four hours.  Put the whole
 into an apparatus for displacement,  and add as much Water  as may be neces-
 sary  to make the filtered liquor amount  to three pints.  Boil the liquor for
 a few minutes, evaporate  to one half, and strain ;.  then add the Sugar, and
 evaporate until the resulting Syrup measures three pints.   Lastly, dissolve
 the  Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa in the Syrup, while it is still hot."
 U.S.
   This is  intended as a substitute  for that very popular preparation called
 Coxe's hive-syrup, from which it differs chiefly in  containing sugar instead
 of honey.   Prepared according to the  directions  of the  former Pharma-
 copoeia, it invariably fermented from  the  want of sufficient concentration.
 This defect was corrected  at the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia, when
 sugar was also substituted for  honey, in consequence of the uncertain con-
 sistence and constitution of the latter.   It will  be observed  that two for-
 mulae are given above, in the former of  which the  virtues  of the squill and
 seneka are extracted by long boiling with water, in  the latter, by percolation
 with water to which a small portion of alcohol has been added.  Either of 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1155
them will furnish an efficient product; but the latter is preferable when skil-
fully performed; as it avoids  in great  measure  the  injurious influence of
boiling upon the seneka, exhausts both this  and the  squill more  readily in
consequence of the addition of alcohol to the  menstruum, and affords a solu-
tion of their active principles less embarrassed with inert matters calculated to
favour fermentation. In this process, the filtered liquor is raised to the boiling
point in order to coagulate the  albumen, after  which the evaporation should
be conducted at a lower temperature. But the inexperienced operator should
always follow the first  formula; for, if the percolation be not properly effected,
the syrup will inevitably be weaker than it is designed to be.*
   The compound syrup of squill combines the virtues of seneka, squill, and
tartar emetic, of the last of which it contains  one grain in  every fluidounce.
It is emetic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and  frequently cathartic,  and  may be
given with advantage  in mild  cases of croup, in the  latter stages of severe
cases when  the object is to promote expectoration, and  in other  pectoral
affections in which the same indication is presented.  As an emetic in inflam-
matory croup and infantile catarrh, we decidedly prefer a simple solution of
tartar emetic  in water.  The dose of  the  compound  syrup of  squill  is, for
children, from ten drops to a fluidrachm, according to the age, and should be
repeated in cases of croup every fifteen or twenty minutes  till it vomits. As
an expectorant for adults the dose is twenty or thirty  drops.           W.
   SYRUPUS SENEGA.  U. S.   Syrup of Seneka.
   "  Take of Seneka,  bruised, four ounces ;  Water a pint; Sugar [refined]
a pound.   Boil the Water with the Seneka to one-half, and strain ; then add
the Sugar, and proceed in  the manner directed for Syrup.  Syrup of Seneka
may also  be prepared  in the following manner:—
   "Take of  Seneka,  in coarse  powder, four  ounces; Water a sufficient
quantity;  Sugar fifteen ounces.  Mix the Seneka with four fluidounces of
Water and allow the  mixture to stand for twelve  hours ; then put it into an
apparatus  for  displacement,  and  gradually  pour Water upon it until the
liquid passes  nearly tasteless.   Evaporate the  filtered liquor to half a pint,
strain, and, having added the Sugar, proceed in the manner directed for
Syrup." U.S.
   The latter of these  processes is preferable for an  experienced operator,
as it avoids the  injury to the seneka  resulting from  long  boiling; but they
who are  not practically acquainted with the  process  of percolation should
employ the former.
   This is  an  active  preparation, and  affords a  very convenient mode of
exhibiting seneka in  pectoral  complaints.   It may be given as a stimulant
expectorant in the dose of one or two fluidrachms.                    W.

  * In the  Pharmacopoeia of 1830, this preparation  was named Mel Scillce Compositum,
or compound honey of squill.  The following- was the officinal process: " Take of Squill,
bruised, Seneka, bruised, each, four ounces; Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa forty-eight
trains; Clarified Honey two pounds.  Pour the Distilled Water upon the Squill and Se-
neka, and boil to one-half; strain, and add the Clarified Honey; then boil down to three
pints, in which dissolve the Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa." The preparation thus
made was insufficiently concentrated, measuring only 20£° Bourne, instead of 30°, which
is the proper standard  of density for syrup. It therefore speedily fermented.  By boiling,-
however, down to two pints instead of three, it will have the proper consistence, and will
keep  much better.  But in this case only 32 grains of tartar emetic should be added, so
that there still may be one grain of the antimonial to each fluidounce of the svsup. 
1156
Syrupi.
PART II.
   SYRUPUS SENNA.  U. S, Lond., Ed.  Syrup of Senna.
   "Take of  Senna two ounces; Fennel-seed, bruised, an  ounce; Boilin-r
Water apint; Sugar fifteen ounces.  Digest the Senna and Fennel-seed in
the Water, with a gentle heat,  for an hour; then Strain, add the Sugar, and
evaporate to the proper consistence."  U. S.
   " Take of  Senna two ounces and a half;  Fennel [seeds], bruised, ten
drachms;  Manna  three ounces;  Sugar [refined] fifteen ounces;  boiling
Water a pint [Imperial  measure].  Macerate  the Senna  and  Fennel in the
Water with a gentle heat for an hour.  Strain the liquor, and mix with it the
Manna and Sugar; then  boil down to the proper consistence." Lond.
   "Take of  Senna four ounces; boiling Water one pint and four fluid-
ounces [Imperial measure] ; 'Treacleforty-eight ounces.  Infuse the Senna
in the Water for twelve  hours;  strain and express  strongly through calico,
so as to  obtain a pint  and two  fluidounces at least  of liquid.   Concentrate
the Treacle in the vapour-bath as far as possible, or till a little taken out upon
a rod becomes nearly concrete on cooling; and, while the Treacle is still hot,
add the infusion, stirring carefully, and removing the vessel from the vapour-
bath as soon  as the mixture is complete.  If Alexandrian  Senna be used for
this preparation, it must  be  carefully freed of  Cynanchum leaves bv picking
it." Ed.
   The molasses in the Edinburgh syrup almost completely covers the taste
of the senna; and  the  preparation,  according to Dr. Christison, is  very
effectual, and seldom occasions nausea or griping.  The U. S. and London
processes are  liable to the objection that considerable evaporation is neces-
sary to bring the syrup to the proper  consistence; so  that, if  a boiling heat
be employed,  the senna  may be injured.   This syrup is intended chiefly as
a cathartic for children, to whom  it may be given in the dose of one or two
fluidrachms.*                                                       W.

  SYRUPUS TOLUTANI. U.S.  Syrupus Tolutanus. Lond.,Ed,
Syrupus Balsami Tolutani. Dub.  Syrup of Tolu.
   " Take of Tincture  of Tolu  a fluidounce; Syrup  apint and a half.  Mix
the Tincture with the  Syrup, and by means of a water-bath  evaporate to the
proper consistence." U.S.
   " Take of Balsam  of Tolu  ten drachms; boiling Water  a pint  [Imp.
meas.];  Sugar  [refined] two pounds and a half.  Boil  the  Balsam in the
Water for half an hour, in a lightly covered vessel, occasionally stirring, and
strain the liquor when cold; then add the Sugar and dissolve it." Lond.
   The Edinburgh  College  prepares this  syrup by  adding  gradually one
ounce of the tincture of  tolu to two pounds  of simple syrup just prepared,
and before it has become cold.   The Dublin  College pursues the same plan,
using an ounce of the tincture to a pint and a half  of syrup.

  * Under the name offluid extract of senna, a preparation, originally suggested by Mr.
Charles Ellis, has  been considerably used in this city.  Mr. Duhamel, who has modified
the original formula, prepares it in the following manner.—Macerate eight ounces of
coarsely powdered senna with a pint of diluted alcohol for twelve hours; then introduce
it into a displacement apparatus,  and  gradually pour in water until three pints of liquid
shall have passed.  Evaporate with a gentle heat to five fluidounces, and, while the liquor
is still hot, dissolve in it five ounces of sugar.  Strain the liquor, and when it is cold add
for each fluidounce two drops of the oil of fennel, dissolved  in a little Hoffmann's  ano-
dyne.  The last-mentioned ingredient serves to prevent the fluid extract from fermenting.
Half a fluidounce is the dose for an adult. {Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 290.')  A fluid ex-
tract is now largely prepared in England by concentrating the infusion  in vacuo. (See,
for Mr. Duncan's formula, published by Dr. Christison, the Philadelphia Medical Exami-
ner, vi. 250.) 
PART II.
Syrupi.
1157
  The London process  affords a syrup with a finer flavour than that pre-
pared with the tincture.  The same portion of balsam is, according to Mr.
Brande, usually employed in successive  operations, and it long continues to
impart odour and  taste  to  boiling water.   The quantity of the balsam is
rather less  than two grains  in a fluidounce  of the syrup, prepared according
to the  U.S. Pharmacopoeia, which is about equal in  strength to the  Edin-
burgh and Dublin,  and much stronger than the London.  The syrup of tolu
may, therefore, be considered inert as a medicine; and its only use is to com-
municate its pleasant flavour to mixtures.                           W.
  SYRUPUS VIOLA. Ed., Dub.   Syrup of Violets.
  " Take of Fresh Violets one pound; boiling  Water two pints and a half
[Imp. meas.]; Pure Sugar seven pounds and a half.  Infuse the flowers for
twenty-four hours  in the Water, in a covered glass or earthenware vessel;
strain without squeezing* and dissolve the Sugar in the filtered liquor." Ed.
  " Take of the fresh Petals of the Violet two pounds; boiling Water five
pints.   Macerate for twenty-four hours; then filter the liquor through fine
linen,  without expression;  lastly add  the Sugar [twenty-nine ounces for
every pint of liquor], and form a syrup."  Dub.
  This syrup  has a deep blue colour and  an agreeable flavour.  It is said
that its colour is most beautiful when  it is prepared in well-cleaned pewter
vessels;  but the action of the  metal has not been satisfactorily explained.
As it is apt to fade by time, it is sometimes counterfeited with materials the
colour of which is  more permanent.  The fraud may usually be detected by
the addition of an acid  or alkali, the former of  which reddens the syrup of
violets, the latter renders it green, while they produce no such change upon
the counterfeit.
  The syrup acts  as a  gentle laxative when given to infants in the dose of
one or two fluidrachms;  but it is used chiefly as a test of acids and alkalies.
For the latter  purpose, a syrup prepared from the juice of the red cabbage
may be substituted in its place.   It is very seldom kept in our shops.
                                                                 W.

  SYRUPUS ZINGIBERIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Syrup of
Ginger.
  "Take  of Tincture  of Ginger four fluidounces; Syrup  a gallon.  Mix
the Tincture with the Syrup, and by means of a water-bath  evaporate to the
proper consistence." U. S.
  The London College macerates two  ounces and  a half of sliced ginger,
for four hours, in  a pint (Imperial  measure) of boiling water, and, having
strained  the infusion, adds two pounds and a half of refined sugar,  and
dissolves it.   The Edinburgh  College infuses  two ounces and  a half of
bruised ginger, for  four hours, in apint (Imperial measure) of boiling water,
strains, adds two pounds and a half of pure sugar, and dissolves it with the
aid of heat.  The Dublin College macerates four ounces of the bruised root,
for twenty-four hours, in three pints of boiling water, filters the liquor, and
adds twenty-nine ounces of refined sugar to each pint.
  The  process of U. S.  Pharmacopoeia is the most  easy, and  affords  a
syrup in every respect equal to the others, without being like  them encum-
bered with the mucilage and  starch of the root.  In order that it may be of
the proper strength, it is necessary that  the tincture should  have been made
with the best Jamaica ginger.  The syrup of ginger is much used as a warm
stomachic addition to tonic and purgative infusions or mixtures, and to impart
flavour to drinks, particularly to carbonic acid water. 
1158
Syrupi.— Tinctura.
PART n.
  Off.Prep. Electuarium Catechu Compositum, Dub.; Electuarium Opii,
Ed.;  Pilulae Sagapeni Compositae, Lond.                           W.


                           TINCTURE.

                              Tinctures.

  Tinctures, in the pharmaceutical sense of the term, are solutions of me-
dicinal  substances  in alcohol or  diluted alcohol, prepared by maceration,
digestion,  or  percolation.  Solutions in spirit of  ammonia  and  ethereal
spirit are embraced under the same denomination, but are severally distin-
guished by  the titles of ammoniated  tinctures and ethereal  tinctures.  The
advantages  of  alcohol  as a  menstruum are, that  it  dissolves principles
which are  sparingly or not at all  soluble in  water, and contributes to their
preservation when  dissolved;  while it leaves behind some  inert substances
which are dissolved  by water.  In  no instance, however,  is  pure absolute
alcohol employed.   The  United States  Pharmacopoeia directs it of the sp.
gr. 0*835 ;  the London  and  Edinburgh, 0*838; and the Dublin,  0-840.
When of these densities it contains a considerable proportion of water, and
is capable  of dissolving more or  less of substances which are insoluble  in
anhydrous alcohol; while its  solvent power, in relation to bodies soluble  in
that fluid, is sufficient for all practical purposes.  In numerous instances, di-
luted alcohol or proof spirit is preferable to officinal alcohol; as it is capable
of extracting  a larger proportion  of  those active principles of plants which
require an aqueous menstruum, at the same time that it is strong enough  to
prevent spontaneous decomposition, and  has  the advantages  of being cheaper
and less stimulating.   The diluted alcohol of the  different Pharmacopoeias
is not of the same strength, that  of the United States consisting  of equal mea-
sures of officinal alcohol and  water, and having the sp. gr. 0*935; while that
of London has the  sp. gr. 0*920, that of Edinburgh 0*912, and  that of Dublin
0919.  The difference, however, is not very material.  Alcohol or rectified
spirit is preferred as the solvent, when the substance to be extracted or dis-
solved is nearly or quite insoluble in water, as in the instances of the resins,
guaiac, camphor, and  the  essential  oils.   The presence of water is here
injurious, not only by diluting the menstruum, but by exercising an  affinity
for the alcohol which interferes  with its  solvent power.  Thus water, added
 to  an alcoholic solution  of one of these bodies, produces a precipitate  by
 abstracting the alcohol from it.  Diluted alcohol or proof spirit is employed,
 when the substance is soluble both  in alcohol and water, or when one or
 more of the ingredients are soluble in the one fluid, and one or more in the other,
 as in the case of those vegetables which  contain extractive or  tannin, or the
 native salts of the  organic alkalies, or gum united with resin or essential oil.
 As these include the greater  number of medicines  from  which tinctures are
 prepared, diluted alcohol is most frequently used.
   In  the  preparation of the tinctures, the  medicine should  be in the dry
 state, and properly comminuted by being bruised, sliced, or pulverized.   It
 is usually better in the condition  of  a coarse than of a very fine powder; as
 in the  latter it is apt to agglutinate, and  thus present an  impediment to the
 penetration of the menstruum.   When several substances  differing in solu-
 bility are  employed, they should be  added  successively to the spirit, those
 least soluble first, those  most so last;  as  otherwise the menstruum might
 become saturated with the ingredient for which it has the  strongest affinity,
 and thus be rendered incapable of dissolving a due  proportion of the others.
    Until recently, tinctures have been universally prepared by maceration or 
PART II,
Tinctura.
1159
digestion.  The Edinburgh College directs digestion to be continued usually
for seven days.  Our own Pharmacopoeia follows that of London, in direct-
ing maceration at ordinary temperatures, and extending the  period to two
weeks.   The latter plan is preferable, as it is more convenient and equally
effectual, the lower temperature being compensated by the longer maceration.
When circumstances require that the tincture should be speedily prepared,
digestion may be resorted  to.  Care should always be taken to  keep the
vessel well stopped, in order to prevent the evaporation of the alcohol.  The
materials should  be frequently shaken during the  digestion or maceration;
and this caution is especially necessary when the substance acted on is  in the
state of powder.   The tincture should not be used till the maceration is com-
pleted, when it should  be separated from  the dregs either by simply filtering
it through paper, or,  when  force is requisite, by first expressing it throuo-fi
linen, and subsequently filtering.
  The plan of preparing tinctures by percolation or displacement has recently
been extensively adopted ; and has been found to answer an excellent purpose,
when skilfully executed.   In  the  last editions of  the  U.S. and Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeias, this mode of preparation has been given as an alternative in
numerous instances ;  and would probably  have been exclusively recommended
in some, except  for its liability to fail in the hands of inexperienced persons.
The reader will  find  rules for the proper management of this process at pages
763 and 769.
  Another mode of exhausting medicines by spirit, has been proposed by Dr.
H. Burton.   It consists in suspending in the solvent, immediately under its
surface, the solid matter contained loosely in  a  bag.   The liquid in contact
with the bag, becoming heavier by impregnation with the matters dissolved,
sinks to the bottom;  its place is  supplied with a fresh portion, which in its
turn sinks; and  thus a current is established, which continues until the solid
substance is exhausted or the liquid saturated. (Lond. Med. Gaz., Aug. 30,
1844.)
   Tinctures  have been long in use on  the Continent of Europe, and have
recently been brought into notice in Great Britain, prepared by adding alcohol
to the expressed juices of plants.   They are sometimes called in England
preserved vegetable juices.  The tinctures of some of the  narcotic  plants
might no doubt be advantageously prepared in this way, as those of conium,
hyoscyamus, and belladonna.   Mr. Squire and Mr. Bentley  have  paid par-
ticular attention  to these preparations.   According to Mr. Squire, the  leaves
only of  the plants should  be used, and in the case  of biennial plants those
exclusively of the second year's growth; and they should always be prefera-
bly collected when the plant is in full flower.  Mr.  Bentley recommends the
following mode of preparation.  To the  expressed juice,  after it has stood
for twenty-four hours,  and  deposited its feculent matter, alcohol of  0-838  is
to be added in the proportion of one part by measure to four of the juice;
and, after another period of twenty-four  hours, the liquor  is to  be filtered.
The proportion of alcohol mentioned has  been found sufficient for the preser-
vation of the juice, while  it causes the  precipitation of all  the suspended
mucilaginous matter.
  Tinctures should be kept in bottles accurately stopped, in order to prevent
evaporation, which might, in  some  instances, be attended with serious in-
convenience, by increasing their strength beyond the officinal standard.
  Medicines  are  most conveniently administered  in  tincture, which act
powerfully in small doses ; as the proportion of alcohol in which  they are
dissolved is too minute  to produce an appreciable  effect.   Those which re-
quire to be given in large doses should be cautiously employed in this form, 
1160
Tinctura.
PART n.
lest the injury done by the menstruum  should  more  than  counterbalance
their beneficial operation.   This remark is particularly applicable to chronic
cases of disease, in which the use of tinctures is apt to result in the establish-
ment of fatal habits of intemperance.  The tinctures of the weaker medicines
are more  frequently given  as  adjuvants  of  other  remedies  than with the
view of obtaining their own full effect upon the system.
   The following general directions are  given in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
   "Tinctures,  when  prepared by maceration, should be  frequently shaken
during the process, which should be conducted in glass vessels well stopped.
When displacement is employed, great  care  should be taken to observe the
directions given at page 4 [page 769, U. S.  Dispensatory], so that the sub-
stances treated may be, as far as possible, exhausted of their soluble principles,
and a perfectly clear tincture  obtained.  To those not familiar with  this
process, the plan of maceration is recommended."
   The London College states that " all  tinctures should be prepared inclosed
glass vessels, and frequently shaken during  the maceration."  The general
directions of the Edinburgh College, which relate to the process of percola-
tion, have been given at page 770.                                  W.
   TINCTURA ACONITI.  U. S.   Tincture of .Aconite.
   " Take of Aconite four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints.  Macerate for
fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Aco-
nite, in  powder, with Diluted Alcohol,  allowing  it to  stand for twenty-four
hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually
pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until  two pints of filtered  liquor are ob-
tained."  U.S.
   This is a good  preparation of aconite when made from.the recently dried
leaves, and may be given in the dose of twenty or thirty drops.       W.
   TINCTURA  ALOES.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.    Tincture of
Jlloes.
   " Take of Aloes, in powder, an ounce; Liquorice [extract] three ounces;
Alcohol half a pint; Distilled Water  a pint and a  half.   Macerate for
fourteen days, and filter through paper."  U. S.
   The London process differs from the above only in the  use of the Im-
perial, instead of the wine measure.   The Edinburgh College takes an ounce
of Socotrine or Indian Aloes, three ounces of liquorice, twelve fluidounces of
rectified spirit, and twenty-eight fluidounces of water; digests  for seven days;
and filters the liquor, separated from the sediment.  The Dublin College dis-
solves an ounce and a half of liquorice in eight ounces of  boiling  water;
then adds  half an ounce of Socotrine  aloes and eight fluidounces of proof
spirit, digests the whole for seven days, and filters.
   The tincture of aloes of the former U. S. Pharmacopoeia was prepared with
the officinal diluted alcohol, without the addition of water.   In the present
edition it has been made to  correspond  with the tincture of the  British Col-
leges.   It is  little more  than  an infusion, with  the  addition  of sufficient
alcohol  to prevent spontaneous decomposition.   The liquorice is added to
cover the taste of the aloes; but it  answers the end  imperfectly; and the
preparation, on account of its unpleasant bitterness, is little used, aloes being
generally administered in the form of pill.  The dose is  from  half a fluid-
ounce to a fluidounce and a half.                                   W.
   TINCTURA  ALOES ET MYRRHA.   U.S., Ed.   Tinctura
Aloes  Composita. Lond., Dub.   Tincture of Aloes and Myrrh.
   " Take of Aloes, in powder, three ounces;  Saffron  an ounce; Tincture 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1161
of Myrrh two pints.  Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper."
U. S.
  The London College  takes four ounces of aloes, two ounces of saffron,
and two pints (Imperial measure) of  tincture  of  myrrh, and proceeds as
above.  The directions of the Dublin  College correspond with those of our
Pharmacopoeia, except  that  Socotrine aloes is specified  and the saffron
omitted.   The Edinburgh College takes four ounces of Socotrine or Indian
aloes, two ounces of saffron, and two  pints  (Imperial measure) of tincture
of myrrh ; digests for seven days;  and filters the  clear " superincumbent"
liquor.
  This tincture is  a modification  of  the elixir proprietatis of Paracelsus.
The saffron, which  has been retained in compliance with former prejudices,
can add little to the efficacy  of the preparation  ; and, being very expensive,
has with great propriety been much reduced in the present U. S. formula.
It serves, however, to impart a  richness to the tincture, the want of which
might be considered a defect by those accustomed to its use.
  The tincture is purgative, tonic,  and emmenagogue; and is considerably
employed in chlorosis, and  other disordered  states of  health in females,
connected with suppressed,  retained,  or deficient  menstruation, and with a
constipated state of  bowels.   It may also be  used as a stomachic laxative in
cold, languid habits, independently of menstrual disorder.  The dose is from
one to two fluidrachms.                                           W.
   TINCTURA AMMONIA COMPOSITA. Lond.   Compound
 Tincture of Ammonia.
  " Take of Mastich two drachms ; Rectified Spirit nine fluidrachms ; Oil
of Lavender fourteen minims ;  Oil of Amber four minims; Stronger Solu-
tion of Ammonia a  pint [Imperial measure].   Macerate the Mastich in the
Spirit that it may be dissolved, and pour off the clear  tincture; then add the
other ingredients, and shake  them all together." Lond.
  This is the Spiritus Ammonise Succinatus of the  former London Phar-
macopoeia, and was intended as a substitute for the eau de luce.   The tinc-
ture bas  a milky appearance, owing to the separation of  the mastich from
its  alcoholic  solution by the water of ammonia.   Its  properties are  essen-
tially those of its ammoniacal ingredient; the mastich having no medical
action, and the  oils of lavender and amber being in too small proportion to
serve any other purpose than that of imparting flavour.   It is used chiefly
as a powerful stimulant applied to the  nostrils,  in  cases of fainting and
torpor.   It had  at one  time  considerable reputation  as an antidote to the
bite of venomous animals, but is not  relied  on at  present. The dose for
internal use is from  ten to thirty drops,  very largely diluted  with water. W.
   TINCTURA ANGUSTURA.  Dub.  Tinctura Cusparije. Ed.
 Tincture of Angustura Bark.
   " Take of Angustura  Bark, in coarse powder, two ounces; Proof Spirit
two pints.  Macerate for fourteen days; then filter." Dub.
   The Edinburgh College  takes four ounces and a half of the bark, and
two pints (Imperial  measure) of proof spirit, and  proceeds as for the tinc-
ture of Peruvian bark.
   This tincture contains the active principles of Angustura bark, and maybe
given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms.                        W.
   TINCTURA  ASSAFCETIDA.  U.S., Lond., Ed.    Tinctura
Ass^-foetid^*. Dub.    Tincture of Assafetida.
   " Take of Assafetida, four ounces ; Alcohol two pints.   Macerate for
fourteen days, and filter through  paper." U. S. 
1162
Tinctura.
PART II.
   The London College takes five ounces of assafetida, and  two pints (Im-
perial measure) of rectified spirit, and proceeds as above.  The Edinburgh
College, with the same quantity of materials, digests for seven days, and
filters the clear  liquor.   The Dublin process differs from that of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia  only in  triturating the assafetida with half a pint of water
previously to the addition of the alcohol.
   This tincture becomes milky on the addition of water, in consequence of
the separation of the resin.   It possesses all  the virtues of assafetida.  The
medium dose is a fluidrachm.
   Off.Prep. Enema Foetidum, Dub.                              W.

   TINCTURA AURANTII. Lond., Ed.  Tincture of Orange Peel.
   " Take of dried Orange  Peel three ounces and a half;  Proof Spirit two
pints [Imperial measure].  Macerate for fourteen days, and  filter." Lond.
   " Take of Bitter Orange Peel,  dried, three  ounces and a half; Proof
Spirit two pints [Imp. measure].   Digest for  seven days, strain and ex-
press strongly, and  filter the liquor.  This tincture may  be prepared by
percolation, by cutting the Peel into small fragments,  macerating it in a
little of the Spirit for twelve hours, and beating  the mass into a coarse pulp
before putting it into the percolator." Ed.
   It is the peel of the Seville orange which is intended by the London Col-
lege ; and the outer  part only should  be used, the inner whitish portion being
inert.  The tincture of orange peel  is employed as a  grateful addition to
infusions, decoctions, and mixtures.   It was omitted by mistake in the last
edition of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, as it is  an ingredient in one of the
officinal preparations of that work.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub.                       W.
   TINCTURA BELLADONNA. U. S.  Tincture of Belladonna.
   " Take of Belladonna [leaves] four ounces ;  Diluted Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This  Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Bel-
ladonna, in  powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-
four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradu-
ally pouring upon  it Diluted Alcohol until two  pints of filtered  liquor are
obtained." U.S.
   This tincture is  an  efficient preparation when made  from  the recently
dried leaves ; but the imported leaves are of very uncertain strength, and a
tincture prepared from  them is  less to  be relied upon than  the  extract.
The dose is from fifteen to thirty drops.                            W.

   TINCTURA   BENZOINI   COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond.,  Ed.
Tinctura Benzoes  Composita. Dub.   Compound Tincture of
Benzoin.
   "Take of Benzoin  three ounces; Purified Storax two  ounces; Balsam
of Tolu  an ounce;  Aloes, in powder, half an  ounce; Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U.S.
   The London College takes three ounces and a half of benzoin, two
ounces and a half of strained storax, ten  drachms of balsam of Tolu, five
drachms of aloes, and  two  pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and
proceeds as above.   The Edinburgh College takes four ounces of benzoin,
two ounces and a  half of balsam  of Peru, half an ounce of East  India
aloes, and two pints (Imp.  meas.) of rectified spirit, digests for seven  days,
pours off the clear  liquor,  and filters it.   The Dublin process  corresponds 
part ii.                      Tinctura.                          1163
with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that digestion for seven days is
employed instead of maceration for fourteen.
  This  tincture  is a stimulating expectorant, occasionally used in chronic
catarrhal affections, but more frequently as a local application to indolent
ulcers.  It is the balsamum traumaticum of the older Pharmacopoeias, and
may be  considered as  a simplified form of certain  complex compositions,
such as  baume de commandeur,  Wade's balsam, Friar's  balsam, Jesuits'
drops, SfC, which  were formerly in  repute, and are still esteemed  among
the vulgar as pectorals and vulneraries.  Turlington's balsam, which is a
popular remedy  in this country for such purposes, consists, as usually pre-
pared in Philadelphia, of the ingredients of the  officinal tincture, with the
addition  of Peruvian  balsam, myrrh,  and  angelica root.*   It is scarcely
necessary to state, that the application  of these remedies  to fresh wounds
must frequently prove  injurious, by inducing too much inflammation, and
thus preventing union  by  the first  intention.   The compound tincture of
benzoin is decomposed by water.   The dose is from thirty minims  to two
fluidrachms.   A variety of court plaster is made by applying to black silk,
by means of a brush, first a solution of isinglass, and afterwards an alcoholic
solution of benzoin.                                               W.
   TINCTURA BUCHU. Dub.   Tinctura Bucku. Ed.  Tincture
of Buchu.
   " Take of the Leaves of the Diosma  crenata  two ounces ;  Proof Spirit a
pint.  Macerate for seven days, and filter." Dub.
   " Take of Bucku five ounces ;  Proof Spirit two pints.  Digest for seven
days, pour off the clear liquor, and filter it.  This tincture may be conve-
niently  and quickly made also by the process of percolation." Ed.
   This tincture has  the virtues of buchu leaves, and  may be  given in the
dose of from one to four fluidrachms, either simply diluted with water, or as
an addition to  the infusion of the leaves.                            W.
   TINCTURA CAMPHORA.  U. S, Lond., Ed. Tinctura Cam-
phors sive Spiritus Camphoratus. Dub.   Tincture of Camphor.
   " Take of Camphor/owr ounces; Alcohol two pints.  Dissolve  the Cam-
phor in the Alcohol." U.S.
   The  Dublin process corresponds with the above.   The London  College
dissolves five  ounces of camphor in  two pints  (Imperial measure) of recti-
fied spirit; the  Edinburgh, two  ounces and a half in two pints  (Imperial
measure).
   This is used chiefly as  an anodyne embrocation in rheumatic and gouty
pains, chilblains, and the inflammation  resulting from  sprains  and bruises.
It  may also be employed  internally,  due regard being paid  to  the stimulant
properties of the alcohol.   The  camphor is precipitated by the addition of
water, but may be suspended by the intervention of sugar.   The  dose  is
from five drops to a fluidrachm,  first added to sugar, and then mixed with
water.
   Off.  Prep.  Linimentum Ammoniae Compositum, Ed.             W.

   *  The following is the formula for  Turlington's balsam adopted by the Philadelphia
College  of Pharmacy.  " Take of Alcohol Oviij, Benzoin gxij, Liquid Storax 51V, Soco-
trine Aloes Sj.,  Peruvian  Balsam gij. Myrrh %)., Angelica Root |ss. Balsam of Tolu
giv., Extract of Liquorice  Root giv.  Digest for ten days and strain."  Journ. oj  the rial.
Col. of Pharm., v. 28. 
1164                          Tinctura.                      part ii.

  TINCTURA CANTHARIDIS.  U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tinc-
ture of Spanish Flies.
  " Take of Spanish Flies, bruised, an ounce; Diluted  Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
  "This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Flies in
powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for twenty-four hours,
then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pour-
ing upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained."
U.S.
  The London College takes four  drachms of the flies and two pints (Im-
perial measure) of proof spirit,  macerates for fourteen days, and filters; the
Dublin, two drachms of the former and a pint and a half of the latter, and
digests for a week.   The Edinburgh College takes the same proportions as
the London, digests  for seven days, strains, expresses the residuum  strongly,
and filters; or prepares the tincture by percolation, having previously moist-
ened the coarsely powdered flies with a little of the spirit, and allowed them
to stand for twelve hours.
  This tincture  is one of the most convenient forms for the internal use of
Spanish flies, the virtues of which it possesses  to  their full  extent.  (See
Cantharis.)   It  is occasionally employed  externally as  a rubefacient; but
its  liability  to vesicate should  be taken into consideration.   The  British
tinctures are all too  feeble, the strongest containing the virtues only of three
quarters of a grain  of cantharides in a fluidrachm.   The dose of the U. S.
tincture is from twenty drops to a fluidrachm, repeated three or four times a
day.                                                             W.
   TINCTURA CAPSICI.  U  S, Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.   Tincture of
Cayenne Pepper.
  " Take of Cayenne Pepper an ounce; Diluted Alcohol two pints.  Mace-
rate for fourteen days, and filter  through paper.
  " This Tincture may also be  prepared by thoroughly moistening the Cay-
enne Pepper, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, putting it into an apparatus
for displacement, and gradually pouring upon  it  Diluted Alcohol until  two
pints of filtered liquor are obtained."  U. S.
  The Dublin College  prepares this tincture according to the first of the
above formulae.  The London College takes ten drachms of bruised Cayenne
pepper and two pints (Imperial  measure) of  proof spirit, macerates for four-
teen days, and filters ;  the Edinburgh takes  the same  proportions as the
London, digests for seven days, strains, expresses, and filters; or prepares the
tincture by  percolation, having  previously made  the capsicum into  a  pulp
with a little  of the spirit.
  This form of capsicum is a useful stimulant in very low states of the system
with great gastric insensibility,  as  in malignant  scarlet, and typhus fevers,
and in the cases of drunkards.  It may also be used as a gargle, diluted with
rose water or some  mucilaginous fluid.  (See Capsicum.)  Applied by means
of a camel's hair pencil to  the relaxed uvula, it sometimes produces con-
traction, and relieves prolapsus  of  that part.   The dose is one or two flui-
drachms.                                                         W.
   TINCTURA  CARDAMOMI. U. S, Lond., Ed.   Tincture of
Cardamom.
   "Take of Cardamom, bruised, four ounces;  Diluted Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
  " This Tincture may also be  prepared by thoroughly moistening the Car- 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1165
damom, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-
four hours, then transferring  it to an apparatus for  displacement, and gra-
dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are
obtained." U.S.
  The London College takes three ounces and a half of bruised cardamom,
and two pints [Imperial  measure] of proof spirit,  macerates  for fourteen
days, and filters.   The Edinburgh College takes four ounces and a half
of the bruised seeds, and two pints [Imp.  meas.] of proof spirit, digests for
seven days, strains, expresses, and filters; or prepares the tincture by perco-
lation, first grinding the seeds in a coffee-mill, and making them into a pulp
with a little of the spirit.
  This  tincture is an agreeable aromatic, and may be advantageously added
to tonic  and purgative infusions.  The dose is one or two fluidrachms.
  Off. Prep.  Tinctura Conii, Ed.                                W.
  TINCTURA  CARDAMOMI  COMPOSITA. Lond., Ed., Dub.
Compound  Tincture of Cardomom.
  "Take of  Cardamom, Caraway, each, in powder, two  drachms  and a
half; Cochineal, in powder,  a drachm; Cinnamon, bruised,five drachms;
Raisins^ue ounces ; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure].  Macerate
for fourteen days, and filter." Lond.
  The Edinburgh College, taking the same materials in the same quantities
as the London, but bruised instead of powdered, digests for seven days, strains,
expresses strongly, and filters.   The  same College allows the tincture to be
prepared also  by percolation;  the solid materials being first beaten together,
moistened with a little spirit, and allowed to stand for twelve hours before being
introduced into the instrument.  The Dublin College takes of cardamon seeds
freed from their husks, and caraway, each, two drachms, of cinnamon half an
ounce, and two pints of proof spirit, and proceeds in the same manner as the
London College.
  This  is a very agreeable aromatic tincture, occasionally used as a carmina-
tive in the dose of one or two fluidrachms, but more frequently as an addition
to mixtures, infusions, &c, which it renders pleasant  to the taste, and accep-
table to  the stomach.
  Off.Prep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum, Lond., Ed.; Mistura Gentianae
Comp. Lond.                                                   " •
  TINCTURA  CASCARILLA. Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Tincture of
 Cascarilla.
  "Take of  Cascarilla, in powder, five ounces; Proof  Spirit two pints
[Imperial measure].   Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond.
  The Edinburgh College employs/ue  ounces of the bark, in moderately
fine powder,  and two pints [Imp. measure] of proof spirit;  and proceeds
by percolation or digestion as directed for the tincture of Peruvian bark.
(See Tinctura Cinchonae.)  The Dublin, takes four ounces of the bark in
coarse powder, and two pints of the menstruum, and macerates for seven
davs.                                                             .
  This  tincture has the properties of cascarilla, but is seldom if ever used m
this country.
  TINCTURA CASSIA. Ed.   Tincture of Cassia.
  " Take of  Cassia [Chinese Cinnamon], in  moderately fine powder, three
ounces and a  half; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure].  Digest for
seven days, strain, express the residuum  strongly, and filter.  This tincture
     99 
1166
Tinctura.
PART II.
is more  conveniently made  by the process of percolation, the Cassia being
allowed to macerate in a little of the Spirit for twelve hours before being put
into the percolator." Ed.
   The properties of this tincture are identical with those of tincture of cin-
namon. (See Tinctura Cinnamomi.)                              W.

   TINCTURA CASTOREI.  U. S,  Lond.,  Ed.  Tinctura Cas-
torei Rossici. Dub.   Tincture of Castor.
   " Take of Castor, bruised, two ounces ; Alcohol two pints.  Macerate for
seven days, express, and filter through paper."  U. S.
   The London College takes two ounces and a half of powdered castor, and
two pints [Imperial measure] of rectified spirit, and  macerates for  fourteen
days.  The Dublin College directs two ounces of Russian castor, two pints
of proof spirit, and maceration for a week.  The Edinburgh College directs
two ounces and a half of bruised castor, and two pints [Imp. meas.] of rec-
tified spirit,  and allows the tincture to be prepared  either by digestion or per-
colation, like the tincture of cassia.
   As castor yields little if any of its virtues to water, alcohol is a better sol-
vent than proof spirit.   It is said also to form a more grateful preparation.
The Russian  castor should  always  be preferred  when  attainable.  This
tincture is used for the same  purposes with castor in  substance.  The dose
is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms.                          W.

   TINCTURA CASTOREI AMMONIATA.  Ed.   Ammoniated
Tincture of Castor.
   " Take of Castor, bruised, two ounces  and a half; Assafetida, in small
fragments, ten drachms ; Spirit of Ammonia two pints [Imperial measure].
Digest for seven days in a well closed vessel; strain  and  express  strongly
the residuum ; and filter the liquor." Ed.
   This is an active stimulant and antispasmodic, applicable to cases of severe
spasm of the stomach, and to various hysterical and other nervous affections,
unattended with inflammatory symptoms.   The dose is from thirty minims
to two fluidrachms.                                              W.

   TINCTURA  CATECHU. U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture of
Catechu.
   " Take of Catechu  three ounces;  Cinnamon, bruised, two ounces;  Di-
luted Alcohol  two pints.   Macerate  for  fourteen  days,  express, and filter
through paper." U. S.
   The Dublin process differs from the above only in the period  of mace-
ration, which is seven days.   The London College takes three ounces and
a half of catechu, tivo ounces and a half of cinnamon, and two pints [Im-
perial  measure] of  proof  spirit, and  macerates  for  fourteen  days.  The
Edinburgh  College takes three ounces and a half of catechu, in moderately
fine powder ; two ounces and a half of cinnamon,  in  fine powder ;  and two
pints [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit;  digests for  seven  days, strains, ex-
presses  strongly,  and filters.  This College  prepares the tincture  also by
percolation,  introducing the  mixed powders into the percolator without pre-
viously moistening them  with spirit.
   This  is a grateful astringent tincture, useful in all cases  to which catechu
is applicable,  and in which  small quantities of spirit are not objectionable.
It may often  be advantageously added to cretaceous mixtures  in diarrhoea.
The dose is from  thirty minims to three fluidrachms, which may be given
with sweetened water or some mucilaginous liquid, or in Port wine when
this is not contra-indicated.                                        W. 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1167
   TINCTURA CINCHONA.  U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture
of Peruvian Bark.
   "Take of Peruvian Bark, in  powder, six ounces;  Diluted Alcohol two
pints.   Macerate for fourteen days,  express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Bark
with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans-
ferring it  to  an  apparatus for displacement, and gradually  pouring upon it
Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S.
   " Take of Yellow Bark,  in  fine powder (or  of any other species  of
Cinchona, according to prescription), eight ounces ; Proof Spirit two pints
[Imperial measure].  Percolate  the Bark with the Spirit, the Bark being
previously  moistened with a very  little  Spirit, left thus for ten or twelve
hours, and then firmly packed in the cylinder.  This tincture may also be
prepared, though much less expeditiously,  and with much greater loss, by
the usual process of digestion, the bark being in that case reduced to coarse
powder only." Ed.
   The L,ondon  College orders eight ounces of yellow bark and two pints
[Imp. meas.] of  proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin,
four ounces to two pints, and digests for a week.
   Of these tinctures, all, except  the Dublin, are very properly made with a
large proportion  of bark;  as, in the bitter  tinctures, it is important that the
alcohol should bear as small a proportion to the tonic  principle  as possible.
Even the strongest, however, cannot, in  ordinary cases, be given in doses
sufficiently large  to obtain the full  effect of the  bark, without  stimulating
too highly.   The tincture of cinchona is used chiefly as an adjunct to the
infusion or decoction of bark, or  the solution of sulphate of quinia, to a  dose
of which it may be added in the  quantity of from one to four fluidrachms.
                                                                W.

   TINCTURA CINCHONA COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond.,Ed.,Dub.
 Compound Tincture of Peruvian Bark.
   "Take of Peruvian Bark, in powder, two ounces; Orange Peel, bruised,
an ounce and a half; Virginia Snake Root, bruised, three drachms ; Saffron
cut,  Red Saunders  rapsed, each  a drachm; Diluted Alcohol  twenty fluid-
ounces.  Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through  paper.
   " Compound Tincture  of Peruvian Bark may be prepared from the same
dry materials, by beating them well together,  moistening them  thoroughly
with  Diluted Alcohol, allowing  them  to stand for forty-eight hours,  then
transferring them to an  apparatus for  displacement, and gradually pouring
upon them  Diluted Alcohol until twenty fluidounces  of filtered liquor are
obtained." U.S.
   " Take of Cinchona lancifolia  [Pale Bark], in powder,/owr ounces; dried
Orange Peel  three ounces; Virginia Snakeroot, bruised, six drachms; Saffron
two drachms;  Cochineal, in powder, a drachm;  Proof Spirit two pints
[Imperial measure].  Macerate  for  fourteen days, and filter."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh  College takes the same  materials in the same quantities
as the London, but  specifies yellow  bark, which it orders in coarse powder,
if digestion, in  fine powder, if percolation be employed.  Serpentaria is
directed in  moderately fine powder.   The process is conducted either by
digesting for seven days, straining,  expressing strongly, and filtering;  or by
percolation  in  the  same  way as compound tincture of cardamom.   The
Dublin College specifies the  pale  bark, and directs two scruples of cochi-
neal in place of the red saunders, and half an ounce of orange peel; in 
1168
Tinctura.
PART II.
other respects, the process corresponds  with the first formula of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia.
   This is  the preparation commonly known by the  name of Huxham's
tincture of bark.  It is  an  excellent stomachic cordial, and, though too
feeble  in the principles of cinchona to serve as a  substitute for  that  tonic
when its full effect upon the system  is  required, may be very usefully em-
ployed as an addition to the  decoction or infusion, or to the  salts of quinia,
in low forms of fever, particularly in  malignant intermittents, and typhoid
remittents.   Huxham was in the habit of uniting with it the elixir of vitriol,
the aromatic sulphuric acid of the Pharmacopoeias.   The dose is from one to
four fluidrachms.                                                 W.
   TINCTURA CINNAMOMI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture
of Cinnamon.
   "Take of Cinnamon,  bruised, three ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through  paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Cin-
namon, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight
hours, then transferring it to an apparatus  for displacement, and gradually
pouring upon  it Diluted  Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob-
tained." U. S.
   The London College takes three ounces and a half of cinnamon, and two
pints [Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days;
the Dublin, three ounces and  a half of cinnamon and two pints of proof
spirit, and macerates  for fourteen days; the Edinburgh, three ounces and a
half of the former, in moderately fine  powder, and  two pints [Imp. meas.]
of the latter, and  proceeds by percolation or digestion as in the preparation of
tincture of cassia.
   This tincture has the aromatic and astringent properties of cinnamon, and
may be used as an adjuvant to cretaceous mixtures, and astringent infusions
or decoctions.  The  dose is from one to  three or four fluidrachms.
   Off Prep. Infusum Digitalis, U. S.                              W.
   TINCTURA  CINNAMOMI  COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Ed.
Compound Tincture of Cinnamon.
   " Take of Cinnamon, bruised, an  ounce; Cardamom [seeds], bruised,
half an ounce; Ginger, bruised, three drachms; Diluted Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through  paper.
   " Compound Tincture of Cinnamon may be prepared from the same dry
materials, in the state of powder, by  moistening  them thoroughly  with
Diluted Alcohol, allowing them  to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans-
ferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring  upon
them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S.
   The London  College  orders an ounce of cinnamon, half an  ounce of
cardamom, two drachms and a half of long pepper, the same quantity of
ginger, and two pints [Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and macerates for
two weeks.  The Edinburgh  College  directs  an ounce of  cinnamon in
coarse or fine powder, according as digestion or percolation is followed, an
ounce  of bruised cardamom seeds, three drachms of finely ground long
pepper, and two pints [Imp. meas.]  of proof spirit;  and allows the tinc-
ture to be prepared either by digestion for seven days, straining, expressing,
and  filtering, or  by percolation in the manner directed for compound tinc-
ture of cardamom ; preferring, however, the latter mode.
   This is a very warm aromatic  tincture, useful in  flatulence, spasm of the
stomach, and gastric  debility.   The dose is  one or two fluidrachms.  W. 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1169
   TINCTURA  COLCHICI   COMPOSITA. Lond.    Compound
 Tincture of Colchicum.
   "Take of  Colchicum Seeds,  hruiseo\, five ounces; Aromatic  Spirit  of
 Ammonia two pints [Imperial measure].  Macerate for fourteen days, and
 filter." Lond.
   This is the  Spiritus Colchici Ammoniatus of the former London Phar-
 macopoeia.   It may be employed for the  same purposes as the wine of col-
 chicum, in cases which require or admit  of an active stimulant.   The dose
 is from thirty drops to a fluidrachm.                               W.

   TINCTURA COLCHICI SEMINIS. U.S.  Tinctura Colchici.
 Lond., Ed.   Tinctura  Seminum  Colchici. Dub.    Tincture  of
 Colchicum Seed.
   "Take of Colchicum Seed, bruised, four  ounces; Diluted Alcohol two
 pints.   Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture  may  also  be  prepared by thoroughly  moistening the
 Colchicum  Seed, in powder, with Diluted  Alcohol, allowing it to stand for
 twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for  displacement, and
 gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol.until two pints of filtered liquor
 are obtained." U.S.
   The London College orders five ounces of the  bruised seeds, two pints
 [Imperial measure]  of proof  spirit,  and  maceration for two weeks; the
 Dublin, two ounces  of the former and a pint of the latter, and the same
 maceration.   The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of  the seeds finely
 ground in a coffee-mill, and two pints  [Imp. meas.] of proof  spirit; and
 prepares the tincture in the same  manner as the tincture  of  Peruvian bark,
 either by percolation or digestion  ; preferring, however, the  former  process.
   This  tincture possesses the  active  properties of colchicum, and may  be
 given whenever that medicine is  indicated; but the wine, which  contains
 less alcohol,  is generally preferred. The dose is from half  a fluidrachm  to
 two  fluidrachms.    The tincture  is sometimes used as an embrocation  in
 rheumatic, gouty, and neuralgic pains.                            W.
   TINCTURA  COLOMBA. U. S, Dub.   Tinctura Calumba.
 Lond., Ed.   Tincture of Columbo.
   "Take of Columbo, bruised, four ounces;  Diluted Alcohol two pints.
 Macerate for fourteen days, express, and  filter through paper.
   " This Tincture  may  also be  prepared by thoroughly  moistening the
 Columbo, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand  for twenty-
 four hours ;  then  transferring it to an apparatus for  displacement, and gra-
 dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until  two pints of filtered liquor are
 obtained." U.S.
   The London  College  takes three  ounces   of sliced columbo,  and  two
pints  [Imperial measure] of proof-spirit;  the Dublin, two ounces and a
half of the former, and two pints of the  latter; and both macerate for four-
teen  days.   The Edinburgh  College takes  three ounces  of columbo,  in
small fragments or moderately fine powder, according as digestion or per-
colation is followed, and  two pints [Imp.  meas.] of proof-spirit;  and pre-
 pares the tincture either by digesting for  seven days, decanting, expressing,
and filtering, or by  the process of percolation, allowing the powder to  be
 macerated with a little spirit for six hours before being put into the cylinder.
  The tincture of columbo  of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia was,  with great
propriety,  considerably increased in  strength at the last revision.  The
                                 99* 
1170
Tinctura.
part n.
larger the proportion of the tonic  is to the  alcohol in these bitter tinctures,
the better are  they calculated  to  meet the  indications  for which  they are
usually  prescribed.  When the proportion  is very small,  the tonic  power
of the bitter is overwhelmed by tbe stimulant influence of the alcohol.  The
tincture of columbo may be added  to  tonic infusions or decoctions, to in-
crease their stimulant power;  but, like  all the other bitter  tinctures,  should
be used with caution.  The dose is  from one to  four fluidrachms.    W.
   TINCTURA CONII.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.  Tincture of  Hem-
lock.
   "Take  of  Hemlock  Leaves four ounces; Diluted  Alcohol  two  pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   "This  Tincture may  also  be  prepared  by  thoroughly  moistening  the
Hemlock Leaves, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand
for twenty-four hours, then transferring them  to an apparatus for  displace-
ment, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of
filtered liquor  are obtained." U. S.
   The London College takes five ounces of the  dried leaves, an  ounce of
bruised cardamom, and two pints  [Imperial measure]  of proof-spirit, and
macerates  for fourteen days;   the  Dublin, two ounces of the leaves, an
ounce of the seeds, and a pint of  proof spirit, and macerates for a  week.
   "Take  of  fresh leaves  of  Conium twelve ounces;  Tincture of  Carda-
mom half  a pint; Rectified Spirit one pint and a half.   Bruise the  Hem-
lock Leaves, express the juice  strongly ; bruise  the residuum, pack it firmly
in  a percolator; transmit first the Tincture of Cardamom,  and  then the
Rectified  Spirit, allowing  the  spirituous  liquors to mix  with the expressed
juice as they pass through ; add gently water enough to the  percolator for
pushing through  the spirit remaining  in the residuum.   Filter the  liquor
after agitation."  Ed.
   The  tincture of hemlock necessarily partakes  of the uncertainty of the
dried leaves from which it  is prepared.   There can be little doubt that the
tincture of the Edinburgh College, made from the  fresh leaves  and their
expressed  juice, is the most efficient.  A preparation made by  adding one
measure of alcohol to four of the  expressed juice, has been used in England
under the name  of preserved juice  of hemlock,  and is probably quite equal
to the Edinburgh tincture. (See page 1159.)  The U.S. Pharmacopoeia has
very properly  excluded cardamom from this preparation; as it can have little
influence upon its medical effects, and tends to  obscure  the odour which is
an indication of the activity of the tincture.  A  strong odour of conia should
be emitted by  the tincture upon the addition of  potassa.   The dose  is from
thirty minims  to a fluidrachm.                                      W.
   TINCTURA  CROCI. Ed,    Tincture of Saffron.
   "Take  of  Saffron,  chopped fine,  two ounces; Proof Spirit two pints
[Imperial measure].  This Tincture is to be prepared like Tincture of Cin-
chona, either  by  percolation or by  digestion, the former method  being the
most convenient and expeditious." Ed.
   This tincture possesses all the properties of saffron ; but is of little other
use than to impart colour  to  mixtures.   The  dose is from one to  three
fluidrachms.                                                     W.
   TINCTURA  CUBEBA. U S, Lond.   Tinctura Piperis Cu-
bbbm.  Dub.   Tincture of  Cubebs.
   "Take  of  Cubebs, bruised, four  ounces;  Diluted  Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1171
  " This  Tincture may also be prepared  by thoroughly moistening tie
Cubebs, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four
hours, then transferring it  to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually
pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained."
u. s.
  The London  College takes five ounces  of powdered cubebs, and two
pints [Imperial  measure] of proof spirit;  the Dublin, four ounces of the
former and two pints of the latter; and both macerate for fourteen days.
  This may be used as a carminative, and has been applied with advantage
to the treatment of gonorrhrea in the advanced stages.   The dose is one or
two fluidrachms.                                                  W.
  TINCTURA DIGITALIS. U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture of
Foxglove.
  v" Take of Foxglove four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints.  Macerate
for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
  " This  Tincture may also be prepared  by thoroughly moistening the
Foxglove, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-
four hours, then transferring it  to an apparatus for displacement, and gra-
dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are
obtained." U. S.
  The L,ondon  College directs four ounces of the  dried leaves, two pints
[Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and maceration for fourteen days; the
Dublin, two ounces of the dried leaves (the larger being  rejected)  and a
pint of proof spirit, and maceration for a week.
  "Take  of  Digitalis, in moderately fine  powder,  four ounces;  Proof
Spirit two pints [Imp. meas.].   This tincture is best prepared by the pro-
cess of percolation, as  directed for the tincture of capsicum. If forty fluid-
ounces of spirit be passed  through, the density is 0*944, and  the solid con-
tents of a fluidounce amount to twenty-four grains.  It may also be made
by digestion." Ed.
  In preparing this tincture, great attention should be paid to the selection
of the leaves, according to  the rules  laid down under the head of Digitalis.
From a neglect of these, it is apt to be weak or inefficient.  We have observ-
ed, in our own experience, a decided superiority in  the tincture prepared
from carefully preserved  leaves imported  from  England.  The expressed
juice of the leaves, preserved by means of alcohol, would probably be found
a powerful preparation. (See page  1159.)   The tincture of foxglove pos-
sesses all  the virtues of that narcotic, and  affords  a  convenient method  of
administering it, especially in  mixtures.   The dose is from ten to twenty
drops, to be repeated two or three times a day, and  increased, if necessary,
with great caution. (See Digitalis.)                                 W.
   TINCTURA GALBANI. Dub.   Tincture of Galbanum.
  "  Take of Galbanum, cut into small pieces, two ounces; Proof Spirit two
pints.  Digest for seven days, and filter." Dub.
  The tincture of galbanum is analogous in properties to that of assafetida,
but weaker and  less nauseous.   It is very seldom used.  The dose is from
one to three fluidrachms.                                          W.
   TINCTURA  GALLA.  U S, Lond.   Tinctura  Gallarum.
Ed., Dub.   Tincture of Galls.
  "  Take of Galls, bruised, four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints.  Ma-
cerate for  fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
  "  This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Galls, 
1172
Tinctura.
part ir.
 in  powder, with Diluted Alcohol,  allowing  them to stand for forty-eight
 hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually
 pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob-
 tained." U. S.
   The London  College directs five ounces  of powdered galls, two pints
 [Imperial  measure] of proof spirit, and maceration  for fourteen days; the
 Dublin, four ounces of the galls, two pints of the spirit,  and  digestion for
 seven days.   The Edinburgh College takes  the same quantity of materials
 as  the London, and  prepares  the tincture either by digestion or percolation
 as  directed for tincture of capsicum.
   The  tincture of galls is powerfully astringent;  but is more used  as a test
 than as a medicine.  The dose is from one to three fluidrachms.     W.

   TINCTURA  GENTIANA  COMPOSITA. U S., Lond., Ed.,
 Dub.   Compound Tincture of Gentian.
   " Take of Gentian, bruised, two ounces; Orange Peel [dried] an ounce;
 Cardamom  [seeds], bruised, half  an ounce; Diluted Alcohol two pints.
 Macerate for fourteen days-, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared from the same dry materials, in the
 state of powder, by moistening them thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, al-
 lowing them  to  stand for  forty-eight hours,  then transferring them to an
 apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol
 until two pints of filtered liquor are  obtained." U. S.
   The Dublin process corresponds  with the first U. S. process.  The Lon-
 don College takes two  ounces and a half of sliced gentian, ten drachms of
 dried orange peel, five drachms of bruised cardamom, and two pints [Im-
 perial measure] of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days.  The Edin-
 burgh College takes  two ounces and a half of bruised gentian,  ten drachms
 of bruised  dried  bitter orange peel, six drachms of canella in moderately
 fine powder, half a drachm of bruised  cochineal,  and two  pints [Imp.
 meas.] of proof spirit;  digests for  seven  days, strains, expresses strongly,
 and filters;  or prepares the tincture by percolation as directed  for the com-
 pound tincture of cardamom.
  This is an elegant bitter, much used  in  dyspepsia, and as an addition to
 tonic mixtures  in debilitated states of the digestive organs, or of the system
 generally.   There is,  however, much  danger  of its abuse, especially in
 chronic cases.  The dose is one or two fluidrachms.                W.

   TINCTURA  GUAIACI.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture of
 Guaiac.
  " Take of Guaiac, in powder, half a pound; Alcohol two pints.  Mace-
 rate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U.S.
  The London College takes seven  ounces of guaiac, and two pints  [Impe-
 rial  measure]  of rectified spirit,  and proceeds as  above.   The Edinburgh
 College orders the same quantity of materials as the London, and  digests
 for  a week.   The Dublin  College  directs four ounces  of guaiac and two
pints of alcohol, and  macerates for a week.
  This tincture is given in chronic rheumatism and gout,  in the  dose of from
 one to three fluidrachms three or four times a  day.  As it is decomposed by
 water, it is  most conveniently administered in  mucilage, sweetened water, or
 milk, by which the separated  guaiac is held in temporary suspension. The
 following is a form of tincture of guaiac which the late Dr. Dewees found
 very efficient in the cure of suppression  of  the menses, and dysmenorrhcea.
 " Take of the best Guaiac, in powder, four ounces;  Carbonate of Soda or 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1173
 of Potassa one drachm and a half; Pimento, in powder, an ounce; Diluted
 Alcohol a pound.  Digest for a few days."  The dose is a teaspoonful three
 times a day, to  be gradually increased if necessary.   Within our own ex-
 perience, this remedy has proved highly useful in painful menstruation given
 in the intervals of the attacks.   The quantity of alkaline carbonate  is too
 small to produce any sensible effect, and the pimento can act only as a spice;
 so that the virtues of the tincture reside in the guaiac, and the officinal tinc-
 ture would probably be found equally effectual.                      W.

    TINCTURA GUAIACI AMMONIATA. U.S., Ed., Dub.  Tinc-
 tura  Guaiaci  Composita.  Lond.   Ammoniated  Tincture  of
 Guaiac.
    "Take of Guaiac,  in powder,/o?/r ounces; Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia
 a pint and a half.  Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper."
 U. S.
   The London  College takes seven ounces of guaiac, and two pints  [Impe-
 rial measure] of aromatic spirit of ammonia, and macerates for fourteen days.
 The Edinburgh College takes the same quantity of materials as the Lon-
 don,  and  digests for  seven  days in a well-closed vessel.   The Dublin cor-
 responds  with the U. S. process, except that the maceration continues only
 for a week.
   This tincture  is very celebrated in the treatment  of chronic rheumatism.
 It is more stimulating and is thought to be  more effectual than the preceding.
 Like that, it  is decomposed by water, and should be administered in some
 viscid or tenacious vehicle which may hold the  guaiac in suspension.  The
 dose  is one or two fluidrachms.                                    W.
   TINCTURA  HELLEBORI.  U S.,  Lond.   Tinctura Helle-
 bori  Nigri. Dub.   Tincture of Black Hellebore.
   "Take of Black Hellebore, bruised, four  ounces; Diluted Alcohol two
 pints.  Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also  be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Black
 Hellebore, in powder, with  Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-
 eight hours,  tben  transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gra-
 dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor  are
 obtained." U.S.
   The London College takes five ounces of the bruised root, and two pints
 [Imperial measure] of proof-spirit, and macerates for fourteen  days;  the
 Dublin, four ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and macerates
 for a  week.
   This tincture  possesses the properties of black hellebore, and, upon the
 recommendation of Dr. Mead, has been much used in suppression  of the
 menses.   It is said to be  peculiarly applicable to cases in  which the grade of
 action is too high for the use of chalybeates. At best, however, it is an uncer-
 tain remedy, and should always be administered with caution,  as it is some-
 times violent in its action.  The dose is from thirty minims to a fluidrachm,
 to be  taken night and  morning.                                    W.
   TINCTURA HUMULI. U. S,  Dub.   Tinctura Lupuli. Lond.
 Tincture of Hops.
  "Take of Hops five ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints.   Macerate for
 fourteen days, express, and filter through paper."  U.S.
  The London  College takes six ounces of hops and two pints  [Imperial
 measure] of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen days,  and  filters.  The Dub-
lin process differs from ours  only in the omission of expression. 
1174
Tinctura.
PART 11.
  Hops are so light  and bulky that, in the proportion directed, they absorb
almost all the spirit,  which, after the requisite maceration, can be separated
only by strong pressure.   As this absorption of the spirit obstructs its proper
action  on all parts of the hops, it is necessary that the  mixture should be
frequently stirred during the maceration.   By thoroughly drying the hops
and rubbing them between the hands,  or by cutting and bruising them, they
may be brought to a state of  division  which will in a great measure obviate
the disadvantages alluded to.   As the  virtues of  hops depend chiefly on the
lupulin,'and as the quantity of this substance is not the same in different
parcels, the tincture is necessarily unequal in strength ;  and the tincture of
lupulin itself is greatly preferable. (See Tinctura Lupulinx.)
  The tincture of  hops is tonic and  narcotic, and has been proposed as a
substitute for laudanum when the latter disagrees with the patient; but little
reliance can be placed upon it.  The condition of disease to which it appears
to be best adapted, is  the wakefulness, attended with tremors  and general
nervous derangement,  to  which habitual  drunkards  are  liable,  and  which
frequently precedes an attack of delirium  tremens.   The dose  is from one
to three fluidrachms.                                             W.

  TINCTURA HYOSCYAMI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture
of Henbane.
  "Take of Henbane Leaves four  ounces; Diluted Alcohol  two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
  " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Hen-
bane Leaves, in  powder, with Diluted Alcohol,  allowing them  to stand for
twenty-four hours, then transferring them to an  apparatus for displacement,
and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered
liquor are obtained."  U. S.
  The London College takes five ounces  of the  dried leaves, and two pints
[Imperial measure]  of proof spirit,  and macerates for  fourteen  days; the
Dublin, five ounces of the former and  two pints of  the latter, and digests for
a week.   The Edinburgh College orders  the same amount of materials, the
henbane being in moderately fine powder, and directs the tincture to be pre-
pared either by digestion, or, preferably, by percolation as directed for the
tincture of capsicum.
  This tincture may be advantageously substituted, as an anodyne and so-
porific, for that of opium, when the  latter disagrees with the patient, or is
objectionable on account of its property  of inducing constipation.   When
the tincture  of henbane purges, as it sometimes does, it may be united with
a very  small  proportion  of  laudanum.    The dose  is a fluidrachm.  The
expressed juice preserved by means of alcohol  may be used for the same
purposes as the tincture. (See page 1159.)                         W.
  TINCTURA  IODINI.  U. S.   Tinctura  Iodinei. Ed.  Iodinii
Tinctura. Dub.   Tincture of Iodine.
  " Take of Iodine an ounce;  Alcohol a  pint.  Dissolve the Iodine in the
Alcohol."  U.S.
  The Edinburgh College directs two ounces and a half of iodine to be
dissolved, with the aid of  a gentle heat and agitation, in two pints [Imperial
measure] of rectified spirit.  The Dublin  College takes  two  scruples of
iodine, and an ounce, by weight, of rectified spirit, mixes, and dissolves the
iodine  with the aid of  heat.   Both Colleges direct the tincture to be kept in
well-stopped bottles.
  These tinctures contain so  nearly the same proportion of iodine that, for 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1175
all practical purposes, they may be considered identical.  They are of very
nearly the strength of the  tincture employed by Coindet, which  contained
one part of iodine to twelve of alcohol by weight; while the U.S.  tincture
contains  one part of the former to about 12-7 parts of  the latter.  It is best
to prepare the tincture in small quantities at a time; as the iodine reacts on the
alcohol, especially when exposed  to  solar light, uniting with  its  hydrogen
to form hydriodic acid, which in its turn is said to produce a portion of
hydriodic ether  by reaction with  the  alcohol.  The  iodine  should  be  tho-
roughly dried before being weighed out.   The  tincture should be  kept in
well-stopped bottles in order  to prevent the evaporation of the alcohol,  and
the consequent crystallization of the iodine.
   The tincture of iodine  has a deep brown colour.  Sixteen minims, equal
to about thirty-five drops, contain one grain of iodine.   It is at present less
used internally than it formerly was, in consequence of an impression that it
is apt to irritate the stomach.  Water decomposes the tincture, and when  this
is swallowed, it  is supposed that the iodine  is precipitated upon the mucous
membrane.   It is now, therefore, almost exclusively employed as an  external
application.   Undiluted, it acts as a powerful irritant to the  skin,  producing
inflammation, desquamation  of the cuticle, &c.   Nevertheless, it is much
used in this  state in erysipelas, chilblains, and other cases of cutaneous  and
subcutaneous inflammation,  and  often  with very happy effects.   But  its
application requires  some  caution; and in erysipelas, we  are in the habit
rather of surrounding the inflamed surface with a  border of the tincture,
embracing a  portion  of both the sound and the diseased skin, so as to prevent
the progress of the inflammation, than  of attempting a complete cure by cover-
ing the whole surface affected.  It is  most conveniently applied by means of
a camels' hair pencil.   Diluted  with the camphorated tincture of  soap, or
other  alcoholic   liquid, it is  sometimes  employed  as an  embrocation in
scrofulous tumours  and other affections  requiring the peculiar influence of
iodine.  The dose of  the  tincture  is from  ten to twenty drops, whicli may
be gradually increased to thirty or forty drops,  three times  a day.   It may
be given  in sweetened water, and still  belter  in wine  when this is not
contra-indicated.                                                 W.
   TINCTURA IODINI  COMPOSITA.  U.S.   Tinctura  Iodinii
 Composita. Lond.   Compound Tincture of Iodine.
   "Take of Iodine half an ounce; Iodide of Potassium an ounce ; Alcohol
a pint.   Dissolve the Iodine and Iodide  of Potassium  in the  Alcohol."
 U. S.
   The London  College takes an ounce of iodine, two ounces of iodide of
potassium, and two pints [Imperial measure] of rectified spirit;  macerates
till they are dissolved, and filters.
   The U. S. tincture is  rather  stronger than  the London, the  wine  pint
employed in the former  containing  about  one-fifth less  than the  Imperial
pint employed in the latter.  The difference, however, is of no great prac-
 tical importance.  The advantage of  this tincture over the simple tincture
 above described is,  that the former  may be diluted with water without de-
composition; so that, when  it is swallowed, iodine is  not precipitated upon
the mucous coat of the stomach,  and  will not, therefore, be so likely to  pro-
duce gastric  irritation.  This is a good theoretical recommendation; but we
 are by no means confident that the difference of the two preparations in irri-
tating properties  will  be found very striking in practice.  The  compound
 tincture of iodine may  be  given internally for all the purposes which iodine 
1176
Tinctura.
PART II.
 is capable of answering.  The dose is from fifteen to thirty drops, to be
 gradually increased if necessary.   It should be  diluted with water when
 administered.                                                     W.

    TINCTURA JALAPA. U S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Tincture of
 Jalap.
    " Take of Jalap, in powder, eight ounces;  Diluted  Alcohol two pints.
 Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
    " This Tincture may also be prepared by moistening the Jalap thoroughly
 with Diluted Alcohol,  allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans-
 ferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it
 Diluted Alcohol until two pints of  filtered liquor  are obtained."  U. S.
    The London College takes ten  ounces of jalap, and two pints [Imperial
 measure] of proof spirit; the Dublin, eight ounces of the former and  two
 pints of the  latter;  and both continue the  maceration for two weeks.  The
 Edinburgh College orders  seven  ounces of jalap, in moderately fine pow-
 der, and two pints [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit, and allows the tincture to
 be prepared either  by digestion or percolation, as directed for tincture of
 cinchona.
   This tincture  possesses the medical  virtues  of jalap, and is sometimes
 added to cathartic mixtures in the quantity  of one or two fluidrachms, to in-
 crease their activity.                                              W.
   TINCTURA  KINO. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture of Kino.
   " Take of Kino,  in  powder, three ounces and  a half; Rectified Spirit
 two pints [Imperial measure].   Macerate for  fourteen days, and  filter."
 Lond.
   The Edinburgh College takes the same ingredients in the  same propor-
 tion as the London, and digests  for a week; the  Dublin, three ounces of
 kino, and two pints of proof spirit, and macerates for a week.
   This tincture very frequently becomes gelatinous if kept, and at length
 almost entirely loses its astringency.  The circumstances which favour this
 change, and the characters of the chemical reaction which  takes  place remain
 to be investigated.  Until some mode is discovered of obviating this evil,  the
 tincture seems  scarcely to be  a  proper  object for  officinal direction.  The
 dose is one or two fluidrachms.  It is used chiefly as an addition to creta-
 ceous and other astringent mixtures in diarrhoea.                    W.
   TINCTURA  KRAMERIA.  U S.   Tincture of Rhatany.
   " Take of Rhatany, in powder, six ounces ;  Diluted Alcohol two pints.
 Macerate  for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This  Tincture  may also  be prepared  by moistening the Rhatany tho-
 roughly with Diluted  Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight  hours.
 then transferring it to an apparatus  for displacement, and gradually pouring
 upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of  filtered liquor  are obtained."
 U.S.
   According to F. Boudet, the tincture of rhatany sometimes gelatinizes
 like that of kino. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., i. 338.)  We have not ourselves
 seen this result in  the specimens which have  come under our notice.   This
 is a good preparation of rhatany in cases which admit of the use of small
 quantities  of alcohol.   The dose is one or two fluidrachms.          W.
   TINCTURA LACTUCARII. Ed.   Tincture of Lactucarium.
   "Take of Lactucarium, in fine  powder,  four ounces;  Proof Spirit two
pints.   This tincture is best prepared by percolation as directed for tincture 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1177
 of myrrh; but may also  be prepared by digestion with coarse powder of
 Lactucarium." Ed.
   The dose of this tincture is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms.  W.
   TINCTURA LOBELIA. U.S., Ed.   Tincture of Lobelia.
   "Take of  Lobelia [the herb] four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints.
 Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Lobe-
 lia, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it  to  stand for  twenty-four
 hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually
 pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two  pints  of filtered  liquor are ob-
 tained."  U.S.
   The Edinburgh College  directs five ounces of lobelia, in moderately
 fine powder, and two pints [Imperial  measure] of proof spirit; and states
 that the tincture  is best prepared by percolation as directed for tincture of
 capsicum, though it may also be made by digestion.
   This tincture possesses the emetic and narcotic properties of lobelia, and
 is sometimes  used in asthma, in the dose of one or  two  fluidrachms, re-
 peated every two or three hours till its effects are experienced.  The emetic
 dose is half a fluidounce.                                          W.

   TINCTURA LOBELIA ATHEREA. Ed.  Ethereal Tincture
 of Lobelia.
   " Take of dry Lobelia, in moderately fine powder, five ounces ;  Spirit of
 Sulphuric Ether two pints [Imperial measure].  This tincture is best pre-
 pared by percolation, as directed for tincture of capsicum ;  but  it may also
 be obtained by digestion in a well-closed vessel for  seven days." Ed.
   The  stimulant  operation of the ether in  this preparation can  scarcely
 favour the relaxing and nauseating action for which lobelia is usually employed.
 The dose is the same as that of  the alcoholic tincture.                W.
   TINCTURA  LUPULINA. US.   Tinctura Lupuli.    Ed.
 Tincture of Lupulin.
   " Take of Lupulin four ounces ; Alcohol two pints.  Macerate for  four-
 teen days, and filter through paper."  U. S.
   " Take any convenient quantity of Hops, recently dried; separate by
 friction and sifting the yellowish-brown powder attached  to their scales.
 Then take of  this powder five ounces, and of rectified spirit two pints [Im-
 perial measure], and prepare the tincture by percolation or  digestion, as di-
 rected  for tincture of capsicum." Ed.
   This is much superior  to the  tincture  of hops of the first United States
 Pharmacopoeia, in  the  place of which it was  introduced into  the second
 edition.  In the original preparation, a certain quantity of hops was directed,
 from which the lupulin was to be separated by beating, and  then digested in
 alcohol.   As hops contain  a variable proportion of lupulin, a tincture thus
 made must be of unequal  strength; an objection  to which the tincture of
 hops, even as  now prepared, is in some measure liable. (See Tinctura Hu-
 muli.)   Besides,  the amount of lupulin contained  in any quantity  of hops
 upon which alcohol can conveniently act, is  too small  in proportion to the
 alcohol, to afford a tincture of the due strength.  The tincture of lupulin is,
 therefore,  in all respects, preferable.  The dose is  one or two fluidrachms,
 to be given in  sweetened water or some mucilaginous fluid.          W.
  TINCTURA   MOSCHI. Dub.   Tincture of Musk.
  " Take of Musk, in powder, two drachms ;  Rectified Spirit apint.  Di-
gest for seven  days, and filter."  Dub.
    100 
 1178                          Tinctura.                       part ii.

   This tincture is much too feeble  in  musk  to be capable of producing
 beneficial effects in any dose which would not contain  too large a quantity
 of alcohol.  Musk should always be given in substance.            W.

   TINCTURA MYRRHA. U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture of
 Myrrh.
   " Take of Myrrh, bruised, four ounces ;  Alcohol three pints.  Macerate
 for fourteen days, and filter through paper."  U. S.
  The London  College takes three ounces of powdered myrrh,  and  two
pints [Imperial measure] of  rectified spirit, and proceeds as above.   The
Dublin College takes  three ounces of  bruised myrrh, a pint and a half of
proof spirit, and half apint of rectified spirit; and digests for a week.
  " Take of Myrrh, in moderately fine powder, three ounces and a half;
 Rectified Spirit two pints [Imperial measure].  Pack the Myrrh very gently
without any spirit in a percolator; then pour on  the Spirit, and when thirty-
three fluidounces have passed  through, agitate well to dissolve  the oleo-
resinous matter  which first   passes, and  which lies  at  the bottom.  This
tincture is much less  conveniently obtained  by the process of digestion for
seven days." Ed.
  Undiluted alcohol is preferable, as a  solvent of myrrh, to that fluid mixed
with water; because it forms a perfectly clear solution,  which is not attain-
able with  the latter  menstruum.  The addition of water  to the tincture
renders it turbid.   The tincture  of myrrh is scarcely ever used internally.
As a local application  it is employed to stimulate indolent  and foul ulcers,
and promote the exfoliation of bones, and, diluted  with  water, is applied to
spongy gums, aphthous sore mouth, and ulcerations of the throat.  The
dose, as a stimulant expectorant and emmenagogue, is from half a fluidrachm
to a fluidrachm.
  Off Prep. Tinctura Aloes  et Myrrhae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.    W.
  TINCTURA NUCIS VOMICA. Dub.    Tincture of Nux Vo-
mica.
  "Take  of Nux  Vomica,  rasped,  two ounces;  Rectified  Spirit eight
ounces.   Macerate for seven  days, and filter." Dub.
  The tincture is not an eligible form for  administering  the nux  vomica, as
it is equally uncertain with  the  medicine in substance, and has the disad-
vantage of excessive bitterness.   The  alcoholic extract,  or strychnia is pre-
ferable.   The dose of the tincture is from five to twenty drops.   It is some-
times employed externally in  cases of local paralysis.                W.

  TINCTURA OLEI MENTHA PIPERITA. U S.   Tincture
of  Oil of Peppermint.   Essence of Peppermint.
  " Take of Oil of Peppermint, two  fluidounces ;  Alcohol a pint.  Dis-
solve the Oil in the Alcohol." U. S.
  This  is a very popular preparation, which has long been kept in the shops
under the  name of essence of peppermint, and  has  now for the first time
been introduced into  the  Pharmacopoeia.   It  affords  a very  convenient
method of hastily administering  a dose of the oil of peppermint, being of
such a strength that, when dropped on  loaf sugar, it may be taken without
inconvenience by the patient.  The dose is from  ten to twenty drops, which
may be given as just mentioned, or mixed with sweetened water.     W.
  TINCTURA OLEI  MENTHA VIRIDIS. U S.   Tincture of
Oil of  Spearmint.   Essence of Spearmint.
  " Take of Oil of Spearmint two fluidounces; Alcohol a pint.   Dissolve
the  Oil in the Alcohol."  U. S. 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1179
  The remarks made upon the preceding article are applicable also to the
present.  The dose  of the essence of spearmint is  from twenty to forty
drops.                                                          W.

  TINCTURA OPII.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Tincture of Opium.
Laudanum.
  " Take of Opium, in  powder, two ounces  and a half; Diluted  Alcohol
two pints.   Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper."
U. o.
  The process of the Dublin  College corresponds with the above.  The
London  College  takes three ounces  of  hard opium, in powder, and two
pints  (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen  days, and
filters.
  "Take of Opium, sliced, three ounces;  Rectified Spirit one pint and
seven fluidounces  [Imperial  measure]; Water thirteen fluidounces and  a
half.  Digest the  Opium in the Water at a temperature  near 212° for two
hours; break down the Opium with the hand: strain and express the infu-
sion ; macerate the residuum  in the Rectified  Spirit for about twenty-hours,
arid then strain and  express very strongly.   Mix the watery and spirituous
infusions, and filter.
  " This Tincture is not easily obtained by the process of percolation; but
when the Opium  is of fine quality,  it  may  be prepared  thus.  Slice the
Opium finely;  mix the Spirit and Water; let the Opium  macerate in four-
teen fluidounces of the  mixture for twelve hours, and then break it down
throroughly with the hand; pour the whole pulpy mass and fluid  into a per-
colator, and let the fluid part  pass through ; add the rest of the Spirit with-
out packing the Opium in the cylinder, and continue the  process of percola-
tion till two pints are obtained." Ed.
  The proportion of opium  in the several officinal  formulae is so nearly
the same tbat the resulting  tinctures may be considered identical.  The
apparent difference between  the formulae of  the London and Edinburgh
Colleges and ours  will vanish, when the relative value of the Imperial mea-
sure which  they employ and the wine measure of  our Pharmacopoeia is
estimated.   The  drying  and powdering of the opium,  directed in all the
Pharmacopoeias except the Edinburgh, is clearly a useful provision;  as  it
ensures greater uniformity in the strength  of the  tincture.   Crude opium
contains  very variable proportions of moisture;  and laudanum prepared
from  a moist specimen  will  obviously be much weaker than that from an
equal weight of the dried.  The  pulverization  ensures the previous drying
of the drug, and is thus useful  independently of the  greater facility which
it gives to  the action of  the  menstruum.  It is troublesome, however, and
is often neglected.   Innovation in so important a preparation, and  one in
whicli uniformity  of strength  is  so desirable, should  be avoided  unless
clearly shown to be  necessary.  For these reasons we object to the Edin-
burgh formula, and greatly prefer the old standard of the U.S., London,
and Dublin Pharmacopoeias.
  In the  United States and Great Britain, this tincture is universally  known
by the name of laudanum.  As this term was formerly applied to other
preparations of opium, and  still  continues to be  so on the Continent of
Europe, the tincture  is sometimes distinguished by  the  epithet  liquidum,
which, however, is seldom  used in this country.   Tinctura Thebaica is
another title by which the preparation is known.
  About  two-thirds of the opium used in the  preparation of the tincture are
dissolved, the residue consisting  chiefly of inert matter.  Allowing  the
opium to be wholly exhausted  of its  active principles, one grain would be 
1180
Tinctura.
PART II.
represented  by 12*8 minims, according  to the U.S. formula; but a small
quantity of morphia has been detected  in the  residuary matter, so that the
tincture is rather  weaker than the proportion of opium employed would
indicate.
  The  tincture of opium is used for all the purposes  to which  opium itself
is applied.  (See  Opium.)   The  dose, equivalent to a grain  of opium, is
about thirteen  minims, or twenty-five drops.   Mr. Phillips, in his transla-
tion of the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836, states that,  by  evaporating the
tincture, and also by determining the quantity of opium left undissolved, he
found the  preparation to contain one grain of opium in 19 minims;  and  this
quantity, therefore, is given as the dose equivalent  to  a grain of opium.
But this mode  of  calculation  is obviously fallacious; as the portion of the
drug dissolved  is much more  active than that left behind  by  the menstruum.
It should be recollected that a fluidrachm or teaspoonful of laudanum (sixty
minims), will afford, on an average, about one bundred  and twenty drops.
Laudanum, when long kept, with occasional exposure to the  air, becomes
thick, in consequence of the evaporation  of a portion of the  alcohol,  and
the deposition of opium.   If given in this state, it oftens  acts with unex-
pected energy; and cases of death have resulted in infants  from its use in
doses which would have been entirely safe if the tincture had been clear.
  Off.Prep. Enema  Opii, Lond., Ed., Dub.;  Linimentum  Opii, Lond.,
Dub.                                                           W.
  TINCTURA  OPII  ACETATA. U.S.   Acetated  Tincture of
Opium.
  " Take of Opium two ounces; Vinegar twelve fluidounces;  Alcohol half
a pint.   Rub  the Opium with the Vinegar;  then add the Alcohol,  and,
having macerated  for fourteen  days,  express, and filter through  paper."
U.. S.
  This  preparation was introduced into the second edition of our Pharma-
copaeia  as a substitute for the  Acetum Opii  or black drop of the original
work, the advantages of which it was supposed to possess, without being
liable to the  same  objection of uncertainty of  strength.   The Acetum Opii,
however, having maintained its standing in the estimation of the profession
and of the public, was restored, in the  last  edition of the  Pharmacopoeia,
to its officinal rank, but so modified as to ensure a preparation as uniform as
is consistent with the variable quality of the opium used.  (See page 776.)
At  the  same time  the formula for the acetated tincture was retained, as
affording a useful preparation of the drug.  It was originally employed by
Dr. Joseph Hartshorne, of Philadelphia.
  The  acetated tincture  of opium may often be advantageously used in
cases in which laudanum or  opium itself produces unpleasant effects, such
as nausea  and vomiting, intense headache,  great  nervous disorder, &c; but
the introduction of the salts  of morphia into use has in a great  measure
superseded the necessity of the  preparation.   The dose is ten minims, or
about twenty drops, equivalent to a grain of opium.                 W.

  TINCTURA  OPII  AMMONIATA. Ed.   Ammoniated Tinc-
ture of Opium.
  " Take of Benzoic Acid,  and  Saffron, chopped, of each, six drachms;
Opium, sliced,  half an ounce;  Oil of Anise a drachm;  Spirit of Ammonia
two pints [Imperial measure].  Digest for seven days, and then filter."  Ed.
  This tincture is used in  Scotland under the title of paregoric elixir, but
differs both in composition and strength  from  the preparation known by
that name in the  United States.   Some doubts have  been entertained whe-
ther it  contains morphia.   It  is  Well  known  that ammonia  precipitates 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1181
morphia from  its solutions; but a great excess of ammonia redissolves the
precipitate.  To decide the question, Mr. Gilbert, of Nottingham, submitted
several portions  of  the tincture to a chemical examination, and  was unable
to detect  morphia in them.  (Med. Exam., iv. 493,  from Ed. Med.  and
Surg. Journ.)   But we are not informed by the experimenter,  whether the
tincture was prepared, as directed by the College, with the Edinburgh spirit
of ammonia, which is a strong alcoholic solution of the caustic  alkali, or with
the London spirit, which is a comparatively feeble solution of carbonate  of
ammonia.  In the former case the ammonia, according to Dr.  Christison, is
in sufficient excess to hold  the morphia  in  solution.   At best, however, the
preparation is of doubtful propriety; as, if the ammoniacal spirit should not
happen to have the  due strength, or if the ammonia should escape orbecome
carbonated by  exposure, the strength of the tincture would be affected.   It
is employed in spasmodic complaints, such as hooping  cough and asthma.
Eighty minims should contain about a grain of opium.               W.
   TINCTURA  OPII CAMPHORATA.  U S,  Ed., Dub.  Tinc-
tura  Camphorae Composita. Lond.   Camphorated  Tincture  of
 Opium.   Paregoric Elixir.
   " Take of Opium, in powder, Benzoic Acid, each, a  drachm;  Oil of Anise
afluidrachm;  Clarified  Honey two  ounces; Camphor two scruples;  Diluted
Alcohol two pints.   Macerate for fourteen  days, and filter through  paper."
 U.S.
   The London  College takes fifty grains  of camphor, seventy-two grains
of powdered opium, the same quantity of benzoic acid, afluidrachm of oil
of anise, and two pints [Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and proceeds as
above.  The Dublin process agrees with  that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
omitting the honey, and employing a drachm instead  of afluidrachm of oil
of anise.   The  Edinburgh  College directs fifty grains  of  camphor, four
scruples of opium, four scruples of benzoic  acid, afluidrachm of oil of anise,
and two pints  [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit, and digests for a week.
   This is the  well-known paregoric elixir.  It is a very  pleasant anodyne
and antispasmodic, much used  to allay cough in chronic catarrh,  asthma,
consumption, pertussis, &c; to relieve nausea and slight pains  in the  stomach
and bowels; to check  diarrhoea; and, in  infantile  cases, to  procure sleep.
Half a fluidounce of the U.S., London, and Dublin tincture contains rather
less than a grain of opium; of the Edinburgh, about a grain. Liquorice, which
was directe°d in the  former U. S. Pharmacopoeia, has been omitted in the pre-
sent edition, in consequence  of giving to the preparation the  dark colour of
laudanum, and thus leading to mistake.  The dose for an infant is from five
to twenty drops, for an adult from one to two fluidrachms.*
   Off.Prep. Mistura Cascarillae Composita, Lond.                 W.

   * The following formula; have been adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
for the  preparation of the  two compound tinctures of  opium, so much  ust<I under the
names of Bateman's drops and Godfrey's cordial.  So long as these nostrums are em-
     i, it is important that they should be prepared in a uniform manner and ot a certain
            *            "*        -i      C     _!•_._ ■»_. I_ *U« r^i-.nn CD IIM1PI1 CO
was seven and a halt grains lo me pun, wmie in anomer n caocu.^ «..- ..-..-•--►.
It was in order to remedy this evil, that the College was  induced to adopt  the formulae

he«Balemant 'pectoral drops.  Take of Diluted Alcohol Cong, iv., Red Saunders rasped,
 ii.  Digest for twenty-four hours, filter, and add of Opium in powder §ij, Catecnu in
§ij-  Digest.. 
1182
Tinctura.
PART II.
   TINCTURA  QUASSIA.  U S, Ed., Dub.    Tincture of Quas-
sia.
   " Take of Quassia, rasped, two ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints.   Ma-
cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture  may also be prepared by  moistening  the  Quassia  tho-
roughly  with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours,
then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring
upon it  Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor  are  obtained."
U.S.
   The Edinburgh  College takes ten drachms of quassia,  and two pints
[Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and digests for a week ; the Dublin, an
ounce of quassia, and two pints of proof spirit, and macerates for a week.
   In the formula of  the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, the propor-
tion of the quassia to the menstruum was very judiciously doubled. A tonic
tincture can scarcely contain too large a proportion of the active ingredient.
The Edinburgh and Dublin preparations are much too feeble.
   This tincture may be employed  as an addition  to tonic infusions or mix-
tures, in the quantity of one or two fluidrachms at a dose.  It  is a pure and
intense bitter.                                                     W.

   TINCTURA   QUASSLE   COMPOSITA.  Ed.    Compound
Tincture of Quassia.
   "Take of Cardamom seeds, bruised, and Cochineal, bruised, of each, half
an ounce; Cinnamon, in moderately fine powder, and  Quassia in chips, of
each, six drachms ;  Raisins seven ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial
measure].   Digest for  seven days, strain  the  liquor, express  strongly the
residuum, and filter.  This tincture may also be obtained by percolation as
directed for compound tincture of cardamom, provided the Quassia be rasped
or in powder." Ed.
  This is tonic  and aromatic, and may be given in the dose of one or two
fluidrachms.                                                      W.

   TINCTURA  RHEI. U.S., Ed.   Tincture of Rhubarb.
   "Take of Rhubarb, bruised, three ounces;  Cardamom  [seeds], bruised,
half an ounce; Diluted Alcohol  two pints.   Macerate for fourteen days,
express,  and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture  may  also  be prepared by thoroughly moistening  the
Rhubarb and  Cardamom, in powder, with  Diluted Alcohol, allowing  them
to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to  an apparatus for
displacement, and  gradually pouring  upon them Diluted Alcohol  until  two
pints  of filtered liquor are obtained." U.S.
   The Edinburgh  College  takes  three ounces and a  half of rhubarb, in
moderately  fine powder,  half an ounce of bruised  cardamom seeds, and
two pints [Imperial measure]  of  proof spirit; and prepares  the tincture,
like that of cinchona, either by percolation or by digestion.           W.

powder gij., Camphor gij., Oil of Anise fjiv.  Digest for ten days."  This preparation is
about equal in strength to the Camphorated tincture of opium or paregoric elixir of the
U.S. Pharmacopoeia, containing about two grains of opium to the fluidounce.
  " Godfrey's cordial.  Take of Tincture of  Opium Oiss., Molasses (from the sugar re-
finers) Oxvj.,  Alcohol Oij., Water Oxxvj., Carbonate of Potassa .^iiss., Oil of SaHsafras
f3iv.  Dissolve the Carbonate of  Potassa in the Water, add  the Molasses, and heat over
a gentle fire till they simmer; take off the scum which rises,  and add the  Laudanum and
Oil of Sassafras, having previously mixed  them well together."  This preparation con-
tains the strength  of rather more than one grain of opium in  a fluidounce. (Journ. of
the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 26 and 27.) 
part ii.                      Tinctura.                         1183

  TINCTURA RHEI  COMPOSITA. Lond., Dub.   Compound
 Tincture of Rhubarb.
  " Take of Rhurbarb,  sliced,  two ounces and a half; Liquorice  Root,
bruised, six  drachms; Ginger, sliced, Saffron, each, three drachms;  Proof
Spirit two pints [Imperial  measure].   Macerate  for fourteen  days, and
filter."  Lond.
 t The  Dublin College employs two ounces of rhubarb, half an ounce  of
cardamom seeds, husked and bruised, half an ounce of bruised ginger, two
drachms of  saffron, and two pints of proof spirit;  and macerates for seven
days.                                                           \v.

   TINCTURA RHEI ET ALOES. U. S, Ed.   Tincture of Rhu-
 barb and Aloes.   Elixir Sacrum.   Sacred Elixir.
   " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, ten drachms; Aloes, in powder, six drachms;
 Cardamom [seeds], bruised, half an ounce ; Diluted Alcohol two pints.  Ma-
 cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper."  U. S.
   The Edinburgh College takes an ounce and  a half of rhubarb, in mode-
 rately fine powder, six drachms of Socotrine  or East India aloes, in mode-
 rately fine powder, five drachms of bruised cardamom seeds,  and two pints
 [Imperial measure] of proof spirit; mixes the dry materials, and proceeds
 as  for the tincture of cinchona.                                    W.
   TINCTURA RHEI ET GENTIANS. U. S, Ed.   Tincture of
 Rhubarb and Gentian.
   " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two ounces; Gentian, bruised, half an ounce;
 Diluted Alcohol two pints.   Macerate for fourteen  days, express, and filter
 through paper.
    " This Tincture may  also be  prepared by thoroughly moistening the
 Rhubarb and Gentian, in  powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to
 6tand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them  to an apparatus for dis-
 placement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints
 of filtered liquor are obtained."  U. S.
    The Edinburgh  College takes two ounces of rhubarb, in moderately fine
 powder, half an ounce of gentian, finely cut or in  coarse powder, and two
 pints [Imperial measure] of proof spirit;  mixes the powders, and proceeds
 as for tincture of cinchona.
    The above tinctures of  rhubarb are all in a greater or  less  degree  purga-
 tive, stomachic, and  tonic; but, except in low states of the system, or in
 cases of individuals accustomed to the use of ardent spirits, they are too
 feebly cathartic in proportion to their stimulant power, to be advantageously
 employed, unless  as  adjuvants  to other  medicines.   Combined with the
 neutral  salts  or other  laxatives, or with  tonic and stomachic  infusions,
 mixtures, &c, they serve to render  them warmer and more cordial to the
 stomach, and often prove beneficial in  flatulent colic, dyspepsia, the cos-
 tiveness of cold irritable  habits, diarrhoea, and other analogous complaints.
 One of them is to be preferred  to  another, according as its peculiar compo-
 sition may, in the  judgment of the practitioner, appear  to  adapt it to the
 circumstances of the case under treatment.  In low forms of fever, when
 the indication is to evacuate  the bowels, and at the same time stimulate the
 patient, the  simple tincture (Tinctura Rhei) may be very  advantageously
 used in doses of two or three  fluidrachms, repeated at proper intervals till
 it  operates.  The  ordinary dose of  these  tinctures, as purgatives, is from
 half a fluidounce to a fluidounce; as stomachics,  from one to two or three
 fluidrachms.                                                    W* 
1184
Tinctura.
PART II.
   TINCTURA RHEI ET SENNA. U. S.   Tincture of Rhubarb
and Senna.
   " Take of Rhubarb, bruised,  an ounce; Senna  two drachms; Coriander
[seeds], bruised,  Fennel-seed, bruised,  each, a  drachm; Red Saunders,
rasped, two  drachms ; Saffron, Liquorice [extract], each, half a drachm;
Raisins, deprived of their  seeds, half a pound;  Diluted  Alcohol three
pints.   Macerate for fourteen  days,  express, and  filter  through  paper."
U.S.
   This is the stomachic so well known, and so much used in this country,
under the name of Warner's gout cordial.   It is a feeble purgative, usually
very acceptable to the stomach, and well adapted  to cases of costiveness,
with gastric uneasiness, in persons of a gouty habit, and  accustomed to the
free use of wine or other  stimulant drink.   The  dose is from half a fluid-
ounce to two fluidounces.                                         W.
   TINCTURA SANGUINARIA. U S.  Tincture of Bloodroot.-
   " Take of Bloodroot, bruised, four ounces ; Diluted Alcoliol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   "This Tincture  may  also be  prepared  by thoroughly moistening  the
Bloodroot, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it  to stand for forty-
eight hours, then transferring it  to an apparatus for displacement, and gradu-
ally pouring  upon it Diluted Alcohol until  two pints of  filtered liquor  are
obtained." U. S.
   This will prove emetic  in the dose of three or four fluidrachms;  but it is
rather  intended to act as a stimulant  to the  stomach, or as an alterative, for
which purposes it  may be  given in the quantity  of from  thirty to sixty
drops.                                                          W.
   TINCTURA SAPONIS CAMPHORATA.  U. S.  Linimentum
Saponis. Lond., Ed., Dub.  Camphorated Tincture of Soap.
   "Take of  Soap [Castile soap], in  shavings, four ounces; Camphor two
ounces; Oil  of  Rosemary half a fluidounce; Alcohol two pints.   Digest
the Soap with the Alcohol by means of a water-bath till it is dissolved; then
filter, and add the Camphor and Oil." U. S.
   The  London and Dublin  Colleges take three ounces of soap, an ounce of
camphor, and a pint [sixteen  fluidounces, Lond.']  of spirit of rosemary.
The former  dissolves the camphor in the  spirit,  then adds the soap, and
macerates with a gentle heat till it is  dissolved; the latter  digests the soap in
the spirit till it is dissolved, and then adds the camphor.   The  Edinburgh
College takes five ounces of Castile soap, two  ounces and  a half of camphor,
six fluidrachms of oil of rosemary, and  two pints  [Imperial measure] of
rectified spirit; digests the soap in the spirit for three days, adds the cam-
phor and oil, and agitates briskly.
   It is necessary, in preparing this tincture, that the soap employed should
not have been made with animal oil, as otherwise the preparation  will  not
be fluid at ordinary temperatures.   The  soap indicated  by the U. S. Phar-
macopoeia  is that " prepared from  soda  and olive  oil,"  commonly called
Castile soap.  Even with  this,  the U. S. tincture  coagulates upon  cooling,
and requires the addition of a  portion of water  to  enable it  to retain tbe
liquid  form.   If made with hard old Castile soap, the tincture becomes a
solid upon  cooling, and requires a temperature  of 84°  to render it again
perfectly  fluid;  and the  least  proportion of water adequate to cause  the
preparation to remain fluid between 45° and 50° is one part, by measure, to
ten of the  alcohol.   Three  fluidounces of  water, added  to the quantity of
materials indicated in the formula, are sufficient to prevent the tincture from 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1185
coagulating at ordinary temperatures ; and  the same result may be obtained
by using alcohol of the sp.gr. 0*848  instead of the officinal.  The prepa-
ration has been  usually called soap liniment, a name  which more properly
belongs to the Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum of the Pharmacopoeia, or
common opodeldoc.
  The camphorated  tincture of soap is much used, as  an anodyne  and
gently rubefacient embrocation, in sprains,  bruises, and local rheumatic or
gouty pains.
  Off.Prep.  Linimentum Opii, I^ond., Dub.                      W.

  TINCTURA  SCILLA. U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.    Tincture of
Squill.
  " Take of  Squill four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints.   Macerate for
fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
  " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly  moistening the Squill,
in powder,  with  Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours,
then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring
upon  it Diluted  Alcohol, until two pints of filtered  liquor are obtained."
U. S.
  The London College takes five ounces of recently dried squill, and  two
pints  [Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days;
the Dublin, four ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and mace-
rates for seven days.  The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of coarsely
powdered squill, and two pints [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit; and proceeds
by percolation, as for the tincture of Peruvian bark, but without pressing the
pulp firmly in the percolator.  The College also allows the tincture to be
prepared by digestion from the sliced bulb.
  The tincture possesses all the virtues of  squill, and may be given for the
same  purposes,  whenever the spirituous menstruum  is not  objectionable.
The dose as an expectorant or diuretic is  from ten to twenty minims (twenty
to forty drops), and the latter quantity usually nauseates.            W.

  TINCTURA SENNA COMPOSITA. Lond., Dub.   Compound
Tincture of Senna.
  " Take of Senna three ounces and a half;  Caraway [seeds], bruised, three
drachms and a half; Cardamom, bruised, a drachm ;  Raisins, five ounces;
Proof Spirit  two pints [Imperial measure].  Macerate for fourteen days,
and filter."  Lond.
  The Dublin College takes a pound of  senna, an  ounce and a half of
caraway, half an ounce of cardamom seeds without  the  capsules, and a
gallon of proof spirit, and proceeds as above.
  This tincture is the elixir salutis of the old Pharmacopoeias.  It is a warm
cordial purgative, useful in costiveness attended with flatulence, and in atonic
gout, especially when occurring in intemperate persons.  It it also added to
cathartic  infusions  and mixtures.  The  dose is from  two  fluidrachms to a
fluidounce or more.                                              W.
  TINCTURA SENNA ET JALAPA.  U S.   Tinctura Sennje
Composita.  Ed.   Tincture of Senna and Jalap.
  "Take of  Senna three ounces; Jalap, in powder, an ounce; Coriander
[seeds],  bruised, Caraway [seeds],  bruised, each, half an ounce; Carda-
mom [seeds], bruised, two drachms; Sugar [refined']four ounces; Diluted
Alcohol threepints.   Macerate for fourteen days, express and filter through
paper.
  " This Tincture may also be prepared by beating well together the Senna,
Jalap, and  Aromatics,  moistening them  thoroughly with Diluted  Alcohol, 
1186
Tinctura.
PART II.
 allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an ap-
 paratus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol
 until three pints of filtered liquor are obtained."  U.S.
   " Take of Sugar two ounces and a half;  Coriander, bruised, one ounce;
 Jalap,  in moderately fine powder, six drachms;  Senna four ounces ;  Cara-
 way, bruised, and Cardamom seeds, bruised,  of each, five drachms; Raisins,
 bruised, four ounces;  Proof Spirit  two pints [Imperial measure].  Digest
 for seven days, strain the liquor, express strongly the residuum, and filter the
 liquids.  This  tincture may  be more conveniently  and  expeditiously pre-
 pared by percolation, as directed for the compound tincture of cardamom."
 Ed.
   This is another form of the elixir salutis, and scarcely differs from the
 preceding in virtues.   It is given for the same  purposes, and in the same
 doses.                                                            W.

   TINCTURA SERPENTARIA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Tinc-
 ture of Virginia Snakeroot.
   "Take of Virginia  Snakeroot, bruised, three ounces;  Diluted Alcohol
 two pints.   Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Vir-
 ginia Snakeroot, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for
 twenty-four hours ; then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and
 gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints  of filtered liquor
 are obtained."  U. S.
   The London College takes three  ounces and a half of the root, and two
pints [Imperial measure] of proof spirit, and macerates  for  fourteen days;
 the Dublin, three ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and  mace-
 rates for seven days ;  the Edinburgh, three  ounces and a half of the  root,
 in moderately fine powder, a drachm of bruised cochineal,  and two pints
 [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit, and proceeds either by percolation or digestion
 as for  the tincture of Peruvian bark.
   This tincture possesses the tonic  and cordial properties of the root, and
 may be advantageously added to the infusion of Peruvian bark in low states
 of the system.  The dose is one or two fluidrachms.               W.

   TINCTURA STRAMONII.  U.  S.   Tincture of  Stramonium.
   "Take of Stramonium Seed, bruised,four ounces;  Diluted Alcohol two
pints.  Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Stra-
 monium Seed,  in powder,  with  Diluted  Alcohol, allowing  it to  stand for
 forty-eight hours, then  transferring  it to an apparatus for displacement, and
 gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints  of filtered liquor
 are obtained."  U. S.
   This tincture may be  used for all the purposes for  which stramonium is
 given,  in the dose of from ten to  twenty minims (twenty to forty drops),
 repeated twice  or  thrice a day, and gradually increased  till  it obviously
 affects the system.                                                W.

   TINCTURA  TOLUTANI. U S.   Tinctura  Tolutana. Ed.
 Tinctura Balsami Tolutani. Lond., Dub.   Tincture  of Tolu.
   " Take of Balsam of Tolu three  ounces;  Alcohol two pints.   Macerate
 until the Balsam is dissolved ; then filter through paper."  U. S.
   The  London College  employs two  ounces of the  balsam to  tivo pints
 [Imperial measure] of rectified spirit; the Edinburgh, three ounces  and a
 half of the balsam to two pints [Imp. meas.] of rectified spirit;  the Dublin
 an ounce to a pint. 
PART II.
Tinctura.
1187
  The tincture of tolu has the properties of  the  balsam, and may be  em-
ployed as an addition to expectorant mixtures in chronic catarrhal affections ;
but the proportion of alcohol is too large to allow of its advantageous use in
ordinary cases.   The dose is one or two fluidrachms.   In smaller quantities
it is often employed to flavour cough mixtures.  It is decomposed by water.
  Off. Prep.  Syrupus Tolutani, U. S.,  Ed., Dub.;  Trochisci  Morphiae,
Ed.; Trochisci Morphiae et Ipecacuanhas, Ed.; Trochisci Opii, Ed.   W.
  TINCTURA VALERIANA. U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Tinc-
ture of Valerian.
  "Take  of Valerian, bruised, four  ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints.
Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through  paper.
  " This Tincture  may also  be prepared by  thoroughly  moistening  the
Valerian, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-
four hours, then transferring it to an  apparatus for displacement, and  gra-
dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are
obtained."  U.S.
  The London College takes five ounces of bruised valerian, and  two pints
[Imperial  measure] of proof spirit, and  macerates for fourteen days;  the
Dublin, four ounces of the powdered root, and two pints of proof spirit, and
macerates for seven days ; the Edinburgh, five ounces of the former and two
pints [Imp. meas.] of the latter, and proceeds by percolation or digestion as
for the tincture  of Peruvian bark.
   This tincture possesses the properties of valerian, but cannot be given in
ordinary cases,  so as  to produce  the full effects of the root, without  stimu-
lating too  highly in  consequence of the large proportion  of  spirit.   The
dose is from one to four fluidrachms.                               W.
   TINCTURA VALERIANA  AMMONIATA. U.S., Ed., Dub.
Tinctura Valerianae Composita. Lond.   Ammoniated  Tincture
of Valerian.
   "Take  of Valerian, bruised,four ounces;  Aromatic Spirit  of  Ammonia
two pints.   Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper.
   " This Tincture may  also  be prepared by  thoroughly  moistening  the
Valerian, in powder, with Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia, allowing  it to stand
for twenty-four hours in a covered vessel, then transferring it to an apparatus
for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia
until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S.
   The London College takes five ounces of bruised valerian, and two pints
[Imperial measure] of aromatic spirit of ammonia, and macerates for fourteen
days, the Dublin, tivo ounces of the powdered root, and a pint of spirit of
ammonia, and macerates for seven days ;  the Edinburgh, five ounces of va-
lerian, and  two pints  [Imp. meas. J of spirit of ammonia, and proceeds either
by percolation, or by digestion in a well-closed vessel, as directed for tincture
of Peruvian bark.
   The ammonia in this  preparation is thought to  assist the solvent powers
of the alcohol, while it co-operates with the valerian in medical  action.  The
tincture is  employed as an antispasmodic in hysteria  and other nervous
affections.   The  dose is one  or two fluidrachms, and should be given in
sweetened  water, milk, or some mucilaginous fluid.                W.
   TINCTURA ZINGIBERIS. U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.    Tincture
of Ginger.
   " Take  of Ginger, bruised,  eight ounces;  Alcohol two pints.  Macerate
for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. 
1188
Tinctura.— Trochisci.
PART II.
   " This Tincture may  also be  prepared  by thoroughly  moistening the
 Ginger,  in powder, with  Diluted  Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-
 four hours, then transferring it  to an  apparatus for displacement, and gra-
 dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two  pints of filtered liquor are
 obtained." U.S.
   The London  College takes two ounces and a half of sliced ginger, and
 two pints [Imperial measure] of rectified spirit, and macerates for fourteen
 days ;  the Dublin, two ounces and a half of coarsely powdered ginger, and
 two pints of rectified spirit, and  macerates for seven days; the Edinburgh,
 two ounces and  a  half of coarsely  powdered ginger,  and two pints [Imp.
 meas.] of rectified spirit, and proceeds either by percolation or digestion, as
 for tincture of Peruvian bark.
   The tinctures of the British Colleges are too weak with ginger to be  used
 advantageously for  any other purpose  than merely  to impart flavour.   We
 greatly prefer the process of the U.  S. Pharmacopoeia, which yields a pre-
 paration  in which the virtues of the ginger are not completely swallowed up
 in the  menstruum.   In consequence of the mucilaginous matter contained
 in ginger, the tincture made with diluted alcohol, or proof spirit, is apt to be
 turbid.   Alcohol or rectified spirit is,  therefore, properly preferred.  Good
 Jamaica  ginger should be used.
   The tincture of ginger  is a useful  carminative, and may often  be benefi-
 cially added to tonic and purgative infusions or mixtures, in debilitated states
 of the alimentary canal.   It is,  however, in this country, chiefly used for
 the preparation  of  syrup  of ginger, for whicli  purpose it  is necessary to
 employ the strong tincture of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
   Off. Prep. Syrupus Zingiberis,  U. S.                            W.

                           trochisci.;

                               Troches.

   Troches or lozenges are small, dry, solid masses, usually of  a flattened
 shape, consisting of powders incorporated with  sugar and mucilage.  They
 are designed  to be held in  the mouth, and dissolved slowly in the saliva, and
 are, therefore, adapted for  the administration of  those medicines only which
 do not require to  be given in very large quantities,  and are destitute of any
 very disagreeable flavour.   They are much more used, and more  skillfully
 prepared, in  Europe than in  this country.  Tragacanth, from the greater
 tenacity of its mucilage, is better suited for their formation than gum Arabic.
 The following directions for preparing them are  taken from the Dictionnaire
 des Drogues.  A mucilage of  tragacanth is first prepared with cold water
 and strained. With  this the powders, including sugar, are thoroughly mixed
 by rubbing upon a marble  slab,  and  are  thus formed into a  paste, which is
 spread out by means of a roller upon the surface of the marble,  previously
 powdered over with a mixture of sugar and starch.  The thickness of the
 extended mass is rendered  uniform by a frame upon which the ends of the
 roller are placed.  The upper surface is now covered with a thin layer of
 sugar and starch, and the  mass  is divided  into small cakes of a particular
 shape by means of a punch.  These  cakes are placed upon paper, and,  hav-
 ing been  exposed to the air for twelve hours, are carried into a drying room
 moderately heated.  When  perfectly dry they are  thrown upon  a sieve to
separate the sugar and starch, and are then enclosed  in bottles.  In this  way
lozenges  may be prepared from  almost any medicine which the  physician
 may deem it advisable to  administer in that form.   The following formula 
PART II.
Trochisci.
1189
will serve as a guide.  Take  of citric acid, in powder, a drachm;  refined
sugar eight ounces ;  oil of lemons twelve minims; mucilage of tragacanth a
sufficient quantity.  Form them in the manner above directed into troches of
twelve grains each.   A species of lozenge is made by uniting the aromatic
essential oils with sugar  alone; but their preparation belongs to the confec-
tioner rather  than to the apothecary.   The  London and Dublin Pharmaco-
poeias have omitted  troches altogether.                            W.
   TROCHISCI ACACIA. Ed.    Troches of Gum Arabic.
   "Take  of Gum Arabic four ounces; Starch one ounce; Pure Sugar one
pound.  Mix and pulverize them, and  make them into a proper  mass with
rose-water for forming lozenges." Ed.
   These  are useful in allaying the irritation  of the fauces  which excites
coughing,  and may be employed at pleasure.                       W.

   TROCHISCI ACIDI TARTARICI. Ed.   Troches  of  Tartaric
Acid.
   " Take  of Tartaric Acid two drachms ; Pure Sugar eight ounces ; Volatile
Oil of Lemons ten  minims.   Pulverize  the Sugar and Acid, add  the Oil,
mix them thoroughly, and with Mucilage beat them into a proper mass for
making lozenges." Ed.
   These may be used as an  agreeable refrigerant and demulcent in slight
colds and fevers ; but in large quantities they are apt to derange the stomach.
                                                               W.
   TROCHISCI CRETA.  U S, Ed.   Troches of Chalk.
   "Take  of Prepared Chalk four ounces; Gum Arabic, in powder, an
ounce;  Nutmeg,  in  powder,  a drachm; Sugar,  in  powder, six ounces.
Rub them  together  until they  are intimately mixed; then with water form
them into  a  mass, to be divided into Troches, each weighing ten grains."
 U.S.
   The Edinburgh College uses the same  ingredients in the same proportion,
and beats them with a little water into a proper  mass for making lozenges.
   These are used as a gently astringent antacid in  diarrhoea.         W.

   TROCHISCI GLYCYRRHIZA.^^.  Troches of Liquorice.
   " Take  of Extract of Liquorice [Liquorice,  U. S.],  and Gum Arabic, of
each, six ounces; Pure Sugar one pound.   Dissolve them in a sufficiency
of boiling water;  and then concentrate the solution over the vapour-bath to  a
proper consistence for making lozenges." Ed.
   These lozenges are useful in allaying cough,  but have been  superseded in
great measure by refined liquorice.                                 W.
   TROCHISCI GLYCYRRHIZA  ET  OPII.  U.S.   Trochisci
Opii. Ed.   Troches of Liquorice and Opium.
   "Take of Opium, in powder, half an ounce; Liquorice in powder,  Sugar
in powder, Gum  Arabic, in powder, each, ten ounces; Oil of Anise two flui-
drachms.  Mix the powders intimately ; then add the Oil of Anise, and with
water form them  into a mass, to be divided into Troches each weighing six
grains." U. S.
   "Take  of Opium two drachms;  Tincture of Tolu half an ounce; Pure
Sugar, in fine powder, six ounces; Powder of Gum Arabic, and Extract of
Liquorice  [Liquorice, U. S.],  of each^ue ounces.  Reduce the  Opium to
a fluid extract by formula [page 947 U. S. Dispensatory];  mix it intimately
with the Liquorice previously reduced to the consistence of treacle;  add the
Tincture;  sprinkle the Gum and Sugar into the mixture, and  beat it into a
proper mass, which  is to be divided into lozenges of ten grains." Ed.
    101 
1190
Trochisci.
PART II.
   The U. S. formula is more easy of execution than the Edinburgh, and
 affords a product probably not inferior.  A  preparation equivalent to  the
 above  is much used in Philadelphia under  the name of Wistafs cough
 lozenges.
   These troches are demulcent and anodyne, and are very useful in allaying
 cough, when the state of the case admits the employment of opium, of which
 each of them, prepared  according to the U. S. formula, contains about one-
 tenth of a grain.                                                W.

   TROCHISCI IPECACUANHA. U.S.  Troches of Ipecacuanha.
   "Take of Ipecacuanha,  in powder,  half an ounce;  Sugar, in powder,
fourteen ounces;  Arrow-root, in powder, four ounces ; Mucilage  of Traga-
 canth a sufficient quantity.  Mix the  powders intimately, and with  the
 Mucilage form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches each weighing
 ten grains." U. S.
   These are useful expectorant  lozenges in  catarrhal complaints.  Each of
 them contains about one-quarter of a grain of ipecacuanha.           W.

   TROCHISCI LACTUCARIL Ed.  Troches of Lactucarium.
   " To be  prepared with Lactucarium in the same proportion and in  the
 same manner as the  Opium Lozenge." Ed.
   This is a  very feeble preparation, and scarcely deserves the officinal rank
 which has been given to it.   Each lozenge contains only between the fifth
 and sixth of a grain of lactucarium.                               W.

   TROCHISCI MAGNESIA. U. S, Ed.  Troches of Magnesia.
   " Take of Magnesia/owr ounces; Sugar a pound;  Nutmeg, in powder,
 a drachm;  Mucilage of Tragacanth a  sufficient quantity.   Rub the Mag-
 nesia, Sugar, and  Nutmeg  together until they are thoroughly mixed; then
 with the Mucilage form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches each
 weighing ten grains." U. S.
   "Take of Carbonate of Magnesia six ounces; Pure Sugar three ounces;
 Nutmeg one scruple.   Pulverize  them, and with Mucilage of Tragacanth
 beat them into a proper mass for making lozenges." Ed.
   These  are useful in acidity  of stomach, especially when attended with
 constipation.                                                   \V.

   TROCHISCI MENTHA PIPERITA. U. S.   Troches of Pep-
permint.
   " Take of Oil of Peppermint afluidrachm; Sugar, in powder, a pound;
 Mucilage of Tragacanth a sufficient quantity.  Rub the Oil of Peppermint
 with the Sugar until they are  thoroughly mixed;  then  with the Mucilage
 form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches each weio-hing- ten grains."
 U.S.                                               °        &
   Useful in slight gastric  or intestinal pains, nausea, and flatulence; but
 employed more for their agreeable flavour than for their medicinal effects.
   TROCHISCI MORPHIA. Ed.   Troches of Morphia.
   "Take  of Muriate of Morphia one  scruple; Tincture of Tolu  half an
 ounce; Pure Sugar twenty-five  ounces.  Dissolve the Muriate of Morphia
 in a little hot water;  mix it and the Tincture of Tolu  with the Sugar; and
 with a sufficiency of Mucilage form a  proper mass for making  lozenges;
 each of which should weigh about fifteen grains." Ed.
   Useful for alleviating cough, and for other purposes which are answered
 by minute doses of morphia, of the muriate of which each lozenge contains
 about one-fortieth of a grain.                                     \y. 
PART II.
Trochisci.— Unguenta.
1191
  TROCHISCI MORPHIA ET IPECACUANHA. Ed.  Troches
of Morphia and Ipecacuanha.
  "Take of Muriate of Morphia  one scruple; Ipecacuan, in  fine powder,
one drachm ;  Tincture of Tolu half a fluidounce ; Pure Sugar twenty-five
ounces.   Dissolve the Muriate in a little hot water; mix it with the Tincture
and the  Ipecacuan  and  Sugar; and with  a sufficiency of Mucilage beat
the whole into a proper mass, which is to be divided  into  fifteen grain  lo-
zenges." Ed.
  Expectorant and  anodyne, useful especially in allaying cough.   Each
lozenge contains  about one-fortieth of a  grain of muriate  of  morphia, and
three times as much ipecacuanha.                                 W.
   TROCHISCI SODA BICARBONATIS. Ed.   Troches of Bicar-
bonate of Soda.
   "Take of  Bicarbonate of Soda one ounce; Pure Sugar three ounces;
Gum Arabic half an ounce.   Pulverize them, and with mucilage beat them
into a proper mass for making lozenges."  Ed.
   Antacid and antilithic, useful in heartburn and uric acid gravel.     W.

                          UNGUENTA.

                            Ointments.

   These are fatty substances, softer than cerates, of a consistence  resem-
bling that of  butter, and such that they may be readily applied to the  skin
by inunction.  Many of them become rancid when long  kept, and should,
therefore, be prepared in small quantities at a time, or only when wanted for
use.                                                           W.
   UNGUENTUM  ACIDI  NITRICI. Dub.  Ointment  of  Nitric
Acid.
   " Take of Olive Oil a pound;  Prepared Lard four  ounces ;  Nitric Acid
five and a half fluidrachms.   Melt the Oil  and Lard together  in  a glass
 vessel, and when they begin to  congeal,  add the Acid, and stir the  mixture
 constantly with a glass rod till it stiffens."  Dub.
   The  Acid is  partially  decomposed,  evolving  nitric oxide,  and  giving
 oxygen  to the fatty matter,  which becomes  yellow,  and assumes  a firm
 consistence  upon  cooling.  A  similar ointment, prepared with lard  and
 nitric acid, was originally^employed by Alyon, under whose name it is  still
 known on the continent "of Europe.  It was formerly one of the  Edinburgh
 officinals, but was discarded at the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia.    It
 was used as an application to syphilitic ulcers, and eruptive affections,  par-
 ticularly psora and the different forms of porrigo; but it has been super-
 seded by the ointment of nitrate of mercury, which is more efficient.  The
 present Dublin Ointment possesses the same properties, and is used for the
 same purposes.
   UNGUENTUM  ACIDI  SULPHURICI. Dub.   Ointment of
 Sulphuric Acid.
   "Take  of Sulphuric Acid a drachm;  Prepared  Lard an  ounce.   Mix
 them."  Dub.
   In this process  the acid is partly converted into sulphurous  acid which
 escapes, and a portion of the lard is charred.  The ointment was a favourite
 application with Dr. Duncan., Sen., in scabies, and we have  found it effec-
 tual in  the same complaint; but it should be diluted with an equal weight  of 
 1192                         Unguenta.                      part ii.

 lard.   Thus  diluted, it may also  be  used with advantage in  other eruptive
 affections, particularly ring-worm; and still weaker, has been used in rheu-
 matism and neuralgia.                                           W.

   UNGUENTUM  ANTIMONII.  US.   Unguentum  Antimo-
 niale. Ed.   Unguentum Antimonii Potassio-Tartratis. Lond.
 Unguentum  Tartari  Emetici. Dub.   Antimonial  Ointment:
 Tartar Emetic Ointment.
   " Take of Tartrate of Antimony  and  Potassa, in very fine powder, two
 drachms; Lard an ounce.   Mix them."  U.S.
   The London and Edinburgh Colleges mix an ounce of tartar emetic and
four ounces of lard ;  the Dublin, a drachm of the former and an  ounce of
 the latter.
   This may be more conveniently prepared with simple ointment,  as lard is
 too soft to be spread on linen, and simple ointment is sufficiently so to be
 applied by inunction.
   The peculiar eruptive effect of tartar emetic may be procured in various
 ways,  either by  means of a strong solution, or of the powder sprinkled
 upon the surface of some adhesive  plaster,  or  of the  ointment  as above
 directed.  The last  method is,  perhaps, the most convenient,  and most
 generally resorted to.   The proportion of tartar emetic may vary from one
 drachm with the ounce of lard, as in the Dublin formula, to two drachms,
 as in the other officinal formulae, or even to  three drachms when a speedy
 effect is required, or the skin is not very  susceptible to its action.  A small
 portion of the ointment may be rubbed twice  a  day, or more  frequently,
 upon the surface to be affected, or it  may be  applied spread upon a piece of
 linen.   Care  should be taken that the cuticle be entire, and that the applica-
 tion be not too long continued, as otherwise very severe  inflammation, and
 even  gangrenous ulceration,  may result.   We  have,  however, in some
 instances of great urgency, applied the ointment to a surface recently scari-
 fied in the operation of cupping; but, under  such circumstances,  it  should
 be used with much caution.                                       W.

   UNGUENTUM  AQUA   ROSA. U.S.   Ointment  of  Rose
 Water.
   "Take of Rose Water, Oil of Almonds, each, two fluidounces ; Sperma-
 ceti half an  ounce; White Wax a drachm.   Melt together, by means of a
 water-bath, the Oil, Spermaceti, and  Wax; then add  the Rose Water, and
 stir the mixture constantly until it is  cold." U. S.
   This preparation is much employed under  the name of cold cream.  It
 is a white, very soft, and elegant unguent, deriving a grateful odour from
 the rose  water, which  remains incorporated with the  other constituents if
 kept enclosed in glazed vessels.  It is  a pleasant, cooling application to
 irritated and excoriated surfaces ;  and may be used with great advantage for
 chapped lips and hands, so frequent in cold weather.                W.
   UNGUENTUM CANTHARIDIS. U. S., Lond., Dub. Unguen-
 tum Infusi  Cantharidis. Ed.   Ointment of Spanish Flies.
   " Take of Spanish Flies, in powder [very fine powder, Dub.], two ounces;
 Distilled Water half a pint; Resin  Cerate  eight ounces.   Boil down the
 Water with the Spanish Flies to  one-half, and strain ;  then mix the  Cerate
 with the strained liquor, and evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S.,
 Dub.
   The London College takes an ounce of the flies,  in  very fine powder, 
PART II.
Unguenta.
1193
four fluidounces of distilled water, and four ounces of resin cerate, and pro-
 ceeds as above.
   " Take of Cantharides, in moderately fine powder, Resin, and Bees'-wax,
 of each, one ounce; Venice  Turpentine, and Axunge [Lard], of  each, two
 ounces; boiling  Water five  fluidounces.  Infuse the  Cantharides in the
 Water for one night, squeeze strongly, and filter the expressed liquid.  Add
 the Axunge, and boil  till the water is dispersed.   Then add the  Wax and
 Resin;  and when these have become liquid, remove the vessel from the fire,
 add the Turpentine, and  mix the  whole thoroughly." Ed.
   By these processes,  the active matter of the flies is more uniformly diffused
 through the ointment,  than when  they are directly incorporated, in the state
 of powder, with the other ingredients.   The preparation is thus better calcu-
 lated to meet the end  proposed of maintaining the discharge  from blistered
 surfaces, without producing undue irritation. It has been said that the virtues
 of the flies  are impaired  by the boiling; but experience has proved the con-
 trary.  The Edinburgh College,  by ordering  merely an infusion of the flies,
 and a subsequent boiling down of the filtered  infusion, loses  any  advantage
 which  decoction may have in extracting  the virtues of the flies,  without
 avoiding whatever disadvantage may  accrue from the heat.  It is necessary,
 in the U. S., London,  and Dublin  processes, after the strained decoction and
 cerate have been mixed, to stir constantly during the continuance of  the evapo-
 ration,  in order to prevent the former  from sinking to the bottom.  It should
 be recollected, that this ointment  is intended as a dressing for  blisters, not to
 produce vesication.  The Edinburgh  ointment differs from the others in con-
 taining Venice turpentine, which  renders it more stimulating.  Dupuytren
 employed, as a local application to prevent the loss of hair, an  ointment made
 by macerating a drachm  of flies in a fluidounce of alcohol, and  incorporating
 one part of the tincture thus formed with nine parts of lard. $         W.
   UNGUENTUM  CANTHARIDIS. Ed.  Ceratum Cantharidis.
 Lond.   Ointment of the  Powder of Spanish Flies.
   "Take  of Resinous Ointment seven ounces;  Cantharides, in very fine
 powder, one ounce.   Melt the Ointment; sprinkle  into it the Cantharides
 powder, and stir the mixture briskly  as it concretes on cooling." Ed.
   " 'Take  of Spanish Flies,  in  very fine powder,  an  ounce ; Spermaceti
 Cerate   six ounces.  To the  Cerate softened  by heat, add  the  Flies, and
 mix." Lond.
   This ointment, like the two preceding, is  intended as a dressing  for blis-
 tered surfaces, with a view to maintain the discharge.   The  flies should be
 very finely powdered, in order that  they may be diffused as uniformly as
 possible through the mass.   It is unfortunate that the term ceratum cantha-
 ridis has been conferred upon this preparation by the London College; as
 tha same name is properly employed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia  to express
 the preparation of flies intended  to be used as a vesicatory.   None of these
 ointments can be used in individuals liable  to strangury from the  external
 application of cantharides.                                         " ■
   UNGUENTUM  CETACEI. Lond.   Spermaceti Ointment.
   "Take  of Spermaceti six drachms; White Wax two drachms;  Olive
 Oil three fluidounces.  Melt them together  over a  slow fire, and stir them
 constantly until cold." Lond.
   This ointment  is employed as a mild dressing for blisters, wounds, and
 excoriated surfaces.   It  should be made in small quantities at a time, as it is
 apt to become rancid when long  kept.                              W.
  *                               101* 
1194
Unguenta.
PART II.
   UNGUENTUM COCCULL Ed.   Ointment of Cocculus In-
 dicus.
   " Take any convenient  quantity of Cocculus Indicus, separate and pre-
 serve the kernels, beat them well in a mortar, first  alone and then with a
 little Axunge [Lard] ; and then add Axunge till it amounts altogether to five
 times the weight of the kernels." Ed.
   This ointment is used  for the destruction of vermin, and in the cure of
 scabies  and ringworm of the scalp.  In the latter complaint it was  found
 very useful by the late Dr. Hamilton, Sen., of Edinburgh.           W.
   UNGUENTUM CONII. Dub.   Ointment of Hemlock.
   " Take of fresh Hemlock Leaves, Prepared Lard, each, two pounds.
 Boil  the Leaves  in the  Lard  till  they become crisp, and  then  express
 through linen." Dub.
   This ointment has been used as an anodyne application to irritable piles,
 painful  glandular swellings and  scirrhous  tumours,  and to  cancerous and
 other painful ulcers; but there is reason to believe  that the virtues of the
 hemlock are impaired  by the heat necessary in its preparation.   An oint-
 ment prepared by mixing good extract of hemlock with lard would probably
 be more  efficient.                                               W.

   UNGUENTUM CREASOTI. U S, Lond.,  Ed.    Ointment of
 Creasote.
   " Take of Creasote half a fluidrachm;  Lard an ounce.  Add  the  Crea-
 sote to  the Lard  previously melted with  a moderate heat, and stir them
 constantly till they are cold." U. S.
   The London College mixes half afluidrachm of  creasote and an ounce
 of layi.   The Edinburgh College takes a drachm  of creasote  and three
 ounces of lard, and proceeds as above directed.
   For the use of this ointment see Creasotum, in the first part of this work.
 It may sometimes  be advantageously diluted with lard when found to irri-
gate.                                                           W.
   UNGUENTUM CUPRI SUBACETATIS. U.S.,Dub.  Unguen-
 tum Aruginis. Ed.   Ointment of Subacetate of Copper.
   " Take of Subacetate of  Copper, in fine  powder, a drachm; Simple
 Ointment^eerc drachms.  Add the Subacetate of Copper to the Ointment
 previously melted with  a moderate heat, and stir them constantly till they
 are cold." U.S.
   "Take of Resinous Ointment fifteen ounces; Verdigris, in fine powder,
 one ounce.   Melt the Ointment,  sprinkle  into it  the  powder of  Verdigris,
 and stir the mixture briskly as it cools and concretes." Ed.
   " Take of Prepared  Subacetate of Copper half an ounce; Olive Oil an
 ounce; Ointment of White Resin [resin cerate] a pound.  Rub the. gub-
fccetate with the Oil; then add them to the Ointment previously melted, and
 mix." Dub.
   This  ointment is employed as a mild escharotic in fungous granulations,
 and, more or less  diluted with lard, as a stimulating  application to foul and
 flabby ulcers, scrofulous ulcerations of the  edges  of  the eyelids, disease of
 the external  meatus of the ear with purulent discharge, to warts and corns,
 and to certain cutaneous eruptions, particularly that form of porrigo denomi-
 nated ringworm of the  scalp.                                     W.

   UNGUENTUM ELEMI.  Lond., Dub.   Ointment of  Elemi.
   " Take of Elemi a pound; Common Turpentine  ten ounces; Suet two
pounds; Olive  Oil two fluidounces.   Melt the Elemi with the Suet, and, 
PART II.
Unguenta.
1195
having removed them from the fire, immediately mix with them the Turpen-
tine and Oil, and express through linen." Lond.
  " Take of Resin of Elemi a pound; White Wax half a pound; Prepared
Lard four pounds.  Make an ointment, and strain it through a sieve while
hot." Dub.
  This ointment is applied as a gentle stimulant to weak ulcers, and may be
used for maintaining the discharge of issues and setons. It is the linimentum
arcsei of the older pharmacy.                                   W.
   UNGUENTUM   GALL A.  U. S.    Unguentum  Gallarum.
Dub.   Ointment  of Galls.
  "Take of Galls, in  powder [very fine powder, Dub.], an ounce; Lard
seven ounces [eight  ounces, Dub.].  Mix them." U. S., Dub.
  This is used chiefly in piles and prolapsus ani, though it may also be ad-
vantageously applied to flabby and indolent  ulcers.                 W.
   UNGUENTUM  GALLA COMPOSITUM. Lond.   Unguen-
tum GalljE et Opii. Ed.    Compound Ointment of Galls.
   " Take  of Galls,  in very fine  powder, two drachms ; Lard two ounces;
 Hard Opium, in powder, half a  drachm.   Mix them."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh  College takes two drachms of galls,  a drachm of opium,
 and an ounce of lard, and rubs them together into a uniform mass.
   This combination of galls and opium is sometimes employed, preferably
 to the simple gall  ointment, in cases of irritable piles.   From half a drachm
 to a drachm of camphor is sometimes added to the London ointment.  W.
   UNGUENTUM  HYDRARGYRI.  U.S., Ed., Dub.  Unguen-
 tum Hydrargyri Fortius. Lond.   Mercurial Ointment.   Strong
 Mercurial Ointment.
   " Take of Mercury two pounds; Lard twenty-three ounces; Suet an ounce.
 Rub the Mercury with the  Suet and a small portion of the  Lard until the
 globules disappear;  then add the remainder of the Lard, and mix."  U.S.,
 Lond.
   "Take of Mercury two pounds;  Axunge [Lard] twenty-three ounces;
 Suet one  ounce.  Triturate the Mercury with the Suet and a little  of the
 Axunge till globules are no longer visible;  then add the rest of  the Axunge,
 and mix the whole  thoroughly.  This ointment is not well prepared so long
 as metallic globules may be  seen in it with a magnifier of four powers. The
 Mercurial  Ointment with the proportions here directed may be  diluted  at
 pleasure with twice or thrice its weight of axunge." Ed.
    " Take of Purified Mercury, prepared Lard, equal weights.  Rub them
 together in a marble or iron  mortar, till the globules of  mercury disappear.

    Off Prep.  Ceratum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond.;  Linimentum Hy-
 drargyri Comp.,  Lond.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Mitius. Lond.
    UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI MITIUS. Lond., Dub.   Mild
 Mercurial Ointment.
    " Take of Strong Mercurial Ointment a pound; Lard two pounds.   Mix

    Trie Dublin College prepares this ointment with twice the quantity of lard
 used in the preparation of the stronger ointment.
    The U  S. Pharmacopoeia directs  only one mercurial  ointment,  wmcn
 accords in strength with the strongest ointment of the London and Dublin
 Colleges, containing equal weights of mercury and fatty matter.  When the 
1196
Unguenta.
PART II.
physician wishes a weaker preparation, he may direct  the  ointment  to be
diluted with such a proportion of lard as may answer his purposes.   The
Edinburgh College, in allowing dilution of the ointment in certain fixed pro-
portions,  should  have given names,  by which these weaker preparations
might be  designated.   The milder ointment of the London College contains
one  part  of mercury to five of fat, that of the Dublin College,  one  of the
former to two of the latter.  If the apothecary keeps a milder preparation
in his shop, it should be that of the London College, which, from  the smaller
proportion of mercury, is  preferable  to that of the  Dublin College for the
purposes to which the milder ointment is usually applied.   It should always
be understood that the stronger ointment is intended by the physician, unless
the contrary is expressly stated.
   In the preparation  of mercurial ointment, care is  requisite that the  mer-
cury should be completely extinguished.  The trituration is best performed
in a  marble mortar, as it is difficult to keep iron so  clean as not to impart
more or less oxide to the  ointment.  The mercury  is known to be extin-
guished, when a portion of the mass,  rubbed upon paper or the back  of the
hand, exhibits no metallic globules under a magnifying glass of four powers.
The operation cannot be considered as satisfactorily accomplished when the
globules are invisible merely to the naked eye.  To facilitate the process,
which is very tedious, the addition of various substances has been proposed,
calculated to hasten the disappearance of the metal. Turpentine and sulphur
have been employed for this purpose, but are both inadmissible, the former
because it renders the ointment too irritating, the latter because it forms with
the mercury an inactive sulphuret.  Their presence in the ointment may be
detected by the peculiar odour which they respectively emit when exposed
to heat.   Sulphur, moreover, gives the ointment a darker colour  than it has
when pure.  Rancidity in  the lard employed also facilitates the  extinguish-
ment of the mercury, but is liable to the same objection as turpentine, though
in a  much less degree.  M. Fossembras found that the addition of rancid fat
was  required in the proportion of only ten drachms to a pound of the  oint-
ment, in order to enable eight  pounds to be prepared  in an hour.  (Journ. de
Pharm., Se Ser., v. 75.)  M.  Guibourt recommends  the addition of one-six-
teenth of old mercurial ointment.  M. Simonin proposes the use of lard which
has been exposed in thin layers to a damp air for fifteen days. This facilitates
the extinguishment of the metal; but it may be doubted whether it does not
render the preparation more irritant by the chemical alteration of the  lard.
The following plan of preparing the ointment has been proposed by M. Che-
vallier.   Having taken a pound of mercury and the same quantity of fresh
lard, he introduces the metal with half the  lard previously melted into a stone
or glass  bottle, shakes the mixture till it acquires the consistence of  very
thick syrup, then pours it into a mortar, and  adds the remainder  of the lard,
stirring constantly.   In this manner, according to Chevallier, a perfect oint-
ment may be made  in half an hour.   When  prepared with lard alone, the
ointment is apt, in  hot weather, to become so soft as to allow the metal  to
separate.  Hence the addition of suet in the processes of the U. S., London,
and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias; and  even a larger proportion might be em-
ployed when the ointment is prepared for  use in the summer season.
  Upon the whole, it may  be considered doubtful whether any of the expe-
dients for saving labour  and time in the preparation of  the  ointment are
wholly  unobjectionable.  Dr.  Christison  states  that the better plan is not
to complete the  process  by a continuous trituration, but to operate  for  a
short time every day, and allow the  ointment in  the mean  time to be ex-
posed to the air.   But so much labour is required  in the process, that the 
PART II.
Unguenta.
1197
ointment  is preferably  made by machinery on the large scale.  The fatty
matters, kept in the fluid state by a temperature of about 100°, are triturated
with the metal by means of two iron  balls, which are driven rapidly round
in a circular iron trough by means of  steam power.  The extinguishment of
the mercury is thus effected in about twelve hours.
   Mercurial  ointment has  when  newly prepared a bluish  colour, which
becomes darker by age.  It was formerly  thought to contain the  mercury
in the state of protoxide;  but it has been shown that most of the metal can
be separated from the lard by methods not  calculated to reduce the oxide ;
and chemists now generally admit that by far the  greater portion of it exists
in the preparation in a state of minute division, not of chemical combination.
It is probable, however, that the metal is partially oxidized ;  and the darker
colour which  the ointment acquires  by age  is attributable to the further
oxidation of the mercury.   If the ointment be kept long  in  a melted state
in a narrow vessel, metallic mercury subsides, and an oily liquid floats upon
the surface.   After this  has been filtered so as to separate every thing un-
dissolved, it  is blackened by sulphuretted hydrogen, and yields  oxide  of
mercury to acetic  acid.   Dr. Christison states that he has  examined various
samples of the ointment, and never failed to detect  oxide of mercury ; and
he has inferred from his observations, that the oxide  amounts to rather more
than one  percent.   (Christison's Dispensatory.)  But the proportion  is
variable according to the age and mode of  preparation of the ointment.   It
scarcely admits of a  doubt  that the  oxide of mercury formed enters into
chemical combination with the lard or one  of its  oily acids.  Mr. Donovan
advanced the idea that the medicinal  activity of the  ointment depended ex-
clusively on this compound of the lard with the mercurial  oxide.  An oint-
ment made by  merely mixing lard and black oxide of mercury has  not the
same effect, because there is no chemical union between the  ingredients.'—
But, upon exposing such a mixture to a temperature of 350°, and continually
agitating it for two hours,  he found that every ounce of lard dissolved and
combined with twenty-one grains of oxide, and the resulting compound was
found  to  be  equally  effectual with the common  ointment, and  capable  of
being introduced into  the system in one-third of the  time.   (Paris's Phar-
macologia.)  It has been proposed to substitute an ointment thus prepared
for that made according to the  officinal direction, as being more manageable,
and of more uniform strength.  Care, however, would be  required  in pre-
paring it to avoid a temperature either too high or too  low ;  as the former
might decompose the oxide, and the latter would be insufficient to effect its
union with the  lard.  There would be  danger also that the lard might be
rendered irritant by the influence of the heat.
  From experiments by a committee of the College of Pharmacy,  of New
York, it appears that the ointment contained in jars becomes somewhat unequal
in strength in consequence of the settling of the  metallic  ingredient.  The
inference is that, after long standing, the contents  of  the jar should be  tritu-
rated so as to restore an equable  strength, before being dispensed.  (Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 2.)
  Medical Uses.  Mercurial ointment, when  rubbed  upon the surface of the
body, produces, in consequence of its absorption,  the same general effects
upon the  system as the other  preparations of the metal.   It is resorted  to
either alone, when circumstances  prevent or discourage the internal use  of
mercury, or conjointly with  the internal use of the medicine, to  produce a
more speedy or powerful effect in urgent cases.   It may also be advantage-
ously employed as a resolvent in local affections, as in the case of venereal
buboes, and of  chronic glandular swellings,  upon which it  may be made to 
1198
Unguenta.
PART II.
operate directly by being applied in the course of the absorbents which pass
through the enlarged glands.  The proper quantity to be employed at one
time, with a view to salivation, is about  a drachm, which should be applied
night and morning, by means of friction, to the inner surface of the thighs,
legs, or arms, and continued till the system is affected.
   In urgent cases, or in local affections,  it may also be rubbed on other parts
of the body, or applied to blistered surfaces.  The friction should on each
occasion  be continued  till  the whole of the ointment is absorbed.   When
frequently rubbed  upon the same part, it is apt to produce a disagreeable
eruption which interferes with its continued application.  Camphor is some-
times added in order to render it more easy of absorption ; but, without pro-
ducing this effect, it increases the liability of the ointment to irritate the skin,
and is of no other  advantage than to soften its  consistence, when too firm
from a large proportion of suet.  Mercurial ointment has  been employed,
with some success, to prevent the maturation of  the small-pox pustule, and
the consequent pitting.  For this purpose  it may be  applied to the face or
other part, thickly spread on patent lint  or muslin, care being taken to pre-
vent  the access of  the air to the covered part.  To be successful it must  be
applied before the third or fourth day of the eruption.   The ointment has
been recommended also in erysipelas and chilblains.
  The weaker ointment is employed only as an application to ulcers, and to
certain cutaneous eruptions.                                      W.

  UNGUENTUM  HYDRARGYRI  AMMONIATI.  U.S.  Un-
guentum  Hydrargyri  Ammonio-Chloridi.  Lond.   Unguentum
Precipitati  Albi. Ed.  Unguentum Hydrargyri Submuriatis
Ammoniati. Dub.   Ointment of Ammoniated Mercury.   Oint-
ment of White Precipitate.
  "Take of Ammoniated Mercury a drachm; Simple Ointment  an ounce
and a half. Add the Ammoniated  Mercury  to  the Ointment previously
softened over a gentle fire, and mix them." U. S.
  The processes of the British Colleges are essentially  the same as the
above.
  This ointment is employed chiefly in cutaneous eruptions, such  as psora,
porrigo, and herpes.                                            W.

  UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI IODIDI.  Lond.  Ointment of
Iodide of Mercury.
  UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI  BINIODIDI.  Lond.   Oint-
ment of Biniodide of Mercury.
  These two ointments are  prepared by  the London College from the iodide
and biniodide of mercury, respectively,  in  the  manner directed  by the Col-
lege for their ointment of nitric oxide of mercury.   (See Unguentum Hy-
drargyri Oxidi Rubri.)
  They are both employed as dressings to scrofulous ulcers, the ointment of
the biniodide being preferred, on account of its much greater activity, when
the ulcers are very indolent.                                     "W,

  UNGUENTUM  HYDRARGYRI  NITRATIS.  U.S.,  Lond.
Unguentum Citrinum.  Ed.  Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis
vel Unguentum  Citrinum. Dub.  Ointment of Nitrate of Mercury.
Citrine Ointment.
  " Take of Mercury an ounce; Nitric Acid eleven fluidrachms; Fresh
Neats-foot Oil nine fluidounces;  Lard three ounces.  Dissolve the Mercury 
PART II.
Unguenta.
1199
in the Acid;  then melt the Oil and  Lard together, and when they begin to
stiffen upon cooling, add the solution and mix."  U. S.
  " Take of  Mercury an  ounce ; Nitric Acid eleven fluidrachms [Imperial
measure];  Lard six ounces; Olive  Oil four fluidounces [Imp. measure].
First dissolve the Mercury in the Acid; then, while the solution is hot, mix
it with the Lard and Oil previously melted together."  Lond.
  " Take of Purified Mercury an ounce ; Nitric Acid eleven drachms and a
half; Olive Oil apint; Prepared Lard four ounces.   Dissolve  the Mercury
in the Acid, then mix the solution with the Oil and Lard  previously melted
together, and form  an ointment, in  the  manner directed for the Ointment of
Nitric Acid." Dub.
  " Take of Pure Nitric  Acid eight fluidounces and six fluidrachms  [Im-
perial measure] ; Mercury four ounces ; Axunge [lard] fifteen ounces ; Olive
Oil thirty-two fluidounces.   Dissolve the Mercury in  the Acid with the aid
of a gentle  heat.   Melt  the Axunge in the Oil with the aid of a moderate
heat in a vessel capable  of holding  six times the quantity ; and, while the .
mixture is hot, add the solution of mercury, also hot, and mix them thoroughly.
If the mixture do not froth up, increase the heat a little till this take place.
Keep this ointment in earthenware vessels, or in glass vessels secluded  from
the light." Ed.   Dr. Christison in his Dispensatory states  that, in this
formula, in order to meet  the intentions of its framers,  the quantity of Olive
Oil should be thirty-eight fluidounces and a half,  and of Nitric Acid (sp. gr.
from 1*380 to 1-390) nine fluidounces and a half.
   The  chemical changes which take place in the preparation of this oint-
ment are not precisely known.   They differ  somewbat according to the
circumstances under which the operation is performed ; for example, accord-
ing to the proportion and strength of the acid, the  nature of the fatty matter,
and  the degree of heat employed.   The mercury, in the first step of the
 process, is oxidized at  the  expense of a portion of the acid, nitrous fumes
escape, and  the undecomposed acid unites with  the oxidized metal,  form-
 ing nitrate of the deutoxide of mercury if heat be employed, and a mixture of
 this with nitrate of the protoxide, if the process be conducted at a low tem-
 perature.  If the  officinal directions be strictly complied with in relation  to
 the strength of the acid,  this will be in excess, and it is not improbable that
 a portion of nitrous or hyponitrous acid may at the same time exist in the
 mixture.   When the mercurial solution is added to the fatty matter, a reaction
 takes place,  which probably results in the production of the yellow subnitrate
 of the deutoxide of mercury, of one or more  of the fatty acids, as the  oleic,
 margaric, and stearic, and of ela'idin or elaidic acid, or both. (See page  481.)
 It is also highly probable that portions of these fatty acids combine with the
 oxide  of mercury.  But the degree to which these changes  take place is
 influenced greatly by the temperature to which the  mixture is exposed.  If
 this be low there is little  or  no escape of gas, if elevated, there is a copious
 evolution of nitrous fumes.   In the former case the  changes  are obviously
 less considerable than in  the latter.
   As formerly prepared,  this ointment, though at  first beautifully yellow and
 of the  proper consistence,  soon began to  change, acquiring in time a dirty
 greenish and mottled colour, and becoming so hard and friable as to be unfit
 for  use unless mixed  with lard.   These  results were ascribed  to various
 causes  and  as many different modifications of the process were proposed in
 order to obviate them.   Dr. A. T. Thomson  considered  the main defect of
 the  British processes to be  too  large a proportion of lard; but it has  been
 ascertained  that a very good ointment may be made with lard as the only
 fatty inoredient.   The U. S. process is based upon the fact that olive oil is
 hardened by nitrous acid or the nitrate of  mercury, while the  same effect is 
1200
Unguenta.
PART II.
 not produced upon neats-foot oil.  (See Oleum  Olivse, page 493.)   This
 process produces a good ointment, which, though  it sometimes assumes a
 greenish colour on exposure, retains permanently a soft unctuous consistence.
 We have  in  our  possession  specimens of ointment, prepared  several years
 since according to the U. S. formula, which have at this time a uniform orange-
 yellow colour and  a perfectly good unctuous  consistence.*   It  is probable
 that other animal oils will answer the same purpose;  and it is asserted that
 a good preparation may be made with lard or butter.  The drying vegetable
 oils do not appear, like olive  oil, to be converted by nitrous acid or the nitrate
 of mercury into elaidin, and  it was a fair inference that  they might be em-
 ployed advantageously in the preparation of citrine ointment.   Accordingly,
 Dr. Fessenden, of North Carolina, states, in his inaugural  essay, that  he
 substituted the  linseed oil  for the neats-foot oil of the U.S. process, and
 succeeded in obtaining a perfectly good and durable ointment.  It is now stated
 that the want of success with many  operators who have  followed the British
 officinal processes, has been  owing  not to the character  of the particular oil
 employed, but to  deficiency of strength in the nitric acid, and the want of a
 due degree of heat.   Mr. Alsop asserts that if the nitric acid be of the sp. gr.
 1*5, or if the quantity of a weaker acid be increased so as to compensate for
 its deficiency in strength, and if the fatty matters be mixed with the mercurial
 solution at an elevated  temperature, a permanently soft and golden-coloured
 ointment will result. (Pharm. Transact., Sept., 1841.)  It is probable that
 the discoloration which is so  apt to take place in the preparation is owing to
 the deoxidizing influence of the fatty matter upon the mercurial oxide.  Now
 if, by a sufficient  excess of acid and an elevated temperature, the fats be tho-
 roughly oxidized  during the process, they will have less  affinity  for oxygen
 afterwards, and consequently less ability to take it from the oxide of mercury.
 That they are oxidized at the expense of the nitric acid when heat is used, is
 proved by the abundant extrication of nitric oxide during the operation.  The
 process of  the Edinburgh College above  given meets these requisites, and is
 said to yield, an excellent ointment.   The same process, before its adoption
 by the  College, had been'long employed by Mr.  Duncan, a chemist  and
 druggist of Edinburgh, who appears to have been the first to ascertain the
 advantage  of heat in the preparation of the ointment.
   In applying heat, according to the Edinburgh process, when the fatty mat-
 ter and  mercurial solution are mixed, care must be taken that it be not too
 great.   Gas is extricated at  180°, and  at 212° escapes  so abundantly that
 the mixture boils over unless  the vessel be very large.  (Alsop.)   Besides, if
 the heat be too great, a portion of the mercury is reduced, and the colour of
 the ointment impaired.  When large quantities of materials are operated upon,
 the reaction which occurs produces of itself a  sufficient heat; but in ordinary
 cases the temperature should be kept at about 190° by means of a water-bath.
 It should always be sufficient  to produce  a copious extrication of gas.  The
 ointment should be prepared  in  a glass, porcelain, or well-glazed earthen
 vessel;  and a glass rod or wooden spatula should be employed for stirring
 the mixture.
   Medical Uses.  This ointment is much and very advantageously  employed,
 as a stimulant and  alterative  application, in various forms of  porrigo, as
 tinea capitis and crusta lactea, in psoriasis and pityriasis,  in certain forms of

  * See " Remarks on the preparation of Citrine Ointment, by W. R. Fisher," in the Journ.
of the Phil. College of Pharm., i. 171.   It is said that the three ounces of lard directed in
 the TJ. S. formula may be advantageously dispensed with, and its place supplied by three
 additional fluidounces of the neats-foot oil.  See the same Journal, iv. 197. 
PART II.
Unguenta.
1201
herpes,  in psorophthalmia and inflammation of the  eye and eyelids con-
nected with porrigo of the face or scalp, and in various other ulcerative and
eruptive affections.  It should be  diluted with lard, unless  in cases  which
require a very stimulant application.  Some care is requisite in its use, to
avoid the risk of salivation.    When hard and friable, it  must be rubbed up
with fresh lard before it can be applied.                            W.

   UNGUENTUM  HYDRARGYRI OXIDI  RUBRI. U.S.   Un-
guentum Hydrargyri Nitrico-Oxydi. Lond.  Unguentum Oxidi
Hydrargyri. Ed. Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxydi Nitrici. Dub.
Ointment of Red Oxide of Mercury.
   "Take of Red Oxide of Mercury, in very fine powder, an ounce; Simple
Ointment eight ounces.  Add the  Oxide of Mercury to the Ointment pre-
viously  softened over a gentle fire, and mix them." U. S.
   "Take of Nitrico-Oxide of Mercury an ounce; White Wax two ounces;
Prepared Lard six ounces.  To the Wax and Lard, melted together, add the
Nitrico-Oxide of Mercury, in very fine powder, and mix."  Lond.,  Dub.
   " Take of Red Oxide of Mercury one ounce; Axunge [Lard] eight ounces.
Triturate them into a uniform mass." Ed.
   The U. S.  Pharmacopoeia contemplates the same red oxide of mercury as
the British Colleges,  that, namely, prepared from the nitrate, and usually
called red precipitate.  It is highly important that the oxide should be
thoroughly pulverized  before being mixed  with the lard;  as otherwise it
might prove very injurious in cases of ophthalmia, in which it is sometimes
used.
   This  ointment loses its fine red colour when long kept, probably in con-
sequence of the conversion  of the red oxide into the  black.  It  is  best to
prepare it only in small quantities at a time.  It is a highly useful stimulating
ointment, much employed  in indolent and  foul ulcers, in porrigo  of the
scalp, psorophthalmia, and in chronic conjunctival ophthalmia,  especially
when attended  with thickening of the  inner membrane of the eyelids, or
with specks upon the cornea. It may be diluted with lard if found too stimu-
lating.                                                          w-
   UNGUENTUM   IODINI.   U.S.   Unguentum   Iodinii.   Dub.
 Ointment of Iodine.
   " Take of Iodine twenty grains; Alcohol twenty minims; Lard an ounce.
Rub the Iodine first with the Alcohol and then  with the Lard until they are
thoroughly mixed." U. S.
   " Take of Iodine a scruple; Prepared Lard an ounce.  Rub them together
so as to form an ointment." Dub.
   This  ointment, when rubbed upon the skin, imparts to it an orange  colour,
which,  however, slowly disappears with the evaporation of the iodine.  It is
useful as a local application in goitre, scrofulous swellings of the glands, and
other chronic tumefactions, operating  probably  through the medium of ab-
sorption.  When continued  for some time, it occasionally  produces  a pus-
tular eruption upon the portion of  skin to which it is applied.  Dr.  Cerchian
strongly recommends it in cases of enlarged tonsils  after the disappearance
of inflammation.  It should  be applied to the tonsils morning and evening
by means of  a camel's hair pencil. In two months, according to the author,
the enlargement  disappears.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 83.)   The oint-
ment  should be prepared only as  wanted for use; for it undergoes change
if kept, losing its deep-orange brown colour and becoming pale  upon the
surface.
     102 
 1202                         Unguenta.                      part n.

   UNGUENTUM IODINI  COMPOSITUM. U.S.   Unguentum
 Iodinii Compositum. Lond.  Unguentum Iodinei. Ed.   Compound
 Ointment of Iodine.
   " Take of Iodine half a drachm; Iodide of Potassium a drachm; Alcohol
 afluidrachm ; Lard two ounces.   Rub the Iodine  and Iodide of Potassium
 first with the Alcohol and then with the Lard until they are thoroughly
 mixed." U. S.
   The London formula is the same as the above.  The Edinburgh College
 directs a drachm of iodine and two drachms of the  iodide of potassium to be
 rubbed together,four ounces of lard to be gradually  added, and the trituration
 to be continued till a uniform ointment is obtained.
   This preparation is employed for  the same  purposes as  the preceding,
 from which it differs chiefly in being somewhat stronger with iodine; as the
 iodide of potassium is probably not peculiar in its effects, and the spirit is
 employed only to facilitate the admixture.                         W.

   UNGUENTUM MEZEREI.  US.   Ointment of Mezereon.
   "Take of Mezereon,  sliced  transversely, four ounces;  Lard fourteen
 ounces;  White Wax two ounces.  Moisten the Mezereon with a little Al-
 cohol,  and beat it in  an iron  mortar until reduced to a fibrous  mass;  then
 digest it with the Lard, in  a  salt-water bath, for twelve hours, strain  with
 strong  expression, and allow the  strained liquid to  cool slowly, so that any
 undissolved matters may subside.  From these separate the medicated Lard,
 melt it with the Wax  at a moderate heat, and stir  them constantly till  they
 are cold." U. S.
   This is equivalent to the pommade  epispastique  au garou of the French
 Codex, which is prepared from  the  bark of the Daphne  Gnidium.   The
 ointment may also be made, as  proposed  by  Guibourt, by mixing two
 drachms of the alcoholic  extract  of mezereon with nine ounces of lard and
 one of wax.  It is used as  a stimulating application to blistered surfaces in
 order to maintain the discharge, and to obstinate, ill-conditioned, and indolent
 ulcers.                                                         W.

   UNGUENTUM  PICIS  LIQUIDA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
 Tar Ointment.
   " Take of Tar, Suet, each,  a pound.  Add the Tar to the Suet previously
 melted with a moderate  heat, and stir  them constantly till  they are cold."
 U.S.
   The London and Dublin Colleges melt together equal parts of the tar and
 suet, and  strain  the mixture, the former through linen, the  latter through  a
 sieve.   The Edinburgh  College takes five ounces of tar and two ounces of
 bees'-wax, and having melted the wax  with a gentle heat, adds the tar, and
 stirs the mixture briskly while it concretes.
   Tar ointment is highly useful as a stimulant application in various scaly
 and scabby eruptions, particularly in  psoriasis, and in that form of porrigo
 usually called  tinea capitis  or scald head.   In the last-mentioned affection,
 it should be applied night and morning; and in bad cases the patient should
 constantly wear a cap thickly spread with the ointment upon its internal
 surface.                                                        W.

   UNGUENTUM PICIS NIGRA. Lond.    Ointment  of  Black
 Pilch.
   " Take of Black Pitch, Wax,  Resin, each, nine ounces ; Olive Oil sixteen
fluidounces [Imperial measure].  Melt them together, and strain through
 linen." Lond. 
PART II.
Unguenta.
1203
  This  is a stimulant ointment, applicable to the same purposes as the pre-
ceding.                                                        \\r.

  UNGUENTUM PIPERIS NIGRI.  Dub.   Ointment of Black
Pepper.
  " Take of Prepared Lard a pound; Black Pepper, in powder,four ounces.
Make an ointment." Dub.
  This is  highly irritating, and has been used as a remedy in tinea capitis,
but is not now employed.                                       W.

  UNGUENTUM PLUMBI  ACETATIS. Ed., Dub.   Ceratum
Plumbi Acetatis. Lond.   Ointment of Acetate of Lead.
  " Take of Simple Ointment twenty ounces; Acetate of Lead,  in fine pow-
der, one ounce.  Mix them thoroughly." Ed.
  The London College melts two ounces of white wax in seven fluidounces
of olive oil; then adds gradually two drachms of acetate of lead previously
rubbed with a fluidounce of olive oil ;  and stirs with a spatula till they are
mixed.  The Dublin  College mixes an ounce of acetate  of  lead with  a
pound and a half of ointment of white  wax.
  This is an excellent ointment in burns, and other excoriated or ulcerated
surfaces, particularly blisters in an inflamed state.                   W.

  UNGUENTUM  PLUMBI CARBONATIS. U. S,  Ed., Dub.
Ointment of Carbonate of Lead.
  "Take of Carbonate of Lead, in very fine powder, two ounces; Simple
Ointment a pound.  Add the Carbonate of Lead to the Ointment previously
softened over a gentle fire, and mix them." U.S.
  The Edinburgh College prepares this ointment by mixing thoroughly one
ounce of carbonate of lead with five ounces of simple ointment.   The Dublin
College employs the proportions of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.
  This ointment is used for the same purposes as the preceding.     W.

  UNGUENTUM PLUMBI  COMPOSITUM. Lond,  Compound
Ointment of Lead.
  " Take of Prepared Chalk eight ounces; Distilled Vinegar six fluidounces;
Lead Plaster three pounds; Olive  Oil apint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve
the Plaster in the Oil with a slow fire, then gradually add the Chalk previously
mixed with the Vinegar, the effervescence having subsided, and stir them
constantly until they become cold." Lond.
  Employed as a dressing for indolent ulcers.                      W.
  UNGUENTUM PLUMBI  IODIDI. Lond.   Ointment of Iodide
of Lead.
  " Take of Iodide of Lead an ounce ; Lard eight ounces.  Rub and mix
them." Lond.
  Employed as a discutient in chronic glandular swellings, and enlargements
of the joints.                                                   W.
  UNGUENTUM  POTASSA  HYDRIODATIS.  Dub.   Oint-
ment of Hydriodate of Potassa.
  "Take of Hydriodate of Potassa [Iodide of Potassium] a scruple; Pre-
pared Lard an ounce.  Rub them together so as  to form an ointment." Dub.
  It is said  that these ingredients  incorporate better, if the iodide of potas-
sium be first dissolved in its own weight of distilled water, and then mixed
with the lard. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N.  S., iii. 203.)
  This  ointment is  employed  for the discussion of  goitres, scrofulous tu-
mours, and other indolent swellings; and is usually preferred to the ointment 
 1204                         Unguenta.                     part ii.

 of iodine, as it does not like that discolour the skin.   It is probably, how-
 ever, of inferior virtue, and certainly contains too small a  proportion of the
 iodide.  One drachm to the ounce of lard would not  be too much, and may
 sometimes be exceeded.                                          W.

   UNGUENTUM  SAMBUCI. Lond., Dub.  Elder Ointment.
   " Take of Elder [flowers], Lard, each, two pounds.   Boil  the  Elder
 Flowers  in the  Lard till  they become crisp, then express through linen."
 Lond.
   " Take of fresh Elder Leaves three pounds; Prepared Lard four pounds ;
 Prepared  Mutton Suet two pounds.  Boil the  leaves  in the Lard till they
 become crisp ; then strain with expression; lastly, add the Suet, and melt
 them together."  Dub.
  Elder flowers impart odour to lard without  adding to  its virtues.   The
 Dublin ointment of the leaves  has a green colour,  and  is popularly em-
 ployed as  a cooling application in England.                         W.
   UNGUENTUM  SCROPHULARIA. Dub.   Ointment of Fig-
 wort.
  "Take  of fresh Figwort Leaves, Prepared Lard, each, two pounds ; Pre-
 pared Mutton Suet a pound.  Boil the leaves  in the fat till  they become
 crisp, then strain with expression." Dub.
  For the properties of tbis ointment, see Scrophularia Nodosa.      W.
   UNGUENTUM   SIMPLEX.  U.S., Ed.   Unguentum  Cer^e
 Alb.ze.   Unguentum Cer.ze Flav^". Dub.   Simple Ointment.
  " Take of White Wax a pound; Lard four pounds.  Melt them together
 with a  moderate  heat, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U.S.
  The Edinburgh College orders five fluidounces and a  half of olive oil,
 and  two  ounces  of white wax.   The  Dublin College makes two prepara-
 tions, one with white, the other with yellow wax, in  each case mixing the
 wax with  lard in the same proportion  as directed in the  U. S. Pharmaco-
 poeia.
   This is a useful emollient ointment, occasionally employed as a mild dress-
 ing to blistered or excoriated surfaces,  but more frequently as  a vehicle for
 the application of more active substances.   It is the basis of several officinal
 ointments.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum  Cupri  Subacetatis, U. S.;  Unguent.  Hydrargyri
 Ammoniati, U.S.; Unguent. Hydrarg. Oxidi Rubri,  U.S.;  Unguent. Plumbi
 Acetatis, Ed.; Unguent. Plumbi Carbonatis, U.S., Ed.             W.

   UNGUENTUM  STRAMONII.  U. S.    Ointment of Stramo-
 nium.
   " Take of Fresh Stramonium Leaves, cut into pieces, a pound; Lard three
pounds;  Yellow Wax half'apound.   Boil the  Stramonium Leaves  in the
 Lard until they  become friable ; then strain through linen.  Lastly, add the
 Wax previously  melted, and stir them  until they are cold." U.  S.
   Fresh  narcotic vegetables yield their active principles,  and  chlorophylle
 or green colouring matter to oleaginous  substances, when heated with  them;
 and several officinal ointments besides  the present are prepared in this man-
 ner.  In the pharmacy of the continent  of Europe, olive oil is frequently era-
 ployed as the solvent; and the resulting preparations  are called olea infusa.
 Several of these are ordered by the French Codex, as the oils of henbane,
 stramonium, tobacco, &c.  Lard is preferred in British and American phar-
 macy,  as  affording  preparations  of  a  more  convenient consistence.  The
 boiling takes place at a lower temperature than that necessary for the evapo- 
PART II,
Unguenta.
1205
ration  of the lard or oil, and is owing to the escape of the watery parts of
the plants.   It should be continued till all the water is driven off;  as this,
if allowed to remain, would render the ointment more liable to spontaneous
decomposition ; and, besides, the colouring matter of the narcotic is not freely
extracted till after the dissipation of the water.
   The ointment of stramonium is a useful anodyne application in irritable
ulcers, in painful hemorrhoids, and in some cutaneous eruptions.      W.

   UNGUENTUM  SULPHURIS.  U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Sul-
phur  Ointment.
   " Take of Sulphur a pound ;  Lard two pounds.   Mix them." U. S.
   The London  College employs three ounces of sulphur, half a pound of
lard, and twenty minims of oil of bergamot;  the Edinburgh, four ounces
of lard and one ounce of sublimed sulphur;  and the Dublin, four pounds of
prepared lard and a pound of sublimed sulphur.
   Sulphur ointment is a specific for the  itch.   It should be applied every
night till the complaint is cured; and it is recommended that only one-fourth
of the  body should be covered at a time.   We have usually directed it to be
applied over the whole  surface, and have found no inconvenience to result.
Four applications are usually sufficient to effect  a cure.  It is  thought by
some that powdered  roll sulphur is more efficacious than the sublimed.—
Sulphur ointment, applied  freely over the variolous eruption, in its early
stage, is said to prevent the maturation of the  pustules  and consequent pit-
ting.   (See  Am. Journ. of Med. Sci.,  N.  S., ii. 196.)  The disagreeable
odour  of the ointment may be in some measure concealed by a little oil of
lemons, or oil of bergamot as in the London preparation.            W.
   UNGUENTUM SULPHURIS  COMPOSITUM.  U. S, Lond.
Compound Sulphur Ointment.
   " Take of Sulphur an ounce ;  Ammoniated Mercury, Benzoic Acid, each,
a drachm; Oil of Bergamot, Sulphuric Acid, each, a fluidrachm ;  Nitrate
of Potassa  two drachms;  Lard half a  pound.  To  the Lard, previously
melted with a moderate heat, add  the other ingredients, and  stir them con-
stantly till they are cold." U. S.
   This ointment is essentially different  from that which is directed, under
the same name, by the L,ondon College.   Though, perhaps, not more effi-
cient than the simple sulphur ointment in  the cure of itch, it  has  a less un-
pleasant smell, and  may be advantageously  applied to the  cure of other
eruptive affections, such as  tinea capitis and crusta lactea.
   " Take of Sulphur  half a pound;  White Hellebore, in powder, two
ounces; Nitrate of Potassa a  drachm; Soft  Soap half a pound;  Lard  a
pound  and a half; Oil of Bergamot thirty minims.  Mix them." Lond.
   This is thought to be more efficacious than the simple sulphur ointment;
but the white hellebore renders it also more irritating.               W.
   UNGUENTUM  TABACI.  U. S.  Tobacco  Ointment.
   " Take of Fresh Tobacco, cut in pieces, an ounce ; Lard a pound.  Boil
the Tobacco in the Lard over a gentle fire till  it becomes friable ; then strain
through linen." U. S.
  In the first edition  of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, this ointment, under the
name of" Tobacco Liniment," was directed  to be prepared with common
dried tobacco ; but in this condition the leaves do not yield their virtues  to
lard.  The error was corrected in the second edition.  Though the tobacco
plant is not an object  of general  culture in the Northern States, it  may
readily be produced in gardens, in quantities sufficient to supply any demand
     3                            102* 
1206                   Unguenta.— Veratria.                part ii.

for the fresh leaves which can possibly arise.   The remarks made under the
head of Unguentum Stramonii, in  relation to the preparation of ointments
from the. fresh narcotics, are applicable in this instance.
  Tobacco ointment is useful in irritable ulcers, and various cutaneous erup-
tions, particularly tinea capitis ; but great care must  be  taken, especially in
children, not to employ it in such quantities as to endanger the production of
the constitutional effects  of the narcotic.                            W.
  UNGUENTUM  VERATRI  ALBI.  U.S.  Unguentum Vera-
tri. Lond, Dub.   Ointment of White Hellebore.
  " Take of White Hellebore [root], in powder, two ounces ; Oil of Lemons
twenty minims; Lard eight ounces.  Mix them." U. S., Lond.
  The Dublin College employs the same proportion of  white hellebore and
lard, but omits the oil of lemons.
  This ointment is sometimes employed with advantage in the itch.  It is
less disagreeable,  but also less certain than the sulphur ointment.  It should
be employed with caution in children.                              W.

  UNGUENTUM  ZINCI  OXIDI.   U.S.,   Unguentum  Zinci.
Lond., Ed.  Unguentum Zinci Oxydi. Dub.   Ointment of Oxide
of Zinc.
  " Take of Oxide of Zinc an ounce; Lard six ounces.  Mix them." U. S.;
Lond.
  The Edinburgh College employs six ounces of simple liniment, and one
ounce  of  oxide of zinc; the Dublin, a pound of ointment of white wax
(simple ointment), and two  ounces  of the prepared oxide.  By the latter the
ointment is melted before the addition of the oxide.
  The oxide of zinc directed in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Phar-
macopoeias, is  that obtained by precipitation and  ignition, and, being in the
state of fine powder, requires no previous preparation.  That employed by
the Dublin College, being procured by the combustion of the metal, requires
to be levigated before it can be used for the formation of the ointment.
  This preparation is employed as  a mild astringent application in  chronic
ophthalmia with a relaxed state of the vessels, in various cutaneous eruptions,
and in  sore nipples and other  instances of excoriation or ulceration.  It has
taken the place of the  old and discarded  unguentum tutise, or tutty oint-
ment, prepared from tutty or the impure  oxide of zinc, by mixing it with
five parts of simple ointment.                                     W.

                           VERATRIA.

                              Veratria.

  VERATRIA. U S., Lond., Ed.  Veratria.
  "Take of Cevadilla,  bruised, two pounds; Alcohol  three gallons; Di-
luted  Sulphuric Acid,  Solution of Ammonia, Purified Animal Charcoal,
Magnesia, each, a sufficient quantity.  Boil the Cevadilla in a gallon of the
Alcohol, in a retort with a receiver attached, for an hour, and  pour off the
liquor.  To the residue add another  gallon of the Alcohol, together with
the portion recently distilled,  again boil  for an hour, and  pour off  the
liquor.  Repeat the boiling a third time with the  remaining  Alcohol, and
with that distilled in the previous operation.  Press the Cevadilla, mix and
strain  the  liquors, and  by means of a water-bath distil off  the Alcohol.
Boil the residue  three  or  four times in water  acidulated with  Sulphuric
Acid, mix and strain the liquors, and evaporate to the consistence of syrup. 
PART II.
Veratria.
1207
Add Magnesia in slight excess, shake the mixture frequently, then express,
and wash what remains.  Repeat  the  expression and washing two or three
times, and, having dried the  residue,  digest  it with a gentle heal several
times in Alcohol, and strain after each  digestion.  Distil off the Alcohol from
the mixed liquors, boil the residue for fifteen minutes in water with a little
Sulphuric Acid and Purified Animal Charcoal, and strain.  Having thoroughly
washed what remains, mix the washings with the strained liquor, evaporate
with a moderate heat to the consistence of syrup, and then drop in as much
Solution of Ammonia as may be  necessary to precipitate the  veratria.
Lastly,  separate and dry the precipitate." U. S.
   The  London process is, in  all essential points, the same as the above, of
which it was the original.
   " Take any convenient quantity of Cevadilla; pour boiling water over it in
a covered vessel, and let it macerate for twenty-four hours;  remove the Ceva-
dilla, squeeze it,  and dry  it thoroughly  with a gentle  heat.  Beat it now in
a  mortar, and separate the seeds from  the  capsules by a brisk agitation in a
deep narrow vessel.    Grind the seeds in a coffee-mill, and form them into a
thick paste with Rectified Spirit.  Pack this firmly in a percolator, and pass
Rectified Spirit through it till the  Spirit ceases to be coloured.   Concentrate
the spirituous solutions by distillation  so long as  no deposit forms; and pour
the residuum while  hot into twelve times its volume of cold water.   Filter
through calico, and wash  the  residuum on the filter so long as the washings
precipitate with ammonia.  Unite the  filtered liquid with the washings,  and
add an  excess of ammonia.   Collect  the  precipitate on a  filter, wash  it
slightly with cold water,  and  dry  it first by imbibition with  filtering paper,
and then in  the  vapour-bath.   A small additional quantity may be got by
concentrating the filtered  ammoniacal fluid and allowing it  to cool."  Ed.
   In the U. S. and  London  process the first step is to obtain a tincture of
cevadilla.  In the Edinburgh process, the use of alcohol is  preceded by mea-
sures calculated to bring the seeds into  a proper state for its action.  This  is
not satisfactorily effected  by mere bruising.  The seeds are not thus sepa-
rated from the capsules ;  and, on  account of their elasticity, they cannot be
conveniently comminuted  in  a  mortar.  The  mode of proceeding given in
the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia was suggested by Christison, and is said by
him to  answer the purpose.   In the U. S.  process, the tincture,  when made,
is evaporated  to the  consistence of an  extract.   This contains  the  veratria
combined with some  vegetable acid as it  exists in  the  seeds.   From  the
extract  the alkali is dissolved by the acidulated water, which at the same time
converts it in great measure into a sulphate, a small portion possibly remain-
ing in the solution combined with  an excess of the native  acid.   The mag-
nesia combines with the acids and throws  down the veratria, which is then
taken up by alcohol, and  again yielded in a purer state by  evaporation.  To
purify it still  further, it is redissolved in water by the agency  of sulphuric
acid, is submitted to the action of  animal charcoal, and is finally precipitated
by ammonia.  In the Edinburgh process, the tincture is concentrated until it
begins  to let fall a precipitate, and is then  poured into water, which throws
down the resin and oil with a portion of the colouring matter, and retains the
salt of veratria.   This is then decomposed by ammonia, and  the precipitated
veratria is slightly washed with cold water to free it from adhering impurities.
If much water is employed in the washing, a considerable  portion of the
veratria is lost, in consequence of being in some degree soluble  in that men-
struum  in its ordinary impure state.
   Obtained by  either of the above processes veratria is  not entirely pure, 
1208
Veratria.
PART II.
though sufficiently so for medical use.   It is a grayish or brownish-white
powder,  without odour, and of a bitter, acrid taste, producing a  sense  of
tingling or numbness in the tongue, and exciting violent sneezing and coryza
when admitted into the nostrils.  For the properties of  the pure alkali the
reader is referred to page 610.  The composition of veratria is expressed,
according to Couerbe,  by the  formula NCgJ^Oe.  It  may  be  recognised
by its sensible  properties, incapability of being crystallized, combustibility,
fusibility, peculiar solubilities (see page 610-),  alkaline reaction, the intense
red colour it assumes  upon contact with concentrated  sulphuric  acid, the
yellow solution it forms with nitric acid, and  the white precipitates which its
solution  in dilute acetic acid yield with  ammonia and the infusion  of  galls.
(Pereird's Mat. Med.)   It  may be  used either in the uncombined state, or
united with acids; as in both forms it produces essentially the same effects.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Veratria is a powerful irritant, capable of
producing inflammation in the parts to which it is  applied, and extending a
peculiar  action  to the nervous  system.   Rubbed upon the skin it  excites a
sensation of warmth and a peculiar tingling,  which, when the application is
continued for a considerable length of time, extends, according to Turnbull,
over the  whole  surface of the body.   Sometimes an  evanescent blush is pro-
duced, and still more rarely  an  eruption upon the skin, but, according to the
same author, no  marks of inflammation are in  general evinced.  Upon the
denuded  cutis,  however, veratria and its salts  are  powerfully irritating; so
much so as to  prevent their advantageous application in this way.  In the
mouth and fauces they produce an almost insupportable sense of acrimony;
and snuffed up the  nostrils  excite violent sneezing.  Magendie  states that,
when taken internally  in the  dose of a  quarter of a grain, they promptly
produce  abundant alvine evacuations, and in larger  doses  provoke  more or
less violent vomiting.   Dr. Turnbull, on the  contrary, says that he  has very
seldom found them  to purge, even when largely administered, and that not
unfrequenfly a  state of constipation comes on during their employment, re-
quiring the use of aperient  medicine.   According to this  author, their first
effect, when given in moderate doses, is a feeling of warmth in the stomach,
gradually extending  itself over the  abdomen and  lower part of the  chest,
and ultimately to the head and extremities.  If the medicine  is continued,
this feeling of  warmth is  followed  by a sense of tingling, similar to that
produced by the external use of the medicine, which manifests itself in differ-
ent parts of the body and sometimes over the  whole surface, and is frequently
accompanied by perspiration and  some feeling of oppression.   Occasionally
also diuresis is produced.  A still further continuance of the medicine, or the
use of large doses excites nausea and  vomiting.   It occasions no narcotic
effects.
   The diseases in  which veratria has  been  employed are  chiefly  gout,
rheumatism, and neuralgia.  Dr. Turnbull has found it useful also in dropsy
and in diseases  of the heart, particularly those of a functional character.  He
thinks he has also seen it do good in organic diseases of this organ, but chiefly
by acting as a  diuretic  and  thereby  removing  effusion  in the pericardium.
Veratria  has also been  employed  in various nervous affections, as paralysis,
hooping-cough,  epilepsy, hysteria,  and disorders  dependent upon  spinal
irritation.  For internal use the salts of  veratria are preferred.   From one-
twelfth to one-sixth of a grain may be  given  in the form of  a pill, and  re-
peated every three  hours till  the effects of  the medicine are experienced.
Dr. Turnbull prefers the tartrate, as less disposed  to irritate  the  stomach.
The sulphate or  acetate, however, may be  used.   Any one  of  these salts 
PART II.
Veratria.— Vina Medicata.
1209
may be readily prepared by treating veratria with water acidulated with the
acid to perfect neutralization,  and then evaporating to dryness.
  But veratria is much more  employed externally than by the stomach; and
is applicable in this way to all the complaints already mentioned.   It may be
used either dissolved in alcohol, or rubbed up  with lard or other unctuous
substance,  in  the  proportion  of from ten to twenty grains or more to the
ounce.  Of the ointment  thus  prepared, Dr. Turnbull directs a portion of
the size of a large nut to be  rubbed upon the  skin over  the part affected,
night and morning, from  five to  fifteen minutes, or until the more urgent
symptoms  are relieved.    The  veratria  may be used in this way to the
amount of  from four to eight  grains in  the day.   Care must  be  taken that
the cuticle is sound over the parts to which it is applied.  When  the skin is
irritable, smaller quantities than those above  mentioned must be used.
                                                                 W.

                      VINA  MEDICATA.

                         Medicated Wines.

   The advantages of  wine as a pharmaceutic menstruum  are that, in conse-
quence of the alcohol it contains, it dissolves substances insoluble in water,
and, to a certain extent, resists their tendency to spontaneous change; while,
at the same time, it is less stimulant than rectified or proof spirit, both  from
its  smaller  proportion of alcohol, and from the  modified state in  which this
fluid exists in its composition.   The acid which it usually contains, serves
in some instances  to increase its solvent power.  But most wines, particu-
larly the light varieties, are liable to undergo decomposition; and even the
strongest acquire  such  a liability from the  principles  which they extract
from vegetable substances; so that medicated wines, though they  keep much
better than infusions or  decoctions, are inferior in this respect  to the  tinc-
tures.  The proportion of alcohol, moreover, is not constant; and the pre-
parations, therefore, made with them, are of unequal strength.   From these
causes, few medicated wines  are at present retained.   In the choice of wine,
the purest  and most generous should be selected.  Sherry as directed by the
U.S.  and  British Pharmacopoeias, Teneriffe,  or Madeira, should be pre-
ferred. The medicated  wines, in consequence of their liability to change,
should be prepared in small  quantities, without heat, and should be kept in
well-stopped bottles in a cool place.                                 W.
   VINUM  ALOES.  U.  S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Wine of Aloes.
   "Take of Aloes, in powder, on ounce; Cardamom [seeds], bruised, Gin-
ger, bruised, each, a drachm; Wine [Sherry] a pint.   Macerate for  four-
teen days,  with occasional agitation, and filter through paper." U. S.
   " Take  of Aloes, in  powder, two  ounces;  Canella, in powder,  four
drachms;  Sherry Wine two  pints [Imperial measure].  Macerate for  four-
teen days,  occasionally stirring, and filter."  Lond.
   "Take of Socotrine or East Indian  Aloes an  ounce and a half; Carda-
mom Seeds, ground, Ginger, in coarse powder, of  each, a drachm and a
half; Sherry two pints.   Digest for seven days, and  strain through linen or
calico." Ed.
   The Dublin College takes four ounces of Socotrine aloes and an ounce
of  canella, powders them  separately, mixes  them, and macerates for  four-
teen days  in  a menstruum, consisting  of three pints  of Sherry  wine and a
pint of proof spirit. 
1210
Vina Medicata.
PART II.
   The wine of aloes is  a warm stomachic purgative, useful in constipation
 dependent on a want of  due irritability of the alimentary canal, and in com-
 plaints connected with this state of the bowels.  It has long been used in
 chlorosis, amenorrhoea, dyspepsia, gout, paralysis, &c.   It is said to leave
 behind it a more lax condition of the bowels than most other cathartics.  The
 dose as a stomachic is one or two fluidrachms, as  a purgative from half a
 fluidounce to two fluidounces.                                     W.

   VINUM  COLCHICI RADICIS.  U.S.  Vinum Colchici. Lond.,
 Ed.   Wine of Colchicum Root.
   " Take of Colchicum  Root, well bruised, a pound ; Wine [Sherry] two
pints.  Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional  agitation; then express
 strongly, and filter  through paper.
   " Wine of Colchicum Root may also be prepared by macerating as above,
 then transferring to an apparatus for  displacement, and, after  the  liquor has
 ceased to pass, pouring so  much  Wine  upon the residue  that the  filtered
 liquor obtained may measure two pints." U. S.
   "Take of dried  Meadow-saffron  Cormus [bulb], sliced,  eight ounces;
 Sherry Wine two pints  [Imperial measure].   Macerate for  fourteen days,
 and filter."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh  College directs the same quantities of materials as the
 London, and orders digestion for seven days,  straining, strong expression,
 and filtering.
   This is intended  to be a  saturated vinous tincture of colchicum.  The
 dried bulb is necessarily  employed in this country,  as the fresh is not kept
 in the shops.   As the colchicum imported into  the  United States is  of vari-
 able  strength,  the  only method by which  an active  preparation can be
 ensured, is to employ a large  quantity of the bulb in proportion to  that of the
 menstruum.   If the former should happen to be in  excess, no other injury
 could result than a slight pecuniary loss; while a deficiency in the strength
 of the preparation would frequently be of serious detriment in urgent cases
 of disease.   We have never been disappointed in  obtaining  the  effects  of
 colchicum from the wine which we  knew to have been prepared according
 to the direction of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia ;  while that wbich  has been made
 with a smaller quantity of the bulb has often failed in our hands.   The dose
 is from ten minims  to a fluidrachm, to be repeated three or four times a  day,
 or more frequently in severe cases, till its effects are  experienced.   In  gout
 it is frequently given in connexion with  magnesia and its  sulphate ;  and  in
 neuralgic cases we  have  found much  advantage from combining it with the
 solution of sulphate of morphia, especially when we have desired to give it
 a direction rather to the skin  than  the bowels.   It  has been employed ex-
 ternally with asserted advantage in rheumatism.  In over-doses it is capable
 of producing fatal effects.  Death  is said to  have occurred in one instance
from two drachms of the wine; but  much more would probably in general
be requisite to produce this result.                                  W.

   VINUM  COLCHICI  SEMINIS. U. S.    Wine  of Colchicum
 Seed.
   " Take of Colchicum Seed, bruised, four ounces ; Wine [Sherry]'^o
pints.  Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional  agitation ; then express,
and filter through paper." U. S.
   As  the seeds of colchicum are less liable to injury than  the  bulb, and
are,  therefore, of more  uniform strength, there is  not  the same necessity
for preparing a saturated  tincture.  As directed, however, in  the  old Phar-
 macopoeia, this wine was too feeble ; and, in the last edition, the proportion 
PART II.
Vina Medicata.
1211
of the  seeds  has very properly been  doubled.  It now corresponds in
strength with  the tincture of colchicum seeds.  (See Tinctura  Colchici
Seminis.)  Dr. Williams, who  introduced the seeds into use, recommends
that they should not be bruised, as  their virtues reside in their outer  coat;
but this caution is superfluous.   The dose of this wine is one  or two  flui-
drachms.   Two fluidounces have proved fatal.                      W.

   VINUM  ERGOT A. U.S.   Wine of Ergot.
   " Take of Ergot, bruised,  two ounces; Wine [Sherry] a pint.  Mace-
rate for fourteen  days, with  occasional agitation;  then  express, and  filter
through paper." U.S.
   The dose of this wine is for a woman in labour two or three fluidrachms ;
for other purposes, one or two  fluidrachms, to be repeated  several times a
day, and gradually increased if necessary.                          W.

   VINUM  GENTIANA. Ed.  Wine of Gentian.
   "Take of  Gentian,  in  coarse powder, half an ounce; Yellow Bark, in
coarse powder, one ounce; Bitter-orange Peel, dried and sliced, two drachms;
Canella, in coarse powder, one drachm; Proof Spirit fourfluidounces and a
half;  Sherry one pint and sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure].  Digest
the root and  barks for  twenty-four hours in the Spirit; add the Wine, and
digest for seven days more; strain  and express the residuum strongly, arid
filter the liquors." Ed.
   This  is a stomachic bitter, sometimes  employed to promote appetite and
invigorate digestion.  The dose  is from  four to eight fluidrachms.     W.
   VINUM  IPECACUANHA. U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.   Wine of
Ipecacuanha.
   " Take of  Ipecacuanha, bruised, two ounces; Wine [Sherry] two pints.
Macerate  for fourteen  days,  with  occasional  agitation; then express, and
filter through  paper." U. S.
   The  London  College  takes two ounces and a half of the bruised  root,
and two pints  (Imperial  measure)  of  Sherry wine;  the  Dublin,  two
ounces  of the bruised  root, and two pints of  Sherry wine; both macerate
for two weeks.  The Edinburgh College employs the same proportion as
the London, and digests for a week.
   The preparations of the different  Pharmacopoeias are virtually of the same
strength. « Wine of ipecacuanha  possesses all the medical properties of the
root, and may be  used  as a substitute when it is desirable to administer the
medicine in a  liquid form.   As it is milder, without being less efficacious than
antimonial wine, it is in some  instances  preferable as an emetic  in infantile
cases, especially when  the  antimonial, as not unfrequenfly happens, is dis-
posed to produce griping and irritation of the bowels.  Under the same cir-
cumstances, it may be used as an expectorant and diaphoretic; and the effects
of the Dover's  powder may be  obtained by combining it with laudanum or
other  liquid preparation of opium.  The dose as an  emetic for an adult is a
fluidounce; as an expectorant and diaphoretic, from ten to thirty  minims. A
fluidrachm  may be given as an emetic to a child one or two  years old, and
repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates.                       W.
   VINUM OPII. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Wine of Opium. Syden-
ham's Laudanum.
  " Take of  Opium, in powder, two ounces; Cinnamon, bruised, Cloves,
bruised, each, a drachm;  Wine [Sherry] a pint.   Macerate for fourteen
days,  with occasional  agitation; then  express,  and  filter through paper."
U.S. 
1212
Vina Medicata.
PART II.
      The London College takes two ounces and a half of purified extract  of
    opium, two drachms and a half of bruised cinnamon, the same  quantity
    of bruised cloves, and two pints [Imperial measure] of Sherry wine; and
    macerates for fourteen days.   The Edinburgh College, to  the same quantity
    of cinnamon and cloves, adds three ounces of opium, and two pints [Imperial
    measure] of Sherry wine, and digests for a week.  The Dublin College takes
    an ounce of Turkey opium, a drachm of cinnamon, a drachm of cloves, and
    apint of Sherry wine, and macerates for eight days.
      The wine made according  to the  directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is
    a stronger preparation than that of the British Colleges, being a  saturated
    vinous tincture of opium.  It contains  about the same proportions of the
    ingredients  as the laudanum  of Sydenham, from which  it differs only  in
    wanting  a drachm of saffron.   The  spices which it contains are thought  to
    adapt it to certain states of the stomach or system, in which the simple tinc-
    ture of opium is found to produce unpleasant effects; but the same end may
    be  obtained by  an extemporaneous  addition of  some  aromatic oil to the
    latter.   Mr. Ware recommends it as a local  application to the eye, in the
    latter stages of ophthalmia, when the vessels of the  conjunctiva  still remain
»j   turgid with blood.  Two or three drops are introduced into  the eye  every
    morning till the redness disappears.   The dose of the  wine of opium  is the
    same with that of the tincture.                                     W.
      VINUM RHEI. U S, Ed.   Wine of Rhubarb.
      " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two  ounces;  Canella,  bruised, a drachm;
    Diluted  Alcohol two fluidounces;   Wine  [Sherry] a  pint.   Macerate for
    fourteen  days, with occasional agitation;  then express, and filter  through
    paper."  U. S.
      The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of rhubarb, in coarse  powder,
    two drachms of canella, in coarse powder, five fluidounces of proof spirit,
    and  one  pint fifteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]  of  Sherry wine, and
    digests for seven days.
      This is a warm cordial laxative, applicable to debilitated conditions of the
    system or alimentary canal requiring evacuation of the bowels.  The dose
    is from  one to four fluidrachms or  more, according to the amount of effect
    required, and the condition of the patient.                           W.

      VINUM TABACI. U. S, Ed.   Wine of Tobacco.
      "Take  of Tobacco, cut in  pieces,  an ounce;  Wine  [Sherry] a pint.
    Macerate for fourteen  days, with occasional agitation ; then express, and filter
    through  paper." U. S.
      The Edinburgh College takes three ounces and a half of tobacco and two
    pints (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine, and digests for seven days.
      The dose of the wine of tobacco, as a diuretic, is from ten to thirty minims.
    It is very seldom used.                                            W.

      VINUM VERATRI  ALBI. U.S.    Vinum Veratri. Lond.
    Wine of White Hellebore.
      " Take of White Hellebore [root], bruised, four ounces; Wine  [Sherry]
    apint.   Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then  express,
    and  filter through paper." U. S.
      The London College takes eight  ounces of the sliced root, and two pints
    (Imperial measure) of Sherry  wine,  and macerates for fourteen days.
      It has  been supposed that the wine of white hellebore,  in consequence of
    the veratria which  it contains, would act in the same manner with colchicum
    in the cure of gout  and  rheumatism; but it is uncertain and occasionally 
PART II.
Vina Medicata.—Zincum.
1213
violent in its operation, and is very little used.   The dose is ten minims two
or three times a day, to be gradually increased till the peculiar effects of the
medicine are experienced.                                           W\
                              ZINCUM.

                        Preparations of Zinc.

   ZINCI ACETAS. U S.  Acetate of Zinc.
   "Take of Acetate of Lead a pound; Zinc, granulated, nine ounces;  Dis-
 tilled Water three  pints.   Dissolve  the Acetate of Lead in the Water and
 filter.   Add the Zinc to the solution, and agitate them occasionally together,
 in a stopped  bottle, for five or six hours,  or until the  liquid yields no pre-
 cipitate with a solution of iodide of potassium.   Filter the liquor, evaporate
 it with a moderate  heat to one-fifth, and set it aside to crystallize.  Pour off
 the liquid, and dry the crystals on bibulous paper.   Should the crystals be
 coloured, dissolve them in Distilled Water, and, having heated the solution,
 drop into it, while  hot, a filtered solution of Chlorinated Lime until it ceases
 to let fall sesquioxide of iron; then filter the liquor, acidulate  it with a few
 drops  of Acetic Acid, evaporate, and crystallize."  U. S.
   In this process the lead of the acetate of lead  is wholly precipitated by the
 zinc, which forms  with the acetic acid the acetate of zinc in solution.  In
 order to be sure that the solution  is entirely free from lead, it is tested  with
 iodide of potassium, which will produce a yellow precipitate in case any of
 the lead  remain unprecipitated.   The  crystals of acetate of zinc,  as  first
 obtained, are apt to be coloured from the presence of iron.  In this case  they
 are directed to be dissolved in distilled  water, and  treated with  a solution of
 chlorinated  lime.   The chlorine of this compound, by decomposing water,
 furnishes  oxygen which sesquioxidizes the iron and  thus renders it insoluble.
 During the heating, a small portion of acetic acid is generally lost, and hence
 the necessity of acidulating  with a few drops of this acid before crystallizing.
 After the  evaporation of the first solution to one-fifth,  it should be acidulated
 if found  deficient  in acid.   This  process  is better than the one  by double
 decomposition between sulphate of zinc and acetate  of lead, formerly adopted
 in our  Pharmacopoeia;  as the product  is purer, the materials cheaper, and
 the manipulation  easier.  (See the paper  of  Mr. Ambrose Smith  on  this
 acetate, contained in the seventh volume of the Amer. Journ. of Pharmacy.)
  Properties, fyc.  Acetate of zinc, when carefully crystallized, is in colour-
 less, transparent hexagonal plates  which effloresce in a  dry air.   As found
 in the  shops it is in opaque, white, micaceous scales.   It is very soluble in
 water,  moderately soluble in  rectified spirit, and has an astringent, metallic,
 very disagreeable taste.  The solution  yields a  white precipitate with ferro-
 cyanuret  of potassium and hydrosulphate of  ammonia.  The  precipitate
 thrown down  by ammonia from the pure salt, is entirely redissolved by an
 excess  of the  precipitant; but if oxidized iron be present, it will be  left un-
 dissolved.  Acetate of  zinc is decomposed by the mineral acids, with the
 escape of acetous vapours.  By destructive  distillation, it yields a considera-
 ble quantity of acetone.   It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of pro-
 toxide  of zinc 40*3, and seven of water  63=154*3.
  Medical Properties and  Uses.  Acetate of zinc is used as  an external
remedy only,  for the  most part as an astringent collyrium in ophthalmia, and
injection in gonorrhoea, after the acute  stage in these affections  has passed.
It is officinal, in the crystallized  state, only in the  U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.
    103 
1214
Zincum.
part n.
The Dublin College orders a tincture of it; but this  is not an eligible pre-
paration.  It is  certainly proper to  have the salt officinal in the  solid form;
as when in that state it may be prescribed in any desired proportion in solu-
tion, according to  the  nature of the case in which it is  to  be  used.   The
strength of the solution, usually employed, is  one or two grains to a fluid-
ounce of distilled water.                                            B.
   ZINCI ACETATIS TINCTURA.  Dub.   Tincture of Acetate
of Zinc.
   " Take of Sulphate of Zinc, Acetate of Potassa, each, one part. Rub them
together, and add of Rectified Spirit sixteen parts.   Macerate for a week,
with occasional agitation, and filter through paper." Dub.
   In this process, the acetate of potassa  first dissolves in the rectified spirit,
and then reacts upon the sulphate of zinc;  and, in consequence of  a double
decomposition, sulphate of potassa and acetate of zinc are formed.  Of these
salts, the latter only is  soluble in the spirit, while the former remains undis-
solved,  and  is removed by filtration.  As the acetate of potassa is used in
excess,  this preparation may be viewed as  a spirituous solution  of both the
acetate of potassa and acetate of zinc.  The rectified spirit ordered is hardly
sufficient to dissolve all the acetate of zinc formed.
   Properties,  fyc.   This tincture is transparent and  colourless, and, when
evaporated nearly to dryness, affords crystals of acetate of zinc, recognizable
by their shape and  micaceous appearance.  (See Zinci Acetas.)  It  is em-
ployed  as an  astringent collyrium  and  injection, but requires to be diluted
with water.                                                        B.
   ZINCI CARBONAS  PRAPARATUS. U. S.  Calamina PKiE-
parata.  Lond.,  Ed.   Zinci Carbonas Impurum  Pr2eparatum.
Dub.   Prepared Carbonate of Zinc.   Prepared Calamine.
   " Take of Carbonate of Zinc a convenient quantity.   Heat it to redness,
and afterwards pulverize it; then reduce it to a very fine powder  in the man-
ner directed for Prepared Chalk."  U. S.
   The London and Dublin  Colleges prepare calamine by processes agreeing
with the above.  The Edinburgh College places  the  prepared  substance in
the list of the Materia Medica with this explanatory note—" levigated impure
carbonate of zinc."
   The  nature, properties, and  composition of the native carbonate of zinc
have been explained under another head.  (See Zinci Carbonas.)  The object
of this process is to bring it  to the state of an impalpable powder.  It is first
calcined, to render it more readily pulverizable, and  then levigated and elu-
triated.   During the calcination, water  and more  or  less carbonic acid are
driven off; so that little else remains than  the oxide of zinc, and the earthy
impurities  originally existing in the mineral.   For the nature of these im-
purities, see page  748.  Considering the  objection to this preparation on
account of impurity, which is very variable in amount, it would,  perhaps, be
an improvement to  discard  the  native carbonate altogether, and  to use in it-
stead a  pure artificial carbonate, obtained by double decomposition between
sulphate of zinc and carbonate of ammonia.
   Properties,  #c.   Prepared carbonate  of  zinc is in the form of a pinkish
or flesh-coloured powder, of an earthy appearance.   Sometimes it is made
up into small masses.  When pure it  dissolves in the mineral acids with
effervescence.  It  is used only as an external application, being employed
as a mild astringent and exsiccant in excoriations and superficial  ulcerations.
For this purpose, it is dusted on the  part, and hence the necessity for its being 
PART II.
Zincum.
1215
very finely levigated.  It is often employed in the form of cerate.  By an
oversight, the London College has  directed the calamine, and not the pre-
pared calamine to make the cerate. (See Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis.)
   Off.Prep. Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis, U. S., Ed., Dub.             B.

   ZINCI CHLORIDUM. U.S.  Chloride of Zinc.  Butter of Zinc.
   " Take of Zinc, in small pieces, two ounces  and  a half; Nitric  Acid,
Prepared Chalk, each, a drachm; Muriatic Acid a sufficient quantity.   To
the Zinc, in a glass  or  porcelain vessel, add gradually sufficient  Muriatic
Acid to dissolve it; then  strain, add the Nitric Acid, and evaporate to dryness.
Dissolve the dry mass in Water, add the Chalk, and having allowed the mix-
ture to stand for twenty-four hours, filter, and  again evaporate to dryness."
 U.S.
   This process is that of the Fench Codex  slightly modified.   A chloride
of zinc is first formed in solution by dissolving zinc in muriatic acid.  The
nitric acid added has the  effect to sesquioxidize and render insoluble any iron
which may have existed as an impurity in the zinc employed. By evaporating
to dryness and redissolving  in water, the sesquioxide of iron is left.  Lastly,
in order to remove any excess of acid, a small portion of chalk is added ;  and
the mixture, after standing,  is filtered to remove the excess of chalk, and then
evaporated to dryness.
   M.  Righini prepares this chloride by  double decomposition  between
solutions of chloride of barium and sulphate of zinc.  Sulphate of baryta is
precipitated, and chloride of zinc remains in solution, from which it  is  ob-
tained in white flaky crystals by  due evaporation. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
xiv. 350, from the Journ. de Chim. Med.)
   Properties, <y*c.  Chloride of zinc is a whitish, semitransparent,  deliques-
cent substance, having the  softness of  wax.   It is wholly soluble  in water,
 alcohol, and ether.   When exposed to heat it first melts and  then sublimes.
 When pure it gives white  precipitates  with  ferrocyanuret of  potassium  and
hydrosulphate of ammonia.  A  blue precipitate with the former test  would
 indicate iron, a black one with the latter, lead. It consists of one eq. of zinc
 32-3, and one of chlorine 35*42 = 67*72.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This chloride was introduced into medicine
 byPapenguth, and subsequently  recommended by Prof. Hancke, of Breslau,
 and Dr. Canquoin, of Paris.  Internally it  has been given, as an  alterative
 and antispasmodic, in scrofula, epilepsy, chorea, and, combined with hydro-
 cyanic acid, in facial neuralgia.   Its chief employment, however,  has been
 externally as an escharotic, applied to scirrhous and cancerous  affections,  and
 to ulcers of an anomalous and intractable character.  When thus used  it  acts
 not merely by destroying the diseased  structure, but by exciting a new  and
 healthier action in the surrounding parts.   As  a caustic it has  the advantage
 of not giving rise to constitutional disorder from absorption, an effect which
 is sometimes produced by  the arsenical preparations.
   Dr. Canquoin prepares the chloride of zinc as an escharotic, by thoroughly
and quickly mixing it with  wheat flour and water into a paste  of  four differ-
ent strengths, containing severally an ounce of the chloride incorporated with
 two, three,  four, and five ounces of flour; fifteen drops of water being  added
for every ounce of flour, or  sufficient to form the paste. It is applied in  cakes
of from a twelfth to a third of an inch in thickness, and produces an eschar
more or less deep (from a line to an inch and a half), according to the  thick-
ness of the paste, the length of the application, and the nature of the part acted
on.   The strongest  paste  is applied to lardaceous and fibro-cartilaginous
structures ; the second to  carcinomatous tumours, and very painful cancers 
1216
Zincum.
PART II.
which have not much thickness, and the third to cancerous affections in per-
sons who have a dread of  violent pain.  These preparations, applied to the
skin denuded of its cuticle by means of a blister, excite in  a few minutes a
sensation of heat, and afterwards violent burning pain.   The eschar, which
is white, very hard, and thick, falls off, by the aid of an emollient poultice,
between the eighth and  twelfth day.   To  destroy thick  cancerous tumours,
having an uneven surface,  and situated in fleshy parts, Dr. Canquoin uses a
caustic formed of one part of chloride of zinc, half a part of chloride of anti-
mony, and  two and a half of flour, made up  with  water into a paste.  In all
cases, the caustic is to be reapplied, after the falling off  of the eschar, until
the whole morbid structure is destroyed.  Instead of flour, Dr. Alex. Ure,
of Glasgow, mixes the chloride with pure anhydrous sulphate of lime in im-
palpable powder.  He states that it has the advantages of furnishing a porous
medium from which the escharotic gradually exudes into the morbid structure,
and of forming afterwards, by acquiring a  firmer consistence, an impervious
case for the eschar.   Mr.  Calloway, of Guy's Hospital, has employed the
chloride of zinc  with considerable success in the treatment of naevi materni.
He rubs it at intervals on the  part until the skin becomes slightly discoloured.
Mr. Guthrie has used it with success for penetrating the hard case of new
bone which forms over  a sequestrum, in  order to expose the latter, so as to
permit of its convenient extraction.  M. Gaudriot recommends it in gonorrhoea
in both  sexes, as having remarkable remedial powers.   For men he  uses an
injection composed of from 24 to 36 drops  of the liquid chloride, mixed with
four fluidounces of water.   A small quantity only is injected about an inch
down the urethra two  or three times a  day.  For women he employs a
vaginal suppository, formed of five drops of the liquid chloride, half a grain of
sulphate of morphia, and three drachms of  a paste consisting of three parts of
starch, two of mucilage of tragacanth, and one of sugar.  The suppository
is  introduced every day, or  every second day.   By the liquid chloride is
probably meant a neutral solution of zinc in  ordinary muriatic acid.
  For internal exhibition,  the  most convenient form is solution in the  spirit
of sulphuric ether, in the proportion of half an ounce of the chloride  to three
fluidounces of the menstruum.  Of this from  four to eight drops may be given
twice a day.                                                       B.

   ZINCI   OXIDUM.  U S,  Ed.   Zinci  Oxydum. Lond., Dub.
Oxide of  Zinc.
  "Take of Sulphate of Zinc a pound;  Carbonate of Ammonia six ounces
and a half; Distilled Water three gallons.   Dissolve the sulphate of Zinc
and Carbonate of Ammonia, separately,  in twelve pints  of the  Distilled
Water,  strain the solutions, and mix them.  Wash the precipitate frequently
with water, and  expose it to  a strong heat so as to drive  off the  carbonic
acid." U. S.
  The London process is essentially the  same with the above, which was
adopted from the London  Pharmacopoeia.
  "Take of Sulphate of Zinc twelve ounces;  Carbonate of Ammonia six
ounces.  Dissolve each in two pints [Imperial measure] of Water; mix the
solutions ;  collect the precipitate on  a filter  of linen or calico ; wash it tho-
roughly ; squeeze and dry it, and expose it for two hours to a red heat."
Ed.
  " Take of Zinc, broken into pieces, any quantity.  Throw it at intervals
into a sufficiently deep crucible heated to redness, and placed with its mouth
inclined towards the  mouth of the furnace.  After  the injection of each piece
of Zinc, cover the crucible with another inverted over it, but loosely, so that 
PART II,
Zincum.
1217
the air may not be excluded.  Preserve the light and  very white  sublimed
powder for use." Dub.
   Oxide  of zinc  is now obtained in the U. S., London,  and Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeias by precipitating a solution  of sulphate of zinc by  one of
carbonate of ammonia, and then igniting the carbonate  of zinc  thus  formed
to drive off" the carbonic acid.   During the precipitation, half an equivalent
of carbonic acid is given off" with  effervescence from  the carbonate of  am-
monia, which, it will be recollected, is a sesquicarbonate.  The old formula
directed the precipitation of the sulphate by ammonia, and it was  supposed
that the precipitate was the oxide of zinc; but it has been proved  that it is
not  a pure oxide, but the oxide mixed with  the subsulphate of zinc.  The
London College first abandoned this process for the one  above explained,
and  its example has  been  followed by the revisers of the U.S. and  Edin-
burgh Pharmacopoeias.  Notwithstanding  this  testimony against the use of
ammonia  to obtain the oxide from the sulphate of zinc,  M. Soubeiran speaks
of it as an advantageous precipitant, without mentioning its liability to throw
down a subsulphate.   Ammonia is not  liable to objection as a precipitant
of the oxide from a solution of the chloride  of zinc, according to the pro-
cess of M.  Defferre;  for  by this process no  risk would be  incurred of
throwing  down a  subsalt.   The chloride  of zinc may be obtained pure by
the  process  given in the preceding article.   (See Journ. de Pharm., 3e
Ser., v. 70.)   In the  process of the Dublin College the oxide is obtained by
burning the metal.   Zinc melts at 773°, and  immediately becomes covered
with a film of  gray oxide.  When the temperature reaches nearly to redness
it takes fire and burns with an intense  white light, generating  the oxide in
the  form  of very light and while  flocculi, resembling  carded wool, which
quickly fill the crucible, and are in part driven into the atmosphere by the current
of air.   It is to prevent loss from the latter circumstance, that the crucible is
inclined towards the  mouth of the furnace, a position which  prevents  the
axis of the crucible from coinciding with the direction of the draught.   The
zinc is directed to be thrown into  the crucible in  successive pieces; but a
better and more expeditious method is to put the whole  of the zinc, intended
to be converted into oxide, into a crucible large enough  to be only two thirds
filled by it.  Heat being applied, the zinc soon  melts,  and afterwards catches
fire, and the  oxide, as  it is  formed, is  removed by means of an iron ladle
with a long handle, until the whole of the  metal is consumed.
  Properties, <y-c  Oxide of zinc is  an inodorous, tasteless, white powder,
insoluble in  water and alcohol.  It dissolves readily in acids, and in potassa,
soda, and  ammonia, but not in their carbonates.   When heated moderately
it becomes yellow; but upon cooling it regains its white colour, unless iron
is present, when the yellow tint remains.   At a low white  heat it fuses,  and
at a  full white one sublimes.   When prepared by combustion, it was formerly
called pompholix, nihil  album, tana philosophica,  and flowers  of  zinc.
This oxide is often impure.  Much of that sold in the shops effervesces with
acids, owing to the presence of carbonate of zinc, or of the carbonate used to
precipitate it.    Its  neutral solution in acids should give a white precipitate
with ferrocyanuret of potassium and hydrosulphate of ammonia.   If the pre-
cipitate  with the former test is bluish-white, iron is indicated, if black with
the latter, lead is  shown.    When obtained by means  of caustic ammonia,
it will  contain  the subsulphate, the acid  of which may b*e detected by dis-
solving the  oxide in  nitric  acid, and precipitating by nitrate of baryta.   If
the oxide  contain white lead or chalk, it will not be  entirely soluble m dilute
sulphuric  acid, but  an insoluble sulphate of  lead or  of lime  will be  left
behind  If iron be present, brownish-red flocks of sesquioxide are left undis-
                                  103* 
1218
Zincum.
PART II.
 solved, when the muriatic  solution of the oxide of zinc is treated with  an
 excess  of ammonia.    Oxide of zinc consists  of one eq. of zinc 32*3, and
 one of  oxygen 8=40-3.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Oxide of zinc is tonic and antispasmodic.
 It has been  given in chorea, epilepsy, hooping-cough, spasm of the stomach
 dependent on dyspepsia, and other similar affections.   Externally it  is em-
 ployed as an exsiccant to excoriated surfaces, sometimes by sprinkling it  on
 the  affected part,' but generally  in the form  of ointment. (See  Unguentum
 Zinci Oxidi.)   The dose is from two to eight  grains or more,  several limes
 a day, given in the  form of pill.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Zinci Oxidi, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.       B.
   ZINCI SULPHAS. U S, Lond., Ed. Dub.    Sulphate of Zinc.
 White Vitriol.
   " Take of Zinc,  in small pieces, four ounces ;  Sulphuric Acid six ounces;
 Distilled Water four pints.   To the Zinc  and  Water, previously introduced
 into a glass  vessel, add by degrees the Sulphuric Acid, and, when the effer-
 vescence shall have ceased, filler the  solution  through paper; then boil it
 down till a pellicle  begins to form, and set it aside to crystallize." U. S.
   " Take of Zinc,  in small pieces, five ounces ; Diluted Sulphuric Acid two
pints [Imperial measure].    Pour  gradually  the  Diluted  Sulphuric Acid
 upon the pieces of Zinc, and,  the effervescence being finished, strain the
 liquor; then boil it down until  a  pellicle begins to  appear.    Lastly, set it
 aside that crystals may form."  Lond.
   " This  salt may be  prepared either by dissolving fragments of Zinc  in
 Diluted Sulphuric Acid till a neutral liquid  be obtained, filtering the solution,
 and  concentrating   sufficiently for it  to  crystallize  on cooling,—or  by re-
 peatedly dissolving and crystallizing  the  impure Sulphate of Zinc of com-
 merce, until  the product when  dissolved  in water  does not yield  a black
 precipitate with tincture of galls, and corresponds with the characters laid
 down for Sulphate  of Zinc in  the list of the Materia Medica."  Ed.
   " Take of Zinc broken into small pieces, thirteen parts ; Sulphuric Acid
 twenty parts;  Water one hundred and twenty  parts.   Put the  Zinc into a
 glass vessel,  and gradually add the Acid, previously  diluted  with the Water.
 When the effervescence has ceased, digest for a little while.    Then filter
 and  evaporate the solution, and  after sufficient concentration set it aside that
 crystals may form." Dub.
   By this process, a pure and crystallized sulphate of zinc  is obtained.
 Strong sulphuric acid  has  very  little  action on zinc;  but, when the  acid is
 diluted, water is instantly decomposed, and while its hydrogen escapes  with
 rapid effervescence, its oxygen  combines  with the  zinc;  and the oxide
 formed, uniting with the sulphuric acid, generates the sulphate of the oxide
 of zinc.  Thus it is perceived that hydrogen  is a collateral product of the
 process, which, being easily performed, is generally  resorted to for obtaining
 this gas.    The proportion of  the  zinc to the strong acid  is as  4  to 6
 in  the  U. S.  process ;  as 4  to 5-33* nearly in  the London ; and  as  4  to
 6*15 in the  Dublin.   The equivalent numbers give the ratio of 4 to 608 ;
 which indicates that the U. S.  numbers  approach  very ne*arly to the true
 proportion.    If the  materials be mixed at once,  without  any  precaution,
 the  effervescence *of hydrogen  is apt to  be excessive, and  to cause  the
 overflowing  of  the liquid.   This is  avoided  by the London and  Dublin
 direction to  add the diluted acid gradually to the zinc, and more completely

  *  This numhrris calculated on the assumption that  a fluidounce [Imperial measure] of
 the London diluted acid contains eighty giains of strong acid. 
PART 11.
Zincum.
1219
still  in  the U. S. formula, in which the solution of the zinc is commenced
by a very  dilute acid, which,  as the action  slackens, is made  by degrees
stronger and stronger, by the addition,  at intervals, of small portions of fresh
acid.   The formula of the Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia is a new one, adopted
on the last revision of that work.   It embraces  directions  for obtaining the
salt either  by direct combination, or by purifying  the white vitriol of com-
merce  from iron by repeated solutions and crystallizations.
  Preparation on the Large Scale.  Sulphate of zinc in an impure state, as
it occurs in commerce, is called white vitriol.  It is manufactured by roasting
blende (native sulphuret of zinc) in a reverberatory furnace.   This mineral,
besides sulphuret of zinc, contains small quantities of the sulphurets of iron,
copper, and lead ; and by roasting is converted, in consequence of the oxida-
tion  of its constituents, into sulphate  of zinc, mixed with the sulphates of
iron, copper, and lead.  The roasted matter is then lixiviated, and the solu-
tion  obtained, after  having been allowed to settle, is concentrated by  evapo-
ration; so that, on  cooling, it  may concrete into  a white  crystalline mass,
resembling lump sugar.  In this- state, it always contains  sulphate of iron,
and sometimes a small portion of sulphate of copper.   It may be purified to
a certain extent by dissolving it in water, and boiling the solution with oxide
of zinc, which  converts the sulphates of iron and copper, by precipitating
their bases, into sulphate of zinc.   The purified solution is then decanted or
fitered, and, after due evaporation, is allowed to crystallize.  It has generally
been proposed to purify the white vitriol of commerce by digesting its solu-
tion with metallic zinc,  under an  impression that  this is capable of precipi-
tating  all the foreign metals;  but,  according to  Berzelius, though  it  will
precipitate copper readily, it has  no action on  the sulphate of iron.  The
best way of separating iron is to add to the  solution of the sulphate of zinc
a filtered solution of chlorinated lime,  which will sesquioxidize the iron and
render it insoluble.  (Dr. W. R. Fisher, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  viii.
107.)
   Properties, fyc.   Sulphate of zinc is a colourless, transparent salt,  having
a disagreeable, metallic, styptic taste, and crystallizing usually in small  four-
sided prisms, terminated by four-sided pyramids.   Its  crystals  have consi-
derable resemblance to those of sulphate of magnesia.  It effloresces slightly
in dry air, and, though  neutral  in  composition, is  still capable of reddening
vegetable blues.   It dissolves  in two and a  half  times its  weight of  cold
water, and in less than  its weight of boiling water, and is  insoluble in  alco-
hol. When heated, it dissolves  in its water of crystallization, which gradually
evaporates;  and, by a prolonged ignition, the whole  of the acid is expelled,
and  the oxide of zinc left.  Potassa, soda, and ammonia throw down a white
precipitate of mixed  oxide  and  subsulphate, which is redissolved  by the
alkali  when added in excess.   If iron be present it is  precipitated also, but
not  redissolved.  The  alkaline carbonates precipitate the  metal  in the state
of white carbonate.  Pure sulphate of zinc is precipitated  white by ferrocy-
anuret of potassium.   If copper be present, ammonia  will produce a blue
tinge; if iron, the ferrocyanuret of potassium will cause a bluish-white preci-
pitate  instead of a white one.   Sulphate of zinc is  incompatible with alkalies
and  alkaline carbonates, hydrosulphates, lime-water, and astringent vegetable
infusions.                                                        ....
   The impure commercial variety of sulphate of zinc, called white vitriol, is
in the form of irregular opaque masses, having some  resemblance to lump
8U<rar.  The  lumps usually exhibit, here and there, on the surface,  yellow
stains', produced by the  sesquioxide of iron.   It is less soluble than the pure
salt  on account of  its containing less water of crystallization. 
 1220                          Zincum.                        part ii.

   Composition. Crystallized sulphate of zinc consists of one eq. of sulphuric
 acid 40*1, one of oxide of zinc 40-3, and seven of water 63=143-4.   The
 white vitriol of commerce contains  but three eqs. of water.
   Medical Properties and Uses. This salt is tonic, astringent, and, in large
 doses, a prompt emetic.  As a tonic, it is supposed to be well suited to cases
 of debility attended with irritation, being less heating than sulphate of  iron.
 In dyspepsia it has  been  used  with advantage in  very minute doses, as, for
 instance, a quarter of a grain, repeated  several times  a day; but if its good
 effects are not soon  apparent, it should  be  laid aside.  In obstinate intermit-
 tents, it is a valuable resource, and  may be given alone  or conjoined  with
 cinchona or sulphate of  quinia.  But  it is in spasmodic diseases, such as
 epilepsy, cho/ea, pertussis, &c, that it has  been principally  employed  as
 an internal remedy.   Dr. Paris speaks of its efficacy in high terms, in spas-
 modic cough, especially when  combined with camphor or myrrh, and "in
 affections of the chest attended  with inordinate secretion."   As an astringent
 it is chiefly employed externally.   In this  mode of application, its solution
 constitutes a good  styptic to bleeding surfaces, and is frequently resorted to
 as an injection in fluor  albus and the advanced stages of  gonorrhoea, and as
 a collyrium  in ophthalmia.  In some conditions of ulcerated sorethroat, it is
 found useful as a gargle.  It has been used also in solution with success as a
 remedy  for nasal polypi, in the proportion of two scruples gradually increased
 to an  ounce of the salt to seven fluidounces  of water, applied by means of
 lint and by injection. (Am. Journ.  of Med.  Sci., xix. 251.)  Before the
 discovery of tartar emetic, sulphate of zinc  was almost exclusively employed
 to produce vomiting; but at present its  use as an emetic is restricted princi-
pally to  the dislodging of poisons, for which purpose its property of operating
rapidly renders it particularly well suited.   The dose, as a tonic, is from one
 to two grains; as an emetic, from ten to thirty grains.   To children affected
 with hooping cough, it may be  given in doses of from  an eighth to a quarter
of a grain two or three  times a day.  When  used as a collyrium, injection,
gargle, or wash for indolent ulcers, from  one to three grains, or more, may be
dissolved in a fluidounce of water.   For  medical purposes, the crystallized
salt should be used, and in no case the impure white vitriol of commerce.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.; Zinci Acetatis Tinctura,
Dub.; Zinci Oxidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.                              B. 
APPENDIX.
 I. DRUGS AND  MEDICINES  NOT  OFFICINAL.*

   In the progress of the medical art, numerous remedies have  at different
 times risen into notice and employment, which, by the revolutions of opinion
 to which our science is  incident, or by the  discovery of more efficient sub-
 stitutes, have so far fallen into disrepute as to have been discarded from gene-
 ral practice, and  no longer to hold a place  in  the officinal catalogues.  Of
 these,  however, some are still occasionally employed by practitioners and
 referred  to by writers, and  many retain a popularity as domestic remedies,
 or among empirics, which they have lost with the medical profession gene-
 rally.  The  attention of physicians  must, therefore, frequently be called to
 them in  the  course of practice; and it is highly desirable to possess some
 knowledge of their properties and effects, in order to be enabled to judge of
 their agency  in any particular  case, and at the  same time to avoid the sus-
 picion  of incompetence which might  attach  to the  exhibition of entire igno-
 rance in  relation  to them.   The remark is true also of other substances,
 which, though at  no time ranked among regular medicines, are yet habitually
 empheyed in  families, and the influence of which,  either remediate or other-
 wise, must often  enter into our estimate of the causes which produce or
 modify disease.  New medicines, moreover, are frequently brought forward,
 which, without having obtained the  sanction of the medical authorities, are
 occasionally prescribed, and therefore merit notice.  To supply, to a  certain
 extent, the requisite means of information in  regard to these extra-officinal
 remedies, is the object of the following brief notices,  among which are also
 included  accounts of substances not employed as medicines, but usually kept
 in the  drug  stores for various purposes connected with the arts, or with
 domestic convenience.  In a  work intended for the use as well of the apothe-
 cary and druggist, as  of the physician and medical student, the introduction
 of such  accounts is obviously  proper, if kept  in due subordination  to  the
 more important object of teaching the properties of medicines, and the mode
 of preparing them.   The authors regret that the limits which practical con-
 venience appears  to require in a Dispensatory, do not admit of a more com-
 plete enumeration of the various  drugs  and  medicines of the kind above
 alluded to, or of ampler details in relation to those actually treated of, than
 will be found in the following pages.   They have endeavoured, however, in
 the selection of objects, to choose those which  are likely most frequently to
 engage the attention of  the  medical and  pharmaceutical professions, and,
 in the  extent of the descriptions, to consult as  far as possible the relative
 importance of facts, of which they could not detail the  whole.  In relation
 to the  nomenclature employed, it may be proper  to observe, that all those
 vegetable remedies, which, not being generally kept  in  the shops, have no
 current commercial name, are described under the scientific title of the plant
 producing them;  while other substances are  designated by the names  which
ordinary  usage  has assigned them.
  * By the term  officinal medicines, here as well as elsewhere in this work, are meant
such as  are embraced in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias. 
1222
Appendix.
  ACETIC ETHER. Mther Aceticus. This ether may be formed by several processes,
the chief of which are the following.—1. Mix 100 parts of alcohol (sp.gr. 0-83) with
63 parts of concentrated acetic acid, and 17 parts of strong sulphuric acid, and distil
125 parts into a  receiver, kept cold with wet cloths.   2.  Distil to dryness, a mixture
of 3  parts of acetate of potassa, 3 of alcohol, and 2  of sulphuric acid, and mix the
distilled product  with one-fifth of sulphuric acid, and distil a second time  an amount
of ether equal to the alcohol employed.  3. Distil 2 parts of effloresced acetate of
lead, with one part of alcohol, and  a little more than 1  part of sulphuric  acid.  In
the two latter* processes, the acetic acid  is set free by the action  of the sulphuric acid
on the acetate employed.
  Acetic ether is colourless, and possesses a very grateful odour, and a peculiar, agree-
able  taste.  Its sp. gr. is 0866 and its boiling point 160°. It undergoes no change by
Being kept.  By  contact of flame, it burns readily, diffusing an acid  odour.  It  dis-
solves in seven and a half parts of water, and unites in all proportions with alcohol.
It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51,  one of etherine 28, and one of water 9=88
  Acetic ether is occasionally used in  medicine as  a stimulant and  antispasmodic.
The  dose is from fifteen to thirty drops, sufficiently  diluted with water.   It is some-
times employed externally, in friction, as a resolvent, and for rheumatic pains.
  ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM. Milfoil.  Yarrow.  This is a  perennial herb, com-
mon to the old and new continents, though  supposed to have been introduced into
this country from Europe.  It is abundant in old fields, along fences, and on the bor-
ders  of woods and of cultivated grounds, throughout the United States.   It  is from a
foot  to eighteen  inches high,  and is distinguished  by its  doubly pinnate  minutely
divided leaves, from which it derived the name of milfoil, and by its dense corymb
of whitish  flowers, which appear throughout the  summer, from  June to September.
The  whole herb is medicinal.  Both the flowers and leaves have an agreeable, though
feeble aromatic odour, which continues after drying, and a bitterish, astringent, pun-
gent taste.   The aromatic properties are strongest in the flowers, the astringency in
the leaves.  The plant owes its virtues  to a volatile oil, a bitter extractive, and  tannin.
The  oil, which may be obtained separate by distillation with water, has the peculiar
flavour of milfoil in a high degree. The active principles are extracted both by water
and alcohol.  The medical properties of the herb are those of a mild aromatic tonic
and astringent.   In former times it was much used as a vulnerary, and  was also
given  internally for  the suppression of hemorrhages,  and of profuse mucous  dis-
charges.  It  has been recommended in intermittents, and as  an antispasmodic in
flatulent colic, and various  affections dependent on nervous debility.  At present it
is little used.  In some parts of Sweden it is said to be employed as  a substitute for
hops in the preparation of beer, which  it is thought to render, more intoxicating.  It
is most conveniently administered in the form of infusion.   The volatile oil has been
given in the dose of twenty or thirty drops.
  ACTiEA SPICATA. Baneberry.  Herb Christopher.   This is a perennial, herba-
ceous, European  plant, growing in the  woods of mountainous regions, and attaining
a height of two feet or more.   The root is of a  dark-brown colour, and  bears some
resemblance to that of the Helleborus  niger, for which it  is said to be occasionally
substituted in some parts of continental Europe.  Its  odour,  in the recent state, is
sweetish and rather nauseous, but is in great  measure dissipated by drying.   The
taste is bitterish  and somewhat acrid.  In its  operation on the system, the root is
purgative and sometimes emetic, and  is capable, in over  doses, of producing dan-
gerous effects.  It is  unknown in this country.  We have,  however, a native  species
of Actaea—the A. Amerieana of Pursh—of which there are two varieties—the alba and
rubra—distinguished by the colour of  their, berries, which in the former  are white,
and in the latter  red. They are sometimes called white and red cohosh, a name derived
from the language of the Aborigines.   By some botanists they  are considered as dis-
tinct species, under the name of Actaea  alba, and Actaea rubra. They grow in  the rich
deep mould of shadowy and rocky woods, from Canada to Virginia.  They are said
to have been much esteemed by the Indians.  Their medical properties are probably
similar to those of the A. spicata.  The name baneberry, applied to different species
of Actaea, was derived from the reputed poisonous properties of their berries.
   ADIANTUM  PEDATUM.   Maidenhair.  An  indigenous fern, the leaves of which
are bitterish and aromatic, and have been supposed to be  useful in chronic catarrhs
and  other pectoral affeciions.  A European species, known by the same vulgar name,
is ihe A. Capillus Veneris, which  has similar properties with the  former, though
feebler, and has  been much used as a pectoral on the continent of Europe,  from very 
Appendix.
1223
early times.  It is given in the form of infusion, sweetened with sugar or honey; and
a syrup prepared from it is popular in France, under the name of shop de capillaire.
The  name of maidenhair has also been given to the Asplenium Trichomanes, the leaves
of which have a mucilaginous, sweetish, somewhat astringent  taste, and have been
used for the same  purposes with those of the plants above  mentioned.  Another
species of Asplenium, the  A. Adiantum-nigrum, has been substituted for the genuine
maidenhair, but neither of them has the  aromatic flavour of that fern.
  iESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM.  Horsechesnut.  The horsechesnut is a native
of Asia, and was introduced about the middle of the  sixteenth  century into Europe,
where, as well as in this country, it is now extensively cultivated as an ornamental
tree.  The fruit and bark have been us^d in medicine.  The fruit abounds in starch,
but has a rough, disagreeable, bitter taste, which renders it unfit for food, though it is
said to be eaten with avidity by horses, oxen, hogs, and sheep.  It may be deprived,
in great measure, of the bitter principle by maceration in an alkaline solution.  It is
asserted that the starch may be readily obtained in a state of purity, and that it excels
as an article of diet that procured from the potato.  {Diet, de Mat. Med.)  The pow-
dered kernel of the fruit,  snuffed up  the nostrils, produces sneezing, and has been
used with advantage as a  sternutatory in complaints of the  head and  eyes.   The bark
of the  horsechesnut has attracted much attention on the continent of Europe, as a
substitute for cinchona.  That of the branches from three to five years old is con-
sidered best.  It should be collected in the spring.  The bark has little odour, but an
astringent and bitter, though  not very disagreeable taste.  It contains, among other
ingredients, bitter extractive and tannin, and imparts its virtues to boiling water.  By
numerous physicians it has been found very efficacious in  the treatment of intermit-
tent fever; but has  entirely failed in the hands of many others ; and certainly cannot
be considered comparable to the Peruvian bark in its power over this complaint.  It
is at present very seldom  used, and never in this country.   It has been given in sub-
stance, decoction, and extract.  From half an ounce to an ounce of the powder may
be given in the course of  twenty-four hours.  The decoction is prepared and admi-
nistered in the same manner as that of Peruvian bark.
   AGARIC. Touchwood.   Spunk.  Tinder. This  is the product of different species
of a genus of  mushrooms denominated  Boletus.  Several species of this  genus  are
used as  food, several  are  poisonous, and two at least have  been ranked  among
officinal medicines  in Europe.  The Boletus laricis, which  grows  upon the larch of
the old world, is  the white  agaric or purging agaric, of medical writers.  It is of vari-
ous  sizes, from that of the fist  to that of  a child's head, or even larger, hard  and
spongy, externally brownish or reddish ; but, as found in commerce, is deprived of its
exterior  coat, and consists of a light, white, spongy, somewhat  farinaceous, friable
mass,  which, though capable of  being rubbed into powder  upon a sieve, is not easily
pulverized in the ordinary mode, as it flattens  under the pestle.   It has a sweetish
very bitter taste, and consists, according to Braconnot, of 72 parts of resinous matter,
2 of bitter extractive, and  26 of fungin, a nutritious animalized principle, constituting
the base of the fleshy substance  of mushrooms.  It contains also benzoic acid  and
various saline compounds.  In the dose of four or six grains it is said to act power-
fully as a cathartic  ; but Lieutaud asserts that it may be given in the quantity of thirty
grains or  a drachm without sensibly purging.  M. Andral has found it  useful in
checking the  night sweats of phthisis.  He  uses  it in  doses of eight grains, and
gradually increases to a  drachm during the day, without any observable  incon-
venience to the digestive functions. (Journ.de  Pharm., xx. 599.)  In  this country it is
scarcely employed,  though we have met with  it in the shops.   That which is most
esteemed is said to  be  brought from Siberia, but it is probably produced wherever the
European larch tree grows.                                             .
   The Boletus igniarius, or agaric of the oak, like  the species just described, is com-
pared in shape to the horse's hoof.  Its diameter is from six to ten inches.  It is soft
like velvet when young, but afterwards  becomes hard and  ligneous.   It usually rests
immediately upon  the bark of the tree, without  any supporting  footstalk.  On  the
upper  surface it is  smooth, but marked with circular ridges of different colours more
or less brown  or  blackish; on the under, it is  whitish or yellowish, and full of small
pores • internally it is fibrous, tough, and of a tawny brown colour.  It is composed of
short tubular fibres compactly arranged in layers, one of which is added every year.
The best is that which grows on the oak, and the season for collecting  it is August or
September.  It has neither taste nor smell.  Its constituents, according to Bouillon-
Lagrange  are extractive, resin in very small proportion, azotized  matter also in 
1224
Appendix.
 small quantity, chloride of potassium, and sulphate of lime; and in its ashes are found
 iron and phosphate of lime and magnesia.  It is prepared for use  by removing the
 exterior rind or bark, cutting the inner part into thin slices, and bearing these with  a
 hammer until they become soft, pliable, and easily torn by the fingers.   In this  state
 it was formerly much used by surgeons for arresting hemorrhage, being applied im-
 mediately, with pressure, to the bleeding vessel.  It was at one time thought to check
 the hemorrhage by a peculiar property ;  but it is now  believed to act mechanically,
 like any other soft porous substance, by absorbing the  blood and causing it to coagu-
 late, and is not relied on in severe cases.  In  the obstinate hemorrhage which occa-
 sionally takes place  from leech bites, especially those of the European leech, it may
 be used advantageously, though perhaps not more so than well-prepared lint.  It has
 been sometimes applied to the purposes of moxa.
   When prepared agaric  is steeped in a solution  of  nitre, and  afterwards  dried, it
 becomes very readily inflammable, and is applicable to the purposes of tinder. Some
 recommend the substitution of chlorate of  potassa for nitre.  The  preparation is
 usually known by the name of spunk, and is brought to us from Europe.  Spunk or
 tinder, the amadou of the French, is in flat pieces, of  a consistence somewhat like
 that of  very soft  rotten buckskin leather, of a brownish-yellow colour, capable of
 absorbing liquids, and inflammable by the slightest spark. It is said to be prepared
 from various other species of Boletus, as the B.ungulatus, B.fomentarius, B. ribis, fyc.
   AGAVE AMERICANA. American Agave.  American Aloe.  An evergreen  succu-
 lent plant, indigenous in Florida. Mexico, and other parts of tropical America.   This
 and other species of Agave bear a considerable resemblance, in appearance, to the
 plants of the  genus Aloe, with  which they are sometimes confounded.  From the
 root and leaves of the American agave, when cut, a saccharine juice flows out, which
 may be  converted by evaporation into syrup and  even sugar, and by fermentation
 into a vinous liquor.  This juice, when fresh, is said to be laxative,  diuretic, and em-
 menagogue.  The expressed juice, evaporated to the consistence of  a soft extract, has
 the property of forming a lather with water, and is employed in some places as a sub-
 stitute for soap. The fibres of the old leaves, separated  by bruising and maceration
 in water, are used for forming thread.
   AGRIMONIA EUPATORIA.   Common Agrimony  This species of agrimony is
 a perennial herb, inhabiting Asia, Europe, and North America, and in  this country.
 found in fields and on the borders of woods, and flowering during the summer months.
 Its stem, which rises from one to three feet  in height, is hairy, furnished with inter-
 ruptedly pinnate leaves, and terminated by a long simple spike of yellow  flowers.—
 Both the herb and root have been employed.  The former has  a weak but agreeable
 aromatic odour, and a rough, bitterish, somewhat aromatic taste.  The fragrance is
 strongest in the flowers.  The root has similar properties; but its taste is more bitter
 and astringent.  A volatile oil may be obtained from the plant  by distillation  with
 water.  Agrimony is a mild corroborant  and astringent.  The herb has  been  con-
 siderably employed in relaxed conditions of disease, as in passive hemorrhages, and
 chronic affections of  the mucous membranes.  It has been highly recommended  also,
 as a deobstruent in jaundice and visceral obstructions, and as an alterative in dis-
 eases of the skin.  In Europe it is said to be popularly used, in the form of gargle, in
 affections of the throat.  The Indians of North America  and the Canadians are
 reported to have employed the root with advantage in fevers.  The plant  may be
 given in substance, infusion, or decoction.  The dose of the powder is a drachm or
 more.
  AJUGA CHAM^EPITY^.  Ground Pine.  Chamsepitys. A  low, creeping, annual.
 labiate plant, a native of Europe, and found also in some parts of the United  States.
 The leaves, which bear some resemblance to those of the pine in shape, have a strong,
 peculiar, resinous, not disagreeable odour, and a bitter, balsamic taste. They yield
 by distillation with water a small proportion of volatile oil, resembling that of turpen-
 tine.  They are said  to be stimulant, diuretic, and aperient; and have been given in
 rheumatism, gout, palsy, and amenorrhoea.  The dose of the leaves  in powder is one
 or two drachms ; but their infusion in wine is considered the best preparation.
  The Ajuga reptans or common bugle, and the A. pyramidalis, perennial plants of
 Europe, have  also been used in medicine.  They are  nearly inodorous, but  have a
 somewhat astringent, bitterish, and saline  taste.  Their virtues are probably those of
 a mild astringent and tonic.  They have been  recommended in pulmonary  consump-
 tion, haemoptysis and other hemorrhages, and in hepatic obstructions, and have en-
joyed considerable reputation as vulneraries;  but they  are at present nearly obsolete 
Appendix.
1225
  ALBUMINATE OF IRON AND POTASSA, SYRUP OF.  This syrup, proposed
by M. Lassaigne, is made as follows .-—Dissolve 100 parts of the white of eggs in 100
of distilled water, and precipitate  the filtered solution with 36 parts of a solution of
the sulphate of sesquioxide of iron, marking 5° of the areometer.  Then add 2 parts
of alcoholic potassa, previously dissolved in 50 parts of water.  This, by agitation,
will gradually dissolve the precipitate caused by the ferruginous  solution, forming a
deep orange-yellow liquid.  The liquid is then converted into a syrup by  dissolving
in it one and a half times its  weight of coarsely powdered sugar, and filtered.  The
syrup has a slightly alkaline and sweetish taste, totally devoid of inky flavour.  Each
fluidounce contains about six grains  of anhydrous sesquioxide  of iron.   Mr. A. J.
Cooley has proposed to make a simple albuminate of iron, by dissolving the freshly
precipitated oxides in a filtered solution of albumen.
  ALCHEMILLA VULGARIS. Ladies-mantle. A perennial  European herb, grow-
ing in meadows, on the banks of rivulets, and  in the  borders of woods.  The  whole
plant has  an astringent bitterish taste, which is strongest in the root.  It was formerly
employed in diarrhoea, and other complaints requiring the use of astringents. By the
ancients it was highly esteemed; and extraordinary powers were ascribed  to it by the
alchemists, from whom, according to Linnasus, it derived its generic title.
  ALCORNOQUE.  Under this  name, a  bark was introduced into Europe from,
South America, thirty or forty years since, and  for a short time attracted considerable
attention.   It has been conjecturally referred by different writers to different plants,
but its precise origin is unknown.  It is in large thick pieces, composed of two layers,
of which the external is reddish, cracked, granular, spongy, and two or three lines in
thickness, the  internal  lamellated, woody, and possessed of the property of imparting
a yellow colour to the  saliva when chewed.  It is inodorous.  The outer layer is of
an astringent, somewhat bitter  taste, and  was thought to have febrifuge powers;  the
inner is much more bitter, and is decidedly emetic.   The bark was brought into  no-
tice chiefly as  a remedy in phthisis; but, having been found useless in that complaint,
has fallen into entire neglect. It was given in the form of powder, in the dose of thirty
grains;  or half an ounce of it was boiled in a pint of water down to half  a pint, and
two or three tablespoonfuls of the decoction were  administered every two hours.  In
these  doses it acted as an emetic.
   ALISMA PLANTAGO.  Water Plantain.  A perennial herbaceous plant, common
to Europe and the United States, and growing in streams, pools, ditches, and other
standing waters.  The root has when fresh an odour like that of Florentine orris, but
loses it  when dried.  Its taste is acrid and nauseous.   It acquired at one time con-
siderable credit as a preventive of  hydrophobia, for which purpose it was said to have
been used with great advantage in Russia;  but subsequent experiments have proved
its total inefficacy.  The Calmucks are said to use it for food. The leaves are rube-
facient,  and will sometimes  even blister when  applied  to the skin.  They have been
recommended in gravel and complaints of the bladder, in the dose of a drachm.
  ALKANET.  This is the root of the Anchusa tinctoria, or dyers' alkanet, an  herba-
ceous perennial plant, growing in the Grecian  Archipelago and the South of Europe.
It is said in some medical works to be cultivated abundantly in the South  of France;
bot another plant is probably referred to—the Lithospermum  tinctorium of Linnaeus
and De  Candolle (the Anchusa tinctoria of Lamarck), which is a  native of that coun-
try, and the root of which is considered as  the true  alkanet by the  French writers.
Alkanet, as found in the shops, is in pieces three or four inches long, from the thick-
ness of  a  qaill to that of the little finger, somewhat twisted, consisting of a dark-red.
easily separable bark, and an internal ligneous portion, which is reddish  externally,
whitish  near the centre, and composed of numerous distinct, slender, cohering fibres.
As it  comes to us  it is usually much decayed internally, very light, and of a  loose
almost spongy texture. The fresh root has a faint odour, and a bitterish astringent
taste; but when dried it is nearly inodorous and insipid.  Its colouring principle,
which abounds most in the  cortical part, is soluble in  alcohol, ether, and  the oils, to
which it imparts a fine deep red; but is insoluble in water.  It may be obtained by
first exhausting the root with water, and then treating it with a weak solution of the
carbonate of potassa or soda, from  which  the colouring principle may be precipitated
by an acid.  According to Pelletier, by whom  it  was  discovered, it possesses acid
properties, uniting with the alkalies and earths to form neutral  compounds, which
are of a blue colour, and soluble in alcohol and ether.  He calls it anchusic acid, and
states that it is capable of being sublimed unchanged. (Journ. de Pharm., xix. 105.)
The tincture of alkanet has its colour deepened by the  acids, changed to blue by the
     104 
1226
Appendix.
 alkalies, and again restored by neutralizing the latter substances.   It may, therefore,
 be used as a test.  The extract obtained by evaporating the tincture is dark brown.
   Alkanet root is somewhat astringent, and was  formerly applied to the treatment of
 several diseases; but it is now employed exclusively for colouring oils, ointments,
 and plasters, which are beautifully reddened by one-fortieih of their weight of the root.
 It is said also to be used in the preparation of spurious Port wine.
   ALLIARIA OFFICINALIS. Erysimum Alliaria, Linn. Hedge Garlic. A perennial
 European  herb, having when  rubbed an odour like that of garlic, and of a bitterish
 somewhat acrid taste.  When eaten it communicates an alliaceous smell to the breath.
 The herb and seeds  are esteemed  diuretic, diaphoretic, and expectorant, and have
 been given in humoral asthma, chronic catarrh, and other complaints in which garlic
 is considered useful.  The herb has also been  recommended as an external applica-
 tion in gangrenous affections, and to promote suppuration.
   ALNUS GLUTINOSA.  Common European  Alder.  An European tree, twenty-five
 feet or more in height, growing in swamps, on the sides of streams, and in other damp
 places.  The bark and leaves are very astringent, and somewhat bitter.  The former
 has  been  used in intermittent fever, the  latter as a topical  remedy in wounds  and
 ulcers.  The  bruised leaves are sometimes applied to the  breast for the purpose of
 repelling the milk.  The cones also are  said to  be astringent, and  to form a useful
 gargle in complaints of the  throat. All these parts of the tree are used in dyeing,  and
 the leaves and bark in tanning. The Alnus serrulata, or common American alder, has
 properties analogous to those of the  European  species.
   AMBERGRIS.  Ambragrisea.  This substance, which is found floating'on the  sea,
or thrown  by the waves upon the  shores of  various  countries, particularly in the
 southern hemisphere, is now generally believed  to be  produced in  the intestines of
 the Physeter macrocephalus or spermaceti  whale, and perhaps in those of some other
 fish.  It is in roundish or  amorphous pieces,  usually small, but sometimes of con-
siderable magnitude; and masses have  been  found weighing 50, 100, or even  200
pounds.  These pieces are often composed of  concentric layers.  They are of vari-
ous colours, usually gray, with brownish, yellow, and white streaks, often dark brown
or blackish on the external surface.  They are opaque, lighter than water, and of a
 consistence like that of wax.  Ambergris has  a  peculiar  aromatic agreeable odour,
 is almost tasteless, softens with the warmth of  the hand, melts under 212°, is almost
 completely volatilizable by heat, and takes fire when heated in the open air.  It is
 insoluble in  water, but  is readily dissolved, with the aid  of heat, by alcohol, ether,
 and the volatile and fixed oils.  It consists chiefly  of a peculiar fatty matter analogous
 to cholesterin, and denominated by  Pelletier and Caventou  ambrein.  This may be
 obtained by treating ambergris with heated alcohol, filtering the solution, and allow-
 ing it to stand.  Crystals of ambrein are deposited.  It differs from most  other fatty
 matters in not forming soaps with the alkalies.   When pure it has little or no odour.
Ambergris  is often  adulterated; but does not then exhibit its ordinary fusibility  and
volatility.  It was long regarded as a cordial and antispasmodic, somewhat analogous
 to musk in its action; and has  been recommended in typhoid fevers, and various
nervous diseases.   It formerly entered into many officinal  preparations, and is  still
retained by some of the European Pharmacopoeias. It  is, however, in all probability,
very feeble in remediate power, and is much more-used in perfumery than in medicine.
The  dose is from five grains to a drachm.
  AMMONIO-TARTRATE OF IRON.  Ferri  Ammonio-iartras.  This salt was first
employed by Mr. Aikin, of London.  According to Mr. Wrn. Procter, Jan., of this city,
 it is  best prepared by dissolving to  saturation, freshly precipitated  hydrated sesqui-
 oxide of iron  in a solution of bitartrate of ammonia.  The bitartrate may be made by
 saturating fifty drachms of tartaric acid, dissolved in a gallon of water, with carbonate
 of ammonia, and then adding fifty drachms of  the acid to the solution formed.  This
 is heated, by means of a water-bath, with the fresh hydrated sesquioxide, derived from
 fifty-three and a third drachms of U.S. subcarbonate  of iron, dissolved in muriatic
 acid and precipitated by ammonia. The sesquioxide is dissolved, and a deep reddish-
 brown solution results, which is evaporated to  dryness by means of a water-bath.
 This double salt, when prepared in small  quantities, is  in brilliant scales, dark-brown
 in mass, but  garnet-red by transmitted light.  When obtained in considerable quan-
 tities, it forms angular grains, resembling kino.  It is very soluble in water, and  ha?
 a strongly saccharine taste.  Its aqueous  solution undergoes no change by a boiling
 temperature.  According to an analysis by Mr. Procter, it consists of one eq. of  ses-
 quioxide of iron, one of ammonia, two of tartaric acid, and four of water. (Am. Journ. 
Appendix.
1227
of Pharm., xii. 275.)  This salt has the general properties of the  other ferruginous
compounds.  Its advantages are its ready solubility, palatable taste, and permanency.
The dose is five grains or  more, given in pill or solution.
  ANACARDIUM OCCIDENTALE. Linn.   Cassuvium pomiferum. Lam. Cashew-
nut. A small and elegant tree, growing in the West Indies, and other parts of tropical
America.   A gum exudes from the  bark, which bears some resemblance to gum
Arabic, but is only in part soluble  in water, and consists of true gum and  bassorin.
It is the gomme d'acajou,  of  the French  writers.   The fruit is a fleshy, pear-shaped
receptacle, supporting at  its summit, a hard, shining, ash-coloured,  kidney-shaped
nut, an inch or more in length, and three-quarters of an inch broad, consisting of two
shells, with a black juice  between them, and of a  sweet  oily kernel.   The recepta-
cle  is red or yellow, and of an agreeable sub-acid flavour  with some astringency.  It
is edible, and affords a juice which has been recommended in dropsy.  This juice is
converted by fermentation into a vinous liquor, which  yields a spirit by distillation,
much used in making  punch, and  said to be powerfully diuretic.   The nuts are well
known under the name of cashew-nuts.  The black juice contained between their outer
and inner shell, is extremely acrid and corrosive, producing, when applied to the skin,
severe inflammation, followed by blisters or desquamation.  It is  used in  the West
Indies for the cure of corns, warts, ringworms, and obstinate ulcers, and is said to be
sometimes  applied to the face by females in order to remove the cuticle, and produce
a fresher and more  youthful aspect. The worst case of external poisoning which
has ever come under  our notice, was produced in a lady who was exposed to the
fumes of the nut while roasting.  The face was so much swollen  that for  some time
not a feature was discernible. The kernel, when fresh, has a sweet, agreeable taste,
and is eaten like chestnuts, either raw or roasted.   It is also used as an ingredient of
puddings, &c, and forms an excellent chocolate when ground with cocoa.   By age it
becomes rancid and loses its agreeable flavour.  The black juice of the  nut, and a
milky juice which flows from the  tree by incision, are  sometimes used for marking
linen, upon which they leave a nearly indelible brown or black stain.
  ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS. Scarlet Pimpernel.  An annual plant, growing in Eu-
rope and this country, with small, delicate, procumbent stems, furnished with oppo-
site branches, opposite ovate leaves, and  small scarlet flowers, which  are supported
upon axillary, solitary  peduncles, and appear in June and July.  It is inodorous, and
has a bitterish, somewhat acrid taste.  The ancients esteemed it a counter-poison, and
in  modern times it  has been used as a preventive of hydrophobia;  but  at present
no  faith is placed in its alexipharmic powers.  It is, nevertheless, not wholly inac-
tive; as Orfila found three  drachms of an extract prepared from it sufficient to destroy
a dog, with marks of inflammation  of the  bowels.  It  has been recommended as a
local application in old and  ill-conditioned ulcers, and has been given internally in
visceral obstructions,  consumption,  dropsy, epilepsy, mania, &c.  But too little is
known of its precise properties, to authorise its indiscriminate employment in these
complaints.  Another  species, considered by  Linnaeus as a mere variety of the A.
arvensis, is the A. ccerulea, distinguished  by its blue flowers.  It is incorrectly desig-
nated by the older writers as the  female plant, the former being  called male.  The
medical properties of the two, so far  as is known, are the  same.
   ANCHUSA  OFFICINALIS. Bugloss.  This species of Anchusa is a native of
Europe, and unknown in  the United  States.  It is a biennial  plant, from one to three
feet high, and was formerlv  much esteemed as a  medicine.  The root, leaves, and
flowers, were officinal.  These are inodorous, and  nearly tasteless.  The root is mu-
cilaginous and slightly sweetish, and the flowers very feebly bitter.   The plant has no
claim whatever to the credit,  formerly attached to it, of possessing cordial and  exhila-
rating properties. It was used by the  ancients in hypochondriacal affections; but as it
was p-iven in wine, the  elevation of spirits was probably due to the vehicle. In France,
the Anchusa Italica, which is  there known as buglosse, is employed for the  same pur-
poses and  in the same manner as the Borago officinalis.
   ANDROMEDA ARBOREA. Sorrel-tree.  A beautiful indigenous tree, growing in
 the valleys of the Alleghany mountains, from  Pennsylvania to Florida. The leaves
have a very pleasant acid  taste, which has given rise to the common name of the tree.
They are frequently used  by hunters to  allay thirst, and in decoction they form a
grateful refrigerant drink  in fevers.
   The other species of Andromeda are shrubs, and some of them are ornamental. Dr.
Barton in his " Collections," states that a decoction of the A. Mariana is usefully em-
ployed'in the Southern States, as a  wash in a disagreeable ulceration of  the feet to 
1228                            Appendix.
 which the negroes are liable.  The powder upon the leaves and buds of the A. speciosa
 is said to be a powerful errhine.
   ANEMONE PRATENSIS. Meadow Anemone.  This plant enjoyed at one time con-
 siderable credit from the recommendation of Storck, who believed that he had found
 it useful in amaurosis and other complaints of the eye, in  secondary syphilis, and in
 cutaneous eruptions.  The A. Pulsatilla, an analogous species, has been employed for
 similar purposes; and favourable reports have been  made of its efficacy in obstinate
 diseases of the skin, and in hooping-cough.   The  preparation employed was an ex-
 tract of the herbaceous part of the plant, which  was given by Storck in the dose of
 one or two grains daily, gradually increased to twenty grains or more.  In large doses
 it was found frequently to produce nausea and vomiting, or griping and  looseness of
 the bowels, and sometimes acted as a diuretic.  The  species of Anemone above men-
 tioned are European plants, and are not cultivated in  this country.  We have several
 native  species, which, however, are not employed.  One of them, the A. nemorosa,
 which is common to Europe and the United States, is said  to act as a poison to cattle,
 producing bloody urine and convulsions.  It is stated also to have proved, when ap-
 plied to the head, a speedy cure for tinea capitis.  Most  of the species are, in the
 recent state, acrid and rubefacient, resembling in  this respect other Ranunculaceee.
 They contain a peculiar crystallizable principle, named anemonin, which is converted
 into anemonic acid by the action of alkalies.   (Annalen der Pharm., xxxii. 276.)
   ANIME. Gum Anime.   The substance known at present by the name of anime, is
 a resin supposed to be derived from the Hymenoea Courbaril,a tree of South America;
 though this origin is denied by Hayne, and is at least doubtful.  It is in small, irregu-
 lar pieces, of a  pale lemon-yellow colour, sometimes inclining to reddish, more or
 less transparent, covered with a whitish powder, brittle and pulverizable, with a shin-
 ing fracture,  a weak but agreeable odour, and a mild  resinous taste.  It softens in the
 mouth, adheres  to the fingers when in the state of powder, and readily melts  with
 heat, diffusing its agreeable odour in an increased degree.  It consists  of two distinct
 resins, one soluble, the other insoluble in cold alcohol, and of a small proportion of
 volatile oil.   There  is a variety of a darker colour, less transparent, and exhibiting
 small cavities in the interior; in other respects resembling the preceding.  Another
 variety of anime is the East Indian, supposed to  be derived from the Vateria Indica,-
 but this never reaches us as a distinct article of commerce.  Anime formerly entered
 into the composition of various ointments and plasters; but is now used only as in-
 cense or in the preparation of varnishes.  The Brazilians are said to employ it inter-
 nally in diseases of the lungs.
  ANNOTTA. Orleana.   The colouring substance called annotta, arnotta, or roucou,
 is the reddish pulp surrounding the seeds  in the fruit of the  Bixa Orellana, a middling.
 sized tree growing in Guiana, and other parts of  South America.  The pulp is sepa-
 rated by bruising the fruit, mixing it with water, then straining through a sieve, and
 allowing the liquid to stand till the undissolved portion  subsides.  The water is  then
 poured  off, and the mass which remains, having been  sufficiently dried, is formed into
 flat cakes or cylindrical  rolls, and sent into the  market.  Annotta  is of a brownish-
 red colour, usually rather soft, but hard and brittle when dry, of a dull fracture,  of a
 sweetish peculiar odour, and a rough, saline, bitterish  taste.  It is inflammable, but
 does not melt with heat.  It softens in water, to which it imparts a yellow colour, but
 does not dissolve.  Alcohol, ether, the oils, and alkaline solutions dissolve the greater
 part of it. It contains a peculiar crystallizable,  colouring principle, to which M.
 Preisser, its discoverer, has given the name of bixin. (See Journ. de Pharm., 3e  Ser.,v.
 258.)  The chief uses to which  annotta is applied,  are for dyeing silk and  cotton
 orange-yellow, and for colouring cheese.   The colour, however, which it imparts to
 cloth is fugitive.  It  has been given internally as a medicine;  but  is not now used,
 and probably exercises little influence upon the system. In pharmacy it is occasionally
 used to  colour plasters, and has sometimes been substituted for saffron.  It is said to
 be sometimes largely adulterated; and red ochre, powdered bricks, and colcothar have
been  employed for the purpose.   If these substances  be  present, they will be left
behind when  the annotta is burned.
  ANTHRAKOKALI. This preparation, introduced by Dr. Polya, is of two  kinds,
 the simple and the sulphuretted.   The simple anthrakokali is formed  by adding 160
parts of porphyrized  mineral coal  to 192 parts of  a concentrated and boiling solution
of caustic potassa, contained in an iron vessel, the  whole being well stirred together.
 When the mixture is completed, the vessel is taken from the fire, and the stirring  con-
 tinued until the whole is converted into a homogeneous black powder. The sulphuretted 
Appendix.
1229
 anthrakokah is prepared in a similar manner, 16 parts of sulphur being mixed with
     T"u   C°al before U 1S added t0 the caustic potassa solution.  Dr. Polya recom-
 mends these preparations, both internally and externally, in scrofula, chronic rheuma-
 tism, rheumatic tumours of the joints, and certain herpetic affections.  The dose is
 a grain and a half three or four times a day, mixed with two or three times its weight
 ot powdered liquorice root.   For external use, sixteen grains may be rubbed up with
 an ounce of lard, to form an ointment, to be used in frictions night and morning. (See
 Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 545, and 3e Ser., ii. 153.)
   ANTHRISCUS CEREFOLIUM. De Cand.   Chaerophyllum sativum. Lam. Scandix
 Cerefolium. Linn.   Chervil.   An annual European plant, cultivated in gardens as a
 pot-herb, and supposed by some physicians to  possess medicinal powers.  It has a
 strongly agreeable odour, especially when rubbed, and a pungent slightly bitterish
 taste.  These properties it owes to a volatile oil, which may be separated  by distilla-
 tion with water.   It is said  to  be deobstruent,  diuretic, and emmenagogue," and  has
 been recommended by different authors in consumption, scrofula, dropsy, cutaneous
 and scorbutic affections, and as an external  application to swollen breasts, bruises,
 and other local complaints or injuries.  It is, however, a very feeble remedy, and is
 more employed as an addition to broths than as a medicine.
   ANTIRRHINUM LINARIA. Linn.  LINARIA VULGARIS.  Lindley.   Common
 Toadjlux.  This  is a  perennial  herbaceous plant, from one to  two feet high, with
 numerous  narrow linear leaves, and a terminal crowded spike of large yellow flowers.
 It is a native of Europe, but has been introduced into this country, and now  grows
 in great  abundance along the road sides, throughout  the Middle States.  It is readily
 distinguishable by the shape of its leaf, and by its conspicuous yellow flowers, which
 appear in succession from June to October.  The herb is the part used. It should be
 collected when in  flower, dried  quickly, and kept excluded from the air.  When fresh
 it has a peculiar, heavy, rather disagreeable odour, which is in a  great measure  dis-
 sipated by drying.  The taste is herbaceous, weakly  saline, bitter, and  slightly acrid.
 This plant is said  to be diuretic and cathartic,and has been used  in  dropsy, jaundice,
 and various cutaneous eruptions. It is most conveniently employed in infusion. The
 fresh plant is sometimes applied externally, in  the shape of poultice or fomentation,
 to hemorrhoidal tumours; and an ointment made from the flowers  has been employed
 for the same purpose, and also as a local application in diseases of the skin.  The
 flowers are used in Germany for dyeing yellow.
   AQUA BINELLI.   An Italian nostrum, named after a physician of Turin, which
 at one time enjoyed great reputation in Europe  as a styptic ; but  has been proved to
 possess very little efficacy.   It is a transparent liquid, with little  taste  and an  empy-
 reumatic odour, and, after the  discovery of creasote, was conjectured to contain a
 small proportion of that principle. It is now out of use.  A recipe for its preparation
 is given in the Annuaire de Therapeutique, 1843, p. 227.
   AQUILEG1A VULGARIS. Columbine.  A perennial herbaceous plant, indigenous
 in Europe, but cultivated in  our gardens as an  ornamental flower.  All parts of it
 have been medicinally employed.  The roots,  leaves, and flowers  have a disagree-
 able odour, and a bitterish, acrid taste.  The  seeds are  small,  black, shining,  in-
 odorous, and of an oleaginous sweetish  taste, followed by a sense of  acrimony.
 Columbine has  been considered diuretic, diaphoretic, and  antiscorbutic, and  has
 been employed in  jaundice, in small-pox to promote the eruption, in scurvy, and ex-
 ternally as a vulnerary.  It is not used at present, and is  even suspected to possess
 dangerous properties, like most other plants of the natural order of Ranunculaceae.
  ARECA NUT.  Betel Nut.   This is  the product  of the Areca Catechu,  an East
 India tree belonging to the family of palms.  The fruit, which is  about the size and
 shape of a small egg, and of an orange-yellow colour, contains the nut embedded in
 a fibrous fleshy envelope, and invested with a brittle  shell  which  adheres  to the  ex-
 terior flesh.  The kernel, which is the betel-nut of commerce, is of a roundish-conical
 shape, rather larger than a chestnut, externally of a  deep-brown, diversified with  a
 fawn colour, so as to present a reticular appearance, internally  brownish-red with
 whitish veins, very hard, of a feeble odour when broken, and ofan astringent, some-
 what acrid  taste.  It abounds in  tannin, and contains also gallic acid, a fixed oil, gum,
 a little volatile oil,  lignin, and various saline substances.  It yields its astringency to
 water; and, in some parts of Hindostan, an extract  is prepared  from  it having  the
appearance'and  properties of catechu.  Immense quantities are consumed in  ihe
East, mixed with  the leaves  of the  Piper Betel, and  with lime, forming the mastica-
tory so well known by the name of betel.  The red colour which this mixture imparts
  '                                  104* 
1230
Appendix.
to the saliva and the excrements is owing to the Areca nut, which is also powerfully
astringent, and, by its internal use, tends to counteract the relaxation  of bowels  to
which the heat of  the climate so strongly predisposes.  The nut is used in this
country almost exclusively in the  preparation of tooth-powder, for which purpose it
is first reduced by  heat to the state  of charcoal.  The superiority of this form  of
charcoal over that from other sources is probably owing to its hardness.
   ARSENIATE  OF  AMMONIA.  Ammoniae Arsenias.   This salt is obtained  in
crystals by saturating a concentrated solution of arsenic acid with ammonia or car-
bonate of ammonia, and allowing it to  evaporate spontaneously.   It has been used
with advantage by Biett in several inveterate diseases of the skin.  It is given  in
solution, formed by dissolving a grain of the salt in a fluidounce of distilled water. Of
this  the dose is from twenty to twenty-five drops, given in the course of the day, and
gradually increased.
   ARSENIATE OF IRON.  Ferri Arsenias.  This  salt may be  formed by double
decomposition, by adding a solution of  sulphate of iron to one of arseniate of soda.
It precipitates in the form of a dirty-green powder.  It has been used by Carmichael,
diluted with four times its weight of phosphate of iron, as a  caustic  application  to
cancerous ulcers.   Ii may be made into ointment by being mixed with twelve times
its weight of spermaceti  cerate. Internally it has been given in cancerous affections,
in the form of pill, in the dose of a sixteenth of a grain, three times a day.
   ASPARAGUS  OFFICINALIS. Asparagus.   This well-known garden vegetable
is a native of Europe.  It is perennial  and  herbaceous.  The root, which is inodor-
ous, and  of a weak sweetish taste, was formerly used as a  diuretic, aperient, and
purifier of the blood; and  it is stated to be still employed to a considerable extent  in
France.  It is given in the form of decoction, made in  the proportion of one  or two
ounces of the root to a quart of water.   Hayne  asserts that, in the  dried state, it  is
wholly inert.  The young shoots are much used  as food.  Before being boiled they have
a disagreeable taste; and their juice was found by Robiquet and Vauquelin to contain
a  peculiar crystallizable principle, called asparagin (see  p. 76), which, however,  is
not known to exert any special influence on the system.  The sprouts  themselves
are not without effect, as  the urine acquires a disagreeable odour very soon after
they have been eaten.  They are considered  by some writers as diuretic, aperient,
and  deobstruent, and as constituting a very wholesome and  useful article of diet,
early in the spring, when  so few vegetables are to  be obtained.   Broussais thought
that  they exerted a sedative influence over the heart, and recommended  them espe-
cially in hypertrophy and other diseases of that organ attended with excessive  action,
and without phlogosis of the stomach.   M. Gendrin, however, after much experience
with asparagus, affirms that he has never found it to  exercise the slightest influence
over the  actions of the  heart, and ascribes  its palliative  effects in diseases of that
organ, to its  diuretic action.   From the experiments of M. Gendrin it appears, that
this medicine operates powerfully on the kidneys.   He found it, in all the cases  in
which he administered it, to increase the quantity of urine, which, in some instances
was  quintupled.   The most convenient forms for exhibition  are those of syrup and
extract, prepared from the  shoots.  The  former may be given in  the dose of one  or
two fluidounces, the latter of half a drachm or a drachm.  The syrup may be made
by adding a sufficient quantity of sugar to  the  expressed juice of the shoots, pre-
viously deprived of its albumen by exposure to heat and by filtration;  the extract, by
evaporating the same juice to  the consistence of a  pilular  mass.  The berries are
capable of undergoing the vinous fermentation, and affording alcohol by  distillation.
In their unripe state they possess the same  properties as the shoots, and probably  in
a much higher degree.  We have employed a syrup prepared from them, with ap-
parent advantage, in a ca«e of diseased heart.
   ASPLENIUM FILIX F03MINA. R. Brown.   Female Fern. This is  Ihe Polypo-
diurn Filix fcemina of Linn., the Aspidium Filix foemina of Swartz, and the Athyrium
Filix foemina of Roth.   It has a root analogous in character to that'of  the male fern
(Aspidium Filix mas),and  has been supposed to possess similar vermifuge properties.
At present, however, it is not used.  The vulgar  name of female fern has also been
bestowed  upon the Pteris aquilina, or common brake, which is asserted by some authors
to have the  property of destroying the tape-worm.  The leaves of two species of
Asplenium,  the A.  Trichomanes or common spleenwort, and A. Adiantum-nigrum, or
black spleenwort, are somewhat mucilaginous, and have been used as  substiiutes for
the Maidenhairs (Adianium Capillus Veneris and A.pedatam) as pectorals, though des-
titute of the aromatic flavour, which is  the chief recommendation of these plants. 
Appendix.
1231
  BALM  OF GILEAD.  Balsam of Gitead.  Balsamum Gileadense.  Baume de la
Mecque, Fr.  The genuine  balm of Gilead  is the resinous juice of the Amyris Gile-
adensis of Linn., the Balsamodendron Gileadense of Kunth, a small evergreen tree,
growing on the Asiatic and African shores of the Red Sea.  It was in  high repute
with the ancients, and still retains its value in the estimation of the eastern nations,
among whom it is employed both as a medicine and  cosmetic.  In western Europe,
and in this country, it is seldom found in a state of purity, and its use has been en-
tirely abandoned.  It  is described as a  turbid, whitish, thick, gray, odorous liquid,
which becomes solid by exposure.  It possesses no medical properties which do not
exist in other balsamic or terebinthinate juices.  It was formerly known by the name
of opobalsamum,- while the  dried twigs of the tree were called xylobalsamum, and the
dried  fruit, carpobalsamum.
  BALSAM OF SULPHUR. This name was formerly given to a substance resulting
from the  reaction of sulphur upon olive oil at a high temperature.  It was directed
in the old Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia, under the name of Oleum Sulphuratum: but
was discharged from  that work at the last  revision.  The  directions of the College
were  to boil eight parts of olive oil and one part of sublimed sulphur together, with a
gentle fire, in a large iron pot, stirring them constantly till they unite.  The iron pot
should be  large enough to hold three times the quantity of the materials employed, as
the mixture might otherwise boil over.  As the vapours which rise are apt to take fire,
a lid should be at hand to cover the pot, and thus extinguish the flame if necessary.
Sulphur is soluble to a considerable extent  in  heated oil, from which, if  the solution
be saturated, it is deposited in a crystalline  state on cooling.. But it is  not a  mere
solution which this process is intended to effect.  The oil is partly decomposed, and
the resulting preparation is an extremely fetid, acrid, viscid, reddish-brown fluid.  In
order that it may be obtained, the oil must be heated to the boiling point.  Sulphurated
oil or balsam of sulphur was formerly thought useful in chronic catarrh, consumption,
and other pectoral complaints; but inconvenience has arisen from its acrid properties,
and its internal use has been abandoned.  It  is said to be sometimes applied as a
stimulant  to foul ulcers.  The dose is from five to thirty drops.
  BAPTISIA TINCTORIA.  Sophora tinctoria. Linn.  Podalyria tinctoria. Michaux.
Wild Indigo.  This is an indigenous  perennial plant, found in all parts of the United
States, growing  abundantly in woods and  dry barren uplands.   It is from one to
three feet  high, with a smooth, very branching stem, small, ternate, cuneate-obovate,
bluish-green leaves, and yellow flowers, which appear in July and August, and, like
the whole plant, become black when dried.   The root, which is the part  most highly
recommended, is of a  dark-brown colour, inodorous, and of a nauseous, somewhat
acrid taste.  Its virtues appear to reside chiefly in the cortical portion.  In  large doses,
it is said to operate violently as an emetic and cathartic; in smaller, to produce only
a mild laxative effect.  It is said to  have proved useful in scarlatina, typhus fever,
and  in that state of system which attends  gangrene or mortification.   Dr. Thacher
speaks highly of its efficacy as an external application to obstinate and painful ulcers:
and Dr. Oomstock.of Rhode Island, (bund it extremely useful, boih as an internal and
external remedy, in threatened or existing  mortification.  By the  latter  physician it
was given in decoction, made in the  proportion of  an ounce of the root to a pint of
water, of which half an ounce was administered every four or eight hours, any tend-
ency  to operate on the bowels being  checked with  laudanum.  It may  be used exter-
nally in ihe form  of decoction or cataplasm.  The  stem and leaves possess the same
virtues as the root, though  in a less degree.  A pale blue  colouring substance has
been prepared from the plant as a substitute for indigo, but  is greatly inferior.
  BASSORA GUM.   The  plant which yields  this  substance is unknown.  It came
into commerce originally from the neighbourhood of Bassora, on the Gulf of Persia,
but is frequently found mixed with gum brought from other countries, and is probably
not the product'of one plant exclusively.   It is in irregular pieces, of  various sizes,
never very large, white or yellow, intermediate in the degree of its transparency
between  gum Arabic and tragacanih,  inodorous, tasteless  and  possessed of the
property of yielding a slight sound when broken under the teeth. But a small portion
of it is soluble in  water, whether hot or cold.  The remainder swells up considerably,
though less than tragacanth, and does not, like that substance, form a gelatinous mass,
as iu-onsists of independent granules which have little cohesion.  The soluble portion
is nure °um  or as it is now sometimes named arabin; and, according to M. Guerin,
consiimTes 11-2 percent.  The insoluble portion consistsof a peculiarprinciple called
bassorin associated with a small proportion  of various saline substances, which yield, 
1232
Appendix.
 when the gum is burnt, 5-6 per cent, of ashes.  The gum is useless both in medicine
 and pharmacy, and is described here only as an object to be avoided, and as affording
 a principle which enters  into the composition of several medicinal substances.
  Bassorin is insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, but softens and swells up in hot
 or cold water.   Diluted  nitric and  muriatic acids, with the aid of heat, dissolve  it
 almost entirely.  The acidulous solution, concentrated by evaporation, and treated
 with alcohol, lets fall a  flocculent precipitate which  has all the characters of pure
 gum, into which the bassorin appears to  have been  converted by the  action of the
 acid.  This does not, however, constitute more than a tenth part of the  bassorin dis-
 solved.   By gradually evaporating the alcoholic acidulous solution, a thick bitterish
 liquid is  obtained, which  exhales a strong  odour of ammonia when treated with po-
 tassa.  Strong nitric acid converts bassorin into mucic and oxalic acids; and,treated
 with sulphuric  acid, it yields a sweet crystalline substance  which is incapable of the
 vinous fermentation.  (Guerin.)  Vauquelin was the first to call attention tolhis prin-
 ciple, upon which he conferred its present name, from having first observed it in the
 Bassora  gum.   Buchholz afterwards discovered  the  same or a closely  analogous
 principle in tragacanth; and John, a principle which was supposed  to  be the same,
 in the gum of the cherry tree; hence it has sometimes been called tragacanthin and
 cerasin.   M. Guerin, however,  has demonstrated  that  the insoluble principle of the
 cherry gum is essentially different from bassorin.  Berzelius considers  the  latter as
 belonging to the class of  substances which he associates together under the name of
 mucilage, and of which  examples are furnished in the mucilages of flaxseed and of
 quince seed.  (See  Linum, p. 429.)
  BDELLIUM. This name has been given to two different gum-resins, distinguished
 as Indian and African bdellium.  Dr. Royle was  informed that  the former was ob-
 tained from the Amyris Commiphora of Roxburgh, growing in India and  Madagascar.
 The latter is said to be the product of the Heudelotia Africana, which grows in Senegal.
 Bdellium sometimes  comes mixed with gum Arabic  and  gum Senegal. It is either
 in small  roundish pieces, of a reddish colour, semi-transparent, and brittle with a wax-
 like  fracture, or in larger irregular lumps, of a dark brownish-red colour, less trans-
 parent, somewhat tenacious, and adhering to the teeth when chewed.  It  has an
 odour and  taste like those of myrrh, but weaker.   It  is infusible and  inflammable,
 diffusing while  it burns a balsamic  odour.  According  to Pelletier it consists of 59
 per cent, of resin, 9-2 of  gum, 30-6 of bassorin, and 1-2 of  volatile oil including loss.
 In medical  properties it is analogous to  myrrh, and was formerly used  for the same
 purposes; but it is now scarcely ever given internally.  In Europe, it is still occasion-
 ally  employed as an ingredient in plasters.  The dose  is  from ten to forty grains.
  BEAN OF SAINT IGNATIUS.   Faba Sancti Ignatii.  This is the  product of the
 Ignatiaamara of the younger Linnaeus, which is now generally considered by botanists
 a species of Strychnos, and entitled  <S. Ignntia.  (See Nux Vomica.)  It is a tree of
 middling size, with  numerous long, cylindrical, glabrous, vine-like  branches, which
 bear  opposite,  nearly sessile, oval, pointed, entire, and very  smooth leaves.  The
 flowers are white, tubular, fragrant, and arranged in  short axillary racemes.  The
 fruit is of the size and shape of a pear, with a smooth, whitish, ligneous rind, enclosing
 about twenty seeds  embedded in  a dry pulpy matter, and lying one upon  ihe other.
 These seeds are the part  used.  The  tree  is a native of the Phillipine Islands, where
 the seeds were highly esteemed as a  medicine, and, having attracted the attention of
 the Jesuits, were honoured with the name of the founder of their order.
  They are about an inch long, rather less in breadih, still  less in thickness,  convex
 on one side, obscurely angular with two, three, or four  faces on the other,and marked
 at one end  with a small depression  indicating their  point of attachment.  They are
 externally of a pale-brown colour, apparently smooth, but covered in fact with a short
 down or efflorescence, which may be  removed by scraping them with a knife.  They
 are somewhat translucent, and their  substance is  very hard and horny.   They  have
 jo smell, but an excessively bitter taste.  To Pelletier  and Caventou  they afforded
 the same constituents as nux vomica, and among them 1-2  per cent, of strychnia.
  MM. Magendie and Delile have proved that they act on  the  human system in the
 same manner as the nux vomica.   In the  Phillipines  they have been employed for
the cure  of obstinate intermittents, and in numerous  other diseases.  It is probable
that  in small doses  they act as a tonic.  In this country they are never used.  We
have noticed them here on account of their comparatively large proportion of strych-
nia,  which is triple that contained in  the nux vomica.  In France they are profitably
 employed for the extraction of this principle. 
Appendix.
1233
  BEBEERU BARK.  The  bark of a tree growing in British Guiana, which has
r^ce"tly been brought into notice as a powerful tonic  and febrifuge.  According to
Dr. Maclagan, the bark and seeds of the tree yield two alkalies, which he calls bebeerine
and sisseerine. The sulphate of bebeerine has been employed, with great asserted suc-
cess, in the treatment of intermittent and remittent fevers.  From a scruple to a drachm
may be given between the paroxysms, in doses of two grains.  (Lond. and Ed. Month.
Journ. of Med. Sci., July and Aug.  1843—Brailhwaite's Retrosp., viii. 34.)
  BEDEGUAR.  Fungus Rosarum.  An excrescence  upon the sweet briar or eglan-
tine, and  upon other species of Rosa, produced by the puncture of several insects,
especially by one or more  species of Cynips.  It is of an irregular,  usually  roundish
shape, about an inch in diameter, having numerous cells internally, in each of which
is the larva of an  insect.  It has little smell, and a  slightly  astringent taste, and
probably contains  tannic acid.  Though formerly considered diuretic, anthelmintic,
and lithontriptic, and employed as a remedy for toothache, it has  fallen  into entire
disuse.  It was given in doses of from ten to forty grains.
  BENZOIN ODORIFERUM. Nees.   Laurus Benzoin.  Linn. Spice-wood.  Spice-
bush.  Fever-bush.  An indigenous shrub, from four to ten feet high, growing in moist,
shady plaees, in all parts of the United  States.  Its  flowers appear early in spring,
long before the leaves, and are succeeded by small clusters of oval berries, which,
when ripe, in the latter part of September, are of a shining crimson colour.  All parts
of the shrub have a spicy, agreeable flavour, which is  strongest in the bark and ber-
ries.  The small  branches are sometimes  used  as a  gently stimulant aromatic, in
the form of  infusion or decoction.  They are said to be employed in this way by the
country people as a vermifuge, and an  agreeable drink in low fevers.  Dr. William
Barton says that the bark, as he has been informed, is extensively used in the country,
and with much success, in intermittents.  The berries, dried and powdered, were
sometimes substituted, during the revolutionary war, for allspice.   According to Dr.
Drake, the oil of the berries is used as a stimulant.
  BERBERIS VULGARIS.  Barberry.   A shrub growing wild in  Europe and the
United States, and sometimes cultivated in gardens on  account of its berries.  These
grow  in loose bunches, are oblong and of a red colour, have  a  grateful, sour, astrin-
gent taste, and contain malic  and citric acids.  They are refrigerant, astringent, and
antiscorbutic, and are sometimes used in Europe, in the form of drink, in febrile dis-
eases and  diarrhoeas.  An agreeable syrup is prepared from the juice; and the berries
themselves are  sometimes preserved for the table. The  root and inner bark have
been used for dyeing yellow, and are said to have been employed beneficially in jaun-
dice.  They owe their colouring property to a peculiar crystallizable principle, which
has been  denominated berberin, and which is said, in the dose of  from  one to ten
grains, to act as a tonic and purgative.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxi.  309.)  It is  a vulgar
error  to suppose that the vicinity of this plant is very injurious to wheat. The Ameri-
can plant differs slightly from the European, and is described by Pursh as a distinct
species, under the name of B. Canadensis.  It grows in mountains and hilly districts
from  Canada to Virginia.  The berries are smaller and much  less  juicy than those
of the garden barberry.
  BETONICA OFFICINALIS.   Wood Betony.  A perennial  European herb, belong-
ing to the  natural order of labiate plants.  It has a pleasant but feeble odour, and a
warm, somewhat astringent, and bitterish taste.   By the ancients it was very highly
esteemed,  and employed in numerous diseases; but it is at  present  little  used.  It
appears to be slightly warming  and corroborant, but  is inferior in this respect to
many other  plants  belonging to the same  family.  The  root  has  been  considered
emetic and purgative.
  BETULA ALBA. Common European Birch. Various parts of this tree have been
applied to  medical uses.  The inner bark, which is bitterish and astringent,  has been
employed  in intermittent fever.  The epidermis  is separable  into thin layers, which
may be employed as a substitute  for paper, and are applied  to various economical
uses.  The  bark contains  a peculiar principle, called betulin, which consists of car-
bon, hydrogen, and  oxygen, and is ranked among the sub-resins.  When  the bark is
distilled, it yields an empyreumatic volatile  oil, having the peculiar odour of Russia
leather, in the preparation of which it is employed.  The leaves, which have a pecu-
liar, aromatic, agreeable odour, and a bitter taste, have  been employed in the form of
infusion, in gout, rheumatism, dropsy, and cutaneous diseases.  The same complaints,
particularly  dropsy, are said to have been successfully treated  by enveloping the body
in the fresh leaves, which thus applied excite perspiration. When the  stem or branches 
1234
Appendix.
 of the tree are wounded, a sweet juice flows out, which is considered useful in com-
 plaints of the kidneys and bladder.  In consequence  of the sugar it  contains, it is
 susceptible, upon the addition of yeast, of the vinous and subsequently of the acetous
 fermentation.  A beer, wine, spirit, and vinegar are prepared from it, and habitually
 used in some parts of Europe.
   Of the American species  of birch, the Betula  lenta, variously called sweet  birch,
 black birch, cherry birch, and mountain mahogany, is  remarkable for  the aromatic
 flavour of its bark and leaves, which have the odour and taste of the Gaultheria pro-
 cumbens, and are sometimes used in infusion, as an agreeable, gently stimulant, and
 diaphoretic drink.  An oil is obtained by distillation from the bark, which has been
 proved by Mr. Wm. Procter, Jun., to be identical with the oil  of gaultheria.  (Am.
 Journ. of Pharm., xv. 243.)  This species also affords a  saccharine  liquor, which,
 indeed, appears to be common to all the birches.  The  bark of the B.papyracea very
 closely resembles that of the  common European birch, and is much employed by  the
 Northern Indians for making canoes.  Thin  layers of  the epidermis may be advan-
 tageously placed  inside of boots to prevent the access of moisture.
   BEZOAR.  This name has been applied to  concretions which form in the stomach
 or intestines of animals, and which were at one time thought to possess extraordinary
 medical virtues.   Numerous  varieties have been noticed;  but they were arranged in
 two classes,  the  oriental bezoars (Lapis bezoar orientalis), and western  bezoan< (lapis
 bezoar occidentalis), of which the  former were most highly esteemed.  They  have
 fallen into  merited neglect.
   BIRD-LIME.   A viscid  substance existing in various  plants, particularly in  the
 bark of the Viscum album, and Ilex aquifolium or  European holly, from the latter of
 which it is usually procured.  The process for preparing it consists  in boiling the
 middle bark for some hours in water, then separating it from the liquid, and placing
 it in proper vessels in a cool  situation, where it is allowed to remain till it becomes
 viscous.  It is then washed to separate impurities, and constitutes the substance in
 question.   Bird-lime thus prepared is greenish, tenacious, of a glutinous consistence,
 of a bitterish taste, and of an odour analogous to that of flaxseed oil. Exposed to the
 air in thin layers  it becomes dry, brown, and pulverizable, but re-acquires its viscidity
 upon the addition of water. It consists of several proximate principles, butis thought
 to owe its characteristic properties to the presence  of a peculiar  substance, identical
 with that which exudes spontaneously from  certain plants, and which  has received
 the name of glu from the French chemists.   This principle is without odour or taste,
 extremely adhesive, fusible by heat, inflammable, insoluble in water, nearly insoluble
 in alcohol, but dissolved freely by sulphuric ether, and the oil of turpentine.  Accord-
 ing to M. Macaire, it is insoluble in the  fixed oils, either hot or cold.  This property
 distinguishes  it from the resins, to  which Berzelius is disposed to attach it.  M. Ma-
 caire proposes for it  the name of viscin.  (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 18.)  Bird-lime is so
 tenacious, that it may be  employed to catch small birds, which, when they alight on
a stick thickly covered with it, are  unable to escape.
  BISULPHURET OF CARBON. Carburet of Sulphur.   This compound is formed
by passing  the vapour of sulphur over charcoal, heated to redness in a porcelain tube.
It is a transparent, colourless, exceedingly volatile liquid, having a pungent, some-
what aromatic taste, and a very fetid smell.  Its sp. gr. is 1-272.  In composition it is
a bisulphuret.   It acts as a diffusible stimulant, accelerating the pulse, augmenting
the animal heat, and  exciting  the secretions of the skin, kidneys,  and  genital organs.
It was formerly employed in obstinate rheumatic and arthritic affections, in paralysis
and cutaneous eruptions, and  more recently as a resolvent in indolent tumours.  It is
used both internally and externally.  For internal exhibition in gout and rheumatism,
Dr. Otto, of Copenhagen, employed an alcoholic solution, in the proportion  of two
drachms to the fluidounce, of  which four drops were given every two hours.  At the
 same time the affected parts were rubbed with a liniment, made by dissolving the
bisulphuret in the same proportion  in  olive oil.  Dr. Krimer applied it to an indolent
tumour, by  allowing forty or fifty drops to fall upon it three times a day. This treat-
ment, which may be supposed to act by the cold  produced, assisted by the internal
 use of animal charcoal and cicuta, and the employment of warm  alkaline baths, was
attended  with  success.  He also succeeded in reducing several strangulated herniae,
by applying some drops of the bisulphuret to the hernial tumour.  By  Dr. Turnbull
 the vapour of this substance was found useful, applied to indurated lymphatic glands,
 and for the removal of deafness, when  dependent on want of nervous energy, and
 deficiency of  wax.  It is applied by means of a bottle with a proper  sized  mouth, 
Appendix.
1235
containing a fluidrachm of the bisulphuret, imbibed by a piece of sponge.  The skin
over the  gland  is first well moistened with water.   When the vapour is applied to
the ear, the bottle, having a small* neck to fit the meatus, is held close to the organ
until considerable warmth is produced. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ii. 352.)
  BOLE ARMENIAN.  The term bolus or bole was formerly applied to various forms
of argillaceous earth, differing in their colour, or place of origin.  Thus we find  men-
tioned, among others, the Armenian, Lemnian, and French boles, and the red and white
boles.  Some of these substances were so highly valued as to be formed into small
masses and impressed with a seal, and hence  received  the name of terrse sigillatae.
They were all  similar in effect, though the small proportion of oxide of iron  con-
tained  in the coloured boles may have given them greater activity.  The only one at
present kept in the shops is that called bole Armenian, from its  resemblance to the
substance originally brought from Armenia.  It is prepared, by trituration-and elutri-
ation, from certain native earths existing in different parts of Europe.   It is in pieces
of various sizes, of a reddish colour, soft and unctuous to the  touch, adhesive to the
tongue, and capable of mixing with water so as to form a paste.  It consists chiefly
of alumina and silica, coloured with oxide  of iron.  The boles were formerly em-
ployed as absorbent medicines and astringents; and  they were undoubtedly useful in
some cases of acidity of the  stomach and  relaxed  bowels.  The bole Armenian is
now used chiefly as a colouring ingredient in tooth-powders.
   BORAGO OFFICINALIS. Borage.   This is an annual, hairy, succulent European
plant, one or two feet high, with fine  blue flowers, on account of which it is some-
times cultivated in our  gardens.  All parts  of it abound in mucilage, and the stem
and  leaves contain the  nitrate of potassa with other saline ingredients.   To  these
constituents the plant owes all its virtues.   It is much used in France.  An infusion
of the  leaves and flowers, sweetened with honey or syrup, is employed as a demulcent,
refrigerant, and gently diaphoretic drink in catarrhal affections, rheumatism, diseases
of the  skin, &c.  The expressed juice of the stem  and leaves is also given in the
dose of from two to four ounces.   The flowers are  sometimes applied externally as
an emollient.   A distilled  water, extract, and syrup  were formerly used, but  have
fallen into neglect.  Borage is scarcely known in this country as a medicinal plant,
and  is  altogether too feeble to merit much attention.
   BRAZIL WOOD.  A red dye-wood, the product of different species of Caesalpina,
growing in the  West Indies arid South America. Two varieties  are known in com-
merce:—1. the proper Brazil-wood said to be  derived  from the  Caesalpina echinata,
and  sometimes called Pernambuco or Fernambuco wood, from the  province of Brazil,
where it is collected; 2. the  brasiletto, produced by  the C.  Brasiliensis  and  C. Crista,
which grow in Jamaica and other parts of the West Indies.  The former is the most
highly valued.  The sappan or sampfen wood may be referred to the same head,  being
obtained from the Caesalpina Sappan, and possessing properties analogous to  those
of the brasiletto.   The Nicaragua or peach wood is  also analogous to the brasiletto,
and  is said by Bancroft to be derived from a species of Caesalpina.   It is produced
in the  East Indies.   Brazil wood is nearly  inodorous, has a  slightly sweetish  taste,
stains  the saliva red, and  imparts its colouring matter to water. It was formerly-
used in  medicine; but  has  been abandoned as inert.  In pharmacy it  sometimes
serves to colour tinctures, &c; but its chief use is in dyeing.  A red lake is prepared
from it, and it is an ingredient in a red  ink.  Its dyeing properties  are owing to a
peculiar crystallizable colouring principle,  originally discovered by  Chevereul, and
named breselin. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., v. 198.)
   BROMIDE OF IRON.  Ferri Bromidum.  This bromide  is obtained by  heating
gently in thirty parts of water, two parts of bromine, and one  of  iron  filings.   When
the  liquid becomes  greenish, it is  filtered and evaporated to dryness; and  the dry
mass,  again dissolved and  evaporated to dryness, furnishes the  bromide.  Bromide
of iron  is a brick-red deliquescent salt, very soluble, and  extremely styptic.  It  is
employed as a tonic and  resolvent, given in the  dose of a grain twice a day, in
aqueous  solution, protected by saccharine  matter.  It is formed as- the  first step of
the process for preparing the officinal bromide of potassium.
   BROMIDES OF MERCURY.  The protobromide is formed by adding bromide of
potassium to nitrate of  protoxide of mercury.  It falls as  a white curdy precipitate.
The bibromide may be obtained by digesting the protobromide with water containing
bromine   It is in the form of colourless crystals, soluble in water and alcohol. Ex-
posed  to heat it enters into fusion and sublimes. Both these bromides are analogous
in composition and medicinal properties to the corresponding iodides of mercury. 
1236
Appendix.
 (See pages 992 and 993.)  The protobromide is given in the dose of a  grain daily,
 gradually increased.  The bibromide, like corrosive sublimate, is an irritant poison,
 and may be administered in doses of the sixteenth"of a grain, gradually increased to
 a fourth, either in the form of pill, or in ethereal solution, made by dissolving a grain
 in a fluidrachm of ether.
   BRYONY.  White Bryony.  This is the root of the Bryonia alba or white bryony, a
 perennial, climbing, herbaceous plant, growing in thickets  and hedges, in different
 parts of Europe.   It bears rough, heart-shaped, five-lobed leaves, small  yellow  mo-
 noecious flowers, arranged in racemes, and roundish black berries about  the size of a
 pea.   Another species called  B. dioica, with  dioecious flowers and red berries, bears
 so close a resemblance in character and properties  to the preceding, that it is con-
 sidered by some botanists merely a variety.  The roots  of both plants  are gathered
 for use.   When fresh they are spindleshaped, sometimes branched, a foot or two in
 length, as thick as the arm, or even  thicker, externally yellowish-gray and circularly
 wrinkled, within white, succulent, and fleshy, of a nauseous  odour which disappears
 in great measure  upon drying, and of  a bitter, acrid, very disagreeable  taste.  The
 peasants are said  sometimes to hollow out the top of the root, and to employ the juice
 which collects in the cavity as a drastic purge. (Merat and  De Lens.)   The berries
 of the plant are also purgative and are used in  dyeing.
   As kept in the shops, the root is in circular transverse slices, of a large diameter,
 externally yellowish-gray and  longitudinally wrinkled, internally of a whitish colour
 becoming darker  by age, concentrically striated, light, brittle, and readily pulveriza-
 ble, yielding a whitish powder.  A peculiar bitter principle called bryonin has been
 discovered in the root, but has not been isolated for practical purposes.   It contains,
 besides starch in considerable proportion, gum, resin, sugar, a concrete oil, albumen,
 and various saline substances. It yields its active properties to  water.
   Bryony is an active hydragogue  cathartic, in large doses sometimes proving emetic,
 and disposed, if too  largely administered, to occasion inflammation of the alimentary
 mucous membrane.  The recent root is highly irritant, and is said, when  bruised and
 applied to the skin, to be capable of producing vesication.   The medicine was well
 known to the ancients, and has been  employed  by modern physicians, but is now
 nearly superseded by jalap, which is more certain, and less liable to lose its strength
 by age.  The dose of the powdered root is from a scruple to  a drachm.
   CAHINCA.  This medicine attracted at  one time considerable attention.  The
 name of cahinca or cainca was adopted  from the language of the Brazilian Indians.
 The Portuguese of  Brazil  call the  medicine raiz pretta or black root.  When first
 noticed in Europe it was supposed to be derived from the Chiococca racemosa of Lin-
 naeus,  which was known to botanists as an inhabitant of the  West Indies.  But Mar-
 tius, in his " Specimen Materiae Medicae Brasiliensis," describes two other species of
 Chiococca, the C. anguifuga  and  C. densifolia, which  afford roots having the pro-
 perties of that ascribed  to the C. racemosa,-  and, as the medicine is brought from
 Brazil, not from the  West Indies, there is reason to believe that it is really derived
 from one or both of the plants named by that botanist.   A. Richard, however, states
 that he has  received from more than one source in Brazil, specimens of the C. race-
 mosa as the cahinca  plant.
   A specimen brought into our market as the cahinca, consisted of cylindrical pieces,
 varying in size from  the  thickness of a straw to that of the little finger,  somewhat bent
or contorted, slightly wrinkled  longitudinally,  with  occasional small asperities, inter-
nally ligneous, externally covered  with  a thin brittle reddish-brown bark, having  a
light-brown or brownish ash-coloured epidermis.  The cortical portion, which is of
a resinous character, has a bitter disagreeable taste,  somewhat acrid and astringent;
 the ligneous part  is quite  tasteless.  The  virtues of the root reside almost exclu-
sively in the former.  They are extracted by  water and alcohol.  Cahinca has been
analyzed  by several chemists. Four distinct  principles were  discovered in it by
Pelletier and Caventou:—1. a crystallizable bitter substance; 2. a green  fatty matter
of a nauseous odour; 3. a yellow colouring matter; and  4. a coloured viscid sub-
stance.   The crystallizable principle appears to  be that in which the  medical virtue
resides.  In the belief of its acid nature, its discoverers named it cahincic acid.  It is
white, without smell, of  a taste at first scarcely perceptible, but afterwards extremely
bitter and  slightly astringent, of difficult solubility in water, but  readily soluble in
alcohol, permanent in the air, and unaltered at the  temperature of boiling water.   It
reddens vegetable  blues, and unites with the alkalies, but does not form crystallizable
salts.   It is thought to exist in  the root as subcahincate of lime. 
Appendix.
1237
  Medical Properties.  Cahinca is tonic, diuretic, purgative, and emetic.  In moderate
doses it gently excites the circulation, increases the discharge of urine, and produces
evacuations from the bowels; but is  rather slow in  its operation.  It may be made
to act also as a diaphoretic, by keeping the skin warm, using warm drinks, and coun-
teracting its purgative tendency.   In some patients it occasions nausea  and griping,
and in very large doses always acts powerfully both as an  emetic and cathartic.   In
Brazil it has long been used by the natives  as a remedy for the bites of serpents;
and its Indian name is said to have been derived from this property. According to
Martius, the bark of the  fresh root is  rubbed with  water till the latter becomes
charged with all its active matters; and  the liquid, while yet turbid, is taken in such
quantities as to produce the most violent vomiting and purging, preceded by severe
spasmodic  pains.  Patrick Brown speaks of the root of  the  C. racemosa as very
useful in obstinate rheumatisms.   But the virtues of cahinca in dropsy, though well
known in Brazil, were first communicated to the  European public in the year 1826,
by M. Langsdorff, Russian Consul  at Rio Janeiro. Achille Richard afterwards pub-
lished a few observations in relation  to it in the Journal de Chimie Medicate,-  and its
properties were subsequently investigated by numerous practitioners.  M. Francois,
of Paris, contributed more than any other physician to its reputation.  It was consi-
dered by him superior to all other remedies in dropsy. General experience appears
to have been in its  favour, but by no means  to  the extent of the partial  estimate
of Dr. Francois; and, having been found equally liable with other diuretics  to the
charge of uncertainty, it is now little  used.  It may be employed in  substance, decoc-
tion, extract, or tincture.   The powdered bark of the root may be given  as a diuretic
and purgative, in a dose varying from a scruple  to a drachm;  but  in this form the
remedy is considered very uncertain. The aqueous or spirituous extract is usually
preferred.  The  dose of either of these  is from ten to twenty grains.  Dr.  Francois
recommends that, in the treatment of dropsy, a sufficient quantity should be given at
once  to produce a decided impression,  which should afterwards be maintained by
smaller doses, repeated three or four  times in the twenty-four hours.
  CALENDULA OFFICINALIS.  Marygold.  This  well-known garden plant  was
formerly much employed in medicine.  It has a peculiar, rather disagreeable  odour,
which is lost by drying, and a  bitter, rough, saline taste.  Among its constituents is a
peculiar principle,  called calendulin, discovered by Geiger most abundantly in  the
flowers, and considered by Berzelius as  analogous  to bassorin, though soluble in
alcohol.  The plant was thought antispasmodic, sudorific, deobstruent, and emmena-
gogue, and was given in low forms of fever, scrofula, jaundice, amenorrhoea,  and
various other complaints.  Both the leaves and flowers were used; but the latter
were preferred, and were usually administered in the recent state, in the form of tea.
An extract was also prepared, and employed with supposed advantage in cancerous
and other ulcers, sick stomach, &c.   At present marygold is very seldom if ever used
in regular practice.
  CALOTROPIS GIGANTEA. Brown.   Asclepias gigantea. Linn.  Under the name
of madar, or mudar, a medicine has been employed  in the East Indies, with great
asserted advantage, in  numerous complaints.  It is the bark of the root of a species
of Calotropis, which has been generally considered as the C. gigantea,- but which is
asserted by Dr. Casanova to  be a  distinct species, and has received from him the
name of C. Madarii lndico-orientalis.  The C. gigantea is a native of Hindostan, and
has been introduced into the West Indies, where it is now naturalized.   The bark, as
employed, is destitute of epidermis, of a whitish colour, nearly or quite inodorous, and
of a bitter,  somewhat nauseous taste.  It appears  to have  the general properties of
many other acrid medicines;  in small doses,increasing the secretions, and in larger,
producing  nausea and vomiting.  According to  Dr. Casanova, who published  an
essay upon the subject at Calcutta, it is especially directed  to the skin, the capillaries
and absorbents of which it stimulates to increased action.   It is chiefly recommended
as a remedy in  the obstinate cutaneous diseases of tropical climates,  such  as ele-
phantiasis  and leprosy.  It has been employed also with advantage in syphilis, dropsy,
rheumatism, and hectic fever.  It is given in  substance in the  dose of from three to
twelve grains, three times a day, and gradually increased till it affects the system
  CAM WOOD   A red dye-wood, procured from the Baphia mhda ot De Candolle,
a leguminous tree, growing on the  Western Coast of Africa.  The wood is  usually
kept in the shops in the ground state. It yields its colouring matter scarcely at all
to cold water slightly to boiling water, and readily to alcohol and alkaline solutions.
105 
1238
Appendix.
This colouring principle is considered byM. Preisser as identical with santalin. (See
Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., v. 211.)
  CANARY SEED. The seeds of the Phalaris Canariensis, an annual plant, belong-
ing to  the family of grasses, originally from the Canary Islands, but now growing
wild in Europe and the United States, and cultivated in many places.  The seeds are
ovate,  somewhat compressed, about two lines long, shining and of a  light yellowish-
gray colour externally, and brownish within.   Their chief constituent is starch. They
■were formerly esteemed medicinal, but are not now employed unless for the formation
of emollient cataplasms.   They are nutritive, and their meal is said to be  mixed, in
some places, with wheat flour, and  made into bread.  They are much used  as food
for Canary birds.
  CANNABIS SATIVA.  Hemp.   An annual  plant, originally from  Asia, but now
cultivated in various parts of Europe and North America.  Some consider the hemp
cultivated in the East as specifically different from the common hemp; and name it
Cannabis Indica,-  but most  botanists think  the  two  plants identical.   Hemp pos-
sesses  narcotic properties, and is  employed in Persia and the East Indies, in the
form of  infusion, as an intoxicating drink.  It is also smoked, in these  and other
countries of the East, in the same  manner as  tobacco, with which it is frequently
mixed.   A resinous exudation  from the plant is much employed  for the same pur-
pose.  Even the odour of the fresh  plant is stated to be capable of producing  vertigo,
headache, and a species of intoxication.   In Hindostan the tops of the plant  are cut
when in flower, dried, and sent into  the market in bundles, under the name of gunjah.
According to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, of Calcutta, who has experimented with this nar-
cotic, it alleviates pain, exhilarates  the spirits, increases  the appetite, acts decidedly
as an aphrodisiac, produces sleep, and in  large doses, occasions intoxication,  a pecu-
liar kind of delirium, and catalepsy.  Its operation, in  the hands of Dr. Pereira,
appeared to resemble very much that of opium.  Dr. O'Shaughnessy employed an
alcoholic extract of the dried tops with great advantage in tetanus, rheumatism, and
cholera, and with  alleviating effects in a fatal case of hydrophobia. He gave the
remedy usually in  doses of two or three grains, at intervals  of two, three, or four
hours; though in violent  affections, the quantity maybe much  increased;  and in
hydrophobia from ten to twenty grains may be given  at  once.  In cholera he gave
ten drops every half hour, of a solution made with three grains of the extract and a
drachm of proof  spirit.  Trials have since been made with the extract by numerous
practitioners;  and the general result appears to be that  it is  capable of producing
most of the therapeutical effects of opium, and may be employed as  a substitute for
that narcotic, when found to disagree with a patient from some peculiarity of consti-
tution.   The remedy is wrongly called Indian hemp; as this name has long  been
appropriated, in the United States, to the  Apocynum cannabinum.  The strength of
ihe  extract is very variable.   When  of  good quality, half  a  grain or a  grain will
affect the system, while of that found in the shops 10 or 12 grains will sometimes  be
requisite.  The seeds of hemp have  also been  used in medicine.  They are  about thp
eighth  of an inch long, roundish-ovate, somewhat compressed, of a shining gray
colour, inodorous,  and of  a  disagreeable, oily, sweetish taste.  They yield by ex-
pression  a considerable quantity of  fixed oil, which is used in the arts.  They contain
also  uncrystallizable sugar and albumen, and when  rubbed  with water  afford an
emulsion, which may be used advantageously in inflammations of the mucous mem-
branes, though it  is not superior to a similar preparation from other emulsive seeds.
They are much used as food for birds, which are fond of them.
  CAOUTCHOUC.  Gum elastic.  The substance known by this name in commerce
is the concrete juice of the Siphonia Cahuchu of Schreber and Willdenow, identical
with the  Siphonia elastica of Persoon, the  Jatropha elastica of  the younger Linnaeus,
and the Hevea Guianensis of Aublet.  This is a large tree growing in  Brazil, Guiana,
and  probably also in Central  America.  (Journ. Phil. Col. of  Pharm., iii. 292.)  On
being wounded, it emits a  milky juice, which concretes on exposure,  and constitutes
the substance in question.  A similar product is afforded by several other  lactescent
plants; but the juice of the Siphonia alone is extensively collected for use.  Caout-
chouc  comes to us in large flat pieces, or moulded into various shapes.   These are
formed by applying successive layers of the juice upon models of clay, which are
broken and removed when the  coating has attained a sufficient thickness  and consist-
ence.  In the drying of these layers  they are said to be exposed  to smoke, which gives
to the concrete mass a blackish colour. The juice, when it concretes by exposure to the
air, assumes on the outer surface a yellowish-brown colour, while the mass remains 
Appendix.                            1239
white or yellowish-white within.   The recent juice is not a pure proximate principle;
but contains, according to Faraday, 1-9 per cent, of vegetable albumen, traces of wax,
7.13 per cent, of a bitter azotized substance soluble in water and alcohol, 2-9 of a sub-
stance soluble in  water but insoluble in alcohol, 56-37 of water with a little free acid,
and only 31-7 of the pure elastic principle to which chemists have given  the name of
caoutchouc.  Some of these principles exist also in greater or less proportion in  the
concrete juice,  which, as it reaches us, is usually contaminated with the soot derived
from the smoke used in drying it. Pure caoutchouc is nearly colourless,  and in  thin
layers transparent.   It is highly  elastic, lighter than water, without taste and smell,
fusible at about 248°, remaining unctuous and adhesive upon cooling, inflammable at
a higher temperature, insoluble in water, alcohol, the weak acids, and alkaline solu-
tions, soluble in ether when entirely freed from alcohol, soluble  also in  most of  the
fixed and volatile oils, though  at the expense of  its  elasticity.  It is said, however,
that the oils of lavender and sassafras dissolve it without change, and that, when pre-
cipitated by alcohol from its solution in cajuput  oil, it is still  elastic.  But its  best
solvent, for practical purposes, is either  coal-naphtha, or an empyreumatic volatile
oil obtained by the  distillation of caoutchouc itself.   Caoutchouc is not affected by
common air, chlorine, muriatic or sulphurous acid gas, nor by ammonia. It consists,
according to Faraday, of 87-2  parts of carbon, and 12-8 of hydrogen.
   Caoutchouc is  used for erasing pencil marks; in the formation of flexible tubes for
the laboratory, and of catheters and bougies for surgical  purposes; in the  melted
state, as a luting  to the joints of chemical apparatus; in the shape of thin layers, for
covering the mouths of bottles, and for other purposes in which  the exclusion of air
and moisture is requisite; in the munufacture of water-proof cloth; and for numerous
other objects, to which its elasticity, and the resistance which it offers to the ordinary
solvents and to other powerful chemical  agents  peculiarly adapt it.  It is most con-
veniently brought to the state of thin  layers, in which it may often be used advantage-
ously by the chemist and apothecary, by softening the small flasks  of it in ether contain-
ing alcohol, or by boiling them in water for fifteen minutes, and then distending them
by means of air forced into them. Tubes of caoutchouc may be made from its ethereal
solution, or from the juice imported in the liquid state. A court-plaster prepared with
caoutchouc has been considerably used, and from its impermeability by moisture is
sometimes valuable.  The reader is referred for the mode of preparing it to the Lon-
don Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,  ii. 464, and  to the Amer. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 38.
Small thin pieces of caoutchouc may be very advantageously employed to  suppress
hemorrhage from leech-bites, &c, by first softening one surface of the piece by a
taper, and when cool applying  it firmly over the bleeding point.  The cavity of a
decayed tooth may be lined with caoutchouc, so  as to prevent the access of air  and
thus relieve pain, by fastening a piece firmly around the end of  a rod, liquefying the
surface by heat, then introducing it with pressure into  the cavity, and again with-
drawing it.— (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1843, p. 911.)
   CAPPARIS  SPINOSA.  Caper-bush.  A low, trailing shrub, growing  in the South
of Europe and North of Africa.  The buds or  unexpanded flowers, treated with salt
and vinegar, form a highly esteemed pickle, which has an acid,  burning taste, and is
considered useful in scurvy.  The  dried bark of the root was formerly officinal.  It
is in pieces partially or wholly quilled, about one-third of an inch in  mean diameter,
transversely wrinkled, grayish externally, whitish within, inodorous, and of a bitterish,
somewhat acrid, and aromatic taste.  It is considered  diuretic, and was formerly  em-
ployed in obstructions of the liver and spleen, amenorrhoea, and chronic rheumatism.
   CARANNA. Gum Caranna.  A resinous  substance, in  pieces of a blackish-gray
colour externally, dark-brown internally, somewhat  shining and translucent, brittle
and pulverizable when dry, but, in the recent state, soft and adhesive like pitch, easily
fusible, of an agreeable balsamic odour when heated, and of a bitterish resinous taste.
(Geiger.)   It is said to be derived  from the Amyris Caranna  of Humboldt, a  tree
growing in Mexico and South America.   Geiger  refers it also to the Bursera gummi-
fera of the West  India Islands;  but the resin obtained from this tree is described by
the French writers under the name of resine de Gomart, or resine de chibou or cachibou,
and is said to bear a close  resemblance to the resin tacamahac.
   CARBURET OF  IRON. Ferri Carburetum.  Plumbago. Black Lead.  This  sub-
stance has  been used  both  internally and externally in  cutaneous affections.   For
medical use it is reduced to very  fine powder, and purified by being boiled with
water and  digested with dilute nitromuriatic acid.   The dose is from five to fifteen
grains or more, three or four times  a day, given in the form of powder or pill.   The
ointment is made by mixing from two  to six drachms with  an ounce of lard. 
1240
Appendix.
   CATALPA CORDIFOLIA. Bignonia Catalpa. Linn.  Catalpa  tree, or Catawba
tree.  This is a beautiful flowering tree, growing wild in this  country, and occasion-
ally cultivated for ornamental purposes.  It has been introduced into the gardens of
Europe.   It is commonly reputed to possess poisonous properties.  The seeds have
been advantageously employed  by several practitioners of  Continental Europe in
asthma.   M. Autoraarchi recommends a decoction made by boiling  twelve ounces
of water with three or four ounces of the  seeds down to six  ounces, the whole to be
given morning and night. (Journ.ofthe Phil. Col. of Pharm., vi. 352.)
   CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS. New Jersey Tea. Red-root.  A small indigenous
shrub, growing throughout the United States.   The root is  astringent, and imparts a
red colour to water.   It is said to be useful in syphilitic complaints, in which it is
given in  the form of decoction, made in the proportion of two drachms of the root to
a pint of water.   Schoepf states that it is purgative.  The leaves were used during
the revolutionary war as a substitute for tea.   Dr. Hubbard, in a communication to
the Boston Medical  and Surgical Journal,  (Sept. 30th, 1835,) speaks very highly of
the* use of the Ceanothus as a local application in aphthous  affections of the mouth
and fauces, and in the sorethroat of scarlatina, and as an internal remedy in dysen-
tery.   He used a strong infusion  of the dried leaves and seeds.
   CHELIDONIUM MAJUS.  Celandine.   A perennial herbaceous plant, growing
wild in this country, about old houses and in rocky places; but supposed to have been
introduced from  Europe, where it is indigenous. It is one or two feet high, bears pin-
nate leaves and small peduncled  umbels of yellow flowers, and, when wounded, emits
a yellow, opaque juice.   The whole plant is used.  It has a  faint unpleasant odour,
and a bitter, acrid, durable taste, which is  stronger in the roots  than in the leaves.
The odour is nearly lost by drying, but the taste remains.  The yellow juice is bitter
and exceedingly acrid, and when  applied to the skin produces inflammation and even
vesication.  The plant, analyzed  by MM. Chevallier and Lassaigne, afforded a bitter
resinous  substance of a deep yellow colour; a kind of gum-resin ofan orange-yellow
colour, and bitter,nauseous taste; mucilage; albumen; and various saline substances,
besides free malic acid and silica.  Dr. Probst, of Heidelberg, has more recently found
in it a peculiar acid denominated  cheledonic acid; two alkaline principles, one of which
forms neutral salts with the acids and is  called chelerythrin in consequence of the
intense redness  of its salts, the other unites with but does not neutralize the acids,
and is named chelidonin,- and lastly a neuter, crystallizable, bitter principle, which
from  its  yellow  colour he  calls  chilidoxanthin.  Of these principles, chelerythrin
appears  to rank among the  acrid  narcotic  poisons.   (Annal. der  Pharm., xxix.
113.)   Celandine is  an acrid  purgative, possessed also of diuretic, and  perhaps dia-
phoretic  and expectorant properties.  In over-doses, it produces unpleasant effects,
and is by some  considered poisonous.  By the ancients  it  was much esteemed as a
remedy in jaundice; and it has  been found useful in the  same  complaint by some
modern physicians.   It was the chief ingredient of the old decoctum ad ictericos of the
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.   It has been  given  also, with  asserted advantage, in
various other complaints, especially those of  a  scrofulous character, affecting the
mesenteric and lymphatic glands, the skin, and the eyes.  The yellow juice is often
applied, in domestic  practice, to  corns and warts, which it destroys  by stimulating
them beyond their vital powers.   The fresh herb is  also  applied locally about the
pelvis, with asserted benefit, in amenorrhoea.  The dose of the dried  root or herb is
from  thirty grains to a drachm, that of the fresh root one  or two drachms; and the
same quantity may be given in infusion.  The watery extract  and the expressed juice
have also been employed.  The dose of the former is from five to ten grains, that of
the latter from ten to twenty drops.  In each case, the dose is to be gradually increased,
until the effects of the remedy are experienced.
  CHELTENHAM SALT, ARTIFICIAL. Several  artificial  mixtures have been
prepared, professing to be exact imitations of the saline ingredients in the chalybeate
Cheltenham water; but the only one which appears worthy of confidence, is that pre-
pared by Robert Alsop, Chemist, of London.  The composition of the natural Chel-
tenham chalybeate is given  at p. 113.  The imitation of Mr. Alsop, as analyzed by
Dr. Faraday, contains the same solid and gaseous contents as the natural water, except
the sulphate of lime, which is very properly omitted; and in the same  proportions
precisely, with the exception that there is about twice as  much free carbonic acid in
the artificial preparation. The iron is present in  the state of protoxide, and is imme-
diately dissolved  by ihe free carbonic acid, upon adding a sufficient quantity of water.
The free  carbonic acid  probably exists as  such in the dry mixture; as there is no
obvious agent present to cause it to be disengaged in the mere  act of solution. 
Appendix.
1241
   This artificial mixture is in the form of a white  powder, possessing a saline and
 slightly ferruginous taste.   It is put up in bottles of two sizes, the smaller containing
 two and a half ounces, or  sufficient  to make thirty doses of forty grains each.  It
 forms a good combination, in which the aperient property of the salts present is com-
 bined with the tonic virtue of the iron.  It is considered to  be useful in glandular
 obstructions, especially of the liver, and in scrofulous affections, attended with feeble
 digestion, sluggish bowels, and pallidness of skin.  It is  employed, also, with advan
 tage  in sick headache, habitual  costiveness,  and hemorrhoids. The dose is a tea-
 spoonful, quickly dissolved in half a pint of cold water, and swallowed immediately,
 before the iron has time to separate  in an insoluble  state.  This quantity may be
 taken in the  morning, fasting, and repeated once or twice after an interval of twenty
 minutes, or in the course of the day.   To obtain its full tonic and alterative effects, it
 should be persevered in for a month or six weeks.

   CHLORIDE OF  MAGNESIUM. Magnesii Chloridum. Muriate of Magnesia.  The
 physiological action of this bitter and very  deliquescent  salt has been made ihe sub-
 ject of a memoir by Dr. Lebert.   He finds it to act mildly and favourably as a purga-
 tive, producing a flow of bile, and an increase of appetite.  On account of its extreme
 deliquescence, he recommends it  in the liquid  form, prepared by dissolving the  salt in
 its weight of water. Of this solution, he gives an  ounce, sufficiently diluted, to an adult,
 and half an ounce to a child from 10 to 14 years of age. (Arch. Gen.,te Ser., iii. 448.)
   CHLORIDE OF POTASSA, SOLUTION OF. Liquor  Potassae Chlorinatae. Javelle's
 Water. Eau de Javelle.  This is obtained precisely as the  solution of chlorinated soda.
 (See Liquor  Sodae Chlorinatae.)  It is employed for taking  out fruit stains, &c, from
 linen.  In chemical constitution  it is probably a hypochlorite.

   CHLORIDE OF SILVER. Argenti Chloridum.  This has been already referred
 to as  being inevitably formed when nitrate  of silver is given  internally.  (See page
 870.)  It is readily prepared by adding a solution of common salt to one of nitrate of
 silver, as long as it produces a precipitate.  As  first  thrown down it is a white curdy
 substance, but it soon becomes discoloured when  exposed to the light. It has been used
 rubbed on the tongue in syphilis, and  internally in epilepsy, chronic dysentery and
 diarrhoea, and other diseases in which nitrate  of silver has been given.  The dose  is
 from  one to three grains or more four  or five times a day.   M. Perri administered it,
 in somewhat less than grain doses, in chronic dysentery,  with the immediate effect of
 diminishing the number of stools.  The crystallized ammonio-chloride of silver has been
 given in syphilitic affections, in  the dose of the fourteenth of  a grain.  It is formed
 by saturating solution of ammonia, by  the assistance of heat, with  chloride of  silver,
 and allowing the liquid to cool in a stopped bottle. It  crystallizes in cubes, and is very
 liable to decomposition.
   CHLORINE ETHERS.   There appear to be  three species of chlorine ether, each
 consisting of some form of carbohydrogen, united  with different proportions of chlorine.
 The first is called protochlorine ether, and is  formed by passing an excess of chlorine
 through cold alcohol.  It consists of one eq. of chlorine, and one of etherine.  The
 second, denominated bichlprine ether, consists of two eqs. of chlorine and one of ether-
 ine, and is the long known" oily liquid of the Dutch chemists, obtained by  the action of
 defiant gas on chlorine. The third species was discovered within a few years by three
 chemists, independently of each other—Soubeiran in  France, Liebig in Germany, and
 Guthrie in this country.  Dumas  has  determined its  composition to be three eqs. of
 chlorine to oneof bicarburel of hydrogen (formule), and ascertained that it differs from
 formic acid, into which it is susceptible of conversion by the action of potassa, in con-
 taining an equivalent quantity of chlorine, in place of the  oxygen  of that acid.  On
 account of its connexion with formic acid, it is called chloroform.
   Chloroform was obtained  by Mr. Guthrie by distilling a gallon from a mixture of
 three pounds of chloride of lime and two gallons of alcohol ofsp.gr. 0-844, and recti-
 fying the product by redistillation, first from a great excess  of chloride of lime, and
 afterwards from 'strong sulphuric acid.   Thenard recommends it to be  obtained by
 dissolving one part of chloride of lime  in three parts of water, decanting the solution,
 adding from  one-fifth to one-tenth of alcohol, and distilling from a retort sufficiently
 capacious to  guard against the overflowing of the materials when they swell.  In the
receiver water will condense, swimming over an oleaginous  liquid.  The water is
decanted and the oily liquid, being agitated several times with concentrated sulphuric
acid and rectified from finely powdered baryta, will furnish pure chloroform.
                                     105* 
1242
Appendix.
  This compound is a colourless oleaginous liquid, of a sweetish ethereal odour, and
hot, aromatic, peculiar taste.  It boils at 142°, and has the sp.gr. of 1-480.   It is not
inflammable, but renders the flame  of an  alcohol lamp yellow and fuliginous.  It is
scarcely acted on by sulphuric acid in the cold, but dissolves readily in alcohol and
ether, from its solution in which it is precipitated by water.  The  alcoholic  solution
forms, when  sufficiently diluted with water, an aromatic and saccharine liquid of a
very grateful  taste.
  Medical Properties. Mr. Guthrie  was  led to prepare  chloroform by his  peculiar
process from noting a passage in Professor Silfiman's Elements of Chemistry, which
referred to the chlorine ether of the Dutch chemists as being a  grateful diffusible
stimulant, when properly diluted.  He supposed that he had fallen upon a cheap and
easy process  for obtaining this long-known  ether, without being aware that in realitv
he had obtained a new compound.  It acts as a diffusible soothing stimulus, in the
same manner as  sulphuric ether, but with  this decided  advantage, that, when suffi-
ciently diluted, it possesses a bland, sweet taste, which renders its administration easy,
even to children.   It has been used  with advantage in asthma, spasmodic cough, the
sorethroat of scarlet  fever, atonic  quinsy, and other diseases  in which a grateful and
composing medicine is indicated.  Professor Ives, and Dr. N. B. Ives, of New Haven,
speak favourably of  its effects.  The dose for an adult is a teaspoonful, diluted with
water.  In affections characterized by difficult respiration, it  may be used by inhala-
tion.   It is employed for medicinal purposes in alcoholic solution.
  CHROME  YELLOW.  This is  the neutral chromate  of lead, prepared by pre-
cipitating a solution of the nitrate of  lead with chromate of potassa.  It is of a beautiful
lemon-yellow colour.  The subchromate of lead, consisting of one eq. of acid, and two
eqs. of base, is of a red colour, and is sometimes used as a pigment.   Chrome green
is a mixture of chrome yellow and Prussian blue.
  CICHORIUM INTYBUS.  Succory.  A perennial herbaceous plant, indigenous in
Europe, but naturalized in this country, where it grows  in  fields, and in roads along
the fences, in neighbourhoods which have been long settled.   It  is one or  two feet
high, with large, compound, beautifully blue flowers, which appear in July and August,
and serve to  distinguish  the plant at first sight.  The whole  plant has a bitter taste,
without acrimony, or any very peculiar flavour.  The taste is strongest in the root, and
weakest in the flowers. The leaves, when young and tender, are said to be sometimes
eaten as  salad in Europe.  Succory is gently  tonic without  being irritating, and is
considered by some authors as  aperient and deobstruent.  It is said to be useful, if
freely taken, in  hepatic congestion,  jaundice, and other visceral obstructions in the
early stages;  and it is affirmed to have done good even  in pulmonary consumption.
The usual form of administration  is that of decoction, which is prepared by boiling
one or two ounces of the  root, or a handful of the herb, in a pint of water.  The root
dried and roasted has acquired some popularity in certain parts of Europe, as a sub-
stitute for coffee.  The common garden endiveis a species of Cichorium, denominated
C. Endivia.
  CICUTA VIROSA.  Water Hemlock.  Cowbane.  A perennial, umbelliferous Eu-
ropean plant, growing on the borders of pools and streams. It is exceedingly poison-
ous, proving fatal to most animals which feed  upon it, though said to be eaten with
impunity by goats and sheep.   Several instances are on record of children who have
died from eating the  root by mistake for parsnep.  It operates as  an acrid narcotic,
producing inflammation of the stomach, together with symptoms which indicate cere-
bral disturbance, such as vertigo, intoxication, and  convulsions.   Infusion of  galls
is recommended as an antidote, but  should  not be relied on to the  exclusion of  eme-
tics. When the plant vomits, as it frequently does, fatal effects are less apt to ensue. It
is said to be less poisonous in  the dried than in the recent state; and it has been hence
inferred that  the  active principle is volatile.  But  the volatile oil, obtained by dis-
tillation, was  found by Simon, an  apothecary of Berlin, not to be poisonous.   On the
other hand, the alcoholic  extract of  the dried root operated as a violent poison  upon
the animals to which it was given. (Annul, der. Pharm.,  xxxi. 258.)  It is at present
never used internally as a medicine, having been superseded by the Conium macula-
tum, which is considered safer.  Externally, it is sometimes  applied as  an  anodyne
poultice in local pains, particularly those of a rheumatic or gouty nature.
  The Cicuta maculata or American water hemlock is closely analogous, in  botanical
character and in its operation upon  the system, to the European species. In several
instances, children have been fatally poisoned by eating  its root.   It is never used in
medicine. For a full  account of this  plant, see Bigelow's  Medical Botany, vol. i. page 
Appendix.
1243
125.   In cases of poisoning by either of these plants, vomiting should be induced as
speedily as possible, and maintained till the stomach is thoroughly evacuated.
  CITRATE  OF  AMMONIA.  Ammoniae Citrus.   This is  employed in the  liquid
form. The solution is made by saturating lemon or lime-juice, or an equivalent solu-
tion of citric acid (see page 429), with carbonate of ammonia, and may be given in the
dose of  a tablespoonful.  A more elegant mode of exhibition is that of an  extempo-
raneous effervescing draught.  To half a fluidounce of  lemon-juice mixed with  an
equal quantity of water, or to a  fluidounce  of a solution of citric  acid containing
seventeen grains of the acid, is to be added half a fluidounce of a solution containing
thirteen grains of the carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammonia, and the mixture is to
be given while effervescing.  The dose, in either case, may be repeated every hour,
two, or  three hours.   The preparation is given as a  refrigerant diaphoretic in febrile
complaints, and is especially applicable to typhoid fevers with a hot, dry skin.
  CITRATE  OF IRON. Ferri Citras.  The  citrates of  iron  were first introduced to
the notice of  the medical profession, in 1831, by M. Beral, of Paris.  The citrate of
the protoxide is prepared by digesting iron filings in an aqueous solution of citric
acid to  saturation, and precipitating with alcohol.  It is a white, pulverulent, slightly
soluble  salt, having a strongly chalybeate taste, and absorbing oxygen readily when
exposed lo the air.   The citrate of the sesquioxide is the salt usually recommended for
medical use.   It is made by saturating a solution of crystallized citric acid in an
equal weight of water, healed to about 180°, with moist hydrated sesquioxide of iron,
recently prepared.   A boiling temperature must be avoided, as  it  renders the ses-
quioxide less readily soluble.  ( Wm. Procter, Jun.) The solution is filtered, and evapo-
rated to the  consistence of a thick syrup.   It is then spread out on glass or porcelain
plates, where  it speedily dries in thin layers, which are separated, and broken  into
fragments.  As thus obtained, it is in thin pieces, of a beautiful garnet-red colour.  It
is an uncrystallizable acid salt, slowly soluble in  cold water, readily soluble in boil-
ing water, and having  an acid, not unpleasant taste.   When the excess of acid is
neutralized  by  adding  ammonia  to its solution, the double salt is formed, called
ammonio-citrateof iron.  This is in yellowish-green,soft, porous masses,havingan acid-
ulous, slightly chalybeate  taste.  It is much more  readily soluble in water than the
citrate of the  sesquioxide. The citrate of the black or magnetic oxide is an uncrystal-
lizable greenish-yellow salt, susceptible of being formed into transparent lamina?, very
soluble  in water, unalterable in  solution even when exposed to the air, and having
a decidedly chalybeate  taste.  These different citrates  have latterly been used as
pleasant chalybeates.   The dose is five grains or more, repeated several times a day.
The citrate of the sesquioxide is best given in  pill; the ammonio-citrate and the citrate
of the black oxide, in solution. The citrate of the sesquioxide may be rendered readily
soluble  in water, by the  addition of a few drops of the officinal liquor ammoniae, which
converts it into the ammonio-citrate.
   CIVET.  Zibelhum.  This is an odorous substance, obtained from two animals of
the genus Viverra, viz., the V. Civetta or civet-cat of Africa, and the V. Zibetha which
inhabits the East Indies.  It is secreted into  a cavity which opens between the anus
and external genitals, and is collected from animals confined for the purpose.  It is
semi-liquid, unctuous, yellowish, becoming brown and thicker by exposure to the air,
of a very strong, peculiar odour, similar to that of musk, though less agreeable and
less diffusible, and of a bitterish, subacrid, disagreeable,  fatty taste.  When heated it
becomes quite fluid, and at a higher temperature takes fire, and burns with a clear
flame, leaving little residue.  It is insoluble in water,  and  only slightly soluble in
ether and cold alcohol; but heated alcohol dissolves it almost entirely, depositing it
again upon  cooling.  It contains, among other ingredients, a  volatile oil, fat, and free
ammonia.   In medicine it was formerly employed as a stimulant and antispasmodic,
like castor and musk;  but it is now used exclusively as a perfume.
   CLEMATIS ERECTA.  Upright Virgin's Bower.  A perennial plant growing wild
on the  continent of Europe.  The leaves  and flowers have an  acrid burning taste,
and if  long retained in the mouth produce blisters.  When bruised in a mortar they
irritate  the^eyes and throat, giving rise to a flow of tears and to coughing; and applied
to the skin they produce inflammation and vesication.  -Hence the name of jlammula
Jovis by which the plant was known in older pharmacy. The acrimony is greatly
diminished  by drying.  Storck found this species of Clematis very useful in second-
ary syphilis, cancerous and  other foul ulcers,  and severe headaches.  He gave it
internally, and at the same  time applied the powdered leaves to the surface of the
sore    It acted as a diuretic and  diaphoretic.  Two or three drachms of the  leaves 
1244
Appendix.
were infused in a pint of water, of which he  administered four ounces  three times
a day.   He also employed an extract, in the dose of a grain or two in the course of a
day.  At present the plant is not used.
  Other species of Clematis have the same acrid properties.  Among these are the C.
Flammula, or sweet-scented virgin's bower, which, though a native of Europe, is culti-
vated in our gardens, the C. Vitalba or traveller's joy, also- a native of Europe, and
several indigenous species, of which the C. Virginica or common virgin's bower, the
C. Viorna or leather flower, and the C. crispa have been particularly cited by authors
as proper substitutes for the C. erecta used by Storck.  All these are climbing plants.
The C. Vitalba has  been used in Europe with success in the cure of itch.  For this
purpose the roots and stems, bruised, and boiled for a short time to diminish their
acrimony, were infused in  boiling oil,  which, thus impregnated, was applied to the
skin several times a day.  Twelve or fifteen  applications were usually sufficient.
  COBALT BLUE.  This beautiful pigment is a compound of oxide of cobalt and
alumina, obtained by precipitating the  mixed solutions of a salt of alumina and of
cobalt  by means of an alkali, and washing, drying, and strongly calcining the preci-
pitate.  (Berzelius.)  The  cobalt blue of Thenard  is made by heating  together the
hydrated subphosphate of cobalt and hydrate of alumina.  It is used in painting.  An
oxide of cobalt prepared by precipitating the chloride with potassa has been employed
in rheumatism.  It is emetic in the dose of 10 or 20 grains.  The salts of the metal
are irritant poisons.
  COBWEB.  Spider's Web.   Tela Araneae.  The genus Aranea of Linn, has  been
divided by subsequent naturalists into several genera, of which  the  Tegeneria of
Walkenaer is the one that includes the medicinal species of spider.  The  T. domestica
of Europe, and  T. medicinalis of this country (Henz, Journ. Acad, of Nat. Scien., ii. 53),
are the particular species which have attracted most attention.  They inhabit cellars,
barns,  and other dark places, and  are of a brown or blackish colour.  It is affirmed
that the web of the  field spider is inefficacious, while  that collected in the cellars of
houses, &c, has extraordinary medical virtues.  Several authors speak in very de-
cided terms of its  powers as a febrifuge and antispasmodic.  According to Dr. Robert
Jackson, it is superior even to bark and arsenic in the cure  of intermittents, and is,
moreover, highly useful in various spasmodic and  nervous diseases, controlling and
tranquilizing irregular nervous action, exhilarating  the spirits, and disposing to sleep,
without producing any of the narcotic effects of opium on the brain. These praises are
to a certain extent echoed by Dr. Chapman and Dr. Eberle, in their respective works
on Therapeutics and Materia Medica.   Among the complaints in which it has been
found useful, besides intermittent  fever, are periodical headache, the hectic  fever of
consumption, asthma, hysteria, and nervous  irritations attended with morbid  vigi-
lance and irregular muscular action. It will be observed that these are, for the most
part, affections over which the imagination has much control.  The dose of spider's
web is five or six grains, to be given in the form of pill, and repeated every three or
four hours.  Dr. Jackson states that its  influence is not in proportion to the quantity
administered, and that he obtained  the same effects from ten as from twenty grains.
This might well be, if the supposition be allowed, that its  chief operation is through
the mind of the patient.  Spider's web  has also been  used externally, with asserted
advantage, as a styptic in wounds, and a healing application  in superficial ulcers.
Spiders themselves were formerly employed in  the treatment  of intermittent fever,
and the application of the web to the cure of this disease is not of recent origin.
  COCOA.  Cacao.  Chocolate Nuts. These are the seeds of the Theobroma Cacao, a
handsome tree, from  twelve to twenty feet in height, growing  in  Mexico, the West
Indies, and South America, in some parts of which it is  largely cultivated, particu-
larly in Guayaquil and Venezuela.  The fruit is an oblong ovate capsule or berry,
six or eight inches  in length,  with a  thick,  coriaceous,  somewhat ligneous rind,
enclosing a whitish pulp, in which numerous seeds  are embedded.  These are ovate,
somewhat compressed, about as large as an almond, and consist of an  exterior thin
shell, and a brown oily kernel.  Separated from the  matter in which they are enve-
loped, they constitute the cocoa of commerce. They have a slightly aromatic, bitterish,
oily taste, and, when bruised, or heated, an  agreeable  odour.   They contain  a  large
quantity of fixed oil, together with albumen and bitter extractive.  The oil is obtained
by hot expression, or by decoction. It is a soft solid, whitish or yellowish, with a
peculiar agreeable odour, and a bland pleasant  taste, and is known by the  name of
cocoa butler. According to Brandes, it has peculiar properties,  and  yields a peculiar
acid when saponified.  He calls the oil cocin, and the acid cocinic acid. (Journ. de 
Appendix.
1245
Pharm., xxiv. 652.)  The oil is said to be  frequently adulterated with animal fats.
The chief use to which it is applied, is as an ingredient in cosmetic unguents. A pecu-
liar crystallizable azotized principle, called theobromine, has been found in the seeds
by M. Woskresensky.  It is said to contain a larger  proportion  of nitrogen than
cafein. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., i. 136.)  The shells of the nuts are sometimes em-
ployed in the state of infusion, as a substitute for tea or coffee.  They impart to boil-
ing water a taste analogous to that of chocolate, but weaker. The kernel is consumed
in great quantities, in the shape of chocolate, or in some analogous form.
   Chocolate  is differently prepared in different countries.   In Great Britain and the
United States, it usually consists, when pure, exclusively of the cocoa nuts, which are
first roasted, then  deprived  of their shell, and lastly reduced, by grinding between
heated stones, to the  state of a  paste, which  is moulded  into oblong  cakes.  Not un-
frequently rice flour  or other farinaceous substance, with butter or lard, is added; but
these must  be considered as  adulterations.  On  the  continent of Europe, sugar is
generally  incorporated with the  paste, and spices, especially cinnamon, are often
added.  Vanilla is a favourite  addition in South America, France, and Spain.  Cocoa
is often sold in the state of powder, which is sometimes mingled with other ingredi-
ents, such as ground rice, barley flour, sugar, &c.  Chocolate is prepared for  use by
reducing it to powder, and boiling it in milk, water, or a mixture of these fluids.  In
this state it is much employed as a drink at the morning and  evening meals, and
serves as an excellent  substitute  for coffee  in dyspeptic cases, being nutritive and
digestible, without narcotic influence.  It is also a good  article of diet for  conva-
lescents, and may sometimes  be  given advantageously  as  a mild nutritive drink in
acute disease, though, under these circumstances, it should usually be prepared with-
out milk, and of less strength than as ordinarily used.
   COD-LIVER OIL. Oleum Jecoris Aselli.  Huile de Morue, Fr.  A fixed oil obtained
from the livers  of Codfish, Gadus Morrhua of naturalists, and from those of other
allied species. It is procured by exposing the livers, in tubs or vats,  to the sun's rays.
The oil flows out spontaneously, and is collected in  proper vessels.  That which first
flows is limpid and of a light-yellowish colour. After the commencement of putrefac-
tion, a darker-coloured, and offensive oil  flows out, which is  unfit  for medical use.
The oil is also separated by expression, and by means of heat; and in both ways, if
the livers be quite fresh,  and proper  care be  taken, it  may be  procured of good qua-
lity.   Mr. Donovan  recommends the following mode of  preparation.  The livers,
perfectly sound and fresh, are to be placed in a clean iron pot over a slow fire, and
stirred until they assume the condition of a pulp, care being taken  that the mass be
not heated beyond 192°.  When this  temperature is attained the pot  is to be removed
from the fire, and its contents 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 de-
canted and filtered through paper.  In this slate  it is pale yellow,  with little odour,
and a bland not  disagreeable taste.  As ordinarily found in the market, and employed
for manufacturing purposes, the oil is brown, very offensive, and scarcely fit for inter-
nal use.  On  the continent  of Europe, three, and according  to some, four varieties
are  distinguished; viz., the  white, the yellow, the red, and  the brown.  It is possible
that the colour may  sometimes depend upon the species of fish from which the oil is
procured; but more  commonly the difference arises from  the degree of care used in
the  preparation.  If the  livers are  putrid,  or  exposed to too great a  heat,  or too
strongly expressed, or  if they  were originally diseased  or  of bad quality, the oil is
more or less inferior.  That should be selected for medical use which is least offen-
sive to the palate and nostrils.
   Cod-liver oil has been  found to contain variable proportions of iodine and bromine.
Sulphur and phosphorus,also, are among its constituents. (Journ.dePharm.,3e  Ser.,vi.
25.)  It has been popularly  used  in various diseases, but has only within a few years
attracted the general notice  of  the profession.  It has been much lauded on the con-
tinent of Europe, particularly in  Germany and Switzerland, as a remedy in chronic
gouty and rheumatic affections,  scrofula  and rickets, chronic pectoral complaints,
tabes  mesenterica,  obstinate  constipation,  incontinence  of urine,  and intestinal
worms  The dose  is a  tablespoonful three or  four times  a day  for adults, a tea-
spoonful repeated as  frequently  for  children, which  may be gradually increased
as the stomach  will permit, and  continued for a  long time.  It may be taken alone,
or mixed with some mucilaginous  liquid.   It is sometimes applied  externally  by
friction and, in  cases of ascarides or lumbricoides, is  injected  into ihe rectum.  It
has been recommended also as a  local application in paralysis, various chronic cuta-
neous eruptions, and opacity  of the cornea, after the  subsidence  of inflammation. 
1246
Appendix.
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.
The oil of the liver of the ray (Raia clavata and R. batis) is said to be richer in iodine,
and at the same time less offensive than the cod-liver oil.  It is preferably employed
in the North of France and in Belgium.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., i. 503.)
  COFFEE.   The coffee plant— Coffea Arabica—belongs to the class and order Pen-
tandria Monogynia of the sexual system, and  to the  natural order  Cinchonaceae of
Lindley.  It is a small tree, rising from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and in favour-
able  situations sometimes even  thirty feet.   The branches' are opposite, the lower
spreading, the upper somewhat declining, and gradually diminishing in length as they
ascend, so as to  form a pyramidal  summit, which  is covered with green foliage
throughout the year.   The leaves are opposite, upon  short footstalks, oblong-ovate,
acuminate, entire, wavy, four or five inches long, smooth and shining, of a dark-green
colour on their upper surface, paler beneath, and accompanied with a pair of small
pointed stipules.  The flowers are white, with an odour not unlike that of the jasmine,
and stand in  groups in the axils of the upper leaves.    The calyx is very small, the
corolla salverform, with a nearly cylindrical  tube, and a flat border  divided into  five
lanceolate, pointed segments.  The stamens project above the tube.  The fruit, which
is inferior, is a roundish berry, umbilicate at  top, at first green, then red, and ulti-
mately of a dark-purple colour.  It is about as large as a cherry, and contains  two
seeds surrounded by a paper-like membrane, and enclosed in a yellowish pulpy mat-
ter.  These seeds divested of their coverings, constitute coffee.
  This tree is a native of Southern  Arabia and Abyssinia, and probably  pervades
Africa about the same parallel of latitude, as it is found growing wild at Liberia on
the western coast of the continent.   The value of its produce has led to.its extensive
cultivation in various parts of the world where the temperature is sufficiently elevated
and uniform.  Considerable attention has long been paid to its culture in its native
country,  particularly in Yemen, in the vicinity  of Mocha, from which the demands of
commerce were  at first almost exclusively supplied.   About the year  1690, it was
introduced by the Dutch into Java, and in 1718 into their colony of Surinam.  Soon
after this latter period, the French succeeded in introducing it into  their West India
islands, Cayenne, and the  Isles of France and Bourbon; and it has subsequently made
its way into the other West India Islands,  various parts of tropical America, the
peninsula of Hindostan, and Ceylon.
  The tree is raised from the seeds, which are sown in a soil properly prepared, and,
germinating  in less  than a  month, produce plants which at the end of the  year are
large enough to be transplanted.   These are then set out in rows at suitable distances,
and in three or four years begin to bear fruit.  It is customary to top the trees at this
age, in order to prevent their attaining an inconvenient  height, and to increase the
number of fruit-bearing branches.  It is said that they continue productive for thirty
or forty  years.  Though  almost always  covered with flowers and fruit, they yield
most abundantly at two seasons, and thus afford two harvests during the year.  Various
methods  are employed for freeing the seeds from  their coverings; but that considered
the best,  is by means of machinery to remove  the fleshy portion of the fruit, leaving
the seeds surrounded only by their papyraceous envelope, from which they are after-
wards separated by drying, and by the action of peeling and winnowing mills.
   The character of coffee varies considerably  with the climate and mode of culture.
Consequently several varieties  exist in  commerce, named  usually from the sources
from which they are derived. The Mocha coffee, which is in small and roundish grains,
takes precedence of  all others.   The Java coffee is highly esteemed in this  country;
but our chief supplies are derived from the West Indies and South America.  Some
good coffee has been brought from Liberia.  Coffee improves by age, losing a portion
of its  strength, and thus  acquiring a more agreeable flavour.  It is said to  be much
better when allowed to become perfectly ripe upon the tree, than as ordinarily collected.
The grains should be  hard, and  so  heavy as readily to sink  in water.   When soft,
light, black or dark coloured, or musty, they are inferior.
   Coffee has a faint  peculiar odour, and a slightly sweetish, somewhat austere taste.
It contains a minute quantity of volatile oil, a fixed oil, gum, resin, an extractive matter
having the characteristic taste of the coffee and affording a dark green precipitate with
the salts of iron, albumen, a little sugar, saline substances, lignin, and a peculiar crys-
tallizable principle which has received the name of caffein. This was first discovered
by Runge, and afterwards by Robiquet.  It may be obtained in the following manner.
Exhaust bruised coffee by two successive portions of boiling water, unite  the infu-
sions, add acetate of lead in order to precipitate the principles which accompany the 
Appendix.
1247
caffein, filter, decompose the excess of acetate of lead in the filtered liquor by sulphur-
etted hydrogen, and evaporate to the point of crystallization.  The crystals which form
may be purified by again dissolving them in water and evaporating.  This is the pro-
cess employed by Runge.  (Berzelius, Trait, de Chim.)   Caffein crystallizes, by the
cooling of its  concentrated solution, in opaque, silky, flexible needles; by slow and
spontaneous evaporation, in long, transparent prisms. It has a feebly bitter and disa-
greeable taste, is soluble  in water, alcohol, and ether, has neither an acid nor alkaline
reaction, melts when exposed to heat, and at  a higher temperature sublimes, without
residue, into needles analogous to  those formed  by benzoic acid.  It is precipitated
from its  aqueous solution  by  no reagent except tannic  acid,  and  is remarkable for
containing a larger proportion of nitrogen than almost any other proximate vegetable
principle, in this  respect equalling  some of the most highly animalized products.
The present views of its composition are represented by the formula N2C8H503;
and it is  believed to be identical with thein, or  the  peculiar principle of tea.  Not-
withstanding  the quantity  of nitrogen in  its composition, caffein does not putrefy,
even when  its solution  is  kept for some time in a  warm place.  In addition to the
facts above  stated in relation  to the  composition of coffee, Pfaff ascertained that, in
the precipitate produced by acetate of lead with the decoction, there are two pecu-
liar principles, one resembling tannin, the other having acid properties, and called
by  him caffeic  acid.
  Coffee undergoes considerable change during the  roasting process.  Tt swells up
very much,  acquiring almost double its original  volume, while it loses about  20 per
cent, of its weight.  It acquires, at the same time, a peculiar odour entirely different
from that of the unaltered grains, and a decidedly bitter taste.   A volatile oil is de-
veloped  during the process, and, according  to Chenevix, a portion of tannin.  The
caffein does  not appear to undergo material change, as, according to Garot, it may be
extracted unaltered from the roasted coffee.  The excellence of the flavour of roasted
coffee depends much upon  the manner in which the process is  conducted, and the
extent to which it is  carried.  It should be  performed  in a covered vessel, over a
moderate fire,  and the grains should be kept in  constant motion.  When these have
acquired a chestnut-brown colour, the process should cease.  If too long continued,
it renders the  coffee unpleasantly bitter and  acrid, or by reducing it to charcoal, de-
prives it entirely of flavour.   The coffee should not be burnt long before it is used,
and should not be kept in the ground state.
  Medical and Economical Uses.—More attention has been paid to the effects of coffee
on  the system  in the roasted than in the crude state.  Unroasted coffee has been em-
ployed by Dr. Grindel, of Russia, in intermittent fevers, and the practice has been fol-
lowed by some other physicians; but the success, though considerable, was not such
as to lead to the conclusion that this medicine would answer as a substitute for Peru-
vian bark.   It was given in powder in the dose of a scruple every hour, in  decoc-
tion prepared  by boiling  an ounce with eighteen ounces of water down to six, or in
the state of  extract in the dose of from four to eight grains.  Whether its operation
corresponds with that of  the roasted coffee we are unable to say.  The following ob-
servations relate only to the latter.
  The action of coffee is directed chiefly to the nervous system.  When swallowed it
produces a warming cordial impression on the stomach, quickly followed by a diffused
agreeable nervous excitement, which extends itself to the cerebral functions,  giving
rise to increased vigour  of imagination and  intellect, without any subsequent con-
fusion  or stupor such as characterizes the action of  narcotic medicines.  Indeed one
of its most extraordinary effects is a disposition to wakefulness, which continues for
several hours  after it has been taken.  It is even capable of resisting, to a certain
extent, the intoxicating and soporific influence of alcohol and opium, and may some-
times be advantageously  employed for this purpose.  It also moderately excites the
circulatory system, and stimulates the digestive function.  A cup of coffee taken after
a hearty meal,  will often relieve the sense of oppression so apt to be experienced, and
enable the stomach to perform its office with comparative facility. These exhilarating
effects of coffee, united with its delicious  flavour when suitably qualified by cream
and sugar, have given rise  to its habitual employment as an article of diet.  Its use
for  this purpose has prevailed from time immemorial in  Persia and Arabia.  In 1517
it was introduced by the Turks into Constantinople,  whence it was carried to France
and England about the middle of the succeeding century, and has since gradually made
its way into almost universal use. It cannot be supposed that a substance capable
of acting so energetically upon the system, should be entirely  destitute of deleterious
properties.  Accordingly, if taken in very large quantities, it leaves after its  first 
1248
Appendix.
effects are passed, a degree of nervous  derangement or depression equivalent to the
previous excitement; and its habitual immoderate employment is well known very
greatly to injure the tone of the  stomach,  and frequently to give rise to troublesome
dyspeptic and nervous affections.  This result is peculiarly apt to  take place in indi-
viduals  of naturally susceptible nervous systems, and in those of sedentary habits.
We have repeatedly known patients  who have long suffered with  headache and ver-
tigo, to get rid of these affections by  abstaining from coffee.
  In the  treatment of disease, coffee has been less employed than might have  been
expected from its effects upon the system.   There can be no doubt that  it may be
advantageously  used  in various nervous  disorders.   In  a tendency  to  stupor or
lethargy  dependent on deficient energy of the brain, without congestion or inflam-
mation, it would be  found useful by stimulating the  cerebral functions.   In  light
nervous headaches, and  even in sick headache not caused by the presence  of offend-
ing matter in the stomach, it often proves  temporarily useful.  It has acquired much
reputation as a palliative in the paroxysm of spasmodic asthma, and  is recommended
by some  writers  in hysterical affections.  The Egyptians  are said to have formerly
employed it as a remedy in amenorrhoea.  Hayne informs us that in  a case  of violent
spasmodic disease, attended with short breath, palpitation of the heart, and a pulse so
much increased in frequency that it could scarcely be counted, immediate relief was
obtained  from a cup of coffee, after the most powerful antispasmodics had been used
in vain for several hours.   It is said also to have been used effectually in  obstinate
chronic diarrhoea;  and Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia, found it highly useful in calcu-
lous nephritis.  In acute inflammatory affections it is contra-indicated.
  Coffee is usually prepared in this country by boiling the roasted  grains, previously
ground into  a coarse powder, in water for  a short time, and then clarifying by the
white of  an egg.  Some prefer  the  infusion, made by a process  similar to that of
displacement. It has more of the aroma  of the coffee than the decoction, with less
of its bitterness.  The proper proportion for forming the infusion  for medical use is
an ounce to a pint of boiling water, of which a cupful may be given warm for a dose,
and repeated  if  necessary.
  COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS.   Horse-weed.  Horse-balm.  Richweed.   Heal-all.
Stone-root.  Knot-root.   An indigenous  plant, with  a  perennial, knotty root, and an
herbaceous simple stem about two  feel high, furnished with  two or three pairs of
broad, cordate ovate, smooth leaves, and terminating  in a panicle of yellow flowers
in branched  racemes.  The flowers  are diandrous  and monogynous, with  a labiate
calyx and corolla, the latter of which has  the lower lip fringed. The plant grows in
woods from Canada to  Carolina, and flowers from  July to September.  The whole
plant has a strong disagreeable  odour, and a warm pungent taste.  It is considered
tonic, astringent, diaphoretic, and diuretic; and the root, in substance, is said to irri-
tate the stomach and produce vomiting  even in small doses.  The plant is used in
numerous complaints in domestic practice.   It is preferred in the fresh state, as the
active principle is volatile.  A  decoction of the fresh root is said to have been used
with advantage in catarrh of the  bladder, leucorrhoea, gravel, dropsy and other  com-
plaints; and the leaves are applied by the country people, in the form of cataplasm or
fomentation, to wounds,  bruises, and sores, and in cases of internal abdominal pains.
  COLUTEA ARBORESCENS.  Bladder Senna.   A  shrub, growing spontaneously
in the southern  and eastern parts of Europe, and cultivated in gardens  as an orna-
mental plant. Its leaves are pinnate, consisting of from three to five pairs of leaflets,
with an odd one  at the end.  The leaflets are obovate, slightly emarginate, smooth, and
of a deep-green colour on the upper surface, grayish-green and somewhat pubescent
beneath.  The flowers are  yellow, and the fruit vesicular, whence the plant derived
its vulgar name.  The leaflets are possessed of  purgative properties, and, in some
parts of Europe, are used as a substitute  for senna, which is said to be sometimes
adulterated with  them.   The bladder senna  is comparatively very feeble.   It is ad-
ministered in infusion or decoction, of which  the dose is about half a pint, containing
the virtues of from one to three ounces  of the leaves.
  COMPTONIA ASPLENIFOLIA.  Sweet Fern. A shrubby indigenous plant, named
from  the resemblance of its leaves to the spleenwort fern, but belonging to the Lin-
naean class and order Moncecia  Triandra.  It grows in thin sandy or stony woods,
from  New  England to  Virginia.  All parts of it possess a resinous spicy odour,
which is increased when the plant is rubbed. It is said to be tonic and astringent,
and to be occasionally used in domestic practice as a remedy in diarrhoea, and various
other complaints.  It is employed in  the form of decoction. 
Appendix.
1249
  CONVALLARIA MAJALIS.   Lily  of the Valley.  This charming little garden
flower is a native of Europe, and is found growing wild in  the United States, upon
the highest mountains of Virginia and Carolina. The flowers have a strong delightful
odour, which is in great measure lost by drying.  Their taste is nauseous, bitter,and
acrid.  Taken internally they are said  to be emetic  and cathartic, and their extract
purges actively in the dose of half a drachm.  They were formerly used  in epilepsy
and against worms.   At present they are employed only as a sternutatory, for which
purpose  they are dried  and reduced to a coarse  powder.  The root, which  is also
bitter,  has similar  purgative  properties, and reduced  to  powder,  is  said to be
sternutatory.
  CONVALLARIA  POLYGONATUM. Linn.   Polygonatum uniflorum.  Desfon-
taines.  Solomon's Seal.  A perennial, herbaceous, European plant, the root of which
is horizontal, jointed, white, and marked, at short intervals, with small circular im-
pressions, which bear a remote  resemblance to  those made by a seal, and have
served to give a name to the plant.  The root is inodorous, and of a sweetish muci-
laginous taste, followed  by a slight degree of bitterness and acrimony. It is said  to
be emetic.   In former times  it was used externally in  bruises, especially those about
the eyes, in tumours, wounds, and cutaneous eruptions, and was highly esteemed as a
cosmetic. At present it is not employed, though recommended by Hermann as a good
remedy in gout and rheumatism.  The  berries and flowers are said to be acrid and
poisonous.
  The C. multiflora (Polygonatum multiflorum, Desf.), which grows  in this country
as well as in Europe, is  analogous to the preceding in properties.
  COPAL. A resinous substance, brought from the East Indies, South  America, and
the western  coast of Africa, but most abundantly from the first-mentioned source.  It
is the concrete juice of different trees, and is furnished by exudation.  The East India
copal has been ascribed by some writers to  the  Valeria Indica of Linn., the Ekeo-
carpus copalliferus of Retzius; and the Brazilian, by Martius and  Hayne, probably with
justice, to different species of Hymenaea.  There is some reason to believe that the  E.
India copal is also the product of a Hymenaea; at least a specimen of this resin was
collected by M. Perottet  from the  Hymenaea  verrucosa, which he  found growing in the
Isle of Bourbon. This tree is a native of Madagascar, and probably of the neighbour-
ing parts of Africa; and M. Perottet was informed  that the copal of India is taken
thither by the Arabs  of Muscat, who obtain it from the  East coast of Africa. (Journ. de
Pharm., 3e Ser., i. 406.)  Copal varies  somewhat  in appearance and properties,  as
procured from different sources.  It is in roundish, irregular, or flattish pieces, colour-
less, yellowish, or brownish-yellow,more or less transparent, very hard, with a shining
conchoidal fracture, inodorous and tasteless, of a sp. gr. varying from  1-045 to 1-139,
insoluble in alcohol, soluble in ether, and slightly so in oil of turpentine. Some varie-
ties unite with alcohol if suspended in its  vapour while boiling.  By heat it melts and
is partially decomposed, becoming thereby  soluble in alcohol and oil of turpentine.
It is not a proximate principle, but consists of various resins united in different pro-
portions.  The East India copal is in flatter  pieces than the American or African, and
is whiter, softer, and less transparent.  Two kinds are known in the drug market—
the crude and the scraped— the former of  a dull opaque appearance externally, the latter
much clearer and more transparent, in consequence of being  deprived  of its outer
coat.   The process of scraping is said to consist in the removal of the exterior portion
by means of an alkaline solution, which readily dissolves copal.  This resin is used
chiefly in the preparation of varnishes.
  CORAL.  A substance found at the  bottom of the  Mediterranean  and other seas,
formerly considered as a plant, but now universally admitted to belong  to  the animal
kingdom  The red coral (Corallium rubrum of Lamarck, Isis nobilis of Linn.) is  in
the form of  a small shrub, a foot or two in height,  with a stem  sometimes an inch  or
two in thickness, fixed to the rock by an expansion of the base, divided  above into
branches  and covered with a pulpy membrane, which is properly the living part and
which is removed when the  coral is collected.  The central portion is extremely hard,
of various shades of red, susceptible of a brilliant polish, longitudinally striated, and
formed of concentric layers, which are rendered  obvious by calcination.  Its ctuet
constituent is carbonate of lime, which  is coloured by oxide of iron, and united, as  m
similar calcareous products, with more  or less animal matter.   It was formerly very
high v valued as a remedy, but is in no respect superior to prepared oyster-shell, or other
form of carbonate of lime derived from  the animal kingdom.  It was employed in the
106 
1250
Appendix.
form of fine powder, or in different preparations, such as troches, syrups, conserves,
tinctures, &c.  At present it is valued chiefly as an ornament.
  CORTEX CARYOPHYLLATA. Cassia Caryophyllata.  Clove Bark.  These names
have been  given to a bark, brought  from the West Indies, and  derived from a tree
belonging to the family of the Myrtaceae, supposed to be the Myrtus acris of Schwartz.
It is usually in cylinders from one to two feet long by an inch in diameter,composed
of numerous separate pieces rolled around one another, having a dark-brown colour,
a pungent taste, and an odour similar to that of cloves.  It is sometimes in fragments,
of a similar colour, taste, and smell, but softer and lighter, and  supposed to  be de-
rived from  older branches.  A similar bark is said to be derived from the Myrtus
caryophyllata of Linn., which grows in Ceylon.  The clove  bark has aromatic pro-
perties not  unlike those of the spice from which it derived its name;  but it is much
inferior, and is now never used in this country.  Some authors have confounded with
it a wholly  different bark produced by a tree growing in the Moluccas, and known by
the Indian name of culilawan. (See Culilawan.)
  CORYLUS ROSTRATA.  Beaked Hazel.  This is a  small indigenous shrub, grow-
ing especially in mountainous districts.  The nut is invested with a scaly involucre,
projecting beyond it like a beak, and thickly covered with short spiculae like those of
the Mucuna pruriens.  These spiculae have been employed by Dr. Heubener, of Beth-
lehem, Pennsylvania, as an anthelmintic, and found to be efficacious.  They operate
in the  same way as cowhage, and may be administered in the same manner and
dose. (See a communication from Mr. Duhamel in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 280.)
  CRABS' CLAWS.  Chelae Cancrorum.  These, in a prepared state, were formerly
included in the  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, but were very  properly omitted upon  the
last revision of that work.  Supposing  them  identical with the crust of the lobster,
they consist, in the 100 parts, of 60 parts of carbonate of lime, 14 of phosphate of
lime, and 26 of animal matter.   They are prepared by levigation and elutriation, so
as to bring them to a fine powder.  They were formerly used  as an  absorbent and
antacid; but the animal matter  in their composition  confers on  them no peculiar
virtues. They are given in the same dose with prepared  chalk.
   CRAB STONES. Lapilli Cancrorum.  Crabs' Eyes. These are concretions, found in
the stomach, one on each  side, of the European crawfish, at the time the animal is
about  to change  its shell.  They are most abundantly procured in the  province of
Astracan in Asiatic Russia.  The crawfish are bruised with wooden mallets, and laid
up in heaps to  putrefy.  The animal remains are then washed away, and the stones
picked out. They are inodorous, insipid bodies, somewhat hemispherical in shape, of
a white or reddish colour, hard and stony consistence, and laminated texture.  They
 are very variable in size, weighing from one to twelve grains each.  They effervesce
 with acids, and, without dissolving, become converted, owing  to the animal matter
 which  they contain, into a soft transparent mass, retaining the original shape of the
 stone.  By this character they are distinguished  from counterfeit stones, which are
 sometimes fabricated of chalk, mixed with mucilaginous substances.  They consist
 of carbonate  and phosphate of lime,  cemented together by animal matter.  Crab
 stones  have been used as an absorbent and antacid, given in the  same dose with
 prepared chalk.  They  were prepared for exhibition by being  levigated  in the usual
 manner.   But  they are now no longer officinal, having been expunged  from tht
 Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
   CUCURBITA CITRULLUS.  Watermellon.  The seeds of the watermelon are em-
 ployed, to  a considerable extent, as a domestic remedy in strangury and other affec-
 tions of the urinary passages.  They have the same properties with the seeds of the
 other  Cucurbitaceae, of which four different  kinds were  formerly officinal  under the
 name  of the greater  cold seeds—viz., those of the Cucurbita Pepo or pumpkin, the
  Cucurbiia Lagenaria or gourd,  the Cucumis Melo or muskmelon, and the Cucumis
 sativus or  cucumber.  These, when bruised and rubbed up with water, form an emul-
 sion which was formerly thought to possess considerable  virtues, and was much used
 in catarrhal affections, disorders of the bowels and urinary  passages, fever, &c; but
 they have been superseded by other more agreeable demulcents.  Watermelon seeds
 are also esteemed by some diuretic.  They are usually given in the form of infusion,
 made in the proportion of one or two ounces of  the bruised seeds to a pint of water,
 and taken ad libitum.
    CULILAWAN. Cortex Culilaban.  An aromatic bark, produced by the Cinnamo-
 mum  Culilawan (Laurus Culilawan, Linn.), a tree of considerable size growing in the 
Appendix.
1251
Molucca islands, Cochinchina, and other parts of the East.   It is usually in flat or
slightly rolled pieces, several inches long, an inch or more in breadth, and one or two
lines thick.  Sometimes the bark is thinner and  more quilled, bearing considerable
resemblance to cinnamon.  The epidermis is for the most part removed, but when
present is of a light  brownish-gray colour, soft to the touch, and somewhat  spongy.
The colour of the bark itself is a dull  dark  cinnamon-brown, the  odour highly fra-
grant, the taste agreeably aromatic, and not unlike that of cloves.   The  active con-
stituent is a volatile oil which  may be  separated by distillation. Culilawan has the
medical properties common to the aromatics, but is scarcely used at present.
  CUNILA  MARIANA.  American Dittany.  A  small  indigenous perennial herb,
growing  on  dry, shady hills, from  New England to Georgia, and flowering  in June
and July.  The whole herb has a warm pungent taste, and a fragrant odour, depend-
ent on an essential oil. Its medical properties  are those of a gently stimulant aromatic,
analogous to the mints, pennyroyal, &c.  In  the  shape of warm infusion, it is popu-
larly employed to excite perspiration in  colds  and slight fevers, to promote suppressed
menstruation,  to  relieve flatulent colic,  and for various  other  purposes to which the
aromatic herbs are thought applicable.
  CUTTLE-FISH BONE.  Os Sepiae.   This is a calcareous body, situated under-
neath  the skin, in the back of the Sepia officinalis, or cuttle fish, which  inhabits  the
seas of Europe, especially the  Mediterranean, in  the waters of which the bone is not
unfrequently found floating.  It is oblong-oval, from five to ten inches long, and from
one and a half to three inches broad, somewhat convex on both sides, with thin edges,
of a rather firm  consistence upon the  upper surface, very friable beneath, and com-
posed  of  numerous  layers, loosely connected, so as  to give  to the mass a  porous
consistence.  It is lighter than water, of a white colour, a feeble odour of sea-plants,
and a saline taste.  It contains, according to  John, from 80 to  85 per cent, of carbo-
nate of lime, besides animal matter, a  little  common salt, and  traces of magnesia.
Reduced  by levigation and elutriation to a fine powder, it may be given as an antacid
like chalk or oyster-shell.  It is sometimes used  as an  ingredient  of tooth-powders.
Small  pieces of  it are often put  into bird-cages, that the birds may rub their bills
against them;  and the  powder is employed for polishing.  Another product of  the
cuttle-fish is a  blackish-brown  liquor, secreted by a small gland into an  oval pouch,
communicating externally near the rectum by a long  excretory duct, through which
the animal is said to  have the  power of ejecting  it at will.  This, when taken from
the fish, is dried, and used in the preparation of the water colour called sepia.
  CYANURET  OF ZINC.  Zinci  Cyanuretum.  This cyanuret is  precipitated as a
white insoluble powder, by adding cautiously, until it  ceases  to produce a precipitate,
a recently filtered solution of cyanuret  of potassium, obtained  from the impure black
cyanuret, to a  solution of sulphate of zinc. It is used in Germany as a substitute for
hydrocyanic acid, and is  said  to possess anthelmintic properties.   It has been em-
ployed in  epilepsy, chorea, and neuralgia, in several painful affections of the stomach,
and in the colics  attendant on difficult menstruation.  The dose is a quarter of a
grain, gradually increased to a grain and a half, given in mixture.   It is included in
the officinal list of the French Codex.
  CYNANCHUM VINCETOXICUM.   R.  Brown.  Asclepias  Vinceloxicum. Linn*
 White  Swallovj-wort.  Vinceloxicum.   A perennial  herbaceous European plant, the
root of which was formerly esteemed a  counterpoison, and hence gave origin  to the
officinal name.  It has a bitterish acrid  taste, and, when fresh, a disagreeable odour
which is diminished  by drying.  Taken internally, especially in the recent state, it
excites vomiting, and is  capable  in large quantities  of producing  dangerous if not
fatal inflammation of the stomach.  Its former  reputation as an alexipharmic was
wholly without foundation.  It is said  to be  useful in cutaneous diseases, scrofula,
&c.,but is little employed.  The leaves of the plant also are emetic.  Feneulle found
in the root a peculiar principle analogous to  emetin.
  CYNARA SCOLYMUS. Garden Artichoke.  This is a perennial plant, indigenous
in the  South of Europe, and cultivated  in our gardens as a culinary vegetable. The
flowers, constituting what are commonly called the heads, are the part used. The recep-
tacle and the lower portion of the fleshy leaflets of the calyx are eaten, and the other
parts rejected.  When young, the heads are  cut up raw and eaten  as  salad ; when
older they are boiled, and dressed variously.  The flowers are  said to  curdle milk,
and the plant to yield a goodyellow dye. The leaves and their expressed juice  are
very bitter, and have been thought to possess active  diuretic properties.  They have
long had some reputation in the treatment of dropsies.  Dr. Badely, of Chelmsford, 
1252
Appendix.
 England, has  recently used a tincture and extract prepared  from the leaves, with
 great supposed benefit, in rheumatic, gouty, and  neuralgic affections.  He gives a
 drachm of the tincture, with five grains of the extract, three times a day, with or with-
 out other remedies, as circumstances seem to require.   The leaves should be fresh,
 and the  preparations made from them quickly used.  (Braithwaite's Retrospect, from
 Lond. Lancet,  1843, p. 556.)
   CYNOGLOSSUM  OFFICINALE.  Hound's Tongue.   A biennial  plant, common
 both in Europe and  this  country, and named from the shape  of  its leaves.  The
 leaves and  root have been employed, bat the latter  has been generally preferred.
 The fresh plant has a disagreeable narcotic odour resembling  that of  mice, which is
 dissipated by drying.  The taste is nauseous, bitterish, and mucilaginous.  Different
 opinions as  to its powers have been entertained, some considering it as nearly inert,
 others  as a dangerous poison; nor has the difference been hitherto settled.  Hound's
 tongue has  been used as a demulcent and sedative in coughs, catarrh, spitting of
 blood, dysentery, and  diarrhoea:  and has been applied externally  in burns, ulcers,
 scrofulous tumours, and goitre. The pilulae de cynoglosso, which are officinal in some
 parts of Europe, though they contain a portion of the root of hound's tongue, owe their
 properties chiefly to opium.
   DIAPHORETIC ANTIMONY. Antimonium Diaphoreticum. Potassae Biantimonias.
 This compound is  directed to be formed in the French Codex  by deflagrating in a
 red-hot crucible, and keeping red-hot for half an  hour, a mixture of  pure antimony
 with twice its  weight of nitrate of potassa, both being in fine  powder. The product
 is washed with water  and dried, and forms the washed diaphoretic antimony.   As thus
 prepared, M. Oscar Figuier has shown that it  contains, besides antimonic acid, both
 teroxide of antimony  and antimonious acid, the nitre not being in  sufficient quantity
 completely to  peroxidize the antimony.  When, however, the antimony is deflagrated
 with three times its weight of nitre, and the matter is kept at a red  heat for an hour
 and a half, the whole of the antimony is converted into antimonic  acid; and, when
 the product is  thoroughly exhausted by boiling water, the solution  obtained contains
 a large quantity of neutral antimoniate of potassa, and the insoluble residue is  im-
 pure biantimoniate.   M. Figuier  rejects  this residue, which  forms the  diaphoretic
 antimony of the ordinary process, and obtains the preparation from  the solution of
 the neutral antimoniate, by passing through it a stream of carbonic acid gas, which
 takes away one eq. of potassa from two of the antimoniate, and throws down the  bi-
 antimoniate in the form of a white powder.  He obtained, by this process, a quantity
 of the preparation equal to three-fourths of the weight of the materials employed.
   Diaphoretic antimony is  a  perfectly white powder.  When properly prepared, as
 by the process of M. Figuier, it consists of two eqs. of antimonic acid, one of potassa,
 and six of water.  The dose is two or three  drachms.  On account of its weak and
 variable nature, it  has been very properly laid aside in practice.
   DICTAMUS ALBUS.  White  Fraxinella.  Bastard Dittany.  This  is a perennial
 European plant, the root of which is bitter and aromatic, and has been used as  an
 anthelmintic, emmenagogue, and stomachic tonic, though at present  little employed
 in Europe, and not at all  in  this  country.  Storck gave  it in intermittents,  worms,
 amenorrhoea, hysteria, epilepsy, and other nervous diseases.   The  bark of the root
 is the most active part.  The dose is from a scruple to a drachm.
   DIPPEL'S ANIMAL OIL.   Oleum  Cornu Cervi.  This  oil  is obtained during the
 distillation of  animal  matters, in the processes for obtaining ammoniacal products
 on a large scale.  That  portion which  first comes over is pale yellow; but, in  the
 progress  of the distillation, it becomes gradually deeper coloured and thicker, and at
 last black and viscid.  It is purified and rendered colourless by redistillation, a pyro-
 genous resin being left behind.  Thus rectified it is a  colourless liquid, very limpid
 and volatile, and having a penetrating extremely fetid odour, and burning taste.  Bv
 repeating the distillation till a dark residuum is no longer  left  in the retort, it  may be
 obtained  free from  fetor, and of an agreeable, aromatic odour; and in this mode it is
 said to have been prepared by Dippel.  Four or five distillations are necessary to this
 end. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 244.) The oil is soon altered by the action of air and
light, becoming thick, yellow, brown, and finally black.   It  possesses an alkaline
reaction,  and probably contains the various principles which  have been discovered
 by Reichenbach in the products of the distillation of organic substances.
  This oil was formerly much used in medicine, but its repulsive odour and taste, as
it is ordinarily prepared, have caused it to be  almost entirely  laid  aside.  It  acts, in
the dose  of a  few drops, given with water, as a stimulant and antispasmodic.   Its 
Appendix.
1253
 presence in the spirit and salt of hartshorn gives to these preparations medicinal pro-
 perties different from those of the pure spirit and carbonate of ammonia.
   DIRCA  PALUSTRIS.  Leather Wood.  An indigenous shrub, usually very small,
 but sometimes attaining the height of five or six feet, growing in boggy woods, and
 other low wet places, in almost all parts of the United States, though less abundantly
 in the western than in the eastern  section. The berries, which are small, oval, and
 of an orange colour, are said  to be narcotic and poisonous.  The bark is the part
 which has attracted most attention.  It is  extremely tough, and  of very difficult pul-
 verization.  In the fresh state it has a peculiar rather nauseous odour, and an unplea-
 sant acrid  taste, and when chewed excites a flow of  saliva.  It  yields its  acrimony
 completely to  alcohol, but imperfectly to water even by decoction.  In the dose of six
 or eight grains, the fresh bark produces violent vomiting, preceded by a sense of heat
 in the stomach, and often followed by purging.  Applied to  the skin it excites redness,
 and ultimately vesicates; but its epispastic operation is very slow.  It appears to be
 analogous  in its properties to mezereon, to which it is also boianically allied.
   DRAGON'S BLOOD. Sanguis Draconis.  This is a resinous substance obtained
 from the fruit of several species of Calamus, especially the C. Roiang and C. Draco,
 small palms, growing in the Molucca Islands and other parts of the East Indies.  On
 the surface of the fruit, when ripe,is an exudation, which is separated by rubbing, or
 shaking in a bag, or by exposure to the vapour of boiling water, or finally by decoc-
 tion.   The finest resin is procured by the two  former methods.  It comes in two
 forms; sometimes in small oval masses, of a size  varying from that of  a hazelnut to
 that of a walnut, covered with the leaves of the  plant, and connected together in a
 row like beads in a necklace;  sometimes in cylindrical sticks eighteen inches long and
 from a quarter to half an inch in  diameter,  thickly covered with palm leaves, and
 bound round with slender strips of cane.   In both these forms, it is of a dark reddish-
 brown colour, opaque, and  readily pulverizable,  affording  a fine scarlet powder.  It
 sometimes comes also in the form of a reddish powder, and in small irregular frag-
 ments or tears.  An  inferior kind, said  to be  obtained by  boiling the fruit in water,
 is in flat circular cakes, two or three inches in diameter and half an inch thick.  This
 also yields a fine red powder.   A fourth variety,  much inferior even to the last men-
 tioned, is in large disks, from six to twelve inches in diameter by an inch in thickness,
 mixed with various impurities, as pieces of the shell, stem, &c, and supposed to  be
 derived from  the  fruit by decoction with expression.  A substance known  by the
 name of Dragon's blood is derived by exudation from  the trunk of the Dracaena Draco,
 a large  tree inhabiting the Canary Islands and the E. Indies, and  another from the
 Pterocarpus Draco, a tree of the West Indies and  South America, by incision into the
 bark.  These  last, however, are little known in commerce.   According to Lieut.
 Wellstead, much dragon's blood is obtained, in the island of Socotra, by spontaneous
 exudation from a large tree, growing at a considerable elevation on the mountains.
  Dragon's blood is inodorous and tasteless, insoluble in water, but soluble  in alcohol,
 ether, and the  volatile and fixed oils, with which it forms red solutions.   According
 to Herberger, it consists of 90*7 parts of  a red resin  which he  calls draconin, 2-0 of
 fixed oil, 3-0 of benzoic acid, 1-6 of oxalate of  lime, and 3-7 of phosphate of lime.  It
 was formerly used in medicine as an astringent,  but  is nearly or quite inert, and is
 now never given internally.   It is sometimes used to impart colour to plasters, but is
 valued chiefly  as an ingredient of paints and varnishes.
  DUTCH PINK.  A yellow or brownish-yellow paint, consisting of clay, or a mix-
 ture of clay and chalk, or carbonate of lime in  the form of whiting, coloured by a
 decoction of wood, French berries, or birch leaves, with alum.
  EMERY. A very hard mineral, the  powder of which is capable of wearing down
 all other substances except the diamond.   As  found in commerce, it is said to be de-
 rived chiefly from the island of Naxos in the Grecian Archipelago.   It is pulverized
 by grinding it in a steel  mill; and the powder is kept in the shops of different degrees
 of fineness.  It is used for polishing metals and hard stones.
  EUPHRASIA OFFICINALIS.   Eyebright.    A  small  annual plant, common  to
 Europe and the United States, without odour, and of a bitterish, astringent taste.  It
 was  formerly  used in  various complaints, and among the rest  in disorders of the
 eyes, in which it was thought to be very efficacious, and in the treatment of which it
 is still  popular in some  countries.  The probability is that it is nearly inert.
  FERROCYANURET OF  ZINC.  Zinci  Ferrocyanuretum.   This  compound  is
formed bv double decomposition between hot solutions of ferrocyanuret of potassium
                                     106* 
1254
Appendix.
 (ferroprussiate of potassa) and sulphate of zinc.  It is thrown down as a white pow-
 der.  It has similar medical properties to those of the cyanuret, and is  used in the
 same diseases.  The dose is from one to four grains, given in pill.
   FRENCH CHALK.  A variety of  indurated talc.   It is  compact, unctuous to the
 touch, of a greenish colour, glossy, somewhat translucent,  soft and easily scratched,
 and  leaves a silvery line when drawn over paper.   It is used  chiefly for marking
 cloth, &c, and for extracting grease spots.
   FUCUS VESICULOSUS.  Sea-wrack. Bladder-wrack. This was omitted by mistake
 in the first part of this work; as it is still retained by the Dublin  College.   It belongs
 to Cryptogamia Algae in the sexual system, and to the natural order  Algaceae.  The
 following is the generic character.  " Male. Vesicles smooth, hollow, with villose hairs
 within, interwoven.   Female. Vesicles smooth, filled with jelly,  sprinkled with im-
 mersed grains, prominent at tip.  Seeds solitary."  This seed-weed is perennial, with
 the frond or leaf flat, smooth and glossy, from one to four feet high, from half an inch
 to an inch and a half broad, furnished with  a midrib throughout its length, dichoto-
 mous, entire upon the margin, and of a dark olive-green colour.  Small spherical
 vesicles, filled with air, are immersed in the frond near the midrib.   The fruit con-
 sists  of roundish, compressed receptacles, at the ends of the branches, filled  with a
 clear tasteless mucus.   The plant grows upon the shores of Europe and of this con-
 tinent, attaching itself to  the  rocks by its  expanded woody root. On the coast of
 Scotland and of France, it is much used in the preparation of kelp.   It is also em-
 ployed as a manure, and is mixed with the fodder of cattle.
   The F. vesiculosus has a peculiar odour, and a nauseous  saline taste.  Several
 chemists have undertaken its analysis, but the results are not satisfactory.  It con-
 tains  much soda in  saline combination, and iodine according to Gaultier de Claubry,
 in the state of iodide of potassium.  These ingredients remain in  its ashes, and in the
 charcoal resulting from its exposure to heat in close vessels.  This charcoal,  which
 is sometimes called Mthiops vegetabilis or vegetable ethiops, has long had the reputation
 of a deobstruent, and been given in goitre and scrofulous swellings.  Its virtues were
 formerly ascribed chiefly to the carbonate of soda, in which it abounds; but since the
 discovery of the medical  properties of iodine, this has been considered as its most
 active ingredient.  The mucus contained in the vesicles was applied  externally, with
 advantage, by Dr. Russel,  as a resolvent in scrofulous tumours.
   Other species of Fucus are in all probability possessed of similar properties.  Many
 of them contain a gelatinous matter, and a sweet principle analogous to mannite; and
 some are used as  food in times of scarcity by the wretched  inhabitants of the  coasts
 where they are collected. The F. Helminthocorton (Gigartina Helminthocorton of
 Greville) has some reputation  in Europe as an anthelmintic.  It  is one of the  ingre-
 dients in that mixture of  marine plants which is sold in Europe under the name of
 Corsican moss or helminthocorton. This is used in decoction, from  four to six drachms
 being boiled in a pint of water, and a wineglassful given three times a day.
  FULIGOKALI.  This preparation,  proposed by M. Deschamps, is  formed by boil-
 ing for an hour, 20 parts of caustic potassa and  100 of shining soot,  in powder, in 2
 parts, or a sufficient quantity of water.  The solution, when cold, is diluted, filtered,
 and evaporated to dryness. Fuligokali is in the form of a black powder, or of scales,
 very soluble in  water, and having  an  empyreumatic odour  and  mild alkaline taste.
 It is used in the same affections  as anthrakokali.   The dose is two or three grains,
 repeated several times a day.  An ointment, containing from sixteen to thirty-two
 grains to the ounce  of lard, was found by Dr. Gibert,  of Paris, to be detersive, resol-
vent,  and gently stimulant. (See a notice of these preparations by A. Duhamel, of
 this city, in the  Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  xiv. 284.)
  FUMARIA OFFICINALIS.  Fumitory.  A small annual European plant, naturalized
 in this country, growing in cultivated grounds, and flowering from May  to August.
It was formerly considerably employed as a medicine, and is still used in Europe.
 The leaves are the officinal part.  They are inodorous, have a bitter saline taste,and
are very succulent, yielding by expression a juice which has the  sensible and medi-
cinal  properties of  the  plant.   An  extract  prepared by evaporating  the expressed
juice, or a decoction of the leaves, throws out upon its surface a copious saline efflo-
rescence.  The plant, indeed, abounds in saline  substances, and  to these  in connex-
 ion with its bitter extractive, are to be ascribed any medical virtues which it may
 possess. It is gently tonic, in large doses is said to be laxative and  diurelic,  and is
 thought, moreover, to exercise an aherative influence over ihe system.  Both in an-
 cient  and modern times  it has  been esteemed as a valuable remedy in visceral 
Appendix.
1255
obstructions, particularly those  of the liver, in scorbutic affections, and in various
troublesome eruptive diseases  of the skin.   Cullen speaks very favourably of its
influence in these last complaints.  He gave the expressed juice in the dose of two
ounces  twice  a day.   Others  have prescribed it in much larger  quantities.  The
leaves either fresh or  dried may be used  in  decoction, without precise limitation as
regards  the dose.  The inspissated juice and an extract of the dried leaves have also
been employed, and are said to have all the virtues of the leaves themselves.
  FUSTIC. A yellow dye-wood, obtained from the Morus tinctoria (Broussonetia tinc-
toria, Kunth), a tree  growing in the West Indies and South  America.  It is not used
in medicine or pharmacy.  According to Bancroft,  two different woods bear in Eng-
land the name of fustic, one the product of the tree just mentioned, distinguished as
old fustic, probably from  the greater magnitude of the billets in which it is imported;
the other derived from the Rhus Cotinus or Venice sumach, and called young fustic.
  GALANGAL.   Galanga. Two varieties are  described by authors, the galanga
major and galanga minor, or large and small galangal.  They are considered by some
as the roots of different plants; but there is reason to believe that they are both de-
rived from the Maranta Galanga of Linn. (Alpina Galanga of Willd.), and that they
differ in consequence of the different stages of  growth at which they are  collected.
They are  brought from the East Indies.  The larger variety is cylindrical, three or
four inches long, as  thick as  the thumb or  thicker, often forked, reddish-brown ex-
ternally, slightly striated  longitudinally, marked with whitish  circular  rings, orange-
brown  internally, rather hard and  fibrous, difficultly pulverizable, of an  agreeable
aromatic  odour, and a pungent, hot, spicy, permanent taste.  The small galangal
resembles the preceding in shape, but is smaller, not  exceeding the  little finger in
thickness, of a darker colour, and of a stronger taste and smell.  According to Morin,
galangal contains a volatile oil, an acrid resin, extractive, gum, bassorin, and lignin.
A. Vogel, jun., found  also starch and fixed oil. (Pharm.  Cent. Blatt, 1844, p. 158.)  R.
Brandes is said to have found  a peculiar crystallizable  substance called kempferid.
(Annal. der Pharm., xxxii. 311.) The active principles are  the volatile oil, and acrid
resin.  Its medical effects are those of a stimulant aromatic; and it may be used for
the  same purposes as ginger.  It was  known to the ancient Greeks and Arabians,
and entered into numerous compound preparations some of which have but recently
passed  out of use.  At present the root is seldom employed.  Its dose  is from fifteen
to thirty grains in substance, and twice as much  in infusion.
   GALEGA OFFICINALIS.   Goat's Rue.  A perennial herb, growing in the South
 of Europe, and sometimes cultivated in gardens.   It is without smell unless bruised,
 when it emits a  disagreeable  odour.  Its taste is unpleasantly bitter and  somewhat
rough,  and  when chewed, it stains (he saliva yellowish-brown.  In former times it
was much employed as a remedy in malignant fevers, the plague, the bites of serpents,
 worms, &c;  but it has  now fallen  into merited neglect.  The roots of the Galega
 Virginiana, which is  a native  of the United States, are said  to be diaphoretic and
 powerfully anthelmintic.  They are given in decoction.
   GALIUM APARINE.   Cleavers.  Goose-grass.   This is an annual, succulent plant,
 common to Europe and  the United States, growing in  cultivated grounds, and along
 fences  and hedges.   It is inodorous, and has a bitterish, herbaceous, somewhat acrid
 taste.  The expressed juice is said to be aperient, diuretic, and anti-scorbutic; and
 has been used in dropsy, congestion  of the spleen, scrofula, and scorbutic eruptions.
 In the last complaint it  has been thought peculiarly useful.  Three  ounces of the
 juice may be  taken twice a day.  The fresh herb, in the form of ointment or decoc-
 tion, has been applied externally to scrofulous swellings with supposed advantage.
   GALIUM VERUM.  Yellow Ladies Bed-straw. Cheese-rennet.  This species of Ga-
 lium is perennial, and a native of Europe.   The flowers, which  are  yellow, have a
 peculiar, agreeable odour, and  have sometimes been given in nervous affections, with
 a view to their supposed antispasmodic powers.   The  herb is inodorous, but has an
 astringent, acidulous, bitterish taste.  The property of coagulating milk was formerly
 ascribed to it, but is  certainly not  constant, as the experiment has been  frequently
 tried without success.  The bruised plant is sometimes  used to colour cheese ye ow,
 befngTntroduced into the milk before coagulation.  It is also  used for  dyeing yellow.
 The roots of  this and of most other species dye red; and the plant eaten by animals
 colours the bones like madder. This plant  was formerly highly esteemed as a reme-
 dv  n epilepsy and hysteria, and was applied externally in  cutaneous  eruptions.   It
 mav be employed either in the form of the recently expressed juice, or of a decoction
 prepared from the fresh plant.  Its medical properties, however, are feeble. 
1256
Appendix.
  Of the American species, the G. tinclorium is closely allied in properties to the G.
verum. It is said to be useful in cutaneous diseases;  and the root is employed by the
Indians for staining their feathers and other ornaments red.
  GALLIC  ACID.  Acidum Gallicum.   This is found in most of the astringent sub-
stances which contain tannic acid,  of the kind obtained from galls; and is supposed
to result from changes which the tannic acid has undergone.  For the  mode  of pre-
paring it, the reader is referred to  the treatises on chemistry.   When  deposited by
refrigeration  from its boilmg solution, it is  in delicate silky needles, usually some-
what yellowish, inodorous, and of a harsh somewhat astringent taste.  It is dissolved,
according to  Braconnot, in  100  parts of cold and 3  parts of boiling water, is very
soluble in alcohol, and but  slightly so in  ether.   It precipitates  the salts  of  sesqui-
oxide of iron of a bluish-black; but does  not precipitate gelatin.  On exposure to the
air, its solution undergoes spontaneous decomposition.
  Gallic acid was  formerly supposed to be the astringent principle  of plants, but
after the properties of tannic acid  were well ascertained, it lost  this reputation, and
came to be considered as nearly inert.  It has recently  again  come into notice as a
remedy in hemorrhages, particularly from  the  uterus,  and urinary organs.  In  the
Edinburgh Med. and  Surg. Journal, for July, 1843, several cases are published by
Dr. Stevenson of cures effected by it in menorrhagia and haematuria, and Professor
Simpson has found  it effectual in some cases of the former complaint of long stand-
ing and aggravated  character.  It may be  given in doses of from ten to twenty grains,
repeated at  intervals of  four hours.  According to  Professor Simpson, it has  the
advantage of not constipating the bowels. (Med. Exam., vi. 226.)
  GENISTA TINCTORIA. Dyer's Broom. Dyer's Weed.   Green Weed. A low shrub,
growing wild in Europe, and sometimes cultivated in  this country in gardens.  The
flowering  tops of the plant are employed to dye yellow, whence its name was derived.
Both these and the seeds  have  been used in medicine.   They are said to be purga-
tive and even  emetic, especially the seeds, which were formerly  given  as a cathartic
in the dose of a drachm  and a  half.  By some authors they are said  to be diuretic,
and to be useful in dropsy.   Attention was some years since attracted to the plant as
a preventive of hydrophobia, for which purpose it had been long used by the peasants
of Podolia, the Ukraine, and other provinces of Russia.  It was employed in the form
of very strong decoction, both internally and locally; and its use was  persevered in
for six weeks; but the trials made with it in other parts  of Europe have failed.  The
Russians are said to use it in connexion wtih the Rhus coriaria.
  GERANIUM ROBERTIANUM.  Herb Robert.  This species of Geranium grows
wild both  in Europe and  the United States, but is rare  in this country; and Pursh
states that the American plant is destitute of the heavy smell by which the European
is so well  known, though the two agree in all other respects.  The herb has a disa-
greeable, bitterish, astringent taste,  and imparts its virtues to boiling water.   It has
been used internally in intermittent fever, consumption, hemorrhages, nephritic com-
plaints, jaundice, &c, has been  employed as a gargle in affections of the throat, and
has been applied externally as a resolvent to swollen breasts and other tumours.
  GLASS OF ANTIMONY.  Vitrum Antimonii.  This is prepared from the ter-
sulphuret  of antimony by  a partial roasting and subsequent fusion. The tersul-
phuret is-reduced to coarse  powder, and strewed upon a  shallow, unglazed, earthen
vessel, and heated gently and slowly, being continually stirred to  prevent it from run-
ning into lumps.  White vapours of sulphurous acid arise; and when these cease,
the  heat is increased a little to reproduce ihem.  The roasting  is continued in this
manner, until, at aredheat.no  more vapours are given  off.   The matter is then
melted in a crucible, with an intense heat, and  kept in  a state of fusion until it as-
sumes the appearance of melted glass, when it is poured out on a heated brass plate.
In this process, part of the sulphur of the tersulphuret is driven  off by the roasting;
while  that portion  of the antimony which  loses  its sulphur becomes teroxidized.
The roasted matter, accordingly, consists of teroxide of antimony and undecomposed
tersulphuret; and these, by  uniting  during the fusion, form the glass.
  Properties.  Glass  of antimony is in thin irregular pieces, exhibiting a vitreous frac-
ture, and having a metallic steel-gray lustre.   When well  prepared it is transparent,
and, upon being held between the eye and the light, appears of a rich  orange-red, or
garnet colour; but if of inferior quality it is black and opaque.  It is hard and brittle,
and rings  when struck  with a hard  substance.   It is  insoluble in water, but  soluble
in acids and in cream of tartar,  with the exception of a few red flocculi. Its essential
constituents are the teroxide and tersulphuret uniiedin variable proportions. When of 
Appendix.
1257
good quality it consists of about  eight parts of teroxide to one of tersulphuret.   It
usually contains about five per cent, of silica, and three of sesquioxide of iron, which
are derived from the  crucible, and to the former of which the vitrification  of the
product is owing.  When good it is dissolved, with the exception of a few red floc-
culi, in strong muriatic acid.   An excess of silica is known by the acid  leaving a
gelatinous  residuum,  and the iron may be  detected by ferrocyanuret of potassium,
and its amount judged of by the bulk of the precipitate and the depth of its blue colour.
Sometimes glass of lead is sold for glass of antimony, a fraud easily detected by the
difference in sp. gr. between the two substances ; the glass of lead having a density of
nearly seven, while that of glass of antimony is not quite five.  The London College
formerly employed the glass of antimony for  making tartar emetic, but dismissed it
from  the officinal list in 1836, on account of the difficulty of obtaining it, and its
liability to adulteration.
  Medical Properties, fyc.  Glass  of antimony is an active antimonial; but, owing to
its variable composition and uncertain  operation, is  at  present very seldom used.
When the levigated powder is mixed with one-eighth of its weight  of melted yellow
wax, and the mixture  roasted over a slow fire, with constant stirring until it ceases
to exhale vapours, a coal-like pulverizable mass is formed, which is the cerated glass
of antimony, a preparation formerly included in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.
  GLECHOMA HEDERACEA. Nepeta Glechoma.  Ground-ivy. A small perennial
herb, indigenous in Europe and the United States, and growing in shady grassy places,
as in orchards and along fences and hedges.  It belongs to the family of labiate plants
and shares their general properties. The herb was formerly officinal, and still enjoys
some credit as a domestic remedy.  It has a peculiar disagreeable  odour, and a bit-
terish, rough, somewhat aromatic taste, and imparts its properties  to boiling  water.
From the statements of authors it appears to be gently stimulant and tonic, with, per-
haps, a peculiar direction to  the lungs and kidneys.   It has also been  considered
aperient.  The complaints in which it has been most used are chronic affections of the
pulmonary and urinary organs;  and  at one time it had  considerable reputation  as a
remedy in  consumption.   It has  also been employed as a vulnerary and  errhine.
The usual form in which it was administered was that of infusion, of which a quantity
was given for a dose containing the virtues of half a drachm or a drachm of the herb.
   GLUE.  An impure form of gelatin, obtained from  various animal substances by
boiling them  in water, straining  the solution, and  evaporating it till upon cooling it
assumes the consistence of jelly.  The soft mass which results is then divided into
thin slices, which  are dried in the open air.  Glue, when of good quality, is hard and
brittle, of a brown colour, and equally transparent throughout.  It softens and swells
very much in cold water, without dissolving; but is readily dissolved by hot water.
It is employed chiefly for cementing pieces of wood together, being too impure for
the purposes of a test, or for internal use.
   Capsules of gelatin.   Glue has within a few years  been applied to an important
practical purpose  in pharmacy.   Certain medicines are so offensive to the taste, and
consequently so apt to  sicken the stomach, that it is  highly desirable to  administer
them in such a way as  to prevent their  contact  with the tongue  and palate.  This
object is fully accomplished, so  far as regards many disagreeable  liquid medicines,
by the use of the  capsules of gelatin, invented by  M. Dublanc, of Paris.   These are
prepared from the purest glue in  the following  manner.  Small  pouches  made of
fine skin, of an  oval form, are attached by a waxed thread to the smaller extremity of
a hollow elongated metallic cone, which is bent towards its point, and has  its  base
closed by a cover which is screwed so  as  to make  the instrument air-tight.  Into
this conical tube sufficient mercury is poured to fill the pouch, which, thus distended,
is dipped into a concentrated sweetened solution of glue, and afterwards exposed to
heat in a vertical position, so as to dry the layer of gelatin which it has received.
In the same manner a second coating may be given, and the process  again  repeated
till a sufficient thickness has been obtained.   The cone being then reversed, the mer-
cury flows out of  the pouch, which collapses, and allows the capsule of gelatin to be
removed   Into this the medicine may now be introduced, care being taken to avoid
any contact with the  outer surface of the capsule.  The opening is next to be closed
bv means of a thin lamina of gelatin previously softened by steam ; and a solution ot
the same substance should be applied to the edges by means of a camelIs hair pencil.
Another mode of  preparing the  capsules is  as follows.  Take a cylinder of iron or
hard wood four lines in diameter and a few inches long, and smoothly  rounded at
one end   Dip half an inch of this end first into a saturated warm  alcoholic solution 
1258
Appendix.
of soap, and afterwards, when the soap has concreted  upon the surface, into a con-
centrated hot solution of gelatin, and repeat the latter immersion once or oftener if it
be desired to have a firm capsule.  When the glue has concreted, remove the capsule.
A top for it may be  made in the same way, and, after the body has been  filled with
the liquid to be given, is to be applied and secured by rubbing a camel's hair pencil
moistened with hot water over the line of junction. (Med. Exam., N. S., i. 441.)  For
an account of a process for preparing these  capsules, invented  and described by Mr.
Alfred Guillou, of Philadelphia, the  reader is referred  to the Am. Journ. of  Pharm.,
vol. ix. p. 20.  The capsules may be made of such a capacity as to contain from ten
to fifteen grains of copaiba.
  GNAPHALIUM  MARGARITACEUM.   Cudweed.   Life-everlasting.  An  indige-
nous herbaceous  perennial, growing in fields and woods, and  flowering in-August.
The herb of this and of the G. polycephalum, or sweet-scented life-everlasting, is some-
times used in the form of tea by the country people, in  diseases of  the chest and of
the bowels, and in hemorrhagic affections, and externally, in the way of fomentation,
in bruises, languid tumours, and other local complaints; but it probably possesses little
medical virtue.  Shoepf says that it is anodyne.   In  Europe, different species  of
Gnaphalium are also occasionally employed  for similar purposes.
  GOLD.  Aurum.   The preparations of this metal were introduced to  the notice of
physicians by Dr. Chrestien, of Montpellier, in 1810. They are employed both inter-
nally, and by frictions on the tongue and gums.   The principal affections in which
they have been recommended are secondary syphilis, syphilitic  ulcerations, scrofula,
and inveterate eruptions, particularly those of a leprous character.  The chief pre-
parations which have been used up to the present time  are metallic gold in a  finely
divided state, the oxide (teroxide or auric acid), the chloride  (terchloride), the iodide,
the double  chloride of gold and sodium, the chloroaurate of ammonia (a com-
pound of terchloride of gold and muriate of ammonia), and  the cyanuret  (tercya-
nuret) of gold.  Gold in powder may be obtained by rubbing up gold-leaf with 10  or
12 times its weight of sulphate of potassa until brilliant particles  are no longer visible,
and then washing away the sulphate  with boiling water.  The oxide may be procured
by treating the nitromuriatic solution of gold with an excess of magnesia, and washing
the precipitate, first with water, and  afterwards with dilute nitric acid.  The chloride
is obtained by dissolving pure gold in three times its weight of nitromuriatic acid, with
the aid of a moderate  heat.  The solution is evaporated by a gentle heat nearly to
dryness, being at the same time stirred with a glass rod.  It is in the form of a crys-
talline mass of a deep red colour.  Its solution has a  fine yellow tint.  Being deli-
quescent, it requires to be kept  in ground stoppered bottles.  The iodide may be made
by  precipitating a solution  of the terchloride of gold by one of iodide of potassium,
and washing the precipitate with alcohol to remove  the excess of iodine.  It is  of a
greenish-yellow colour, and, when heated  in a porcelain crucible, is resolved into
iodine vapours and a residue of pure gold.  The chloride of gold and sodium  is pre-
pared by dissolving four parts of gold in nitromuriatic acid, evaporating the solution
to  dryness, and dissolving the dry mass in  eight times its weight of distilled water.
To this solution one part of pure decrepitated common  salt is added, previously dis-
solved in four parts of water.  The mixed  solution is  then evaporated to dryness,
being in the mean time constantly stirred with a glass rod.  This salt is of a  golden
yellow colour, and, when crystallized, is in  the form of long prismatic  crystals, un-
alterable in the air.  The chloroaurate of ammonia is formed by dissolving one part of
the terchloride of gold and two parts of muriate of ammonia in distilled water, assisted
by a few drops of nitromuriatic acid, and evaporating the solution to dryness by a gen-
tle  heat.   The cyanuret is best  obtained, according  to M. Oscar Figuier, as  follows.
Prepare the chloride of gold as neutral as possible by repeated  solutions and crystal-
lizations; and to the solution of this  salt add, very cautiously, avoiding any excess, a
solution of pure cyanuret of potassium, so  long as any precipitate falls.  The pre-
cipitate, consisting of cyanuret of gold, is to be washed  with pure water and  dried in
the dark.  The solution of the cyanuret of potassium may be obtained pure, and free
from  formiate and carbonate of potassa, by dissolving in water, soon after its prepa-
ration and before it has  had time to undergo  any change, the residue obtained by
calcining the yellow ferrocyanuret of potassium.  Gold in  powder, and the  oxide,
chloride, iodide, double chloride, and cyanuret are officinal in the  French Codex.
   The preparations of gold are decidedly poisonous, though in different degrees. The
chloride is  most virulent, and, according to Dr. Chrestien, is even more active than
corrosive sublimate. In an overdose, it produces pain, inflammation, and even ulcera- 
Appendix.
1259
tion of the stomach and bowels, and otherwise acts as a corrosive poison. The general
effects of these preparations, in moderate doses, is to produce increased fulness and
frequency of the pulse, and to augment the urine and insensible perspiration, without
interfering with the appetite or the regular action  of the bowels; but if the dose is
pushed too far, general irritation  is apt to be produced, inflammation seizes upon
some organ, according to the predisposition of the individual, and fever is developed.
  Gold in powder, the oxide, chloride, and iodide are not as much used as the double chlo-
ride of gold and sodium.  The oxide may be given in  the form of pill, in the dose of
a tenth of a grain, in scrofula, and lymphatic swellings, beginning with one pill daily,
and  afterwards gradually increasing to seven or eight in the 24 hours.  The  iodide
is given in the same cases in which the other preparations of gold are administered.
The dose is from the fifteenth to the tenth of a grain.
  Chloride of gold and sodium  is the preparation of gold most commonly employed.
It may be given in lozenges, each  containing the twelfth of a grain, by mixing inti-
mately five grains of the salt with an ounce of powdered sugar, and making the whole
with mucilage of tragacanth into  a proper mass, to be  divided into sixty lozenges.
Pills, containing the same dose, may be formed by dissolving ten grains of the dried
salt in a drachm of distilled water and forming the solution into a pilular mass with
a mixture of four drachms of potato starch and one  drachm  of gum  arabic, to be
divided into one hundred and twenty pills. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 648.)  For frictions
on the gums and tongue, Chrestien recommends the  following  formula:—Crys-
tallized chloride of gold and sodium, one grain ; powdered orris root, deprived of its
soluble parts by alcohol and water and dried, two grains.  Mix.  At first the fifteenth
part of this powder is  used daily by frictions; afterwards the fourteenth, the thirteenth,
&c, until, increasing gradually, the tenth or eighth part is employed. The use of four
grains of  the salt in this way is said commonly to cure bad  cases of  recent syphilis,
such, for example, as are characterized by the co-existence of chancres, warts, and
buboes.  In preparing this powder, lycopodium may be substituted for the orris.
   Chloroaurate of ammonia has been recommended by Bouchardat in amenorrhcea
and dysmenorrhoea in debilitated subjects, in  the dose of about  the tenth of a grain.
A grain may be dissolved in five teaspoonfuls of alcohol and five of water, and a tea-
 spoonful given morning and evening, mixed with sweetened water.
   Cyanuret of gold is employed, like the chloride of gold and sodium, mixed with inert
powders in frictions, and in the form of pill.  The fifteenth of a grain may be rubbed
into the gums daily for fifteen days, next  the fourteenth of a grain  for fourteen days,
 and so on, increasing until the dose amounts to the ninth or eighth  of a grain.  The
 dose for internal exhibition is the eighteenth of a grain, gradually increased to the
 eighth.  The cyanuret  of gold has been found useful in the treatment of syphilis and
 scrofula by M. Pourche, and is said to be  less exciting than the double chloride, when
 used in those diseases. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 599 et 649.)
   The different medicinal compounds of gold should not be prepared in pill, powder,
 or otherwise, until they are wanted for use; as they are liable to undergo decomposi-
 tion when kept.  They should be carefully secluded from the light.
   GRATIOLA OFFICINALIS. Hedge Hyssop.  This is a perennial herb, indigenous
 in the South of Europe, where it  flourishes in meadows and other  moist grounds.
 The whole herb is used. It is nearly inodorous, but has a bitter nauseous taste. Both
 water and alcohol extract its active properties.  It is a drastic  cathartic and emetic,
 possessing also diuretic properties, and is employed on  the continent of Europe in
 dropsy, jaundice, worms, chronic hepatic affections, scrofula, and various other com-
 plaints.   With us it is almost unknown  as a remedy.  The  dose of the powdered
 herb is from fifteen to thirty grains; of the infusion made in the proportion of half an
 ounce to the pint of boiling water, half a fluidounce.
   HAMAMELIS VIRGINICA.   Witch-hazel.   An  indigenous shrub, from  five to
 fifteen feet high, growing in almost all sections of the United States, usually on hills
 or in stony places, and frequently on the banks of streams.  It is remarkable for the
 late appearance of its  yellow flowers, which expand in September or October, and
 continue  till the weather becomes very cold in winter. The fruit, which is a nut-like
 capsule not unlike the hazel-nut, ripens in the following autumn, and is often mingled
 on the  same plant with the new blossoms.  The bark has a bitter, astringent, some-
 what sweetish and pungent taste.  It probably first attracted notice  as a remedy of the
 Indians who are said to have used it as a sedative and discutient to painful tumours,
 and other cases of external inflammation.  It is used in the shape of poultice, or as
 a wash in the  form of decoction, in hemorrhoidal affections and ophthalmia.  The 
1260
Appendix.
 leaves are said to possess similar properties, and, in the state of infusion, to be given
 internally in bowel complaints and hemorrhages.   The seeds are black and shining
 externally, white, oily and farinaceous within, and edible like the hazelnut.
   HEDERA  HELIX.   Ivy.  This  well-known evergreen  creeper is a native of
 Europe.  The fresh leaves have a balsamic odour, especially  when rubbed, and a bit-
 terish, harsh, unpleasant taste.  They are  used for  dressing  issues, and, in the  form
 of decoction, have  been recommended in sanious ulcers  and  cutaneous eruptions,
 particularly tetter  and the itch.   Dried and powdered, they have  been employed in
 the atrophy of children, and in complaints of the lungs, in the  dose  of a  scruple or
 more.  The berries, which have an acidulous, resinous, somewhat pungent taste, are
 said to be purgative and even emetic.  MM. Vandamme and Chevallier  discovered
 in ivy seeds a peculiar alkaline  principle, which they called hederin (hederia).  It is
 very bitter, and appears to be  closely allied  to quinia in febrifuge properties.  It is
 obtained by treating the seeds with hydrate of lime, dissolving the precipitated alkali
 in boiling alcohol, and evaporating the alcoholic  solution.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
 xiii. 172.)  From the trunks of old ivy plants, growing in the South of Europe and
 the North of Africa, a resinous substance exudes through incisions in the bark, which
 has been  employed in medicine under the name of ivy gum. It is in pieces of various
 sizes, of a dark yellowish-brown  colour sometimes inclining to orange, more or less
 transparent, sometimes  of a deep ruby-red colour  internally, of a vitreous fracture,
 pulverizable, yielding a lively orange-yellow powder, of a peculiar not disagreeable
 odour when heated or inflamed, and of a bitterish resinous taste.  Its chief constituent
 is resin, though some pieces contain a considerable proportion of bassorin,  and others
 large quantities of ligneous matter.   It was formerly used as a  stimulant and emme-
 nagogue,  but is  now scarcely employed.  Placed in the cavities of  carious teeth, it
 is said to  relieve toothache.  The wood of the ivy, which is  light and porous, is some-
 times used for making issue-peas.
   HELENIUM  AUTUMNALE.   False  Sunflower.  Sneezewort.   An indigenous
 perennial herb,  from three to seven  feet  high,  with large golden-yellow  compound
 flowers which appear in August.  It grows in all parts of the United States, flourish-
 ing best in meadows, moist fields, and other low grounds.   All  parts of it are bitter
 and somewhat acrid, and when snuffed up  the nostrils in the state of powder, produce
 violent sneezing.   The leaves and flowers have been recommended as an excellent
 errhine.   Clayton says that the  plant is thought to be useful in intermittent fevers.
   HELIANTHEMUM CANADENSE. Michaux.  Cistus Canadensis. Willd.  Frost-
 wort.  Frost-weed.   Rock-rose.  An herbaceous perennial plant, from  six to eighteen
 inches high, with a pubescent stem, oblong,  somewhat lanceolate leaves about an
 inch long, and large yellow flowers, the calyx and peduncles of which, as well as the
 leaves and branches of the plant,  are covered with a white down.  Eaton states that,
 in the months of November and  December, he has  seen  hundreds of these plants
 sending out, near the roots, broad, thin, curved ice crystals, about an inch in breadth,
 which melted in the day, and were renewed in the morning.  (Manual of Botany, 1th
 ed., p. 246.)  For a botanical description the reader is referred to Darlington's Flora
 Cestrica (p. 313), and to Torrey and Gray's Flora of N. America (i. 151).  The plant
 grows in all parts of the United States, preferring dry sandy soils, and flowering in June
 in the Middle States. It has an astringent, slightly aromatic, and bitterish taste.  Atten-
 tion has only recently been attracted to it as a medicine.  We have  been told that it
 was first introduced into regular practice  by Dr. Ives, of New Haven, Connecticut,
 who considers it a valuable remedy in scrofula.  Dr. Isaac Parrish, of Philadelphia,
 informs us that he has employed it with much apparent benefit, as an internal remedy,
 in scrofulous affections of the eyes.  It has been used in the forms of powder, tinc-
 ture, and syrup;  and may  be given freely with impunity.
  HELLEBORUS FOETIDUS.   Bears-foot.   This  is  a perennial European plant,
 growing in shady places, and flowering in March and April.  It derived its botanical
 designation from its offensive odour.  The leaves, which are the  part used, have a
 bitterish, pungent, and acrid taste,  and when chewed excoriate the mouth.   The foot-
 stalks are still more acrid.  This species of hellebore is said by Allioni to be the most
 acrid  and energetic of the plants belonging to the genus.  It is powerfully emetic
 and cathartic, and in very large  doses produces dangerous effects.  It has long been
used in  Great Britain as a domestic  remedy for worms, and  was brought  before the
notice of the profession by Dr. Bisset, who found it an efficacious  anthelmintic, and
prescribed it also in asthma, hysteria, and  hypochondriasis.  M. Decerfs has known
it to cause the expulsion of taenia.   It is given in powder or decoction.  The dose for 
Appendix.
1261
a child from two to six years old is from five grains to a scruple of the dried leaves,
or a fluidounce of the decoction made by boiling a drachm of the dried leaves in half
a pint of water.  This quantity should be repeated morning and night for two or three
days in succession.  A syrup made from the juice  of the green leaves is used in
England.  The remedy is scarcely known in the United States.
  HEMIDESMUS INDICUS. R.Brown.   Periploca Indica. Willd.  Asclepias pseudo-
sarsa. Roxburgh.  Indian Sarsaparilla.  A climbing  asclepiadaceous plant, growing
in all parts of the peninsula of Hindostan.  The root is long, slender, tortuous, cylin-
drical,  and little branched; consisting of a ligneous  centre, and a brownish corky
bark, which is marked with longitudinal  furrows  and transverse fissures.  It has a
peculiar aromatic odour, and a  bitterish taste.   M. Garden  obtained from it a  pecu-
liar volatilizable principle  with acid properties, which he named smilasperic acid,
under  the erroneous impression that the root was derived from the Smilax aspera.
Pereira proposes to call it hemidesmic acid.  It is  probably the  active  principle.   It is
used in India as a substitute for sarsaparilla, and has been  introduced into Great
Britain, where it was known for some  time under the name  of Smilax aspera.  In
some instances it is said to have proved successful  in syphilis, when that medicine
has failed; though it cannot be relied upon.  The native  practitioners in India are
said to  employ it in nephritic complaints, and in the sore mouth of children.   It is
given in infusion or decoction, made in the proportion of two ounces of the root to a
pint of water.  A pint  may be given, in  wineglassful doses, in the course of a day.
A syrup may be prepared from it, in the same  manner as syrup of sarsaparilla, and
given in tablespoonful doses.
  HERMODACTYLS.   HermodactyK.  Under this name are  sold in  the  shops of
Europe the roots or bulbs of an uncertain plant, growing in the countries about the
eastern extremity of the  Mediterranean.  By some botanists the plant  is considered
a species of Colchicum, and the C. variegatum,  a native of the South of Europe and
the Levant, is particularly indicated by  Fee, Geiger, and others; while by authors not
less eminent, the roots  are  confidently referred to the Iris  tuberosa.  They  certainly
bear a considerable resemblance to the  bulb  of the Colchicum autumnale,  being
heart-shaped, channeled on one side, convex on the other, and from  half an inch to
an inch in length, by nearly as much in breadth.  As found in the  shops, they are
destitute of their outer coat, of a dirty yellowish or brownish colour externally,  white
and  amylaceous within,  inodorous, and nearly tasteless, though sometimes slightly
acrid.   They are often worm-eaten.  Their chief constituent is  starch, and  they
contrin no veratria or colchicia.  From this  latter circumstance,  and from  their
insipidity, it has been inferred that they are probably not derived from  a species of
Colchicum; but Geiger observes that  they  may  have lost their acrimony by age.
They are in fact almost without action  upon the system, and  are now  seldom  used;
never,  we believe, in this country.  It is  doubted whether they are the  hermodactyli
of the ancients, which were certainly a powerful  medicine, operating very much in
the same manner with  our  colchicum, and like it proving useful in gout and  rheu-
matism.  Pereira describes a bitter variety of hermodactyls, which was  brought from
India by Dr. Royle.   The bulbs are smaller than the others, of a darker colour, and
have externally a striped or reticulated appearance.   From their bitter taste they are
probably more active as a medicine.
  HIBISCUS ABELMOSCHUS. Abelmoschus moschatus. Wight and Arnott.  An ever-
green shrub, growing in  Egypt, and in the East and  West Indies, and  affording the
seeds knownImder the name of semen  Abelmoschi, alceae Mgyptiacas, and grana mos-
chata.  These are of about the same size as flaxseed, kidney-shaped,  striated, of a
grayish-brown colour, of an odour  like  that of musk, and of a warm somewhat
spicy taste.  They were  formerly considered stimulant and antispasmodic; but are
now used only in perfumery.  The Arabs  flavour their coffee  with them. They are
said to  be sometimes employed in the adulteration of musk.   Another species, the
Hibiscus esculentus or Abelmoschus escukntus of Wight and  Arnott, is  cultivated.
under the name of okra, bendee, or gombo, in various parts of the world, for the  sake
of its fruit, which abounds in mucilage, and is  much employed for thickening soup.
The leaves are sometimes employed for preparing emollient poultices.
  HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS.  Yellow root.  Orange root.  This is an indigenous
nlant growin^ in different parts of the United States,  but most abundantly beyond the
Allee'hanies  "it flourishes best in rich shady woods.   It has a perennial root, and an
herbaceous stem, from six inches to a foot high, with two unequal leaves, and a single
terminal whitish or rose-coloured flower.  The root consists  of a tortuous caudex
107 
1262
Appendix.
and numerous long fibres, and is of a bright yellow colour.  It is juicy in the recent
state, and loses much of its weight when dried.  It has a strong, somewhat narcotic
odour, and an exceedingly bitter taste.  It probably possesses the ordinary virtues of
the vegetable bitters, and is said to be popularly employed as a tonic  in  some parts
of the country.  In the form of  infusion, it has been used in the Western States as a
topical application in ophthalmia; and the Indians  are  said to employ it in the same
manner in old ulcers of the  legs.  The notion of its efficacy in cancer, originating in
a report which  reached the  late  Professor Barton, that it was used in the cure of this
complaint by the Cherokees, is probably altogether groundless.   The Indians employ
the juice of the root to stain their clothing, &c, yellow.
  HYDRIODIC ACID.   Acidum Hydriodicum.  Dr. Andrew Buchanan, of Glasgow,
recommends  the  following  formula for obtaining this  acid for medicinal purposes.
Take of iodide  of potassium 330 grains, tartaric acid 264 grains.  Dissolve the salts,
separately, each in a fluidounce and a half of distilled  water, and mix the solutions.
Filter the liquor, in order to separate the bitartrate of potassa which precipitates, and
add to it sufficient distilled water to make the whole measure fifty fluidrachms. When
of this strength, each fluidrachm of the acid contains five grains of iodine.  The
solution of hydriodic acid, when thus prepared, is sufficiently pure for medicinal use,
although containing a little cream of tartar in solution.  At first it is limpid, or has
only a slight  yellow tinge;  but  on keeping it assumes, first a wine-yellow, and after-
wards a beautiful red colour, in consequence of the disengagement of iodine.
  Dr. Buchanan considers  uncombined  iodine to be  an  irritant, and its alterative
powers, when these are manifested, to depend upon its conversion into hydriodic acid,of
a strength sufficiently moderate  to be readily absorbed, and to pass into the current of
the circulation.  He conceives that when iodine is given, and proves  to be absorbed,
it is by being first converted into hydriodic acid by hydrogen derived from the gastric
juices, or from  the tissues of the stomach, which latter  undergo corrosion.  A desire
to avoid this incidental  irritant  effect led Dr. Buchanan at first  to combine the iodine
with starch, which he supposes to furnish the necessary hydrogen while undergoing
digestion, and finally to use the  hydriodic acid ready formed.
  In giving the liquid hydriodic acid according to his formula, Dr. Buchanan  begins
by exhibiting a few drops, and afterwards increases the  dose first to a fluidrachm and
finally to half a fluidounce three times a day, equal to a drachm of iodine daily.  This
was his ordinary maximum dose, but sometimes he gave a fluidounce three times a
day.  In  all cases the acid was  administered sufficiently diluted with water to reduce
it to an agreeable sourness, in which state it possesses  no irritant action whatever.
When, however, the acid has  undergone a change of colour, as previously mentioned,
Dr. Buchanan uses a solution of starch  as a vehicle, in order to  divest  the free iodine,
the presence of which is indicated by this change, of all irritant qualities.  Hydriodic
acid, when thus used, exhibits  the same therapeutic effects as free iodine, with the
advantages of having no  irritant property, and of affording the means  of introducing
much larger  quantities of iodine into the system through the medium of absorption,
than when given in the ordinary form. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci.,  xx. 210, and 214, from
the Med.  Gazette.)   Dr. Samuel Lewis and Mr. T. J. Husband, of this city, have com-
bined hydriodic acid with  several of the organic  alkalies, with a view  to form new
medicinal combinations.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 21.)
  HYDROCYANIC ETHER.  JEther Hydrocyanicus.  Hydrocyanate  of Etherine.
Cyanuret. of Ethule.  This ether was discovered by Pelouze. It  is formed by distilling
a mixture of sulphovinate  of baryta and cyanuret of potassium.  It is a colourless
liquid of a penetrating garlic odour, soluble in alcohol and ether, sparingly soluble in
water, boiling at 180°, and  weighing  specifically 0-78.   It is very poisonous, but less
so than hydrocyanic acid, with which it agrees in therapeutic action and dose.
  HYPERICUM PERFORATUM.  St. John's  Wort.   A  perennial herb, abundant
both in Europe and this country, often covering whole  fields, and proving extremely
troublesome to farmers.  It is usually from one to two  feet high, with leaves, which,
from the presence of numerous transparent vesicles, appear as if  perforated, and
have hence given origin to the botanical designation of the plant.  The flowers, which
are numerous and of a deep yellow colour, appear during the  summer from June  to
August.   The  flowering summits are the part used, though the unripe capsules are
possessed of the virtues  of the plant in an equal degree, and the seeds are said to be
even stronger.  St. John's  wort has  a peculiar balsamic odour, which  is rendered
more sensible by rubbing or bruising the plant.  Its taste is bitter, resinous, and some-
what astringent.   It imparts  a yellow colour to cold water, and reddens alcohol and 
Appendix.
1263
the fixed oils.  Its chief constituents are volatile oil, a resinous substance, tannin, and
colouring matter.  As a medicine, it was in high repute among the ancients, and the
earlier modern physicians.  Among the  complaints for  which it was used, were
hysteria, mania, intermittent fever, dysentery, gravel, hemorrhages,pectoral complaints,
worms, and jaundice; but it was, perhaps, most highly esteemed as a remedy in wounds
and bruises, for which it  was employed both internally and externally.   It is difficult
to ascertain  its exact value as a remedy ; but from its sensible properties, and from
the character of the complaints  in which it has been  thought useful, it may be con-
sidered, independently of its astringency, as somewhat analogous in  medical power
to the turpentines.   It formerly enjoyed great reputation for the cure of demoniacs;
and the superstition still lingers among the vulgar in some countries.  At present the
plant is scarcely used except as a domestic remedy.  The summits were given in the
dose of two drachms or  more.   A  preparation was at one  time  officinal, under the
name of oleum hyperici, made by treating them with a fixed oil.  It has a red colour
and is  still used in many  families as a sovereign remedy for bruises.
  HYSSOPUS OFFICINALIS.  Hyssop.  This is a labiate plant, belonging to the
class and  order Didynamia Gymnospermia of the  sexual  system.  It is perennial,
with numerous erect, quadrangular, somewhat  branching  stems, which are woody in
their inferior portion, about two feet high, and furnished with opposite, sessile, lan-
ceolate linear, pointed, punctate leaves.   The flowers are violet coloured  or blue,
sometimes white, turned  chiefly to  one side, and arranged  in half  verticillated, ter-
minal, leafy spikes.  The upper lip  of the corolla is roundish and notched at the
apex, the lower is divided into three segments, of which the undermost is obovate.
  Common  hyssop is a native of the  continent of Europe, where, as well as in this
country, it is also cultivated in gardens.  The  flowering  summits and leaves are the
parts used.  They have an agreeable aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, bitterish
taste.  These properties they owe to an essential oil, which may be obtained separate
by distillation  with water, and rises  also with alcohol.  Hyssop  is  a  warm gently
stimulant aromatic, applicable to the same  cases with the other  labiate plants.   Its
infusion has been much employed in  chronic catarrhs, especially in old  people, and
those of a debilitated habit of body.  It acts by facilitating expectoration of the mucus
which is too abundantly secreted.  In this country, however, it is very seldom  used
by regular practitioners.
  ILEX. Holly.  Several species of Ilex are employed in different parts of the world.
The I. Aquifolium, or common European holly, has attracted much attention in France.
It is usually a shrub, but in some places attains the magnitude of a middling-sized
tree.  Different parts of it are used.  The viscid substance called birdlime is prepared
from the inner bark.  The leaves, which are  of  a bitter, somewhat  austere taste, were
formerly much esteemed as a diaphoretic, and  in the form of infusion were employed
in catarrh, pleurisy, small-pox, gout, &c.  A few years since they gained some repu-
tation in France as a cure for intermittents, and were considered by some as  equal to
Peruvian bark; but the first reports in their favour have not been  fully confirmed.
They were  used in powder, in the dose of a drachm two hours before the paroxysm;
and this dose was sometimes repeated frequently during the apyrexia.   Their febrifuge
virtues are said to depend on a bitter principle, for which the name of ilicin has  been
proposed.   The berries are about the size of a  pea. red and bitter, and are said to be
purgative, emetic, and diuretic.  Ten or twelve of them will usually act on the bowels
and  sometimes vomit.  Their expressed juice has been used in jaundice.
  The Ilex  opaca, or American  holly,  is a middling-sized  evergreen tree, growing
throughout the Atlantic section of the United States, and especially abundant in New
Jersey. It is so similar to the European plant, that it is, by some  writers, considered
as the  same species.  It is said to possess the same medical properties.
  The Ilex  Paraguaiensis, or I. Mate of St. Hilaire,  yields the celebrated Paraguay
tea, so extensively consumed as a beverage in the  interior of South America.  The
leaves, which  are  the part used, have a balsamic odour, and a bitter taste,  and are
usually at first disagreeable to the  palate.  They have a pleasant corroborant effect
upon the stomach; but, when very largely taken, are said to purge and vomit. They are
used in the form of infusion.  According to the experiments of Mr.  Stenhouse, these
leaves contain a principle identical with the thein or caffein of tea and of coffee.
  The Ilex vomitoria of Aiton  and  Linn., the I. Cassina of Michaux, is  a handsome
evergreen shrub, growing in our Southern States, and  especially abundant along the
southern coast of Florida.  It is the cassina of  the Indians, who formerly employed a
decoction made from the toasted leaves,called  black drink,bo\.h as a medicine, and as 
1264
Appendix.
a drink of etiquette at their councils.  It acts as an emetic.  The  leaves of the Ilex
Dahoon of Walter arid Michaux have similar properties, and are  also said to have
entered into the composition of the black drink.
  ILLICIUM FLORIDANUM.   Florida Anise-tree.  This is an  evergreen shrub or
small tree, growing  in  Florida, along the coast which bounds the Gulf of Mexico.
The bark, leaves, and probably also the seed vessels, are endowed with a spicy odour
and taste analogous to those of anise, and might, perhaps, be used for the  same pur-
poses as this aromatic.  It is a question worthy of investigation, whether the capsules
of this plant might not be substituted for those of the Illicium anisatum or star aniseed,
which yield  much of the oil used in this country  under the name of oil of anise.  (See
Anisum.)  Another species, the  I. parviflorum, a  shrub found by Michaux in the hilly
regions of Georgia and Carolina, has a flavour closely resembling that of sassafras root.
  IMPATIENS  FULVA and IMPATIENS  PALLIDA. Touch-me-not.  Jewel-weed.
Balsam-weed.  These two species  of Impatiens are indigenous, annual, succulent
plants, from two to four feet high, growing in low moist grounds in all parts of  the
Union, and  flowering in July and  August.  They may be known by their tender,
juicy, almost transparent stems; by  their  yellow flowers, which in one species  are
pale and sparingly punctate, in the other, are deeper coloured and crowded with dark
spots; and by their capsules, which burst elastically and curl up with the slightest
pressure.  They probably possess properties similar to those of  the I. Nolitangere of
Europe, which has  an acrid  burning taste, and, when  taken  internally, acts as  an
emetic, cathartic, and diuretic, though considered dangerous, and therefore little used.
Dr. Ruan, of Philadelphia, informed us that he  had  employed with great advan-
tage, in piles, an ointment made by boiling the American plants, in their recent state,
in lard. The flowers may be  used for dyeing yellow.   The /. Balsamina  or balsam-
weed,  touch-me-not, SfC, of the gardens, resembles the other species in its  effects.
  IMPERATORIA OSTRUTHIUM.   Masterwort.  An umbelliferous plant, indige-
nous in the South of Europe.  The root has a strong odour, similar to that of angelica,
and a pungent, biting, aromatic  taste, attended with a flow of saliva, and followed by
a glowing warmth which  remains  long  in the  mouth.   It  was formerly considered
alexipharmic, stomachic, corroborant, emmenagogue, diuretic, and diaphoretic; and
was used  in a wide circle of  complaints with so much supposed success as to have
gained for it the title  of divinum remedium.  The fact, however, appears  to be, that it
is merely a stimulant aromatic,  analogous  but inferior  to angelica, which has nearly
superseded it in European practice.   In this country, it is unknown as a remedy, and
its vulgar name has been applied to another plant.
  INDELIBLE INK. This is prepared by dissolving two drachms of nitrate of silver
and a drachm of gum Arabic in a fluidounce of distilled water, coloured with a little
Indian ink.  It is used for writing with a pen on linen and muslin.  The place to be
marked is prepared by being moistened with  a solution of two ounces of crystallized
carbonate of soda, and two drachms of gum Arabic in four fluidounces of water, and
then dried.   The alkaline solution serves to decompose the nitrate, and to protect  the
cloth from the action of the free nitric acid. At the end of twenty-four hours, the spot
is to be washed.
  INDIAN  RED. A purplish-red pigment, brought from the island of Ormus in  the
Persian Gulf.  It is a red ochre, and owes its colour to the red oxide  of iron.
  INDIGO.  This well-known and  highly important dye-stuff is obtained  from vari-
ous species of Indigofera, especially  the J. tinctoria, I.  Anil, and I.argentea,- and is
said to be afforded also by other plants, such as  the Wrightia tinctoria, Polygonum
tinctorium, Galega tinctoria, &c.  In the process of preparing it, the plant is  macerated
in water; fermentation takes place; the liquor becomes of  a greenish colour, and in '
due time is decanted; the colouring principle dissolved by the water absorbs oxygen
from the air, and assumes  a blue colour, becoming at the same time insoluble ; a
gradual precipitation takes place, favoured by the addition of lime-water or an alkaline
solution ; and finally the precipitated matter, having been washed upon  linen filters,
is dried, shaped usually  into cubical masses, and sent into market. Most of the indigo
consumed in dyeing is brought  from  the East Indies, though  considerable quantities
are imported also from Guatemala, and the  northern coast of South America. It is of
an  intensely blue colour, but assumes a coppery or bronze hue when rubbed by a
smooth hard body, as the nail. Heated to  550°, it emits a reddish-violet vapour, which
condenses in minute crystals.   It is insoluble in water or alcohol, but is readily  dis-
solved by sulphuric acid, which, without destroying its blue  colour, so  far alters its
nature as to render it freely soluble in water, and thus  affords a convenient method 
Appendix.
1265
of applying it to the purposes of dyeing. The solution in sulphuric acid is sometimes
kept in the shops under the name of sulphate of indigo.  According to Berzelius, indigo
contains, among other ingredients,four distinct principles;— 1, a substance resembling
gluten; 2, a brown colouring substance; 3, a red colouring substance; and 4, a blue
colouring substance, which is the  principle upon which its value as a material for
dyeing depends, and which seldom constitutes so much as one-half of the  indigo of
commerce.  This blue colouring matter is called indigotin.  By deoxidizing agents it
is deprived of its blue colour, which it recovers by exposure to the air, in consequence
of the absorption of oxygen.  Chlorine also destroys the blue colour.  M. Preisser
has concluded, from an elaborate examination of the colouring principles of  plants, 1.
that these principles are colourless in the young plants, 2. that ihey acquire colour by
combination with oxygen, 3. that all the colouring matters, extracted from any one
plant, are produced by the oxidizement in different degrees of a single principle, 4.
that they are deprived  of colour by substances having a strong affinity for oxygen, and
reacquire it by contact with oxidizing bodies, and 5. that these colouring principles are
acids, and the lakes which they form genuine salts. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Sir., v. 263.)
   Indigo has recently been introduced to  the notice of the profession as a remedial
agent. It has hitherto been chiefly  employed by the German physicians, from whose
statements our knowledge of its physiological action and therapeutical applications is
derived.  Though without odour and taste, it is said, in most individuals, to produce
nausea and vomiting,  frequently to operate upon the bowels, giving  a  bluish-black
colour to the stools, to render the urine of a dark-violet or dark-green colour, without
increasing its quantity, and sometimes to stimulate the secretory function of the uterus.
From these statements it  would appear to act as an irritant to the alimentary mucous
membrane.  The character of its general influence upon  the system has not been well
ascertained.  In some instances, it is asserted to have been employed in very large
doses without any obvious effect.  The complaints in which it has been employed,
with supposed  advantage, are epilepsy, infantile convulsions,  chorea, hysteria, and
amenorrhoea.  It is given, usually  in connexion with  some  aromatic powder, in the
dose of a scruple  three times a day, which may be increased to a drachm  or more;
and from half an ounce  to an ounce daily has been employed for months together
without disadvantage.  (See Am. Journ. of  Med. Sci., xx. 487.)
   IODIDE OF AMMONIUM.   Ammonii  Iodidum.  Hydriodate of Ammonia.   This
salt is formed by saturating liquid hydriodic acid with  ammonia, and evaporating
the solution.  It forms a deliquescent saline mass, which crystallizes with difficulty in
cubes. It is mentioned by Dr. Pennock, of this city, as a good remedy in some cases
of lepra  and psoriasis, made  up into  an  ointment.  (Amer. Journ. of Med Sciences,
xv. 374.)  The proportions employed are  from a scruple to a drachm of the salt to
an ounce of lard; the weaker preparation  being used when the disease is recent, the
stronger when it is chronic.  The ointment was employed in frictions in the amount
of half an ounce, morning and evening.  As the iodide is decomposed by exposure to
the air, the ointment should be kept in well-stopped bottles.
   IODIDE OF ARSENIC. Arsenici Iodidum. This compound is formed by  Wacken-
roder by digesting in a flask, for about an  hour, at a gentle  heat, one grain of finely
powdered sublimed arsenic, and six grains of pure iodine, with about two drachms
of water.  The solution is then transferred to a porcelain dish, and evaporated at an
extremely gentle  heat,  so  as to dissipate the excess of iodine, and to obtain the dry
salt.   The resulting iodide, dissolved in six fluidounces of water, forms a colourless
solution, unchanged by the air, each fluidrachm of which contains  the forty-eighth
of a  grain of arsenic, and about the tenth of a grain of iodine.  {Pharm. Cent. Blatt,
1843, 21.)  Iodide of arsenic  is a volatile  substance, having the colour of  red  lead,
and consisting of one  eq. of arsenic  and three of iodine.  It has been used by  Biett
as an external application to corroding tubercular skin diseases.  By Dr. A. T Thom-
son it has been given internally with advantage in lepra, impetigo, and diseases
resembling cancer.  Dr. F. C. Crane reports a cure, by its use for nearly eight months,
of what he considered cancer of the breast.  The ointment used by Biett was com-
posed of three grains of the iodide to an ounce of lard. The dose for internal exhibition
is an eighth of a grain, three times a day, given in pill or solution.
  IODIDE OF  ARSENIC AND MERCURY, SOLUTION OF.  Liquor Arsenici et
HudrarP-uri Iodidi. Solution of Hydriodate of Arsenic and Mercury.  Donovan's Solution.
This combination was introduced to the notice of the medical profession in 1839, by
Mr Donovan of Dublin, as a therapeutic agent combining the medical virtues of its
three  ingredients. At present he prepares it by the following corrected formula:—
                                     107* 
1266                            Appendix.
Triturate 608 grains of finely levigated metallic arsenic, 14 82 grains of mercury, and
49 grains  of iodine with a fluidrachm of alcohol, until the mass becomes dry, and
from being deep brown has become pale red. Add eight fluidounces of distilled water,
and, after trituration for a few moments, transfer the whole to a flask; add half a
drachm of hydriodic acid, prepared by the acidification of two grains of iodine, and
boil for a few moments.  When  the solution is cold, if it should measure less  than
eight fluidounces, add  sufficient  distilled water to make it fill exactly that measure.
Lastly filter.
  This solution has a  pale yellow colour, and a slightly styptic taste.  Its sp.gr. is
1-02.   It is incompatible with laudanum, and  the sulphate, muriate, and  acetate of
morphia.   The iodides of arsenic and mercury, formed by trituration as the first step
of the process, are assumed  by Mr. Donovan to  become, by solution, hydriodates
severally of arsenious  acid (white oxide of arsenic), and of deutoxide of. mercury
(peroxide or red precipitate); and he has taken the solid materials and water in  such
proportions as that each fluidrachm of the  solution, on this  theory of change,  shall
contain an eighth of a grain of arsenious  acid, a fourth of a grain of deutoxide of
mercury, and about three-fourths of a grain of iodine in  the state  of hydriodic  acid.
Those who consult Mr. Donovan's first paper on this solution  (Dublin Med. Journ.
for Nov., 1839) will not understand it, unless they are aware  that  he means by pro-
toxide of  arsenic, arsenious  acid (in composition a teroxide);  and by protoxide of
mercury, deutoxide of  mercury or red precipitate.  These corrections in his nomen-
clature he  admits to be necessary in his paper of Nov., 1842, in which he states that
he used the erroneous  terms  through inadvertence.   In this preparation  the iodide
of arsenic present is the teriodide, and the iodide of mercury, the  red  or biniodide.
If it be assumed  that these iodides are capable  of uniting into a double iodide, the
proportion will be one eq. of  the teriodide 454-3 to one of the biniodide 454-6.   On
the theory of their conversion into hydriodates by solution, five  eqs. of water 45 will
be  required, three for the arsenical  teriodide, and two for the mercurial  biniodide;
and the result will be one eq. of arsenious acid 99-4, one of deutoxide of mercury 218,
and five of hydriodic acid 636-5, the latter containing five eqs. of iodine 631-5.  The
solution here supposed would contain about two and  one-fifth times as much  deut-
oxide of mercury as of arsenious acid, instead of only twice as much, as in  Mr. Dono-
van's formula.
  Medical Properties. This preparation has been found decidedly useful as an altera-
tive in the treatment of various  diseases of the skin, such as the different forms of
psoriasis, impetigo, porrigo, lepra, pityriasis, lupus,and venereal eruptions, both papu-
lar and scaly. In support of its efficacy in these affections, Mr. Donovan has adduced
the testimony of a number of respectable practitioners, of Dublin and  elsewhere,
who have communicated to him the results  of their experience.  The  disease in
some of the cases cured had existed for a number of years. Dr. E. I. Taylor, of New
York,  has employed it  in a number of cutaneous diseases, and finds that it produces
more  marked and prompt effects than the remedies usually resorted to in the  treat-
ment of lupus, rupia, psoriasis, and secondary venereal. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N.
S., v. 319.)  In two cases of uterine disease, characterized by patency of the os uteri
and vascular turgescence of  the cervix, and attended with lumbar and pelvic pains,
Dr. Kirby, of Dublin, afforded relief by the use of the solution,  The dose is twenty
minims three times a day, given preferably in distilled water.  This dose contains a
iwenty-fourth of a grain of arsenious acid,  a twelfth of a grain of deutoxide of mer-
cury, and about a quarter of a grain of iodine. Mr. Donovan originally proposed
thirty  minims as the dose; but many patients cannot bear this quantity.  Dr. Taylor
never exceeded five drops, equal to four  minims, three times a day.  Sometimes
the medicine deranges the stomach, confines the bowels, and produces  headache,
giddiness, and confusion of  mind.  When these  effects  are produced,  it must be
laid aside and a purgative administered.  After an  interval varying from ten days
to three weeks, it may  be resumed, but in a smaller dose.  The treatment often re-
quires to be persevered  in for several months.  Sometimes the medicine produces
moderate salivation.  By some practitioners, the solution, diluted with an equal bulk
of  water, was used with advantage as an external application  to the ulcers or erup-
tions,  at the same time that the medicine was given internally.  For further informa-
tion the reader is referred to the three papers of Mr. Donovan,contained in the Dublin
Journal of Med. Science, for Nov., 1839, Sept., 1840, and Nov.,  1842.  It is the paper of
the latter date, that contains his corrected formula which is given in the beginning of
this article. 
Appendix.
1267
  IODIDE OF BARIUM.  Barii Iodidum. This compound may be formed by double
decomposition, by adding carbonate of baryta to a boiling solution of iodide of iron.
M. Henry, Jun., obtains it by decomposing a solution  of sulphuret of barium  (see
page 874)  by a concentrated alcoholic  solution of iodine.  Sulphur is precipitated,
which is separated by filtration, and iodide of barium formed in solution, from which
it is obtained in the solid state, by a rapid evaporation to  dryness.  It crystallizes in
small, colourless needles, which deliquesce slightly, and  are very soluble in water.
The solution promptly undergoes decomposition by exposure to the air, carbonate of
baryta being precipitated, and  iodine set free which colours  the  solution.  It  has
been used with advantage by  Jahn as an  alterative,  in scrofulous affections  and
morbid  growths.  Lugol employed it in scrofulous enlargements.   The dose is the
eighth of a grain three times a day, gradually increased to three grains. Biett applied
it to scrofulous  swellings in the form of ointment, made with four grains of the iodide
to an ounce of lard.
  IODIDE OF  SILVER.  Argenti Iodidum.  This compound  is formed by double
decomposition,  by adding a solution of iodide of potassium to one of nitrate of silver.
It  is a  greenish-yellow powder,  nearly insoluble in ammonia.   It possesses the
general medical properties  of the nitrate of silver, and, according to Dr. Charles
Patterson, of Dublin, may be used without any danger of producing the discoloration
of the skin which sometimes follows the use  of that salt. Dr. Patterson found it gene-
rally successful in curing the stomach affections of the Irish peasantry, in the treat-
ment of which  nitrate of  silver had been previously found useful.  He succeeded
with it in curing several cases of hooping cough in a  short time, and in greatly re-
lieving a case of dysmenorrhoea of three years standing.  Its effects in epilepsy were
least satisfactory.  The dose is one or two grains three  times a  day, given in the form
of pill; for children, from an eighth to a fourth of a grain, according to the age.
  IODIDE OF STARCH.  Dr. A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, proposes this  compound
as a means of administering iodine in large doses without  causing irritation of the
stomach.   He prepares it by triturating twenty-four grains of iodine with a  little
water, adding gradually a drachm of very finely powdered starch, and continuing the
trituration until the compound assumes  a uniform blue colour.   The iodide is then
dried by a gentle heat, and kept in a well-stopped bottle.  The dose is a heaped  tea-
spoonful, given in water gruel, three times a  day, and afterwards increased to a table-
spoonful.  No nicety is necessary in  apportioning  the  dose.  In  some cases Dr.
Buchanan has given half ounce doses of the iodide three times a  day, immediately
increased to an ounce.  Exhibited in this state of combination, iodine produces, ac-
cording to this  writer, little  or no irritation of the  alimentary canal, but  is  freely
absorbed, as  is  proved by its  detection  in large quantity in the secretions.  Dr. Bu-
chanan conceives that, by means of the starch, the iodine is converted into hydriodic
acid, and in this form of combination enters the circulation.   He prefers the iodide of
starch to any other preparation of iodine for obtaining the alterative apart from the
irritant effects  of this  substance. (Amer. Journ. of Med.  Sci., xx. 213 and  217.)  See
Hydriodic acid,  page 1262.
   IODIDE OF ZINC.  Zinci Iodidum.  This iodide may be formed by digesting an
excess  of zinc, in small pieces, wfth iodine diffused in water.  Combination takes
place, and, by evaporation, a  deliquescent, very  soluble saline mass is obtained,
having a metallic, styptic taste, resembling that of sulphate of zinc.  It may also be
obtained by heating in a matrass a mixture of 20 parts of zinc and 170 of iodine,
and subliming into a vial. When thus prepared, it is in  the form of white needles.
It is very liable to undergo spontaneous decomposition.
   Iodide of zinc is tonic and astringent.  We have not  met with  any notice of its
internal exhibition, but Dr. A. T. Thomson proposes a  syrup of it, to protect it from
change, made on the  same plan as the  syrup of iodide of iron.   (See page 965.)  Dr.
J. J. Ross, of Scotland, employed a solution of iodide of zinc, containing from 10 to 30
grains to the fluidounce of water, with great advantage in enlarged tonsils, applied
by means of a  piece of sponge tied to a quill.  After the use of the solution for some
time, he applied the iodide, rendered liquid by deliquescence, by means of a camel's
hair brush.  A solution containing one or two grains to the fluidounce of water, has
been used as an astringent injection in gonorrhoea.  An ointment, made of a drachm
of the iodide rubbed  up with an ounce of lard, has been proposed  by Dr. Ure as a
substitute for the ointment of iodide of potassium in the treatment of tumours, applied
in the quantity of a drachm  twice a day.
   IODO-HYDRARGYRATE OF POTASSIUM.  It has been found by chemists that 
1268
Appendix.
different iodides will unite together,in definite proportions, forming compounds which
are called by Berzelius double iodides.   Bonsdorff, of Finland, and Dr. Hare, of this
city, with greater reason,have viewed these combinations as a peculiar kind of salts,
in which one of the iodides performs the part ofan acid, the other of a  base.  The
substance, the name of which is placed at the head of this article, is one of these com-
pounds,-and was presented to the notice of the  profession, as a new remedy of re-
markable powers, in February, 1834, by Dr. William  Channing, of New York. (Amer.
Journ. of Med. Sci., xiii. 388.)  It consists of the biniodide of  mercury acting as an
acid, united with the iodide of potassium as a base.  But as these  two iodides com-
bine in at least two proportions, it is necessary to indicate the particular combination
employed by  Dr. Channing in his therapeutic experiments.
  In a difficult case of pectoral disease,  in which the ordinary remedies  had failed,
Dr. Channing determined to make  trial  of one  of the iodides  of mercury.   He se-
lected  the biniodide ; and, in order  to have it in the liquid form, it being insoluble in
water, he dissolved it in a solution  of iodide of potassium.   He was  struck with the
chemical changes which the compound solution underwent;  and on pursuing his
observations  he found that the two iodides really united by the intervention of the
water; for with  the aid of an operative  chemist, he was  enabled  by evaporation to
obtain them in union in the form of straw-coloured, needleform, deliquescent crystals.
He next found, upon  consulting the  European  authorities, that Bonsdorff, who had
taken the lead in investigating similar compounds, had discovered the salt in 1826.
  Dr. Channing  analyzed the salt with which he experimented, and found  that it  con-
sisted  of one  eq. of biniodide of mercury, and two of iodide of potassium.  This he
determined by ascertaining that an  aqueous solution of  a  little more  than eight
grains of iodide  of potassium would dissolve, and  combine with, eleven grains of
biniodide of mercury, without being liable to decomposition when largely diluted with
water.  The combination here indicated corresponds with one of  the double iodides
of mercury and potassium,  as described  by Thenard. {Traite de Chimie, 6e ed. iii.
493.)   The other is represented by this author as consisting  of a  single  eq. of each
iodide.   When copiously diluted with water, every two eqs. of this iodide let fall one
eq. of  the mercurial iodide;  thus  evidently converting the salt into the medicinal
double iodide.  The same decomposition by the use of abundance of  water is noticed
by Dr. Channing.  For remarks on these double iodides see a paper by Mr. Ambrose
Smith, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 265.
  Dr. Channing  attributes to this preparation the effects of diffusing  excitement, and
equalizing the circulation.   In the different cases in which he tried it, he  thought he
saw evidence of its favourable influence on the lungs, in allaying  cough and im-
proving expectoration ; on the alimentary canal, in restoring the healthy  secretions ;
on the kidneys,  in reviving their activity; on the skin and cellular tissue,  in cica-
trizing superficial ulcerations; and on the absorbent and exhalent systems, in causing
the disappearance of effused fluid.  The  principal  diseases in which he found it
useful  were chronic bronchitis,  hooping-cough, tonsillitis, chronic  gastro-enteritis,
dyspepsia, ascites, anasarca, amenorrhoea, leucorrhoea, eruptions,  and scrofula.  In
some cases of phthisis, it mitigated the symptoms and appeared to prolong life.   Dr.
Hildreth, of Ohio, has tried this preparation, and reports  favourably  of its effects in
ordinary dyspepsia unattended by  organic disease, enlargement of the spleen, ame-
norrhoea, dysmenorrhcea,  leucorrhoea,  scrofulous  affections,  ascites, and  general
dropsy. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci, xxvi. 312.)
  The average dose of the remedy may be stated at the twelfth of a grain three times
a day; but  in peculiar constitutions, not  more than the forty-eighth, the ninety-sixth,
or the two-hundredth of a grain daily can  be borne.  For the convenience  of  phy-
sicians who may wish to make  trial of  the remedy, we  give  the following formula,
deduced  from the statements in Dr. Channing's paper.—Take of iodide of potassium
three and a half  grains ; biniodide of mercury (red iodide), four and a half  grains  ;
distilled  water a fluidounce.   Dissolve first the iodide of potassium and then ihe bin-
iodide of mercury in the water.  The compound salt in this solution may  be assumed
to amount to eight grains, though there is a small excess of the iodide of potassium.
Of the solution, from two to  five drops, containing from the thirtieih  to the twelfth of
a grain, may  be given three times a day.
  IONIDIUM MARCUCCI.  This name has been conferred by Dr. Bancroft  upon  a
South American plant, supposed to be the  source of a medicine used with  great as-
serted advantage in Maracaybo and elsewhere, in some of the horrible cutaneous
affections, especially elephantiasis, to which the inhabitants of the  tropical regions of
this continent are subject.   A specimen,  however, received from Dr. Bancroft was 
Appendix.
1269
found by Sir W. Hooker to  be identical with the Ionidium parviftorum of Ventinat.
The medicine is called by the Indians cuichunchulli, and grows in the neighbourhood
of Riobamba, a small town at the foot of  the great mountain of Chimborazo.  It is
said to  be  diaphoretic, diuretic, occasionally sialagogue, and in large doses emetic
and cathartic.   The root is  the part used.   It is highly probable that other vegetable
emeto-cathartics, having the same property of stimulating the  secretions, would be
found equally effectual.   For an account of what is known in relation to this medi-
cine the reader is referred to a paper by Dr. Bancroft, republished in the American
Journal of Pharmacy, vol. iii. p. 125.
  ISATIS TINCTORIA.   Woad.  Pastel.   A biennial  plant, indigenous in Europe,
where it is  also cultivated.  The leaves have a fugitive pungent odour, and an acrid
very durable taste, and have  been used in scorbutic affections, jaundice, and other
complaints; but the plant is valuable only as the source of a blue dye-stuff, called woad,
which has  been long employed in Europe, though at present nearly superseded by
indigo.  The leaves are prepared  by grinding them to  a paste, which is made into
balls, placed in  heaps, and allowed to ferment.   When  the fermentation is at an end,
the mass falls into a coarse powder, which is the dye-stuff in question.
  KALMIA LATIFOLIA.  Laurel. Mountain-laurel. Broad-leafed-lawel.  Calico-bush.
This well-known  evergreen inhabits all  sections of the United States, but is parti-
cularly abundant on the sides of  hills and mountains, which it adorns in summer
with its elegant flowers.  It is from three  to ten  feet in height.  The leaves are en-
dowed with poisonous, narcotic properties, and have been used in medicine.   They
are said to prove fatal to  sheep and some  other animals, but are eaten with impunity
by deer, goats, and partridges.  Dr. Barton  states in his " Collections," that the Indians
sometimes  use  a decoction  of the  leaves to destroy themselves.  It is said that death
has been occasioned by eating the flesh of partridges and pheasants which  have fed
upon  them  during winter.  Dr. Shoemaker published, in the North American Medical
and Surgical Journal, two cases of poisoning which resulted from eating a pheasant,
in the craw of which laurel leaves were  found.  The symptoms were nausea, tem-
porary blindness, pain  in the  head, dyspnoea, pallid countenance, cold  extremities,
and very feeble  pulse, which in one case was for some time absent at the  wrist, in the
other  beat only forty strokes  in the minute.   In both cases relief  was  afforded by
vomiting, produced by a tablespoonful of flour of mustard mixed with warm water.
  Dr. Barton was informed that the powdered leaves were employed by an empiric
with success in certain states of fever; and Dr. Thomas, in an inaugural  dissertation,
published at Philadelphia, A. D. 1802, states that an obstinate  case  of diarrhoea was
cured by a decoction, made  by boiling an ounce of the leaves in eight ounces of water
down to four ounces.  Thirty drops were  given six times a day; but this quantity
produced vertigo, and the dose was afterwards  repeated  only four times  daily.  The
leaves are said  also to have  been used advantageously in syphilis.  Externally ap-
plied, in the shape of ointment or decoction, they have  been found useful in tinea
capitis, psora, and other cutaneous affections; but some caution is necessary in their
application, as, according to  Dr. Barton, nervous symptoms have  resulted from the
external use of the decoction.  Dr. Bigelow has seen  the recently  powdered leaves
given in doses of from ten to twenty grains, without perceptible effect.
  It is probable that the other species of Kalmia—as  the K. angustifolia, or sheep-
laurel, and the K. glauca, or swamp-laurel,  have properties identical with  those of the
K. latifolia.
  LABDANUM.  Ladanum.  A resinous substance obtained from various species of
Cistus, especially the C.  Creticus,  C. ladaniferus, and C.  laurifolius,  small evergreen
shrubs, inhabiting the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and the different countries
bordering on the Mediterranean.   Upon the leaves and  branches of these  shrubs a
juice  exudes, which is collected by means of an instrument resembling  a rake, with
leather thongs instead of teeth, which is drawn over the plant.   The juice adheres to
the pieces of leather, and is afterwards separated.  It is said that labdanum was for-
merly collected by combing the beards of goats which had been browsing  upon the
leaves of the  cistus.  It comes  chiefly  fr.om the 'Grecian islands.  Two  varieties
exist in  commerce.  The purest labdanum is in masses of various sizes, sometimes
weighing several pounds, enclosed in bladders, of a dark-red  almost black  colour
externally, grayish internally when first broken, of  the consistence of a plaster, soft-
ening in the hand and becoming adhesive, of an agreeable balsamic odour similar to
that of amber, and of a bitter, balsamic, somewhat acrid taste.  It is very inflamma-
ble burning with a clear flame.  On  exposure it  becomes dry, porous, and brittle. 
1270                            Appendix.
Little of this variety is found in the markets.   Common  labdanum is in pieces of a
contorted or spiral form, light, porous, blackish-gray, hard and brittle, not softening
between the fingers, similar in odour and taste to the preceding variety, but less
inflammable, and mixed with much sand and other earthy matter, which are obvious
to the sight.  Guibourt found in 100 parts of the labdanum in masses, 86 parts of
resin with a little volatile  oil, 7 parts of wax, 1  of  watery extract, and  6 of earthy
substances  and hair.  In the contorted variety, Pelletier found 20 per cent, of resin,
3-6 of gum  with malate  of lime, 0-6 of malic acid,  1-9 of wax, 1-9 of volatile  oil in-
cluding loss, and 72 of ferruginous sand.
   Labdanum is a  stimulant expectorant, and was  formerly given in catarrhal and
dysenteric affections.  At  present it is employed only in  plasters, and seldom even
for that purpose in  the United States.   It is sometimes used in fumigation.
   LAC.   A resinous substance  obtained from  several trees  growing in the East
Indies, particularly from the Croton lacciferum, and  two species of Ficus, the F. reli-
giosa and F. Indica.  It is found in the form of a crust surrounding the twigs or ex-
treme branches, and is generally supposed to be an exudation from the bark, owing
to the puncture ofan insect belonging to the genus Coccus, and denominated C. Lacca.
By some it  is thought to be an  exudation from the bodies  of the insects themselves,
"which  collect in great numbers upon the twigs, and are  embedded in  the concreted
juice, through which the young  insects eat a passage and escape.  Several varieties
are known in commerce.  The most common are stick lac, seed  lac, and shell lac.
   Stick lac is the resin as taken from the tree, still encrusting the  small twigs around
which  it originally concreted.   It is of a deep  reddish-brown colour, of a shining
fracture, translucent at the edges, inodorous, and of an astringent, slightly bitterish
taste.  Its external surface is perforated with numerous minute pores, as if made by
a needle ; and when broken it exhibits many oblong cells, often containing the dead
insect.  When chewed it colours the saliva beautifully red, and when burnt, diffuses
a strong agreeable odour.  It is in great measure soluble in alcohol.
   Seed lac consists of minute irregular fragments broken from the twigs, and partially
exhausted by water.  It is of a light or dark brown colour, inclining to red or yellow,
feebly shining, almost  tasteless, and  capable of  imparting to water less colour than
the stick lac, sometimes  scarcely colouring  it at all.  It is occasionally mixed with
small fragments of the twigs.
   Shell lac is prepared by melting the stick or seed lac previously deprived of its solu-
ble colouring matter, straining it, and pouring it upon a flat smooth surface to harden.
It is in thin fragments of various sizes, from half a line to a line thick, often  some-
what curved, of a lighter or darker brown  colour, inclining more or  less to red or
yellow, shining, more or less transparent,  hard and brittle, inodorous and insipid,
insoluble in water, but easily and almost entirely soluble in alcohol, especially with
the aid of heat.
  A variety of lac is mentioned by writers, in the form of cakes, called  cake or lump
lac (lacca in placentis) ; but this is at present rare in commerce.
   According to John, lac  consists of resin, colouring  matter,  a peculiar principle
insoluble in alcohol,  ether, or water, called laccin, a little wax, and various  saline
matters in small proportion.  The resin, according to Unverdorben, consists of seve-
ral distinct resinous principles differing in their solubility in alcohol and ether.  The
laccin is nearly or quite wanting in the shell lac,  which also contains scarcely any of
the colouring principle.  Mr. Hatchet found in stick lac 68 per cent, of resin and 10
of colouring matter;  in seed lac 88-5 per cent, of resin and 2-5 of colouring matter;
in shell lac 90-9 per cent, of resin and 0-5 of colouring matter.  The other constituents,
according to this chemist, are wax and gluten, besides foreign matters.
  Lac  in its crude state is slightly astringent, and was formerly used in medicine.
At present it is not employed.  Shell lac is wholly inert.  Stick lac and seed lac are
used on account of the colouring principle which they contain.   Shell lac, as well as
the other varieties deprived of their  colouring matter, is  applied to numerous pur-
poses in the arts.  It is the chief constituent of sealing wax.  The best  red sealing
wax is made by melting together, with a very gentle  heat, 48 parts of shell lac, 19 of
Venice turpentine, and 1  of balsam of Peru, and mixing with the melted mass 32 parts
of finely powdered cinnabar.  But common rosin is often substituted in part for the
lac, and a mixture of  red lead and chalk for the cinnabar.  The best black sealing
wax consists of 60 parts of lac, 10 of turpentine, and 30 of levigated bone  black; the
best yellow sealing wax, of 60 parts of lac, 12 of turpentine, and 24 of chromate of lead.
(Berzelius.)  Lac is also used as a varnish, and forms an excellent cement for broken
porcelain and earthenware. 
Appendix.
1271
  LACTATE OF IRON.  Ferri Lactas.   Lactate of Protoxide of Iron.  MM. Gelis
and U>nte introduced this  preparation to the notice of the profession.  It being ad-
mitted by most physiologists, that lactic acid is the cause of the acidity of the gastric
juice, a fact recently proved  by MM. Bernard and Barreswil, MM. Gelis and Conte
concluded that the ordinary ferruginous preparations, when efficacious, are dissolved
by this acid in the stomach, and were led  to  suppose that  the lactate of iron, ready
formed, might prove a valuable remedy.  Their  anticipations, thus far, have been
realized; for  several French  physicians of note, among whom  are  MM. Fouquier,
Bally, and Bouillaud, the committee  appointed on  their memoir by the French Aca-
demy of Medicine, have reported favourably in relation to its therapeutic powers.
  M.  Louradour recommends the  following  process for obtaining  lactate  of iron.
Ferment whey by keeping  it at a temperature  between 70° and 80°,  whereby it be-
comes charged with a considerable  quantity of lactic acid.  Evaporate the liquor to
a third of its bulk, decant  and filter, and then saturate with milk of lime.  This con-
verts  the lactic acid into lactate of lime, which remains in solution, and throws down
a precipitate, consisting principally of phosphate of lime.  The liquor is again filtered,
and precipitated by oxalic  acid, which throws down the lime as oxalate of lime, and
sets free the lactic acid.  By a new filtration a solution of lactic acid is obtained, con-
taining lactin  (sugar of milk) and certain salts, but pure  enough for conversion into
lactate of iron.  For this purpose iron filings are digested  with it  on a sand-bath at
a gentle heat.    At the end of six or seven hours, the liquor is made to boil; after
which it is filtered, concentrated, and allowed to cool  and crystallize.  The lactin and
foreign salts remain in  the  mother-water.  The crystals  are drained in a funnel,
washed with alcohol, dried rapidly,  and then transferred to a bottle which must be
well stopped.  A better process for  preparing lactate of lime  preparatory to its con-
version into lactic acid and lactate of iron, is that of M. Gobley, as follows:—Add to
2 pints of skim-milk, diluted with twice its  bulk of water and contained in an earthen
pan, 64 drachms of powdered lactin, and 51 drachms of powdered  chalk.  Allow the
whole to  ferment for eleven  or twelve days, at a temperature  of from  80° to 90°,
supplying water as it evaporates.  Transfer the liquid to  a  capsule, heat it gradually
to boiling, and stir it constantly.  Boil for a quarter of an hour to  coagulate casein,
allow the insoluble matters to subside, and strain the liquid through flannel.  The
clear  liquid is a solution of lactate of lime.  In this process the casein of the milk,
acting as a ferment, converts  not only the lactin of  the  milk, but the lactin added,
into lactic acid ; a result which would not take place, were  it not for  the presence of
the chalk, which saturates  the lactic acid as it becomes formed, and prevents it from
uniting with the casein, whereby the power  of the latter as  a ferment would be de-
stroyed.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., vi. 54.)  Lactate of iron is in very white crystal-
line plates, undergoing little change  in the  air.  When  in  the  form of a yellowish
or greenish-white powder it is impure.  It is but sparingly soluble in water, requiring
forty parts of  boiling water to dissolve it.   It has  an acid reaction, and possesses a
a mild ferruginous taste.   The aqueous solution quickly becomes yellow, in conse-
quence of the  iron passing  to a higher state of oxidation.  M. Louradour has observed
several samples of this  lactate, variously  adulterated; as by effloresced sulphate of
iron, starch, and lactin ; the sophistication  being concealed by the  salt being sold in
powder.   These impurities may be detected by appropriate  reagents: but  M. Loura-
dour recommends, as a simpler way of avoiding them, ihe rejection of the salt when
not in crystalline plates.
  Medical Properties.  Lactate of iron has the general medical properties of the ferru-
ginous preparations.  It has a marked effect in increasing the appetite. The disease
in which  it was principally tried in Paris, was chlorosis,  with  or without amenor-
rhoea, and in  this  disease, Andral, Fouquier, Bouillaud and others obtained very
favourable results.  The dose is one or two grains, repeated at intervals and gradually
increased.  As much as 12 or even  20 grains may be given in the course of the day.
It may be administered in lozenge, pil], or syrup.   The lozenge may be made of one
grain  of the lactate to twelve of sugar; and the pill, of one grain of the salt, made up
with an equal  weight of some inert powder free from astringent matter, and sufficient
honey.  The following is the  formula for a syrup proposed by M. Cap, expressed in
the nearest weights and measures used in  this  country.   Take  of lactate of iron a
drachm;  white sugar twelve ounces and a half; boiling distilled water six fluidounces
and a half.  Rub the salt to powder  with half an ounce  of the  sugar;  and dissolve
the mixture quickly in the boiling water.  Pour  the solution into a matrass placed
on a sand-bath, and add to  it the rest of the sugar in small  pieces.  When the sugar
is dissolved, filter the syrup, and, as  soon  as  it is cold, transfer  it to bottles which 
1272
Appendix.
 must be well stopped.  This syrup has a very light amber colour and contains about
 four grains of the salt to the fluidounce.  The dose is from  two to four fluidrachms.
 Bread, called chalybeate bread, containing the lactate of iron  in  the proportion of
 about a grain to the ounce, has been used with  advantage by chlorotic patients in
 one of the hospitals of Paris.  The bread is not injured in taste or quality.
    LACTIC  ACID.   Acidum Lacticum.  This acid was discovered by Scheele.  It is
 interesting as having been found in a number of the secretions, particularly the urine.
 It is a product of the viscous fermentation of rice-water, and of  the juices of the beet,
 turnip, and carrot.   It may be conveniently obtained from the solution  of impure
 lactic acid, mentioned in the last article, by concentrating it to a syrupy consistence,
 and treating it with  alcohol, which dissolves the acid and precipitates the lactin and
 foreign salts.  The  solution is filtered, and the lactic acid is obtained pure by distil-
 ling off the alcohol. It is a colourless  syrupy liquid, having a very  sour taste, and
 the sp.gr. 1-215.  When heated to  480°, the  greater part of it is converted into a
 new body called concrete lactic acid.  It coagulates albumen, and dissolves a large
 quantity of freshly precipitated phosphate of  lime, a property which, doubtless, ren-
 ders it of importance in the animal economy.  The hydrated acid consists of six eqs.
 of carbon, five of hydrogen, and five of oxygen, plus one eq. of water.
    Lactic acid was  proposed  by Magendie on  theoretical grounds as a remedy in
 certain forms of dyspepsia, and for the removal of phosphatic deposits in the urine.
 It is most conveniently given in solution  sweetened with sugar, formed like lemonade.
 From one to three drachms may be taken in the course of the day.
    LAKES.  These  are compounds of vegetable or animal colouring principles with
 alumina or metallic oxides, and are  usually obtained by adding  alum, or perchloride
 of tin, to the solution of the colouring matter in water, and precipitating by means of
 an alkali.  The alumina or oxide of tin  unites  with the colouring matter at the
 moment of separation, and forms  an insoluble compound.   Lakes are  obtained in
 this way from cochineal, madder,  Brazil wood, seed lac, French berries, &c.   They
 are used in painting.
   LEDUM PALUSTRE.  Marsh  Tea.  Rosmarinus sylvestris.   A  small  evergreen
 shrub, growing in swamps and other wet places, in the northern parts of Europe,
 Asia, and America,  and in the mountainous regions of more  southern latitudes.  The
 leaves have a balsamic odour, and an aromatic, camphorous, bitter taste; and contain,
 among other ingredients, volatile oil and tannin.   They are  thought to possess nar-
 cotic properties, and have been employed in exanthematous diseases to allay irritation,
 in hooping-cough, in  dysentery, and  in various  cutaneous affections, particularly
 leprosy and scabies.  In complaints  of the skin, they are used both internally and
 externally in the form of  decoction.    When placed  among  clothes, they are said to
 prevent the attacks of moths.   In Germany they are  sometimes  substituted for hops
 in the preparation of beer.  The Ledum latifolium, or Labrador tea, which is a larger
 plant than the preceding, is a native of North America, growing in damp places in
 Canada and the northern parts of the United  States.  The leaves have an  agree-
 able odour and taste, and are esteemed pectoral and tonic.  They are  said to have
 been used  as a substitute for tea during the war of independence.
   LEPTANDRIA VIRGINICA. Nuttall.  Veronica Virginica. Linn. Culver's Physic.
 This is an indigenous perennial plant, with an herbaceous  stem three  or four feet
 high, furnished with leaves in whorls, and terminating in a long spike of white flowers.
 A variety was seen by Pursh with  purple flowers.  This was described and figured as
 a distinct species by Rafinesque, under the title of L. purpurea.   The  plant  grows
 throughout the United  States,  affecting particularly calcareous hills  and sunny ex-
 posures and flowering in August.   The  root, which  is the  part used, is bitter and
 nauseous,  and yields its active properties to boiling water.  When recent it is said to
I act violently as a cathartic, and sometimes as  an emetic.   In  the  dried state it is
.more uncertain.  The dose of the powder is from twenty grains to a drachm.  It was
 formerly recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, but was omitted in the last edition.
   LIATRIS  SPICATA.  Gay-feather. Button  Snakeroot.  An  indigenous perennial
 plant, growing in  natural meadows  and moist grounds  throughout the Middle and
 Southern States.  It has a tuberous root, and an erect annual stem, which terminates
 in a  spike of beautiful, purple, compound flowers, which appear in August.   The
 root is said by Schoepf to have a terebinthinate odour, and a warm, bitterish, terebin-
 thinate taste; to be possessed of diuretic properties; and to  be  useful in gonorrhoea
 and sore throat, being employed internally in the shape of decoction  in the former
 complaint, and as  a  gargle in the latter.  Pursh informs  us  that the  L. scariosa and 
Appendix.
1273
L. squarrosa, are known in Virginia, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, by the name'of
Rattlesnake's master,- and that their roots are employed to cure the bite of the rattle-
snake, being bruised and applied directly to the wound, while their decoction in milk
is taken internally.   According to Dr. William  Barton all the  tuberous-rooted spe-
cies of Liatris are active plants, and appear to be diuretic.
  LIGUSTICUM LEVISTICUM.  Lavage.  An umbelliferous plant, growing wild in
the South of Europe, and cultivated in gardens.  The whole plant has a strong.
sweetish, aromatic odour, and a warm pungent taste.  When wounded it emits a yel-
low opaque juice, which concretes into a  brownish resinous substance not unlike
opopanax.  The roots, stem, leaves, and seeds have all been employed; but the last
have the aromatic properties of the plant  in the  highest degree.    They are  small,
ovate-oblong, somewhat flattened, curved, strongly ribbed, and of a  yellowish-brown
colour.  The medical properties of lovage are closely analogous to those of angelica.
It is a stimulant aromatic, and has been employed as a carminative, diaphoretic, and
emmenagogue.  The best form for administration is that of infusion.
   LIGUSTRUM  VULGARE.  Privet.  A shrub from four to ten feet in height, grow-
ing wild both in Europe and the United States, usually in hedges and by the roadside.
The leaves, which have  an astringent, bitter taste, and the flowers, which are small.
snow-white, and of an agreeable odour, have been used, in the form of decoction, in
sorethroat, and aphthous and scorbutic ulceration of the mouth.  The berries are black.
have a sweetish, bitter taste, and are said to possess purgative  properties, and to co-
lour the urine brown. They are sometimes used  for dyeing.  The bark was analyzed
by M. G. Potex, who found a peculiar substance which he denominated ligustrin, be-
sides mannite, sugar, muco-saccharine  matter, starch, chlorophylle, bitter extractive,
bitter resin, tannin, albumen, and salts. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 347.)
   LILIUM CANDIDUM.  Common White Lily.  This well-known plant is a native
of Syria and Asia Minor, but has been long cultivated  in gardens.   The bulb, which
consists of imbricated fleshy scales, is without odour, but has a peculiar, disagreeable,
somewhat  bitter, and mucilaginous taste.   It contains  much mucilage, and a small
proportion of an acrid principle, which is dissipated or  destroyed by roasting or boil-
ing.  In the recent state it is said to have been employed with advantage in dropsy.
Boiled with water or milk it forms a good emollient cataplasm, more used in popular
than in regular practice.  The flowers have an  agreeable odour, which they impart
to oil or lard;  and an  ointment or liniment is sometimes prepared from  them, and
used as a soothing application in external inflammations.
   LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA.  Sweet-gum.  An indigenous tree, growing in
different parts of the United States from New England to Louisiana, and flourishing
also in Mexico, where, as well as in our Southern States, it sometimes attains a great
magnitude.  In warm latitudes a balsamic juice  flows from its trunk when wounded.
This  has attracted  some attention in Europe, where  it  is known  by the name of
liquidamber, or copalm  balsam, and is sometimes,  though  erroneously, called liquid
storax.  It is not afforded by the trees which grow in the Middle States, and is obtained
from  Mexico and Louisiana.  It is a liquid of the consistence of thin honey, more
 or less transparent, of a yellowish colour, of a peculiar, agreeable, balsamic odour.
 and a bitter, warm, and acrid taste.  By cold it becomes thicker and less transparent.
 It concretes also by time, assuming  a darker colour.   According  to M. Bonastre,  ii
contains a colourless volatile oil, a semi-concrete substance which rises in distillation
and is separated from the  water by ether, a minute proportion of benzoic acid, a yel-
 low colouring  substance,  an  oleo-resin, and a peculiar principle, insoluble in water
 and cold alcohol, for which M. Bonastre proposes the name of styracine. The propor-
 tion of benzoic aeid is greatly increased by time.  Mr. Hodgson obtained from a speci-
 men which he examined 4-2 per cent. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., vi. 190.)
   Another product is  said to be  obtained from  the same  tree by  boiling the young
 branches in water, and skimming off the fluid which  rises to the surface.   It is of
 a thicker consistence and darker colour  than the preceding, is nearly opaque, and
abounds in impurities.  This  also has been confounded with liquid storax, which  it
resembles in properties, though derived from a different source.
   Liquidamber may be employed for the same purpose as storax, but is very seldom
used, and is almost unknown  in the shops of the United States.
   LITHOSPERMUM  OFFICINALE.  Gromwell.-  Milium Solis. An European peren-
 nial the seeds of which are ovate, of a grayish-white or pearl colour, shining, rather
 larger than millet seeds, and of a stony hardness, from which the generic name of the
 plant originated.  From an opinion formerly prevalent, that nature indicates reme-
      108 
1274
Appendix.
dies adapted  to certain  diseases by some resemblance between the remedy and the
character of the complaint or of the part affected, the seeds of this plant were applied
to the treatment of calculous disorders; and  they retained their ground in the estima-
tion of physicians as a  diuretic, useful in complaints of the urinary passages, long
after the  fanciful notion in which their use originated had been  abandoned.  But
they are at present considered nearly inert, and are not employed.
   LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM.  Club-moss.  The capsules  of this moss, and of
others belonging to the same genus, contain a fine  dust or powder, which is collected
in Switzerland and Germany, and used in  the shops of Europe under the name of
lycopodium, or vegetable sulphur.  This powder is considered by some as the pollen of
the plant,  by others as the seed.  It is extremely fine, very light, of a delicate yellow
colour, inodorous and tasteless, and  exceedingly  inflammable, so much  so that it
takes fire  like gunpowder when thrown upon a burning body.  It is said to be often
adulterated with the pollen of the  pines and  firs, and sometimes with talc and
starch.  In medicine, it is used as an absorbent application to excoriated surfaces,
especially those which occur in the  folds of the  skin in infants.   In pharmacy, it
answers the purpose of facilitating the rolling of the pilular mass, and of preventing
the adhesion of the pills when formed.  It is not much used in this country.  The moss
itself has been esteemed  diuretic, antispasmodic, &c; and has been employed, in the
form of decoction, in  rheumatism,  epilepsy, and complaints of the lungs and kidneys;
but it has  fallen into discredit.
  MALAMBO or  MATIAS  BARK.   A  bark  received from S.  America  by Dr.
Alexander Ure, under the name of matias  bark, was  found to have the characters of
the malambo bark, which  is held in  high esteem in New Granada where  it is  produced,
and has been long known  to the  French Pharmacologists.  It  is  described by Dr.
Ure as being three or four lines thick, brittle though somewhat fibrous, of a brown
colour, and covered with  an ash-coloured tuberculous epidermis.  It has an aromatic
odour, and a bitter pungent taste, and yields these properties to water and alcohol. Its
active ingredients appear to be a volatile oil, and a bitter extractive matter. Accord-
ing to Dr.  Mackay, it has been used successfully in  intermittents, convalescence from
continued  fever, hemicrania, dyspepsia, and other  cases in which tonic remedies are
useful, and also as an adjuvant to diuretics.  It is  probably nothing  more than an
aromatic tonic.  Dr. Ure has often administered it with good effect as a substitute for
Peruvian bark. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii. 169.)
  MANDRAGORA OFFICINALIS.   Atropa Mandragora.  Linn.  Mandrake.  Man-
dragora.   A perennial European  plant, with  spindle-shaped root, which is  often
forked  beneath, and  is  therefore  compared, in shape, to  the  human figure.  In
former times  this root was supposed to possess magical virtues, and was used as an
amulet to  promote fecundity, &c; and the superstition is still cherished by the vulgar
in some parts  of Europe.  The plant is a poisonous narcotic, somewhat  similar in
its properties to belladonna, to which it is botanically allied.  It was much used by
the ancients with a view to its narcotic effects; and the root has been  recommended
by some eminent  modern physicians, as an external application to scrofulous, scir-
rhous, and syphilitic tumours.  It  is unknown as a remedy in the United States.
  MATICO.  The leaves of the Piper angustifolium of Ruiz and Pavon, growing in
the interior of Peru.  Dr. Martius speaks  of their  employment by  the natives exter-
nally as a  vulnerary, and internally as aphrodisiac. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1843, p. 12.)
The leaves and flowering tops were imported into  England by Dr. Jeffreys, of Liver-
pool, and employed by him with advantage in diseases of the mucous membranes, as
gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea,  menorrhagia, catarrh of the bladder, hemorrhoids, and epis-
taxis.  Other practitioners have also  employed the medicine with  benefit in similar
cases.  It  may be given  in infusion  made in the  proportion of an ounce to a pint.
The dose is one or two fluidounces four times a day. A tincture is also used,  made
with two ounces  and a half to a pint of diluted alcohol, and given in the dose of from
one to three fluidrachms.  The leaves have  been used locally as a styptic.  The vir-
tues of matico probably depend on its volatile oil and resin. (BraithwaiU's Retrospect,

  The root of another species of pepper, the P. methisticum, is used in the  Sandwich
Islands  to form an intoxicating beverage, under the name of ava or  kava.  See an
article by Mr. Morson in the Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., iii. 472, where the  plant is
figured.
  MEDEOLA VIRGINICA. Gyromia Virginica. Nuttall. Indian Cucumber. An indige-
nous perennial herb, growing in all parts of the United States. The root, which in shape 
Appendix.
1275
and flavour bears a strong resemblance to a small cucumber, is said by Pursh to be
eaten by the Indians.  According to the late  Professor Barton, it has been  thought
useful in dropsies, and probably possesses diuretic properties.   It is figured and de-
scribed  by Dr. William Barton in his Medical Botany.
  MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS.  Melilot.  An annual or biennial plant, indigenous
in Europe, and growing also in this country.  We have two varieties, one with yel-
low, the other with white flowers, which are considered by some as distinct  species.
The plant when in flower has  a peculiar sweet odour, which, by drying, becomes
stronger and more agreeable, somewhat like that of the tonka bean.   Indeed, ac-
cording to M. Guillemette, the odorous principle of the two  substances is identical.
(Journ.  de Pharm., xxi. 172.)  The taste of melilot is slightly bitterish.   It has little
medical power, and, though formerly recommended in various diseases, is at present
not employed internally.  As a local application, it is used, in the form of decoction
or cataplasm, in moderate inflammations, though probably with little other advantage
than such as results from the combination of warmth and moisture.
  MENISPERMUM CANADENSE.  This is a climbing plant, growing in various
parts of the United States, from the northern boundary to the Gulf of Mexico.  It is
described in the Flora of North America by Torrey and Gray, vol. i. p. 48. In an un-
published inaugural dissertation by Dr. Geo. F. Terrell (Feb., 1844), it is stated that
the root of this plant is considerably employed in Virginia, both in domestic  practice
and by physicians, as a substitute for  sarsaparilla, in scrofulous affections.  It has a
bitter taste, and is said to be a gently stimulating tonic.
  MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM. Ice-plant.  A biennial plant, grow-
ing  spontaneously in the  South of Europe, and cultivated as a curiosity in colder
countries, by the aid of artificial warmth.  The  stem and under surface of the leaves
are covered with  crystalline drops, which give the plant the appearance  of being
coated with  ice.  The herb is without smell, and  has a saline somewhat nauseous
taste.  It  is considered.demulcent and  diuretic, and has been highly lauded as  a
remedy in various complaints, especially in those affecting the  mucous membrane of
the lungs and urinary passages.  It has also been used in dropsy.  The expressed
juice is the form in which the remedy has been generally employed.
  MOMORDICA  BALSAMINA. Balsam Apple.  Balsamina.   An annual climbing
plant, a native of the East Indies, but cultivated in  our gardens for the sake of the
fruit.  This is ovate, attenuated towards each extremity, angular, warty, not unlike a
cucumber in appearance, of a lively red or orange-yellow colour, easily falling when
touched, and spontaneously separating into  several pieces.  It was formerly highly
esteemed as a vulnerary, and is still in use among the common people.   A  liniment
formed by infusing the fruit, deprived of its seeds, in olive or almond oil, is applied
to chapped hands, burns, old sores, piles, prolapsus ani,&c, and the fruit itself is
sometimes mashed and used in the form of poultice.  According to M. Descourtlitz, it
is poisonous when taken  internally, having proved fatal to  a dog in the  quantity of
two or three drachms.  An extract prepared from it is said to be useful in dropsy, in
the dose of from six to fifteen grains.
  MONESIA.   Under this name, a vegetable extract from South America was, a few
years since, introduced to the notice of the medical profession in France by M. Ber-
nard Derosne, and for a time attracted much attention.  Its origin was for some time
uncertain- but it appears to have been ascertained to be derived from the bark of the
 Chrysophyllum  glycyphlceum, a tree  of  middling  size, growing in the  forests near
Rio Janeiro, and  elsewhere in  Brazil.  (Virey, Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., vi. 63.)
Specimens of the bark were obtained along with the extract.
   The  bark  is  in pieces, some of which are three  or four lines thick, is very com-
pact and heavy,  of  a  deep-brown or chocolate colour, contrasting  strongly with
the  grayish colour of the  epidermis  when this remains, and  of a smooth  fracture.
The extract was received from  S. America in cakes weighing rather more than a
pound  from three-quarters of  an  inch  to an  inch in  thickness, of  a  dark-brown
almost black colour, very brittle, of  a fracture neither very dull nor very shining,
and of a taste at first sweet, then astringent, and ultimately acrid; the acrimony being
verv nersistent  and especially felt in the fauces. It is entirely  soluble in water.  The
bark was analyzed by MM.  Derosne, Henry, and Payen, and  was found to contain m
 100 narts 1-2  of stearin, chlorophylle, and wax, 1-4 of glycyrrhizin, 4-7  of  an acrid
nrinciDle analogous to saponin, called monesin,  7*5 of tannic acid, 9-2 of a red colour-
Fnc!snhstance  1-3 of malic acid and malate of lime, 3-0 of  various salts, including
silica and oxides of iron and manganese, and 71-7 of pectic acid or pectin and lignin, 
1276
Appendix.
including loss, besides traces ofan aromatic principle and of gum.  Monesin was ob-
tained by treating the bark or extract with alcohol, adding to the tincture an excess
of hydrate of lime in fine powder, filtering, evaporating the clear liquor to dryness,
treating the residue with water and animal charcoal, filtering, and again evaporating
to dryness.  Thus procured it was in transparent yellowish scales, which were easily
pulverized, forming a white  powder.   It was readily dissolved by alcohol and water,
to the latter of which it gave the property of frothing;  but was insoluble in ether.  It
could not be made to crystallize.  It had no  power  to saturate  acids, was without
odour, but had a slightly bitterish taste, followed by a very decided and permanent
acrimony in the posterior mouth and fauces. (Journ.de Pharm., Janvier, 1841.)  Mo-
nesia owes its activity probably to this principle and to tannic acid.
  The effects of this  medicine upon  the system  appear to be those  of a moderate
stomachic excitant, a general alterative, and a  feeble astringent.  In over doses, it is
said to produce heat in the  epigastrium with  obstinate constipation and tenesmus.
It has been used internally with asserted advantage in diarrhoea, haemoptysis, menor-
rhagia, scrofula, scurvy, the chronic catarrh of old people, and dyspepsia. Asa local
remedy  it has been found useful in leucorrhoea, ulcerations of the mouth and fauces,
spongy and  scorbulic gums, carious teeth, and obstinate scrofulous  and  otherwise
unhealthy ulcers upon the surface.  The extract  may be  given in pill or powder, in
aqueous  solution, in  tincture, or in syrup.  The dose  of it is from two to ten grains,
repeated every hour, two, or three hours, or less  frequently.  From ten grains  to a
drachm may be given daily.  In scrofulous affections  it must be given in large quan-
tities, and persevered in for several weeks, in order to  obtain its curative effects.  Mo-
nesia is applied to ulcers either by being sprinkled in  powder upon the surface, or in
the form of ointment  made with  one part of the  extract and seven parts  of simple
ointment.  Monesin, or the acrid  principle, has been given internally in the dose of
about half a grain, and has also been applied to ulcers.
  MURIATIC ETHER.  Mther Muriaticus.   Muriate of Etherine.  Chloride of Ethule.
This ether was discovered by Rouelle, but first obtained in sufficient quantities  to
permit the  examination of its properties by Basse.   It may be procured by several
processes, but the following  is the best.—Distil a mixture of equal measures of  con-
centrated muriatic acid and alcohol, and receive the product, by means of  a curved
glass tube, in a tubulated bottle, half filled with water  at a temperature between 70°
and 80°, and connected by means of a second tube with another bottle, loosely corked,
and surrounded by a mixture of common salt  with snow or pounded ice.   The ether
which comes over into the first bottle, is mixed with alcohol and acid, which are re-
tained by the water, while the pure ether passes  forward, and is condensed in the
refrigerated bottle.  This ether must be kept in  strong bottles, well secured  with
ground  stoppers covered with leather.   Before being opened the bottle should  be
cooled down  to the freezing point.
  Muriatic ether is colourless, has a strong, slightly saccharine alliaceous taste, and
a penetrating,  ethereal,  alliaceous smell.  Its sp. gr. at the temperature of 41° is
0-774.   It is extremely volatile, entering into ebullition at 54°, so that in summer it
may be  collected in the  gaseous state, in bell-glasses  over water.  Its density in the
state of vapour is 2-22.  When kindled as issuing from a fine orifice, it burns with
an  emerald-green flame without  smoke, diffusing a strong odour of muriatic acid;
but  when set on  fire in quantities, it burns  with a greenish-yellow smoky flame.
Water dissolves  one-fiftieth of  its weight of this ether, and acquires a sweetish,
ethereal  taste, and alcohol unites  with it in all  proportions.  These solutions are not
precipitated by nitrate of silver, showing that the  muriatic acid present is in a pecu-
liar state of combination. Like sulphuric and nitric  ether, it dissolves sulphur and
phosphorus, the fat and volatile oils, and many other  substances.   It consists of one
eq. of muriatic acid  36-42,  and one of etherine  28=64-42; or in  volumes,  of two
volumes of the acid, and one volume  of the vapour of etherine, condensed into two
volumes.
  Muriatic ether, like the other substances of  this class, is a diffusible stimulant, but
owing to its extreme volatility, cannot be kept  in the shops.  It may, however, be pre-
served in a cool cellar, the temperature of which does  not rise above 45° or 50°, being
well secured in bottles, which should be placed reversed.  When used as a medicine,
it is generally mixed with an equal bulk of alcohol, forming what is called alcoholic
muriatic ether.  The dose is from five to thirty drops, given in sweetened water, or
other convenient vehicle.
  MUSHROOMS.  Fungi.  This extensive family of cryptogamous  plants is  inte-
resting to the physician, from the  consideration, that,  while some of them  are  very 
Appendix.
1277
largely consumed as food, others  are deleterious in their nature, and capable, when
eaten, of producing  poisonous  effects.  Their substance is made up  of a cellular
tissue, which is  usually of that soft consistence  denominated fungous, but is some-
times corky, ligneous, or even gelatinous.  Many of them have an agreeable odour
and  taste, while others are unpleasant or offensive both to the nostrils  and palale.
According to Braconnot, most of them contain, among other substances, a peculiar
principle denominated/wngm, a peculiar acid called fungicacid usually combined with
potassa,  and a  peculiar saccharine matter less sweet than the other varieties of
sugar, less soluble in alcohol and water than that of the cane, and  distinguished by
some writers as the sugar of mushrooms.  Fungin constitutes the basis of  these vege-
tables, and is the principle upon which their nutritive properties chiefly  depend.  It
is the fleshy substance which remains when  they are treated with boiling  water hold-
ing a little alkali in solution. It is whitish, soft, and insipid; inflammable; insoluble
in water, alcohol,  ether, weak  sulphuric acid,  and weak solutions of potassa  and
soda; soluble in heated muriatic  acid; decomposed by nitric acid, and by concen-
trated alkaline solutions; and converted by destructive distillation into  substances
resembling those which result from the distillation of animal matters.
   It is highly important for those who employ mushrooms as food, to be able to dis-
tinguish  those which are wholesome from the poisonous. The following general rules
are given by M. Richard in the Dictionnaire  des Drogues.   Those should be rejected
which have a narcotic or fetid  odour, or an acrid, bitter, or very acid taste; which
occasion a sense of  constriction in the throat when swallowed; which are very  soft,
liquefying, changing colour, and assuming a bluish tint upon  being bruised; which
exude a milky, acrid, and styptic  juice; which  grow in very moist  places, and  upon
putrefying substances;  in fine,  all such as have  a coriaceous, ligneous, orcorky con-
sistence.  The last, however, are injurious in consequence rather of their indigestible
than of their poisonous  nature.  Even mushrooms which are usually  edible,  may
prove poisonous, if collected too  late, or in places which  are  too moist. It is said,
moreover, that the poisonous species sometimes become  innocent when they  grow
under favourable circumstances; and that the most noxious may be rendered edible
by boiling them in  water acidulated with  vinegar.   Immense quantities of mush-
rooms are eaten in France, Germany, Italy,  and other parts of continental Europe;
and they are said to  constitute the chief food of the people in certain provinces.
   The symptoms produced by the poisonous mushrooms  are anxiety, nausea, faint-
ness, vomiting, and, if they are not rejected from the  stomach, somnolence, stupor,
small and intermittent pulse, tension of the abdomen, cold extremities, livid skin, and
death in thirty-six or forty-eight hours.  Sometimes violent pains in the stomach and
bowels are experienced;  and occasionally severe vomiting and  purging occur, and
save the patient. The remedies are emetics, if the physician is called in time, accom-
panied with the free  use of warm drinks, and followed by cathartics.  After the evacua-
tion of the alimentary canal, demulcent and  nutritive  beverages should be given  and
the strength of the patient sustained by mild tonics or stimulants. Ether is  particularly
recommended. (Merat and De Lens.)                               .
   Some of the poisonous species have been used as medicines; but in  this country
they are never employed;  and too little seems to be precisely known of  their modes
of action, and their  qualities, even in the same  species, vary too  much, according  to
the  circumstances of their growth and situation, to justify their introduction into the
materia medica, without further investigation.
   MUSK ARTIFICIAL.   Moschus Factitius. This is prepared, according to M. Eis-
ner, by adding, by little portions at a time, one part of rectified oil of amber to three
Jarts of fuming nitric acid.  The resulting resin is washed with water  o  separate
acid, and brought to the consistence  of  a firm  extract in  a salt-water bath.   1 hus
Prepared it is a dark brownish-red substance, having a burning, bitter aromatic taste,
Kd a muskyodour. It  is very soluble in alcohol,ether,and the volatile oils; its alco-
hol smuX reddening litmus. Triturated with caustic potassa, it g-ves offammonia.
When se  on fire, it burns with  a very smoky flame, and  leaves a shining porous
charcoal  Its formula, deduced from its combination with protoxide of lead, is N3
charcoal.  Us mr■     ,            ^     ^ ^ ^  ^ of amber the action of the
nhrfc acid eSy consists in eliminating  a portion of carbon and hydrogen, adding
  't oxvgen and furnishing nitrogen.  M. Eisner found oil of amber to consist  of
^prXodrprmciples, having  different boiling points,  one  of which resembling
several  ody P™c;P^  puni(£e   As this  subi£ance  yields artificial musk by the
                                                                    •lelding the
same
108* 
1278
Appendix.
  Dr. S. W. Williams gives the following formula for the  preparation of artificial
musk.  Add gradually, drop by drop, three drachms and a half of concentrated nitric
acid to a drachm of rectified oil of amber, contained in a glass tumbler, or very large
wineglass.   The mixture grows hot, and emits  offensive  fumes which  the operator
must avoid.  When the ordinary nitric acid is employed, which is not of full strength,
the reaction must be assisted by heat; in which case Dr. Williams recommends that
the vessel containing the mixed ingredients be placed in a plate before the fire, they
being, meanwhile, continually stirred with a glass rod.   After the mixture has re-
mained at rest for twenty-four hours, it acquires a resinous  appearance, and divides
into two portions, an acid liquid below and a yellow resin above, resembling musk in
smell. This being thoroughly washed, first with cold and then with hot water, untd
all  traces of acid  are  removed, is the  artificial musk.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii.
14, from the Boston Med. and Surg. Journ.)
  Artificial musk is an antispasmodic and nervine, and possesses the general thera-
peutic properties of the natural substance, though in a weaker degree.   It is praised
by Dr. Williams, in the treatment of hooping-cough, typhoid states of fever, and ner-
vous diseases generally.   When combined with water of ammonia, compound spirit
of lavender, or laudanum, he has found no remedy so efficient in the  sinking faint-
ness occurring in the  last stage  of  pulmonary consumption.  The average dose for
an adult is ten grains;  for a child of two years old from half a grain to a grain, re-
peated, in each case, every two or three  hours.  It may be prepared as the musk
mixture, or with almonds in the form of emulsion.  According to Berzelius, the tinc-
ture is formed by dissolving  a drachm of artificial  musk in an ounce of  alcohol,
equivalent to ten fluidrachms of the sp. gr. 0-835.  Of this the dose for an adult is  a
teaspoonful.  Though artificial musk is not equal in power to the natural substance
when genuine, yet it is in all  probability superior to  the  adulterated article, so fre-
quently sold under the name of musk.
  MYROBALANS. Myrobalani.  These are  the fruits of various East India trees,
particularly of different  species  of Terminalia.  They are noticed here partly on
account of their ancient reputation, partly because they are still occasionally to be
found in the shops, though seldom, if ever, used  in medicine.  Five varieties are dis-
tinguished by  authors.  1. Myrobalani belliricae.  These are  obtained frofn the Termi-
nalia Bellirica.  They are roundish  or ovate, from the size of a hazelnut to that of a
walnut, of a grayish-brown colour, smooth, marked with five  longitudinal ribs, and
sometimes furnished with a short thick footstalk.  They consist of an exterior, thin,
firm, resinous,  brown, fleshy portion, and an interior kernel, which is light brown,
inodorous, and of a bitterish very astringent taste.   2.  Myrobalani chebulae.  This
variety is produced by the Terminalia Chebula.   The fruit is oblong, pointed  at each
extremity, from fifteen to eighteen lines in length, of a dark-brown colour, smooth and
shining, with  five longitudinal wrinkles, but without footstalks.  In  their internal
arrangement and their taste, they resemble the  preceding.  3. Myrobalani citrinae, vel
flavae.  These are  from a variety of the same tree which affords the last-mentioned
myrobalans, from which they differ only in being somewhat smaller, of a light brown
or yellowish colour, and of a taste rather more  bitter. They have  been  sometimes
sold in the shops in Philadelphia  under the name of  white  galls, to  which, however,
they bear no  other resemblance than in taste.   4.  Myrobalani lndicae, vel nigrae.
These are thought to be  the unripe fruit of the Terminalia Chebula, or T. Bellirica.
They are ovate oblong, from four to eight lines long, and from two to three lines thick,
of a blackish colour, wrinkled longitudinally, and presenting, when broken, a thick,
brown mass, without kernel, but with a small cavity in the centre.  They are sourish
and very astringent.  5. Myrobalani emblicae.  This variety is wholly different from the
preceding, and derived from a plant having no  affinity to  the Terminaliae—namely,
the Phyllanthus Emblica of Linnaeus.  It is often in segments, as kept  in the shops.
When the fruit is entire, it is blackish, spherical, depressed, of the  size of a cherry,
presenting six obtuse ribs with  as many deep furrows,  and separating  into  six
valves, with a strongly astringent and acidulous taste.
   These fruits were in high repute with the Arabians, and were long  employed by
European practitioners as  primarily laxative, and secondarily astringent, in various
complaints, particularly diarrhoea and dysentery. Their dose was from two drachms
to an ounce.  They are not now employed as  medicines.   We have been  told that
they have been used as a substitute for galls in the preparation of ink-powder.  c
   NAPHTHALINE.  This may be obtained  by subjecting coal-tar  to  distillation,
when it passes over after the coal-naphtha.  It  is a white,  shining, concrete, crystal- 
Appendix.
1279
line substance, fusible at 176° and boiling at 423°.  It  is soluble in alcohol, ether,
naphtha, and the oils, but insoluble in water.  It has been proposed by Dupasquier as
an expectorant, and been found, on trial, to act decidedly as such.  In the impending
suffocation, sometimes occurring in the chronic  pulmonary catarrh of old persons,
and in humoral asthma,  it facilitated expectoration in a remarkable degree.   Being a
stimulating remedy, it is not proper in acute bronchitis, or where pulmonary inflam-
mation exists.   The dose is from eight to  thirty grains, given in emulsion  or syrup,
and repeated at intervals of a quarter of  an hour, until an  abundant expectoration
takes place. (Journ. de  Pharm., 3e Sir., ii. 513.)   M. Rossignon considers naphtha-
line to act like camphor, and to  be  capable of replacing it on many occasions, as a
remedy.  It produced excellent effects  in verminose affections.  It  has been found
useful by M. Emery in the form of ointment, made by mixing a scruple of naphthaline
with five drachms of lard, in dry tetter, psoriasis, and lepra vulgaris. (Annuaire de
Therap., 1843, p. 64 and 66.)
  NAPLES YELLOW.  A yellow pigment prepared by calcining a mixture of lead,
sulphuret of antimony,  dried alum, and muriate of ammonia, or a  mixture  of car-
bonate of lead, diaphoretic antimony, dried alum, and muriate of ammonia. (Gray.)
  NARCISSUS PSEUDO-NARCISSUS.   Daffodil. This well-known bulbous  plant
is a native of Europe, but is very common in the  gardens of this country, where it
attracts attention by the  early appearance of its  conspicuous yellow flowers.  Both
the bulb and flowers have been used in medicine. The latter have a feeble peculiar
odour, and both have a  bitter mucilaginous  taste.  They are emetic, though uncer-
tain in  their operation.   It is probable that  the flowers of the wild plant  are  more
powerful than those of the cultivated.  They may be given dried and powdered, or
in the form  of extract.  The dose of the powder, to produce an emetic effect, varies,
according to the statements of different physicians, from a scruple to two  drachms;
while the extract is said to vomit in the dose of two or three grains.   It is conjectured
that  the emetic property is developed by the agency of  water.   The bulb  is most
powerful in the recent state, and, within our  own knowledge, is occasionally used  as
an emetic in domestic practice  in  this  country.  When dried and powdered, it has
been given  in the dose of thirty-six grains without vomiting. The flowers are said
 also to possess antispasmodic powers, and have been used in France, with supposed
 advantage, in hooping-cough, epilepsy, and other convulsive affections. It is proba-
 ble, however, that they  operated in these cases  by their nauseating or emetic pro-
 perty.  They have, moreover, been advantageously employed in diarrhoea, dysentery,
 and intermittent fever.   Other species of Narcissus are said to possess the same
 properties, though they  have not been so  much used.
   NARD. Spikenard.   Several aromatic  roots were known to the ancients under the
 name of nardus, distinguished, according to their origin  or place  of growth, by the
 names of nardus Indica, nardus Celtica, nardus montana, &c. They are supposed to
 have been derived from different species  of Valeriana.  Thus the nardus Indica is
 referred to the  V. Jatamensi of Bengal,  the nardus Celtica to the V. Celtica, inhabiting
 the Alps  Apennines, &c, and the nardus montana to the  V. tuberosa, which grows in
 the mountains of the South of Europe.  The Indian nard, or spikenard, sometimes
 also called  Syrian nard, is still  occasionally  to be found in the shops.  It is a  small,
 delicate root, from one  to three inches  long, beset with  a  tuft of soft, light brown,
 slender fibres,  of an agreeable odour, and a bitter, aromatic taste.  It was formerly
 very highly esteemed as a medicine, but is now almost out of use.  Its properties are
 analogous to those of the officinal valerian.
   NASTURTIUM OFFICINALE. R. Brown. Sisymbrium Nasturtium.Lmn. Water-
 cress.   A small, perennial, herbaceous, succulent plant, growing in springs, rivulets
 and ponds, in  North America, Europe, and some parts of Asia.  The fresh herb has
 Taufck Penetrating odour, especially when rubbed, and a bitterish, pungent taste, but
 los\s both when dried.   In sensible and medical properties it bears some resemblance
 to scurvv-grass, though milder, and on this account is preferred for the table.  It is
 thoueht L be useful in scorbutic affections, and visceral obstructions.  The expressed
  uke is ometimes given in the dose of one or two ounces; but the herb is more fre-
 buent v used in the form of a salad.  Other species of Nasturtium, as the N. palustre,
 Tmarsh watercress, and the N. amphibium or water-radish, grow in similar situations
 with the  N. officinale, and possess similar virtues.
   attpvT T A  SATIVA. Nutmeg flower.   Small fennel-flower. A small annual plant
 .rowmg wild in Syria and the  South of Europe, and cultivated in vanous parts of the
 growing wuu     y     ^ ^  sometimes k   .Q the shops under the name of semen 
1280
Appendix.
 nigellae, are ovate, somewhat compressed, about a line long and half as broad, usually
 three-cornered, with two sides flat and one convex, black or brown externally, white
 and oleaginous within, of a  strong, agreeable, aromatic odour, like that of nutmegs,
 and a spicy pungent taste.   Their chief constituents are a volatile and  fixed oil, and
 a peculiar bitter principle denominated nigellin, which exists in the seeds in  very
 minute  proportion. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Sir., ii. 128.)
   NITRATE OF SODA.  Cubic Nitre. This salt may be formed  by treating carbo-
 nate of  soda with nitric acid.  It exists naturally, in inexhaustible quantities, in the
 desert of Atacama  in Peru, where it forms a bed of variable thickness, covered with
 clay, of one hundred and fifty miles in extent.  Considerable quantities have  been
 extracted  for the purposes  of commerce.  Occasionally a  cargo is brought to the
 United States.
   Nitrate of soda, when pure, is a white salt, crystallizing in rhomboidal prisms, and
 having a sharp, cooling, and  bitter taste.    It  attracts  moisture slightly from the air,
 and dissolves in about twice its weight of water at 60°.   It has  been praised as a
 remedy  in dysentery by two German physicians, Drs. Velsen and Meyer, given in the
 quantity of from half an ounce to an ounce in the course of the day, dissolved in  gum
 water or other mucilaginous liquid.  The crude  salt, as it  comes from Peru,  is in
 dirty-white saline  lumps, rather soft  and friable, and damp on the  surface.   It  is
 cheaper than nitre, for which salt it may be substituted in the manufacture of sulphuric
 acid, and in the preparation of nitric acid, chrome yellow, &c.  According to M.
 Lembert it contains iodine. (See page 40.)
   As nitrate of soda has been imposed  upon our merchants for nitre, it may be useful
 to mention that the former salt may be distinguished by its giving rise to an orange-
 yellow  flame when thrown  on  burning coals, and by the rhomboidal shape of its
 crystals  ; those of nitre being long six-sided prisms. (See page 569.)
   NITROSULPHATE OF AMMONIA.  This compound, discovered by Pelouze in
 1835, may be formed by passing nitric oxide through a solution of sulphate of ammonia
 in five or six times  its volume of water of ammonia.  A large number of crystals are
 formed,  which must be quickly washed with liquid ammonia previously refrigerated,
 and dried without heat.  Nitrosulphate of ammonia has been used at the Hotel Dieu
 in Paris, in doses of twelve grains, with apparent advantage, in typhoid fevers.   Its
 composition corresponds with one eq. of nitric  oxide, one of sulphurous  acid, and
 one of ammonia; but as the salt is not precipitated by barytic water, Pelouze conceives
 that the nitric oxide and sulphurous acid, together, form a peculiar acid which he calls
 nitrosulphuric acid, consisting of one eq. of nitrogen, one of sulphur, and four of oxygen.
  NYMPHJ3A ODORATA.  Sweet-scented Water-lily.  An  indigenous herbaceous
 perennial, growing  in most parts of the United States, in fresh water-ponds  and the
 borders  of streams, and distinguished by the beauty and delicious odour of its large,
 white, many-petaled flowers.  Its  root  is, when fresh, large and fleshy, but  becomes
 light, spongy and friable by drying.   It is very astringent and bitter, and, according
 to Dr. Bigelow, contains much tannin and gallic acid.  It is sometimes employed, in
 the form of poultice, as a discutient application.  The root of the Nymphxa alba, or
 European white water-lily, was esteemed aphrodisiac by the ancients, but  has long
 lost this reputation.  Like that  of the American plant, it is bitter and styptic,  and
 may have been useful  by its  astringency in some cases of leucorrhoea, gonorrhoea,
 dysentery, &c, in which it was formerly employed for its reputed sedative virtues.
  OCHRES. These  are native mixtures of argillaceous or calcareous earth and oxide
 of iron, employed in painting.  They are  prepared  for use by agitating them  with
 water,  decanting the turbid  liquor after the coarser particles have  subsided, then
 allowing it to rest in order that the finer parts may be deposited, and lastly drying the
 sediment which forms.  The  colour of  the ochres varies with the state  of oxidation
 of the iron, and with the proportion which  it bears to the other ingredients, and is
 sometimes artificially modified by the agency of heat.  Several varieties are kept in
 our shops under different names, according to their colour or place of origin.  Such
 are the brown ochre,  the yellow ochre, the red ochre, the Roman ochre of a brownish-yel-
 low changing by heat to a purple red, the Oxford ochre of a brownish-yellow colour
less deep than the Roman, and the French  ochre which is yellow.  The Indian red
from the  Persian Gulf, and Spanish brown, may also be ranked in this class of  pig-
ments.   Sometimes  ochres come in a powdery state, and sometimes in hard  masses;
in the latter state they are called stone ochres.
  OCIMUM BASILICUM.  Basil.  An annual plant, a native of India and Persia,
and cultivated in Europe and  in this country in gardens.  The  whole plant has a 
Appendix.                            1281
 strong, peculiar, agreeable, aromatic odour, which is improved by drying.  The taste
 is aromatic, and somewhat cooling and saline.   Basil has the  ordinary properties of
 the aromatic plants, and is in some places considerably used as a condiment.   The
 seeds are said by Ainslie to be  used in India, in the form of infusion, as a remedy in
 gonorrhoea and  nephritic affections.
   CENANTHA CROCATA.  Hemlock Water-dropwort.  A perennial umbelliferous
 aquatic, European  plant, exceedingly poisonous both to men and  inferior animals.
 1 he root which has a sweetish, not unpleasant  taste, is sometimes eaten by mistake
 for other roots, with the most dangerous effects ; and numerous instances of fatal re-
 sults are on record.  The symptoms produced are such as attend irritation  or inflam-
 mation of  the stomach, united  with great cerebral  disturbance.   Externally applied
 the root produces redness and irritation of the skin, with an eruptive affection.   It is
 said to be  sometimes used empirically as a  local remedy in piles; and a case is re-
 corded in which an obstinate leprosy was cured by the continued use of the juice of
 the plant.  Other species of  CEnanthe are poisonous, and the whole genus  should be
 regarded among the suspected plants.  We have two or three  indigenous species.
 The proper remedies, in cases  of poisoning  from these plants, are emetics, followed,
 after the stomach has been thoroughly evacuated, by demulcent drinks.
   OENOTHERA BIENNIS.   Tree Primrose. A biennial indigenous plant, growing
 in fields and along  fences, from Canada to Carolina.  It is from two to five feet high,
 with a rough stem,  alternate, ovate-lanceolate leaves, and fine  yellow flowers, which
 make their appearance in July  and August.   Schoepf states that it is esteemed useful
 as a vulnerary.  Dr. R. E. Griffith, late  of the  University of Virginia, has found a
 strong decoction of the small branches, with the leaves and cortical part of the stem
 and larger branches, very beneficial in  eruptive complaints,  especially tetter.   He
 applies the decoction several times a day to  the  affected part.  He thinks the virtues
 of the plant reside  in the cortical part, which has a mucilaginous taste, and leaves a
 slight sensation  of acrimony in  the fauces. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv. 292.)
   OIL OF EUPHORBIA.  A fixed oil, obtained from the seeds of the Euphorbia La-
 thyris, a biennial plant growing wild in this  country, though believed to have been
 introduced from Europe.  It is  often found near gardens and in cultivated fields, and
 is generally called  mole plant,  under  the impression that moles avoid the grounds
 where it grows. (Pursh.)   It  is the Caper  plant of England. (Loudon's Encyc. of
 Plants.) Like the  other species  of Euphorbia, it  contains  a  milky juice, which is
 extremely  acrid; and the whole plant possesses the properties of a drastic purge; but
 the oil of the seeds  is the only part used in regular practice.  This may be  extracted
 by expression, or by the  agency of alcohol or of ether.   In the  first case, the bruised
 seeds are pressed in a canvass  or linen bag, and the oil which  escapes is purified by
 decanting it from the whitish flocculent matter which it deposits upon standing, and
 by subsequent filtration.   By the latter  process, the bruised seeds are digested in
 alcohol or  macerated in ether, and the oil is obtained by filtering and evaporating the
 solution.   According to Soubeiran, however, the oils obtained by these different pro-
 cesses are  not identical.  That  procured by expression is probably the purest.
  Oil of euphorbia  is colourless, inodorous, and, when recent, nearly insipid; but it
 speedily becomes rancid, and acquires a dangerous acrimony.  Soubeiran has ascer-
 tained  that it has a  complex  composition, containing, besides the pure  oil, four dis-
 tinct proximate  principles.   (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 259.)   From 40  to 44 parts are
 obtained by expression from  100 of the seed.
  This oil is a powerful purge,  operating with much activity in a dose varying  from
 five to  ten drops. It was, some  years since, much used by certain Italian and French
 physicians, who did not find it to produce inconvenient irritation of the stomach and
 bowels.  Its want of taste, and the smallness of the dose, recommended it especially in
 the cases of  infants.  It was said to be less acrid and irritating than the croton oil,
 over which it also had the advantage of greater cheapness.   Some trials which  have
 been made with it  on this side of the Atlantic have not tended to confirm these
 favourable reports.   It was found uncertain  in its cathartic effect, and very liable to
 vomit.  (Scattergood, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv. 124.)  It may be given in
 pill with the crumb of bread, or in emulsion.
  OIL  OF JASMINE.   This oil is obtained from the flowers of the Jasminum offici-
nale or common while jasmine, and from those also  of the  J. Sambac and J. grandi-
florum.   Alternate layers of the fresh flowers, and of cotton saturated with the oil of
ben (expressed oil of Hyperanthera Moringa), or  perhaps other  fixed oil, are exposed
in a covered vessel  to the warmth of the sun, the flowers  being occasionally renewed 
1282
Appendix.
till the oil becomes impregnated with their odour, when it is  separated from the  cot-
ton by pressure.  This method is necessary, as the flowers do not yield their aroma
by distillation.  The oil of jasmine is used only as a perfume.
  ORANGE  RED.   Orange Mineral.   Sandix.  Red oxide of lead, prepared by cal-
cining carbonate of lead.  It is of a brighter colour than minium, and is used as a
pigment.
  OROBANCHE VIRGINIANA. Epifagus Americanus. Nuttall. Beech-drops. Cancer-
root.  This is a parasitic, fleshy plant, with a tuberous, scaly root, and a smooth stem,
branched from the base, from twelve to eighteen inches  high, furnished with small
ovate scales, of a yellowish or  purplish colour, and wholly destitute of verdure.   It
is found in all parts of North America, growing upon the roots of the beech tree, from
which it obtained its popular name.   It is in some places very abundant.  The plant
has a bitter,  nauseous, astringent taste, which is said to be diminished by drying.
It has been given internally in bowel affections ; but its credit depends mainly upon
the idea that it is useful in obstinate ulcers of a cancerous character, to which it  is
directly applied in the state of powder.  The late Professor Barton  conjectured that it
was an ingredient of a secret remedy, at one time famous as  Martin's cancer powder,
of which, however, the  most active constituent was arsenious acid.
  Other species of Orobanche, growing in America and Europe, have been employed.
They are all  parasitic,  fleshy plants, without verdure, and of  a bitter, nauseous taste.
In Europe they are  called broom-rape.  The 0. Americana and O. uniflora, of  this
country, are said to  be used for  the same purposes as the  species above noticed, and
like it are called cancer-root.
  ORPIMENT.   King's Yellow.  A native sulphuret of  arsenic,  consisting of one
equiv. of metal 75-4, and three equiv. of sulphur 48-3=123-7.  It  is in masses of a
brilliant lemon-yellow colour, composed of flexible laminae, and slightly translucent.
It exists in various parts of the  world, but is obtained for use  from  Persia and China.
(Guibourt.)   It is sometimes  mixed with realgar, which gives it a reddish or orange
hue.  A similar sulphuret may  be made artificially by passing sulphuretted hydrogen
through a solution of arsenious acid in muriatic acid.  There is  reason to believe
that neither the native sulphuret,nor the artificial, when prepared in the manner just
mentioned  and well washed, is  poisonous, at  least in a degree at  all comparable to
other arsenical compounds.
  Artificial orpiment is prepared for use by fusing together equal parts of arsenious
acid and sulphur.  (Turner.)   In Germany, according to Guibourt, it is prepared by
subliming a mixture of these two substances.  In this case, however, it retains a large
portion of the acid undecomposed, and is therefore highly poisonous. Guibourt found
a specimen which he examined to contain 96 per cent, of arsenious acid, and only 6
per cent, of the sulphuret of arsenic.
  Orpiment is an ingredient of  certain  depilatories.   Atkinson's depilatory is said to
consist of one part of  orpiment and six parts of quicklime, with some flour and a
yellow colouring matter.  (Ann.  der Pharm., xxxiii. 348.)  But this arsenical sulphuret
is chiefly used in fireworks, and as a pigment.
  ORYZA SATIVA.   Rice.  This  is an  annual  plant, originally, perhaps, derived
from  the East Indies, but now cultivated in all parts of the globe where the climate
and soil are adapted to  its growth.  The rice of commerce  consists of the seeds of
the plant deprived of their husk.  Carolina rice was found by Braconnot to contain
85-07 per cent, of starch, 3-60 of gluten, 0*71 of gum, 0-29 of  uncrystallizable sugar,
0*13 of fixed  oil, 4-80 of vegetable fibre, 5-00 of  water, and 0-40 of saline substances.
This  grain is highly nutritious, and of easy digestion,  and  constitutes  the almost
exclusive diet  of whole  nations.  Being wholly free from laxative properties, it is
admirably adapted to cases of weak bowels, in which there is a strong tendency to
diarrhoea  Care, however, should be taken that it be boiled till  it becomes soft.  A
decoction of  rice, usually called rice-water, is a good nutritive drink in fevers, and
inflammatory affections of  the  bowels, lungs, and kidneys.  There appears to be no
ground for the opinion, which has been entertained by some, that a diet of rice is in-
jurious to the eyes.
  OXALIC ACID.  Acidum Oxalicum.  This acid is found both in animals and vege-
tables.  It is  generated occasionally in consequence of a diseased action in the kid-
neys, and deposited in the bladder as oxalate of lime, forming a peculiar  concretion,
called from its appearance the mulberry calculus.  In vegetables, it occurs in a free
state  in the bristles  of the chick-pea (Cicer arietinum), combined with potassa as a
supersalt  in the Rumex acetosa  or common sorrel, and the Oxalis Acetosella or wood 
Appendix.
1283
sorrel, and united with lime in several species of lichen, and in the roots of rhubarb,
valerian, and several  other plants.   It is from the generic appellation Oxalis, that it
takes its name.
  Preparation. The usual process for obtaining oxalic acid consists in decomposing
sugar by nitric acid.  Four parts of sugar are acted upon  by twenty-four parts of
nitric acid of  the sp. gr. 1-22, and the mixture heated so long as any nitric oxide is
disengaged.  A part of the carbon of the sugar is converted into  carbonic acid, by
oxygen derived from the nitric acid, which is thereby partially converted into nitric
oxide.  The undecomposed nitric acid, reacting on the remaining elements of the
sugar, generates oxalic and saccharic (oxalhydric) acids, the  former of which crys-
tallizes as the materials  cool, while the  latter remains in  solution.   The  crystals
being removed, a  fresh crop may be  obtained by  further  evaporation.   The thick
mother-water  which now  remains is a mixture of saccharic, nitric, and oxalic acids;
and, by treatment with six times its weight of nitric acid, the greater part of the  sac-
charic acid will be converted  into oxalic acid.  The new crop of  crystals, however,
will have a yellow colour, and contain a portion of  nitric acid, the greater part of
which may be got rid of by allowing them to effloresce in a warm place.
   Many  substances, besides sugar, yield  oxalic acid by the  action of  nitric acid; as
for example molasses, potato, starch, gum, wool, hair, silk, and many vegetable acids.
In every case in which it is thus generated, the proportional excess of oxygen  which
it contains, compared with every other  organic  compound, is  furnished by the nitric
acid.  Organic substances yield  oxalic acid, also, when heated with potassa.  Thus
shavings of wood, if mixed with a solution of caustic potass, and exposed to  a  heat
considerably higher than 212°, will be partially decomposed and converted into oxalic
acid, which then combines  with the alkali.  This  process constitutes, perhaps, the
cheapest method of obtaining  oxalic acid.
   Properties.   Oxalic acid is  a colourless crystallized solid, possessing considerable
 volatility, and a strong, sour taste.   Its crystals have the shape of slender, flattened,
 four or six-sided prisms,  with two-sided summits; and, when exposed to a very dry
 atmosphere, undergo  a slight efflorescence.  It dissolves  in about  nine times its
 weight of cold, and in its  own weight of boiling water.  The solution of the crystals
 takes place with slight crepitation.   It dissolves, also, but not to the same extent, in
 alcohol.  The presence of nitric acid renders it more soluble  in water.  It combines
 with salifiable bases, and forms salts called oxalates.  The  most interesting of these
 are the three  oxalates of  potassa, severally called oxalate, binoxalate, and quadroxa-
 late, and the oxalate of lime.   The  quadroxalate, sold under  the name of binoxalate
 of potassa or salt of sorrel, sometimes  absurdly called the essential salt of lemons, is
 employed for removing iron moulds from linen, and acts by its excess of acid, which
 forms a soluble salt with the sesquioxide of  iron constituting the stain.  Oxalic acid
 is used for removing ink  stains and  iron moulds, for cleaning  the leather of boot-tops,
 and for discharging colours in calico-printing.
   This  acid  has a very strong  affinity for lime, and forms with it an insoluble preci-
 pitate consisting of oxalate of  lime, whenever the acid and  earth are brought into
 contact.   Hence, oxalic acid  and its soluble  combinations are the best tests we pos-
 sess for lime; and, conversely, a soluble salt of lime for oxalic acid.  When  lime is
 searched  for, the  oxalate usually employed is the  oxalate of  ammonia, as being the
 most convenient.  So strong is the  mutual attraction between this acid and lime, that
 the former takes the latter, even from sulphuric acid.  Hence, the addition of a solu-
 ble oxalate disturbs the transparency of a solution of sulphate of lime.
    Oxalic acid is distinguished from all other  acids by the form  of its crystals, and
 by its solution yielding a precipitate with  lime-water, insoluble in an excess of the
 acid.
    Composition.  Oxalic acid consists of two eqs. of carbon 12, and three of oxygen
 24=36.   When crystallized, three eqs. of water 27 must be added, making the eq. ot
 the crystals 63.   Two eqs. of this water may be  driven off  by a regulated heat, by
 which the acid is  made to effloresce, but the third cannot be expelled without destroy-
 ing the  acid  itself. Accordingly, as in the case of nitric acid, we  have no knowledge
 of anhydrous oxalic acid in an uncombined state.
    From the constitution of oxalic acid, as above given, it is plain that this acid cor-
 responds in  composition to carbonic acid and  carbonic oxide taken together, and is,
 therefore, intermediate, in the quantity of oxygen which it contains, between that acid
 and oxide.   Notwithstanding it contains less oxygen than carbonic acid, it is incom-
 parably stronger as an acid, which circumstance  may be accounted  for by suppos-
 ing some peculiarity in  the mode in which  its constituents are combined. The com- 
1284
Appendix.
position of the acid not only corresponds with the united constituents of carbonic acid
and oxide, but there is reason to believe that these two compounds  are  actually its
proximate constituents; for,if treated with strong sulphuric acid, the whole of the water
will be abstracted, and the elements of the dry oxalic acid are instantly resolved into
equal volumes of carbonic acid and carbonic oxide.
  Oxalic acid combines with salifiable bases in two principal ways.  Sometimes it
drops its essential equivalent of water, which at other times it retains. Thus the oxa-
late of lead is a compound of the dry acid and the protoxide of lead; while the oxalate
of lime retains one equivalent of water.
  Medical and Toxicological Properties.  According to Dr. A. T.Thomson, oxalic acid
in small doses, largely diluted with water and sweetened to the taste, forms an agree-
able, cooling beverage, which may be used in  febrile diseases  as  a substitute for
lemonade.  M. Nardo recommends it as an antiphlogistic and anodyne in inflamma-
tion of the mucous membranes, given in the dose of a  grain and a half dissolved in
eight fluidounces  of liquid.   Notwithstanding the safety of its employment in medi-
cinal doses, it is a virulent poison, producing death with great rapidity and certainty.
Instances are on record of its proving fatal in ten minutes, and few survive the effects
of a poisonous dose beyond an hour.  As this  acid is generally kept in the shops,
and not a few instances are on record of its fatal effects, when  taken by design, or
by mistake for Epsom salt, we shall feel ourselves justifiable in being somewhat full
on its toxicological relations.
  Oxalic acid was first noticed as  a poison by Mr. Royston, in 1814; since which time
it has been principally investigated in this  relation by Dr. A. T. Thomson, of London,
Dr. Percy of Lausanne, Dr.  Coindet  of Geneva, and Dr. Christison  of  Edinburgh.
Since its properties of certainty and rapidity as  a poison have been  more generally
known, its employment for committing suicide has become more  frequent.
  From the general resemblance which the crystallized oxalic acid  bears to Epsom
salt, many fatal mistakes have occurred, since the acid has become so extensively an
article of commerce, in consequence of its being sold for that saline purgative.  No-
thing, however, can be easier than to distinguish them; for upon tasting a minute
portion of the acid, which may be done with perfect safety, it will be found strongly
sour, whereas the salt in question  is bitter.  Unfortunately, however, in the instances
of these fatal mistakes, no suspicions being awakened, the  solution is swallowed with
the  greatest rapidity,  and the mischief is done before the victim is aware of his
danger.
  Oxalic acid acts on the economy in two principal ways, according as its solution is
concentrated or dilute.  When concentrated, it causes exquisite pain, followed by vio-
lent efforts to vomit;  then  sudden dulness, languor, and great  debility, and  finally
death without a struggle.  When  dilute, it acts  in a totally different  manner.  Dis-
solved in twenty times its weight of water, it possesses no corrosive, andjiardly any
irritating power, and  yet it operates  as a deadly poison, causing death by acting on
the brain, spinal marrow, and heart.
  The morbid appearances  caused by oxalic acid are various.   In  a dissection re-
ported by Dr. Christison, the mucous  coat of the throat and gullet had an appearance
as if scalded, and  that of the gullet could be easily scraped off. The inner part of the
stomach was pultaceous, in  many points  black, in others  red, and that of the  intes-
tines, similarly but less violently  affected.  In another case recorded by the same
author, the whole  villous coat of the stomach was either softened or removed, as well
as the inner membrane of the oesophagus; so that the muscular coat was  exposed,
and this coat exhibited a dark  gangrenous appearance, being much thickened, and
highly injected.  The stomach usually contains  a dark fluid,  resembling  coffee-
grounds, consisting chiefly of altered blood.  In a few cases after death by this acid,
no morbid appearances have been discovered.
  In the treatment of poisoning by oxalic acid, the remedial measures must be em-
ployed with great promptitude.  If the antidotes are not at hand and vomiting is not
free, emetics will  be proper.  The stomach  pump would be useful, but no delay in
the  application of other  remedies is admissible, in the expectation of its use.  Dr.
Christison  objects to the use of warm water to promote vomiting, from a fear that it
would increase the danger by promoting the absorption of the poison; but it may be
a question whether this evil, considering the incidental benefit  of the water in pro-
moting vomiting,  is not less  than that of the corrosion of the stomach, which copious
dilution has a tendency to prevent. The proper antidote is chalk or magnesia, mixed
with water; and as soon as either  can be procured, it must be administered in large
and frequently repeated doses.  Chalk was first proposed for this purpose by  Dr. A. 
Appendix.
1285
T. Thomson, of London.  These substances act by neutralizing the poison, forming
with it an  insoluble oxalate either of lime or  of magnesia, both of which are inert.
The soluble salts of oxalic acid, as the  oxalate of ammonia, and the oxalates of po-
tassa, are likewise poisonous, and the antidotes for them are the same as for the acid.
  The best tests for the detection of oxalic acid in the contents of the stomach or in
the vomited matter, in cases of suspected poisoning by this acid, are chloride of cal-
cium, sulphate of copper, and nitrate of silver.  The first causes a white precipitate
of oxalate  of lime,  known by its being  soluble in nitric acid; the second, a  bluish-
white precipitate of oxalate of  copper; and the  third, a dense white precipitate of
oxalate of silver, which, when dried and heated, becomes brown and detonates faintly.
When the  antidotes have been freely used during life, the poison will be in the state
of oxalate  either of lime or magnesia.  Here the oxalate found is to be boiled with a
solution of carbonate of  potassa, whereby an  oxalate of potassa will be generated;
and this must then  be examined by the re-agents above indicated.
   OX-GALL.  Fel Bovinum. The bile of the ox is a viscid fluid, of a green or greenish-
yellow colour,  a peculiar nauseous odour, and a bitter taste.  The latest analysis of
bile is by  Berzelius.   According to this chemist, it contains,  1. bilin, 2. cholepyrrhin,
to which the bile owes its colour,  3. mucus, 4. extractive matters, 5. a peculiar fatty
matter, originally found  in biliary calculi, called cholesterin,  6. oleate, margarate, and
stearate of soda, with a  little fatty matter not  saponified, 7.  chloride of sodium, sul-
phate, phosphate, and lactate of soda, and phosphate of lime.  Of  these substances
the most abundant  and essential is bilin. This when pure is uncrystallizable, colour-
less, translucent, inodorous,  of an acrid and bitter taste, with an after-taste of sweetness,
inflammable, soluble in all proportions  in water, and anhydrous alcohol, insoluble in
ether, neither alkaline nor acid, and composed partly of nitrogen.  One of  its most
striking  properties is  the great  facility  with which it undergoes decomposition; and
hence the  numerous  principles which different  chemists  have found in bile, many
of which are nothing more  than metamorphoses of bilin.  Under the action of acids,
it is changed into two resinous acids called respectively fellinic acid and cholinic acid,
into taurin, and ammonia.  The union of  these  two  acids with a portion  of bilin,
constitutes the choleic acids  of M. Demarcay.   The colouring principle  or chole-
pyrrhin is  also readily changed, and gives rise to various new products, among which
are bihverdin, a green colouring matter resulting from the absorption  of oxygen, and
bilifulvin, a yellow  colouring matter, which is a double salt of lime and soda with a
peculiar azotized acid. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Ser., iii. 177, from the Journ.furpraktische
 Chemie.)                                                           .
   Bile was formerly highly valued as  a remedy in numerous complaints, and was
 considered peculiarly  applicable to cases attended with deficient biliary secretion.  It
 is supposed to be tonic and laxative.   It is  prepared for use by evaporating it to the
 consistence ofan extract.  The  dose is  from five  to ten grains. Refined ox-gall, much
 used by  limners  and  painters, is prepared, according to  Gray, in the following man-
 ner. Take of " fresh ox-gall one pint; boil, skim, add one ounce of alum, and keep
 it on the fire for some time; to another pint,  add one ounce  of common salt in the
 same manner; keep them bottled up for three months, then decant off the clear;  mix
 them in  an equal proportion ; a thick yellow doagulum is immediately formed, leaving
 the refined gall clear and colourless."
   OXIDE OF SILVER. Argenti Oxidum. This oxide  has been proposed as a  sub-
 stitute for  nitrate of silver, as  having the therapeutic action of the  latter without its
 escharotic effect, and its objectionable power of discolouring the skin.  It is usually
 prepared by adding a solution of caustic potassa  in excess to one of n!tfa,et°f™«r*
 The precipitate thrown down is to be carefully washed and dried, and kept from the
 air and light.  When thus  obtained it is  an olive-brown powder.   It may also be
 obtained by the process  of  Gregory, namely, by boiling  the moist, recently^prepared
 chloride of silver with a very strong solution of caustic potassa (sp gr   25 to 1 30 )
 When thus prepared it is a very dense  pure-black powder.  Oxide of silver consols
 nfnnepn  of silver and one of oxygen.
 °f Sell Properties.  Oxide of silver was first  employed in medicine by Van Mons
 and Sementinf.  More recently it has been recommended by Mr. C. a. a. bane,  wno
 consideTsU to act  as a sedative.  Mr. Lane has used it with more or  less success in
 Zsea  cardialgia, pyrosis, various painful affections of the stomach independent of
 SS lesion dysentery,  diarrhoea, night  sweats without  other obvious  affection
 2 g   Lrrhrpa menorrhagia, leucorrhoea, chronic enlargements of the uterus,attended
 tlTSn^  &"I'Appeared that the oxide exerted a peculiar control over uterine

      109 
1286
Appendix.
fluxes.  Some of the cases treated required the use of tonics after the salutary influ-
ence of the  oxide had been exerted.  Dr. Golding Bird has also obtained favour-
able effects  from the use of the oxide of silver, and confirms to a certain extent the
results of Mr. Lane, especially as to its valuable powers in menorrhagia.  Thus far
no case of cutaneous discoloration has occurred, though Mr. Lane has given the oxide
repeatedly for two months, and Dr. Bird in more than a hundred cases, in one for
four months. Mr. Lane has observed one case in  which repeated salivation occurred,
and Dr. Bird, several in which the gums were affected.  In stomach disease, charac-
terized by a  glairy discharge, instead of a watery one, this physician derived not the
slightest benefit from the oxide, though he used  it in thirty cases.  In epilepsy it is
supposed that the oxide will accomplish  all that can be expected from the nitrate,
with less risk to the stomach, and without incurring the danger of blackening the
skin.  The dose of oxide of silver is half a grain, twice or thrice a day, given in pill.
In no case did Mr. Lane carry the  dose beyond six grains  in the twenty-four hours.
It has been  used in the  form of ointment, composed of from five to ten grains  to the
drachm of lard, as an application to venereal sores, and to the urethral membrane in
gonorrhoea, smeared on  a bougie.
  P^EONIA OFFICINALIS.  Peony. This well known plant is a native of Southern
Europe, but is everywhere cultivated in gardens for the beauty of its flowers.  The
root, flowers, and seeds  were formerly officinal.  The root consists of a caudex about
as thick as the thumb, which descends several inches into the ground, and sends off
in all directions spindle-shaped tubers, which gradually taper into thread-like fibres, by
which  they  hang together.  It has a strong, peculiar, disagreeable odour, and a nau-
seous taste,  which is at first sweetish,  and afterwards bitter and somewhat  acrid.
The odour disappears or is much  diminished by drying.  Peony-root was in very
great repute among  the ancients, who used it both as a charm  and as a medicine in
numerous complaints,particularly epilepsy.  In modern times it has also been given
in epilepsy and various  nervous affections, but is at present seldom used.  The dose
of the fresh  root is from two drachms to an ounce, boiled in a pint of water down to
half a pint,  which should be taken daily.  It is said to be less active when  dried.
The expressed juice of  the recent root is recommended in the dose of an  ounce.  It
is milky, of  a strong odour, and very disagreeable taste. The flowers are usually of a
deep-red colour, though in some varieties of a light-red, and even whitish. They have,
when fresh,  an odour similar to that of the root, but feebler, and an astringent, sweet-
ish, herbaceous taste.  When dry, they are inodorous. As a medicine they have little
power, and are scarcely used.   The seeds are roundish oval, about as large as  a pea,
externally smooth, shining, and nearly black, internally whitish,  inodorous when dry,
and of a mild, oleaginous  taste.  By some authors they are said to be emetic  and
purgative, and  by others are considered  antispasmodic.  They  may be given  in the
same dose with the root, but are not used in regular practice.
  PALM OIL.  This highly valuable fixed oil is the product of  the Elais Gtiiniensis,
a palm growing on the  Western coast of Africa, and cultivated in the West  Indies
and South America.   It is among the handsomest trees of its graceful family  which
flourish in the tropical regions of Africa.  The oil is obtained by expression from the
fruit.   It  is  brought to  this country chiefly from Liberia, and  other places on the
African coast, though prepared also in the West Indies, Cayenne, and Brazil.  It is
not improbable that various species of palms contribute to the  supply of this article
of commerce.
   Palm oil has the consistence of butter, a rich orange-yellow colour, a sweetish
taste, and an agreeable  odour, compared by some to that of violets, by others to thatof
the Florentine orris.   By age and exposure it becomes rancid and of a whitish colour.
It melts with the heat of the hand, and when perfectly fluid passes readily through
blotting paper.  Highly rectified alcohol dissolves it at common temperatures, and
in ether it is soluble in all proportions.  According to M. Henry, it consists of 31
parts of stearin and 69 of olein.  But from the experiments of Fremyand Stenhouse,
it appears that the stearin has peculiar  properties entitling it to be considered as a
distinct principle,and it has accordingly received the name of palmitin.  This is con-
verted into palmitic acid by saponification. (Kane's Chemistry.)  It appears also that a
considerable proportion of this acid, together with some glycerin, exists uncombined
in  the  oil, as ascertained by MM. Pelouze and Boudet; so that the changes which
are effected in oils, through the agency of alkalies, in the  process of saponification,
takes place, to a certain extent, spontaneously in palm oil.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv.
389.)   Hence it is more easily saponified  than  any other fixed oil.  It is said to be
frequently imitated by a mixture of lard and suet, coloured with turmeric, and scented 
Appendix.
1287
with Florentine orris. It is much employed in the manufacture of a toilet soap, which
retains its pleasant odour.  Palm oil is emollient, and has sometimes been employed
in friction or embrocation, though not superior for this purpose to many other olea-
ginous substances.
  PARIETARIA OFFICINALIS.  Wall Pellitory.  A perennial European herb, grow-
ing on old walls and heaps of rubbish.  It is inodorous, has an herbaceous, somewhat
rough and saline taste, and contains nitre derived from the walls where it  flourishes.
It is diuretic and refrigerant, and is said also, but without good  reason, to be demul-
cent and emollient.   The  ancients employed it in various complaints, and it is still
considerably used on the continent of Europe, especially in domestic practice.  It is
given in complaints of the urinary passages, dropsy, and febrile  affections, usually in
the form of decoction.  The expressed juice is also used, and the fresh plant is ap-
plied in the shape of a cataplasm to painful tumours.
  PATENT YELLOW. Mineral Yellow.  A pigment, consisting of chloride combined
with protoxide of lead.  It  is prepared by mixing common salt and litharge  with a
sufficient quantity of water, allowing the mixture to stand for some time, then wash-
ing out the liberated soda, and exposing the white residue to heat.
  PAULLINIA.  Guarana.  This is  a new medicine introduced  into Europe from
Brazil, which  has attracted some  attention from the  asserted fact, that it  contains a
principle identical with caffein.  The name of paullinia has been  bestowed upon it
from the generic title of the plant from which it is obtained.  That of guarana, by
which it was previously known, was derived  from  a tribe of aborigines, called Gua-
ranis, who are said to use it extensively  as a corrigent of their vegetable  diet.  It is
prepared from the seeds of the Paullinia sorbilis of Martius, a climbing shrub, belong-
ing to the class and order Octandria Trigyniaof the Linnaean system, and the natural
family of the Sapindaceae.  The seeds, which are contained in a three-celled, three-
valved, coriaceous capsule, are  lenticular and almost  horny, and invested  with a
flesh-coloured arillus which is easily separable when dry. They are prepared by
powdering them in a mortar, or upon a chocolate stone previously heated, mixing the
powder with a little  water, exposing it for some time to the dew, then kneading it
into a paste, mixing with this some of the seeds either whole or merely bruised, and
finally forming the mixture into cylindrical or globular masses, which  are dried  and
hardened in the sun  or by the  smoke of a  fire.  These masses are of  a reddish-
brown colour, rugose on the surface, very hard, and of a marbled appearance when
broken.   Paullinia is of a somewhat  astringent and  bitterish taste, and  in  this as
well as in its odour, bears some resemblance to chocolate, though not oleaginous.   It
swells up and softens  in water, which partially dissolves it. Martius found in it a
crystallizable principle which he named guaranin, and which seems  to  have been
proved by the researches of MM. Berthemot and  Dechastelus  to be  identical with
caffein.  The discovery of caffein in three  plants belonging to distinct  natural fami-
lies, namely, the coffee and tea plants, and the Paullinia, is a highly interesting result
of  recent chemical investigations.  It is said to be more abundant in the paullinia
than in either of the other  vegetables.  According  to Berthemot and Dechastelus, it
exists in the seeds, united with tannic acid, with which it appears  to form two com-
pounds, one crystallizable and soluble in water, the  other of a  resinoid appearance
and insoluble.  Besides these ingredients, the seeds contain also free tannic acid,
gum, albumen, starch, and a greenish  fixed oil. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 514.)
  The effects of paullinia upon the system are said to be those of a tonic ;  but they do
not  appear to have been  very accurately investigated.*  It is highly probable, both
from its composition and the use made of it by the natives  of Brazil, that it has an
influence over the nervous system similar to  that of tea and coffee.  It is habitually
employed by the Indians, either mixed  with articles of diet, as with cassava or choco-
late or in the form of  drink prepared by scraping  it and suspending the  powder in
sweetened water.  It is considered by them  useful  in the prevention and cure of
bowel complaints.   Dr. Gavrelle, who was  formerly physician  to Don Pedro, in
Brazil and there became  acquainted with the virtues of this medicine,  called ihe
attention of the  profession to it a few years since in France.  He had found it ad-
vantageous in  the diarrhoea of phthisis,  sick-headache, paralysis,  tedious convales-
cence and generally as a tonic.  It  may be given iti substance,  in the quantity of
one or two drachms, scraped  into powder and mixed with sweetened water; but the
most convenient form of administration is that of  spirituous extract.  According to
M  nechastelus, alcohol is the only agent which completely extracts its  virtues; ether
and water effecting this object but partially.   Of the extract eight or ten grains may 
1288
Appendix.
be  given  during the day in the  form of pills.  Paullinia may also be taken along
with chocolate as a drink.
  PHELLANDRIUM  AQUATICUM. Linn. (Enanthe Phellandrium.Lamarck. Fine-
leaved Water-hemlock.   A biennial or perennial, umbelliferous, European water-plant,
the fresh  leaves of which are said to  be injurious to cattle, producing a kind of pa-
ralysis  when  eaten.  By drying,  they lose their deleterious  properties.  The  seeds
have been used in Europe to a considerable extent, in the treatment of disease. They
are from a line to a line and a half in  length, ovate-oblong, narrow above, somewhat
compressed, marked with ten delicate  ribs, and crowned with  the  remains of the
calyx, and with the erect or reverted styles.   Their colour is yellowish-brown, their
odour peculiar, strong, and  disagreeable;  their  taste  acrid and  aromatic.   Among
their constituents is a volatile oil, upon which their aromatic flavour depends.  By
different writers  they are described as  aperient, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant,
and sedative. They probably unite mild narcotic properties with the stimulant powers
which are common to most  of the aromatics, and may be directed according to cir-
cumstances, to different secretory organs.   In over-doses  they produce vertigo, in-
toxication, and other narcotic effects.   The complaint in which they appear to  have
been used most successfully is  consumption, probably of the catarrhal character.
They  have been  given also in asthma, dyspepsia, intermittent  fever, obstinate ulcers,
&c. The dose of the seeds, to commence with, is five or six grains, so repeated  as to
amount to a drachm in twenty-four hours.  They should be given in powder.
  PHLORIDZIN.   This is a bitter principle, discovered by Dr. Konink, of Germany,
in the bark  of the apple, pear, cherry, and plum trees. It is most abundant in the
bark of the root, and derived its name from  this circumstance.   (From two Greek
words, <j>Xotr bark, and pt{a a root.)   It is light, white, crystallizable in silky needles, of
a bitter  taste, soluble  in about 1000 parts of cold and  in all  proportions in boiling
water, very soluble in  alcohol, scarcely soluble in ether cold or hot, dissolved without
change  by solutions of the  alkalies, especially by ammonia, deprived of its water of
crystallization at 212°, and fusible at a somewhat higher temperature.  It is without
acid or alkaline reaction, and consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  To obtain
it, the fresh bark of ihe root of the apple tree should  be selected, as the dried  bark
is said to  contain it in much smaller  proportion.  The  bark  is  to be boiled for an
hour or two successively in two separate portions of water, each sufficient to  cover it,
and the  decoctions set aside.  At  the  end of thirty hours they will have deposited a
considerable quantity of coloured phloridzin, which may be purified by boiling  for a
few minutes with distilled water and animal charcoal, filtering, repeating this process
two or three times, and then allowing  the solution to cool slowly.  The phloridzin is
deposited  in the crystalline state.  An  additional quantity may be obtained by evapo-
rating the decoction to one-fifth  of its bulk, allowing it to cool, and purifying the sub-
stance deposited in the same  manner as before.
  Phloridzin is said to possess the anti-intermittent property in a high degree, and to
have  proved successful where quinia  had failed.   It was employed by Dr. Konink in
the dose of ten or fifteen grains, and in this quantity effected cures in several cases of
intermittent fever.
  PHYSALIS ALKEKENGI.  Common Winter  Cherry.  A perennial herbaceous
plant, growing wild in the South of  Europe, and cultivated  in  our gardens.  The
fruit is a round red berry, about as large as a cherry, enclosed in  the  calyx,  and con-
taining  numerous flat kidney-shaped seeds.   The berries are veryjuicy, and have an
acidulous, bitterish taste.   The calyx is very bitter.   By drying  they shrink, and
become of a brownish-red colour.  They are'said to  be aperient and diuretic, and
have been recommended in suppression of urine, gravel, and other complaints of the
urinary passages.  From six to twelve  berries, or an ounce  of the expressed juice,
may be taken  for a dose; and much larger quantities are not injurious.  They are
consumed to a considerable extent in some parts of Europe as food.  The berries of
the Physalis viscosa, of this country, are said by Clayton to  be  remarkably diuretic.
  PICHURIM BEANS.  The seeds ofan uncertain tree, growing in  Brazil, Guiana,
Venezuela, and other parts of South America.  The  tree has been supposed  to be the
Ocotea. Pichurim of Kunth (Laurus Pichurim, Richard, Aydendron Laurel, Nees); but
this is positively denied by F. Nees von Esenbeck; and the brother of that botanist
refers the seeds to the Nectandra Puchury.  The beans are  the  kernels of the fruit
separated into halves.  They are  ovate-oblong or elliptical, flat on one side, convex
on the other, of a grayish-brown colour  externally, chocolate  coloured within, of an
aromatic odour between that of nutmegs and sassafras, and of a spicy pungent  taste. 
Appendix.
1289
There are two kinds, one about an inch and a half long by half an inch in breadth, the
other little more than half as large, rounder, and of a dark-brown colour.  Their vir-
tues depend on a  volatile oil.  In medical properties they resemble the common aro-
matics, and may be employed for the same purposes.  They are rare in this country.
  PIMPrNELLA SAXIFRAGA.   Small Burnet Saxifrage.   Saxifraga.   A perennial
umbelliferous European plant, growing on sunny hills, and  in dry meadows and pas-
tures.  The  root is officinal in some parts of Europe.  It has a strong, aromatic, yet
unpleasant odour, and a sweetish, pungent, biting, aromatic, bitterish taste.  Its active
constituents are volatile oil, and an acrid resin.  It is considered diaphoretic, diuretic,
and stomachic; and has been used in  chronic catarrh, asthma, dropsy, amenorrhoea,
&c.  The dose in substance is about  half a drachm, and in infusion two drachms.
The root is used also as a masticatory in toothache, as a gargle in palsy of the tongue
and in collections of viscid mucus in  the throat, and externally to remove freckles.
  PINCKNEYA  PUBENS.  Michaux.   A large shrub or small tree, growing in
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, in low and moist places along the  sea coast.
It is closely allied, in botanical characters, to the Cinchonae, with which it was formerly
ranked by some botanists.   The bark is bitter, and has  been used with advantage in
intermittent fever.  Dr. Law, of Georgia, cured six out of  seven  cases in which he
administered it.  The dose and mode  of preparation are the same with those of cin-
chona.  The chemical composition and  medical properties of this bark deserve a
fuller investigation than they have yet received.
  PLANTAGO MAJOR. Plantain. A well known perennial herb, growing in fields,
by the roadsides, and in grass plats, and abounding both in Europe and in this country.
The leaves are saline, bitterish, and austere to the taste, the root saline and sweetish.
The plant has  been considered refrigerant, diuretic, deobstruent, and somewhat as-
tringent.  The ancients esteemed it highly, and  employed it in visceral obstructions,
hemorrhages, particularly from the lungs, consumption, dysentery, and other com-
plaints.   In  modern times it has  been applied to similar purposes, and  the root is
said to  have proved useful in intermittents.   At present,  however, it  is generally
believed to be very feeble, and is little used internally.  As an external application
it has been recommended in ulcers of various  kinds, and in indolent scrofulous tu-
mours.   Among the vulgar it is still much used as a vulnerary, and as a  dressing for
blisters and sores.  The dose of the expressed  juice is from one to four fluidounces.
Two ounces of the fresh root or leaves  may be boiled in a pint of water  and given
during the day.  Externally, the leaves are applied whole or in decoction.  The
Plantago media, and the P. lancifolia or rib-grass, which are also indigenous, possess
properties similar to those of the P. major, and may be used for the same purposes.
  Under the name of semen psyllii, the seeds of several species of Plantago, growing
in different parts of Europe, are sometimes kept in the shops.  The best are obtained
from the Plantago  Psyllium  or fleawort, which grows  in  the South of  Europe and
Barbary.  They are small, about a line long by half a line in breadth, convex on one
side, concave on the other, flea-coloured, shining, inodorous, and nearly tasteless, but
very mucilaginous when  chewed.  They are demulcent and emollient, and may be
used internally and externally in the  same manner as flaxseed, which  they closely
resemble in medical properties.
  PLATINUM.  In 1826 Prof. Gmelin, of Tubingen, made  experiments lo determine
the action of this  metal on the economy.  Within a few years Dr. Ferdinand Hoefer
has investigated the same subject.   The latter  experimented chiefly with the bichlo-
ride, and the  double chloride of platinum and sodium.  They are both poisonous; the
bichloride in the dose of 15 grains, the double chloride in that of 30 grains.  When a
concentrated  solution of the bichloride is applied to the skin, it produces  violent itch-
ing followed by an eruption.   Administered  internally it irritates the mucous mem-
brane of the  stomach,  and occasions headache.  The double chloride has no action
when externally applied, and, when given internally, operates on the system in a less
sensible  manner  than  the  bichloride.  It  possesses  the power of augmenting the
urine   Dr Hoefer ranks the preparations of platinum with  the alteratives, by the side
of those of'gold iodine, and arsenic.  He considers  them  particularly suited  to the
treatment ofsyphililic diseases;  the bichloride to cases of  long standing and invete-
rate  the  double chloride, to those which are recent.  The  dose of the bichloride is
from one to  two  grains twice a day, given in pill.  Eight  grains may be  made into
sixteen Dills with a drachm of the extract of guaiacum wood of the French Codex, and
^nffirient Dowdered liquorice root.  Of these one, two, or three may be taken morning
and evening.  The double chloride may be prepared for administration by dissolving
                                     109* 
1290
Appendix.
five grains of the bichloride and eight of pure chloride of sodium in seven fluidounces
of gum water.   This  quantity may be taken by tablespoonfuls in the course of the
twenly-four hours.  Dr. Hoefer used for frictions on indolent ulcers,  an ointment
composed of sixteen grains of the bichloride, thirty-two grains of extract of belladonna,
and an ounce of lard.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxvii. 213.)
  PLUMBAGO EUROPffi A.  Leadwort. Dentellaria.  A perennial, herbaceous plant,
growing in the South  of Europe.   It  has an acrid  taste, and, when chewed, excites a
flow of saliva.   This is particularly the case with  the root, which has been long used
to relieve toothache.  Hence the  plant derived the name  of dentelaire, by which it is
known in France.  A  decoction of the root in olive oil has been highly recommended
for the cure of the itch.   Writers differ much in their statements in relation to the
activity of the plant, some speaking of it as rubefacient, vesicatory, and caustic, and,
when swallowed, as violently emetic  and liable to  produce dangerous irritation of the
alimentary canal; while others consider it nearly inert.  Perhaps the difference may
be ascribed in part to  the use of the plant in the recent state in one case, and dried or
long kept in the other. A crystallizable, acrid principle, called plumbagin, has  been
extracted from the root by Dulong.
  POLYPODIUM VULGARE. Common Polypody. A fern belonging both to the old
and new continents, and growing in the clefts of old walls, rocks, and decayed trunks
of trees.  The root, which is the  part considered  medicinal, is rather long, about as
thick as a goosequill, somewhat  contorted, covered  with brown, easily separable
scales, furnished with slender radicles, and marked by  numerous  small tubercles.
As  found in the shops, it is sometimes destitute of the scales and radicles. Its colour
is reddish-brown with a tinge of yellow, its odour disagreeably oleaginous, its  taste
peculiar, sweetish, somewhat bitter, and nauseous.  The root of the  variety growing
upon the oak has been preferred, though without good reason.  It  was deemed purga-
tive by the ancients, who employed it for the evacuation of  bile and pituitous humours,
in melancholic and maniacal cases.  Modern physicians have used it in similar com-
plaints, and as a pectoral in chronic catarrh  and asthma.   At present, however, it is
scarcely  ever employed, being considered  nearly inert.  It was given in doses vary-
ing from a drachm to an ounce, usually in connexion with cathartics.
  POPULUS.  Poplar.  Several  trees belonging  to this  genus have attracted some
attention in a medical point of view.  In  most of them,  the leaf buds are covered
with a resinous exudation, which has  a peculiar, agreeable, balsamic  odour, and a bit-
terish, balsamic, somewhat pungent taste.  This is abundant in the buds of the Popu-
lus  nigra or black poplar of Europe, which are officinal in some parts of that continent.
They contain resin and a peculiar volatile oil.  The buds  of the P. balsamifera,grow-
ing in the northern parts of N.  America and in  Siberia, are also highly balsamic; and
a resin is said to be furnished by the tree, which is sometimes, though erroneously,
called tacamahac. The virtues of the poplar buds  are probably analogous to those of
the  turpentines  and balsams.  They have been used in pectoral, nephritic, and rheu-
matic complaints, in the form of tincture; and  a liniment, made by macerating them
in oil, has been applied externally in local  rheumatism.  The unguentum populeum
of European  pharmacy is  made, according to the  directions of the French Codex of
1837, by  bruising in a marble mortar, and boiling in 2000  parts of lard,  with a gentle
fire, till the moisture is dissipated, 250 parts, each, of the fresh leaves of theblack
poppy, deadly nightshade,  henbane, and black  nightshade; then adding of the dried
buds of the black poplar, bruised, 375 parts;  digesting for 24 hours; straining with
strong expression; and finally  allowing the ointment to cool  after defecation.  This
is an anodyne ointment, occasionally  employed in Europe in painful local affections.
  The bark of some species of poplar is possessed of tonic properties, and has been
used in intermittent fever  with advantage.   Such  is the case with that  of the P. tre-
muloides  or American aspen, and of the P.tremulu  or European aspen. In the bark of
the  latter,  Braconnot found salicin,  and another  crystallizable principle which  he
named populin.  It is in  these, probably, that the febrifuge properties of the bark
reside. They may be obtained  by  precipitating a saturated decoction of the bark with
solution of subacetate  of lead,  filtering, precipitating the excess of lead  by sulphuric
acid, again filtering, evaporating, adding animal charcoal  towards the end of ihe eva-
poration, and filtering  the liquor  while hot.  Salicin gradually  separates, upon the
cooling of the liquor, in the  form  of  crystals.  If, when this principle has ceased to
crystallize, the excess of sulphuric acid in the liquid be saturated by a concentrated
solution of carbonate  of potassa, the populin will be precipitated.  If this be  pressed
between  folds of blotting paper, and redissolved in boiling water, it will be deposited, 
Appendix.
1291
upon the cooling of the liquid, in the crystalline state.  The leaves of the P. tremula
also afford populin, and more largely even than the bark.  It is probable that both
principles exist also in the bark of the P. tremuloides, and other species.   Salicin is
described under Salix.  Populin is very light, purely  white, and of a bitter, sweetish
taste, analogous to that of liquorice.  When heated it melts into a colourless and
transparent liquid.  It is soluble in 2000 parts of cold, and about 70 parts of boiling
water; and is more soluble in boiling alcohol. Acetic acid and the  diluted mineral
acids dissolve it, and upon  the addition of an alkali, let it fall unchanged.
  PORTULACA OLERACEA.   Garden  Purslane.   An annual  succulent  plant,
growing  in gardens and cultivated  grounds in the  United  States, Europe, and most
other parts of the globe. It has an herbaceous, slightly saline taste, and is often used
as  greens, being  boiled with meat, or other vegetables. It is considered  a cooling
diuretic,  and is recommended in scurvy, and affections of the  urinary passages.  The
seeds have been thought to be anthelmintic; but they are tasteless and inert.
  POTENTILLA REPTANS.  Cinquefoil.  A perennial, creeping, European herb,
with leaves which are usually quinate, and have thus given origin to the ordinary
name of the plant.  The root has a bitterish, styptic,  slightly  sweetish taste, and was
formerly used in  diarrhoea and other complaints for which  astringents  are usually
prescribed.
  PRUNELLA VULGARIS.   Self-heal.  Heal-all.   A small  perennial labiate plant,
common both in Europe and the United  States, growing especially by  the way-sides.
It is inodorous, but has an  austere bitterish taste.  The herb in flower was formerly
used, in  the state of infusion or decoction, in hemorrhages and diarrhoea, and as a
gargle  in sorethroat.  In this country, it is not employed in regular practice.
  PULMONARIA  OFFICINALIS.   Lungwort.  An herbaceous  perennial, indi-
genous in Europe, and sometimes cultivated in this country in gardens.  The leaves
are inodorous, and  have an herbaceous, somewhat  mucilaginous, and feebly astrin-
gent taste.  They have been considered pectoral and demulcent, and employed in
catarrh,  haemoptysis, consumption, and other affections of the chest;  but their virtues
are doubtful, and they were probably used in pectoral complaints as much on account
of the  supposed resemblance  of their speckled surface to that of the  lungs, as from
the possession of any positively useful properties.
  PUMICE STONE.  Pumex.  A very light porous stone, found in  the vicinity of
active  or extinct volcanoes, and believed to have been thrown up during their eruption.
The pumice stone of commerce is said to be obtained chiefly from Lipari.  It is used
whole, in the manner of a file, for removing the outer  sur'face  of bodies, or for rubbing
down inequalities, and, in  the  state of powder, for polishing glass, metals, stones, &c,
purposes to which it is adapted by the hardness of its particles.
  PYRETHRUM PARTHENIUM. Willd.  Matricaria Parthenium. Linn.  Chrysan-
themum  Parthenium. Persoon.  Feverfew.  A perennial herbaceous  plant, about two
feet high, with an erect, branching stem, pinnate leaves, oblong, obtuse, gashed, and
dentate leaflets, and compound flowers borne in a corymb upon branching peduncles.
It is a  native of Europe, but cultivated in our gardens.  The whole  herbaceous part
is used.   The plant has an odour and taste analogous to those of chamomile, which
it resembles  also in the appearance of its flowers, and in its medical  properties.
Though  little employed, it is undoubtedly possessed of useful tonic properties.
  PYROACETIC SPIRIT. Pyroacetic Ether. Acetone.  Erroneously called Naphtha
and Wood-naphtha.  This substance may be obtained by carefully distilling acetate of
lime, and rectifying the product by repeated distillations from  quicklime  in a water
bath, until its boiling point becomes constant, whereby it is freed  from water and
empyreumatic oil.  It is a  colourless, volatile, inflammable liquid, having a peculiar
penetrating smell, and a pungent taste like that of peppermint. Its sp.gr. is 0-7922
and boiling point 132°.  As found in the shops, its density is  generally not lower than
0-820.  It is miscible with  water, ether, and alcohol in all proportions.   It should not
become  turbid when mixed with water.   When water produces this effect, it has not
been freed from empyreumatic oil.  Its formula is C3H30.  Pyroacetic spirit has been
recommended by Dr. John Hastings as a remedy in  pulmonary consumption; but it
has no control whatever over that disease.  As a remedy it deserves investigation by
the profession, and will  probably be found suited to certain forms  of chronic bron-
chitis.  The dose is from ten to forty drops, three times a day, sufficiently diluted with
water.
  REALGAR.  This is the protosulphuret of arsenic, consisting of one eq. of arsenic 
1292
Appendix.
 75-4, and two of sulphur 32.2= 107-6. It is found native in Saxony, Bohemia, Transyl-
 vania, and in various volcanic regions.  Realgar is artificially made by melting arsen-
 ious acid with about half its weight of  sulphur. (Turner.)  Thus prepared, it is of a
 crystalline texture, of a beautiful ruby-red colour, of a  uniform conchoidal fracture,
 somewhat transparent in thin layers, and capable of being sublimed without change.
 Native realgar is  said to be  innocent when taken internally, while that artificially
 prepared is poisonous, in consequence, according to  Guibourt, of containing a little
 arsenious acid.  Realgar is used only as a pigment.
   RED CHALK.   Reddle.  A mineral substance of a deep red colour, of a compact
 texture, dry to the touch, adhering to the tongue, about as hard as chalk, soiling the
 fingers when handled, and leaving a lively red trace when drawn over paper.  It con-
 sists of clay and oxide of iron, and is intermediate between bole and red ochre, contain-
 ing more oxide of iron than  the former, and less than the latter. It is used for drawing
 lines upon wood, &c, and  is sometimes  made into  crayons by levigating and elu-
 triating it, then forming it into a paste with mucilage of  gum Arabic, moulding this
 into cylinders, and drying it in the shade.  It has been used internally as an absorbent
 and astringent.
   RESEDA LTJTEOLA.   Weld.  Dyer's weed.  An  annual European  plant, natu-
 ralized in the United States.  It is inodorous, and has a  bitter tasle,  which  is very
 adhesive.  Chevereul obtained from it by sublimation a  peculiar yellow colouring
 matter, which he called luteolin.  In medicine it has been employed as a diaphoretic
 and diuretic, but is now neglected.  On the  continent of Europe it is much employed
 for dyeing yellow, and, before the introduction of quercitron into England, was exten-
 sively applied to the same purpose in that country.   The whole plant  is used.
   RHODODENDRUM CRYSANTHUM.   Yellow-flowered Rhododendron.  This is a
 beautiful evergreen  shrub,  about a  foot high, with spreading branches and  oblong
 obtuse, thick leaves, narrowed towards their footstalks, reflexed at the  margin, much
 veined, rugged and deep-green upon their  upper surface, ferruginous  or glaucous
 beneath, and surrounding the branches upon strong petioles.  The flowers are large,
 yellow,on long peduncles, and in terminal umbels.  The corolla is wheel-shaped, with
 its border divided into five roundish, spreading segments. The plant is a native of
 Siberia, delighting in mountainous situations, and flowering in June and July.  The
 leaves are the part used.  When fresh, they have a feeble odour, said to resem ble that of
 rhubarb.   In  the  dried state they  are inodorous, but have an austere, astringent,
 bitterish taste.  They yield their virtues to water and alcohol.
   They are stimulant, narcotic, and diaphoretic, producing, when first taken, increase
 of heat and arterial action, subsequently a diminished frequency of the pulse, and,
 in large doses, vomiting, purging, and delirium.  They have been long employed in
 Siberia as a remedy in rheumatism, and their use  has extended to various parts of
 Europe.   Their action is said to be accompanied with  a sensation  of creeping or
 pricking in the affected part, which subsides in a few hours, leaving ihe part free from
 pain. They have been recommended also in gout, lues venerea, and palsy. In  Siberia
 they are prepared by infusing two drachms of the dried leaves in about ten ounces of
 water, in a close vessel, and keeping  the liquid near the boiling point during the night.
 The  strained liquor is taken in the morning; and a repetition of the dose three or four
 days successively generally effects a cure.   The remedy is not used in this country.
  RIGA BALSAM.  Balsamum Carpaticum.  Balsamum Libani.  This is a product
 of the Pinus Cembra, a large  tree growing in the  mountainous  regions and northern
 latitudes of Europe and Asia.  The juice exudes from the extremities of the young
 twigs, and is collected in flasks suspended from them. It is a thin white fluid, having
 an odour  analogous to  that of juniper, and possessing the ordinary terebinthinate
 properties.  In this country it is very rare ;  but it is occasionally brought from Riga
 or Cronstadt in bottles.  A similar product, called Hungarian Balsam, is obtained in
 the same manner from the Pinus Pumilio, growing on the  mountains of Switzerland,
 Austria, and Hungary.  It is scarcely known in the United States.
  ROTTEN STONE.   Terra Cariosa.  An earthy mineral, occurring in light, dull,
friable masses, dry to the touch, of a very fine grain, and of an ash-brown colour.  It
is obtained from Derbyshire in England, and is used for polishing metals.
  SALEP.  Though not directed by any of the British Colleges, nor by our national
Pharmacopoeia, this substance deserves a slight notice, as it is frequently mentioned
 by writers on the Materia Medica, and is occasionally to be found in the shops.  The
 name is given to the prepared bulbs of the  Orchis mascula and  other species of the
 same genus.   The male orchis  is  a native of Europe,  the Levant, and northern 
Appendix.
1293
Africa.  Its bulbs, which  are  two in number, oval or roundish, internally white and
spongy, are prepared by removing their epidermis, plunging them into boiling water,
then stringing them together, and drying them in the sun or by the fire.  By this pro-
cess they acquire  the appearance and consistence which  distinguish them as found
in the shops.  They were formerly procured exclusively from  Asia Minor and Persia,
but are now prepared in France, and perhaps other parts of Europe.
   Salep is in small, oval, irregular  masses, hard, horny, semi-transparent, of a yel-
lowish colour, a feeble odour, and a mild mucilaginous taste.  It is sometimes kept in
the state of powder.  In composition and  relation to water it is closely analogous to
tragacanth, consisting of a substance insoluble, but swelling up in cold water (basso-
rin), of another in much smaller proportion, soluble in cold water, and of minute
quantities of saline matters. It also occasionally contains a little starch.  It is highly
nutritive, and may be employed for  the same purposes with tapioca, sago, &c. The
reputation which it enjoyed among  the ancients, and still enjoys in the East, of pos-
sessing aphrodisiac properties, is wholly without foundation.
   SANDARACH.   Sandaraca.   This is  a resinous  substance obtained from the
Thuya articulata, an  evergreen tree  growing in  the North of Africa.   It  is  in  small
irregular, roundish oblong grains or  tears, of a pale yellow colour, sometimes inclining
to brown, more or less transparent,  dry and brittle, breaking into a powder under the
teeth, of a  faint agreeable  odour increased by warmth, and  of a resinous slightly
acrid taste. It melts with  heat, diffusing a strong balsamic odour, and  easily inflames.
It is almost entirely soluble in ordinary alcohol, and entirely  so in that liquid when
anhydrous, and in  ether.  Heated oil of turpentine also dissolves the greater part of
it, but very slowly.  According to Unverdorben, it consists of three different resins,
varying in their relations  to alcohol, ether, and the oil of turpentine.   The sandaracin
of Geise, which remains after sandarach has been exposed to the action of ordinary
alcohol, is  a mixture of two of these resins.  Sandarach was formerly given internally
as a medicine, and enters  into  the composition of various ointments and plasters.  At
present it is used chiefly as  a  varnish.   It is sometimes employed as incense, and its
powder is rubbed upon  paper  in  order to prevent ink from  spreading, after letters
have been  scratched out.
   SAPONARIA OFFICINALIS. Soapworl.  A perennial herbaceous plant, growing
wild in this country, in  the vicinity  of cultivation, but probably introduced from Eu-
rope.  It is commonly known  by the vulgar name of bouncing bet.   It is  one or two
feet high, with smooth  lanceolate  leaves, and clusters of conspicuous  whitish or
slightly purplish flowers, which appear in July and August. The root and leaves are
employed.   They are inodorous, and of a taste at first bitterish and slightly sweetish,
afterwards somewhat pungent, continuing long, and leaving a slight sense of numb-
ness on the tongue.   They impart  to water the property of forming a lather  when
agitated, like a solution  of soap, whence the name of the  plant  was derived.  This
property, as well as the  medical virtues of the plant, resides in a peculiar extractive
matter, obtained from the  root  by Buchholz, and called by  him saponin  This prin-
ciple constitutes, according to Buchholz, 34  per cent, of the dried root, which contains
also a considerable quantity of gum and a little bassorin, resin, and altered extractive,
besides lignin and  water.  Saponin  is obtained, though not  absolutely pure, by treat-
ing the watery extract with  alcohol and evaporating.   It is brown, somewhat trans-
lucent, hard and brittle,  with a  sweetish taste, followed by a sense of acrimony in the
fauces.   It is soluble in water and officinal alcohol, but is insoluble in anhydrous
alcohol, ether, and  the volatile  oils.  Its watery solution froths  when agitated.  Soap-
wort has been much used  in Germany as a remedy in venereal and scrofulous affec-
tions, cutaneous eruptions, and visceral obstructions. It appears to act as an alterative,
like sarsaparilla, to which it has been deemed superior in efficacy by some physicians.
The plant is given in the forms of decoction and extract, which may be freely taken.
From two to four pints of  the decoction daily are recommended in lues. The inspis-
sated juice, given in  the quantity of half an ounce in the course of a day, is said by
Andry  generally to cure gonorrhoea  in about two weeks, without any other remedy.
  SARCOCOLLA.  A peculiar vegetable product, exuding spontaneously from the
Penaea  Sarcocolla, P. mucronata, and  other species of Penaea, small shrubs growing at
the Cape of Good Hope, in Ethiopia, Arabia, &c. It is in the form of small, roundish,
irregular grains, sometimes  agglutinated in masses, friable, opaque or semi-transpa-
rent, of a yellowish or brownish-red colour, inodorous unless heated, when they have
an agreeable smell,  and of a  peculiar, bitter, sweetish, and acrid taste. Sarcocolla,
according to Pelletier, consists of 65-3 per cent, of a peculiar  substance, considered 
1294
Appendix.
 by Dr. Thomson, as holding an intermediate place between gum and sugar, and called
 sarcocollin or pure sarcocolla, 4-6 of gum, 3-3 of a gelatinous matter having some
 analogy with bassorin, and 26-8 of lignin, &c.   It is  said to be purgative, but at the
 same time to produce serious  inconvenience  by its acrid properties.  The  Arabian
 physicians used  it internally, and by the ancients  it was  employed as an  external
 application to wounds and ulcers, under the idea  that it  possessed the property of
 agglutinating the flesh, whence its name was derived.  It is at present out of use.
   SASSA GUM.  This name  has been applied by Guibourt to a gum, occasionally
 brought into market  from the East, and answering  so exactly to Bruce's description
 of the product of a tree which he calls  sassa, that there is reason to believe  in their
 identity.  According to Guibourt's description, it is in mammillary masses, or in con-
 voluted pieces resembling an ammonite, of a  reddish colour, and somewhat shining
 surface, and more transparent than tragacanth.  Its taste is like  that of tragacanth,
 but slightly acrid.  When introduced into water, it becomes white, softens, and swells
 to four or five times its original bulk ; but it preserves its shape, neither like traga-
 canth forming a  mucilage, nor like Bassora gum separating  into distinct  flocculi.
 It is rendered blue by iodine.
   SATUREJA  HORTENSIS. Summer Savory.  An annual labiate plant,  growing
 spontaneously in  the South of Europe,  and  cultivated in gardens as a culinary herb.
 It has an  aromatic odour and taste, analogous to those of  thyme, and was formerly
 used as a gentle  carminative stimulant; but it is now employed only to give flavour
 to food.   The S. montana or winter savory, which is also cultivated in gardens, has
 similar properties, and is similarly employed.
   SCOLOPENDRIUM  OFFICINARUM. Smith.   Asplenium Scolopendrium. Linn.
 Harts-tongue.   A  fern indigenous in Europe and America.  Its  vulgar name  was de-
 rived from the shape of its leaves, which were the  part  formerly used in medicine.
 They have a sweetish, mucilaginous, and slightly astringent taste, and, when rubbed,
 a disagreeable oily odour.  They were  used as a deobstruent in visceral  affections,
 as an astringent  in hemorrhages and fluxes, and as a demulcent in pectoral com-
 plaints; but their  properties are feeble, and they have fallen into neglect.
   SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA.   Scullcap. This is  an  indigenous perennial
herb,  belonging to the Linnaean class and order Didynamia Gymnospermia, and to the
 natural order Labiatae.   Its stem is erect, much branched, quadrangular, smooth, and
 one or two feet high. The leaves are ovate, acute, dentate, subcordate upon the stem,
 opposite, and supported upon long petioles.  The  flowers are  small, of a pale blue
 colour, and disposed in long, lateral, leafy racemes.  The calyx  has an entire  margin,
 which, after  the corolla has fallen, is closed with a helmet-shaped lid.   The tube of
 the corolla is elongated, the upper lip concave and entire, the  lower three lobed.
 The plant grows in moist  places, by the sides of ditches  and  ponds, in all  parts of
 the Union.  To  the  senses it  does not indicate, by any  peculiar taste or smell, the
 possession of medicinal virtues.  It is even destitute of the aromatic  properties which
 are found in many of the  labiate plants.  When taken internally, it produces no ob-
 vious effects.  Notwithstanding  this  apparent inertness, it obtained, at one period,
 extraordinary credit  throughout  the United States, as a  preventive of hydrophobia,
 and was  even thought to be useful in  the  disease itself.  A strong infusion of the
plant  was given  in the dose of a teacupful, repeated several times a day, and con-
 tinued for three or four months after the bite was received;  while the herb itself was
 applied to the wound.  Strong testimony has been adduced in favour of its  prophy-
lactic powers; but it  has already shared the fate, which in this case is no doubt de-
 served, of numerous other specifics against  hydrophobia, which have been  brought
into  temporary popularity only  to be  speedily abandoned.  The Scutellaria galeri-
culata, or common European scullcap, which  also grows wild in this country, has a
feeble, somewhat alliaceous odour, and a bitterish  taste.   It has been  employed in
intermittents, and externally in old ulcers, but is now out of use.  Another indige-
nous species—the S.  integrifulia, of which the  S. hyssopifolia, Linn., is considered by
 some as a variety, is intensely bitter, and might probably be found useful as a tonic.
   SECALE  CEREALE. Rye.  Syria, Armenia, and  the southern provinces of Russia
have been severally indicated as the native country  of rye.   The  plant is now culti-
vated in all temperate latitudes.  The grains consist, according  to Einhof, of  24-2 per
 cent, of envelope, 65-6 of flour, and 10-2 of water.   The flour, according to the same
 chemist, consists  of 61-07 per cent, of  starch, 9-48  of gluten, 3-28 of albumen, 3-28
 of uncrystallizable sugar, 11-09  of  gum, 6-38  of  vegetable fibre, besides   5-62 of
 loss, comprising an acid, the nature of which was not determined. Rye flour  is much 
Appendix.
1295
used, in the  dry state, as an external application to erysipelatous inflammation, and
other eruptive  affections, the burning and  unpleasant tingling of which it tends to
allay, while  it absorbs the irritating secretions. In the form of mush it is an excellent
laxative article  of diet; and, mixed with molasses, it may be given with great advan-
tage in hemorrhoids and prolapsus ani, connected with constipation.
  SEDUM ACRE.  Biting Stone-crop.  Small Houseleek. A small, perennial, succu-
lent European plant, growing on rocks and old walls, with stems about as long as the
finger, and numerous very minute leaves.  It is inodorous, and has a taste  at first
cooling and  herbaceous, afterwards burning and  durably acrid.  Taken internally it
vomits and  purges, and, applied to the skin, produces inflammation and vesication.
The fresh herb  and the expressed juice  have been used as an antiscorbutic,  emetic,
cathartic, and diuretic, and have been applied locally  to old ulcers, warts, and other
excrescences; but the plant is at present little employed.  It has recently been re-
commended in Germany as a remedy in epilepsy.  Other species are less acrid, and
are even eaten as salad in some parts of Europe.  Such are the Sedum rupestre and
S. album. The «S. Telephium was formerly employed externally to cicatrize wounds,
and internally as an astringent in dysentery and haemoptysis; and is still  esteemed
by the common people in France as a vulnerary.
  SEMPERVIVUM  TECTORUM.  Common Houseleek.   A  perennial  succulent
European plant, growing on  rocks, old  walls, and the roofs of houses, and remark-
able for its tenacity of life.  It is occasionally cultivated in this country as an orna-
ment to the  walls of  houses, or as a domestic medicine.  The leaves, which  are the
part used, are  oblong, pointed, from half an  inch to two inches in length, thick,
fleshy, succulent, flat on one side, somewhat convex on  the other, smooth, of a light
green colour, inodorous,  and of a  cooling,  slightly saline, astringent, and  sourish
taste.  They are  employed, in the recent state and  bruised, as a cooling application
to burns, stings of bees, hornets, &c, ulcers, and other  external affections attended
with inflammation.  They contain a large proportion of supermalate of lime.
   SENECIO VULGARIS.  Common Groundsel.  An  annual European plant, intro-
duced into this country, and growing in cultivated grounds.  The whole herb is used,
and should be gathered while in flower.  It has, when rubbed, a peculiar rather un-
pleasant odour, and  a disagreeable, herbaceous, bitterish, and  saline taste, followed
by a sense of acrimony.  It is emetic in large doses, and has been given in  convul
sive affections, liver complaints, spitting of blood, &c,  but is now very little used.
The bruised herb  is sometimes applied externally to  painful  swellings and ulcers.
The plant is employed also as food for birds, which  are  fond of it.  Other species  of
Senecio  have also been medicinally used ; and an indigenous  species, the S. aureus
or ragwort, is said by Schoepf to be a favourite vulnerary with the Indians.
   SESQUINITRATE  OF IRON, SOLUTION OF.  Liquor Ferri Sesquinitratis.  Ses-
quinitrale of Sesquioxide of Iron.  Mr. William Kerr (Ed. Med. and Surg. Journ.) re-
commends the  following formula for the preparation of this solution. Take of iron
wire, in  pieces, an ounce and a half,-  nitric acid three fluidounces,- muriatic acid a
fluidrachm.  Add to the iron, the nitric acid previously  diluted with fifteen fluidounces
of water, and set  the mixture aside until the saturation of the acid with the iron  is
completed, which generally occupies from seven to twelve hours.  Then  decant the
liquor from  the iron remaining undissolved, and strain.  Lastly, add the muriatic
acid, together with sufficient water to make the whole measure  thirty fluidounces.
The solution, when properly prepared, is  transparent, and has a beautiful dark-red
colour, and  a very astringent but not caustic taste.  If it should become turbid upon
keeping, it should be rejected.  The small portion of muriatic acid added is intended
to preserve  the solution from  decomposition.  The ferruginous  salt present in it  is
the sesquinitrate of sesquioxide of iron, consisting of three  eqs. of the acid to  two
of the sesquioxide.
   Dr. R. J. Graves, of Dublin,(Am. Journ. of Med. Sci.,  xviii. 216, from the Lond. Med.
and Surg. Journ.,) praises this solution as a remedy in  chronic diarrhoea, especially
when occurring in delicate and nervous women, in which there is no thirst,  redness
of tongue, tenderness of the abdomen on pressure, or other indication of inflamma-
tion. According  to him  it acts as a  tonic and astringent.  By Mr. Kerr it is con-
sidered  to possess also the property of diminishing the irritability of the  intestinal
mucous membrane.   Dr. T. C. Adam, of Michigan, (Amer. Journ. of Med. Sci., xxiv.
61 ) also reports favourably of this remedy in chronic diarrhoea, considering it, like
Mr. Kerr, to act as a sedative as well as astringent.  He employed it, likewise, with
good effect in menorrhagia, and both internally and by injection in leucorrhoea, when 
1296
Appendix.
occurring in pale,  exsanguine, and  feeble subjects.  The dose, according to  Dr.
Graves, is seven or eight drops, gradually increased to fifteen, sufficiently diluted, in
the course of the day.  Dr. Adam, however, gave it in doses of ten drops, two, three,
or four times a day, and sometimes increased it to twenty-five drops.  As  an injec-
tion he employed it sufficiently diluted to cause only a slight heat and smarting in
the vagina.
  SIENNA.   Terra di Sienna.  An argillaceous  mineral, compact, of a fine texture,
very light, smooth and glossy, of a yellowish-brown or coffee-colour, leaving a dull
orange trace when moistened and drawn over paper.  By calcination it assumes a
reddish-brown colour, and is then called burnt sienna.   In  both  the raw  and burnt
states it is used for painting.  The  best  sienna is brought from Italy, but an inferior
kind is found in England.
  SILENE  VIRGINICA.  Calchfly.   Wild Pink.  An indigenous perennial plant,
growing in Western Virginia and Carolina, and in  the states beyond the Alleghany
mountains.  Dr. Barton, in his " Collections," states that a  decoction of the roots is
said to be efficacious as an anthelmintic.  We are told that it is considered poisonous
by some of the Indians.  The S. Pennsylvanica, which grows in the Eastern section
of the Union from New York to Virginia, probably possesses similar properties.
  SISYMBRIUM OFFICINALE. Scopoli. Erysimum officinale. Linn. Hedge Mustard.
A small annual plant, growing in the United States and Europe, along the roadsides,
by walls and hedges, and on heaps of rubbish.  It has an herbaceous somewhat acrid
taste, which is strongest in the tops and flower-spikes, and resembles that of mustard,
though much weaker.  The seeds have considerable pungency.  The herb is said to
be diuretic and expectorant, and has been recommended  in  chronic coughs, hoarse-
ness, and ulceration of the mouth and  fauces.  The juice of the plant may be used
mixed  with honey or  sugar, or  the seeds may be taken in substance.   The Sisym-
brium  Sophia or flix weed is also among  the  plants formerly officinal.  It is of a
pungent odour when rubbed, and of an acrid biting taste.  The herb has been used
externally in indolent ulcers,  and  the seeds internally  in  worms, calculous com-
plaints, &c.
  SIUM NODIFLORUM.  Water-parsnep.  A perennial, umbelliferous, aquatic Eu-
ropean plant, growing also in the Southern  section of the United States, where ft is
supposed to have  been introduced.  It is commonly considered  poisonous; but  the
expressed juice, given by Withering in the dose of three or four ounces every morn-
ing, was not found to affect the head, stomach, or bowels.  He found it, in this quan-
tity, very advantageous in obstinate cutaneous diseases; and the plant has been use-
fully employed by others in similar complaints, and in scrofulous  swellings of  the
lymphatic glands.  It  is considered diuretic.  The & latifolium, which grows in Eu-
rope and the United States, and is the common water-parsnep of this country, is posi-
tively asserted to be poisonous; and madness and even death are said to have followed
the use of the root.   The S. Sisarum or skirret, a plant of Chinese origin, cultivated
in Europe, has a sweetish, somewhat aromatic root, which is employed as food in  the
form of salad, and is supposed to be a useful diet in complaints of the chest.
  SMALT.  Azure.  When the impure oxide of cobalt, obtained by roasting the na-
tive arseniuret of  that metal, is heated  with sand and potassa, the mixture melts, and
a beautiful blue glass  results, which, when reduced to powder, receives the name of
smalt.  It is used chiefly in painting.
  SOOT.  Fuligo Ligni. This well known  substance has  a peculiar smell, and a
bitter, empyreumatic, and disagreeable taste. Its composition is very complex.  Re-
duced  to powder  and treated with water, it affords  an infusion of a deep-yellow or
brown colour, the  colour being deeper if heat be employed.  The insoluble portion
amounts to about forty-four per cent.   The soluble part consists chiefly, according to
Berzelius, of a pyrogenous resin united with acetic acid, called acidpyretin, and satu-
rated with potassa, lime, and magnesia.  It  also contains sulphate of lime, chloride
of potassium, acetate of ammonia, and traces of nitric acid.  If the solution be eva-
porated to dryness, it furnishes a black extract.  This forms with  water a blackish-
brown  solution, which, when treated with any free acid except the  acetic, lets fall  the
acid pyretin, in the form of a black mass resembling pitch; while  the acid employed
remains in solution with the bases previously in combination with the pyretin.  Bra-
connot thought he had discovered in the pyretin a peculiar principle, to which he gave
me name of asbolin,- but Berzelius thinks he was mistaken. Besides these substances,
Braconnot ascertained the existence in soot of an azotized  extractive matter to  the 
Appendix.
1297
amount of twenty per cent.  This matter, when submitted to dry distillation, afforded
a considerable portion of pyrogenous oil.  The soot itself, when subjected to a simi-
lar distillation, furnished one-fifth of its weight of empyreumatic oil.  To the above
ingredients of soot must be added creasote, to the presence of which it is supposed
to owe its medicinal properties.
  Soot was formerly officinal with the Edinburgh College, and the Scotch  physicians
were in the habit of frequently prescribing it as a tonic and antispasmodic  in the form
of tincture.   It went very much out of use in regular practice; and it is only within
a few years, that its employment has been revived on account of its containing crea-
sote. At present it is chiefly used as an external remedy in the form of decoction or
ointment.  In the Revue  Med. for June, 1834, M. Blaud  details  a number  of cases of
various affections, such as obstinate tetters, porrigo favosa, psora, fistula, cancerous
and venereal ulcers, chronic irritations of the lining membrane of the mouth, exuda-
tions from the mucous membrane of the nose, herpetic eruptions of the genital organs,
and pruritus of the vulva, in which the use of soot effected a cure.  The  decoction is
made by adding two handfuls of soot to a pint of water, boiling for half an hour, and
filtering.  It is applied as a lotion to the affected parts,  or injected into  the fistulse,
several times  a day; and, in the intervals, the part, if  accessible, is dressed with an
ointment, made by rubbing up a drachm of finely powdered soot with  an ounce of
lard. In cases of porrigo, the crusts  must be removed by poultices before the soot
is applied. In scrofulous ophthalmia, M.  Caron Duvillards and M. Baudelocque have
found a collyrium, made according  to the following  formula, very  useful.   Infuse
two ounces of soot in boiling water, filter  the solution, and evaporate it  to  dryness.
Dissolve the  dry residue, with the assistance of heat, in  strong white wine  vinegar,
and add extract of roses in the proportion of twenty-four grains to twelve fluidounces
of the liquid.   It is prepared for use by adding a few drops of the liquid to a glass of
water.  (Bull. Gen. de Thirapeutique, Mars, 1834.)  This formula is not very satisfac-
tory ; as it does not indicate the  proportion of vinegar to  be  employed.  In a case of
severe and extensive burn, in which, after the separation of the sloughs,  the patient
began to sink from the profuse  discharge, Dr. Ebers, of  Bordeaux, found advantage
from the application, to the granulating surface, of lint  soaked  in a decoction of soot.
It reduced the  discharge in a surprising manner and promoted cicatrization.
  Dr. Hewson, of this city, has found an  infusion of soot an efficacious remedy, em-
ployed by injection, in  cases of ascarides.  In one case of long standing in an adult,
in which a number of remedies had been  tried unsuccessfully, injections of soot daily.
persevered in for two weeks, effected a complete cure.   The injection was made by
adding a cupful of soot  to a pipt of boiling water,  and straining  the solution.  An
infusion of hickory ashes and soot is used in this city as a popular remedy for dyspepsia.
It is made by infusing a pint of clean hickory ashes and a gill of soot in half a gallon
of boiling water, allowing the liquor to stand for twenty-four hours, and then decant-
ing. Of this a small wineglassful is taken three or four times a day. No doubt this
infusion has been useful in acidity of stomach; but  its indiscriminate use in the vari-
ous gastric affections popularly  confounded under the  name of dyspepsia, is calcu-
lated to do much harm.
  SPANISH BROWN.  A brownish-red ochre, much used in painting.
  SPARTIUM JUNCEUM.  Spanish Broom.  A small shrub, indigenous in the South
of Europe, and cultivated in our gardens as an ornamental plant.  The flowers are
large, yellow, and of an agreeable  odour.  The seeds are in moderate doses diuretic
and tonic, in large doses emetic  and cathartic, and  have  been  used advantageously
in dropsy.  The dose is from ten to fifteen grains three  times a day.   They may also
be given in tincture.
  SULPHATE OF ALUMINA.  Aluminae Sulphas.  The  salts  of alumina have been
ascertained by M. Gannal to be  powerful preservatives of animal  matter.  Among
these the sulphate is to be preferred, on account of its easy preparation and moderate
price.  It may be made by saturating  dilute sulphuric  acid with hydrated alumina,
and evaporating. A solution of this salt was found by M.  Gannal to be very effectual
in preserving bodies for dissection, when injected into the  blood-vessels.  In the sum-
mer season the bodies were preserved fresh for twenty  days or more; in  the winter,
for three months.  For use in the winter, a quantity of solution, sufficient for injecting
one body, may be made by adding a pound, avoirdupois, of the salt to a quart of water;
for use in hot weather, the solution must be made stronger.  This salt has  been used
extensively in the Philadelphia  Hospital, at the suggestion of Dr. Dunglison, as an
antiseptic and detergent  application  to  ulcers, and with favourable results.   Dr.
     110 
1298                            Appendix.
Pennypacker reports several cases in which it proved useful.  The strength of the
solution employed varied from gijss to (|iij of the salt to fgvi of water, according to
the state of the ulcer.  Dr. G. Johnson,'of Georgia, found the solution attended with
the happiest effects, used as an injection in fetid discharges from the vagina. (Med.
Exam., vi. 63 and 112.)  The acetate of alumina and the chloride of aluminium (muri-
ate of alumina) also possess antiseptic powers.
  SULPHOCYANURET OF POTASSIUM.  Potassii Sulphocyanuretum.  This salt
is prepared by fusing in an iron vessel, at a low red  heat, a mixture of two parts of
dried ferrocyanuret of potassium, and one part of flowers of sulphur.  The mass, when
cold,is dissolved in boiling water, and, to decompose some sulphocyanuret of iron,
the solution is treated with carbonate of potassa, which throws down the iron as a
carbonate, and  gives rise to the formation of a  fresh portion of sulphocyanuret of
potassium.   The whole is then  boiled for a quarter of an hour, filtered to separate the
precipitated iron, and evaporated  that crystals may form.  These are purified from
carbonate of potassa by being dissolved in alcohol, which takes up the sulphocyanuret
and  leaves the carbonate.  The  alcoholic  solution  is then allowed to crystallize.
Sulphocyanuret of potassium is in long, striated, anhydrous prisms, deliquescent in a
moist atmosphere, very soluble in alcohol,  and having  a cooling, somewhat biting
taste.  It has been proposed as a medicine by Soemmering,  as a substitute for hydro-
cyanic acid and cyanuret of potassium, on the ground  that it possesses  the same
therapeutic properties, without their inconveniences.
  SWIETENIA FEBRIFUGA. A large tree growing in the East Indies.  The bark is
the part employed. It is smooth and red internally, rough and gray on the outer surface,
of a feeble aromatic odour, and an astringent bitter taste.  Water extracts its virtues
by infusion or decoction.  It is said to have  been much used in India as a substitute
for Peruvian bark, to which it is somewhat  analogous in medical properties, though
it contains neither cinchonia nor quinia.  The dose of the powder is from thirty grains
to  half a drachm.  The watery  extract has the virtues of the bark.
  The  Swietenia Mahaspni or  Mahogany tree, which  grows in the West Indies  and
other parts of tropical America, has also a  bitter astringent  bark, which resembles
that of the S. febrifuga in virtues as well as in sensible properties.  The wood of this
tree is the mahogany so much used in ornamental wood-work.
  SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALE.  Comfrey. A perennial European plant, cultivated
in our  gardens for medical use.  Its  root, which is the part used, is spindle-shaped,
branched, often more than an inch thick and a foot long, externally smooth and black-
ish,  internally white, flesh, and juicy.   By drying, it becomes  wrinkled, of a  firm
horny consistence, and of  a dark  colour within.  It is almost inodorous, and has a
mucilaginous, feebly astringent taste.. Among its constituents are mucilage in great
abundance, and a small quantity  of tannin.   It was formerly highly esteemed as a
vulnerary, but has lost its credit in  this respect. Its virtues are chiefly those of a
demulcent, and it may be advantageously used for  all  the  purposes to which  the
marshmallow is applied.  It is a very common ingredient  in the domestic cough
mixtures employed in chronic  catarrhs, consumption, and  other pectoral affections.
The most convenient form of administration is that of decoction, which maybe made
either from the fresh or dried root.  According to Lewis, comfrey root yields to water
a larger proportion of mucilage than the root of the Althaea.
   SYRINGA VULGARIS.  Common Lilac. The leaves and fruit of this common gar-
den plant have a bitter and somewhat acrid taste, and have been used as a tonic and
febrifuge.  In some  parts of France, they are said to be employed habitually by the
country people in  the  cure of intermittent  fever; and they were recommended  by
Cruveilhier in the treatment of that complaint. The  fruit was examined by  MM.
Petroz and Robinet, who found a sweet and  a bitter  principle.  The latter was after-
wards obtained pure by M. Meillet, who gave it the name of lilacin.  The green
capsules, which yield it in largest proportion, are boiled in water, the decoction is
concentrated, subacetate of lead is added, the liquor is evaporated to the consistence
of syrup, magnesia is added in excess, and the whole is evaporated to dryness.  The
residuum is powdered, digested in water at 90° or 100°, and then treated with boiling
alcohol, and animal charcoal. The alcoholic solution, being filtered and concentrated,
yields  lilacin  upon cooling.  This principle, though not alkaline, is thought by M.
Meillet to exist in the fruit combined with malic acid.  It is crystallizable, bitter, and
insoluble in water. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. p. 139, from Journ. de Pharm.)
   TACAMAHAC.   Tacamahaca.  The resinous substance, commonly known by this
name, is supposed to be derived from the Fagara octandra of Linn. (Elaphrium tomen- 
Appendix.
1299
tosum, Jacq., Amyris tomentosum, Spreng.), a tree of considerable size, growing in the
island of Curacoa, and in Venezuela.   The juice exudes spontaneously, and hardens
on exposure. As brought into the market, it is in irregularly shaped pieces of various
sizes, some not larger than  a mustard seed, others as much as an inch or two inches
in diameter. The colour is  usually light-yellowish or reddish-brown; but in the larger
masses is more or less diversified.  The pieces are in general  translucent, though
frequently covered with powder upon their surface, so as to render them apparently
opaque.  They are heavier than water, brittle, and pulverizable, yielding a pale-yellow
powder.  Their odour is resinous and agreeable, their taste bitter, balsamic, and some-
what acrid.  Exposed to heat they melt and exhale a stronger odour.   Tacamahac is
partially soluble in alcohol, and completely so in ether and the fixed oils.  It consists
of resin with a little volatile oil.
  Another variety is obtained from the East Indies, and called tacamahaca orientale or
tacamahaca in testis.  It is  supposed to be derived from the Calophyllum Inophyllum,
and comes into the market  in gourd-shells covered with rush leaves.   It is of a pale
yellow colour inclining to green, slightly translucent, soft and adhesive, of an agree-
able odour, and an aromatic bitterish  taste.  It is at present very rare in commerce.
  Guibourt describes several other varieties of tacamahac, which, however, are little
known.  Among them is a soft, adhesive, dark-green resin, said to be  procured from
the Calophyllum Tacamahaca, growing in the islands of Bourbon and Madagascar.
  Tacamahac was formerly highly esteemed as an internal remedy, but is  now em-
ployed medicinally only in  the composition of ointments and plasters, and little even
for this purpose.  Its properties are analogous to those of the turpentines.  It is  some-
times used as incense.
  TANNATE OF LEAD.   This is obtained by precipitating a concentrated infusion
of oak bark  with acetate of lead, added drop by drop. It has been used as an external
application with success by Dr. Fantonetti in two cases of white swelling of the knee
joint. He employed it at first mixed with a third of its weight of lard, and afterwards
pure, the fresh precipitate admitting of application as an ointment. Autenrieth recom-
mends it as a dressing to  gangrenous sores.  With this intention, the precipitate,
either uncombined, or mixed, in its dry state, with  simple ointment in the proportion
of two drachms to the ounce, may be spread on linen and applied to the sore.  The
preparation  here referred to is a bitannate.   Other tannates of lead exist.
  TEA.  The plant which furnishes tea— Thea Chinensis—is an evergreen shrub, be-
longing to the class and order Monadelphia Polyandria of the Sexual system (Poly-
andria Monogynia, Linn.), and to the natural order Ternstromiaceae.  It is usually
from four to eight feet high, though capable, in a favourable situation, of attaining the
height of thirty feet.  It has numerous alternate branches, furnished with elliptical,
oblong or lanceolate, pointed leaves,  which are serrate except at the base, smooth on
both sides, green, shining, marked with one rib and many  transverse veins, and sup-
ported alternately upon short footstalks. They are  two or three inches  long, and from
half an inch to an inch in breadth. The flowers are either solitary, or supported two or
three together at the axils of the leaves. They are of considerable size, not unlike those
of the myrtle in appearance, consisting of  a short green calyx with five or six lobes,
of a corolla with from four to  nine  large unequal snow-white petals, of numerous
stamens with yellow anthers and connected at their base, and of a pistil with a three-
parted style. The fruit is  a three-celled and three-seeded  capsule.  It has not been
certainly determined whether more than one species of the tea-plant exists.  Linnaeus
admitted two species—the  T. Bohea and the T. viridis—differing in the number of their
petals ; but  this ground of distinction is  untenable, as the petals  are  known to vary
very much in the same plant.   Hayne makes  three species—the T. stncta, T. Bohea,
and T. viridis, which are distinguished severally by the shape of their leaves and fruit,
and the direction of the footstalk.  De Candolle admits but one  species, with two
varieties—the viridis or green tea, with " lanceolate flat leaves, three times as long as
they are broad," and the Bohea, with " elliptical oblong, subrugose leaves, twice  as
long as broad." Lindlev recognises the two Linnean species, distinguishing thern by
the leaves which, in the T. viridis, are acuminate and emarginate at the apex, and in
the T. Bohea are  smaller, flatter, darker green, with small serratures, and terminate
srraduallv in a point, but are not at all acuminate or emarginate. (Flora Medica, 120.)
   The  tea-plant  is a native of China and Japan, and is cultivated in both countries,
but most abundantly in the former.   In  Japan it forms hedgerows around the rice
and cornfields ; in China, whence immense quantities of tea are exported, whole fields
are devoted to its culture.  It is propagated from the seeds, which are planted in holes 
1300                            Appendix.
at certain distances, six or eight  seeds being placed in each hole, in order to ensure
the growth of one.  In three years the plant yields leaves for collection, and in six
years attains the height  of a man.  When from seven to ten years  old, it  is  cut
down, in order that the numerous  shoots which issue from the stump  may afford a
large product of leaves.   These are picked separately by the hand.  Three harvests,
according to Koempfer, are usually made during the year, the first at the end of Feb-
ruary, the second at the beginning of April, and the third in June.   As the youngest
leaves are the best, the product of the first collection is most valuable, while  that of
the third, consisting of the oldest leaves, is comparatively little esteemed. Sometimes
only one or two harvests are  made; but care is always taken to  assort the  leaves
according to their age; and thus  originate numerous commercial varieties of tea.
The character of the plant, dependent upon the soil, situation, climate, and culture,
has also a great influence upon the value of the leaves.  It is said that the best tea is
procured from the shrubs which grow upon the sides  of steep hills with a southern
exposure.  Though the plant grows both about Pekin in the North, and Canton in the
South of China, it is said to  attain greater perfection in  the intermediate country, in
the neighbourhood of Nankin, for instance,  where the climate is neither so cold as in
the first mentioned vicinity, nor so hot as in the second.  Some of the commercial
varieties have their origin in this cause ; and it is not impossible, though the fact has
not been ascertained, that difference in species may be  another source of diversity.
After having been gathered, the leaves  are dried by artificial heat in  shallow iron
pans, from which they are removed while still hot, and rolled with  the  fingers, or in
the palm of the  hand, so as to be  brought  into the  form in which they are found in
commerce.  It is stated that the odour of  the tea leaves themselves is very slight;
and that it is customary to mix with them the leaves of certain aromatic plants, such
as the Oleafragrans and Camellia Sasanqua, in order to render them pleasant to  the
smell.
  Tea is brought to this country from the port of Canton.  Numerous varieties exist
in commerce, differing in the shape communicated  by rolling, in colour, in flavour,
or in strength; but they may all be arranged in the two divisions of green and black
teas, which, at least in their  extremes, differ so much in properties, that it is difficult
to conceive that they are derived from the same species.
  Properties. Green tea is characterized by  a dark green colour, sometimes inclining
more  or less to blue or brown.  It has a peculiar, refreshing, somewhat aromatic
odour, and an astringent, slightly pungent, and agreeably bitterish taste. Its infusion
has a pale greenish-yellow colour, with the odour and taste of the leaves.  According to
Mr. Warrington, who examined numerous varieties of tea carefully both  by the micro-
scope and chemical tests, many of the green teas imported into Great  Britain owe
their colour to a powdery coating, consisting of sulphate of lime and Prussian blue,
others to a mixture of these with a yellowish vegetable substance, and others, again,
to sulphate  of lime alone.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iv. 37.)   Black tea  is dis-
tinguished by a dark-brown colour.  It is  usually less firmly rolled, and lighter than
the green, and contains the petioles of the plant mingled with the leaves.  Its odour is
fainter and of a somewhat different character, though still fragrant.   Its taste, like that
of green tea, is astringent and bitterish; but  it is less pungent, and to most persons less
agreeable.   To hot water it imparts a brown colour, with its  sensible  properties of
taste and smell.  These vary exceedingly in  strength in the different varieties;  and
some black teas are almost wholly destitute  of aromatic or agreeable flavour.
  According to the analysis of G. J. Mulder,' 100 parts of green Chinese tea afforded
0-79 of volatile oil, 2-22 of chlorophylle, 0-28 of wax, 2-22 of resin, 8-56 of gum, 17-80
of tannic acid, 0-43 of thein, 22-80 of extractive, traces of apotheme, 23-60 of muriatic
extract, 3-00 of albumen, 17-68 of lignin, and 5-56 of salts.  The muriatic extract was
the matter taken up by diluted muriatic acid from tea previously exhausted succes-
sively by ether, alcohol,  and water, and  consisted  of artificial tannin.  The same
chemist obtained from 100  parts of black Chinese tea 0-60  of volatile oil, 1*84 of
chlorophylle, 3-64 of resin, 7-28 of gum, 12-88 of tannic acid, 0-46 of thein, 19-88 of
extractive, 1-48 of apotheme, 19-12 of muriatic  extract, 2-80  of albumen,'28-32 of
lignin, and 5-24 of salts. (Annal. der Pharm., xxviii. 317.)  M. Eug. Peligot obtained
a much larger proportion of thein than was  found by Mulder, the lowest quantity from
green tea being 2-4 per cent., and the highest 4-1 per cent.; but even this quantity is too
small to represent all the nitrogen contained in tea.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Sir., iv.
224.)  The volatile oil is probably the principle upon which  the effects of tea upon
the nervous  system chiefly depend. Hence old teas are less energetic than those
recently imported; and it is said that the fresh leaves have often produced dangerous 
Appendix.
1301
effects in China.  Nevertheless, the tannic  acid is not without influence upon  the
system ;  and it is not improbable  that both the extractive and thein contribute to  the
peculiar influences of this valuable product.  Of these active ingredients, the volatile
oil, tannic acid, and extractive, are found most largely, according to  the analysis of
Mulder, in  the green tea.  Thein is  a crystallizable principle discovered by Oudry.
It was afterwards proved by Jobst to have the  same composition as caffein, and is
now generally considered as in all respects identical with that principle.  It is also
said to exist in the leaves of the Ilex Paraguaiensis or Paraguay tea, and in the seeds
of the Paulinia sorbilis.  (See Coffee, Ilex, and Paullinia.)  According to Mulder, thein
exists in  tea combined with tannic acid. Peligot obtained it by adding to a hot infusion
of tea, first subacetate of lead, and then ammonia, filtering the liquid, passing sulphu-
retted hydrogen through it, again filtering, and evaporating with a moderate heat.  On
cooling, the liquid deposits thein abundantly, and yields  an additional quantity by a
careful evaporation. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e Sir., iv. 224.)  Thein has a feebly bitter
taste; in the state of crystals, is dissolved by 93 parts of water, 158  of alcohol,  and
298 of ether;  melts at about 350° F., and at 723° sublimes in white vapours which
condense in minute needles.  From its watery solution scarcely any reagent precipi-
tates it. Infusion of galls causes a deposit of tannate of thein, which is again, however,
dissolved by heating the  water.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Tea is astringent and gently excitant, and in its finer
varieties exerts a decided influence over the nervous system, evinced  by the feelings
of comfort and even exhilaration which it produces, and the unnatural wakefulness
to which it gives rise when taken in unusual quantities, or by those unaccustomed to
its  use.  Its properties, however, are not of so decided a character  as to render it
capable of very extensive application as a medicine; and its almost exclusive use is
as a grateful beverage at the evening and morning meals.  Taken moderately,  and
by healthy individuals, it may be considered as perfectly harmless; but long continued,
in excessive quantity, it  is capable of inducing unpleasant nervous  and dyspeptic
symptoms, the necessary consequences of over excitement of the brain and stomach.
Green tea is decidedly  more injurious in  these respects than black, and should be
avoided by dyspeptic individuals, and by those whose nervous systems are peculiarly
excitable.  As a medicine, tea  may sometimes be given advantageously in diarrhoea;
and a strong infusion will often be found to relieve  nervous headache.  The mode of
preparing it for use is too well known to require a description.   An extract is made
from it in China, which is said to  be useful in fevers.
  TEUCRIUM CHAMAEDRYS.   Germander.  Chamaedrys.  A small, didynamous,
labiate, perennial, European plant, the leaves and tops  of which have an agreeable
aromatic odour, diminished by drying, and a bitter, somewhat astringent, aromatic,
durable taste.   They have been employed as a mild corroborant, in uterine, rheu-
matic, gouty, and scrofulous affections, and  intermittent fevers; but  are  at present
little used, and never in this country.   Germander was  an  ingredient  in the Portland
powder, noted as a remedy in gout.  This powder, according to the original prescrip-
tion, consisted of equal parts of the  roots of the Aristolochia rotunda and Gentiana
lutea, of  the tops and leaves of the Teucrium Chamaedrys and  Erythraea Centaurium,
and of the leaves of the Ajuga Chamaspylis, or ground pine. The dose was a drachm
taken every morning before breakfast, and continued  for three  months, then  two
scruples for three months, afterwards half a drachm for six months, and finally  half
a drachm every other day for a year.  (Parr.)
  Two other species of Teucrium have  been used in  medicine—the T. Marum,cat
thyme, or Syrian herb mastich,  which is a native of the  South of Europe, and the T.
Scordium, or water germander,  which grows in the higher latitudes of the same  con-
tinent   The former is  a warm,  stimulating, aromatic bitter, and has  been recom-
mended  in hysteria, amenorrhoea, and  nervous  debility; the latler has  the odour of
garlic and a bitter somewhat pungent taste, and was formerly highly esteemed as a
corroborant in low forms' of  disease; but neither of them is now much employed.
The T.  Marum is errhine, and was formerly an ingredient in the Pulvis Asan Com-
positus.  The dose of either of the three species is about half a drachm.
  THUJA OCCIDENTALS. Arbor Vitae.  An indigenous evergreen tree, growing
wild fmm Canada to Carolina, and cultivated for ornament in  gardens.   The leaves,
£ small twigs invested with the leaves, are the  part used.  They have an agreeable
balsamic odour, especially when  rubbed, and a strong, balsamic, camphorous, bitter
, «,p  In the state of decoction, they have been used in intermittent fever, and, accord-
lf',' schoenf in coughs, fevers, scurvy, and rheumatism.  Made into an ointment
ing io >=>o   f >                       110* 
1302
Appendix.
with lard or other animal fat, they are said to form a useful local application in rheu-
matic  complaints.  The distilled water is praised by Boerhaave as a remedy in
dropsy.  (Schoepf.)  A yellowish-green volatile oil, which may be obtained from the
leaves by distillation, has been used with success in worms.
  THYMUS VULGARIS.  Thyme.  A small well known undershrub, indigenous in
the South of Europe, and with us cultivated in  gardens.  The herbaceous portion,
which should be gathered when the plant is in flower, has  a peculiar, strong, aroma-
tic, agreeable odour, which  is not lost by drying, and  a pungent, aromatic, camphor-
ous taste.  Its active constituent is a volatile oil, which may be separated by distilla-
tion.   Oil of thyme (oleum thymi) is, when fresh, of a pale yellow or greenish colour,
but as found in the shops is often brown.  Its sp. gr. is 0-905.   The plant has the aro-
matic properties of sage, lavender, &c, and may be used for the same purposes.  It
is, however, more employed in cookery than in medicine.   The T. Serpillum,or wild
thyme  of Europe, is analogous in properties to the garden thyme.  Both are occasion-
ally used in baths, fomentations, and poultices, along with other aromatic herbs.
  TONKA BEAN.  The seed of the Dipterix odorata of Willd., the Coumarouna odo-
rata of Aublet, a large tree growing in Guiana.  The fruit is an oblong-ovate pod, en-
closing a single seed, from an inch to an inch and a half long, from two to four lines
broad, usually somewhat compressed, with a dark-brown, wrinkled, shining, thin, and
brittle skin, and a light-brown, oily kernel.   The  bean has a strong, agreeable, aroma-
tic odour, and  a bitterish, aromatic taste.  Its active constituent  is a crystallizable,
odorous substance, analogous to the volatile oils  and camphor, and called  coumarin
by Guibourt.  This substance is sometimes found in a crystalline state, between the
two lobes of the kernel.  The tonka  bean is used to flavour snuff, being either mixed
with it in the state of powder, or put entire into the snuff-box.
  TRIGONELLA FCENUMGRvECUM. Fenugreek. An annual plant growing spon-
taneously in different parts of the South of Europe, and cultivated in France and Ger-
many for the sake of its  seeds.  These are one or two  lines in length, oblong  cylin-
drical, somewhat compressed, obliquely truncated at each extremity, brownish-yellow
externally, yellow internally, and marked with an oblique  furrow running  half their
length.  They have a strong peculiar odour, and an oily, bitterish, farinaceous taste,
and contain fixed and volatile oil, mucilage, bitter extractive,  and a yellow colouring
substance.   An ounce of the seeds boiled in a pint of water renders it thick and slimy.
They yield the  whole of their odour and taste to alcohol.  Their virtues depend chiefly
upon their oil and mucilage.  On the continent of Europe they are employed in the
preparation of emollient cataplasms and enemata, and enter into the  composition of
some officinal  ointments and plasters.   They are never used internally.
  TRIPOLI.   Terra Tripolitana.  An earthy mineral, of a  whitish, yellowish, or pale
straw colour, sometimes inclining to red or brown, usually friable, often adhesive to
the tongue, and presenting  the aspect of argillaceous earth,  though differing from
clay by the roughness and hardness  of its particles, and by not forming a paste with
water.  The Venice tripoli is said  to come  from  Corfu.  Tripoli is sometimes arti-
ficially prepared by calcining certain argillites.  It is used for cleaning and  polishing
metals.
  TRITICUM REPENS.   Couch-grass.  Dog-grass.  Quickens.  A perennial  Euro-
pean plant, very common in gardens and cultivated grounds, where it is considered
a troublesome  weed.  The root, which is the part medically used, is horizontal, creep-
ing, jointed, about as  thick as  a straw or  thicker, inodorous, and of an agreeable,
sweetish, slightly pungent taste.  It is used in some parts  of Europe, in the form of
decoction, as a slightly aperient and nutritive drink.  Great quantities of it are said
to be consumed in the hospitals of Paris.  The decoction, in consequence  of the
sugar which it contains, is  susceptible of the vinous fermentation.
  TUTTY. Tutia.  Impure  Oxide of Zinc. This oxide is formed during the smelt-
ing of lead  ores containing  zinc.  It is deposited in the chimneys of the furnaces, in
the form  of incrustations, moderately hard and heavy, and studded over with small
protuberances, of a brownish  colour on  the  outside, and yellowish  within.   As it
occurs in commerce, the pieces occasionally present a bluish  cast, from the presence
of small particles of metallic zinc.  Sometimes a spurious substance is sold for tutty,
consisting of a mixture of blue clay  and copper filings, made into a paste with  water,
and dried on an iron  rod.  It is distinguished from the genuine tutty by its diffusing
in water  and exhaling an earthy smell, and by its greater friability.
  Tutty is used as an external application only, as an exsiccant in excoriations.  To
fit it for medical use it mustbe reduced to fine powder, which is dusted on the affected 
Appendix.
1303
part, or applied in the form of ointment.  It has been very properly dismissed from
the Edinburgh officinal list, its use being superseded by that of the'pure oxide.
  UMBER. Terra Urnbria.  A  mineral of a  fine compact texture, light, dry  to the
touch, shining when  rubbed by the nail, and of a fine  pale brown colour, which
changes to a peculiar  beautiful deep brown by heat. According to Klaprolh, it contains
13 parts of silica, 5 of alumina, 48 of oxide of iron, 20 of manganese, and 14 of water
in 100.  Burnt umber,  as well as the mineral in its unaltered state, is used in painting.
The umber of commerce is said to be brought chiefly from the island of Cyprus.
  URTICA DIOICA.   Common nettle.  A well known perennial herbaceous plant,
growing both in  Europe and the United States, by the  roadsides, in hedges, and gar-
dens.  The leaves, seeds, and roots, were formerly officinal. They were deemed diu-
retic  and  astringent, and were employed in nephritic complaints, hemorrhages, con-
sumption, jaundice, worms, &c.  The young  shoots  are  boiled and eaten by the
common people as a  remedy in  scurvy; and the  fresh plant is  sometimes used to
excite external irritation in cases of torpor and local palsy, the part being beaten with
it till the requisite degree of action is produced.  The  U. urens or dwarf nettle,  which
is an annual plant, and smaller than the former species,  has similar properties, and
is used for the same purposes.  This species also grows wild both in America and
Europe.  The two plants were formerly distinguished by the names of urtica  major,
applied to the U. dioica, and of urtica minor applied to the U. urens.
   VALERIANATE  OF ZINC. Zinci Valerianas.  This salt is formed by saturating
valerianic acid with freshly precipitated carbonate of zinc, the action being promoted
by a gentle heat.  The solution is diluted with sufficient distilled water to hold the
valerianate in solution, and after filtration, evaporated in order that crystals may
form.  These, when pure,  are white, pearly scales. Valerianate of zinc is stated to
be a powerful antispasmodic, and has been extolled by some of the Italian  physicians
as a remedy in neuralgic affections.  M. Francis Devay found it useful in the nervous
affections which accompany chlorosis, and in epilepsy.  The dose is one or two grains
several times a day, given  in the form of pill. For the mode of preparing valerianic
acid, see page 731.  See also a paper by Mr. Wm. Procter, Jun., in the Am. Journ. of
Pharm. for April,  ) 845.
   VANILLA.  This is the  fruit of the Vanilla aromatica of Schwartz, the Epidendrum
 Vanilla of Linn., a climbing plant, growing in  the West Indies,  Mexico, and South
America.  It is said also  to  be cultivated in the Isle of France. The pods are collected
before  they are  quite ripe, dried in the shade, covered over with a coat of fixed oil,
and then tied in bundles, which are surrounded with sheet lead, or enclosed in small
metallic boxes, and sent into the market.   Several varieties of vanilla exist in com-
merce. The most valuable, called ley by the  Spaniards-, consists of cylindrical, some-
what flattened pods, six or eight inches long, three or four lines thick, nearly straight,
narrowing towards the extremities,  bent at the base,  shining and dark-brown exter-
nally, wrinkled  longitudinally, soft and flexible,  and  containing within their tough
shell, a soft black  pulp, in which numerous minute, black, glossy seeds are embedded.
It has a peculiar, strong, agreeable odour,  and a warm, aromatic,  sweetish taste. The
interior pulpy portion is most aromatic.   Another variety, called  simarona by the
Spaniards, is smaller, of a lighter colour,  and less aromatic.  A third variety is  the
promprona of the  Spaniards.  In this, the pods  are from five to seven inches long,
from six to nine lines broad, almost always open, brown, soft, viscid, and of a strong
odour, but less pleasant than  that of the ley, to which it is considered inferior.  Ac-
cording to Buchholz, vanilla does not yield volatile oil when distilled with water.  It
 is employed to flavour chocolate, ice-cream, &c, and as a perfume.   It has recently
been recommended as a remedy in hysteria and  low  fevers, in the form of an infu-
 sion made in the proportion of about half an ounce  to a pint of boiling water, and
given in tablespoonful doses.
   VENETIAN RED. Bolus Veneta. A dull red ochrey substance used in painting.
   VERBENA OFFICINALIS.  Vervain.   This is a common European weed, grow-
 in°- on the roadsides, in the vicinity of towns and villages.  Its sensible properties
 do°not indicate  the possession of medical virtues ; as it is nearly inodorous, and has
 only a slightly astringent bitterish taste.  By the ancients it was highly esteemed both
 as a medicine, and as a sacred plant employed in certain religious rites.  In modern
 times  superstitious  notions in relation to its virtues are still entertained ; and the
 suspension of the root around the neck by a  white riband, has been  gravely  recom-
 mended for  the cure of scrofula.  The leaves, bruised, and made into a cataplasm,
 are used by the vulgar as a remedy  in severe headache, and other local pains.  The 
1304
Appendix.
 plant, however, is probably inert. An American species, the V. hastata, is more bitter
 than the European, and  is said to  be  emetic.  It is not, however, used in regular
 practice.  Schoepf  states  that the root  of the V. urticifolia, another indigenous spe-
 cies, has been advantageously used in poisoning from the Rhus Toxicodendron.  It is
 prepared by boiling it in milk and water along with the inner bark of the white oak.
   VERDITER.  Two preparations of copper, employed as  pigments, are known by
 this  name in commerce, and  are distinguished by the epithets of blue  and green.
 Blue verditer is  prepared in London from" the solution of  nitrate  of copper, obtained
 in precipitating silver by  copper.  According to Gray, this solution is poured hot
 upon whiting (carbonate of lime), and  the mixture  stirred  every day till the liquor
 loses its colour, when it is decanted, and fresh portions added till the proper colour
 is obtained.   By a process for procuring  this pigment,  invented by  Pelletier, the
 solution of nitrate of copper is decomposed by quicklime, and the precipitate, after
 being washed, is incorporated intimately with another portion of quicklime.  By the
 former process, a carbonate of copper is  obtained, by the latter a mixture of the
 hydrated oxide of copper and  hydrate of lime.   Green verditer is  prepared by pre-
 cipitating a solution of nitrate of copper by chalk or a white marl,  and  consists of
 carbonate of copper mixed with an excess of the calcareous carbonate.
   VERONICA  OFFICINALIS.  Speedwell.  Several species of Veronica,  common
 to Europe and this country, have been medicinally employed.  Of these the  V. offici-
 nalis, and V. Beccabunga or brooklime, are  the  most  conspicuous.  The V. officinalis
 has a bitterish, warm, and  somewhat astringent taste; has been considered diapho-
 retic, diuretic, expectorant, tonic, &c; and  was formerly employed in  pectoral and
 nephritic complaints, hemorrhages, and  diseases of the skin, and in the treatment of
 wounds.  The beccabunga, which is very succulent, was used in the fresh state with
 the view of purifying the blood, and  as a remedy in scurvy.  Both plants, however,
 are at present out of use.
   VISCUM ALBUM. Misletoe. An  European evergreen parasitic shrub, growing on
 various trees, particularly the apple and other fruit trees, and forming a pendent bush
 from two to five feet in  diameter.  The  plant is  famous in the  history of druidical
 superstition.   In the religious rites of the Druids, the  misletoe of the oak was em-
 ployed, and hence was afterwards preferred when  the plant came to  be used as  a
 remedy ;  but it is in  fact identical in all respects with those which grow upon other
 trees.  The fresh bark and leaves have a peculiar disagreeable  odour, and  a nause-
 ous, sweetish, slightly bitter taste.   The berries, which are white, and of about the
 size of a pea, abound in a peculiar viscid principle, and are sometimes used in the
 preparation of birdlime, of which this principle is the basis. Atone time the  misletoe
 was highly esteemed as a remedy in  epilepsy, palsy, and other nervous diseases ; but
 it is now out of use.   The leaves and wood were  given in the dose  of a drachm in
 substance, and of an ounce in decoction.   Several  species of Viscum grow in the
 United States, but are not used.
   WHITING.  This is essentially the same as prepared chalk, being  made by the
 pulverization and  elutriation  of crude chalk.  It is used as a coarse paint, and for
 various purposes in the arts, for which carbonate of lime is requisite.  Paris white is
 a variety of the same material.
   WOORARI.   The name of a powerful poison prepared  by the aborigines in the
 interior of British Guiana, and used for arming the points of their weapons.  Various
 opinions have been advanced in relation to its source and  preparation ; but the most
 probable account is that of Dr. Hancock, who states, from information derived from
 the natives, that it is  a watery extract from the bark of a gourd-like plant.  When
 this poison is inserted in a wound, the animal speedily falls into a state of stupor
 and dies in a few minutes, the heart continuing to act for some time after respiration
 has ceased.  If artificial respiration be resorted to before the  heart ceases to  act, and
 be sustained, the animal recovers.   Dr.  Hancock  states that  it  is swallowed by
 animals with impunity. It has not been introduced into medicine. For further notice
in relation to it, the reader is referred to  the Und. Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., iii. 75.
  ZEA MAYS.  Indian Corn.   Common Indian corn contains, according to the late
Dr. Gorham, of Boston, 77  per cent, of starch, 3 of a principle analogous to gluten,
called zein, 2-5 of albumen, 1-45 of sugar, 0-8 of extractive,  1*75  of gum, 1-5 of sul-
phate and phosphate  of lime, 3 of lignin, and 9 of water.   The meal, in the form of
mush, makes an excellent emollient poultice, much used  in hospitals; and a gruel
may be prepared from it which is sometimes more grateful to the sick than that made
from oat-meal. 
Appendix.                            1305
   ZEDOARY.  Radix Zedoarise.   There are two kinds  of zedoary, the long and the
round, distinguished by the officinal titles of radix zedoarise longae, and radix zedoarise
rotundae, the former produced  by the Curcuma  Zedoaria of Roxburgh, the latter, as
some suppose, by the  Kaempferia rotunda of Linn., but, according to others, by the
Curcuma Zerumbet of Roxburgh.   Both kinds come from the  East Indies.  The long
zedoary is in slices, from an inch  and a half to three inches in length, and from half
alYnCih J° an m°h thick' obtuse at the extremities, and exhibiting the remains of the
radical fibres; the round is also usually in slices, which are the sections of a roundish
root, ending in  a point beneath,  and divided longitudinally into  two parts, each  of
which is flat on  one side, convex on the other, and heart-shaped in its outline. Some-
times the root of the  latter variety is entire, and sometimes in  quarters instead of
halves.   It is marked with circular rings on the convex surface, and,  like the former,
with small  projecting points  which are the  remains  of radical fibres.  Both are
grayish-white on the outside, yellowish-brown within, hard, compact,  ofan agreeable
aromatic odour, and a bitterish, pungent, camphorous taste.  The round, however, is
less spicy than the long.  They yield a volatile oil when distilled  with water.
   Zedoary is a warm, stimulating aromatic, useful in flatulent colic and debilitated
states of the digestive organs.  It is  not now  employed, as it  produces no effects
which cannot be as well or better obtained from ginger.  The dose is  from ten grains
to half a drachm.
   ZERUMBET.  Cassumuniar. Under these names an East India root was formerly
used, having some analogy in sensible and medical properties to ginger, and ascribed
to the Zingiber Zerumbet of  Roscoe.   Some consider the cassumuniar as a distinct
root, and refer it to the Zingiber Cassumuniar of Roxburgh. The difference of opinion
is of little importance, as neither of the roots, supposing them not to be the same, is
at present to be found in the markets.   By some authors the zerumbet has been erro-
neously confounded with the round zedoary.  Geiger describes it as in pieces of the
size of a fig or larger, externally grayish-brown and wrinkled, internally yellowish,
hard and tough,  of a biting aromatic taste, and a spicy odour.
   ZIZYPHUS VULGARIS. Lamarck.  Rhamnus Zizyphus. Linn. A shrub, or small
tree, growing on the shores of the Mediterranean, and cultivated  in Italy. Spain, and
the South of France.  The fruit is the part used.  This consists of  oval drupes, of
the size of a large olive, with a thin, coriaceous, red or reddish-brown skin, a yellow-
ish, sweet, acidulous pulp, and an oblong pointed stone in the centre.  These have the
officinal name of jujubse.  By drying, their pulp becomes softer and sweeter, and ac-
quires a vinous taste, evincing the commencement of fermentation.   They are nutri-
tive and demulcent, and  are used  in the form of decoction in  pectoral complaints.
Jujube paste consists, properly, of  gum  Arabic and sugar, dissolved in a decoction of
this fruit, and evaporated to the  proper consistence.   As a  demulcent, it  is  in no
respect superior to a paste made with gum Arabic and sugar alone; and the prepara-
tion commonly sold in this country under the name, contains in fact none of the fruit.
  The fruits of two other species of Zizyphus, the Z. Lotus, growing in the North  of
Africa, and  the Z. Jujuba, a native of the East Indies, possess properties similar to
those of the first mentioned species, and are used as food by the inhabitants of the
countries where  they grow.
  Note.—Of the articles included in the foregoing list, those upon Acetic Ether, Albu-
minate of Iron and Potassa, Ammonio-tartrate of Iron, Anthrakokali, Arseniate of Am-
monia, Arseniate of Iron, Bisulphuret of Carbon, Bromide of Iron, Bromides of Mercury,
Carburet of Iron, Cheltenham Salt, Chloride of Magnesium,  Chloride of Potassa, Chlo-
ride of Silver, Chlorine Ethers, Citrate of Iron, Crabs' Claws, Crab Stones, Cyanuret of
Zinc,  Diaphoretic  Antimony, Dippel's Animal  Oil, Ferrocyanuret of Zinc, Fuligokali,
Glass of Antimony, Gold,  Hydriodic Acid,  Hydrocyanic Ether, Indelible Ink, Iodide of
Ammonium, Iodide of Arsenic, Iodide of Arsenic and Mercury, Iodide of Barium, Iodide
of Silver, Iodide of Starch, Iodide  of Zinc, lodo-hydrargyrate of Potassium,  Lactate of
Iron, Lactic Acid, Muriatic Ether, Artificial Musk, Naphthaline, Nitrate of Soda, Nitro-
sulphale of Ammonia, Oxalic Acid, Oxide  of Silver,  Platinum, Pyroacetic Spirit, Ses-
quinitrate of Iron, Soot, Sulphate of Alumina, Sulphocyanuret of Potassium, Tannate of
Lead, Tutty, and Valerianate of Zinc, were written by Dr. Bache ;  the remainder by
Dr. Wood. 
1306
Appendix.
          II. ART  OF PRESCRIBING MEDICINES.


  The  physician  should  be acquainted  not only with the  properties  of
medicines, and  the diseases  to which they are respectively applicable, but
also  with the art  of prescribing  them, so that they may be adapted to the
peculiarities  of individual patients, and, by  the  mode in which they are
administered, may produce the greatest curative effect with the least possible
inconvenience.  In relation to these points, a few general rules  will be useful
for the guidance of the  young practitioner, although much must be left  to
his own judgment and discretion.  We shall compress the remarks which
we have to  offer,  under the two heads of the quantity or dose in which
medicines may be given, and the mode of their exhibition.
  1.  Dose of Medicines.—In the body of the work, the quantity has  been
stated in which each  medicine  must ordinarily be given  to produce its pe-
culiar effects in the adult patient.   But there are various circumstances which
modify the dose, and demand attention on  the part of the practitioner.
  The age of the patient is the most important of these circumstances.  The
young require a smaller dose than those at  maturity, to produce an equal
effect; and the old, though  their systems are, perhaps, less  susceptible  to
the action of medicines than those of the middle-aged, cannot bear  an equally
forcible  impression.  The following  table of Gaubius, exhibiting the doses
proportioned to the age,  is frequently referred to.
The dose for a person of middle	age	being	1 or 1 drachm,
That of a person from 14 to 21 years		will be	f or 2 scruples,
7 to 14 "	a	"	i or £ a drachm,
4 to 7	t<	i<	for 1 scruple,
of 4 years		a	4 or 15 grains,
3 "		((	^ or 10 grains,
2 "		l<	g or 8 grains,
1 "		it	J^ or 5 grain's.
  We prefer the following simple scheme of Dr. Young, which we extract
from Paris's Pharmacologia.
  " For children under twelve years, the doses of  most medicines must  be
diminished in the proportion  of  the age to  the age increased by 12; thus at
                      2
two years to 4—viz., ——— =■£-. At twenty-one the  full dose may be given."

  To the above rule some exceptions  are offered  in particular medicines,
which require to be given to children in much larger proportional doses than
those above stated.   Such are castor oil and  calomel, a certain quantity of
which will in  general not produce a greater effect in a child two or three
years old than  double the quantity in an adult.
  Sex, temperament, and idiosyncrasy  have also an influence upon the dose,
and should be kept  in view in prescribing.   Females usually require some-
what smaller doses than males, and those of sanguine temperament than the
phlegmatic.  Constitutional peculiarities, called idiosyncrasies, often exist in
individuals, rendering them more than usually susceptible or insusceptible to
the action of certain remedies, the dose of which must be modified accordingly. 
Appendix.
1307
Thus in some persons a grain or two of calomel will excite salivation, while
in others  scarcely any quantity which can be safely administered will  pro-
duce this effect.  Sometimes, moreover, a medicine operates on an individual
in a manner wholly different from its  ordinary mode.  In all such cases
experience is the  only sure guide;  but the  occasional existence of these
peculiarities indicates the propriety of making particular inquiries in relation
to the idiosyncrasies of those patients, for whom we may be called for the
first time to prescribe.
   Habit is another important circumstance which modifies the dose of me-
dicines.   Generally speaking, the susceptibility to  the action  of medicines
is diminished by their frequent and continued use; and, in order to maintain
a  given  impression, the quantity must be regularly  increased.   This is
especially  true in regard to the  narcotics, which are sometimes borne in
enormous doses by those habituated  to their use.   It is a good practical rule
in prescribing, when circumstances demand the continuance, for a considera-
ble length  of time, of  some particular effect, to vary the medicine, and em-
ploy successively several with the  same general powers, so as not too rapidly
to exhaust the susceptibility to the action of any individual remedy.  Another
important practical rule  connected with the influence of habit is, when any
medicine, which from its nature is of variable  strength, has been employed
for some time in increasing doses, to  reduce the dose upon resorting to a new
parcel,  until its relative strength has been ascertained.  A neglect of this
precaution, incases where the last parcel happened to be more powerful than
that previously employed,  has sometimes been followed by very serious
consequences.
   2. Mode  of Administering Medicines.—This  has reference both to the
combination of medicines with one another,  and the form in which  they are
exhibited.
   Simplicity in  prescription is always desirable when no object  is to be
 gained  by deviating  from it.  Remedies  should never be mixed  together
 without a definite purpose, nor with  the vague hope that out of the number
 prescribed some one may perchance produce a salutary impression.  Those
 exceedingly complex prescriptions, formerly so much in vogue, of which the
 ingredients were so numerous as  to render altogether impossible a reasonable
 estimate of their bearing on each other, or their effects on disease, have been
 generally abandoned by modern practitioners.  The only ground upon which
 any of them can be justifiably retained is that, by very frequent trials, through
 a lono- course of years, and in various states of disease,  their influence on the
 svstem  may have been fully  ascertained, so  that they may be  considered
 rather in the light of a single remedy than a compound of many.  Upon this
 ground, however, no prudent physician would attempt to originate such com-
 binations. In mixing medicines, we should proceed no further than we should
 be justified in doing by a clear knowledge of the properties and mutual rela-
 tions of the several ingredients,  and their fitness to answer some particular
 indication in the  treatment of disease.  There  are certain principles upon
 which medicines may be advantageously combined, and which it may not be
 amiss to mention for  the benefit of the young practitioner.
    Remedies of the same general character  may be given in connexion, in
 order to increase their energy, or to render their action more certain.   It has
 been well ascertained  that substances thus combined will often  act vigorously,
 when  severally, they would produce comparatively little effect;  and it  some-
 times'happens that, while their  activity is augmented, they are at the same
 time rendered less irritating, as  in the case of the drastic cathartics. (See
 Pilulse Catharlicx Compositx.) 
1308
Appendix.
   Different  medicines are very often mixed together, in order to meet dif-
 ferent and  coexisting indications, without any  reference to the  influence
 which they may reciprocally exert on each other.   Thus in the same patient
 we not unfrequenfly meet with  debility of stomach and constipation of the
 bowels, connected with derangement of the hepatic function. To answer the
 indications presented by these morbid conditions, we may properly combine
 in the same dose, a  tonic, cathartic, and mercurial alterative.   For  similar
 reasons  we often unite tonics, purgatives, and emmenagogues, anodynes and
 diaphoretics, emetics  and cathartics, antacids, astringents, and  tonics; and
 scarcely two medicines can be mentioned, not absolutely incompatible  with
 each other,  which may  not  occasionally be  combined  with advantage  to
 counteract coexisting morbid actions.
   Another very important object of combination, is the modification which is
 thereby  effected in the actions of medicines differing from each other in pro-
 perties.   In this way new powers are  sometimes developed, and those pre-
 viously existing are greatly increased.  Examples of such a result are afforded
 in the officinal  powder of ipecacuanha and opium, and in the combination of
 squill and calomel; the  former operating as a diaphoretic, the  latter  as a
 diuretic, beyond the capabilities of either of their constituents.   The effects
 of one  medicine are,  in numerous instances, increased  by the influence of
 another in augmenting the natural  susceptibility of  the system to its  action.
 Thus bitters enable cathartics to operate in smaller doses ; purgatives awaken
 the dormant susceptibility to the action of mercury; and stimulants excite
 the torpid stomach, so that it will receive impressions from various medicines
 before inoperative.  In some instances, the action of one medicine  is  pro-
 moted by that  of  another apparently of a nature wholly opposite.  Thus,
 when calomel and opium are given  in colic,  the  purgative operation of the
 former is facilitated by the  relaxation of intestinal spasm produced by the
 latter.  Medicines, in  addition to the effects for which they are administered,
 very frequently produce disagreeable symptoms, which maybe moderated or
 altogether prevented by combination with other  medicines; and this object
 may usually be accomplished, without in the least degree interfering with the
 remediate influence desired.   Thus  the griping produced by cathartics, and
 the nausea by these and various other medicines, may often be corrected by
 the simultaneous use of aromatics.  To cover the disagreeable taste or odour
 of certain medicines,  and to afford a convenient vehicle for their administra-
 tion, are also important objects of combination; as upon these circumstances
 often depend the  acceptability of the  medicine  to the  stomach, and even
 the possibility  of inducing the patient to swallow it.  Substances should be
 preferred as vehicles which  are calculated to render the medicine acceptable
 to the palate and stomach, and in other ways to correct its disagreeable effects ;
 as syrups for powders, the aromatic waters for medicines given in  the form
 of mixture,  and carbonic acid water for the neutral salts.
  But in the mixing of medicines,  care should be  taken that they are neither
 chemically nor  physiologically incompatible;  in other words, that they are
 not such as  will react on each other so as to  produce new and unexpected
 combinations, nor  such as will exert contrary and opposite effects  upon the
 system.  Thus when  the operation  of an acid is desired, an alkali should
not be given  at the same time, as  they unite  to form a third substance en-
tirely different from either; nor should a soluble salt of lime, baryta, or lead,
be given with sulphuric acid  or a  soluble sulphate, as decomposition would
ensue, with  the production of an  inert compound.  So, also, in  relation to
physiological incompatibility, diaphoretics and diuretics should not, as a
general rule, be united with  a view to  their respective effects;  as these are 
Appendix.
1309
to a  certain extent incompatible, one  being  diminished by whatever has a
tendency to increase the other.  There are cases, however, in whicli we may
advantageously combine medicines with a view to  their chemical reaction, as
in the instance  of the  effervescing draught; and  circumstances  sometimes
call for the union of remedies  apparently opposite, as in the Case of colic
before alluded to, in which  opium may be advantageously combined with
purgatives.   Still, such combinations should never be  formed, unless with a
full understanding of their effects, and  a special reference  to them.
   The form in which medicines are  exhibited, is  often an  object of con-
siderable importance.   By variation in this respect, according to the nature
of the medicine, the taste of  the patient, or the condition of the stomach, we
are frequently enabled to secure  the favourable operation of remedies, which,
without such attention,  might prove useless or injurious.  Medicines may be
given in the solid state, as in the form  of powder,  pill, troche, or electuary;
in the state  of  mixture, in which a solid is suspended in a liquid, or  one
liquid is mechanically mixed with another in which it is insoluble ;  or in the
state of solution, under which may be included the various forms of infusion,
decoction,  tincture, wine, vinegar,  syrup, honey, and oxymel.   Of these
different forms we  have already treated sufficiently at large, under their re-
spective heads,  in the second part of this work.
   In writing extemporaneous prescriptions, neatness, order, and precision
should always be  observed;  as, independently of the pleasing moral effect
inseparable from these principles in all things, a positive practical advantage
results, in the greater accuracy  which  the habit of attending  to  them gives
to the prescriber, and the comparative certainty which they afford that  his
directions will be strictly complied with.   As a general rule, when medicines
are combined in prescription, that should come first  in order which is con-
sidered as  the most prominent and important, next the adjuvant or corrigent,
and lastly the vehicle.  Sometimes, however, it is important to  indicate to
the apothecary the  succession in which the substances should be combined
in reference to the perfection of the mixture, and this may render convenient
a deviation from the order above mentioned.   The physician should always
be careful either to write out the full  name  of the  medicine, or to employ
such abbreviations as are not likely, by the misunderstanding of an ill-formed
letter, to lead into  error.  Very serious and even fatal mistakes have been
occasioned by a neglect of  this precaution.   The  formulae  of  the several
Pharmacopoeias which are detailed in this work, will serve as good examples
for the guidance of the young  practitioner.   The following table explains
the signs and abbreviations habitually used in prescription.  The formulae
afterwards given will serve to illustrate the ordinary  mode of prescribing, while
they exhibit combinations of medicines frequently employed in practice.
Ill 
1310
              Appendix.

Table of Signs and Abbreviations.
R	Recipe.	Take.	Collyr.	Collyrium.	An eye-water.
aa	Ana.	Of each.	Cong,	Congius vel	A gallon or gal-
rh	Libra vel libra;.	A pound or		Congii.	lons.
		pounds.	Decoct.	Decoctum.	A decoction.
5	Uncia veluncise.	An ounce or	Ft.	Fiat.	Make.
		ounces.	Garg.	Gargarysma.	A gargle.
3	Drachma vel	A drachm or	Gr.	Granum vel	A grain or
	drachmae.	drachms.		grana.	grains.
9	Scrupulus vel	A scruple or	Gtt.	Gutta vel guttae.	A drop or drops.
	scrupuli.	scruples.	Haust.	Haustus.	A draught.
0	Octarius vel oc-	A pint or pints.	Infus.	Infusum.	An infusion.
	tarii.		M.	Misce.	Mix.
%	Fluiduncia vel	A fluidounce or	Mass.	Massa.	A mass.
	fluidunciae.	fluidounces.	Mist.	Mistura.	A mixture.
•3	Fluidrachmavel	A fluidrachm or	Pil.	Pilula vel	A pill or pills.
	fluidrachmae.	fluidrachms.		pilulae.	
\	Minimum vel	A minim or	Pulv.	Pulvis vel pul-	A powder or
	minima.	minims.		veres	powders.
Chart.	Chartula vel	A small paper	Q.S.	Quantum suffi-	A sufficient
	Chartulae.	or papers.		cit.	quantity.
Coch.	Cochlear vel	A spoonful or	S.	Signa.	Write.
	cochlearia.	spoonfuls.	Ss.	Semis.	A half.
Examples of Common Extemporaneous Prescriptions.
Powders.
R  Antimonii et Potassae Tartratis gr. i.
   Pulveris Ipecacuanha? di.
   Fiat pulvis.
   S.  To be taken in a wineglassful of
sweetened water.
   An active emetic.

R  Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis,
   Pulveris Jalapae, aa gr. x.
   Misce.
   S.  To be taken in syrup or molasses.
   An excellent cathartic  in the com-
mencement of bilious fevers, and in hepa-
tic congestion.

R Pulveris Jalapae gr. x.
   Potassae Bitartratis ^ii.
   Misce.
   S.  To be taken in syrup or molasses.
   A hydragogue cathartic, used in dropsy
and  scrofulous inflammation of the joints.

R Sulphuris gi.
   Potassae  Bitartratis jii.
   Misce.
   S.  To be taken in syrup or molasses.
   A laxative, used in piles and cutane-
ous  diseases.

R Pulveris Rhei gr. x.
   Magnesiae jss.
   Fiat pulvis.
   S.  To be taken in syrup or molasses.
   A laxative and antacid, used in diar-
rhoea, dyspepsia, &c.

R  Pulveris Scillae gr. xii.
   Potassae Nitratis gi.
   Fiat  pulvis,  in chartulas  sex divi-
     dendus.
   S.   One  to be  taken  twice or three
times  a day in syrup or molasses.
   A diuretic employed in dropsy.

R  Potassae Nitratis *"ji.
   Antimonii et Potassae Tartratis gr. i.
   Hydrarg. Chlorid. Mitis gr. vi.
   Fiat pulvis,  in  chartulas  sex divi-
     dendus.
   S.  One to be taken  every  two hours
in syrup or molasses.
   A  refrigerant, diaphoretic, and altera-
tive, used in bilious fevers; usually called
nitrous powders.

R Pulveris Guaiaci Resinae,
   Potassae Nitratis, aa %i
   Pulveris Ipecacuanha? gr. iii.
   Opii gr. ii.
   Fiat pulvis,  in chartulas  sex divi-
      dendus.
   S.  One to be taken every three hours
in syrup or molasses.
   A stimulant diaphoretic, used in rheu-
matism and gout after sufficient depletion. 
Appendix.                            1311
R  Ferri Subcarbonatis,
   Pulveris Colombae,
   Pulveris Zingiberis, aa gi.
   Fiat pulvis, in chartulas sex dividendus.
R  Pulveris Aloes,
   Pulveris Rhei, 5a gss.
   Saponis 9i.
   Misce, et cum aqua fiat massa in pilu-
las viginti dividenda.
   S.   Two or three to be taken daily, at
bed-time, or before a meal.
   An  excellent  laxative in habitual con-
stipation.

R  Massae Pilularum Hydrargyri,
   Pulveris Aloes,
   Pulveris Rhei, aa 9i.
   Misce, et cum aqua fiat massa in pilu-
las viginti dividenda.
   S.   Three to  be taken at bed-time.
   An  alterative and laxative, useful in
constipation  with  deranged  or deficient
hepatic secretion.

R  Pulveris Aloes,
   Extracti Quassiae, aa 3L
   Olei Anisi TT[x.
   Syrupi, q. s.
   Misce, et fiat  massa in pilulas triginta
dividenda.
   S.   Two to be taken once, twice, or
three times a day.
   A laxative, tonic, and carminative, use-
ful in dyspepsia.

R  Pulveris Scillae 9i.
   Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis gr. x.
   Pulveris Acaciae,
   Syrupi, aa q.  s.
   Misce, et fiat massa in pilulas decern
dividenda.
   S.   One to be taken two or three  times
a day.
R Magnesiae gi.
   Syrupi f§i.
   Tere simul, et affunde
   Aquae Acidi Carbonici fgiv.
   Fiat haustus.
   S.   To be taken at a draught, the mix-
ture being well shaken.
   An  agreeable mode  of administering
magnesia.

R Mannae 31.
   Foeniculi contusi 31.
   Aquae bullientis fjiv.
   Fiat infusum et cola; dein adjice
   Magnesiae Carbonatis ^ii.
   Ft.  mist.
  S. One to be taken three  times a day
in syrup or molasses.
  A tonic, used in dyspepsia and general
debility.
  A diuretic and alterative, much used in
dropsy, especially when complicated with
organic visceral disease.

R  Pulveris Opii gr. iv.
   Pulveris Ipecacuanha? gr. xviii.
   Pulveris Acaciae,
   Syrupi, aa q. s.
   Misce, et fiat massa in pilulas duode-
cim dividenda.
   S.   One to be taken after each stool.
   An anodyne diaphoretic, useful in dys-
entery and diarrhoea after the use of laxa-
tives.


R  Pulveris Opii,
   Pulveris Ipecacuanha?, aa gr. iii.
   Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis gr. vi.
   Pulveris Acacia?,
   Syrupi, aa q. s.
   Misce, et fiat massa in pilulas tres divi-
denda.
   S.   One or more to be taken at bed-
time, or according to circumstances.
   An  anodyne, diaphoretic, and  altera-
tive, very useful in diarrhoea, dysentery,
typhoid pneumonia, and various other dis-
eases.

R  Plumbi Acetatis, in pulverem triti, gr.
    xii.
   Pulveris Opii gr. i.
   Pulv. Acaciae,
   Syrupi, aa q. s. ut fiat massa in pilulas
sex dividenda.
   S.  One every two, three, or four hours.
   An astringent much employed  in hae- ,
moptysis and uterine hemorrhage.
   S. One-third to be taken every three or
• four hours  till it operates, the mixture
 being shaken.
   An excellent carminative and mild lax-
 ative in flatulence and pain in the bowels.

 R Olei Ricini fgi.
    Pulveris  Acacia?,
    Sacchari, aa gii.
    Aquae Menthae Piperitae f^iii.
    Acaciam et saccharum cum fluiduncia'
 dimidia aquae mentha? tere; dein oleum
 adjice,  et contere;  denique aquam reli-
 quam paulatim infunde, et omnia misce.
    S.  To be taken at a draught, the mix-
 ture being well  shaken.
Pills.
Mixtures. 
1312
Appendix.
R Olei Ricini f|i.
   Vitellum ovi unius.
   Tere simul, et adde,
   Syrupi f^ss.
   Aquae Menthae Piperitae fjii.
   Ft. haust.
   S.  To be  taken at a draught, the mix-
ture being well shaken.
   This and the preceding formula afford
convenient modes of administering castor
oil, when  the  stomach is irritable.  Any
other fixed oil may be given in the same
way.

R Olei Ricini fgiss.
   Tinctura? Opii TT|xxx.
   Pulv. Acaciae,
   Sacchari, aa gii.
   Aquae Menthae Viridis f^iv.
   Acaciam et saccharum cum paululo
aqua? menthae tere;  dein oleum adjice, et
iterum tere;   denique aquam  reliquam
paulatim infunde, et omnia misce.
   S. A tablespoonful to be taken every
hour or  two  hours  till it  operates, the
mixture being each  time well shaken.
   Used as a  gentle  laxative in dysentery
and  diarrhoea.  It is  usually known by
the name  of oleaginous mixture.

R Elaterii gr. i.
   Spiritus .Etheris  Nitrici fjii.
   Tinctura? Scilla?,
   Oxymellis  Colchici, 55 f^ss.
   Syrupi f^i.
   Ft. mist.
   S. A teaspoonful to be taken three or
four times a day in a little water.
   Diuretic, used by Ferriar in dropsy.

R Copaiba?,
   Spiritus Lavandulae Comp. 55 f^ii.
   Mucilaginis Acacia? f^ss.
   Syrupi fgiii.
   Simul tere; dein  paulatim affunde
   Aqua? f^iv.
   Misce.
   S. A  tablespoonful to be taken four
times a day or more frequently.
   Given in chronic  catarrhs, and chronic
nephritic  affections.   The dose must be
larger in gonorrhoea.

           Neutral Mixture.
R Acidi Citrici gii.
   Olei Limonis TTH.
   Simul tere, et adde
   Aquae f^iv.
   Liqua,  et adde
   Potassae Carbonatis q. s. ad saturand.
   Misce et per linteum cola.

                 Or
R Succi Limonis recentis f^iv.
   Potassae Carbonatis q.  s.  ad satu-
randum.
   Misce et cola.
   S.  A  tablespoonful  to be  given with
 an equal quantity of water, every hour or
 two  hours.
   An excellent diaphoretic in fever.

          Effervescing Draught.
 R Potassae Carbonatis gii.
   Aqua? f^iv.
   Liqua.
                  Or
 R Potassae Bicarbonatis giii.
   Aquae f§iv.
   Liqua.
   S.  Add a tablespoonful of the solution
 to the same quantity of lemon or lime-
 juice, previously mixed with a tablespoon-
 ful of water; and give the mixture, in the
 state of effervescence, every hour or two
 hours.
   An  excellent  diaphoretic and  anti-
 emetic in fever with nausea or vomiting.

             Brown Mixture.
 R Pulv. Extract. Glycyrrhizae,
   Pulv. Acaciae, 5a gii.
   Aqua? ferventis fgiv.
   Liqua, et adde
   Vini Antimonii f^ii.
   Tinctura? Opii tn_xx.
   Ft. Mist.
   S.  A tablespoonful to  be taken occa-
 sionally.
   Expectorant, demulcent, and anodyne,
 useful in catarrhal affections.

 R Antimonii et Potassa? Tartratis gr. i.
   Syrupi Scillae,
   Liquoris Morphiae Sulphatis, 55 ffss.
   Pulveris Acaciae gii.
   Syrupi f§ss.
   Aqua?  fluvialis f 5iv.
'   Ft. Mist.
   S.  A tablespoonful to  be taken occa-
 sionally.
   An expectorant and anodyne cough
 mixture.

 R Acidi Nitrosi f^i.
   Tinctura? Opii  gtt. xl.
   AquaB  Camphora? f J viii.
   Misce.
   S.  One-fourth to be taken every three
 or four hours.
   Hope's mixture, used in dysentery, di-
 arrhoea, and cholera.

 R Camphora? 31.
   Myrrhae £ss.
   Pulv. Acaciae,
   Sacchari, aa gii.
   Aqua?  fgvi.
   Camphoram cum alcoholis paululo in
 pulverem tere; dein cum myrrha, acacia,
 et saccharo contere; denique cum aqua
 paulatim instillata misce. 
Appendix.
1313
   S.  A tablespoonful to be taken for a
dose, the mixture being well shaken.
   A convenient form for  administering
camphor.

R Creta? Praeparata? 9iv.
   Massa? Pil. Hydrarg.  gr.viii.
   Tincturae Opii gtt.viii.
   Pulveris Acaciae,
   Sacchari, 55 3L
   Aqua? Cinnamomi,
   Aquae, 55 f^i.
   Solida simul tere, dein liquida paulatim
inter terendum adjice, et omnia misce.
   S. A teaspoonful  to  be taken for a
dose, the mixture being well shaken.
   An antacid and alterative mixture, well
adapted to infantile diarrhoea with white
stools. The dose mentioned is for a child
a year or two old, and may be repeated
four or six times in twenty-four hours.

R Pulveris Kino gii.
   Aquae bullientis f^vi.
   Fiat infusum et cola;  dein secundum
artem admisce.
   Creta? Praeparata? giii.
   Tinctura? Opii fgss.
   Spiritus Lavandulae Compositi f^ss.
   Pulveris Acacia?,
   Sacchari, aa 3JL
   S. A tablespoonful to be  taken for a
dose, the mixture being well shaken.
   Astringent and antacid, useful in diar-
rhoea.
Solutions.
R  Magnesiae Sulphatis §i.
   Syrupi Limonis fjji.
   Aquae Acidi Carbonici f^vi.
   Misce.
   S. To be taken at a draught.
   An agreeable mode of  administering
sulphate of magnesia.
R  Magnesia? Sulphatis 3 i.
   Antimonii et Potassae Tartratis gr. i.
   Succi Limonis recentis f§i.
   Aqua? f^iii.
   Misce.              .
   S. A tablespoonful to be  taken  every
two hours till it operates upon the bowels.
   Useful in fevers.
R  Potassae Nitratis 31.
   Antimonii et Potassae Tartratis gr. i.
   Aqua? fluvialis f^iv.
   Liqua.
   S.  A tablespoonful to be taken every
two hours.
   A  refrigerant  diaphoretic  used in
fevers.
R  Quinia? Sulphatis gr. xii.
   Acidi Sulphurici Aromatici 1T[xx.
   Syrupi f^ss.
   Aquae Menthae Piperitae f§i. ^
   Misce.
   S. A teaspoonful to be taken  every
hour or two hours.
   A good mode of administering sul-
phate of quinia in solution.
Infusions.
R  Sennae 3iii.
   Magnesia? Sulphatis,
   Mannae, 55 ^ss.
   Foeniculi 31.
   Aquae bullientis Oss.
   Macera per horam  in vase  leviter
clauso, et cola.
   S.  Give a teacupful every three or four
hours till it operates.
   An excellent purgative in febrile com-
plaints.

R  Colombae contusae,____
   Zingiberis contusi, aa §ss.
   Sennae 30.
   Aqua? bullientis Oi.
   Macera per  horam  in  vase leviter
clauso, et cola.
   S. A  wineglassful to  be  taken morn-
ing, noon, and evening, or less frequently
if it operate too much.
   An excellent remedy in dyspepsia with
constipation and flatulence.
R Spigeliae |ss.
   Sennae 3d.
   Mannae §i.
   Foeniculi 3ii.
   Aqua? bullientis Oi.
   Macera per  horam  in vase  leviter
clauso et cola.
   S. A wineglassful to be given to a child
from two to four years old, three  or four
times a day.
   A powerful anthelmintic.


R Pulveris Cinchona? Rubra? §i.
   Acidi Sulphurici Aromatici f^i.
   Aquae Oi.
   Macera per horas  duodecim, subinde
agitans.
   S. A wineglassful of the clear  liquid
to be taken for a dose.
   A good method of administering Peru-
vian bark in cold infusion.
1* 
1314
Appendix.
III.  TABLES  OF WEIGHTS  AND MEASURES.

APOTHECARIES' WEIGHT. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
Pound.	Ounces.		Drachms.		Scruples.		Grains.
lb 1	= 12	=	96	=	288	=	5760
	I 1	=	8	=	24	=	480
			31	=	3 91	=	60 gr.20
  The Imperial Standard Troy weight at present recognised by the British
laws, corresponds  with the  Apothecaries' weight in  pounds, ounces, and
grains, but differs from it in  the division of* the ounce, which, according to
the former  scale, contains twenty pennyweights, each  weighing twenty-
four grains.

                    AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT.

        Pound.         Ounces.         Drachms.         Trov grains.
        lb  1     =     16     =     256     =      7000
                    oz. 1     =       16     =       437*5
                                    dr. 1     =     gr. 27*34375

          Relative Value of Troy and Avoirdupois  Weights.
   Pound.                Pounds.                Pound.    Oz.     Grains.
    1 Troy        =  0*822857 Avoirdupois =0      13      72*5
    1 Avoirdupois =  1*215277 Troy        =1       2     280

      APOTHECARIES'  OR  WINE MEASURE. V. S., Dub.
   Gallon.   Pints.  Fluidounces.      Fluidrachms.      Minims.     Cubic Inches.
Cong. 1  = 8  =   128     =    1024    =  61440   =   231
         0 1=    16     =      128    =   7680   =     28*875
                   f§  1     =        8    =    480   =      1*8047
                                  f j 1    =   ttj.  60  =       -2256

                      IMPERIAL  MEASURE,

           Adopted by the  London and Edinburgh  Colleges.
          Gallon.    Pints.     Fluidounces.    Fluidrachms.    Minims.
            1  =   8=    160    =   1280  =  76800
                    1  =     20    =     160  =   9600
                                1    =      8  =    480
                                             1  =     60

        Relative Value of Apothecaries'1 and Imperial Measure.

APOTHECARIES' MEASURE.                      IMPERIAL MEASURE.
                                       Pints. Fluidounces. Fluidrachms. Minims.
    1 gallon             =             6      13      2       23
    1 pint               =                    16      5       18
    1 fluidounce         =                    1      0       20
    1 fluidrachm         =                            1        24 
Appendix.
1315
APOTHECARIES	MEASURE	
Gallon. Pints. Fluidoz.	Fluidr.	Minims.
1 1 9	5	8
1 3	1	38
	7	41 58
  IMPERIAL MEASURE.

    1 gallon              =
    1 pint               =
    1 fluidounce          =
    1 fluidrachm         =

    Relative  Value of Weights and Measures in Distilled Water at
                           60° Fahrenheit.

     1. Value of Apothecaries' Weight in Apothecaries' Measure.
                                           Pints.  Fluidoz.  Fluidr.   Minims.
1 pound   =   0*7900031 pints        =      0     12    5     7*2238
1 ounce   =   1*0533376 fluiflounces   =010    25*6020
1 drachm  =   1*0533376 fluidrachms  =001     3*2002
1 scruple  =                                 0      0    0    21*0667
1 grain    =                                 0      0    0     1*0533

     2. Value of Apothecaries' Measure in Apothecaries' Weight.
                                   Pounds. Oz. Dr. Sc.  Gr.        Grains.
1 gallon     = 10*12654270 pounds =10 14 0  8*88  = 58328*886
1 pint       =  1*26581783 pounds =   13 11 1111=   7291.1107
1 fluidounce =  0*94936332 ounces =   0 0 7 1 15*69  =    455*6944
1 fluidrachm =  0*94936332 drachms =   0 0 0 2 16*96  =     56*9618
1 minim     =  0*94936332 grains  =                          -9493

      3.  Value of Avoirdupois Weight in Apothecaries' Measure.
                                     Pints.  Fluidounces. Fluidrachms. Minims.
1 pound = 0-9600732 pints        =0      15      2     53-3622
1 ounce = 0-9600732 fluidounces  = 0        0      7     40*8351

      4.  Value of Apothecaries' Measure in Avoirdupois Weight.

                1 gallon      =   8*33269800 pounds.
                1 pint       =   1*04158725 pounds.
                1 fluidounce  =   1.04158725 ounces.

  In converting the weights of liquids heavier or lighter than water into
measures, or conversely, a correction must be made for specific  gravity.
In converting weights into measures, the calculator may proceed as if the
liquid was water, and the obtained measure will be  to the true measure in-
versely as the  specific gravity.   In the  converse operation, of turning mea-
sures into weights, the same assumption may be made, and the obtained
weight will be to the true weight directly as the specific gravity.
                FORMER FRENCH  WEIGHTS.

            re =
1 Apothecary
Pound.
1 Poids de Marc
Marc. Onces. Gros. Deniers. Grains.		Troy Grains. Grammes.	
= 2 = 16 = 128 =	384 = 9216	=	7561 = 489-5058
= 1-5= 12 == 96 =	288 = 6912	=	56705 = 367-1294
1 = 8 = 64 .=	192 = 4608	=	3780-5 = 244-7529
1 = 8 =	24 = 576	=	472-5 = 30-5941
l —	3 = 72	—	59-1 = 3-8242
	1 = 24	=	19-7 = 1-2747
	1	=	0-8 = -0530
 
1316
Appendix.
Relative  Value of Old French and English Weights.
Poids de Marc.        Troy Weight.
1 pound        = 1-312680 lb  =
1 once (ounce)  =  -984504 oz. =
1 gros (drachm) =  -954504 dr. —
1 grain         =
Avoirdupois.
 1080143 1b =
 1.080143 oz. =
  Troy.
1 pound
1 ounce
1 drachm
1 grain

   Avoirdupois.
   1  pound
   1  ounce
Poids de Marc.
 0*76180 lb
 1-01574 onces
 1 01574 ffros
Poids de Marc.
0-925803 lb
0.925803 once
 Troy Grains.
7561
 472-5625
   590703125
     •820421

 French Grains.
    7561
      585083
       73-135
        1-219

French Grains.
  8532-3
   533-27
To convert French grains into Troy grains, divide by
 --------Troy grains into French grains, multiply by
 --------French ounces into Troy ounces, divide by
 ■--------Troy ounces into French ounces, multiply by
 --------French pounds (poids de marc) into Troy
                                 pounds, multiply by
 --------Troy pounds into French pounds, divide by
1*2189
1 015734
1*31268
     FRENCH  DECIMAL WEIGHTS  AND MEASURES.

   The French metrical system is based upon the idea of employing, as the
unity of all measures, whether of length, capacity, or  weight, a uniform
unchangeable standard, adopted from nature, the multiples and subdivisions
of which should follow in decimal progression. To obtain such a standard,
the length of one-fourth part of the terrestrial meridian, extending from the
equator to  the pole, was ascertained.   The ten millionth  part of this arc
was chosen as the unity of measures of length, and was denominated metre.
The cube of  the tenth part of the metre was taken as the unity of mea-
sures of capacity, and  denominated litre.   The weight of distilled water,
at its greatest density, which this cube is capable of containing, was called
kilogramme,  of which the thousandth part was  adopted  as the unity of
weight, under the name of gramme.   The multiples of these measures,
proceeding in the decimal progression, are distinguished by employing the
prefixes, deca, hecto, kilo, and myria, taken from the Greek numerals;  and
the subdivisions,  following the  same  order, by deci, centi, mili, from  the
Latin numerals.
The metre, or unity of length, at 32° = 39*371
The litre, or unity of capacity,       = 61-028
The gramme, or unity of weight,     = 15-434
English inches at 62°.
English cubic inches.
Troy grains.
  Upon this  basis the following tables, which we take with  some slight
alterations from the Edinburgh New Dispensatory, have been  constructed.
It was  ascertained by accurate examination at the London Mint, that the
gramme is only 15-434 Troy grains, though  sometimes stated at 15-444
grains. 
Appendix.
1317
MEASURES OF LENGTH.
The metre being at 32°, and the foot at 62°.
Millimetre      =
Centimetre     =
Decimetre      =
Metre          =
Decametre      =
Hectometre     =
Kilometre      =
Myriametre     =
Millilitre
Centilitre
Decilitre
Litre
Decalitre
Hectolitre
Kilolitre
Myrialitre
English Inches.				
•03937				
•39371				
3-93710	Miles. Fur.	Yards.	Feet.	Inches.
39.37100 =	0 0	1	0	3-371
393.71000 =	0 0	10	2	9-710
3937-10000 =	0 0	109	1	1-100
39371-00000 =	0 4	213	1	11*000
393710-00000 =	6 1	156	1	2-000
MEASURES OF CAPACITY.				
English Cubic Inches.	Apoth(	;caries' Measure.		
•061028 =	16*2318 minims.			
•610280 =	2-7053 fluidrachms.			
6* 102800 =	3-3816 fluidounces.			
61-028000 =	2* 1135 pints.			
610*280000 =	2*6419 gallons.			
6102*800000				
61028000000				
610280-000000				
MEASURES OF WEIGHT.
Troy Grains.				
•0154				
•1543				
1.5434				
15*4340	lb.	oz.	dr.	gr-
154*3402 =	0	0	2	34-3
1543-4023 =	0	3	1	43-4
154340234 =	2	8	1	14
154340-2344 =	26	9	4	20
Milligramme    =
Centigramme   =
Decigramme    =
Gramme       =
Decagramme   =
Hectogramme  =
Kilogramme    =
Myriagramme  =

  Though the decimal system of weights and measures was established by
law in France, it was  found  impossible to procure its general adoption by
the people, who obstinately adhered to the old poids de marc and its divi-
sions ; or, if they adopted the new weights, gave  them the names of the
old weights to which they most nearly approached. Thus the kilogramme,
which is equal to 18,827 7W French grains, or 2 pounds 5 gros 35 -Afc
grains poids de marc, was divided into two parts, and the half of it  called
a pound.  One reason for this adherence  to the old weights was  the con-
venience of division into halves, quarters, &c, of which the new were not
susceptible.   To obviate this difficulty the imperial government  legalized
the employment of the half kilogramme as the unity of weight, under the
name of pound, and allowed this to be divided into half pounds, quarters,
eighths, ounces, &c,  as  in the old poids de marc.  The new  pound is
distinguished by the name of metrical pound, and has been adopted to a
considerable extent; while the old weights are retained by some, particu- 
1318
Appendix.
larly by the apothecaries and goldsmiths ; so that three systems are now
more or less in use in France'—the original poids  de marc, the  decimal
system, and the  metrical pound with its  divisions.   The following table
represents the relative value of these different weights.
Decimal System		Poids de Marc.			Metrical Pound.		
		lb oz. dr.	gr-		lb oz.	dr.	gr-
1 centigramme	=	0 0 0	019	=	0 0	0	018
1 decigramme	=	0 0 0	1-88	=	0 0	0	1-84
1 gramme	=	0 0 0	18-83	=	0 0	0	18*43
1 decagramme	=	0 0 2	44-27	=	0 0	2	40-32
1 hectogramme	=	0 3 2	10-71	=	0 3	1	43-2
1 kilogramme	=	2 0 5	3515	=	2 0	0	0
Poids de Marc.		Grammes.	Metrical Pound.				Grammes.
1 grain	=	00531	1	grain		=	0054
24 grains or Bi	=	1-2747	24	grains	or 9i	=	1-302
72 grains or 3i	=	3-8242	72	grains	or gi	=	3*906
1 ounce	=	30.5941	1	ounce		=	31-25
1 pound	=	489-5058	1	pound		■=	500
  The following  table is taken from  Christison's Dispensatory, and was
calculated chiefly from dafa furnished in Soubeiran's Traite de Pharmacie.

Table of certain foreign Apothecaries' Weights, exhibiting the value of
             their different denominations in Troy Grains.

French (old)
Spanish
Tuscan
Roman
Austrian
German or
Nuremburg
Russian
Prussian
Dutch
Belgian
Swedish
Piedmontese
Venetian
}
 Pound.
5670-5
5320-4
5240-3
52350
64951
 Ounce.
472-50
443-49
436*67
436-25
541-25
Drachm.
59-10
55-44
54-58
54-53
67*65
Scruple.
19*70
18-47
1819
1817
22-55
 Grain.
0-820
0-769
0-758
0-757
1127
5524*8    460-40   57-55    19-18    0*960
54151
5695-8
5500-2
4744-7
4661-4
451-26
474-64
458*34
395-39
388-45
56*40    18*80
59-33    19-78
57-29
49*45
48*55
19*09
16*48
16-18
0-940
0-988
0-954
0-824
0*809
  Of these weights, all, except the French, Spanish, Tuscan, and Roman,
(first named in the table,) are divided into parts corresponding with those
of the English Apothecaries' weight.  In these four, the drachm contains
72 instead of 60 grains, and the scruple 24 instead of 20 grains; but, as in
the English, there are 3 scruples in the drachm, 8 drachms in the ounce,
and 12 ounces in the  pound.

               APPROXIMATE  MEASUREMENT.

  For the sake of convenience, in the absence of proper instruments, we
often make use of means of measurement, which, though not  precise nor
uniform, afford results sufficiently accurate for ordinary purposes.  Of this
kind are certain household implements, of a capacity approaching to uni- 
Appendix.
1319
fprmity, and corresponding to a certain extent  with the  regular standard
measures.  Custom has  attached a fixed value to these implements, with
which it is proper that the practitioner should be  familiar; although their
capacity, as they are now made, generally somewhat exceeds that at which
they were originally and still continue to be estimated.
  A tea-cup is estimated to contain about four fluidounces, or a gill.
  A wineglass     ....   two fluidounces.
  A tablespoon (cochlear magnum)  -   half a fluidounce.
  A teaspoon (cochlear parvum)  '  -    a fluidrachm.
  Small quantities of liquid medicines are often estimated by drops, each
of which is usually considered equivalent to a minim, or the sixtieth part of
a fluidrachm.   The  drop of water and of watery fluids is, on an average,
about this size ; but the  same is by no means the case with all medicinal
liquids,  and the  drop even of the same fluid varies exceedingly in bulk,
according to the circumstances under which  it is  formed.  This  is,  there-
fore, a very uncertain mode of estimating the quantity of liquids, and should
be entirely superseded in the shops, where minim measures may be had.
  The results stated in the following table were obtained by Mr. E. Durand,
of Philadelphia.  (See Journ. of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, i.
169.)  They may be  relied on as accurate;  but  should be considered as
indicating only the relative number of drops afforded by the several liquids
mentioned ; for, under other circumstances than those of Mr. Durand's ex-
periments, entirely different results might be obtained as relates to each
liquid.   The preparations experimented with were those of the first edition
of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.

Table, exhibiting the number of Drops of different Liquids equivalent to
                           a Fluidrachm.
                              Drops.
Acid Acetic (crystallizable)      120
Acid Hydrocyanic (medicinal)    45
Acid Muriatic                   54
Acid Nitric                      84
Acid Nitric, Diluted (1 to 7)      51
Acid Sulphuric                  90
Acid Sulphuric, Aromatic       120
Acid Sulphuric, Diluted (1 to 7)  51
Alcohol (rectified spirit)         138
Alcohol, Diluted (proof spirit)    120
Arsenite of Potassa, solution of   57
Ether, Sulphuric               150
Oil of Aniseed, of Cinnamon, of
  Cloves,  of  Peppermint,  of
  Sweet Almonds, of Olives     120
                             Drops.
Tincture of Assafetida, of Fox-
  glove, of Guaiac, of Opium   120
Tincture of Muriate of Iron    132
Vinegar, Distilled               78
Vinegar of Colchicum          78
Vinegar of Opium (black drop)  78
Vinegar of Squill               78
Water, Distilled                45
Water of Ammonia (strong)     54
Water of Ammonia (weak)      45
Wine (Teneriffe)               78
Wine, Antimonial               72
Wine of Colchicum             75
Wine of Opium                78 
1320
Appendix.
IV.   ALPHABETICAL TABLE  OF  PHARMACEUTICAL
                         EQUIVALENTS.*
Names.		Symbol or Formula.^	Equivalent.
Acid, acetic -	-	C4H303	51
crystallized	-	C4H303+HO	60
antimonic ...	-	Sb05	169
antimonious ...	-	Sb04	161
arsenic ...	.	As05	115-4
arsenious	-	As03	99-4
benzoic - - -		C14H5O3	113
crystallized		C14H503+HO	122
boracic ...	-	B03	34-9
camphoric (protohydrated)	-	Ci0H8O4	100
carbonic - - - -	-	co2	22
chloric ....	-	C10s	75*42
chlorous ...	-	C104	67-42
citric -	-	Ci2Hs011	165
cyanic - - - -	-	CyO	34
gallic (dried at 212°)	-	C7H305	85
hydriodic ...	-	HI	127-3
hydrocyanic (prussic acid)	-	HCy	27
hydrosulphuric (sulphuretted	hydrogen) HS		171
hypochlorous -	-	CIO	43-42
hyponitrous ...	-	N03	38
hypophosphorous	-	PO	39-4
hyposulphuric	-	sao5	72-2
hyposulphurous	-	s3o2	48-2
iodic ...	-	io5	166-3
kinic (crystallized) -	-	C7H606	96
meconic (dried at 212°) -	-	C14H4014	200
muriatic (hydrochloric acid)		HC1	36-42
nitric ...	-	N05	54
nitrous ...	-	N04	46
  * This table includes  all the simple bodies, although a number of them are not
used in medicine.  It also embraces a few compounds which are  not used in phar-
macy, but which are inserted on account of their general importance.
  f By modern chemists, the simple bodies are designated by letters called symbol.
The initial letter of the name  is the symbol, whenever it is  distinctive;  but when
several simple bodies have names beginning with the same letter, the plan adopted
is to represent one of them by the initial letter, and the rest by the  initial letter, with
some other associated with it.   Thus C  stands for carbon, Cd for cadmium, Ca for
calcium, Ce for cerium, CI for chlorine, Cr for chromium, Co  for cobalt, Cu for cop-
per, &c.  The use of these symbols saves time and space in designating the com-
position of compounds.   Where a single equivalent is intended to  be designated, the
symbol of the body is simply given; but where several equivalents are to be repre-
sented, the symbol is preceded by a figure indicating the number.  Thus C means
one equivalent of carbon; 2C, two equivalents, and so on.  Sometimes the number
of equivalents is denoted by a small depressed figure following the symbol; and this
plan has been adopted, in most instances, in the above table.  The group of letters and
figures, thus used to denote the composition of any body, is called the formula of such
body.  The symbols given are those employed by Berzelius, and should not be varied
from, for fear of destroying their usefulness by creating confusion.   The equivalents
of four elements have been changed from those given in the last edition of this work.
Carbon  and nitrogen  are represented by 6 and 14 respectively, instead of 6.12 and
14*15, arsenic by 75-4, its former number doubled, and antimony  by 129,  its former
number doubled, rejecting the decimal. 
Appendix.                        1321
           Names.                       Symbol or Formula.
Acid, oxalic.....          C203
         crystallized     -     -     -       C203+3HO
         sublimed   -                     C203-f-HO
     phosphoric     -                         POs
     phosphorous    -                         P03
     prussic. See Acid, hydrocyanic.
     succinic (anhydrous) -     -     -         C4H2Os
     sulphuric.....           S03
         liquid (sp. gr. 1-845) -     -        SOs+HO
     sulphurous     ....           S02
     tannic (tannin from galls)  -     -        C^gOu
     tartaric.....         C4HaOs
         crystaUized     -     -     -       C4H305+HO
Alcohol......       C4H4+2H0
Alum.  See Sulphate of alumina and potassa.
Alumina......          A1203
     tersulphate (salt in alum)  -     -       A1203,3S03
Aluminium    -----           Al
Amide......          NHa
Ammonia     -----          NH3
     acetate.....NH3,C4H303
     bicarbonate     -                       NH3,2C03
     bihydrosulphate     -     -     -        NH3,2HS
     carbonate -----        NH3,COa
     hydrosulphate (hydrosulphuret)         NH3,HS
     muriate (sal ammoniac)    -     -        NH3,HC1
     nitrate    -     -     -     -     -        NH3,NOs
     sesquicarbonate      ...       2NH3,3C02
         hydrated (med. carbonate)  -    2NH3,3C03+2HO
     sulphate.....        NH3,S03
Ammonium.....           NH4
Antimony or Stibium     ...           Sb
     oxychloride (powder of Algaroth)      9Sb03-f-2SbClg
     oxysulphuret   -    -     -     -   Sb03+5SbS3+16HO
     tartrate of teroxide   ...       Sb03,C4H205
     terchloride (butter of antimony)  -          SbCl3
     teroxide (medical oxide)   -     -          Sb03
     tersulphuret (medical sulphuret)            SbS3
Arsenic......          As
     bisulphuret (realgar) -    -    -         AsS2
     tersulphuret (orpiment)    -    -          AsS3
Atropia......       i>t^34J:123lJu
Barium......          Ba
     chloride.....         BaC1
         crystallized     -    -    -      BaCl+2HO
Baryta......         BaO
     carbonate  -----       Ba0,CO2
     hydrate    -----       BaO,HO
     muriate. See Barium, chloride.
     nitrate     -----       BaO,NOs
     sulphate   -----       ^a9f;?3
Benzule   ------       C14HsOa
     112
Equivalent.
    36
    63
    45
    71*4
    55.4

    50
    401
    49-1
    321
   212
    66
    75
    46

    51-4
   171-7
    13-7
    16
    17
    68
    61
    51-2
    39
    341
    53-42
    71
   100
   118
    57-1
    18
   129
  1847-52
  1183-5
   219
   235-26
   153
   177-3
    75-4
   107-6
   123-7
   289
    68-7
   104-12
   12212
    76-7
    98-7
    85-7

   130-7
   116-8
   105 
1322
Appendix.
           Names.
Bismuth -    -     -     -
     protoxide -
     trisnitrate of protoxide
Black oxide of manganese.
             Symbol or Formula.
                    Bi
                   BiO
                3BiO,N05
See Manganese, deutoxide.
     oxide of mercury.   See Mercury, protoxide
 Blue vitriol.   See Copper, sulphate of protoxide.
 Borax.   See Soda, biborate.
 Boron     ......
 Bromine   ------
 Brucia......
 Cadmium   ------
 Caffein (also thein and guaranin)
 Calamine.  See Zinc, carbonate of protoxide
 Calcium   ------
     chloride    -----
          crystallized -
 Calomel.   See Mercury, protochloride.
 Camphene      -----
 Camphor   ------
 Carbon    ------
 Caustic potassa.  See Potassa, hydrate.
     soda.  See Soda, hydrate.
 Cerium    ------
 Ceruse.   See  Lead,  carbonate of protoxide.
 Chalk.  See Lime, carbonate.
 Chlorine  -     -    -     -    -
 Chromium -     -    -     -    -
 Cinchonia.....
     disulphate  -    -     -    -
     sulphate    -     -     -    .
 Cinnabar.  See Mercury, bisulphuret.
 Cobalt.....
 Codeia.....
 Columbium or  Tantalum
 Common salt.   See Sodium, chloride.
 Copper or Cuprum   -
     acetate of protoxide
     black or protoxide
     diacetate  of protoxide (verdigris)
     red or dioxide    -
     sulphate of protoxide (blue vitriol)
         crystallized -     -    -
 Corrosive  sublimate.   See Mercury, bichloride.
 Cream of  tartar.  See Potassa, bitartrate
 Creasote   ----..
 Cyanogen......
 DlDYMIUM......
Epsom salt.  See Magnesia, sulphate.
Erbium......
Ethal......
Ether, acetic.....
     hydric (sulphuric)     ...
     hyponitrous (nitric)    ...
    B
    Br
N^H.
    Cd
N.GJLO
.0,
    Ca
   CaCl
CaCl + 6HO

   CloHg
  C10H3O
    C
Ce
Equivalent.
    71
    79
  291
 10*9
 78*4
373
 55-8
 97

 20-5
 55-92
109-92

 68
 76
  6
46
CI	35-42
Cr	28
NC^H^O	154
2NC20H12O,SO,	348-1
nc^cso;	194-1
Co	29-5
NC^H^O,	284
Ta	185
Cu	31-6
CuO,C4H30,	90-6
CuO	39-6
2CuO,C4H303	130-2
Cu20	71-2
CuO,SO,	79-7
CuO,S03+5HO oride.	124-7
Ci3H802 ?	102
NCa or Cy	26
D	i
?	1
^as^-w^z	242
C4H4,C4Hs03+HO	88
C4H4,HO or C4H50	37
C4H4,N03+HO	75
 
Appendix.
           Names.                        Symbol or Formula.
Ether, muriatic    -    -         -    -   C4H4,HC1
     nitric.  See Ether, hyponitrous.
     sulphuric.  See Ether, hydric.
Ethereal oil.   See Sulphate of ether and etherine.
Etherine
Ethule (ethyle)
Ferrocyanogen
Flowers of zinc
Fluorine
Glauber's salt.
Glucina
Glucinium
Gold or Aurum
Goulard's extract
 See Zinc, protoxide.

See Soda, sulphate.
 C4H4
 C4H5
FeCy3
                          G203
                            G
                           Au
See Lead, diacetate of protoxide.
Green vitriol.  See Iron, sulphate of protoxide
Heavy oil of wine.  See Sulphate of ether and etherine.
Hydrogen        -
    protoxide (water)   -     -     -
Iodine       .....
Iridium      -
Iron or Ferrum    ...     -
    bitartrate of sesquioxide  -
    black oxide  (med. oxide) -
    bromide      -
    carbonate of protoxide
    ferrocyanuret (pure Prussian blue)
    magnetic black oxide
    protiodide (med. iodide)  -
         crystallized    -
    protocyanuret
    protoxide     -
    red or sesquioxide  -    -    -
         hydrated      -
    sesquichloride
    subarseniate of protoxide -
    sulphate of protoxide  (green vitriol)
         crystallized    -
     tartrate of protoxide
     tartrate of sesquioxide
     teracetate of sesquioxide -
 Lantanium        -
 Lead or Plumbum -    -    -    -
     acetate of protoxide (sugar of lead)
          crystallized    -
     carbonate of protoxide (white lead)   -
     chloride      -
     deutoxide (puce oxide)  -
     diacetate of protoxide (Goulard's ext.)
     iodide
     nitrate of protoxide
     protoxide (massicot)
     red oxide (red lead or minium)
       H
       HO
        I
        Ir
       Fe
 FeA,2C4H2Os
  Fe203+2FeO
      FeBr
    FeO,C02
     Fe7Cy9
   Fe203+FeO
       Fel
    FeI+5HO
      FeCy
       FeO
      Fe203
   Fe203+2HO
      Fe2Cl3
-    4FeO,As05
     FeO,S03
- FeO,S03+7HO
-    FeO,C4H2Os
-   Fe203,C4H205
-  Fe203,3C4H303
        La
        Pb
•    PbO,C4H303
PbO,C4H303+3HO
     PbO,C02
       PbCl
       Pb02
   2PbO,C4H303
       Pbl
     PbO,N05
       PbO
       Pb304
Equivalent.
    64*42
 28
 29
!06

 18-68

 77
 26-5
199-2
  1
  9
126-3
 98-8
 28
212
152
106-4
 58
430
116
154-3
199-3
 54
 36
 80
 98
162-26
259-4
 76-1
139-1
102
146
233
 44* 15
103-6
162-6
189-6
133-6
1390
119-6
274*2
229-9
165-6
111-6
342*8 
1324
Appendix.
           Names.                       Symbol or Formula.    Equivalent.
Lime        ......CaO             28-5
     bone-phosphate     -                  8CaO,3POs         442*2
     carbonate (chalk)   -                    CaO,COa           50-5
     chlorinated    -     -     -     -     -     CaO,Cl            63-92
     hydrate (slaked lime)     -     -     -     CaO,HO           37-5
     muriate.  See Calcium, chloride.
     oxalate       .....CaO,C203           64-5
     tartrate       .....CaO,C4H205          94-5
Lithium......        L               6
Lunar caustic.  See Silver, nitrate of protoxide.
Magnesia         .....MgO             20-7
     carbonate.....MgO,C02           42-7
     sulphate (Epsom salt)    -     -     -    MgO,S03           60-8
         crystallized    -                 MgO,S03-f-7HO       123-8
Magnesium        .....       Mg             12-7
Manganese       .....       Mn             27-7
     deutoxide (black oxide)   -     -     -       Mn02            43-7
Mannite......C6H706            91
Massicot.   See Lead, protoxide.
Mercury or Hydrargyrum   ...       Hg            202
     acetate of protoxide      -     -     -   HgO,C4H3Os         261
     ammoniated (white precipitate)      -    HgCl,NHa          253*42
     bichloride (corrosive sublimate)      -      HgCla           2*72-84
     bicyanuret (prussiate)    ...      HgCy3           254
     biniodide.....Hgl3            454*6
     bisulphate of deutoxide   -     -     -    Hg02,2S03         298*2
     bisulphuret (cinnabar)    ...       HgSa           234*2
     deutoxide (red precipitate)     -     -       Hg02           218
     nitrate of deutoxide      ...    Hg02,N05         272
     nitrate of protoxide      ...    HgO,N05          264
     protiodide.....Hgl            328-3
     protochloride (calomel)   -                 HgCl           237-42
     protosulphuret      -                      HgS            218-1
     protoxide (black oxide)   -                 HgO            210
     sesquiodide    -     -     -          -       Hg3I3            782*9
     subsulphate of deutoxide (turpeth min.) 3HgOa,2S08         734*2
     sulphate of protoxide     -     -     -     HgO,S03          250*1
Minium.  See Lead, red oxide.
Molybdenum.....       Mo             47*7
Morphia......NC^H^Oe         292
     acetate.....NC^H^AHA      343
     muriate......NC35H2006,HC1       328*42
     sulPhate.....NCssHan06,SOa       332-1
Narcein......NCAO^         298
Nickel......       Ni              29*5
Niobium     ------        ?                ?
Nitre.   See Potassa, nitrate.
Nitrogen......        N              14
Olefiant gas......CsHa             14
Orpiment.  See Arsenic, tersulphuret.
Osmium......       Os              99-7
Oxygen......        O                8 
Appendix.
1325
            Names.
 Palladium.....
 Pelopium.....
 Phosphorus.....
 Platinum     -     -     -
 Potassa        .....
     acetate    -
     bicarbonate      -
          crystallized      -     -
     binoxalate (salt of sorrel)
     bisulphate       -
          crystallized      -
     bitartrate (cream of tartar)
     carbonate (salt of tartar)
     chlorate   -
     ferrocyanate.  See Potassium, ferroc
     hydrate (caustic potassa)   -
     hydriodate.   See Potassium, iodide.
     nitrate (nitre or saltpetre)   -
     oxalate   -     -    -     -
     sesquicarbonate      ...
     sulphate (vitriolated tartar)
     tartrate (soluble tartar)
 Potassium or Kalium
     bromide        -
     chloride        ....
     cyanuret       -
     ferrocyanuret  -    -     -     -
          crystallized     ...
     iodide.....
     iodo-hydrargyrate    ...
     tersulphuret    -    -     -     -
 Prussian blue.  See Iron, ferrocyanuret.
 Prussiate of mercury.  See Mercury, bicyanuret.
 Prussic acid.  See Acid, hydrocyanic.
 Puce oxide of lead.   See Lead,  deutoxide.
 Quinia......        NC20HA          162
     disulphate (med. sulphate)       -     2NC20H1ASO'        364*1.
     muriate  -----      NC^H^HCl        198*42
     sulphate.....NC^H^SO,        202*1
 Realgar.  See Arsenic, bisulphuret.
 Red lead.  See Lead, red oxide.
     precipitate.   See Mercury, deutoxide.
 Rhodium.....            R               52'2
 Rochelle salt.   See Tartrate of potassa and soda.
Ruthenium    -----           Ru
 Sal ammoniac.    See Ammonia, muriate.
 Salicin......         C^H^O,,,           457
 Salt of sorrel.  See Potassa, binoxalate.
    of tartar.  See Potassa, carbonate.
 Saltpetre.  See Potassa, nitrate.
 Selenium      -                "
 Silica     -                     "     "
                                 112'
Symbol or Formula.	Equivalent.
Pd 1	53*3 i
P	31*4
Pt	98*8
KO	47* 15
KO,C4H303	98* 15
KO,2C02	9115
K0,2C0a+H0	10015
KO,2C203	11915
KO,2S03	127-35
KO,2S03+2HO	145-35
K0.2C4HA	17915
KO,C02	69-15
KO,C10s	122-57
yanuret. KO,HO	5615
KO,NOs	10115
KO,C203	8315
2KO,3C02	160-3
KO,S03	87-25
KO,C4HA	11315
K	39-15
KBr	117*55
KC1	74-57
KCy	65-15
2KCy,FeCy	184-3
2KCy,FeCy-|-3HO	211*3
KI	165-45
2KI,HgI2	785-5
KS3	87-45
 Se              39-6'
Si03             46-5 
1326
Appendix.
           Names.
Silicon......
Silver or Argentum      ...
     chloride v  -
     cyanuret  -
     nitrate of protoxide (lunar caustic)
     protoxide.....
Slaked lime.  See Lime, hydrate.
Soda......
     acetate    -
     biborate (borax)      ...
     bicarbonate    -
        crystallized      ...
     carbonate      ....
        crystallized      -
     diphosphate  (med. phosphate)
        crystallized      ...
     hydrate (caustic soda)
     muriate.   See Sodium, chloride.
     nitrate.....
     sesquicarbonate -     -     -     -
        hydrated  -
     sulphate (Glauber's salt)
        crystallized      -
     tartrate.....
Sodium or Natrium       ...
     chloride (common salt)
Soluble tartar.  See Potassa, tartrate.
Starch......
Strontia  ------
Strontium     -----
Strychnia      -----
Sugar (cane).....
     of lead.   See Lead, acetate of protoxide.
Sulphate of alumina and potassa (alum) ALO ,3S03+KO,S03
Sulphate of ether and etherine          C4H 0,SO, + C4H4,S0
Sulphur ......            S
Sulphuretted hydrogen.   See Acid, hydrosulphuric.
Tartar emetic.   See Tartrate  of antimony and potassa.
Tartrate of antimony and potassa     Sb03,C4HA+KO,C4H20
  Symbol or Formula.
        Si
       Ag
      AgCl
      AgCy
     AgO,N05
      AgO

       NaO
   NaO,C4HA
    NaO,2B03
    NaO,2COa
 NaO,2C02+HO
    NaO,C02
 NaO,CO2+10HO
    2NaO,P05
2NaO,P03 + 25HO
     NaO,HO

    NaO,N05
   2NaO,3C02
2NaO,3CG + 4HO
     NaO,S03
 NaO,SO3+10HO
   NaOAHA
       Na
      NaCl

     ^laiiioL'io
       SrO
        Sr
    N.CJ^O,
     ^'•I9.l^ll1^-'11
Equivalent.
   22*5
  108
  143*42
  134
  170
  116

   31*3
   82-3
  1011
   75-3
   S4-3
   53-3
  143-3
  134
  359
   40-3

   85-3
  128-6
  164-6
   71-4
  161-4
   97-3
   23*3
   58-72

  162
   51 8
   43-8
  347
  171

  258-95
  145*2
   161
Tartrate of iron and potassa
Tartrate of potassa and soda
Tellurium   -
Terbium     ...
Thebaina     ...
Thorina      -
Thorium     ...
Tin or Stannum
Titanium
Tungsten or Wolfram  -
Turpeth mineral.
Uranium
Urea
                                          332*15
                Fe 03,C4H205+KO,C4HA 259-15
                KOAHA +NaOAHA  210-45
                           Te              64*2
                            ?                 f
                       NC35H1403         202
                           ThO            67*6
                           Th              59*6
                           Sn              58*9
                           Ti              24-3
                           W              99-7
See Mercury, subsulphate of deutoxide.
                           U             217
                        NAHA          60 
Appendix.
               Names.                     Symbol or Formula.     Equivalent.
Vanadium.....              V               68-5
Veratria     -     -     -    -     -          NC^HoA         288
Verdigris.  See Copper, diacetate of protoxide.
Vitriolated tartar.   See Potassa, sulphate.
Water.   See Hydrogen, protoxide.
White lead.   See Lead, carbonate of protoxide.
     precipitate.   See Mercury, ammoniated.
     vitriol.  See  Zinc,  sulphate of protoxide.
Yttria......
Yttrium.....
Zinc......
     acetate of protoxide
     carbonate of protoxide (calamine)
     chloride.....
     cyanuret      -
     iodide.....
     protoxide (flowers of zinc)
     sulphate of protoxide (white vitriol)
          crystallized     -
     sulphuret (blende)   -     -     -
 Zircoma     -
 Zirconium   -----
YO	40*2
Y	32-2
Zn	32*3
ZnO,C4H303 ZnO,C02 ZnCl	91*3 62*3 67-72
ZnCy Znl	58-3 158-6
ZnO	40-3
ZnO,S03 nO,SOs+7HO ZnS	80-4 143-4 48-4
ZrA Zr	91-4 33-7
 
1328
Appendix.
   V. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN DIFFERENT THER-
                            MOMETERS.

    In Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  which  is universally employed in this
  country and Great Britain, the freezing point of water is placed at 32°, and
  the boiling point at 212°, and the number of intervening degrees is 180.
    The Centigrade thermometer, which  has long been used  in Sweden
  under the name of  Celsius's thermometer, and is now most generally em-
  ployed on the continent of Europe, marks the freezing point zero, and the
  boiling point 100°.
    In Reaumur's  thermometer, used  in France before the  revolution, the
  freezing point is at zero, and the boiling point at 80°.
    In De Lisle's thermometer,  used in Russia, the graduation begins at the
  boiling point, which is  marked zero, while the freezing point is placed at
  150°.
    From the above statement it  is evident that 180 degrees of Fahrenheit are
i  equal to 100° of the centigrade, 80° of Reaumur, and 150° of De Lisle; or
  1 degree of the first is equal to £ of a degree of the second, £ of a degree of
  the third, and £ of a degree of  the last.  It is  easy, therefore, to convert the
  degrees of  one  into the  equivalent number of degrees of the other; but in
  ascertaining the corresponding points upon the different scales, it is neces-
  sary to take into consideration  their different modes of graduation.   Thus,
  as the  zero of Fahrenheit  is 32° below the point at which that of the cen-
  tigrade and of Reaumur is placed, this number must be taken into account
  in the  calculation.  The following propositions will embrace all the cases
  which can  arise in relation to the three last-mentioned thermometers.  That
  of De  Lisle is seldom or never referred to in works which are read in this
  country.
    1. If any degree on the centigrade scale, either above or below zero, be
  multiplied by 9 and divided by 5, or if any degree of Reaumur above or
  below  zero be multiplied by 9 and divided by 4, the quotient will, in either
  case, be the number of degrees above or below 32°, or the freezing point of
  Fahrenheit.
    2. The number of degrees between any point of  Fahrenheit's scale and
  32°, if multiplied  by 5 and divided by 9, will give the  corresponding point
  on the  centigrade ;  if multiplied by 4 and divided by 9, will give the cor-
  responding point on the scale of Reaumur.
    3. Any degree  of the centigrade multiplied by 4 and divided by 5, will
  give the corresponding  degree  of Reaumur; and conversely, any degree of
  Reaumur multiplied by 5  and divided by 4, will give the  corresponding
  degree of the centigrade. 
Appendix.
1329
                          VI.  TABLES,

  showing the specific gravity corresponding with the several de-
               grees of different hydrometers in use.

  Baume's hydrometer is usually employed in France. In this instrument,
the sp. gr. of distilled water is assumed as the zero of the descending scale,
in relation to fluids heavier than itself, while it is assumed as 10 on the
ascending scale, in relation to lighter fluids.  In the Pharmacopoeia Batava,
a modification of the instrument has been adopted, in which the sp. gr. of
distilled water has been assumed as the zero of both scales.   Beck's hydro-
meter is used in Germany.   In the following tables, the specific gravity of
liquids is given corresponding with  the  several degrees  of  these three
hydrometers.
For Liquids lighter than Water.
	Spe	cific Gravity.			Spe	cific Gravity.	
Degree of hydro-				Degree of hydro-			
							
meter.	By Baum6.	n Pharm. Batava.	By Beck.	meter.	By Baume\	n Pharm. Batava.	By Beck.
0		1000	1-0000	32	0*8638	819	0*8415
- 1		993	0-9941	33	0-8584	814	0*8374
2		987	0*9883	34	0*8531	810	0*8333
3		980	0*9826	35	0*8479	805	0-8292
4		974	0-9770	36	0-8428	800	0*8252
5		967	0-9714	37	0*8378	796	0-8212
6		961	0-9659	38	0-8329	792	0*8173
7		954	0*9604	39	0*8281	787	0*8133
8		948	0*9550	40	0 8233	782	0*8095
9		941	0*9497	41	0*8186	778	0*8056
10	1*0000	935	0-9444	42	0*8139	774	0-8018
11	0*9930	929	0-9392	43	0*8093	770	0-7981
12	0*9861	923	0*9340	44	0-8047	766	0*7943
13	0-9792	917	0-9289	45	0*8001	762	0*7906
14	0-9724	911	0*9239	46	0*7956	758	
15	0-9657	906	0-9189	47	0*7911	754	
16	0-9591	900	0*9139	48	0*7866	750	
17	0*9526	895	0-9090	49	0*7821	746	
18	0*9462	889	0*9042	50	0-7777	742	
19	0*9399	884	0*8994	51	0*7733		
20	0*9336	878	0-8947	52	0-7689		
21	0*9274	873	0*8900	53	0*7646		
22	0-9212	868	0*8854	54	0*7603		
23	0-9151	863	0-8808	55	0*7560		
24	0*9091	858	0-8762	56	0*7518		
25	0-9032	852	0*8717	57	0*7476		
26	0*8974	847	0*8673	58	0*7435		
27	0*8917	842	0*8629	59	0*7394		
28	0-8860	837	0-8585	60	0*7354		
29	0*8804	832	0*8542	61	0-7314		
30	0-8748	828	0*8500	62	0*7251		
31	0*8693	823	0*8457			------	
 
1330                        Appendix.
For Liquids heavier than Water.
	Specific Gravity.				Specific Gravity.		
Degree				Degree			
of hydro-	By Baum6.	In Pharm.	By Beck.	of hydro-	By Baum6.	In Pharm.	By Beck.
meter.		Batava.		meter.		Batava.	
0	1-0000	1000	1*0000	41	1-3947	1398	1-3178
1	1.0070	1007	10059	42	1-4082	1412	1-3281
2	10141	1014	10119	43	1*4219	1426	1-3386
3	10213	1022	10180	44	1*4359	1440	1-3492
4	10286	1029	10241	45	1*4501	1454	1-3600
5	1-0360	1036	10303	46	1-4645	1470	1-3710
6	10435	1044	10366	47	1-^792	1485	1-3821
7	10511	1052	1-0429	48	1-4942	1501	1-3944
8	1-0588	1060	10495	49	1-5096	1516	1-4050
9	1-0666	1067	10559	50	1-5253	1532	1-4167
10	1-0745	1075	10625	51	1-5413	1549	1-4286
11	1-0825	1083	1-0692	52	1-5576	1566	1-4407
12	10906	1091	1-0759	53	1-5742	1583	1-4530
13	1-0988	1100	1-0828	54	1-5912	1601	1-4655
14	1-1071	1108	1-0897	55	1-6086	1618	1-4783
15	11155	1116	1-0968	56	1-6264	1637	1-4912
16	11240	1125	11039	57	1-6446	1656	1-5044
17	11326	1134	11111	58	1-6632	1676	1-5179
18	11414	1143	11184	59	1-6823	1695	1-5315
19	11504	1152	11258	60	1-7019	1714	1-5454
20	11596	1161	11333	61	1-7220	1736	1-5596
21	11690	1171	11409	62	1-7427	1758	1-5741
22	11785	1180	11486	63	1-7640	1779	1-5888
23	1-1882	1190	11465	64	1-7858	1801	1-6038
24	11981	1199	11644	65	1-8082	1823	1-6190
25	1-2082	1210	11724	66	1-8312	1847	1-6346
26	1-2184	1221	1-1806	67	1-8548	1872	1-6505
27	1-2288	1231	1-1888	68	1-8790	1897	1-6667
28	1-2394	1242	11972	69	1-9038	1921	1-6832
29	1-2502	1252	1-2057	70	1-9291	1946	1-7000
30	1-2612	1261	1-2143	71	1*9548	1974	1-7172
31	1-2724	1275	1-2230	72	1*9809	2002	1-7347
32	1-2838	1286	1*2319	73	2*0073	2031	1-7526
33	1-2954	1298	1-2409	74	2*0340	2059	1-7708
34	1-3072	1309	1-2500	75	2*0610	2087	1-7895
35	1-3190	1321	1-2593	76		2116	1-8085
36	1-3311	1334	1-2687	77			1-8280
37	1-3434	1346	1*2782	78			1-8478
38	1-3559	1359	1*2879	79			1-8681
39	1-3686	1372	1-2977	80			1-8889
40	1-3815	1384	1-3077				
 
Appendix.
1331
  The French Codex employs Baume's hydrometer to indicate the density
of liquids heavier than water;  but  for those  lighter  than water,  it has
recourse to  the  instrument  of Cartier, as the one most diffused in com-
merce.   This differs from Baume's only in a slight  modification  of the
scale.   In both,  the  lowest point is  10°;  but 30° of Cartier  corresponds
with 32° of  Baume, so that 20  degrees of the former are equivalent to 22
of the  latter.  The  following table, extracted from the Codex, shows the
value of the several degrees of Baume's scale in those of Cartier's.  The
centesimal alcoholmeter of Gay-Lussac is applicable only to alcohol.  The
scale of this instrument "is divided into 100 unequal degrees, the zero cor-
responding to pure water, and 100°  to absolute alcohol;  and every inter-
mediate degree expresses the per centage of pure alcohol contained in the
liquors examined.   Thus, when the  instrument stands  at 40°, in any alco-
holic liquid, it indicates that 100 parts of the liquid  contain 40 of pure
alcohol and  60 of water.  But as  it was graduated for the temperature  of
59° of Fahrenheit, the liquors to be tested should be brought to that tempe-
rature.   In  page 62 of  this Dispensatory is a table indicating the specific
gravity corresponding with each per centage of alcohol, and consequently
with each degree of the alcoholmeter; and as, in the table given in the next
page, the value  of Cartier's degrees in  those of the alcoholmeter is  stated,
there can be  no difficulty in converting the degrees  of any  one of these
instruments into those of another, or of ascertaining the specific gravity to
which they  respectively correspond.

   Table showing the Value of the Degrees of Baume's Hydrometer in
                          those of Cartier's.
Baume\	Cartier.	Baume.	Cartier.	Baume\	Cartier.
10	10	23	21-94	36	33-88
11	10*92	24	22-85	37	34-80
12	11-84	25	23-77	38	35-72
13	12-76	26	24-69	39	36-63
14	13-67	27	25-61	40	37-55
15	14-59	28	26-53	41	38-46
16	15-51	29	27-44	42	39-40
17	16-43	30	28-38	43	40-31
18	17-35	31	29-29	44	41-22
19	18-26	32	30-31	45	4214
20	19-18	33	3113	46	4306
21	2010	34	3204	47	43-98
22	2102	35	32*96	48	44-90
 
1332
Appendix.
Table showing the Value of the Degrees of Cartier's Hydrometer in those
              of Gay-Lussac' s centesimal Alcoholmeter.
Cartier.	Ceritefcimal	| Cartier.	Centesimal	Cartier.	Centesimal
	Alcoholmeter.	i	Alcoholmeter.		Alcoholmeter.
10	0*2	■ 22	58-7	34	86-2
11	51	23	61-5	35	88
12	11*2	24	64-2	• 36	89-6
13	18*2	25	66-9	37	91-2
14	25*2	26	69-4	38	92-7
15	31*6	27	71-8	39	941
16	36*9	28	74	40	95-4
17	41*5	29	76-3	41	96-6
18	45-5	30	78-4	42	97-7
19	491	31	80-5	43	98-8
20	52-5	32	82-6	44	99-8
21	55-6	j 33	84.4		
 
INDEX.
A
Abbreviations, table of	1310
Abelmoschus escu-	
lentus	1261
Abelmoschus mos-	
chatus	1261
Abies balsamea	709
Abies Canadensis	544
Abies communis	543
Abies excelsa	543
Abies nigra	710
Abies pectinata	710
Abies picea 54c	,710
Abies taxifolia	710
Abietis resina	543
Absinthic acid	5
Absinthium	4
Absolute alcohol	60
Acacia	5
Acacia Adansonii	6
Acacia Arabica	6
Acacia catechu	192
Acacia decurrens	6
Acacia Ehrenbergiana	6
Acacia fioribunda	6
Acacia gummifera	6
Acacia karroo	6
Acacia Nilotica	6
Acacia nostras	7
Acacia Senegal	6
Acacia seyal	6
Acacia tortilis	6
Acacia vera	6
Acacias vera succus	7
Acer saccharinum	614
Aceta	773
Acetate of ammonia, so-	
lution of	831
Acetate of copper, crys-	
tals of	291
Acetate of iron	954
Acetate of iron, tincture	
of	955
Acetate of lead	549
Acetate of mercury	978
Acetate of morphia	1039
Acetate of potassa	1082
Acetate of soda	668
Acetate of zinc	1213
Acetate of zinc, tincture	
of	1214
Acetated tincture of	
opium	1180
Acetic acid	780
Acetic acid, aromatic	779
Acetic acid, campho-	
rated	778
113
Acetic acid, diluted	783
Acetic ether	1222
Acetic extract of colchi-	
cum	938
Acetification	15
Acetone 782,	1291
Acetosella	12
Acetum	13
Acetum Britannicum	13
Acetum cantharidis	775
Acetum colchici	776
Acetum destillatum	773
Acetum Gallicum	13
Acetum opii	776
Acetum scilla?	777
Acetum vini	13
Achillea millefolium	1222
Acid, absinthic	5
Acid, acetic	780
Acid, aconitic	54
Acid, amygdalic	90
Acid, anchusic	1225
Acid, antimonic	106
Acid, antimonious	106
Acid, aromatic acetic	779
Acid, aromatic sulphuric 797	
Acid, arsenic	17
Acid, arsenious	17
Acid, asparmic	76
Acid, aspartic	76
Acid, benzoic	784
Acid, boracic	669
Acid,cafFeic	1247
Acid, cahincic	123&
Acid, camphorated acetic 778	
Acid, camphoric	155
Acid, carbonic	859
Acid,, carthamic	181
Acid, caryophyllic	488
Acid, catechuic	194
Acid, cevadic	609
Acid, chlorohydric	31
Acid, cinnamic	489
Acid, citric	27
Acid, colophonic	585
Acid, coniic	266
Acid, crotonic	503
Acid, cyanohydric	786
Acid, diluted acetic	783
Acid, diluted muriatic	792
Acid,.diluted nitric	793
Acid, diluted phosphoric	795
Acid,.diluted sulphuric	798
Acid, eiaftric	481
Acid, ellagic	341
Acid, ethalic	203
Acid, etherosulphuric	810
Acid, eugenic	488
Acid, ferric	327
Acid, gallic	1256
Acid, gambogic	345
Acid, gentisic	347
Acid, glacial phosphoric 796	
Acid, glucic	618
Acid, guaiacic	360
Acid, hircic	662
Acid, hydriodic	1262
Acid, hydrochloric	31
Acid, hydrocyanic	786
Acid, hydrosulphuric	974
Acid, hyperiodic	391
Acid, hypermanganic	445
Acid, hypopicrotoxic	252
Acid, hyposulphuric	696
Acid, hyposulphurous	696
Acid, igasuric	477
Acid, iodic	391
Acid, iodous	391
Acid, kinic*	239
Acid, kinovic	236
Acid,.krameric	419
Acid, lactic	1272
Acid, lobelic	434
Acid, manganic	445
Acid, margaric	630
Acid, meconic	517
Acid, medicinal hydro-	
cyanic	789
Acid, melassic	618
Acid, metaphosphoric	796
Acid, muriatic	31
Acid, myronic	665
Acid, nitric	35
Acid, nitromuriatic	793
Acid, oleic	630
Acid,, oxalic	1282
Acid, palmic	497
Acid, paratartaric	728
Acid, pectic	180
Acid, picrotoxic	252
Acid, pinic	585
Acid, polygalic	650
Acid, prussic	786
Acid, pure sulphuric	799
Acid, pyroligneous	41
Acid, racemic	728
Acid, rhabarbaric	595
Acid, sabadillic	609
Acid, saccharic	617
Acid, sacchulmic	617
Acid, saliculous	623
Acid, silvic	585
Acid, stearic	630
Acid, succinic	796
Acid, sulphovinic	810
Acid, sulphuric	43
 
1334
Index.
Acid, sulphurous	696	Acorus calamus	145	Alcornoque	1225
Acid, tanacetic	704	Aetata alba	1222	Aldehyd	15
Acid, tannic	800	Aetata Americana	1222	Aldehyd resin	15
Acid, tartaric	49	Actsa racemosa	211	Alder, American	1226
Acid, turpentinic	500	Aetata rubra	1222	Alder, black	574
Acid, ulmic	726	Actsa spicata	1222	Alder, common Euro-	
Acid, valerianic	731	Adeps	55	pean	1226
Acid, veratric	609	Adeps ovillus praparatus	662	Ale	740
Acid, virgineie	650	Adeps suillus prasparatus 55		Alembic	760
Acida	779	Adhesive plaster 92:	,922	Aleppo scammony	642
Acids	779	Adiantum capillus veneris		Aletris	64
Acidulous water of car-			1222	Aletris farinosa	64
bonate of soda	1125	Adiantum pedatum	1222	Alexandria senna	653
Acidum aceticum	780	Administering medicines		Alga? and fuci, ashes of 672	
Acidum aceticum cam-		mode of	1307	Alhagi Maurorum	447
phoratum	778	iErugo	290	Alisma plantago	1225
Acidum aceticum dilu-		iEsculus hippocastanum	1223	Alizarin	602
tum	783	./Ether aeeticus	1222	Alkalimetry	565
Acidum arseniosum	17	iEther hydrocyanicus	1262	Alkanet	1225
Acidum benzoicum	784	iEther muriaticus	1276	Alliaria officinalis	1226
Acidum citricum	27	./Ether nitrosus	814	Allium	64
Acidum gallicum	1256	iEther sulphuricus	805	Allium cepa	66
Acidum hydriodicum	1262	iEtherea	805	Allium porrum	559
Acidum hydrochloricum	31	iEthiops vegetabilis	1254	Allium sativum	65
Acidum hydrochloricum		Agaric	1223	Allspice	539
dilutum	792	Agaric of the oak	1223	Almond' confection	892
Acidum hydrocyanicum	786	Agaric, purging	1223	Almond emulsion	3029
Acidum hydrocyanicum		Agaric, white	1223	Almond mixture	1029
dilutum	786	Agathis Damarra	713	Almond oil soap	631
Acidum lacticum	1272	Agathotes chirayta	209	Almonds, bitter	90
Acidum muriaticum	31	Agave Americana	1224	Almonds, sweet	89,90
Acidum muriaticum dilu-		Agrimonia eupatoria	1224	Alnus, glutinosa	1226
tum	792	Agrimony, common	1224	Alnus serrulata	1226
Acidum nitricum	35	Aix la Chapelle water	113	Aloe	67
Acidum nitricum dilutum 793		Ajuga chamaspitys	1224	Aloe arborescens	€7,71
Acidum nitromuriaticum	793	Ajuga pyramidalis	1224	Aloe Barbadensis	67
Acidum oxalicum	1282	Ajuga reptans	1224	Aloe commelyni	67
Acidum phosphoricum		Alantin	389	Aloe hepatica	67
dilutum	795	Albumen as an antidote		Aloe Indica	€7,71
Acidum pyroligneum	41	for corrosive sublimate		Aloe multiformis	67
Acidum succinicum	796		983	Aloe purpurascens	67,71
Acidum sulphuricum	43	Albumen ovi	529	Aloe Socotorina	67
Acidum sulphuricum aro-		Albumen, vegetable	724	Aloe Socotrina	68
maticum	797	Albuminate of iron	1225	Aloe spicata	68
Acidum sulphuricum di-		Albuminate of iron and		Aloe vera	68
lutum	798	potassa, syrup of	1225	Aloe vulgaris	68
Acidum sulphuricum pu-		Alceas JEgyptiacs	1261	Aloes	67
rum	799	Alchemilla vulgaris	1225	Aloes, Barbadoes	71
Acidum sulphuricum ve-		Alcoates	62	Aloes, Bethelsdorp	69
nale	43	Alcohol, Lond., Ed., Bui	.	Aloes, caballine	72
Acidum tannicum	800	59,60		Aloes, Cape	69
Acidum tartaricum	49	Alcohol, U. S.	57	Aloes, fetid	72
Acipenser huso	387	Alcohol, absolute	60	Aloes, hepatic	71
Acipenser ruthenus	387	Alcohol, ammoniated	833	Aloes, horse	72
Acipenser stellatus	387	Alcohol as a poison	63	Aloes, Mocha	72
Acipenser sturio	3S7	Alcohol, diluted	822	Aloes, shining	69
Aconite	52	Alcohol dilutum	822	Aloes, Socotrine	69
Aconitia 54	, 803	Alcohol, preparations ol	822	Aloesin	73
Aconitic acid	54	Alcoholic extract of aco		Aloetic pills	1059
Aconitina 54	,803	nite	934	Alpinia cardamomum	177
Aconitum	52	Alcoholic extract of bel		Alpinia galanga	1255
Aconitum anthora	52	ladonna	9,36	Alteratives	3
Aconitum cammarum	52	Alcoholic extract of hen-	-	Althaea	75
Aconitum lycoctonum	52	lock	941	Althaea officinalis	75
Aconitum napellus	53	Alcoholic extract of hen		Althaea rosea	76
Aconitum neomontanum	52	bane	944	Alum	76
Aconitum Neubergense	53	Alcoholic fermentation	58	Alum, ammoniacal	77
Aconitum paniculatum	52	Alcoholic potassa	1081	Alum cataplasm	883
Aconitum uncinatum	53	Alcoholmeter, Gay-Lus-		Alum, dried	823
Acorus	144	sac's centesimal	1331	Alum, preparations of	823
 
Index.
1335
Alum-root	369
Alumen	76
Alumen exsiccatum	823
Alumen siccatum	823
Alumina	78
Alumina, sulphate of	1297
Aluminas sulphas	1297
Amber	693
Ambergris	1226
Ambra grisea	1226
Ambrein	1226
American agave	1224
American aloe	1224
American centaury	611
American columbo	336
American dittany	1251
American gentian	337
American hellebore	734
American ipecacuanha
                   323, 353
American panicle        369
American senna         188
American silver fir       710
American spikenard      116
Amidin                  95
Amidogen              1004
Ammonia                80
Ammonia, bicarbonate of 824
Ammonia, carbonate of  824
Ammonia, hydrochlorate
  of                     84
Ammonia, hydrosulphu-
  ret of                 827
Ammonia, muriate of     84
Ammonia, preparations
  of                    824
Ammonia, sesquicarbo-
  nate of               826
Ammonia, solution of    828
Ammonia, spirit of      832
Ammonia, stronger solu-
  tion of                 82
Ammonia, water of      828
Ammoniac               86
Ammoniac mixture      1029
Ammoniac plaster        911
Ammoniacum             86
Ammonias acetatis aqua   831
Ammonias aqua          828
Ammonias aqua fortior     82
Ammonias arsenias      1230
Ammonias bicarbonas     824
Ammonias carbonas      824
Ammonias carbonatis
  aqua                  827
Ammonias causticas aqua  828
Ammonias citras         1243
Ammonias hydrochloras    84
Ammonias hydrosulphu-
  retum                 827
Ammonias liquor fortior    82
Ammonias murias          84
Ammonias sesquicarbo-
  nas                   °"**
Ammoniated alcohol     833
Ammoniated copper      897
Ammoniated copper, so-
  lution of              °99
Ammoniated iron         974
Ammoniated mercury   1004
Ammoniated tincture of
  castor               n66
Ammoniated tincture of
  guaiac               1173
Ammoniated tincture of
  opium               1180
Ammoniated tincture of
  valerian              1187
Ammonii iodidum       1265
Ammonio-chloride of
  iron                  974
Ammonio-chloride of
  iron, tincture of       975
Ammonio-chloride of
  silver                1241
Ammonio-citrate of iron 1243
Ammonio-tartrate of
  iron                 1226
Ammonium,              80
Ammonium, chloride of   85
Amomum angustifolium  176
Amomum cardamomum  176
Amomum grana paradisi  176
Amomum maximum  '    176
Amomum repens         177
Amomum zingiber       749
Amygdala amara       88, 90
Amygdala dulcis       89, 90
Amygdalas oleum         484
Amygdalic acid           90
Amygdalin                90
Amygdaline soap         631
Amygdalus communis     89
Amygdalus Persica        93
Amylum                 94
Amyris caranna         1239
Amyris commiphora     1232
Amyris elemifera         310
Amyris Gileadensis     1231
Amyris kataf            474
Amyris tomentosum     1299
Anacardium occidentale 1227
Anacyclus officinarum    578
Anacyclus pyrethrum    578
Anagallis arvensis       1227
Anagallis casrulea       1227
Anamirta cocculus       251
Anchusa Italica         1227
Anchusa officinalis      1227
Anchusa tinctoria       1225
Anchusic acid           1225
Anderson's pills        1060
Andira inermis           349
Andira retusa            349
Andromeda arborea     1227
Andromeda mariana     1227
Andromeda speciosa     1228
Anemone, meadow      1228
Anemone nemorosa     1228
Anemone pratensis      1228
Anemone pulsatilla     1228
Anemonin              1228
Anethum                 96
Anethum fceniculum      335
Anethum graveolens       97
Angelica                 97
Angelica archangelica     98
Angelica atropurpurea     97
Angelica, garden          98
Angelica-tree bark       117
Angustura               99
Angustura, false         101
Anhydrous alcohol       60
Anhydrous hydrocyanic
  acid             789,790
Animal charcoal         171
Animal charcoal, purified 882
Animal oil soda soap     632
Anime                 1228
Anise                   102
Aniseed, star            102
Anisum                 102
Annotta                1228
Anodyne liniment       1021
Anodynes                 3
Antacids                  3
Anthelmintics             3
Anthemis               103
Anthemis arvensis        103
Anthemis cotula         278
Anthemis nobilis         103
Anthemis pyrethrum     578
Anthemis tinctoria       103
Anthracite              169
Anthrakokali           1228
Anthriscus cerefolium   1229
Antilithics                2
Antimonial ointment    1192
Antimonial powder      852
Antimonial wine         847
Antimonic acid          106
Antimonii et potassas tar-
  tras                  837
Antimonii oxidum        835
Antimonii oxydum nitro-
  muriaticum            836
Antimonii oxysulphure-
  tum                  848
Antimonii potassio-tar-
  tras                  837
Antimonii sesquisulphu-
  retum                 106
Antimonii sulphuretum   106
Antimonii sulphuretum
  aureum               848
Antimonii sulphuretum
  prascipitatum          848
Antimonii sulphuretum
  prasparatum            848
Antimonious acid         106
Antimonium             105
Antimonium diaphoreti-
  cum                 1252
Antimonium tartarizatum  837
Antimony               105
Antimony ash            105
Antimony, crocus of     838
Antimony, nitromuriatic
  oxide of              836
Antimony, oxide of      835
Antimony, oxychloride of 836
Antimony, oxysulphuret
  of                    848
Antimony, precipitated
  sulphuret of           848
Antimony, preparations
  of                    835
Antimony, prepared sul-
  phuret of            848
Antimony, sulphuret of   106 
1336
Index.
Antimony, tartarized     837
Antimony, teroxide of   835
Antirrhinum linaria     1229
Antispasmodics            2
Apis mellifica       198, 455
Apium petroselinum     535
Apocynin               109
Apocynum androsasmifo-
  lium                  107
Apocynum cannabinum   108
Apothecaries'measure  1314
Apothecaries' weight    1314
Apotheme              926
Application of heat      758
Approximative measure-
  ment                1318
Aqua                   109
Aqua acidi carbonici     858
Aqua aluminosa Bateana 824
Aqua ammonias          828
Aqua anethi             860
Aqua Binelli            1229
Aqua calcis              877
Aqua calcis composita   878
Aqua camphoras         860
Aqua carbonatis sodas
  acidula              1125
Aqua carui              861
Aqua cassias             861
Aqua chlorinii           861
Aqua cinnamomi         863
Aqua destillata          855
Aqua florum aurantii     863
Aqua fluviatilis           111
Aqua foeniculi            863
Aqua fontana            111
Aqua fortis               37
Aqua lauro-cerasi        864
Aqua lucias              631
Aqua menthas piperitas   864
Aqua menthas pulegii    864
Aqua menthas viridis     864
Aqua phagedasnica 981, 982
Aqua picis liquidas       865
Aqua pimentae           865
Aqua pulegii            864
Aqua regia              793
Aqua rosas              865
Aqua sambuci           866
Aqua sapphirina         292
Aquas destillatas         856
Aquas medicatas         856
Aquilegia vulgaris      1229
Arabin                   9
Aralia hispida           116
Aralia nudicaulis        116
Aralia racemosa         116
Aralia spinosa           117
Araucaria Dombeyi      713
Arbor vitas             1301
Arbutus uva ursi         729
Arcanum duplicatum     571
Arctium lappa           117
Arctostaphylos uva ursi  729
Ardent spirits of com-
   merce                 59
Areca catechu          1229
Areca nut             1229
Argel                   653
Argenti chloridum      1241
Argenti cyanidum        866
Argenti cyanuretum      866
Argenti iodidum        1267
Argenti nitras            866
Argenti nitras fusum      866
Argenti nitratis crystalli  871
Argenti oxidum         1285
Argentine flowers of an-
  timony                105
Argentum               118
Argol                   560
Arica bark              227
Aricina                 236
Aristolochia clematitis    657
Aristolochia hastata      659
Aristolochia hirsuta      658
Aristolochia Indica       658
Aristolochia longa        657
Aristolochia pistolochia  657
Aristolochia reticulata    659
Aristolochia rotunda      657
Aristolochia sagittata     659
Aristolochia semper vi-
  rens                  658
Aristolochia serpentaria  658
Aristolochia tomentosa   658
Armoracia              119
Arnica                  120
Arnica montana         121
Arnotta                1228
Aromatic acetic acid     779
Aromatic confection      892
Aromatic mixture of iron
                       1031
Aromatic plaster         912
Aromatic powder       1109
Aromatic spirit of ammo-
  nia                   834
Aromatic spirit of vinegar 779
Aromatic sulphuric acid  797
Aromatic syrup of rhu-
  barb                 1151
Aromatic vinegar        779
Aromatic waters, extem-
  poraneous            765
Arrow-root             449
Arseniate of ammonia   1230
Arseniate of iron        1230
Arsenic acid             17
Arsenic, bisulphuret of 1291
Arsenic, metallic         17
Arsenic, preparations of 871
Arsenic, tersulphuret
  of                  1282
Arsenical paste           20
Arsenical solution       871
Arsenical solution of
  Pearson               18
Arsenici iodidum       1265
Arsenici oxydum album   17
Arsenici oxydum album
  sublimatum           871
Arsenicum album         17
Arsenious acid           17
Arsenious acid as a poison 20
Arsenious acid, tests for  24
Arsenite of potassa, solu-
  tion of                871
Art of prescribing medi-
  cines                1306
Artemisia abrotanum       4
Artemisia absinthium       4
Artemisia Chinensis      466
Artemisia contra         122
Artemisia glomerata      122
Artemisia Indica         466
Artemisia Judaica        122
Artemisia moxa          466
Artemisia pontica          4
Artemisia santonica      122
Artemisia vulgaris          4
Arterial stimulants         2
Artificial camphor        500
Artificial Cheltenham salt
                       1240
Artificial musk          1277
Artificial Seltzer water   858
Arum                   123
Arum maculatum         123
Arum triphyllum         123
Asagrasa officinalis       608
Asarabacca              124
Asarin                  125
Asarum             124, 125
Asarum Canadense       125
Asarum Europasum      124
Asbolin                1296
Asclepias, flesh-coloured 126
Asclepias gigantea      1237
Asclepias incarnata      126
Asclepias pseudosarsa   1261
Asclepias Syriaca        126
Asclepias tuberosa       127
Asclepias vincetoxicum  1251
Asiatic pills              20
Asparagin                76
Asparagus              1230
Asparagus officinalis     1230
Asparamide              76
Asparmic acid            76
Aspartic acid             76
Aspen                 1290
Asphaltum              534
Aspidium               332
Aspidium filix fcemina   1230
Aspidium filix mas       332
Asplenium adiantum ni-
  grum                1230
Asplenium filix fcemina  1230
Asplenium scolopendri-
  um                  1294
Asplenium trichomanes 1230
Assafetida               128
Assafetida mixture      1030
Assafetida pills         1061
Assafetida plaster        913
Assafcetida              128
Astragalus aristatus      720
Astragalus Creticus      720
Astragalus gummifer     720
Astragalus massiliensis   720
Astragalus strobiliferus   720
Astragalus tragacantha   720
Astragalus verus         720
Astringents                2
Athyrium filix fcemina    1230
Atropa belladonna      137
Atropa mandragora      1274
Atropia                 138
Attar of roses           498 
Index.
1337
Aurantii aqua
Aurantii cortex
Aurantii oleum
Aurantium
Aurum
Avena
Avena sativa
Avenas farina
Avens, purple
Avens, root of
Avens, water
Avoirdupois weight
Axungia
Aydendron laurel
Azedarach
Azure
            B

Bacher, tonic pills of     943
Balaustines
Balm                    456
Balm of Gilead     712, 1231
Balsam apple           1275
Balsam, Canada          712
Balsam, Carpathian       709
Balsam, Hungarian      1292
Balsam of copaiva        271
Balsam of fir             712
Balsam of Gilead        1231
Balsam of Peru           473
Balsam of sulphur       1231
Balsam of Tolu           715
Balsam, Riga           1292
Balsam-weed           1264
Balsamina              1275
Balsamodendron Gilea-
  dense            ,    1231
Balsamodendron myrrha  474
Balsamum Canadense     708
Balsamum Carpaticum   1292
Balsamum Gileadense    1231
Balsamum Libani       1292
Balsamum Peruvianum   473
Balsamum Tolutanum     715
Balsamum traumaticum  1163
Balston  Spa water        114
Baneberry,             1222
Baphia nitida           1237
Baptisia tinctoria        1231
Barbadoes aloes           71
Barbadoes nuts           705
Barbadoes tar            533
Barbary gum              8
Barberry               1233
Barii chloridum          873
Barii iodidum           1267
Barilla             671, 672
Barium                  135
Barium, chloride of       873
Bark, Arica             227
Bark, Calisaya           225
Bark, Caribasan           234
Bark, crown             223
Bark, Cusco             227
Bark, gray               ;"£
Bark, Huamilies         ^
Bark, Huanuco           jjf
Bark, Jaen              zzq-
863	Bark, Lima	223
131	Bark, Loxa	223
132 131	Bark, Maracaybo Bark, new	230 233
1258 134	Bark, pale Bark, Peruvian	222 212
134 134	Bark, pitaya Bark, red	234 229
351	Bark, St. Lucia	234
352	Bark, Santa Martha	232
351	Bark, silver	223
1314	Bark, yellow	225
55	Barks, Carthagena	230
1288	Barks, false	234
134 1296	Barley Barley sugar Barley water	372 617 905
	Baroselenite	136
	Barosma crenata	301
943	Baryta Baryta, carbonate of	135 136
358	Baryta, muriate of	873
Baryta, preparations of  873
Baryta, sulphate of      136
Barytas carbonas         136
Barytas murias          S73
Barytas muriatis aqua    !S75
Barytas sulphas          136
Barytina                733
Basil                  1280
Basilicon ointment      889
Bassora gum           1231
Bassorin               1232
Bastard dittany         1252
Bateman's drops        1181
Bates's alum water      824
Bates's aqua camphorata 292
Bath water             113
Baume de commandeur 1163
Baume's hydrometer    754
Baume's hydrometer, ta-
  ble of the value of the
  degrees of, in sp. gr.  1329
Bay salt                677
Bay  tree  berries and
  leaves                425
Bdellium              1232
Bead tree, common      135
Beaked hazel          1250
Bean of St. Ignatius    1232
Bearberry              729
Bears-foot             1260
Beaver tree            443
Bebeeru bark          1233
Beccabunga           1304
Beck's hydrometer,  value
  of the degrees of, in sp.
  gr.                  1329
Bedeguar              1233
Bedford spring water    113
Beech-drops           1282
Beet sugar             614
Belladonna             137
Belladonnin            138
Bendee               1261
Bengal opium           511
Benne                 660
Benne oil               660
Benzoic acid            784
Benzoin                140
           113*
Benzoin, flowers of      785
Benzoin odoriferum     1233
Benzoinum             140
Benzule             91, 785
Berberin              1233
Berberis Canadensis    1233
Berberis vulgaris       1233
Bergamii oleum         485
Bergamotas oleum       485
Betel                  1229
Betel-nut              1229
Bethelsdorp aloes        69
Betonica officinalis     1233
Betony, wood          1233
Betula alba            1233
Betula lenta            1234
Betula papyracea       1234
Betulin                1233
Bezoar                1234
Biborate of soda        671
Bicarbonate of ammonia  824
Bicarbonate of potassa  1088
Bicarbonate of soda     1122
Bichloride of mercury    979
Bicyanide  of mercury    991
Bicyanuret of mercury   991
Bignonia catalpa       1240
Bilin                  1285
Biniodide of mercury    993
Binoxalate of potassa
                   12, 1283
Binoxide of mercury     999
Birch, European       1233
Birch, sweet           1234
Bird-lime              1234
Bismuth               142
Bismuth, magistery of    876
Bismuth, subnitrate of   875
Bismuth, white oxide of  875
Bismuthi subnitras      875
Bismuthi trisnitras      875
Bismuthum             142
Bismuthum album       875
Bistort root             558
Bisulphate of potassa   1095
Bisulphuret of carbon   1234
Bisulphuret of mercury 1002
Bitartrate of potassa     560
Biting stone-crop       1295
Bitter almonds           90
Bitter cucumber        259
Bitter polygala          558
Bittersweet             304
Bitumen petroleum      533
Bituminous coal        169
Bixa orellana          1228
Black alder             574
Black drop             776
Black flux              562
Black hellebore         365
Black ipecacuanha      401
Black lead             1239
Black mustard  seeds     664
Black nightshade        304
Black-oak bark          581
Black oxide of iron      966
Black oxide of manganese 445
Black oxide of mercury  994
Black pepper            540
Black pitch             546 
1338
Index.
Black poplar	1290	Brooklime	1304	Calcis muriatis aqua	sso
Black poppy	506	Broom	647	Calcis muriatis solutio	880
Black salts	563	Broom-rape	1282	Calcis phosphas prascipi-	
Black snakeroot	211	Broom, Spanish	1297	tatum	881
Black spruce	710	Broussonetia tinctoria	1255	Calendula officinalis	1237
Black sulphuret of mer-		Brown mixture	1312	Calendulin	1237
cury	1001	Brown sugar 613, 618		Calico bush	1269
Black tea	1300	Brucea antidysenterica	101	Calisaya bark	225
Blackberry-root	603	Brucia	477	Callicocca ipecacuanha	399
Bladder senna	1248	Bryonia alba	1236	Calomel	985
Bladder-wrack	1254	Bryonia dioica	1236	Calomel, Howard's	987
Blazing star	64	Bryonin	1236	Calomel, Jewell's	987
Bleaching powder	149	Bryony	1236	Calomel pills	1068
Blende 746	1219	Bubon galbanum	338	Calomel pills, compounc	
Blessed thistle	196	Bucharian rhubarb	592		1061
Blistering cloth	887	Buchu	300	Calomel, precipitated	990
Blistering paper	887	Buckbean	459	Calomelas	985
Blistering plaster	885	Buckthorn berries	586	Calomelas prascipitatum	990
Blisters, use of	164	Buena	213	Calomelas sublimatum	985
Block tin	684	Bugle, common	1224	Calophyllum inophyllum	1299
Bloodroot	626	Bugle-weed	436	Calophyllum tacamahaca	1299
Blue flag	405	Bugloss	1227	Calotropis gigantea	1237
Blue gentian	348	Burdock	117	Calotropis madarii Indi-	
Blue pills	1067	Burgundy pitch	542	co-orientalis	1237
Blue stone	291	Burnt hartshorn	881	Calumba	261
Blue vitriol	291	Burnt sienna	1296	Calx	147
Blunt-leaved dock	605	Burnt sponge	1136	Calx chlorinata	149
Bole Armenian	1235	Burnt umber	1303	Cambogia	342
Boles	1235	Bursera gummifera	1239	Camellia sasanqua	1300
Boletus fomentarius	1224	Butea frondosa	416	Camphene	155
Boletus igniarius	1223	Butea gum	■416	Camphor	153
Boletus laricis	1223	Butter of zinc	1215	Camphor, artificial	500
Boletus ribis	1224	Buttercup	584	Camphor liniment	1020
Boletus ungulatus	1224	Butterfly-weed	127	Camphor liniment, com-	
Bolus Veneta	1303	Butternut	410	pound	1020
Bone	527	Button snakeroot 318	, 1272	Camphor water	860
Bone-ash	528			Camphora	153
Bone-black	172			Camphora officinarum	153
Bone-earth	528	c		Camphorated acetic acid 778	
Bone-phosphate of lime	528			Camphorated soap lini-	
Bone-spirit	84	Caballine aloes	72	ment	1021
Boneset	320	Cabbage-tree bark	349	Camphorated tincture of	
Bonplandia trifoliata	99	Cacao	1244	opium	1181
Boracic acid, native	669	Caesalpina Braziliensis	1235	Camphorated tincture of	
Borage	1235	Caesalpina crista	1235	soap	1184
Borago officinalis	1235	Caesalpina echinata	1235	Camphoric acid	155
Borate of soda	669	Caesalpina sappan	1235	Camwood	1237
Borax	669	CafTeic acid	1247	Canada balsam	712
Bordeaux turpentine	711	Caffein	1246	Canada fleabane	316
Borneo camphor	156	Cahinca	1236	Canada pitch	544
Boswellia serrata	505	Cahincic acid	1236	Canada snakeroot	125
Boullay's filter	763	Cajeput oil	486	Canada turpentine 708, 712	
Bouncing bet	1293	Cajuputi	486	Canary seed	1238
Brake, common	1230	Calamina	748	Cancer-root	1282
Bran	725	Calamina praeparata	1214	Cane brimstone	695
Brandy	57	Calamine	748	Canella	158
Brandy mixture	1033	Calamine, prepared	1214	Canella alba	158
Brasiletto	1235	Calamus	144	Canna	159
Brazil wood	1235	Calamus aromaticus	144	Canna coccinea	159
Briangon manna	447	Calamus draco	1253	Canna starch	159
Brighton water	113	Calamus rotang	1253	Cannabis Indica	1238
Brimstone	694	Calcii chloridum	146	Cannabis sativa	1238
Brimstone, cane	695	Calcination	764	Cantharides	161
British oil	502	Calcined magnesia	1024	Cantharidin	162
British vinegar	15	Calcined mercury	998	Cantharis	160
Bromide of iron	1235	Calcis carbonas	283	Cantharis asneas	166
Bromide of potassium	1097	Calcis carbonas prascip		Cantharis albida	166
Bromides of mercury	1235	tatum	878	Cantharis aszelianus	166
Bromine	143	Calcis hydras	147	Cantharis atrata	166
Brominium	143	Calcis murias	146	Cantharis cinerea	165
 
Index.                        1339
Cantharis marginata	166	Carolina pink	680	Catch-fly	1296
Cantharis Nuttalli	166	Carota	178	Catechu	191
Cantharis politus	166	Carotin	179	Catechuic acid	194
Cantharis vesicatoria	161	Carpathian balsam	709	Catechuin	194
Cantharis vittata	165	Carpobalsamum	1231	Catechus, non-officinal	194
Caoutchouc	1238	Carrageen	210	Cathartic clyster	923
Cap cement	761	Carrageenin	210	Cathartics	2
Cape aloes	69	Carrot cataplasm	883	Cathartin	656
Cape gum	9	Carrot root	179	Cathartocarpus fistula	186
Caper-bush	1239	Carrot seed	179	Catmint	191
Caper plant	1281	Carthagena barks	230	Catnep	191
Caphopicrite	595	Carthamic acid	181	Caustic potassa	1080
Capnomor	279	Carthamite	181	Caustics	2
Capparis spinosa	1239	Carthamus	180	Causticum commune	
Capsicin	168	Carthamus tinctorius	180	acerrimum	1081
Capsicum	167	Cartier's hydrometer	1331	Causticum commune	
Capsicum annuum	167	Carui	181	mitius	1082
Capsicum baccatum	167	Carum	181	Cayenne pepper	167
Capsicum frutescens	167	Carum carui	181	Ceanothus Americanus	1240
Capsules of gelatin	1257	Caryophylli oleum	487	Cedar apples	413
Caramel	617	Caryophyllic acid	488	Cedar, red	413
Caranna	1239	Caryophyllin	183	Celandine	1240
Caraway	181	Caryophyllus	182	Cement for broken glass	761
Caraway water	861	Caryophyllus aromaticus	182	Cement, soft	761
Carbo	169	Cascarilla	184	Centaurea benedicta	196
Carbo animalis	171	Cashew nut	1227	Centaurin	198
Carbo animalis purificatus 882		Cassava	705	Centaurium	197
Carbo ligni	173	Cassia 186, 249		Centaury, American	611
Carbon	169	Cassia acutifolia	652	Centaury, European	197
Carbonate of ammonia	824	Cassia iEthiopica	653	Centesimal alcoholmeter	
Carbonate of baryta	136	Cassia Brasiliana	187	755,	1331
Carbonate of iron, preci	-	Cassia buds	250	Cephaelis ipecacuanha	399
pitated	969	Cassia caryophyllata	1250	Cera	198
Carbonate of lead	551	Cassia elongata	652	Cera alba	199
Carbonate of lime	283	Cassia fistula	186	Cera flava	198
Carbonate of lime, preci	-	Cassia lanceolata	653	Cerain	200
pitated	878	Cassia Marilandica	188	Cerasin	9
Carbonate of magnesia	438	Cassia obovata	652	Cerasus lauro-cerasus	426
Carbonate of potassa	1084	Cassia ovata	653	Cerasus serotina	576
Carbonate of potassa from		Cassia, purging	186	Cerasus Virginiana	576
crystals of tartar	1087	Cassia senna	651	Cerata	885
Carbonate of potassa from		Cassias fistulas pulpa	1107	Cerate of calamine	891
pearlash	1084	Cassias oleum	488	Cerate of carbonate of	
Carbonate of potassa, im		Cassias pulpa	1107	zinc	891
pure Carbonate of potassa,	562	Cassumuniar	1305	Cerate of Spanish flies	885
		Cassuvium pomiferum	1227	Cerate of subacetate of	
pure Carbonate of potassa, so	1087	Castanea	189	lead	888
		Castanea pumila	189	Cerated glass of antimony	
lution of	1088	Castile soap	632		ivoi
Carbonate of soda	673	Castillon's powders	880	Cerates	885
Carbonate of soda, driec	1121	Castor	189	Ceratum	891
Carbonate of soda, water		Castor fiber	189	Ceratum calaminas	891
of	1122	Castor oil	494	Ceratum cantharidis,	
Carbonate of zinc	748	Castoreum	189	Lond.	1193
Carbonated waters	112	Castorin	190	Ceratum cantharidis,	
Carbonic acid	859	Cat thyme	1301	U.S.	885
Carbonic acid water	858	Catalpa cordifolia	1240	Ceratum cetacei	888
Carburet of iron	1239	Catalpa tree	1240	Ceratum hydrargyri com-	
Carburet of sulphur Cardamine	1234	Cataplasma aluminis	883	positum	»B3
	174	Cataplasma carbonis ligni 883		Ceratum plumbi acetatis 15JU3	
Cardamine pratensis Cardamom Cardamomum	174 175 175	Cataplasma conii Cataplasma dauci Cataplasma fermenti	883 883 884	Ceratum plumbi compo situm Ceratum plumbi subace	888 888
Cardinal flower	436	1 Cataplasma lini	884	tatis	
Carduus benedictus	197	Cataplasma simplex	884	Ceratum resinas	889
Carribasan bark	234	Cataplasjna sinapis	884	Ceratum resinas composi-	
Carminative, Dalby's Carminatives	440 3 253	Cataplasmata Cataplasms Cataria	882 882 191	tum Ceratum sabinas Ceratum saponis	88» 889 890
Carmine Carnation	296	Catawba tree	1240	Ceratum simplex, Ed.	888
 
1340                                Index.
Ceratum simplex, U. S.   891
Ceratum zinci carbonatis 891
Cerevisias fermentum    201
Cerin                  200
Ceroxylon Andicola     200
Ceruse                 551
Cerussa acetata         549
Cervus elaphus         276
Cervus Virginianus      276
Cetaceum              202
Cetin                  203
Cetraria                203
Cetraria Islandica       204
Cetrarin                204
Cevadic acid            609
Cevadilla               608
Ceylon cardamom       175
Ceylon cinnamon       249
Chasrophyllum sativum   1229
Chalk                  283
Chalk mixture          1031
Chalk, prepared        879
Chalk, red             1292
Chalybeate bread       1272
Chalybeate waters       112
Chamasdrys             1301
Chamasmelum           103
Chamaspitys            1224
Chamomile              103
Chamomile, German     454
Chamomile, wild       279
Charcoal                173
Charcoal, animal        171
Charcoal cataplasm      883
Charcoal, pure          169
Cheese-rennet          1255
Chelae cancrorum       1250
Cheledonic acid        1240
Chelerythrin            1240
Chelidonin             1240
Chelidonium  majus     1240
Chelidoxanthin         1240
Cheltenham salt, artifi-
   cial                 1240
Cheltenham water       113
Chenopodium           206
Chenopodium ambrosi-
   oides                 206
Chenopodium anthelmin-
   ticum                 206
Chenopodium botrys     206
Cherry-laurel           426
Cherry-laurel water      864
Chervil                1229
Chian turpentine    708, 713
Chillies                 167
Chimaphila             207
Chimaphila maculata     208
Chimaphila umbellata    207
China root              634
Chinese cinnamon       249
Chinese rhubarb        591
Chinquapin             189
Chiococca anguifuga    1236
Chiococca densifolia    1236
Chiococca racemosa    1236
Chirayta                209
Chiretta                209
Chironia angularis       611
Chironia centaurium     197
Chlorate of potassa      565
Chloride of ammonium 80, 85
Chloride of barium      873
Chloride of barium, solu-
  tion of               875
Chloride of calcium      146
Chloride of calcium, solu-
  tion of               880
Chloride of gold        1258
Chloride of gold and so-
  dium                1258
Chloride of iron, tincture
  of                   975
Chloride of lead        1074
Chloride of lime .        149
Chloride of magnesium 1241
Chloride of potassa, so-
  lution of            1241
Chloride of silver       1241
Chloride of soda, solu-
  tion of              1125
Chloride of sodium      677
Chloride of sodium, pure
                      1129
Chloride of zinc        1215
Chlorinated lime         149
Chlorinated soda, solu-
  tion of              1125
Chlorine                 862
Chlorine ethers         1241
Chlorine water          861
Chloroaurate of ammonia
                       1258
Chloroform            1241
Chlorohydric acid         31
Chlorophylle            309
Chocolate              1245
Chocolate nuts         1244
Chondrus                210
Chondrus  crispus         210
Chrome green          1242
Chrome yellow         1242
Chrysanthemum parthe-
  nium                1291
Chrysophyllum glycy-
  phlasum             1275
Chulariose              613
Cichorium endivia      1242
Cichorium intybus      1242
Cicuta                  265
Cicuta maculata        1242
Cicuta virosa           1242
Cicutine                266
Cider                   740
Cimicifuga              211
Cimicifuga racemosa     211
Cimicifuga serpentaria   211
Cinchona               212
Cinchona acutifolia      218
Cinchona angustifolia    216
Cinchona bicolorata     234
Cinchona caduciflora     218
Cinchona cava          218
Cinchona cinerea    212, 223
Cinchona Condaminea   215
Cinchona cordifolia
 Cinchona coronas
 Cinchona crassifolia
 Cinchona dichotoma
Cinchona flava
    216
    212
    218
    218
212, 225
Cinchona glandulifera     218
Cinchona hirsuta         218
Cinchona Humboldtiana   217
Cinchona lanceolata      217
Cinchona lancifolia       216
Cinchona lucumasfolia     217
Cinchona macrocalyx     218
Cinchona macrocarpa     218
Cinchona magnifolia      216
Cinchona micrantha      215
Cinchona Muzonensis     218
Cinchona nitida          217
Cinchona oblongifolia
                   216, 218
Cinchona ovalifolia       217
Cinchona ovata          217
Cinchona pallida    212, 222
Cinchona Pavonii        218
Cinchona pelalba        218
Cinchona pubescens      217
Cinchona purpurea       217
Cinchona rotundifolia     218
Cinchona rubra     212, 229
Cinchona scrobiculata    215
Cinchona stenocarpa     218
Cinchona villosa         218
Cinchonia         237, 1117
Cinchonia, kinate of     240
Cinchonia, sulphate of
                  238, 1117
Cinchonic red           237
Cinchovatin             224
Cinnabar               1002
Cinnabaris             1002
Cinnamic acid           489
Cinnamomi oleum       488
Cinnamomum           245
Cinnamomum aromati-
   cum                  247
Cinnamomum cassia     247
Cinnamomum culilawan
                   247,  1250
Cinnamomum Loureirii   247
Cinnamomum nitidum    247
Cinnamomum rubrum    247
Cinnamomum sintoc     247
Cinnamomum Tamala    247
Cinnamomum Zeylanicum
                        246
Cinnamon               245
 Cinnamon water        863
Cinquefoil              1291
 Cissampelina           532
 Cissampelos  pareira     532
 Cistus Canadensis       1260
 Cistus Creticus          1269
 Cistus ladaniferus       1269
 Cistus laurifolius        1269
 Citrate of ammonia      1243
 Citrate of iron          1243
 Citrate of potassa       1093
 Citrate of potassa, solu-
   tion of               1091
 Citric acid                27
 Citrine ointment        1198
 Citron                  428
 Citrus acris             429
 Citrus aurantium         131
 Citrus decumana        131
 Citrus limetta           485 
Index.
1341
Citrus limonium         429
Citrus medica           428
Citrus vulgaris          132
Civet                  1243
Claret                  738
Clarification             758
Clarified honey         1025
Clarry                  625
Cleansing of vessels      767
Cleavers               1255
Clematis crispa         1244
Clematis erecta         1243
Clematis flammula      1244
Clematis viorna        1244
Clematis Virginica      1244
Clematis vitalba        1244
Clove  bark             1250
Clove  pink, flowers of    296
Cloves                 182
Club-moss             1274
Clyster, cathartic        923
Clyster of aloes          923
Clyster of colocynth      923
Clyster of opium         923
Clyster of turpentine     924
Clysters                922
Cnicin                  197
Cnicus benedictus       197
Cobalt blue            1244
Cobweb               1244
Coccoloba uvifera       415
Cocculus                251
Cocculus Indicus        251
Cocculus lacunosus      251
Cocculus Levanticus     251
Cocculus palmatus       261
Cocculus Plukenetii      251
Cocculus suberosus      251
Coccus                 252
Coccus cacti            252
Coccuslacca           1270
Cochineal               252
Cochinilin              253
Cochlearia armoracia    119
Cochlearia officinalis     254
Cocin                  1244
Cocinic acid            1244
Cocoa                 1244
Cocoa butter           1244
Codeia                 515
Cod-liver oil            1245
CofFea Arabica         1246
Coffee                 1246
Cohobation       765, 1049
Cohosh                 211
Cohosh, red            1222
Cohosh, white          1222
Coke                   170
Colchicia               257
Colchici cormus         255
Colchici radix           256
Colchici semen          258
Colchicum autumnale    255
Colchicum root          255
Colchicum seed         255
Colchicum variegatum   1261
Colcothar          45, 968
Cold bath               llo
Cold cream            1192
Collinsonia Canadensis  1248
Colocynth             259
Colocynthin            260
Colocynthis            259
Colomba               261
Colombin              262
Colophonic acid        585
Colophony             712
Colouring principles    1265
Coltsfoot               725
Columbine             1229
Columbo               261
Columbo, American     336
Colutea arborescens     1248
Comfrey               1298
Commercial carbonate of
  soda                671
Common caustic, milder
                      1082
Common  caustic, strong-
  est                  1081
Common European tur-
  pentine              711
Common groundsel      1295
Common houseleek     1295
Common lilac          1298
Common silkweed       126
Compound calomel pills 1061
Compound camphor lini-
  ment                1020
Compound cathartic pills
                      1062
Compound cerate of mer-
  cury                888
Compound decoction of
  aloes
Compound decoction of
  barley
Compound decoction of
  broom
Compound decoction of
  guaiacum wood
Compound decoction of
  mallows
Compound decoction of
  sarsaparilla
Compound extract of co-
  locynth
Compound galbanum
  plaster
Compound honey of
  squill
Compound infusion of
  catechu
Compound infusion of
  gentian
Compound infusion of
  mint
Compound infusion of
  orange peel
Compound infusion of
  Peruvian bark
Compound infusion of
  roses
Compound lime-water
Compound liniment of
  ammonia
Compound liniment of
  mercury
Compound mixture of
  cascarilla            1031
900
905
909
904
905
908
939
915
1155
1009
1011
1013
1008
1010
1014
 878
1019

1021
Compound mixture of
  gentian              1032
Compound mixture of
  iron                 1032
Compound ointment of
  galls                1195
Compound ointment of
  iodine               1202
Compound ointment of
  lead                1203
Compound pills of aloes 1060
Compound pills of chlo-
  ride of mercury      1061
Compound pills of colo-
  cynth               1063
Compound pills of galba-
  num                1066
Compound pills of gam-
  boge                1067
Compound pills of hem-
  lock                1063
Compound pills of ipeca-
  cuanha              1069
Compound pills of iron  1066
Compound pills of rhu-
  barb                1070
Compound pills of saga-
  penum              1071
Compound pills of soap  1071
Compound pills of squill 1071
Compound pills of storax
                      1072
Compound plaster of
  Spanish flies          914
Compound powder of
  aloes           ,     1108
Compound powder of
  alum                1109
Compound powder of
  antimony             852
Compound powder of
  asarabacca           1110
Compound powder of
  chalk               1110
Compound powder of
  chalk with opium     1110
Compound powder of
  jalap                1112
Compound powder of
  kino                1112
Compound powder of
  rhubarb              1113
Compound powder of
  scammony           1113
Compound powder of
  tragacanth           1113
Compound resin cerate   889
Compound saline pow-
  der                 1113
Compound soap plaster   922
Compound solution of
  alum                 824
Compound solution of
  iodine               1018
Compound spirit of ani-
  seed                1132
Compound spirit of horse-
  radish               1132
Compound spirit of juni-
  per                 1133 
1342
Index.
Compound spirit of laven
  der
Compound spirit of sul-
  phuric ether
Compound sulphur oint-
  ment
Compound syrup of sar-
  saparilla
Compound syrup of
  squill
Compound tincture of
  ammonia
Compound tincture of
  benzoin
Compound tincture of
  cardamom
Compound tincture of
  cinnamon
Compound tincture of
  colchicum
Compound tincture of
  gentian
Compound tincture of
  iodine
Compound tincture of
  Peruvian bark
Compound tincture of
  quassia
Compound tincture of
  rhubarb
Compound tincture of
  senna
Comptonia asplenifolia
Concentration
Concrete oil of nutmeg
Concrete oil of wine
Confectio amygdalas
Confectio aromatica
1134

 813

1205

1152

1154

1161

1162

1165

1168

1169

1172

1175

1167

1182

1183
1185
1248
 762
 470
 812
 892
 892
Confectio aurantii corticis 893
Confectio cassias        893
Confectio opii           894
Confectio piperis nigri   894
Confectio rosae          895
Confectio rosas caninae   895
Confectio rutas          895
Confectio scammonii     896
Confectio sennas        896
Confection, aromatic     892
Confection of black pep-
  per                  894
Confection of cassia     893
Confection of opium     894
Confection of orange peel 893
Confection of roses      895
Confection of rue       895
Confection of scammony 896
Confection of senna     896
Confection of the dog rose 895
Confectiones            891
Confections             891
Conia                  266
Conii folia              264
Conii semen            264
Coniic acid             266
Conium                264
Conium maculatum      264
Conserva amygdalarum  892
Conserva aurantii       893
Conserva rosae           895
Conserva rosas  fructus   895
Conserva rutas	895
Conservae	891
Conserve of roses	895
Conserves	891
Constantinople opium	510
Contrayerva	268
Convallaria majalis	1249
Convallaria multiflora	1249
Convallaria polygonatum	1249
Convolvulus batatas	94
Convolvulus jalapa	406
Convolvulus orizabensis	408
Convolvulus panduratus	269
Convolvulus scammonia	641
Copaiba	270
Copaibas oleum	271
Copaifera Beyrichii	270
Copaifera bijuga	270
Copaifera cordifolia	270
Copaifera coriacea	270
Copaifera Guianensis	270
Copaifera Jaquini	270
Copaifera Jussieui	270
Copaifera Langsdorffii	270
Copaifera laxa	270
Copaifera Martii	270
Copaifera multijuga	270
Copaifera nitida	270
Copaifera oblongifolia	270
Copaifera officinalis	270
Copaifera Sellowii	270
Copal	1249
Copalchi bark	184
Copalm balsam	1273
Copper	288
Copper as a poison	289
Copper, preparations of	897
Copper, subacetate of	290
Copper, sulphate of	291
Copperas	972
Coptis	274
Coptis teeta	275
Coptis trifolia	274
Coral	1249
Corallium rubrum	1249
Coriander	275
Coriandrum	275
Coriandrum sativum	275
Coriaria myrtifolia	654
Corn poppy	598
Cornine	277
Cornu	276
Cornu ustum	881
Cornua cervina	276
Cornus circinata	276
Cornus Florida	277
Cornus sericea	278
Correspondence betweer	
different thermometers	1328
Corrosive chloride of	
mercury	979
Corrosive sublimate	979
Corsican moss	1254
Cortex caryophyllata	1250
Cortex culilaban	1250
Cortex frangulas	587
Corylus rostrata	1250
Cosmibuena	213
Cotton	356
Cotula	278
Couch grass            1302
Coumarin              1302
Coumarouna odorata    1302
Court plaster           1163
Cowbane               1242
Cowhage               468
Cow-parsnep           368
Crab stones             1250
Crabs' claws            1250
Crabs' eyes             1250
Cranesbill              350
Cream of tartar         560
Cream of tartar, soluble  670
Creasote               279
Creasote mixture        1031
Creasotum              279
Cremor  tartari          560
Creta                  283
Creta alba              283
Creta praeparata         879
Crocus                 284
Crocus of antimony      838
Crocus sativus          284
Croton cascarilla        185
Croton Eleutheria       185
Croton lacciferum       1270
Croton lineare          185
Croton oil              502
Croton pseudo-china     184
Croton tiglium          502
Crotonic acid           503
Crotonin               503
Crotonis oleum         502
Crowfoot               583
Crown bark of Loxa     223
Crucibles              759
Crude antimony         107
Crude borax  '         669
Crude sal ammoniac      85
Crude saltpetre         569
Crude sulphur          695
Crude tartar            560
Crystal mineral         569
Crystallization          762
Crystals  of acetate of
  copper               291
Crystals  of nitrate of sil-
  ver                  871
Crystals  of tartar        560
Crystals of Venus       291
Cubeba                 286
Cubebin               287
Cubebs                 286
Cubic nitre              1280
Cuckoo-flower          174
Cucumber tree          443
Cucumis colocynthis     259
Cucumis melo          1250
Cucumis sativus         1250
Cucurbita citrullus       1250
Cucurbita lagenaria      1250
Cucurbita pepo         1250
Cudbear               420
Cudweed               1258
Cuichunchulli      402,1269
Culilawan              1250
Culver's physic         1272
Cumin seed             295
Cuminum              295
Cuminum cyminum      295 
Index.
1343
Cunila mariana	1251
Cunila pulegioides	365
Cupels	528
Cupri acetas. Crystalli	291
Cupri ammoniati aqua	899
Cupri ammoniati solutio	899
Cupri ammonio-sulphas	897
Cupri subacetas	290
Cupri subacetas praspara	
turn	897
Cupri sulphas	291
Cupro-sulphate of ammo	
nia	898
Cuprum	288
Cuprum ammoniatum	897
Curcuma	293
Curcuma angustifolia	450
Curcuma longa	293
Curcuma rotunda	293
Curcuma zedoaria	1305
Curcuma zerumbet	1305
Currant wine	740
Cusco bark	227
Cusparia	~99
Cusparia febrifuga	99
Cusparin	100
Cuttle-fish bone	1251
Cyanide of silver	866
Cyanogen	790
Cyanohydric acid	786
Cyanuret of gold	1258
Cyanuret of mercury	991
Cyanuret of potassium	1098
Cyanuret of silver	866
Cyanuret of zinc	1251
Cycas circinalis	620
Cycas revoluta	620
Cydonia	294
Cydonia vulgaris	294
Cydonin	294
Cyminum	295
Cynanchum argel	653
Cynanchum Monspelia-	
cum	644
Cynanchum oleaefolium	653
Cynanchum vincetoxi-	
cum	1251
Cynips quercusfolii	340
Cynoglossum officinale	1252
Cytisin	121
Cytisus scoparius	647
             D

Daffodil
Dalby's carminative
Damarra turpentine
Danais
Dandelion
Daphne Alpina
Daphne gnidium
Daphne laureola
Daphne mezereum
Daphnin
Datura ferox
Datura stramonium
Datura tatula
Daturia
1279
 440
 713
 213
 706
 461
 460
 460
 460
 461
 690
 688
 688
 689
Dauci radix              178
Daucus carota           178
Deadly nightshade        137
Decocta                 899
Decoction               762
Decoction of aloes, com-
  pound                 900
Decoction of barley       904
Decoction of barley, com-
  pound                 905
Decoction of bittersweet  903
Decoction of broom, com-
  pound                 909
Decoction of cabbage-tree
  bark                  903
Decoction of chamomile  901
Decoction of dandelion   909
Decoction of dogwood    903
Decoction of elm bark    909
Decoction of guaiacum
  wood, compound       904
Decoction of Iceland
  moss                  901
Decoction of liquorice
  root                  904
Decoction of logwood     904
Decoction of mallows,
  compound            905
Decoction of marsh-mal-
  low                  901
Decoction of mezereon   905
Decoction of oak bark    906
Decoction of Peruvian
  bark                  902
Decoction of pipsissewa  901
Decoction of pomegran-
  ate                   904
Decoction of poppy       906
Decoction of quince
  seeds                 903
Decoction of sarsaparilla 906
Decoction of sarsaparilla,
  compound            908
Decoction of seneka      909
Decoction of the woods  904
Decoction of tormentil    909
Decoction of uya ursi     910
Decoction of white helle-
  bore                  910
Decoction of white oak
  bark                  906
Decoction of winter green 901
Decoction of Zittman     908
Decoctions              899
Decoctum ad ictericos   1240
Decoctum aloes composi-
  tum                  900
Decoctum althaeas        901
Decoctum amyli        1045
Decoctum cetrarias       901
Decoctum chamasmeli
  compositum           901
Decoctum chimaphilas    901
Decoctum cinchonae      902
Decoctum cornus Floridas 903
Decoctum cydoniae       903
Decoctum dulcamaras     903
Decoctum geoffroya:      903
Decoctum glycyrrhizae    904
Decoctum granati        904
Decoctum guaiaci compo-
  situm                904
Decoctum hasmatoxyli    904
Decoctum hordei        904
Decoctum hordei compo-
  situm                905
Decoctum lichenis Islan-
  dici                  901
Decoctum malvas compo-
  situm                905
Decoctum mezerei       905
Decoctum papaveris     906
Decoctum pyrolas       901
Decoctum quercus       906
Decoctum quercus albas  906
Decoctum sarsaparillas   906
Decoctum sarsaparillas
  compositum          908
Decoctum scoparii com-
  positum              909
Decoctum senegas       909
Decoctum taraxaci       909
Decoctum tormentilla;    909
Decoctum ulmi         909
Decoctum uvae ursi      910
Decoctum veratri       910
Decoctum Zittmanni     908
Deer-berry             346
Delphinia              686
Delphinium             295
Delphinium consolida    295
Delphinium exaltatum    296
Delphinium staphisagria  685
Demulcents                2
Dentellaria             1290
Deobstruents              3
Deshler's salve         889
Dewberry root          603
Dextrine                 95
Diachylon              920
Diamond               169
Dianthus caryophyllus   296
Diaphoretic antimony    1252
Diaphoretics               2
Diastase               373
Dictamus albus         1252
Diet drink, Lisbon       908
Digestion              762
Digitalis               297
Digitalis purpurea       297
Dill seeds '               96
Dill water              860
Diluted acetic acid       783
Diluted alcohol         822
Diluted muriatic acid    792
Diluted nitric acid       793
Diluted phosphoric  acid  795
Diluted solution of sub-
  acetate oflead       1074
Diluted sulphuric acid    798
Dinner pills            1060
Diosma                300
Diosma crenata         301
Diospyros              302
Diospyros Virginiana    302
Diplolepis gallas tinctorias 340
Dippel's animal oil      1252
Dipterix odorata        1302
Dirca palustris         1253
Dispensing of medicines  765 
1344
Index.
Displacement, method of
                   762, 769
Distillation         760, 772
Distillation, apparatus for 772
Distillation in vacuo      760
Distilled oils       482, 1046
Distilled verdigris        291
Distilled vinegar         773
Distilled water           855
Distilled waters          856
Dittany, American       1251
Dittany, bastard         1252
Diuretic salt            1084
Diuretics                  2
Division, mechanical     755
Dixon's antibilious pills    74
Dock, blunt-leaved       605
Dock, water             605
Dock, yellow-rooted
  water                 606
Dog-grass               1302
Dog rose                599
Dog's-bane              107
Dog's tooth violet        319
Dogwood                277
Dogwood, round leaved   276
Dogwood, swamp        278
Dolichos puriens         469
Dolomite                441
Dombeya excelsa        713
Dombeya turpentine      713
Donovan's solution      1265
Dorema ammoniacum      87
Dorstenia Brasiliensis     269
Dorstenia contrayerva     269
Dorstenia Drakena        268
Dorstenia Houstonia      268
Dose of medicines       1306
Double aqua fortis         37
Dover's powder         1111
Dracasna draco          1253
Draconin               1253
Dracontium              302
Dragon-root             123
Dragon's blood          1253
Dried alum              823
Dried carbonate of soda  1121
Dried sulphate of iron     973
Drops, table of         1319
Dry wines               737
Drying oils              480
Drymis Winteri          744
Dryobalanops aromatica  156
Dryobalanops camphora  156
Dulcamara              304
Dutch pink             1253
Dwarf elder             116
Dwarf nettle            1303
Dyers' alkanet          1225
Dyers' broom           1256
Dyers' madder           602
Dyers' oak              340
Dyers' saffron            180
Dyers' weed      1256, 1292
            E

East India aloes
Eau de Javelle
  71
1241
Eau de luce       631,1161
Eau medicinale d'Husson 258
Ecbalium elaterium     307
Effervescing draught
                 1092, 1312
Effervescing powders    1110
Effervescing solution of
  potassa               1091
Effervescing solution of
  eoda                 1125
Egg                    529
Egyptian opium         510
Elasocarpus copalliferus 1249
Elaidic acid            481
Ela'idin                 481
Elai'n                    56
Elais Guiniensis         1286
Elaphrium tomentosum  1298
Elaterin                309
Elaterium              307
Elatin                  309
Elder flowers           625
Elder ointment         1204
Elder water            866
Elecampane            389
Electuaria              891
Electuaries             891
Electuarium aromaticum 892
Electuarium cassias      893
Electuarium catechu    893
Electuarium opii        894
Electuarium piperis     894
Electuarium scammonii  896
Electuarium sennas      896
Electuary, lenitive      896
Electuary of catechu    893
Elemi                  310
Eleoptene              483
Elettaria cardamomum   177
Elixir of vitriol         797
Elixir proprietatis       1161
Elixir sacrum           1183
Elixir salutis     1185, 1186
Ellagic acid            341
Elm bark               726
Elm, red               726
Elm, slippery           726
Elm, white             727
Elutriation              756
Emery                 1253
Emetia                 401
Emetic tartar           837
Emetics                   2
Emmenagogues            2
Emollients                 2
Emplastra              910
Emplastrum adhassivum 921
Emplastrum ammoniaci  911
Emplastrum ammoniaci
  cum hydrargyro       912
Emplastrum aromaticum 912
Emplastrum assatetidas  913
Emplastrum belladonnas 913
Emplastrum calefaciens 917
Emplastrum cantharidis 885
Emplastrum cantharidis
  compositum          914
Emplastrum ceras       914
Emplastrum de Vigo cum
  mercurio             916
Emplastrum epispasticum 885
Emplastrum ferri         914
Emplastrum galbani      915
Emplastrum galbani com-
  positum               915
Emplastrum gummosum  915
Emplastrum hydrargyri   915
Emplastrum lithargyri    918
Emplastrum lithargyri
  cum resin &             921
Emplastrum opii         917
Emplastrum picis         917
Emplastrum picis cum
  cantharids             917
Emplastrum plumbi      918
Emplastrum resinas       921
Emplastrum roborans    914
Emplastrum saponis      921
Emplastrum saponis com-
  positum               922
Emplastrum simplex      914
Emplastrum thuris        914
Empyreumatic oils       765
Emulsin                  90
Emulsio Arabica        1028
Emulsion               1028
Enema aloes             923
Enema anodynum        923
Enema catharticum      923
Enema colocynthidis     923
Enema fcetidum          923
Enema opii              923
Enema tabaci           1017
Enema terebinthinas      924
Enemata                922
English port             738
English rhubarb          593
Ens martis              975
Epidendrum vanilla     1303
Epifagus Americanus    1282
Epispastics                2
Epsom salt              440
Equivalents, table of
  pharmaceutical        1320
Ergot                   311
Ergota                  311
Ergotastia  abortifaciens   312
Ergotin                 313
Erigeron Canadense      316
Erigeron heterophyllum  317
Erigeron Philadelphicum 317
Erigeron pusilum         316
Errhines                   2
Eryngium                318
Eryngium  aquaticum     318
Eryngo, water           318
Erysimum alliaria       1226
Erysimum officinale     1296
Erythraea centaurium     197
Erythraea Chilensis       198
Erythronium             318
Erythronium Americanum 318
Erythronium lanceolatum 319
Escharotics                2
Essence de petit grain    132
Essence of ambergris    1134
Essence of bergamot     485
Essence of peppermint  1178
Essence of roses         498
Essence of spearmint    1178 
Index.
1345
Essence of spruce       710
Essential oils       482, 1046
Essential salt of lemons
                    13, 1283
Ethal                   203
Ethalic acid             203
Ether                   805
Ether, hydric            810
Ether, hyponitrous       814
Ether, nitric             814
Ether, nitrous           814
Ether, cenanthic         739
Ether, rectification of    808
Ether, sulphuric         805
Ether, unrectified sulphu-
  ric                   805
Ethereal oil             811
Ethereal tincture of lobe-
  lia                  1177
Etherification, theory of 809
Etherine                810
Etherole                812
Etherosulphuric acid     810
Ethers                  805
Ethiops mineral        1001
Ethule                  809
Eucalyptus mannifera    447
Eucalyptus resinifera    417
Eugenia caryophyllata   182
Eugenia pimenta        539
Eugenic acid            488
Eugenin                184
Eupatorium             319
Eupatorium aya-pana    320
Eupatorium cannabinum 320
Eupatorium perfoliatum  320
Eupatorium pilosum     319
Eupatorium purpureum  319
Eupatorium teucrifolium 319
Eupatorium verbenasfo-
  lium                  319
Euphorbia antiquorum   324
Euphorbia Canariensis   324
Euphorbia corollata     321
Euphorbia hypericifolia  321
Euphorbia ipecacuanha  323
Euphorbia lathyris      1281
Euphorbia officinarum   324
Euphorbium             324
Euphrasia officinalis    1253
Eupione                279
European centaury      197
European holly         1263
European rhubarb       593
European scullcap      1294
Evaporation             762
Exostemma             213
Exostemma Caribaea     234
Exostemma floribunda   234
Expectorants              2
Expressed oils           480
Expression              '58
Extemporaneous  pre-
  scriptions, examples of 1310
Extract of aconite       933
Extract of aconite, alco-

  holic              ■« a lit
Extract of aloes,  purified 935
Extract of belladonna    ^t>
Extract of bittersweet    941
      114
Extract of black hellebore 942
Extract of broom tops    952
Extract of butternut      945
Extract of chamomile    935
Extract of colchicum,"
  acetic                 938
Extract of colchicum
  cormus               938
Extract of colocynth     939
Extract of colocynth,
  compound             939
Extract of dandelion     953
Extract of foxglove      941
Extract of gentian        941
Extract of hemlock      940
Extract of hemlock, alco-
  holic                 941
Extract of henbane      943
Extract of henbane, alco-
  holic                 944
Extract of hops          943
Extract of jalap      944, 945
Extract of lettuce        946
Extract of logwood  .    942
Extract of may-apple    949
Extract of nux vomica    947
Extract of oak bark      949
Extract of opium         947
Extract of pareira  brava  949
Extract of Peruvian bark 937
Extract of poppy         948
Extract of quassia        949
Extract of rhatany        946
Extract of rhubarb       949
Extract of rue           950
Extract of sarsaparilla    950
Extract of sarsaparilla,
  fluid                  951
Extract of 6cammony    952
Extract of stramonium
  leaves                952
Extract of stramonium
  seed                  953
Extract of uva ursi       954
Extract of wormwood    935
Extracta                924
Extracta simpliciora     933
Extractive               925
Extracts                 924
Extractum aconiti        933
Extractum aconiti  alco-
  holicum               934
Extractum aloes hepaticas 935
Extractum aloies purifi-
  catum                 935
Extractum anthemidis    935
Extractum artemisias ab-
  sinthii                 935
Extractum belladonnas    936
Extractum belladonnas
  alcoholicum           936
Extractum chamasmeli    935
Extractum cinchonas     937
Extractum colchici ace-
  ticum                 938
Extractum colchici cormi
                        938
Extractum colocynthidis  939
Extractum colocynthidis
  compositum           939
Extractum conii          940
Extractum conii alcoholi-
  cum                  941
Extractum digitalis       941
Extractum dulcamaras    941
Extractum elaterii        307
Extractum gentianas      941
Extractum glycyrrhizas    325
Extractum hasmatoxyli    942
Extractum hellebori      942
Extractum humuli lupuli  943
Extractum hyoscyami    943
Extractum hyoscyami al-
  coholicum             944
Extractum jalapae    944,945
Extractum juglandis      945
Extractum kramerias     946
Extractum lactucas       946
Extractum lupuli         943
Extractum nucis vomicas  947
Extractum opii          947
Extractum opii aquosum  947
Extractum opii purifica-
  tum                  947
Extractum papaveris     948
Extractum pareiras       949
Extractum podophylli    949
Extractum quassias       949
Extractum quercus       949
Extractum rhei          949
Extractum rutas          950
Extractum sarsaparillas   950
Extractum sarsaparillas
  fluidum               951
Extractum sarzae         950
Extractum sarzae fluidum 951
Extractum scammonii    952
Extractum spartii scopa-
  rii                    952
Extractum stramonii     953
Extractum stramonii fo-
  liorum                952
Extractum stramonii se-
  minis                 953
Extractum styracis      1140
Extractum taraxaci       953
Extractum uvas ursi      954
Eyebright              1253
Faba Sancti Ignatii      1232
Fagara octandra        1298
False angustura          101
False barks             234
False sarsaparilla        116
False sunflower         1260
Farina                  722
Fat lute                 761
Fat manna              448
Febure's remedy for can-
  cer                    20
Fel bovinum            1285
Female  fern            1230
Fennel seed             334
Fennel water            863
Fenugreek             1302
Fermentation, alcoholic   58
Fermentation, vinous      58 
1346
Index.
Fern, male	332	Figwort leaves	648	Friars' balsam	1163
Feronia elephantum	6	Filix	332	Frost-weed	1260
Ferri acetas	954	Filix mas	332	Frostwort	1260
Ferri acetatis tinctura	955	Filter, Boullay's	763	Fucus crispus	210
Ferri ammonio-chloridum		Filters	757	Fucus helminthocorton	1254
	974	Filtration	757	Fucus vesiculosus	1254
Ferri ammonio-tartras	1226	Filtration at a boiling		Fuligo ligni	1296
Ferri arsenias	1230	heat	757	Fuligokali	1254
Ferri bromidum	1235	Filtration by displace-		Fumaria officinalis	1254
Ferri carbonas	969	ment 763	, 769	Fuming sulphuric acid of	
Ferri carbonas sacchara-		Fine-leaved water-hem-		Nordhausen	45
tum	956	lock	1288	Fumitory	1254
Ferri carburetum	1239	Fishery salt	678	Fungi	1276
Ferri citras	1243	Fixed air	859	Fungic acid	1277
Ferri cyanuretum	960	Fixed oils	480	Fungin 1223,	1277
Ferri et potassas tartras	957	Flag, blue	405	Fungus rosarum	1233
Ferri ferrocyanuretum	960	Flag, sweet	144	Funnel stands	757
Ferri filum	329	Flake manna	447	Furnace, black lead cru	-
Ferri iodidi syrupus	964	Flammula Jovis	1243	cible	759
Ferri iodidum	961	Flax	430	Furnaces	758
Ferri lactas	1271	Flax, purging	432	Fusel oil	59
Ferri limatura	329	Flaxseed	430	Fusiform jalap	408
Ferri muriatis tinctura	975	Flaxseed cataplasm	884	Fusion	764
Ferri oxidum hydratum	965	Flaxseed meal	431	Fustic	1255
Ferri oxidum nigrum	966	Flaxseed oil	491		
Ferri oxidum rubrum	969	Fleabane, Canada	316		
Ferri oxydum rubrum	968	Fleabane, Philadelphia	317	G	
Ferri percyanidum	960	Fleabane, various-leaved 317			
Ferri phosphas	968	Fleawort	1289	Gadus morrhua	1245
Ferri potassio-tartras	957	Flesh-coloured asclepias	126	Galanga	1255
Ferri ramenta	329	Flies, potato	165	Galangal	1255
Ferri rubigo	969	Flies, Spanish	160	Galbanum	338
Ferri sesquioxidum	969	Florence receiver	1049	Galbanum officinale	338
Ferri subcarbonas	969	Florentine orris	404	Galbanum plaster	915
Ferri sulphas	971	Flores martiales	975	Galbanum plaster, com-	
Ferri sulphas exsiccatum 973		Flores sulphuris	696	pound	915
Ferri sulphuretum	973	Florida anise tree	1264	Galega officinalis	1255
Ferri tartarum	957	Flour	722	Galega tinctoria	1264
Ferric acid	327	Flowering ash	447	Galega Virginiana	1255
Ferrocyanate of potassa	572	Flowers of benzoin	785	Galena	546
Ferrocyanide of potas-		Flowers of sulphur	696	Galipea cusparia	99
sium	572	Flowers of zinc	1217	Galipea officinalis	100
Ferrocyanogen	573	Fluid extract of sarsapa-		Galipot	712
Ferrocyanuret of iron	960	rilla	951	Galium aparine	1255
Ferrocyanuret of potas-		Fluid extract of senna	1156	Galium tinctorium	1256
sium	572	Fceniculum	334	Galium verum	1255
Ferrocyanuret of zinc	1253	Fceniculum dulce	335	Galla	340
Ferroprussiate of potassa 572		Fceniculum officinale	335	Gallic acid	1256
Ferrugo	965	Fceniculum vulgare	335	Galls	340
Ferrum	326	Foliated earth of tartar	1083	Gambir	194
Ferrum ammoniatum	974	Form in which medicines		Gamboge	342
Ferrum. Oxydi squamae	330	are exhibited	1309	Gambogia	342
Ferrum tartarizatum	957	Formulas for prescrip-		Gambogic acid	345
Ferula assafcetida	128	tions	1310	Garbling of drugs	752
Ferula ferulago	338	Fothergill's pills	74	Garcinia cambogia	342
Ferula galbanifera	338	Fowler's solution	871	Garcinia morella	344
Ferula Persica	128	Foxglove	297	Garden angelica	98
Ferula tingitana	87	Frangulas cortex	587	Garden carrot-root	178
Fetid aloes	72	Frankincense 505	,543	Garden endive	1242
Fetid clyster	923	Frasera	336	Garden purslane	1291
Fetid spirit of ammonia	835	Frasera Carolinensis	336	Garlick	64
Fever-bush	1233	Frasera Walteri	336	Gaultheria	345
Fever-root	721	Fraxinella, white	1252	Gaultheria procumbens	345
Feverfew	1291	Fraxinus excelsior	446	Gay feather	1272
Fibrin, vegetable	723	Fraxinus ornus	447	Gelatin, capsules of	1257
Ficus	331	Fraxinus parviflora	446	Genista tinctoria	1256
Ficus carica	331	French berries	587	Gentian	346
Ficus Indica	1270	French chalk	1254	Gentian, blue	348
Ficus religiosa	1270	French rhubarb	594	Gentiana	346
Figs	331	French vinegar.	15	Gentiana Catesbasi	348
 
Index.
1347
Gentiana chirayta       209
Gentiana lutea          346
Gentiana macrophylla   347
Gentiana Panonica      347
Gentiana punctata       347
Gentiana purpurea      347
Gentianin              347
Gentisic acid            347
Gentisin                347
Geoffroya inermis       349
Geoffroya Surinamensis  349
Geranium              350
Geranium maculatum    350
Geranium Robertianum  1256
German chamomile      454
Germander             1301
Geum                  351
Geum rivale            351
Geum urbanum         352
Gigartina helminthocor-
  ton                  1254
Gillenia                353
Gillenia stipulacea      353
Gillenia trifoliata        353
Ginger                 749
Ginger, wild            125
Ginseng                530
Glacial acetic acid      783
Glacial phosphoric acid  796
Glass of antimony       1256
Glass of borax          670
Glass of lead            1257
Glauber's salt           675
Glechoma hederacea    1257
Gliadine               723
Glu                    1234
Glucic acid             618
Glucose             63, 613
Glue                  1257
Gluten                 723
Glycerin            630, 919
Glycerule              919
Glycion
Glycyrrhiza
Glycyrrhiza echinata
Glycyrrhiza glabra
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
Glycyrrhizin
Gnaphalium margarita-
   ceum
Gnaphalium polycepha-
   lum
Goat's rue
Godfrey's cordial
Gold, preparations of
Golden rod
Golden sulphur of anti-
   mony
Goldthread
Gombo
Goose-grass
Gossypium
Gossypium herbaceum
Goulard's cerate
Goulard's extract
Grain oil
Grain soap
Grain tin
Grains of paradise
Grana Molucca
 355
 354
 355
 354
 355
 355

1258

1258
1255
1182
1258
 679

 850
 274
1261
1255
 356
 356
 888
1074
  59
 630
 684
 176
 502
Grana moschata        1261
Grana paradisi          176
Grana tiglia             502
Granati fructus cortex    357
Granati radicis cortex    357
Granatum              357
Grape sugar            613
Gratiola officinalis      1259
Gravel-root             319
Gravity, specific         754
Gray bark              222
Green tea             1300
Green vitriol            971
Green weed           1256
Griffith's antihectic
  myrrh mixture       1032
Groats                 134
Gromwell             1273
Ground  ivy            1257
Ground  pine           1224
Groundsel, common    1295
Gruel, oatmeal          134
Guaiac                 361
Guaiac mixture        1033
Guaiaci lignum         359
Guaiaci resina          361
Guajacic acid           360
Guaiacin               362
Guaiacum              361
Guaiacum arboreum     360
Guaiacum officinale     359
Guaiacum sanctum      360
Guaiacum wood         359
Guarana              1287
Guaranin              1287
Guilandina bonduc      209
Guinea grains           176
Gum                      9
Gum anime            1228
Gum Arabic               5
Gum Arabic emulsion  1028
Gum Arabic mixture   1028
Gum, Barbary             8
Gum,Bassora          1231
Gum, Cape                9
Gum, caranna          1239
Gum elastic            1238
Gum Galam               8
Gum gedda               7
Gum, India               8
Gum plaster            915
Gum-resins            977
Gum, Senegal             8
Gum turic                7
Gum, Turkey              7
Gummi acacias             5
Gummi gutta           343
Gummi-resinas          977
Gunjah                1238
Gyromia Virginica      1274


             H

Hasmatoxylon            363
Hasmatoxylon  Campechi-
   anum                364
Hamamelis Virginica    1259
Hard water             110
Hardhack              682
Harrowgate water       113
Hartshorn              276
Harts-tongue           1294
Heal-all          1248, 1291
Heat, modes of applying  758
Heavy oil of wine       811
Hebradendron cambo-
  gioides               343
Hedeoma              365
Hedeoma pulegioides    365
Hedera helix           1260
Hederin               1260
Hedge garlic           1226
Hedge hyssop          1259
Hedge mustard         1296
Hedysarum Alhagi      447
Helenin                389
Helenium autumnale    1260
Helianthemum Cana-
  dense               1260
Helianthus annuus      467
Hellebore, American    734
Hellebore, black        365
Hellebore, white        732
Helleborus             365
Helleborus foetidus     1260
Helleborus niger        366
Helleborus officinalis    366
Helleborus orientalis     366
Helleborus viridis       366
Helminthocorton       1254
Helonias officinalis      608
Hematin               364
Hemidesmic acid      1261
Hemidesmus Indicus
                  634, 1261
Hemlock              265
Hemlock cataplasm     883
Hemlock gum           545
Hemlock leaves         264
Hemlock pitch          545
Hemlock seed          264
Hemlock spruce         544
Hemlock water-drop-
  wort                1281
Hemp                1238
Hemp, Indian           108
Henbane leaves         383
Henbane seed          383
Henry's aromatic spirit
  of vinegar            779
Henry's magnesia      1023
Hepar sulphuris        1105
Hepatic aloes             71
Hepatica              367
Hepatica acutiloba      368
Hepatica Americana     367
Hepatica triloba         368
Heptree               599
Heracleum             368
Heracleum gummiferum    86
Heracleum lanatum     368
Herb Christopher      1222
Herb Robert          1256
Hermodactyls          1261
Heuchera              369
Heuchera Americana   369
Heuchera cortusa       369
Heuchera viscida       369
Heudelotia Africana    1232 
1348
Index.
Hevea Guianensis	1238	Hydrargyri murias cor-		Hydrosulphurets	974
Hibiscus abelmoschus	1261	rosivum	979	Hydrosulphuric acid	974
Hibiscus esculentus	1261	Hydrargyri nitrico-oxy-		Hymenasa courbaril	1228
Hiera picra	1109	dum	996	Hymenaea verrucosa	1249
Hircic acid	662	Hydrargyri oxidum ni-		Hymenodyction	213
Hircin	662	grum	994	Hyoscyami folia	383
Hirudo	369	Hydrargyri oxidum ru-		Hyoscyami semen	383
Hirudo decora	371	brum, U.S.	996	Hyoscyamia	384
Hirudo medicinalis	370	Hydrargyri oxydum,		Hyoscyamus	383
Hive-syrup	1154	Lond.	994	Hyoscyamus albus	384
Hoffmann's anodyne		Hydrargyri oxydum nitri-		Hyoscyamus niger	383
liquor	813	cum	996	Hyperanthera moringa	1281
Holly	1263	Hydrargyri oxydum ru-		Hypericum perforatum	1262
Hollyhock	76	brum, Dub.	998	Hypermanganic acid	445
Homberg's pyrophorus	78	Hydrargyri oxydum sul-		Hyperoxymuriate of po-	
Honey	455	phuricum	1000	tassa .	565
Honey, clarified	1025	Hydrargyri persulphas	999	Hypochlorite of lime	149
Honey of borax	1026	Hydrargyri precipitatum		Hypochlorite of soda	1126
Honey of roses	1026	album	1004	Hyponitrous ether	814
Honey, preparations of	1025	Hydrargyri submurias		Hypopicrotoxic acid	252
Honey, prepared	1026	ammoniatum	1004	Hyssop	1263
Hooper's pills	1060	Hydrargyri sulphas fla-		Hyssopus officinalis	1263
Hops	374	vus	1000		
Hordein	373	Hydrargyri sulphuretum			
Hordeum	372	cum sulphure	1001	I	
Hordeum distichon	373	Hydrargyri sulphuretum			
Hordeum perlatum	374	nigrum	1001	Ice plant	1275
Hordeum vulgare	372	Hydrargyri sulphuretum		Iceland moss	203
Horehound	452	rubrum	1002	Ichthyocolla	387
Horehound, wild	319	Hydrargyrum	377	Icica icicariba	310
Horn lead	1075	Hydrargyrum ammonia-		Ictodes fcetidus	303
Horse aloes	72	tum	1004	Igasuric acid	477
Horse-balm	1248	Hydrargyrum cum cret^ 1005		Ignatia amara	1232
Horse-radish	119	Hydrargyrum cum mag-		Ilex	1263
Horse-weed	1248	nesia	1006	Ilex aquifolium 1234,	1263
Horsechesnut	1223	Hydrargyrum prascipita-		Ilex cassina	1263
Horsemint	462	tum per se	998	Ilex dahoon	1264
Hot bath	115	Hydrargyrum purificatum 978		Ilex mate	1263
Hound's tongue	1252	Hydrastis Canadensis	1261	Ilex opaca	1263
Houseleek, common	1295	Hydrate of lime	147	Ilex Paraguaiensis	1263
Houseleek, small	1295	Hydrate of potassa	1080	Ilex vomitoria	1263
Howard's calomel	987	Hydrated oxide of iron	965	Ilicin	1263
Huamilies bark	225	Hydrated oxide of lead	1076	Illicium anisatum 102	1264
Huanuco bark	223	Hydrated sesquioxide		Illicium Floridanum	1264
Huile de morue	1245	(peroxide) of iron	965	Illicium parviflorum	1264
Humulus	374	Hydric ether	810	Impatiens balsamina	1264
Humulus lupulus	374	Hydriodate of ammonia	1265	Impatiens fulva	1264
Hundred-leaved roses	600	Hydriodate of arsenic		Impatiens nolitangere	1264
Hungarian balsam	1292	and mercury, solu-		Impatiens pallida	1264
Huxham's tincture of		tion of	1265	Imperatoria ostruthium	1264
bark	1168	Hydriodate of potassa	1100	Imperial	562
Hydracids	780	Hydriodic acid 391	1262	Imperial measure	1314
Hydrargyri acetas	978	Hydrochlorate of ammo		Impure carbonate of po	
Hydrargyri ammonio-		nia	84	tassa	562
chloridum	1004	Hydrochlorate of lime	146	Impure carbonate of soda 671	
Hydrargyri bichloridum	979	Hydrochlorate of mor-		Impure oxide of zinc	1302
Hydrargyri bicyanidum	991	phia	1040	Impure potassa	562
Hydrargyri biniodidum	993	Hydrochloric acid	31	Impure subcarbonate of	
Hydrargyri binoxydum	999	Hydrocyanic acid	786	potassa	562
Hydrargyri bisulphu-		Hydrocyanic acid, anhy		Incineration	764
retum	1002	drous 789, "i		Incitants	2
Hydrargyri chloridum	985	Hydrocyanic ether	1262	Indelible ink	1264
Hydrargyri chloridum		Hydrogen -	1218	India gum	8
corrosivum	979	Hydrometer, Baume's		India opium	511
Hydrargyri chloridum		754	, 1329	India senna	655
mite	985	Hydrosublimate of mer-		Indian corn	1304
Hydrargyri cyanuretum	991	cury	987	Indian cucumber	1274
Hydrargyri iodidum	992	Hydrosulphates	974	Indian hemp 108	, 1238
Hydrargyri iodidum		Hydrosulphuret of ammo-		Indian physic	353
rubrum	993	nia	827	Indian poke	734
 
Index.
1349
1264
1261
 434
 123
1264
1231
1264
1265
1006
 762
 Indian red
 Indian sarsaparilla
 Indian tobacco
 Indian turnep
 Indigo
 Indigo, wild
 Indigofera tinctoria
 Indigotin
 Infusa
 Infusion
 Infusion of angustura
   bark                 1007
 Infusion of broom       1015
 Infusion of buchu       1011
 Infusion of cascarilla    1008
 Infusion of catechu, com-
   pound                1009
 Infusion of chamomile   1007
 Infusion of chiretta      1009
 Infusion of cloves       1008
 Infusion of columbo      1010
 Infusion of flaxseed      1012
 Infusion of foxglove      1011
 Infusion of gentian, com-
   pound                1011
 Infusion of hickory ashes
   and soot              1297
 Infusion of hops         1012
 Infusion of horse-radish  1007
 Infusion of mint, com-
   pound                1013
 Infusion of mint, simple  1013
 Infusion of orange-peel,
   compound            1008
 Infusion of pareira brava
                        1013
 Infusion of Peruvian bark
                        1009
 Infusion of Peruvian bark,
   compound            1010
 Infusion of pinkroot      1017
 Infusion of quassia      1014
 Infusion of rhatany      1012
 Infusion of rhubarb      1014
 Infusion of roses, com-
   pound                1014
 Infusion of sarsaparilla   1015
 Infusion of seneka       1016
 Infusion of senna        1016
 Infusion of senna with
   tamarinds             1016
 Infusion of simaruba     1017
 Infusion of slippery elm
   bark                  1017
 Infusion of thorough-
   wort                 1011
 Infusion of tobacco      1017
Infusion of valerian      1017
Infusion of Virginia
   snakeroot             1016
Infusion of wild-cherry
   bark                  1013
Infusions                1006
Infusions and decoctions,
   preservation  of       '65
Infusum angusturas      1007
Infusum anthemidis      1007
Infusum armoracias
Infusum armoracias com-
  positum
1007
1007
 Infusum aurantii compo-
   situm               1008
 Infusum buchu         1011
 Infusum calumbas       1010
 Infusum caryophylli    1008
 Infusum cascarillas      1008
 Infusum catechu compo-
   situm               1009
 Infusum chamasmeli    1007
 Infusum chirettas        1009
 Infusum cinchonas      1009
 Infusum cinchonas com-
   positum             1010
 Infusum colombas       1010
 Infusum cusparias       1007
 Infusum digitalis        1011
 Infusum diosmas        1011
 Infusum eupatorii       1011
 Infusum gentianas com-
   positum             1011
 Infusum humuli        1012
 Infusum kramerias      1012
 Infusum lini            1012
 Infusum lini compositum 1012
 Infusum lupuli         1012
 Infusum menthas compo-
   situm                1013
 Infusum menthas simplex
                       1013
 Infusum pareiras        1013
 Infusum pruni Virgini-
   anae                 1013
 Infusum quassias        1014
 Infusum rhei           1014
 Infusum rosas acidum    1014
 Infusum rosas composi-
   tum                 1014
 Infusum sarsaparillas    1015
 Infusum sarsaparillas
   compositum          1015
 Infusum scoparii        1015
 Infusum senegas        1016
 Infusum sennas         1016
 Infusum sennas composi-
   tum                 1016
 Infusum sennas cum ta-
   marindis             1016
 Infusum serpentarias    1016
 Infusum simarubas       1017
 Infusum spigeliae        1017
 Infusum tabaci         1017
 Infusum ulmi           1017
Infusum Valerianae       1017
Inspissated juice of elder 950
Inspissated juices        932
Inspissation'             762
Inula                   389
Inula helenium          389
Inulin                  389
Iodic acid               391
Iodide of ammonium    1265
Iodide of arsenic        1265
Iodide of arsenic and
  mercury, solution of  1265
Iodide of barium        1267
Iodide of gold          1258
Iodide of iron            961
Iodide of iron, solution of 964
Iodide of iron, syrup of  964
Iodide of lead           1075
           114*
Iodide of mercury       992
Iodide of potassium     1100
Iodide of silver         1267
Iodide of starch         1267
Iodide of sulphur       1142
Iodide of zinc          1267
Iodine                  390
Iodine baths         395, 396
Iodine caustic           395
Iodine, compound solu-
  tion of              1018
Iodine lotion            395
Iodine, Lugol's solution
  of                    394
Iodine ointment of Lugol 395
Iodine rubefacient solu-
  tion                  395
Iodinei liquor composi-
  tus                  1018
Iodinii tinctura         1174
Iodinum                 390
lodo-hydrargyrate of po-
  tassium              1267
Iodous acid             391
Ionidium ipecacuanha    402
Ionidium marcucci 402, 1268
Ionidium microphyllum  402
Ionidium parviflorum
                  402, 1269
Ipecacuanha             398
Ipecacuanha, American  323
Ipecacuanha, black      401
Ipecacuanha, Peruvian   401
Ipecacuanha  spurge      323
Ipecacuanha, striated    401
Ipecacuanha, undulated  402
Ipecacuanha, white      402
Ipomasa Jalapa          406
Ipomasa macrorhiza      406
Ipomasa purga           406
Iris Florentina           404
Iris fcetidissima          404
Iris Germanica           404
Iris pseudo-acorus       404
Iris tuberosa       404, 1261
Iris versicolor           405
Irish moss               210
Iron                    326
Iron,  acetate  of          954
Iron,  ammoniated       974
Iron,  ammonio-chloride
  of                    974
Iron,  ammonio-tartrate
  of                   1226
Iron and potassa, tartrate
  of                    957
Iron,  black oxide of      966
Iron,  bromide of       1235
Iron,  dried sulphate of   973
Iron, ferrocyanuret of    960
Iron filings              329
Iron,  hydrated oxide  of  965
Iron in fine powder      330
Iron,  iodide of           961
Iron,  phosphate of       968
Iron plaster             914
Iron,  precipitated carbo-
  nate of               969
Iron,  preparations of     954
Iron,  red oxide of       968 
1350
Index.
Iron, rust of	969	King's yellow	1282	Lavender	427
Iron, saccharine carbo-		Kinic acid	239	Lavender water	1134
nate of	956	Kino	414	Lead	546
Iron, sesquioxide of	969	Kinovic acid	236	Lead, acetate of	549
Iron, subcarbonate of	969	!vjii<>>-n-. bitter	236	Lead as a poison	547
Iron, sulphate of	971	Kniv< s, apothecaries'	767	Lead, carbonate of	551
Iron, sulphuret of	973	Knot-grass	558	Lead, chloride of	1074
Iron, table of the prepa		Knot-root	1248	Lead, hydrated oxide of 1076	
rations of	328	Krameria	418	Lead, iodide of	1075
Iron, tartarized	957	Krameria ixina	419	Lead, nitrate of	1076
Iron, tartrate of protoxide		Krameria triandra	418	Lead plaster	918
of	959	Krameric acid	419	Lead, preparations of	1072
Iron wire	329	Krimea rhubarb	594	Lead, red	554
Isatis tinctoria	1269			Lead, red oxide of	554
Isinglass	387			Lead, semivitrified oxide	
Isis nobilis	1249	L		of	555
Issue peas 132, 405,	1260			Lead, sugar of	549
Ivory-black	171	Labarraque's disinfecting		Lead, tannate of	1299
Ivy	1260	soda liquid	1125	Lead-water	1074
Ivy gum	1260	Labdanum	1269	Lead, white	551
		Labrador tea	1272	Leadwort	1290
		Lac	1270	Leather flower	1244
J		Lac ammoniaci	1029	Leather wood	1253
		Lac assafbstidas	1030	Ledum latifolium	1272
Jaen bark	224	Lac sulphurias	1141	Ledum palustre	1272
Jalap	405	Laccin	1270	Leeches	369
Jalap, fusiform	408	Lacmus	420	Leek root	559
Jalap, male	408	Lactate of iron	1271	Lee's New London pills 74	
Jalapa	405	Lactic acid	1272	Lee's Windham pills	74
Jamaica pepper	539	Lactin	614	Lemon peel	428
James's powder	853	Lactuca	422	Lemons	428
Jamestown weed	689	Lactuca altissima	424	Lenitive electuary	896
Janipha manihot	705	Lactuca elongata	421	Lentisk	453
Jasminum officinale	1281	Lactuca sativa	422	Leontodon taraxacum	706
Jatropha curcas	705	Lactuca scariola	422	Leopard's-bane	120
Jatropha elastica	1238	Lactuca virosa	421	Leptandra purpurea	1272
Jatropha manihot	705	Lactucarium	422	Leptandra Virginica	1272
Java cardamom	176	Lactucin	424	Lettuce	422
Javelle's water	1241	Ladanum	1269	Lettuce opium	424
Jelly, vegetable	179	Ladies' mantle	1225	Lettuce, strong scented	421
Jerusalem oak	206	Lady Webster's pills	1060	Lettuce, wild	421
Jervina	733	Lake water	111	Levigation	756
Jesuits' drops	1163	Lakes	1272	Liatris scariosa	1273
Jesuits' powder	242	Lana philosophica	1217	Liatris spicata	1272
Jewell's calomel	987	Lancaster black drop	777	Liatris squarrosa	1273
Jewel-weed	1264	Lapilli cancrorum	1250	Lichen Islandicus	204
Juglans	410	Lapis calaminaris	748	Lichen tartareus	420
Juglans cathartica	410	Lappa minor	117	Lichenin	204
Juglans cinerea	410	Larch European	710	Life-everlasting	1258
Jujubas	1305	Lard	55	Light oil of wine	813
Jujube paste	1305	Large-flowering spurge	321	Light wines	737
Juniper	411	Larix Europasa	710	Lignum colubrinum	476
Juniperus	411	Larkspur	295	Lignum vitas	360
Juniperus communis	411	Laudanum	1179	Ligusticum levisticum	1273
Juniperus lycia	505	Laudanum, Sydenham's	1211	Ligustrin	1273
Juniperus sabina	612	Laurel	1269	Ligustrum vulgare	1273
Juniperus Virginiana	413	Lauri baccas	425	Lilac, common	1298
		Lauri folia	425	Lilacin	1298
		Lauro-cerasus	426	Lilium candidum	1273
K		Laurus benzoin	1233	Lily, common white	1273
		Laurus camphora	153	Lily of the valley	1249
Ksempferia rotunda	1305	Laurus cassia	247	Lima bark	223
Kalmia angustifolia	1269	Laurus cinnamomum	246	Lime	147
Kalmia glauca	1269	Laurus culilawan	1250	Lime, preparations of	877
Kalmia latifolia	1269	Laurus nobilis	425	Lime-water	877
Kelp	672	Laurus pichurim	1288	Lime-water, compound	878
Kermes mineral	849	Laurus sassafras	640	Limes	429
Keyser's pills	979	Lavandula	427	Limestone	283
Kinate of cinchonia	240	Lavandula spica	427	Limon	428
Kinate of quinia	240	Lavandula vera	427	Limonis cortex	428
 
Index.
1351
 490
1229
 491
1021

1021
1019

1019
1020

1021
1021

1019
1022
1019
1018
1018
1027
1019

1019

1019
Limonum oleum
Linaria vulgaris
Lini oleum
Liniment, anodyne
Liniment, camphorated
  soap
Liniment of ammonia
Liniment of ammonia,
  compound
Liniment of lime
Liniment of mercury,
  compound
Liniment of opium
Liniment of sesquicar-
  bonate of ammonia
Liniment of Spanish flies 1020
Liniment of turpentine  1022
Liniment, simple
Liniment, volatile
Linimenta
Liniments
Linimentum asruginis
Linimentum ammonias
Linimentum ammonias
  compositum
Linimentum ammonias
  sesquicarbonatis
Linimentum anodynum 1021
Linimentum arcasi      1195
Linimentum calcis      1020
Linimentum camphoras  1020
Linimentum camphoras
  compositum          1020
Linimentum cantharidis 1020
Linimentum hydrargyri
  compositum          1021
Linimentum opii        1021
Linimentum saponis    1184
Linimentum saponis
  camphoratum         1021
Linimentum saponis cum
  opio                 1021
Linimentum simplex    1022
Linimentum terebin-
  thinae                1022
Linseed                 430
Linseed  oil              491
Linum                  430
Linum catharticum       432
Linum usitatissimum     430
Liquefaction            764
Liquid storax           1273
Liquidambar orientale   691
Liquidambar styraciflua
                   691, 1273
Liquidamber           1273
Liquids from solids, se-
  paration of            756
Liquids, separation of   758
Liquor asthereus oleosus 811
Liquor asthereus sulphu-
  ricus                 805
Liquor aluminis compo-
  situs                  824
Liquor ammonias        828
Liquor ammonias acetatis 831
Liquor ammonias fortior    82
Liquor ammonias sesqui-
  carbonatis            827
Liquor argenti nitratis   870
Liquor arsenicalis        871
Liquor barii chloridi      875
Liquor calcii chloridi     880
Liquor calcis            877
Liquor cupri ammonio-
  sulphatis              899
Liquor ferri iodidi        964
Liquor ferri sesquinitra-
  tis                   1295
Liquor hydrargyri bichlo-
  ridi                   985
Liquor iodini compositus
                       1018
Liquor morphias sulpha-
  tis                   1044
Liquor plumbi diacetatis 1072
Liquor plumbi subaceta-
  tis                   1072
Liquor plumbi subaceta-
  tis dilutus          , 1074
Liquor potassae         1077
Liquor potassas arsenitis  871
Liquor potassas carbona
1088

1241
1091

1091

1018
1125
Liquor potassas chlori-
  natae
Liquor potassas citratis
Liquor potassas efferves
  cens
Liquor potassii iodidi
  compositus
Liquor sodas chlorinatae
Liquor sodas effervescens
                       1125
Liquor tartari emetici     847
Liquorice               325
Liquorice root          354
Liriodendrin             433
Liriodendron            432
Liriodendron tulipifera   432
Lisbon diet drink        908
Litharge                555
Litharge, gold           556
Litharge plaster         918
Litharge, red            556
Litharge, silver          556
Litharge, yellow         556
Lithargyrum             555
Lithia in mineral waters  112
Lithospermum officinale 1273
Lithospermum tinctorium
                       1225
Litmus
Liver of sulphur
Liverwort
Lixiviation
Lixivus cinis
Lobelia
Lobelia cardinaiis
Lobelia inflata
Lobelia syphilitica
Lobelic acid
Lobelina
Loblolly pine
Logwood
Long-leaved pine
Long pepper
Loosestrife
Loss by pulverization,
  table of
 420
1105
 367
 762
 562
 434
 436
 434
 436
 434
 434
 709
 363
 709
 542
 437

 755
Lovage Loxa bark	1273 223
Lozenges	1188
Luculia	213
Lunar caustic	866
Lungwort	1291
Lupulin Lupulina	375 375
Lupulite Lupulus Luteolin	375 374 1292
Lutes	761
Lycopodium Lycopodium clavatum Lycopus	1274 1274 436
Lycopus Europoeus Lycgpus Virginicus Lythrum salicaria Lytta	437 436 437 160
M
Mace	472
Maceration	762
Macis	472
Macrotys racemosa Madagascar cardamom Madar	211 176 1237
Madder	602
Madeira wine	738
Magistery of bismuth Magnesia Magnesia alba Magnesia, calcined	876 1022 438 1024
Magnesia, carbonate of	438
Magnesia, Dinneford's	439
Magnesia, Henry's Magnesia, preparations of	1023 1022
Magnesia, sulphate of Magnesias carbonas Magnesias sulphas Magnesias sulphas pu-rum	440 438 440 1025
Magnesium	1024
Magnolia Magnolia acuminata Magnolia glauca Magnolia grandiflora Magnolia tripetala Mahogany tree Mahy's plaster Maidenhair	442 443 442 442 443 1298 920 1222
Malabathri folia	247
Malambo bark	1274
Male fern	332
Male jalap Male orchis	408 1292
Mallow, common	444
Malt	373
Malt vinegar Maltha	15 534
Malva	444
Malva alcea	76
Malva rotundifolia	444
Malva sylvestris	444
Malwa opium	511
Mandioca	705
Mandragora	1274
 
1352
Index.
Mandragora officinalis	1274	Mel	455
Mandrake 556,	1274	Mel iEgyptiacum	1027
Manganese	445	Mel boracis	1026
Manganese, oxide of	445	Mel despumatum	1025
Manganesii oxidum	445	Mel praeparatum	1026
Manganic acid	445	Mel rosas	1026
Manna	446	Mel scillas compositum	1155
Manna, Briancon	447	Melaleuca cajuputi	486
Manna cannulata	447	Melaleuca hypericifolia	486
Mannite	448	Melaleuca leucadendron	486
Maracaybo bark	230	Melaleuca minor	486
Maranta	449	Melampodium	367
Maranta allouya	449	Melassic acid	618
Maranta arundinacea	449	Melia azedarach	135
Maranta galanga	1255	Melilot	1275
Maranta Indica	449	Melilotus officinalis	1275
Maranta nobilis	449	Melissa	456
Marble	451	Melissa officinalis	456
Marbled Castile soap	632	Mellita	1025
Marbled soap	630	Meloe majalis	160
Margaric acid	630	Meloe niger	166
Margarin 56	, 481	Meloe proscarabasus	160
Marine acid	31	Meloe trianthemas	160
Marjoram, common	526	Menispermin	252
Marjoram, sweet	527	Menispermum Cana-	
Marmor	451	dense	1275
Marrubium	452	Menispermum cocculus	251
Marrubium vulgare	452	Menispermum palmatum 261	
Marseilles vinegar	779	Mentha piperita	457
Marsh rosemary	686	Mentha pulegium	458
Marsh tea	1272	Mentha viridis	458
Marsh trefoil	459	Menyanthes	459
Marsh water	111	Menyanthes trifoliata	459
Marsh water-cress	1279	Mercurial ointment	1195
Marshmallow	75	Mercurial pills	1067
Martial ethiops	966	Mercurial plaster	915
Marygold	1237	Mercurius	377
Massicot 54'"	,554	Mercury	377
Masterwort 368,	1264	Mercury, acetate of	978
Mastich	453	Mercury, ammoniated	1004
Mastiche	453	Mercury, bichloride of	979
Masticin	453	Mercury, bicyanide of	991
Matias bark	1274	Mercury, biniodide of	993
Matico	1274	Mercury, binoxide of	999
Matonia cardamomum	177	Mercury, bisulphuret of 1002	
Matricaria	454	Mercury, black oxide of	994
Matricaria chamomilla	454	Mercury, black sulphuret	
Matricaria parthenium	1291	of	1001
May-apple	556	Mercury, bromides of	1235
May-weed	278	Mercury, calcined	9.98
Mead	740	Mercury, corrosive chio	
Meadow anemone	1228	ride of	979
Meadow-saffron	255	Mercury, cyanuret of	991
Mealy star wort	64	Mercury, hydrosublimate	
Measurement, approxi-		of	987
mate	1318	Mercury, iodide of	992
Measures and weights		Mercury, mild chloride	
753,	1314	of	985
Mecca senna	655	Mercury, persulphate ol	999
Mechanical division	755	Mercury, preparations o	f 978
Mechoacan	408	Mercury, protiodide of	992
Meconic acid	517	Mercury, prussiate of	991
Meconin	517	Mercury, purified	978
Medeola Virginica	1274	Mercury, red iodide of	993
Medicated waters	856	Mercury, red oxide of	
Medicated wines	1209	996	,998
Medicinal hydrocyanic		Mercury, red sulphuret	
acid	789	of	1002
Medicines, preservation		Mercury, table of the	
of	753	preparations of	381
Mercury with chalk     1005
Mercury with magnesia 1006
Mercury, yellow sulphate
  of                   1000
Mesembryanthemum crys-
  tallinum              1275
Metaphosphoric acid     796
Method of displacement  762
Metroxylon sagu         620
Mezereon               460
Mezereum               460
Mild chloride of mer-
  cury                  985
Mild mercurial  ointment
                       1195
Mild volatile alkali       824
Milder common caustic 1082
Milfoil                 1222
Milium solis            1273
Milk of ammoniac      1029
Milk of assafetida       1030
Milk of sulphur         1141
Milk-weed           127, 322
Mimosa Nilotica           5
Mindererus, spirit of     831
Mineral, ethiops        1001
Mineral, kermes         849
Mineral tar              534
Mineral, turpeth        1000
Mineral water           858
Mineral waters           112
Mineral yellow         1287
Minium                 554
Mint                    458
Misletoe               1304
Mistura acacias, Ed.     1028
Mistura acacias, Lond.   1045
Mistura ammoniaci      1029
Mistura amygdalas       1029
Mistura assafoetidas      1030
Mistura camphoras       860
Mistura camphoras cum
  magnesia
Mistura cascarillas com-
  posita
Mistura creasoti
Mistura cretas
Mistura ferri aromatica
Mistura ferri composita 1032
Mistura gentianas com
  posita
Mistura guaiaci
Mistura hordei
Mistura moschi
Mistura scammonii
Mistura spiritus vini
  gallici
Misturas
Mithridate
Mixture, almond
Mixture, ammoniac
Mixture, assafetida
Mixture, brandy
Mixture, brown
Mixture, chalk
Mixture, creasote
Mixture, guaiac
Mixture, gum Arabic
Mixture, musk
1030

1031
1031
1031
1031
1032
1033
 905
1033
1033

1033
1028
 894
1029
1029
1030
1033
1312
1031
1031
1033
1028
1033
Mixture, neutral  1091,1312 
Index.
1353
Mixture of camphor with
  magnesia            1030
Mixture of cascarilla,
  compound           1031
Mixture of gentian,
  compound           1032
Mixture of iron, aromatic
                       1031
Mixture of iron, com-
  pound
Mixture, oleaginous
Mixture, scammony
Mixtures
Mode of administering
  medicines
Molasses
Mole-plant
Momordica balsamina
Momordica elaterium
Monarda
Monarda punctata
Monesia
Monesin
Monkshood
Montpellier scammony
Mora
Morphia
Morphia, acetate of
Morphia, hydrochlorate
   of
Morphia, muriate of
Morphia, sulphate of
Morphias acetas
 Morphias hydrochloras
 Morphias murias
 Morphias muriatis solutio
                        1043
 Morphiae sulphas
 Morrhua Americana
 Mortars
 Morus alba
 Morus nigra
 Morus rubra
 Morus tinctoria
 Moschus
 Moschus factitius
 Moschus moschiferus
 Mountain laurel
 Mountain rhubarb
 Mountain tea
 Moxa
 Mucilage
 Mucilage of  gum  Arabic
   1032
   1312
   1033
   1028

   1307
613,618
   1287
   1275
    307
    462
    462
   1275
   1276
      53
    644
    463
   1033
   1039
1040
1040
1043
1039
1040
1040
1043
 388
 755
 463
 463
 463
1255
 463
1277
 463
1269
 607
 346
 466
 431
Mucilage of starch
Mucilage of tragacanth
Mucilages
Mucilagines
Mucilago
Mucilago acaciae
Mucilago amyli
Mucilago gummi Ara-
  bici
Mucilago tragacanthae
Mucuna
Mucuna pruriens
Mucuna prurita
Mudar
Mugwort
Mulberries
1045
1045
1045
1044
1044
1045
1045
1045

1045
1045
 468
 469
 469
1237
   4
 463
Mullein leaves          735 1
Muriate of ammonia      84
Muriate of baryta       873
Muriate of baryta, solu-
  tion of                875
Muriate of iron, tincture
  of                    975
Muriate of lime          146
Muriate of lime,  solution
  of                    880
Muriate of magnesia    1241
Muriate of morphia     1040
Muriate of morphia, solu-
  tion of               1043
Muriate of soda         677
Muriate of soda, pure   1129
Muriatic acid             31
Muriatic acid, diluted    792
Muriatic acid gas         34
Muriatic acid, table of the
  specific  gravity of       33
Muriatic ether          1276
Muriatis ferri liquor      975
Muscovado sugar        613
Mushrooms             1276
Musk                   463
Musk, artificial         1277
Musk mixture          1033
Must                   736
Mustard                 663
Mustard cataplasm
Mustard seeds, black
Mustard seeds, white
 Mustard, volatile oil of
 Mylabris cichorii
 Mylabris pustulata
 Mynsicht's acid elixir
 Myrica cerifera
 Myricin
 Myristica
 Myristica moschata
 Myristica officinalis
 Myristicas adeps
 Myristicae oleum
 Myristicin
 Myrobalani
 Myrobalans
 Myronic acid
 Myrospermum peruife-
    rum                   473
 Myrosyne           664, 666
 Myroxylon               473
 Myroxylon peruiferum    473
 Myroxylon toluiferum
 Myrrh
 Myrrha
 Myrtle wax
 Myrtus acris
 Myrtus caryophyllata
 Myrtus pimenta
    664
    664
    665
    160
    160
    798
    200
    200
    470
    470
    470
    470
    492
    492
    1278
    1278
664, 665
 715
 474
 474
 200
1250
1250
 539
             N

Naphtha
Naphtha, artificial
Naphthaline
Naples yellow
Narcein
533, 1291
      533
     1278
     1279
      516
Narcissus pseudo-nar-
  cissus
Narcotics
Narcotin
Narcotina
Nard
Nasturtium amphibi-
  um
Nasturtium officinale
Nasturtium palustre
Native soda
Natron
Nauclea gambir
Neats-foot oil
Nectandra puchury
Nepeta cataria
Nepeta glechoma
Nephrodium filix mas
Neroli
Nettle, common
Nettle, dwarf
Neutral mixture
New bark
New Jersey tea
Nicaragua wood
Nicotia
Nicotiana fruticosa
Nicotiana paniculata
 Nicotiana quadrivalvis
 Nicotiana rustica
 Nicotiana tabacum
 Nicotianin
 Nicotin
 Nicotina
 Nigella sativa
 Nigellin
 Nightshade, black
 Nightshade, common
 Nightshade, deadly
 Nightshade, woody
 Nihil album
 Nitrate of lead
 Nitrate of potassa
 Nitrate of potassa, p>iri
   fied
 Nitrate of silver
 Nitrate of silver, crys-
   tals of
 Nitrate of silver, solu-
   tion of
 Nitrate of soda
 Nitre
 Nitre-beds, artificial
 Nitre, sweet spirit of
 Nitric acid
 Nitric acid, diluted
 Nitric acid fumigation
 Nitric acid, table of the
    specific gravity of
 Nitric ether
 Nitromuriatic acid
 Nitromuriatic oxide of
    antimony
 Nitrosulphate of ammo-
    nia
 Nitrous ether
 Nitrous powders   570, 1310
 Nopal                   252
 Nordhausen, fuming sul-
    phuric acid of          45
     1279
        2
      513
      513
     1279

     1279
     1279
     1279
      671
      672
      194
      485
     1288
      191
     1257
      332
      132
     1303
     1303
1091, 1312
      233
     1240
     1235
      699
      698
      698
      698
      698
       697
      700
       699
       699
      1279
      1280
       304
       304
       137
       305
      1217
      1076
       567

      1093
       866

       871

       870
      1280
       567
       567
       817
         35
       793
         40

         39
       814
       793

       836

      1280
       814 
1354
Index.
Nutmeg               470
Nutmeg, concrete oil of 471
Nutmeg flower         1279
Nux moschata          470
Nux vomica           476
Nymphaea alba         1280
Nymphasa odorata      1280
o
Oak bark		582
Oatmeal		134
Oatmeal gruel Ochres		134 1280
Ocimum basilicum		1280
Ocotea pichurim		1288
CEnanthe crocata		1281
x CEnanthe phellandrium CEnanthic ether		1288 739
CEnothera biennis		1281
Officinal directions	,gene-	
ral		768
Oil, benne	499,6	
Oil, cajeput Oil, castor		486 494
Oil, cod-liver		1245
Oil, croton		502
Oil, ethereal		811
Oil, flaxseed		491
Oil, neats-foot		485
Oil of almonds		484
Oil of amber		1056
Oil of amber, rectified		1057
Oil of anise	1050,	1264
Oil of ben		1281
Oil of benne		661
Oil of bergamot Oil of bitter almonds		485 91
Oil of camphor Oil of caraway Oil of cassia		156 1051 489
Oil of chamomile		1050
Oil of cinnamon		488
Oil of cloves		487
Oil of copaiba	271,	1051
Oil of cubebs		490
Oil of dill		1050
Oil of elder flowers		1056
Oil of ergot Oil of euphorbia Oil of fennel	313, 316 1281 1051	
Oil of horsemint		1054
Oil of jasmine		1281
Oil of juniper Oil of lavender		1052 1053
Oil of lemons		490
Oil of mace		471
Oil of marjoram		1054
Oil of mustard		664
Oil of nutmeg Oil of origanum Oil of partridge-berry Oil of pennyroyal, Ame rican		492 1054 1052 1052
Oil of pennyroyal, ropean Oil of peppermint Oil of pimento Oil of rosemary	Eu-	1054 1053 1055 1055
Oil of roses	498
Oil of rue	1056
Oil of sassafras	1056
Oil of savine	1056
Oil of spearmint	1054
Oil of spike	1053
Oil of sweet marjoram	1055
Oil of tar	545
Oil of turpentine	499
Oil of turpentine, puri-	
fied	1058
Oil of vitriol	43
Oil of wine	812
Oil of wine camphor	812
Oil of wine, concrete	812
Oil of wine, heavy	811
Oil of wine, light	812
Oil of wormseed	1051
Oil, olive	492
Oil, palm	1286
Oils	480
Oils, distilled 482,	1046
Oils, drying	480
Oils, empyreumatic	765
Oils, essential	482
Oils, expressed	480
Oils, fixed	480
Oils, volatile 482	1046
Ointment, antimonial	1192
Ointment, citrine	1198
Ointment, compound	
sulphur	1205
Ointment, elder	1204
Ointment, mercurial	1195
Ointment, mercurial,	
mild	1195
Ointment, mercurial,	
strong	1195
Ointment of acetate of	
lead	1203
Ointment of ammonia-	
ted mercury	1198
Ointment of biniodide	
of mercury	1198
Ointment of black pep-	
per	1203
Ointment of black	
pitch	1202
Ointment of carbonate	
of lead	1203
Ointment of cocculus	
Indicus	1194
Ointment of creasote	1194
Ointment of elemi	1194
Ointment of figwort	1204
Ointment of galls	1195
Ointment of galls, com	
pound	1195
Ointment of hemlock	1194
Ointment of hydriodate	
of potassa	1203
Ointment of iodide of	
lead	1203
Ointment of iodide of '	
mercury	1198
Ointment of iodine	1201
Ointment of iodine,	
compound	1202
Ointment of lead, com-	
pound	1203
Ointment of mezereon	1202
Ointment of nitrate of	
mercury	1198
Ointment of nitric acid	1191
Ointment of oxide of	
zinc	1206
Ointment of red oxide	
of mercury	1201
Ointment of rose water	1192
Ointment of Spanish	
flies	1192
Ointment of stramo-	
nium	1204
Ointment of subacetate	
of copper	1194
Ointment of sulphuric	
acid	1191
Ointment of the powder	
of Spanish flies	1193
Ointment of white helle	-
bore	1206
Ointment of white pre-	
cipitate	1198
Ointment, simple	1204
Ointment, spermaceti	1193
Ointment, sulphur	1205
Ointment, tar	1202
Ointment, tartar emetic	1192
Ointment, tobacco	1205
Ointments	1191
Okra	1261
Old field pine	709
Olea	480
Olea destillata	1046
Olea essentialia	1047
Olea Europoea	492
Olea expressa	480
Olea fixa	480
Olea fragrans	1300
Olea volatilia	482
Oleaginous mixture	1312
Oleic acid	630
Olein 56,481	
Oleo-saccharum	617
Oleum astherium	811
Oleum amygdalas	484
Oleum anethi	1050
Oleum anisi	1050
Oleum anthemidis	1050
Oleum bergamii	485
Oleum bubulum	485
Oleum cajuputi	486
Oleum camphoratum	1020
Oleum cari	1051
Oleum carui	1051
Oleum caryophylli	487
Oleum chenopodii	1051
Oleum cinnamomi	48S
Oleum copaibas	1051
Oleum cornu cervi	1252
Oleum cubebae	490
Oleum foeniculi	1051
Oleum gaultherias	1052
Oleum hedeomas	1052
Oleum hyperici	1263
Oleum jecoris aselli	1245
Oleum juniperi	1052
Oleum lavandulas	1053
Oleum limonis	490
Oleum lini	491
 
Index.
1355
Oleum menthas piper-
  ita;
Oleum menthas pulegii
Oleum menthas viridis
Oleum monardas
Oleum myristicas
Oleum olivae
Oleum origani
Oleum phosphoratum
Oleum pimentae
Oleum pulegii
Oleum ricini
Oleum rosae
Oleum rosmarini
Oleum rutas
Oleum sabinae
Oleum sambuci
Oleum sassafras
Oleum sesami      499,
Oleum succini
Oleum succini rectifi-
  catum
Oleum sulphuratum
Oleum tartari per de-
  liquium
Oleum terebinthinae
Oleum terebinthinas puri
  ficatum
Oleum thymi
Oleum tigiii
Olibanum
Oiivas oleum
Olive oil
Olive oil soda soap
Oliville
Onion
Opiate pills of lead
Opium
Opium, Bengal
Opium, Constantinople
Opium, Egyptian
Opium, India
Opium, Malwa
Opium, Persia
Opium plaster
Opium, Smyrna
Opium, Turkey
Opobalsamurn
Opodeldoc
Opopanax
Opopanax chironium
Opuntia cochinillifera
Orange berries
Orange flower water
Orange mineral
Orange peel
Orange red
Orange root
Oranges
Orchill
Orchis mascula
Orenburgh gum
Orgeat, syrup of
Origanum
Origanum majorana
Origanum majoranoi-
  des
Origanum vulgare
Orleana
Orobanche Americana
	Orobanche uniflora	1282	Parietaria officinalis	1287
1053	Orobanche Virginiana	1282	Pariglin	637
1054	Orpiment	1282	Paris white	1304
1054	Orris, Florentine	404	Parsley root	535
1054	Oryza sativa	1282	Partridge-berry	345
492	Os	527	Pastel	1269
492	Os sepias	1251	Pastinaca opopanax	525
1054	Ossa	527	Patent yellow	1287
537	Ostrea edulis	714	Paullinia	1287
1055	Otolithus regalis	388	Paullinia sorbilis	1287
1054	Otto of roses	498	Peach leaves	93
494	Ovum	529	Peach wood	1235
498	Oxacids	780	Pearl barley	374
1055	Oxalate of potassa	1283	Pearl sago	621
1056	Oxalic acid	1282	Pearl white	876
1056	Oxalis acetosella	12	Pearlash	562
1056	Oxalis violacea	12	Pearson's arsenical solu	
1056	Ox-gall	1285	tion	18
, 660	Oxide of antimony	835	Pectic acid	180
1056	Oxide of gold	1258	Pectin	179
	Oxide of manganese	445	Pellitory	578
1057	Oxide of silver	1285	Penasa mucronata	1293
1231	Oxide of zinc	1216	Penasa sarcocolla	1293
	Oxychloride of antimony 836		Pennsylvania sumach	598
1085	Oxymel	1027	Pennyroyal	365
499	Oxymel colchici	1027	Pennyroyal, European	458
	Oxymel cupri subacetatis 1027		Pennyroyal water	864
1058	Oxymel of colchicum	1027	Peony	1286
1302	Oxymel of squill	1027	Pepper, black	540
502	Oxymel of subacetate of		Pepper, Cayenne	167
505	copper	1027	Pepper, long	542
492	Oxymel scillas	1027	Pepper, white	540
492	Oxymuriate of lime	149	Peppermint	457
632	Oxymuriate of potassa	565	Peppermint water	864
493	Oxysulphuret of antimony		Percolation	769
66		848	Periploca Indica	1261
1070	Oyster	714	Periploca secamone	643
506	Oyster-shell	714	Pernambuco wood	1235
511	Oyster-shell, prepared	880	Peroxide of manganese	445
510			Perry	740
510			Persea camphora	153
511	P		Persia opium	512
511			Persica vulgaris	93
512	Pasonia officinalis	1286	Persimmon	302
917	Pale bark	222	Persulphate of mercury	999
509	Palm oil	1286	Peruvian bark	212
509	Palm soap	631	Peruvian ipecacuanha	401
1231	Palma Christi	494	Peters's pills	74
1021	Palmic acid	497	Petroleum	533
525	Palmin	497	Petroleum Barbadense	533
525	Palmitic acid	1286	Petroselinum	535
252	Palmitin	1286	Petroselinum sativum	535
132	Panacea lapsorum	121	Phalaris Canariensis	1238
863	Panax	530	Pharmaceutical equiva-	
1282	Panax quinquefolium	530	lents, table of	1320
131	Panax schinseng	530	Phellandrium aquaticum	1288
1282	Pansy	743	Philadelphia fleabane	317
1261	Papaver	531	Phloridzin	1288
133	Papaver orientale	506	Phoenix farinifera	620
420	Papaver rhoeas	598	Phosphate of iron	968
1292	Papaver somniferum	506	Phosphate of lime, pre-	
710	Paraffine	279	cipitated	881
1147	Paraguay tea	1263	Phosphate of soda	1129
526	Parallinic acid	637	Phosphorated oil	537
527	Paramenispermin	252	Phosphoric acid, dilutee	795
	Paramorphia	516	Phosphorus	535
527	Paratartaric acid	728	Phosphorus, ethereal	
526	Paregoric elixir	1181	solution of	537
1228	Pareira	532	Phyllanthus emblica	1278
1282	Pareira brava	532	Physalis alkekengi	1288
 
1356
Index.
Physalis viscosa        1288
Physeter macrocephalus  202
Phytolacca decandra     537
Phytolaccas baccas       537
Phytolaccas radix        537
Picamar                 279
Pichurim beans         1288
Picrasna excelsa         579
Picroglycion             306
Picrotoxic acid          252
Picrotoxin               251
Pills                   1058
Pills, aloetic            1059
Pills, Asiatic              20
Pills, assafetida         1061
Pills, blue              1067
Pills, calomel          1068
Pills, compound calomel 1061
Pills, compound cathartic
                       1062
Pills, mercurial         1067
Pills of aloes and assa-
  fetida                1060
Pills of aloes and iron   1060
Pills of aloes and myrrh 1061
Pills of aloes, compound 1060
Pills of ammoniated cop-
  per                 1064
Pills of calomel  and opium
                       1062
Pills of carbonate of iron
                       1065
Pills of chloride of mer-
  cury, compound      1061
Pills of colocynth and
  henbane             1063
Pills of colocynth, com-
  pound               1063
Pills of copaiba         1063
Pills of digitalis and squill
                       1064
Pills of galbanum, com-
  pound               1066
Pills of gamboge, com-
  pound               1067
Pills of hemlock, com-
  pound               1063
Pills of iodide of mercury
                       1069
Pills of ipecacuanha and
  opium               1069
Pills of ipecacuanha,
  compound           1069
Pills of iron,  compound 1066
Pills of lead, opiate     1070
Pills of mild  chloride of
  mercury             1068
Pills of opium          1069
Pills of rhubarb         1070
Pills of rhubarb  andiron 1071
Pills of rhubarb, compound
                       1070
Pills of sagapenum, com-
  pound               1071
Pills of soap, compound 1071
Pills of squill, compound
                       1071
Pills of storax, compound
                       1072
Pills of sulphate of iron, 1066
Pills of sulphate of quinia
                        1070
Pills, Vailet's ferruginous
                        1065
Pilulae                  1058
Pilulas aloes             1059
Pilulas aloes compositas   1060
Pilulas aloes et  assafoetidas
                        1060
Pilulas aloes et  ferri      1060
Pilulas aloes et  myrrhas   1061
Pilulas assafoetidae  1061,  1066
Pilulae calomelanos com-
  positae                1061
Pilulas calomelanos et opii
                        1062
Pilulas cambogias com-
  positas                1067
Pilulas catharticas com-
  positas                1062
Pilulas colocynthidis
  compositas            1063
Pilulae colocynthidis et
  hyoscyami            1063
Pilulas conii compositas   1063
Pilulas copaibas          1063
Pilulas cupri ammoniati   1064
Pilulas de cynoglosso    1252
Pilulas digitalis et scillas  1064
Pilulae e styrace         1072
Pilulas ferri carbonatis   1065
Pilulas ferri compositas   1066
Pilulas ferri sulphatis    1066
Pilulas galbani compositas
                        1066
Pilulae gambogias com-
  positas                1067
Pilulas hydrargyri        1067
Pilulas hydrargyri chlo-
  ridi compositas        1061
Pilulas hydrargyri chlo-
  ridi mitis             1068
Pilulas hydrargyri iodidi  1069
Pilulas ipecacuanhas  com-
  positas                1069
Pilulas ipecacuanhas  et opii
                        1069
Pilulas opii              1069
Pilulae plumbi opiatas    1070
Pilulas quinias sulphatis  1070
Pilulas rhei              1070
Pilulas rhei compositae   1070
Pilulas rhei et ferri      1071
Pilulas sagapeni compo-
  sitas                  1071
Pilulae saponis  compositas
                        1071
Pilulas saponis  cum opio 1071
Pilulas scillas compositas  1071
Pilulas stomachicas      1060
Pilulas styracis compositas
                        1072
Pilulas Thebaicas  -      1069
Pimenta                 539
Pimento                 539
Pimento water           865
Pimpernel, scarlet      1227
Pimpinella anisum       102
Pimpinella saxifraga    1289
Pinckneya               213
Pinckneya pubens
Pine nuts
Pinic acid
Pink, Carolina
Pinkroot
Pink, wild
Pinus abies
Pinus australis
Pinus balsamea
Pinus Canadensis
1289
 709
 585
 680
 680
1296
 543
 709
 710
 544
Pinus cembra       709, 1292
Pinus Damarra          713
Pinus larix              710
Pinus maritima          709
Pinus nigra              710
Pinus palustris          709
Pinus picea              710
Pinus pinaster           709
Pinus pinea              709
Pinus pumilio       709, 1292
Pinus rigida             545
Pinus sylvestris          709
Pinus taeda              709
Piper                   540
Piper angustifolium     1274
Piper betel              196
Piper caninum          287
Piper cubeba            287
Piper longum            542
Piper methisticum      1274
Piper nigrum            540
Piperin                 541
Pipsissewa              207
Pistacia lentiscus        453
Pistacia terebinthus      710
Pitaina                 234
Pitaya bark              234
Pitch,                  546
Pitch, black             546
Pitch, Burgundy         542
Pitch, Canada           544
Pitch, hemlock          545
Pitch pine              709
Pitch plaster            917
Pittacal                 280
Pix abietis              542
Pix arida                546
Pix Burgundica          542
Pix Canadensis          544
Pix liquida              545
Pix nigra                546
Plantago lancifolia       1289
Plantago major          1289
Plantago media          1289
Plantago psyllium       1289
Plantain                1289
Plantain,  water          1225
Plants, collecting of     752
Plants, drying of        752
Plaster, adhesive    921, 922
Plaster, aromatic        912
Plaster, blistering       885
Plaster measurer        765
Plaster of ammoniac
  with mercury         912
Plaster of belladonna    913
Plaster of carbonate of
  lead                 920
Plaster of pitch with
  Spanish flies          917 
Index.
1357
Plaster of Spanish flies   913
Plaster of Spanish flies,
  compound             914
Plaster, strengthening    914
Plaster, warming        917
Plasters                 910
Plasters, spreading of 765,911
Platinum               1289
Pleurisy-root            127
Plumbagin              1290
Plumbago          169, 1239
Plumbago Europaea      1290
Plumbi acetas           549
Plumbi carbonas         551
Plumbi chloridum       1074
Plumbi diacetatis solutio 1072
Plumbi iodidum        1075
Plumbi nitras           1076
Plumbi oxidum rubrum   554
Plumbi oxidum semivit-
  reum                 555
Plumbi oxydum hydra-
  turn                 1076
Plumbi subacetatis liquor 1072
Plumbi subacetatis liquor
                       1074
                        546
                       1062
                         20
                       1231
                        557
                        556
                        556
                        717
                        718
                        537
                        537
                        285
                    558, 649
                        558
                        558
                        558
                        649
                        649
                        650
  compositus
Plumbum
Plummer's pills
Plunket's caustic
Podalyria tinctoria
Podophyllin
Podophyllum
Podophyllum peltatum
Poison-oak
Poison-vine
Poke berries
Poke root
Polychro'ite
Polygala amara
Polygala, bitter
Polygala polygama
Polygala rubella
Polygala senega
Polygala vulgaris
Polygallic acid
Polygonatum multiflorum
   J                   1249
Polygonatum uniflorum  1249
Polygonum aviculare     558
Polygonum bistorta       558
Polygonum fagopyrum   559
Polygonum hydropiper
Polygonum hydropipe-
  roides
Polygonum persicaria
Polygonum punctatum
Polygonum tinctorium
Polypodium filix foemina 1230
Polypodium filix mas
Polypodium vulgare
Polypody, common
Pomegranate rind
Pomegranate root, bark
  of
Pompholix
Pontefract cakes
Poplar
Poppy, black
poppy capsules
Poppy^ corn
     115
 558

 558
 558
 559
1264
 332
1290
1290
 357
      357
     1217
      326
433, 1290
      506
      531
      598
Poppy-heads             531
Poppy, red              598
Poppy, white            506
Populin                1291
Populus                1290
Populus balsamifera     1290
Populus nigra           1290
Populus tremula        1290
Populus tremuloides     1290
Porrum                 559
Port, English            739
Port wine               738
Portable soup            528
Porter                  740
Portland arrowroot       124
Portland powder        1301
Portland sago            124
Portulaca oleracea      1291
Potash                  563
Potashes, varieties of    564
Potassa                1080
Potassa, acetate of      1082
Potassa, alcoholic       1081
Potassa, bicarbonate of 1088
Potassa, binoxalate of
                    12, 1283
Potassa, bisulphate of   1095
Potassa, bitartrate of
Potassa, carbonate of
Potassa, caustic
Potassa caustica
Potassa caustica cum
  calce
Potassa, chlorate of
Potassa cum calce
Potassa, dry
Potassa, effervescing solu-
  tion of               1091
Potassa, ferrocyanate of  572
Potassa, hydrate of     1080
Potassa, hydriodate of  1100
Potassa, impure carbo-
  nate of
Potassa, nitrate of
Potassa, preparations of 1077
Potassa, pure carbonate
  of                   1087
Potassa, pure hydrate of 1081
Potassa, sesquicarbo-
  nate of
Potassa, solution of
Potassa, sulphate of
Potassa, sulphuret of
Potassa, tartrate of
Potassa with lime
Potassas acetas
Potassas aqua
Potassas aqua efferves
  cens
Potassas biantimonias
Potassas bicarbonas
Potassas bisulphas
Potassas bitartras
Potassas carbonas
Potassas carbonas e lixivo
  cinere               1084
Potassas carbonas e tartari
  crystallis             1087
Potassas carbonas impurus
                        562
 560
1084
1080
1080

1081
 565
1081
 560
562
567
1091
1077
 571
1105
1096
1081
1082
1077

1091
1252
1088
1095
 560
1084
Potassas carbonas purus  1087
Potassae carbonatis aqua  1088
Potassas causticas aqua   1077
Potassas chloras          565
Potassas et sodas tartras  1128
Potassas hydras         1080
Potassae hydriodas       1100
Potassas nitras           567
Potassas nitras purificatum
                       1093
Potassas sulphas          571
Potassas sulphas cum sul-
  phure                1094
Potassas sulphureti aqua  1106
Potassas sulphuretum    1105
Potassas tartras         1096
Potassii bromidum      1097
Potassii cyanuretum     1098
Potassii ferrocyanidum   572
Potassii ferrocyanuretum 572
Potassii iodidum        1100
Potassii sulphocyanure-
  tum                 1298
Potassii sulphuretum    1105
Potassium               559
Potassium, bromide of  1097
Potassium, cyanuret of  1098
Potassium, ferrocyanuret
  of                   572
Potassium, iodide of    1100
Potassium, sulphuret of 1105
Potato                  304
Potato flies             165
Potato starch            96
Potentilla reptans       1291
Potentilla tormentilla    716
Powder, antimonial      852
Powder, aromatic       1109
Powder, compound sa-
  line                 1113
Powder, Dover's       1111
Powder folder          766
Powder for a cataplasm  1112
Powder of Algaroth     836
Powder of aloes and ca-
  nella                1109
Powder of aloes, com-
  pound               1108
Powder of alum, com-
  pound               1109
Powder of asarabacca,
  compound            1110
Powder of chalk, com-
  pound               1110
Powder of chalk with
  opium, compound     1110
Powder of ipecacuanha
  and opium            1111
Powder of jalap, com-
  pound               1112
Powder of kino, com-
  pound               1112
Powder of rhubarb, com-
  pound                1113
Powder of scammony,
  compound      »     1113
Powder of tin          1137
Powder of tragacanth,
  compound           1113
Powder, Portland      1301 
1358
Index.
Powdering, methods of   755
Powders               1108
Powders, effervescing   1110
Powders, Seidlitz         52
Powders, soda          1111
Precipitate per se        998
Precipitated calomel     990
Precipitated carbonate of
  iron                  969
Precipitated carbonate of
  lime                  878
Precipitated phosphate of
  lime                  881
Precipitated sulphur    1141
Precipitated sulphuret of
  antimony             848
Precipitating jars        756
Precipitation       756, 763
Prepared calamine      1214
Prepared carbonate of
  zinc                 1214
Prepared chalk          879
Prepared honey         1026
Prepared oyster-shell     880
Prepared subacetate of
  copper                897
Prepared sulphuret of
  antimony             848
Prescribing medicines,
  art of               1306
Prescriptions, formulas for
                       1310
Preservation of infusions,
  &c.                  765
Preservation of medicines 753
Preserved vegetable
  juices               1159
Prickly ash          117, 745
Pride of China           135
Pride of India           135
Prinos                  574
Prinos verticillatus      574
Privet                 1273
Proof spirit          59, 822
Proof vinegar             16
Protein                 724
Protiodide of mercury    992
Protoxide of lead        547
Protoxide of manganese 445
Protoxide of tin         685
Prunella vulgaris        1291
 Prunes                 575
 Pruni pulpa            1107
 Prunum                 575
 Prunus domestica        575
 Prunus lauro-cerasus     426
 Prunus spinosa             7
 Prunus Virginiana       576
 Prussian blue            960
 Prussiate of mercury     991
 Prussic acid             786
 Pseudomorphia          517
 Psychotria emetica       401
 Psyllii semen           1289
 Pteris aquilina          1230
 Pterocarpus             628
 Pterocarpus draco      1253
 Pterocarpus erinaceus    416
 Pterocarpus marsupium  415
 Pterocarpus santalinus   628
Puccoon                627
Puce oxide of lead       547
Pulmonaria officinalis   1291
Pulp of prunes          1107
Pulp of purging cassia   1107
Pulp of tamarinds       1107
Pulpas                  1107
Pulps                  1107
Pulveres               1108
Pulveres effervescentes  1110
Pulverization            755
Pulvis aloes compositus  1108
Pulvis aloes et canellas  1109
Pulvis aluminis compo-
  situs                 1109
Pulvis antimonialis       852
Pulvis antimonii com-
  positus               852
Pulvis aromaticus       1109
Pulvis asari compositus  1110
Pulvis Capucinorum      610
Pulvis cinnamomi com-
  positus              1109
Pulvis comitissas         242
Pulvis cornu cervini  usti  881
Pulvis cretas compositus 1110
Pulvis cretas compositus
  cum opio            1110
Pulvis cretae opiatus     1110
Pulvis hydrargyri cine-
  reus                  995
Pulvis ipecacuanhas com-
  positus              1111
Pulvis ipecacuanhas et
  opii                  1111
Pulvis jalapa? compositus
                       1112
Pulvis kino compositus  1112
Pulvis pro cataplasmate 1112
Pulvis rhei compositus  1113
Pulvis salinus composi-
  tus                  1113
Pulvis scammonii com-
  positus              1113
Pulvis spongias ustas     1136
Pulvis stanni           1137
Pulvis tragacanthas com-
  positus              1113
Pumex                 1291
Pumice stone          1291
Punica granatum        357
Punicin                358
Pure carbonate of potassa
                        1087
Pure chloride of sodium  1129
 Pure muriate of soda    1129
Pure Prussian blue      960
 Pure sulphate of mag-
   nesia                1025
 Pure sulphuric acid      799
 Pure water             109
 Purging cassia           186
 Purging flax            432
 Purging nuts           705
 Purified animal charcoal 882
 Purified extract of aloes 935
 Purified mercury         978
 Purified nitrate of potassa
                        1093
 Purified oil of turpentine 1058
Purified storax          1140
Purified sugar      616, 618
Purple avens            351
Purple willow-herb       437
Purslane, garden        1291
Pyrethrum               578
Pyrethrum parthenium  1291
Pyretin, acid           1296
Pyretine                546
Pyrmont water          113
Pyroacetic spirit        1291
Pyrola umbellata         207
Pyroligneous acid         41
Pyrophosphate of soda  1131
Pyrus cydonia           294
            a

Quadroxalate of potassa 1283
Quassia                 579
Quassia amara           579
Quassia excelsa          579
Quassia simaruba         662
Quassin                 580
Queen's-root            687
Quercin                 582
Quercitrin               583
Quercitron              583
Quercus                581
Quercus asgilops          340
Quercus alba       581,582
Quercus cerris           340
Quercus excelsa          340
Quercus falcata          581
Quercus ilex            340
Quercus infectoria       340
Quercus montana        581
Quercus pedunculata     581
Quercus prinus          581
Quercus robur      340, 581
Quercus tinctoria   581, 582
Quercus virens          581
Quickens               1302
Quicklime              147
Quicksilver             377
Quina                  238
Quince seeds            294
Quinia                  238
Quinia, kinate of        240
Quinia, preparations of 1114
Quinia, sulphate of     1114
Quinias sulphas         1114
Quinolcina              238
R
Racemic acid	728
Radcliff's elixir	74
Radical vinegar	783
Radices colubrinas	476
Radix caryophyllata?	352
Radix zedoarias	1305
Ragwort	1295
Raia batis	1246
Raia clavata	1246
Rain water	111
Raisins	728
 
Index.
1359
Ranunculus	583
Ranunculus acris	584
Ranunculus bulbosus	584
Ranunculus flammula	584
Ranunculus repens	584
Ranunculus sceleratus	584
Raspberry syrup	1149
Rattlesnake's master	1273
Ray, oil of	1246
Realgar	1291
Rectification	765
Rectification of ether	808
Rectified oil of amber	1057
Rectified spirit	57
Red bark	229
Red cedar	413
Red chalk	1292
Red coral	1249
Red elm	726
Red iodide of mercury	993
Red lead	554
Red oxide of iron	968
Red oxide of lead	554
Red oxide of manganese 445	
Red oxide of mercurv,	
Dub.	998
Red oxide of mercury,	
U.S.	996
Red pepper	167
Red poppy	598
Red precipitate	996
Red-root	1240
Red roses	600
Red saunders	628
Red sulphuret of mer-	
cury	1002
Red tartar	560
Red wine vinegar	16
Red wines	737
Reddle	1292
Refrigerants	3
Refrigeratory	772
Regulus of antimony	105
Remijea	213
Renealmia cardamomum 177	
Reseda luteola	1292
Resin	585
Resin cerate	889
Resin cerate, compounc	889
Resin of jalap	945
Resin of scammony	952
Resin plaster	921
Resin, white	586
Resin, yellow	585
Resina	585
Resina alba	585
Resina flava	585
Resina jalapae	945
Resina scammonii	952
Resine de chibou	1239
Resine de Gomart	1239
Rhabarbaric acid	595
Rhabarbarin	595
Rhabarbarum	588
Rhamnin	587
Rhamnus	586
Rhamnus catharticus	586
Rhamnus frangula	587
Rhamnus infectonus	587
Rhamnus zizyphus	1305
Rhapontic rhubarb
Rhatany
Rhein
Rheum
Rheum australe
Rheum Caspicum
Rheum compactum
Rheum crassinervium
Rheum emodi
Rheum hybridum
Rheum leucorrhizum
Rheum Moorcraftianum
Rheum palmatum
Rheum Rhaponticum
Rheum Russicum vel
  Turcicum
Rheum Sinense vel
  lndicum
Rheum speciforme
Rheum undulatum
Rheum Webbianum
Rhododendrum crysan-
  thum
Rhoeas
Rhubarb
Rhubarb, Bucharian
Rhubarb, Chinese
Rhubarb, English
Rhubarb, European
Rhubarb, French
Rhubarb, Krimea
Rhubarb, mountain
Rhubarb, Rhapontic
Rhubarb, Russian
Rhubarb, Turkey
Rhus coriaria
Rhus cotinus
Rhus glabrum
Rhus pumilum
Rhus radicans
Rhus toxicodendron
Rhus vernix
Rib grass
Rice
Richardsonia Brazili-
  ensis
Richardsonia emetica
Richardsonia scabra
Richweed
Ricini oleum
Ricinus communis
Riga balsam
River water
Roccella  tinctoria
Roche alum
Rochelle  salt
Rock oil
Rock-rose
Roll sulphur
Roman alum
Roman cement
Roman chamomile
Rosa canina
Rosa centifolia
Rosa damascena
Rosa Gallica
Rosa moschata
Rosas oleum
Rose, dog
Rose water
594	Rosemary	601
418	Roses, hundred leaved	600
595	Roses, red	600
587	Rosin	585
590	Rosin soap	631
590	Rosmarinus	601
589	Rosmarinus officinalis	601
590	Rosmarinus sylvestris	1272
590	Rotten stone	1292
590	Roucou	1228
590	Rough wines	737
590	Round-leaved dogwood	276
589	Rubefacients	2
590	Rubia	602
	Rubia tinctorum	602
592	Rubus trivialis	603
	Rubus villosus 60c	,604
591	Rue	607
590	Rufus's pills	1061
589	Rumex	605
590	Rumex acetosa	605
	Rumex acetosella	605
1292	Rumex acutus	606
598	Rumex Alpinus	606
587	Rumex aquaticus 605	, 606
592	Rumex Britannica 605	, 606
591	Rumex crispus	606
593	Rumex obtusifolius 605	,606
593	Rumex patientia	606
594	Rumex sanguineus	606
594	Rumex scutatus	606
607	Rumicin	606
594	Russian rhubarb	592
592	Rust of iron	969
592	Ruta	607
1256	Ruta graveolens	607
1255	Rutulin	623
598	Rye	1294
719		
717		
718	s	
718		
1289	Sabadilla	608
1282	Sabadillia	610
	Sabadillic acid	609
402	Sabbatia	611
402	Sabbatia angularis	611
402	Sabina	612
1248	Sacchari fasx	613
494	Saccharic acid	617
494	Saccharine carbonate of	
1292	iron	956
111	Saccharine fermentation	58
420	Saccharum	613
78	Saccharum commune	613
1128	Saccharum officinarum	614
533	Saccharum saturni	549
1260	Sacchulmic acid	617
695	Sacchulmin	617
78	Sacred elixir	1183
761	Safflower	180
104	Saffron	284
599	Saffron, dyers'	180
600	Sagapenum	619
498	Sage	624
600	Sago	620
498	Sago meal	621
498	Sago, pearl	621
599	Saguerus Rumphii	620
865	Sagus lasvis	620
 
1360
Index.
Sagus Ruffia	620	Saponification	629	Senecio aureus	1295
Sagus Rumphii	620	Saponin	1293	Senecio vulgaris	1295
Saint John's wort	1262	Sappan wood	1235	Senega	649
Saint Lucia bark	234	Saratoga water	114	Senegal gum	8
Sal absinthii	5	Sarcocolla	1293	Senegin	649
Sal aeratus	1090	Sarcocollin	1294	Seneka	649
Sal alembroth	981	Sarsaparilla	634 1 Seneka oil		534
Sal ammoniac	84	Sarsaparilla, false	116	Senna	651
Sal de duobus	571	Sarsaparilla, Indian	1261	Senna, American	188
Sal diureticus	1084	Sarsaparillin	637	Senna, fluid extract of	1156
Sal enixum	1095	Sarza	634	Separation of liquids	758
Sal gemmae	677	Sassa gum	1294	Separation of solids from	
Sal polychrestus Glaseri	1094	Sassafras medulla	639	liquids	756
Sal prunelle	569	Sassafras officinale	640	Separatory 758,	1049
Salep	1292	Sassafras pith 639, 640		Sepia	1251
Salicin	623	Sassafras radicis cortex	639	Sepia officinalis	1251
Salicornia	672	Sassafras root, bark of	641	Serpentaria	657
Salicule	623	Satureja hortensis	1294	Sesamum	660
Saliculous acid	623	Satureja montana	1294	Sesamum lndicum	661
Saline mixture	1093	Saunders, red	628	Sesamum orientale	661
Saline waters	112	Savine	612	Sesquicarbonate of am-	
Saliretin	623	Savine cerate	889	monia	825
Salix	622	Savon vert	629	Sesquicarbonate of po-	
Salix alba	622	Savory	1294	tassa	1091
Salix Babylonica	622	Saxifraga	1289	Sesquicarbonate of soda	
Salix caprea	622	Scabious	317	672,	1122
Salix fragilis	622	Scales of the oxide of		Sesquinitrate of iron, so	-
Salix helix	624	iron	330	lution of	1295
Salix nigra	622	Scammonium	641	Sesquioxide of iron	969
Salix pentandra	622	Scammony	641	Sevum	662
Salix purpurea	622	Scammony mixture	1033	Sheep-laurel	1269
Salix Russeliana	622	Scandix cerefolium	1229	Shell lac	1270
Salseparine	637	Scarlet pimpernel	1227	Sherry wine	737
Salsola	672	Schuylkill water	112	Shining aloes	69
Salt, common	677	Scilla	645	Sialagogues	2
Salt of sorrel 12,	1283	Scilla maritima	645	Sienna	1296
Salt of tartar	1087	Scillitin	646	Sieves	756
Salt of wisdom	981	Sclerotium clavus	311	Signs and abbreviations	
Salt of wormwood	5	Scolopendrium officina-		table of	1310
Saltpetre	567	rum	1294	Silene Virginica	1296
Salvia	624	Scoparius	647	Silicate of zinc	748
Salvia officinalis	624	Scotch fir	709	Silk-weed, common	126
Salvia pratensis	625	Scrophularia nodosa	648	Silver	118
Salvia sclarea	625	Scullcap	1294	Silver bark	223
Sambucus	625	Scurvy-grass	254	Silver, cyanide of	866
Sambucus Canadensis	625	Scutellaria galericulata	1294	Silver cyanuret of	866
Sambucus nigra	626	Scutellaria hyssopifolia	1294	Sil'ver fir, American	710
Sampfen wood	1235	Scutellaria integrifolia	1294	Silver fir, European	710
Sand-bath	759	Scutellaria lateriflora	1294	Silver, nitrate of	866
Sandaraca	1293	Sea salt	677	Silver, preparations of	866
Sandarach	1293	Sea water	114	Simaruba	662
Sandaracin	1293	Sea-wrack	1254	Simaruba amara	662
Sandix	1282	Sealing wax	1270	Simaruba excelsa	579
Sanguinaria	626	Secale cereale 311	1294	Simaruba officinalis	662
Sanguinaria Canadensis	627	Secale cornutum	311	Simple cataplasm	884
Sanguinarina	627	Sedum acre	1295	Simple cerate	891
Sanguis draconis	1253	Seed lac	1270	Simple infusion of mint	1013
Sanguisuga medicinalis	370	Seidlitz powders	52	Simple liniment	1022
Sanguisuga officinalis	370	Seidlitz water	113	Simple ointment	1204
Santa Martha bark	232	Seignette's salt	1129	Simple syrup	1145
Santalin	629	Self heal	1291	Sinapis	663
Santalum	628	Seltzer water	113	Sinapis alba	664
Santonin	122	Seltzer water, artificial	858	Sinapis nigra	663
Sap green	587	Semen abelmoschi	1261	Sinapisin	665
Sapo	629	Semen contra	122	Sinapisms	884
Sapo durus 629, 631		Semen nigellas	1279	Single aqua fortis	37
Sapo guaiacinus	363	Semen psyllii	1289	Siphonia cahuchu	1238
Sapo mollis 629, 631		Semivitrified oxide of		Siphonia elastica	1238
Sapo vulgaris 629, 631		lead	555	Sirop de cuisinier	1153
Saponaria officinalis	1293	Sempervivum tectorum	1295	Sisymbrium nasturtium	1279
 
Index.
1361
 Sisymbrium officinale   1296
 Sisymbrium sophia     1296
 Sium latifolium         1296
 Sium nodiflorum        1296
 Sium sisarum          1296
 Skirret                1296
 Skunk cabbage          302
 Slippery elm bark       726
 Small burnet saxifrage  1289
 Small fennel-flower     1279
 Small houseleek        1295
 Smalt                 1296
 Smilacin                637
 Smilasperic acid        1261
 Smilax aspera           634
 Smilax China            634
 Smilax Cumanensis      634
 Smilax medica          635
 Smilax officinalis         635
 Smilax papyracea        635
 Smilax sarsaparilla      634
 Smilax syphilitica        635
 Smooth sumach          598
 Smyrna opium          509
 Smyrna scammony      642
 Snakeroot, black         211
 Snakeroot, button 318, 1272
 Snakeroot, Canada      125
 Snakeroot, seneka       649
 Snakeroot, Virginia      657
 Sneezewort            1260
 Snow water             111
 Soap                   629
 Soap, almond oil         631
 Soap, amygdaline        631
 Soap balls               631
 Soap, Castile            632
 Soap cerate             890
 Soap, commcm      629, 631
 Soap, common yellow   632
 Soap, grain              630
 Soap liniment          1185
 Soap liniment, campho-
  rated                1021
 Soap, marbled          630
 Soap of guaiac          363
 Soap, palm              631
 Soap plaster             921
 Soap plaster, compound  922
 Soap, rosin              631
 Soap, soft     629,631,632
 Soap, Starkey's          631
 Soap, transparent        631
 Soap, Windsor          631
 Soaps, insoluble          630
 Soaps, soluble           630
 Soapwort              1293
 Socotrine aloes           69
 Soda, acetate of         668
 Soda, biborate of         671
 Soda, bicarbonate of    1122
 Soda, borate of          669
Soda, carbonate of      673
Soda, dried carbonate ot 11.21
Soda, effervescing solu-
  ..•    „<•              1125
  tion OI            /-hoc
Soda, hypochlorite of   1126
Soda, impure carbonate ot o71
 Soda liquid, Labarraque's
Soda, muriate of        677
Soda, native             671
Soda of commerce, arti-
  ficial                  672
Soda of vegetable origin  672
Soda, phosphate of     1129
Soda powders          1111
Soda, preparations of   1121
Soda, sesquicarbonate of
                  672, 1122
Soda soap, animal oil    632
Soda soap, olive oil      632
Soda, sulphate of        675
Soda, tartarized         1128
Soda, vitriolated         675
Soda water        858, 1125
Sodas  acetas             668
Sodas  aqua effervescens  1125
Sodas  bicarbonas        1122
Sodas boras              669
Sodas carbonas           673
Sodas carbonas exsiccatus
                       1121
Sodas  carbonas impura    671
Sodas  carbonas venale    671
Sodas  carbonatis aqua   1122
Sodas  et potassas tartras  1128
Sodas murias             677
Sodas  murias purum     1129
Sodas  phosphas         1129
Sodas  potassio-tartras    1128
Sodas  sesquicarbonas    1122
Sodas  sulphas            675
Sodii chloridum          677
Sodium                  667
Sodium, chloride of      677
Soft soap       629, 631, 632
Soft water               110
Solania                  306
Solanum dulcamara      305
Solanum nigrum         304
Solanum tuberosum      304
Solidago                679
Solidago odora          679
Solidago virgaurea       679
Solids from liquids, sepa-
  ration of              756
Solomon's seal          1249
Soluble cream of tartar   670
Soluble tartar           1096
Solutio barytas muriatis   875
Solution of acetate of
  ammonia              831
Solution of ammonia     828
Solution of ammoniated
  copper                899
Solution of arsenite of
  potassa                871
Solution of bichloride of
  mercury              985
Solution of carbonate of
  ammonia              827
Solution of carbonate of
  potassa               1088
Solution of chloride of
  barium                875
Solution of chloride of
  calcium               880
Solution of chloride of
  potassa               1241
           115*
 Solution of chloride of
  soda                 1125
 Solution of chlorinated
  soda                 1125
 Solution of citrate of po-
  tassa                 1091
 Solution of hydriodate of
  arsenic and mercury  1265
 Solution of hydrosulphate
  of ammonia            827
 Solution ofiodine, com-
  pound               1018
 Solution of muriate of
  baryta                875
 Solution of muriate of
  lime                  880
 Solution of muriate of
  morphia              1043
 Solution of nitrate of sil-
  ver                   870
 Solution of potassa      1077
 Solution of sesquicarbo-
  nate of ammonia       827
 Solution of sesquinitrate
  of iron               1295
 Solution of subacetate of
  lead                 1072
 Solution of subacetate of
  lead,  diluted          1074
 Solution of sulphate of
  morphia              1044
 Soot                   1296
 Sophora tinctoria       1231
 Soporifics                 3
 Sorrel                  605
 Sorrel tree              1227
 South American saltpetre 569
 Southernwood             4
 Southernwood,  Tartarian 122
 Spa water               113
 Spanish broom          1297
 Spanish brown          1297
 Spanish flies             160
 Sparkling wines         737
 Spartium junceum      1297
 Spartium scoparium      647
 Spearmint               458
 Spearmint water         864
 Specific gravity          754
 Specific gravity  bottle     755
 Speediman's pills         74
 Speedwell              1304
 Speltre                  747
 Spermaceti              202
 Spermaceti cerate       888
 Spermaceti ointment    1193
 SphaceJia segetum       311
 Sphasrococcus crispus     210
 Spice-wood             1233
 Spiced syrup of rhubarb 1151
 Spider's web            1244
 Spigelia                 680
 Spigelia anthelmintica    680
Spigelia Marilandica      680
Spikenard              1279
Spikenard, American     116
Spikenard, small         116
Spiraas                  682
Spirasa tomentosa        682
Spirit lamps              759 
1362
Index.
Spirit of ammonia        832
Spirit of ammonia, aroma-
  tic                    834
Spirit of ammonia, fetid  835
Spirit of aniseed        1132
Spirit of aniseed, com-
  pound               1132
Spirit of caraway       1133
Spirit of cassia          1133
Spirit of cinnamon      1133
Spirit of hartshorn        276
Spirit of horse-radish,
  compound           1132
Spirit of juniper, com-
  pound               1133
Spirit of lavender       1134
Spirit of lavender,  com-
  pound               1134
Spirit of Mindererus     831
Spirit of nitre             36
Spirit of nitric ether     817
Spirit of nutmeg        1135
Spirit of pennyroyal    1135
Spirit of peppermint    1135
Spirit of pimento       1135
Spirit of rosemary       1136
Spirit of sea-salt          31
Spirit of spearmint      1135
Spirit of sulphuric ether  813
Spirit of turpentine      499
Spirit of wine             57
Spirit, proof         59, 822
Spirit, pyroacetic   782, 1291
Spirits                 1132
Spirituous wines         737
Spiritus                1132
Spiritus asthereus nitro-
  sus                   817
Spiritus astheris nitrici    817
Spiritus astheris sulphu-
  rici                   813
Spiritus astheris sulphu-
  rici compositus        813
Spiritus ammonias        832
Spiritus ammonias aro-
  maticus               834
Spiritus ammonias foetidus 835
Spiritus ammonias succi-
  natus                1161
Spiritus anisi           1132
Spiritus anisi compositus 1132
Spiritus armoracias com-
  positus               1132
Spiritus camphoratus    1163
Spiritus carui           1133
Spiritus cassias          1133
Spiritus cinnamomi     1133
Spiritus colchici ammo-
  niatus               1169
Spiritus juniperi compo-
  situs                 1133
Spiritus lavandulas      1134
Spiritus lavandulas com-
  positus              1134
Spiritus menthas piperitae 1135
Spiritus menthas pulegii 1135
Spiritus menthas viridis  1135
Spiritus Mindereri       831
Spiritus myristicas       1135
Spiritus nitri dulcis      817
Spiritus nucis moschatas 1135
Spiritus pimentae	1135
Spiritus rectificatus	57
Spiritus rosmarini	1136
Spiritus tenuior	822
Spiritus vini Gallici	57
Spleenwort, black	1230
Spleenwort, common	1230
Spleenwort fern	1248
Sponge	683
Sponge, burnt	1136
Spongia	683
Spongia officinalis	683
Spongia usta	1136
Spotted winter green	208
Spring water	111
Spruce beer	710
Spruce, essence of	710
Spruce fir	543
Spunk	1223
Spurge,ipecacuanha	323
Spurge, large-flowering	321
Spurge laurel	460
Spurred rye	311
Squill	645
Squilla maritima	645
Squirting cucumber	307
Stalagmitis cambogioides 342	
Stanni pulvis	1137
Stannum	684
Staphisagria	685
Star aniseed 102,	1264
Star grass	64
Starch	94
Starkey's soap	631
Statice	686
Statice Caroliniana	686
Statice limonium	686
Stavesacre	685
Stearic acid	630
Stearin 56, 481	
Stearoptene	483
Steel	328
Stibium	105
Stick lac	1270
Still and worm, common 760	
Still, small	760
Stillingia	687
Stillingia sylvatica	687
Stimulants	2
Stizolobium pruriens	469
St. John's wort	1262
St. Lucia bark	234
Stone-crop, biting	1295
Stone-pine	709
Stone-root	1248
Storax	691
Storax, purified	1140
Stoved salt	678
Strainers	757
Stramonii folia	688
Stramonii radix	688
Stramonii semen	688
Stramonium	688
Strasburg turpentine	713
Strengthening plaster	914
Striated ipecacuanha	401
Strong mercurial oint-	
ment	1195
Strong-scented lettuce	421
Stronger solution of am-
  monia                 S2
Strongest common caus-
  tic                   1081
Strychnia           477, 1137
Strychnos colubrina     477
Strychnos Ignatia      1232
Strychnos nux vomica    476
Styracine               1273
Styrax                  691
Styrax benzoin          141
Styrax colatus          1140
Styrax officinale         691
Styrax purificata        1140
Subacetate of copper    290
Subacetate of copper,
  prepared              897
Subacetate of lead, solu-
  tion of               1072
Subcarbonate of iron    969
Sublimate               760
Sublimation             760
Sublimatus corrosivus    979
Sublimed sulphur   694, 696
Sublimed white oxide
  of arsenic             871
Subnitrate of bismuth    875
Succi spissati       924, 933
Succinic acid           796
Succinum               693
Succory               1242
Succus spissatus aconiti  933
Succus spissatus bella-
  donnas                936
Succus spissatus conii    940
Succus spissatus hyos-
  cyami                943
Succus spissatus sam-
  buci                  950
Suet                    662
Sugar                  613
Sugar, barley           617
Sugar, brown       613, 618
Sugar-candy            617
Sugar, Havana          615
Sugar-house molasses
                    616, 618
Sugar maple            614
Sugar, muscovado       613
Sugar of grapes         613
Sugar of lead           549
Sugar of milk           614
Sugar, purified      616, 618
Sugar, uncrystallizable  613
Sugar, white        616, 618
Sulphate of alumina     1297
Sulphate of alumina
  and potassa            76
Sulphate of baryta        136
Sulphate of cinchonia
                   238, 1117
Sulphate of copper      291
Sulphate of ether and
   etherine               813
Sulphate of indigo       1265
Sulphate of iron         971
Sulphate of iron, dried   973
Sulphate of magnesia     440
Sulphate of magnesia
   pure                 1025 
Index.
1363
Sulphate of morphia     1043
Sulphate of morphia,
  solution of           1044
Sulphate of potassa       571
Sulphate of potassa
  with sulphur          1094
Sulphate of quinia       1114
Sulphate of soda         675
Sulphate of zinc         1218
Sulpho-sinapisin          665
Sulphocyanuret of po-
  tassium               1298
Sulphovinic acid          810
Sulphur                 694
Sulphur antimoniatum
  fuscum                848
Sulphur, crude           695
Sulphur, flowers of  695, 696
Sulphur, iodide of      1142
Sulphur lotum           694
Sulphur, milk of        1141
Sulphur, native          694
Sulphur ointment        1205
Sulphur prascipitatum    1141
Sulphur, precipitated    1141
Sulphur, preparations of 1141
Sulphur, roll             695
Sulphur sublimatum      694
Sulphur, sublimed  694, 696
Sulphur vivum           695
Sulphur, washed    694, 696
Sulphurated oil         1231
Sulphuret  of antimony    106
Sulphuret  of iron,        973
Sulphuret  of mercury
  with sulphur          1001
Sulphuret  of potassa    1105
Sulphuret  of potassium   1105
Sulphuretted hydrogen
                   696, 974
Sulphuretted waters      112
Sulphuric  acid            43
Sulphuric  acid, diluted    798
Sulphuric  acid, pure      799
Sulphuric  acid, table of
  the specific gravity of    47
Sulphuric  ether          805
Sulphuric  ether, unrec-
  tified                  805
Sulphuric ethereal liquor  805
Sulphuris iodidum       1142
Sulphurous acid          696
Sumach                 598
Sumach, swamp          718
Sumatra camphor         156
Summer savory          1294
Suspension of substances,
  means of              766
Swamp dogwood         278
Swamp hellebore         734
Swamp-laurel           1269
Swamp sumach          718
Sweet almonds        89, 90
Sweet bay              443
Sweet fern             iiq°
Sweet flag              144
Sweet-gum             ^«
Sweet marjoram          Oil
Sweet principle of oils    630
Sweet-scented water-lily 1280
Sweet spirit of nitre     S17
Sweet wines            737
Swietenia febrifuga      1298
Swietenia mahagoni     1298
Sydenham's laudanum   1211
Sylvic acid              586
Symphytum officinale    1298
Symplocarpus foetidus    303
Synaptase               90
Syrian herb mastich     1301
Syringa vulgaris         1298
Syrup             617,  1145
Syrup of albuminate of
  iron and  potassfi      1225
Syrup of almonds        1147
Syrup of buckthorn      1150
Syrup of garlic          1146
Syrup of ginger         1157
Syrup of ipecacuanha    1148
Syrup of lemons         1149
Syrup of marshmallow   1146
Syrup of mulberries     1149
Syrup of orange peel    1147
Syrup of orgeat      -  1147
Syrup of pineapples     1149
Syrup of poppies        1149
Syrup of  raspberries     1149
Syrup of red poppy      1151
Syrup of red roses       1152
Syrup of rhatany        1148
Syrup of rhubarb        1150
Syrup of rhubarb, aro-
  matic                 1151
Syrup of roses           1152
Syrup of saffron         1148
Syrup of sarsaparilla     1152
Syrup of sarsaparilla,
  compound            1152
Syrup of seneka         1155
Syrup of senna          1156
Syrup of squill          1154
Syrup of squill, com-
  pound                1154
Syrup of strawberries    1149
Syrup of tolu            1156
Syrup of vinegar        1146
Syrup of violets         1157
Syrup, simple           1145
Syrupi                  1142
Syrups                 1142
Syrupus                1145
Syrupus aceti           1146
Syrupus allii            1146
Syrupus althasas         1146
Syrupus amygdalas      1147
Syrupus aurantii corticis  1147
SyrupusbalsamiTolutani  1156
Syrupus croci           1148
Syrupus empyreumaticus 613
Syrupus ipecacuanhas    1148
Syrupus kramerias       1148
Syrupus limonis         1149
Syrupus mori           1149
Syrupus papaveris       1149
Syrupus papaveris
  rhoeadis              1151
Syrupus rhamni         1150
Syrupus rhei            1150
Syrupus rhei aromaticus  1151
Syrupus rhoeados        1151
Syrupus rosas	1152
Syrupus rosas Gallica?	1152
Syrupus sarsaparilla?	1152
Syrupus sarsaparillas	
compositus	1152
Syrupus scillae	1154
Syrupus scillas com-	
positus	1154
Syrupus senegas	1155
Syrupus sennas	1156
Syrupus simplex	1145
Syrupus tolutani	1156
Syrupus violas	1157
Syrupus zingiberis	1157
Tabacum               697
Table of Baume's and
  Cartier's hydrometer 1331
Table of Cartier's hy-
  drometer and the cen-
  tesimal alcoholmeter 1332
Table of drops         1319
Table of pharmaceuti-
  cal equivalents      1320
Table of signs and ab-
  breviations          1310
Tables of the value in
  sp. gr. of Baume's
  and Beck's hydro-
  meter degrees       1329
Tables of weights and
  measures            1314
Tacamahac            1298
Tacca oceanica         450
Tacca pinnatifida       450
Tamarindi pulpa       1107
Tamarinds             702
Tamarindus             702
Tamarindus  Indica      702
Tamarix Gallica        447
Tanacetic  acid          704
Tanacetum             703
Tanacetum vulgare      703
Tannate of lead        1299
Tannic acid             800
Tannin                 800
Tansy                  703
Tapioca                704
Tar                    545
Tar, Barbadoes         533
Tar, mineral           534
Tar ointment          1202
Tar water              865
Taraxacin               707
Taraxacum             706
Taraxacum dens-leonis  706
Tartar              49, 560
Tartar, cream of        560
Tartar, crude           560
Tartar, crystals of       560
Tartar emetic           837
Tartar emetic ointment 1192
Tartar, red             560
Tartar, salt of         1087
Tartar, soluble         1096
Tartar, white           560 
1364
Index.
Tartarian southern-wood 122		Thuya articulata	1293	Tinctura guaiaci	1172
Tartaric acid	49	Thyme	1302	Tinctura guaiaci ammo-	
Tartarized antimony	837	Thymus serpillum	1302	niata	1173
Tartarized iron	957	Thymus vulgaris	1302	Tinctura hellebori	1173
Tartarized soda	1128	Tiglii oleum	502	Tinctura humuli	1173
Tartarum emeticum	837	Tin	684	Tinctura hyoscyami	1174
Tartarum vitriolatum	571	Tin, powder of	1137	Tinctura iodini	1174
Tartrate of antimony		Tincal	669	Tinctura iodini compo-	
and potassa	837	Tinctura acetatis ferri		sita	1175
Tartrate of iron and		cum alcohol	955	Tinctura jalapas	1176
potassa	957	Tinctura aconiti	1160	Tinctura kino	1176
Tartrate of potassa	1096	Tinctura astherea cum		Tinctura kramerias	1176
Tartrate of potassa and		phosphoro	537	Tinctura lactucarii	1176
soda	1128	Tinctura aloes	1160	Tinctura lavandulas com	-
Tartrate of protoxide of		Tinctura aloes composita		posita	1134
iron	959		1160	Tinctura lobelias	1177
Tasteless ague drop	872	Tinctura aloes et myrrh	as	Tinctura lobelias astherea 1177	
Tea	1299		1160	Tinctura lupuli	1173
Tea-berry	346	Tinctura ammonias com		Tinctura lupulinas	1177
Tegeneria domestica	1244	posita	1161	Tinctura moschi	1177
Tegeneria medicinalis	1244	Tinctura angusturas	1161	Tinctura myrrhae	1178
Tela araneas	1244	Tinctura assafoetidae	1161	Tinctura nucis vomica?	1178
Temperature, officinal,		Tinctura aurantii	1162	Tinctura olei menthas	
for different operations 769		Tinctura balsami Tolu-		piperitae	1178
Teneriffe wine	738	tani	1186	Tinctura olei menthas	
Tephrosia Apollinea	654	Tinctura belladonnas	1162	viridis	1178
Tepid bath	115	Tinctura benzoini compo-		Tinctura opii	1179
Terebinthina 708	, 711	sita	1162	Tinctura opii acetata	1180
Terebinthina Canadensis 708		Tinctura buchu	1163	Tinctura opii ammoniata	
Terebinthina Chia	708	Tinctura calumbas	1169		1180
Terebinthina Veneta	708	Tinctura camphoras	1163	Tinctura opii camphora	a
Terebinthina vulgaris	708	Tinctura camphoras com	-		1181
Terebinthinae oleum	499	posita	1181	Tinctura quassias	1182
Terminalia bellirica	1278	Tinctura cantharidis	1164	Tinctura quassias compo	-
Terminalia benzoin	140	Tinctura capsici	1164	sita	1182
Terminalia chebula	1278	Tinctura cardamomi	1164	Tinctura rhei	1182
Teroxide of antimony	835	Tinctura cardamomi com-		Tinctura rhei composita	1183
Terra cariosa	1292	posita	1165	Tinctura rhei et aloes	1183
Terra di sienna	1296	Tinctura cascarillas	1165	Tinctura rhei et gentiana?	
Terra foliata tartari	668	Tinctura cassiae	1165		1183
Terra Japonica 195	, 194	Tinctura castorei	1166	Tinctura rhei et senna?	1184
Terra Tripolitana	1302	Tinctura castorei ammo		Tinctura sanguinaria?	1184
Terra Umbria	1303	niata	1166	Tinctura saponis cam-	
Terras sigillatas	1235	Tinctura catechu	1166	phorata	1184
Tersulphuret of antimony		Tinctura cinchonas	1167	Tinctura scilla?	1185
	107	Tinctura cinchonas com		Tinctura senna? compo-	
Testa	714	posita	1167	sita	1185
Testa prasparata	880	Tinctura cinnamomi	1168	Tinctura senna? et jalapas	
Testae	714	Tinctura cinnamomi			1185
Teucrium chamasdrys	1301	composita	1168	Tinctura serpentaria?	1186
Teucrium marum	1301	Tinctura colchici	1169	Tinctura stramonii	1186
Teucrium scordium	1301	Tinctura colchici com-		Tinctura Thebaica	1179
Thea bohea	1299	posita	1169	Tinctura tolutani	1186
Thea Chinensis	1299	Tinctura colchici seminis		Tinctura Valerianae	1187
Thea stricta	1299		1169	Tinctura Valeriana? ammo-	
Thea viridis	1299	Tinctura colombae	1169	niata	1187
Thebaina	516	Tinctura conii	1170	Tinctura zingiberis	1187
Thein	1301	Tinctura croci	1170	Tincturas	1158
Theobroma cacao	1244	Tinctura cubeba?	1170	Tincture of acetate of	
Theobromine	1245	Tinctura cusparia?	1161	iron	955
Theriaca	894	Tinctura digitalis	1171	Tincture of acetate of	
Thermometers, compara-		Tinctura ferri ammonio-		iron with alcohol	955
tive value of the de-		chloridi	975	Tincture of acetate of	
grees of	1328	Tinctura ferri chloridi	975	zinc	1214
Thieves' vinegar	779	Tinctura ferri sesqui-		Tincture of aconite	1160
Thornapple	688	chloridi	975	Tincture of aloes	1160
Thoroughwort	319	Tinctura galbani	1171	Tincture of aloes and	
Thridace	423	Tinctura gallas	1171	myrrh	1160
Thus	543	Tinctura gentianas com-		Tincture of ammonia,	
Thuja occidentalis	1301	posita	1172	compound	1161
 
Index.
1365
 Tincture of ammonio-
   chloride of iron
 Tincture of angustura
   bark
 Tincture of assafetida
 Tincture of belladonna
 Tincture of benzoin,
   compound
 Tincture of black helle-
   bore
 Tincture of blood-root
 Tincture of buchu
 Tincture of camphor
 Tincture of cardamom
 Tincture of cardamom,
   ccfrnpound
 Tincture of cascarilla
 Tincture of cassia
 Tincture of castor
 Tincture of castor, am-
   moniated
 Tincture of catechu
 Tincture of Cayenne
   pepper
 Tincture of chloride of
   iron
 Tincture of cinnamon
 Tincture of cinnamon,
   compound
 Tincture of cloves
 Tincture of colchicum,
   compound
 Tincture of colchicum
   seed
 Tincture of columbo
 Tincture of cubebs
 Tincture of foxglove
 Tincture of galbanum
 Tincture of galls
 Tincture of gentian,
   compound
 Tincture of ginger
 Tincture of guaiac
 Tincture of guaiac, am-
   moniated
 Tincture of hemlock
 Tincture of henbane
 Tincture of hops
 Tincture of iodine
 Tincture of iodine, com-
   pound
 Tincture of jalap
 Tincture of kino
 Tincture of lactucarium
 Tincture of lobelia
 Tincture of lobelia,
   ethereal
Tincture of lupulin
Tincture of muriate of
  iron
Tincture of musk
Tincture of myrrh
Tincture of nux vomica
Tincture of oil of pep-
  permint
Tincture of oil of spear-
   mint
Tincture of opium
Tincture of opium, ace-
  tated
975
Tincture of opium, am-
  moniated             1180
Tincture of opium, cam
1161	phorated	1181
1161	Tincture of orange peel	1162
1162	Tincture of Peruvian	
	bark	1167
1162	Tincture of Peruvian	
	bark, compound	1167
1173	Tincture of quassia	1182
1184	Tincture of quassia, com-	
1163	pound	1182
1163	Tincture of rhatany	1176
1164	Tincture of rhubarb Tincture of rnubarb anc	1182
1165	aloes	1183
1165	Tincture of rhubarb anc	
1165	gentian	1183
1166	Tincture of rhubarb and	
	senna	1184
1166	Tincture of rhubarb,	
1166	compound	1183
	Tincture of saffron	1170
1164	Tincture of senna, com	
	pound	1185
975	Tincture of senna and	
1168	jalap	1185
	Tincture of soap	632
1168	Tincture of soap, cam-	
1.84	phorated	1184
	Tincture of Spanish flies	
1169		1164
	Tincture of squill	1185
1169	Tincture of stramonium	1186
1169	Tincture of tolu	1186
1170	Tincture of valerian	1187
1171	Tincture of valerian,	
1171	ammoniated	1187
1171	Tincture of Virginia	
	snakeroot	1186
1172	Tinctures	1158
1187	Tinder	1223
1172	Tinnevelly senna	655
	Toadflax, common	1229
1173	Tobacco	697
1170	Tobacco ointment	1205
1174	Tolu, balsam of	715
1173	Toluifera balsamum	715
1174	Tolutanum	715
	Tonics	2
1175	Tonka bean	1302
1176	Toothache tree	117
1176	Tormentil	716
1176	Tormentilla	716
1177	Tormentilla erecta	717
	Tormentilla officinalis	717
1177	Touch-me-not	1264
1177	Touchwood	1223
	Tous les mois	159
975	Toxicodendron	717
1177	Tragacanth	719
1178	Tragacantha	719
1178	Tragacanthin	721
	Transparent soap	631
1178	Traveller's joy	1244
	Tree primrose	1281
1178	Trigonella faenumgrascum	
1179		1302
	Triosteum	721
1180	Triosteum perfoliatum	721
Tripoli                1302
Tripoli senna            655
Trisnitrate of bismuth    875
Triticum asstivum        722
Triticum compositum    722
Triticum hybernum      722
Triticum repens        1302
Troches                1188
Troches of bicarbonate
   of soda              1191
Troches of chalk       1189
Troches of gum Arabic 1189
Troches of ipecacuanha 1190
Troches of lactucarium 1190
Troches of liquorice    1189
Troches of liquorice and
   opium                1189
Troches of magnesia    1190
Troches of morphia     1190
Troches of morphia and
   ipecacuanha          1191
Troches of peppermint 1190
Troches of tartaric acid 1189
Trochisci              1188
Trochisci acacias       1189
Trochisci acidi tartarici 1189
Trochisci cretas        1189
Trochisci glycyrrhizae   1189
Trochisci glycyrrhizae et
   opii                 1189
Trochisci ipecacuanha?  1190
Trochisci lactucarii     1190
Trochisci magnesias     1190
Trochisci menthas piperi-
   tae                   1190
Trochisci morphias      1190
Trochisci morphias et ipe-
   cacuanhas            1191
Trochisci  sodas bicarbon-
   atis                  1191
Trona                  672
Tulip-tree bark          432
Tunbridge water        113
Turkey gum               7
Turkey opium           509
Turkey rhubarb         592
Turlington's balsam     1163
Turmeric                293
Turner's  cerate          891
Turnsol                 420
Turpentine              708
Turpentine, Bordeaux    711
Turpentine, Canada 70S, 712
Turpentine, Chian   708, 713
Turpentine, common
  American             711
Turpentine, common
  European        708,711
Turpentine, Damarra     713
Turpentine, Dombeya    713
Turpentine, Strasburg    713
Turpentine, Venice 708, 712
Turpentine, white	711
Turpentinic acid	500
Turpeth mineral	1000
Tussilago	725
Tussilago farfara	725
Tutia	1302
Tutty	1302
Tutty ointment	1206
 
1366
Index.
            U

Ulmic acid
Ulmin
Ulmus
Ulmus Americana
Ulmus campestris
Ulmus fulva
Ulmus rubra
726
726
726
727
726
726
726
Umber                 1303
Umbrella tree           443
Uncaria gambir          194
Uncrystallizable sugar    613
Undulated ipecacuanha   402
Unguenta               1191
Unguentum acidi nitrici  1191
Unguentum acidi sulphu-
  rici                  1191
Unguentum asruginis     1194
Unguentum antimonii    1192
Unguentum aquas rosas   1192
Unguentum calaminas     891
Unguentum cantharidis,
  U.S.                 1192
Unguentum cantharidis,
  Ed.                  1193
Unguentum ceras alba?   1204
Unguentum ceras flavas   1204
Unguentum cetacei, Dub. 888
Unguentum cetacei, Lond.
                       1193
Unguentum citrinum     1198
Unguentum cocculi      1194
Unguentum conii        1194
Unguentum creasoti     1194
Unguentum cupri subace-
  tatis                 1194
Uaguentum elemi       1194
Unguentum gallae        1195
Unguentum gallas compo-
  situm                1195
Unguentum hydrargyri   1195
Unguentum hydrargyri
  ammoniati            1198
Unguentum hydrargyri
  biniodidi  '           1198
Unguentum hydrargyri
  fortius               ] 195
Unguentum hydrargyri
  iodidi                1198
Unguentum hydrargyri
  mitius               1195
Unguentum hydrargyri
  nitratis               1198
Unguentum hydrargyri
  nitrico-oxydi          1201
Unguentum hydrargyri
  oxidi rubri            1201
Unguentum hydrargyri
  oxydi nitrici          1201
Unguentum infusi cantha-
  ridis                 1192
Unguentum iodini       1201
Unguentum iodini com-
  positum              1202
Unguentum mezerei     1202
Unguentum oxidi hydrar-
  gyri                 1201
Unguentum picis liquida?  1202
Unguentum picis nigra?   1202
Unguentum piperis nigri 1203
Unguentum plumbi ace-
  tatis                 1203
Unguentum plumbi car-
  bonatis              1203
Unguentum plumbi com-
  positum              1203
Unguentum plumbi iodidi
                       1203
Unguentum populeum   1290
Unguentum potassas hy-
  driodatis             1203
Unguentum precipitati
  albi                  1198
Unguentum resinas albas  889
Unguentum resinosum    889
Unguentum sabinas       889
Unguentum sambuci     1204
Unguentum scrophularias 1204
Unguentum simplex     1204
Unguentum stramonii    1204
Unguentum sulphuris    1205
Unguentum sulphuris
  compositum          1205
Unguentum tabaci       1205
Unguentum tartari eme-
  tici                  1192
Unguentum tutias        1206
Unguentum veratri albi  1206
Unguentum zinci        1206
Unguentum zinci oxidi   1206
Unrectified sulphuric
  ether                 805
Upland sumach          598
Urtica dioica            1303
Urtica urens            1303
Ustulation               764
Uva passa               728
Uva ursi                 729
Uvas passas  minores       728
Uvaria Zeylanica         288
Vaccinium vitis Idasa    730
Valerian                730
Valeriana               730
Valeriana Celtica       1279
Valeriana dioica        731
Valeriana jatamensi    1279
Valeriana officinalis     731
Valeriana phu           731
Valeriana tuberosa     1279
Valerianate of zinc     1303
Valerianic acid          731
Vailet's ferruginous pills 1065
Vanilla                1303
Vanilla aromatica      1303
Vapour bath            115
Vareck                 672
Various-leaved fleabane 317
Varvicite               445
Vateria Indica    1228, 1249
Vegetable acids         780
Vegetable albumen      724
Vegetable charcoal      173
Vegetable ethiops      1254
Vegetable fibrin        723
Vegetable jelly          179
Vegetable juices, pre-
  served               1159
Vegetable sulphur       1274
Vegetable wax           200
VeL;eto-mineral water   1074
Venetian red           1303
Venice sumach         1255
Venice turpentine   708, 712
Veratria           610, 1206
Veratric acid            609
Veratrin                 609
Veratrum album         732
Veratrum officinale       609
Veratrum  sabadilla       609
Veratrum viride          734
Verbascum thapsus       735
Verbena hastata        1304
Verbena officinalis       1303
Verbena urticifolia      1304
Verdigris                290
Verdigris, distilled        291
Verditer                1304
Verjuice                 728
Vermilion              1003
Veronica beccabunga    1304
Veronica officinalis      1304
Veronica Virginica       1272
Vervain                1303
Vesicating taffetas        887
Vesicatories               2
Vienna caustic          1082
Vina medicata          1209
Vincetoxicum           1251
Vinegar                  13
Vinegar, distilled        773
Vinegar of colchicum     776
Vinegar of opium        776
Vinegar of Spanish flies   775
Vinegar of squill         777
Vinegar, radical          783
Vinegars                 773
Vinous fermentation       58
Vinum                  736
Vinum album Hispanum  736
Vinum aloes            1209
Vinum antimonii         847
Vinum colchici radicis   1210
Vinum colchici seminis  1210
Vinum ergotas          1211
Vinum ferri              958
Vinum gentianas         1211
Vinum ipecacuanhas-     1211
Vinum opii             1211
Vinum rhei             1212
Vinum tabaci           1212
Vinum veratri albi       1212
Vinum Xericum          736
Viola                   742
Viola odorata            742
Viola ovata              742
Viola pedata             743
Viola tricolor            743
Violet                  742
Violine                  743
Virgin scammony        643
Virgineic acid           650
Virginia snakeroot        657
Virgin's bower, common
                       1244
Virgin's bower, upright  1243 
Index.
1367
Viscin	1234	White bay	443	Wines, astringent	737
Viscum album	1304	White bryony	1236	Wines, domestic	740
Vitellus ovi	529	White Castile soap	632	Wines, dry	737
Vitis vinifera	728	White elm	727	Wines, light	737
Vitriol, blue	291	White flux	562	Wines, medicated	1209
Vitriol, green	971	White fraxinella	1252	Wines of different coun-	
Vitriol, white	1218	White hellebore	732	tries	737
Vitriolated soda	675	White horehound	452	Wines, red	737
Vitriolated tartar	571	White ipecacuanha	402	Wines, rough	737
Vitrum antimonii	1256	White lead	551	Wines, sparkling	737
Viverra civetta	1243	White lily	1273	Wines, spirituous	737
Viverra zibetha	1243	White marble	451	Wines, sweet	737
Volatile alkali, mild	824	White mustard seeds	664	Wines, table of the	
Volatile liniment	1019	Wl lite-oak bark	581	strength of	739
Volatile oils 4S2,	1046	White oxide of bismuth	875	Wines, white	737
		White pepper	540	Winter-berry	574
		White poppy	506	Winter cherry, common	1288
w		White precipitate	1004	Winter-green, 207	, 346
		White resin	586	Winter-green, spotted	208
		White sugar . 616	,618	Winter savory	1294
Wade's balsam	1163	White sulphur water	113	Wintera	744
Wake-robin	123	White swallow-wort	1251	Wintera aromatica	744
Wall pellitory	1287	White tartar	560	Winter's bark	744
Walnut, white	410	White turpentine	711	Wistar's cough lozenges	1190
Warm bath	115	White vitriol	1218	Witch-hazel	1259
Warming plaster	917	White walnut	410	Witherite	136
Warner's gout cordial	1184	White water lily	1280	Woad	1269
Washed diaphoretic an-		White wax	199	Wolfsbane	53
timony	1252	White wine vinegar	16	Wood betony	1233
Washed sulphur 694, 696		White wines	737	Wood naphtha	1291
Water	109	Whiting	1304	Wood-sorrel	12
Water avens	351	Wild briar	599	Woody nightshade	305
Water-bath	759	Wild chamomile	279	Woorari	1304
Water-cress	1279	Wild-cherry bark	576	Worm tea	682
Water, distilled	855	Wild cucumber	307	Wormseed	206
Water dock	605	Wild ginger	125	Wormseed of Europe	122
Water eryngo	318	Wild horehound	319	Wormwood	4
Water germander	1301	Wild indigo	1231	Woulfe's apparatus	760
Water hemlock	1242	Wild ipecac	721	Wrightia tinctoria	1264
Water-lily, sweet-		Wild lemon	557		
scented	1280	Wild lettuce	421		
Water-lily, white	1280	Wild pink	1296	X	
Water of ammonia	828	Wild potato	269		
Water of ammonia, tab' of the strength of Water of carbonate of soda Water of cassia Water of sulphuret of potassa Water-parsnep	e 830 1122 861 1106 1296	Wild sarsaparilla Wild senna Wild thyme Willow Willow-herb, purple Windsor soap Wine Wine, antimonial	116 188 1302 622 437 631 736 847	Xanthorrhiza Xanthorrhiza apiifolia Xanthorrhiza tinctoria Xanthoxylin Xanthoxylum Xanthoxylum fraxineum Xylobalsamum	745 745 745 746 745 745 1231
Water plantain	1225	Wine, Madeira	738		
Water-radish	1279	Wine measure	1314	Y	
Watermelon	1250	Wine of aloes	1209		
Watermelon seeds	1250	Wine of colchicum rool	1210		
Waters, distilled	856	Wine of colchicum seed 1210		Yarrow	1222
Waters, medicated	856	Wine of ergot	1211	Yeast	201
Wax, myrtle	201	Wine of gentian	1211	Yeast cataplasm	884
Wax plaster Wax, vegetable Wax, white	914	Wine of ipecacuanha	1211	Yellow bark	225
	200	Wine of iron	958	Yellow-flowered rhodo-	
	199	Wine of opium	1211	dendron	1292
Wax, yellow Weights and measures Weights and measures, tables of	198	Wine of rhubarb	1212	Yellow ladies bed-straw 1255	
	753	Wine of tobacco	1212	Yellow pine	709
		Wine of white hellebore 1212		Yellow-resin	585
	1314	Wine, Port	738	Yellow-root 745,	1261
Weld	1292	Wine, Sherry	737	Yellow-rooted water	
Well water	111	Wine, Teneriffe	738	dock	606
Wheat flour	722	Wine vinegar	16	Yellow sulphate of mer-	
Wheat starch	96	Wine-whey	741	cury	1000
White arsenic	17	Wines, acidulous	737	Yellow wax	198
 
1368
Index.
z Zamia integrifolia	450	Zinc, preparations of 1213 Zinc, prepared carbonate of 1214		Zinci cyanuretum Zinci ferrocyanuretum Zinci iodidum
Zamia lanuginosa	620	Zinc, silicate of	748	Zinci oxidum
Zea mays Zedoary Zerumbet	1304 1305 1305	Zinc, sulphate of Zinc, table of the prepa-rations of	1218 747	Zinci sulphas Zinci valerianas Zincum
Zibethum	1243	Zinci acetas	1213	Zingiber
Zinc	746	Zinci acetatis tinctura	1214	Zingiber cassumuniar
Zinc, acetate of	1213	Zinci carbonas	748	Zingiber officinale
Zinc, carbonate of	748	Zinci carbonas impurum	748	Zingiber zerumbet
Zinc, chloride of	1215	Zinci carbonas impurum		Zittman's decoction
Zinc, cyanuret of Zinc, flowers of	1251 1217	prasparatum Zinci carbonas praspara-	1214	Zizyphus jujuba Zizyphus lotus
Zinc, impure oxide of Zinc, iodide of	1302 1267	tus Zinci chloridum	1214 1215	Zizyphus vulgaris Zymome
Zinc, oxide of	1216			
1251
1253
1267
1216
1218
1303
 746
 749
1305
 749
1305
 908
1305
1305
1305
 723
THE  END. 
 
NLM032047999