Pharmacologia Fourth American, from the Seventh London Edition (part 5 of 5)

Pharmacologia Fourth American, from the Seventh London Edition (part 5 of 5)

See an account of Charcoal, as a test for Arsenic, and remarks thereon, p. 308.

Footnote 452:

Dr. Maton in a learned critical and botanical note to a paper on the Cardamom, by Mr. White, Surgeon of Bombay, (Trans: Lin: Soc: v. x, 229,) called the genus, of which it consists, Elettaria, a nomenclature which was accordingly adopted by the College in their late Pharmacopœia; but, says Sir James Smith, as this name is of a barbarous origin, (viz. from Elettaria, the Malabar name of the plant.) we should greatly prefer that of Matonia; a suggestion which has been since adopted by Mr. Roscoe of Liverpool, in his description of the Scitamineœ. The College has therefore the gratifying task of erasing the term Elettaria from their Materia Medica, and of substituting for it a name no less known than respected by the Medical profession.

Footnote 453:

ESSENCE OF COFFEE. The Cassia pulp is said to form the basis of this article.

Footnote 454:

The ancients erroneously considered them as the testicles of the beaver, and Æsop relates that the animal bit them off, when pursued by the huntsman, whence some have derived its name, a castrando; the true origin however of the word is from γαστωρ, i.e. animal ventriculosum, from his swaggy and prominent belly.

Footnote 455:

BATEMAN’S PECTORAL DROPS consist principally of the Tincture of Castor, with portions of camphor and opium, flavoured by anise seeds, and coloured by cochineal.

Footnote 456:

It was formerly supposed to be a mineral production: and hence the term Terra Japonica. Hagedorn and Boulduc were among the first who opposed this error, and who established the fact of its vegetable origin (Mem. de l’Acad. des Sciences de Paris, A. 1709. p. 228.)

Footnote 457:

So called from Chiron the Centaur, who is said to have employed it to cure himself of a wound accidentally received by letting one of the arrows of Hercules fall upon his foot.

Footnote 458:

KIRKLAND’S NEUTRAL CERATE. Is formed by melting together ℥ viij of Lead Plaster with f℥iv of olive oil, into which are to be stirred ℥iv of prepared chalk; when the mixture is sufficiently cooled f℥iv of acetic acid, and ʒiij of pulverized Acetate of lead are to be added, and the whole is to be stirred until nearly cold.

MARSHALL’S CERATE. ℞. Palm. Oil ℥v. Calomel ℥i, Acetate of Lead ℥ss, Nitrate of Mercury ℥ij.

COLD CREAM (Ceratum Galeni.) Ol: Amygdal: ℔j, Ceræ alb: ℥iv; melt, pour into a warm mortar, and add, gradually, Aq: Ros; oj. It should be very light and white. Gray’s Supplement.

Footnote 459:

There are no less than twenty-five distinct species of Cinchona, independent of any additions which we may owe to the zeal of Humboldt and Bonpland; and Mr. A. T. Thomson, in his London Dispensatory, states that in a large collection of dried specimens, of the genus Cinchona, in his possession, collected in 1805, both near Loxa and Santa Fé, he finds many species which are not mentioned in the works of any Spanish botanist.

Footnote 460:

See London Medical and Physical Journal. Vol. v. p. 33.

Footnote 461:

ESSENTIAL SALT OF BARK. It is highly necessary that the public should know that the preparation sold under this empirical title, has no relation whatever to the late discoveries of Pelletier. It is merely an extract prepared by macerating the bruised substance of bark in cold water, and submitting the infusion to a very slow evaporation.

Footnote 462:

The designation of Cinchonin, consistent with the principles of chemical nomenclature, must now have a termination in a, and the name Cinchonia appears preferable to that of Cinchonina.

Footnote 463:

The following is the process by which Cinchonia may be prepared. Take a pound of Pale Bark, bruised small, and boil it for an hour in three pints of a very dilute solution of pure Potass. After the liquid has cooled, it must be strained through a fine cloth with pressure, and the residuum be repeatedly washed and pressed. The cinchona, thus washed, is to be slightly heated in a sufficient quantity of water, adding muriatic acid gradually until litmus paper is slightly reddened. When the liquid is raised nearly to the boiling point, it is to be strained, and the cinchona again pressed. To the strained liquor, while hot, add an ounce of sulphate of magnesia, and after this add a solution of potass, till it ceases to occasion any precipitate. When the liquor is cold, collect the precipitate on a filtre, wash and dry it, and dissolve it in hot alcohol. On evaporation of the spirit, the cinchona will crystallize.

Footnote 464:

Thus, as we have stated, 100 parts of Cinchonia unite with 13·021 of Sulphuric acid, while the same weight of Quina requires for saturation not more than 10·91 of the same acid.

Footnote 465:

SULPHATE OF QUINA. As this preparation is considered the most active form of the salifiable principle of bark, I have subjoined the most approved formula for its preparation. Boil for half an hour two pounds of the appropriate bark in powder, in sixteen pints of distilled water, acidulated with two fluid-ounces of sulphuric acid; strain the decoction through a linen cloth, and submit the residue to a second ebullition in a similar quantity of acidulated water; mix the decoctions, and add by small portions at a time, powdered lime, constantly stirring it to facilitate its action on the acid decoction. (Half a pound is near the quantity requisite.) When the decoction has become slightly alkaline it assumes a dark brown colour, and deposits a reddish brown flocculent precipitate, which is to be separated by passing it through a linen cloth. The precipitate, is to be washed with a little cold distilled water and dried. When dry it is to be digested in rectified spirit, with a moderate heat for some hours; the liquid is then to be decanted, and fresh portions of spirit added till it no longer acquires a bitter taste. Unite the spirituous tinctures, and distil in a water-bath till three fourths of the spirit employed has distilled over. After this operation there remains in the vessel a brown viscid substance covered by a bitter, very alkaline and milky fluid. The two products are to be separated and treated as follows. To the alkaline liquid add a sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid to saturate it; reduce it by evaporation to half the quantity; add a small portion of charcoal, and after some minutes ebullition, filter it whilst hot, and crystals of Sulphate of Quina will form. The brown mass is to be boiled in a small quantity of water, slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, which will convert a large portion of it into Sulphate of Quina. The crystals are to be dried by bibulous paper. Two pounds of bark will, it is said, yield 5 to 6 drachms of the sulphate; of which eight grains are considered equivalent to an ounce of bark. It has been prepared in this country by several manufacturing chemists, especially by Mr. Pope of Oxford Street, whose zeal and industry in Pharmaceutic experiments entitle him to great commendation. The superior price of the bark, however, from the duty in this country, as well as that of alcohol, must prevent us from entering into competition with the French in its manufacture, and it has accordingly been found more œconomical to import, than to prepare it.

Footnote 466:

Journal de Physiologie. No. 1, p. 90.

Footnote 467:

Upon this point however a difference of opinion has existed; M. Halle entertained considerable fears on the subject, which were supported by M. M. Larrey, Emery, Duponchel, and others, who communicated to the Société Médicale d’Emulation, facts which excited their apprehensions. The question, however, has been set at rest both in this country and on the Continent. They are perfectly harmless.

Footnote 468:

Cinchonia has been detected in other vegetables besides the Bark, as in the root of Cusparia, and in the berries of Capsicum, while in the bark of Cascarilla, a substance bearing a much nearer relation in medicinal effect to the Bark, its presence has not yet been discovered. It is said that experiments have been lately made by M. M. Robiquet and Petroz on the Bark of the Carapa, which has been successfully used in several parts of America in the cure of agues, and that they have found in that bark a salifiable basis analogous to Quina.

Footnote 469:

In Brande’s Journal for January 1830, it is announced that Serturner has discovered other vegeto-alkalies in the Bark, besides the Cinchonia and Quinia.—One in particular he has ascertained, which he calls Chinioidia, existing in combination with a resinous sub-acid substance. This exists in the red and yellow bark with the Cinchonia and Quinia. It has more alkaline power and capacity of saturation, as well as greater medical power than any other vegeto-alkali in the Cinchona, but it resembles them in its insolubility in water, its colour and taste. According to Serturner, the febrifuge power of the Chinioidia is as superior to that of the Cinchonia and Quinia as these are to the Bark.—In his hands it succeeded in many cases where the Sulphate of Quinia had failed. Ed.

Footnote 470:

It was under this form that the celebrated empiric Talbor used to administer it in the paroxysms of Intermittents, and so successful was his practice, that Louis XIV. was induced to purchase at a large price the secret of his specific; and Charles the Second very unjustly protected him against the power of the College, and appointed him one of his physicians.

Footnote 471:

Mr. Thompson has suggested the probability of this circumstance having arisen from the admixture of a species of bark, lately introduced into Europe from Martinique, resembling the Cinchona Floribunda, and which, by an analysis of M. Cadet, was found to contain iron. (London Disp. Edit. 3. p. 247.)

Footnote 472:

This plant is found in abundance in Piedmont, principally in the marshes, where of course it is most needed. Nature is very kind in this respect, for the particular situation which engenders endemic diseases, is generally congenial to the growth of the plants that operate as antidotes to them.

Footnote 473:

Dr. Davy, in a letter to me upon this subject, says, “there are two kinds of oil of cinnamon procured in Ceylon, one of greater, the other of less specific gravity than water. In distillation they come over together. On what the difference depends I do not know, nor am I aware that the subject has yet been investigated.”

Footnote 474:

From experiments made with Veratria, it appears that its effects on the human system are analogous to those of the Colchicum itself. In chronic rheumatism comparative trials to a great extent were instituted by Dr. Bardsley, and with very similar results. The Veratria was generally administered in doses of from 1/4 gr. to ½ gr. three times a day. Ed.

Footnote 475:

With this opinion Mr. A. T. Thomson coincides, for in the 3d edition of his Dispensatory, he says, “the thick old bulb begins to decay after the flower is perfectly expanded, and the new bulbs, of which there are always two formed on each old bulb, are perfected in the following June; from which time until the middle of August, they may be taken up for medicinal use.”

Footnote 476:

EAU MEDICINALE DE HUSSON. After various attempts to discover the active ingredient of this Parisian remedy, it is at length determined to be the colchicum autumnale which several ancient authors, under the name of hermodactyllus, have recommended in the cure of gout, as stated in the historical preface to this work. The following is the receipt for preparing this medicine. Take two ounces of the root of colchicum, cut it into slices, macerate it in four fluid-ounces of Spanish white wine, and filter. See Veratri Radix (note).

Dr. WILSON’S TINCTURE FOR THE GOUT. This is merely an infusion of colchicum, as Dr. Williams of Ipswich has satisfactorily shewn. Since the discovery of colchicum being the active ingredient of the Eau medicinale, numerous empirical remedies have started up, containing the principles of the plant in different forms.

The expressed juice of the colchicum is used in Alsace to destroy vermin in the hair: it is very acrid, and excoriates the parts to which it is applied.

Footnote 477:

Dr. Davy, however, informs me that he is acquainted with a fatal instance from an excessive dose of these seeds, viz. ʒj, taken by a medical man for gout. On dissection, most of the viscera, more especially the brain and intestines, exhibited great sanguineous turgescence, and appearances of inflammation.

Footnote 478:

This preparation, or the Seeds, may be procured for trial, from the house of Savory, Moore, and Davidson, of New Bond Street.

Footnote 479:

WARD was originally a footman, and, during his attendance upon his master on the Continent, obtained from the Monks those receipts which afterwards became his nostrums. It may be observed that this Confection appears to be well adapted for the cure of that species of Piles which probably attended the sedentary and luxurious habits of the monks.

Footnote 480:

Dr. Chapman recommends the liberal use of the Copaiva in the very commencement of Gonorrhœa, disregarding ardor ruinæ, chordee, and every other symptom of inflammation that may be present. Than this, we do not know a medical precept more erroneous in theory, or more mischievous in practice. We are convinced that a great majority of gleets may be traced to the premature use of balsam Copaiva, and other stimulating articles in the inflammatory stage of the disease.—Ed.

Footnote 481:

Cūbĕba—Indis Cubab; Avicennæ Kebâba. It makes short the penultima, because Actuarius and other modern Greeks call it κουπεπερ, κόμπεπερ, and κομβεβα.

Footnote 482:

See “Practical Observations on the use of Cubebs, in the cure of Gonorrhœa,” by H. JEFFREYS, Esq.

Footnote 483:

It is very questionable whether Cubebs is entitled to any other preference over the copaiva, than that it is not so liable to derange the digestive organs. As a specific for gonorrhœa it has received praise altogether too unqualified. The most convenient form in which it can be given is that of Tincture. Ed.

Footnote 484:

Cŭminum makes long the penultima, thus—

“Rugosum Piper et pallentis grana Cumini:” Pers: Sat: v.

This line of the satirist also records an opinion which is worthy notice, that Cumin will make those who drink it, or wash themselves with it, or as some say, who smoke it, of a pale visage. This belief is mentioned by Dioscorides; and Pliny informs us that the disciples of Porcius Latro, a famous master of the art of speaking, were reported to have used Cumin, in order to imitate that paleness which their master had contracted by his studies; thus too Horace,

——Proh si “Pallerem casu, biberent exsangue Cuminum.” Epist. 19. Lib. 1, lin: 18.

Footnote 485:

It may be here observed that Copper, in its metallic form, exerts no action on the system. A most striking instance of this fact occurred during my hospital practice, in the case of a young woman who swallowed six copper penny-pieces with a view of destroying herself; she was attended by Dr. Maton and myself in the Westminster Hospital for two years, for a disease which we considered visceral, but which was evidently the effect of mechanical obstruction, occasioned by the coin. After a lapse of five years she voided them, and then confessed the cause of her protracted disease, during the whole course of which no symptom arose which could in any way be attributed to the poisonous influence of copper. Dr. Baillie, in his morbid anatomy, relates a case, in which five halfpence had been lodged in a pouch in the stomach, for a considerable time, without occasioning any irritation; and Theodore Gardelle, after his conviction for the murder of Mrs. King, in Leicester Square, swallowed a number of halfpence, for the purpose of destroying himself, but without producing any ill effects. Mr. A. T. Thomson relates also two cases of halfpence being swallowed by children, in one of which the copper coin remained six months in the intestines, and in the other two months. The filings of copper were formerly a favorite remedy in rheumatism, a drachm of which has been taken with impunity for a dose. It appears therefore that metallic copper does not undergo any change in the digestive organs by which it is converted into a poison, notwithstanding the presence of substances, which, out of the body, would at once render it destructive, as we have too many cases to shew, from the careless use of copper utensils in cookery. It is, however, a very important fact, that copper cannot be dissolved while tin is co-existent in the mixture, hence the great use of tinning copper utensils; and farther, it is asserted that untinned coppers are less liable to be injurious when pewter spoons are used for stirring, than when silver ones are employed for that purpose; the explanation of this fact is to be sought for in the well-known principle of Electro-Chemistry, and which has lately been applied with so much ingenuity by the illustrious President of the Royal Society, for the protection of copper on the bottom of ships, by the juxta-position of small discs of Tin or Iron.[486] For the same reason, M. Proust has shewn that the tinning of kitchen utensils, which consists of equal parts of tin and lead, cannot be dangerous from the presence of the latter metal, since it is sufficient that the lead should be combined with tin, in order to prevent it from being dissolved in any vegetable acid. M. Guersent therefore is wrong when, speaking of the tinning of copper vessels, he says, “it is a light veil, which conceals the danger, instead of being a true preservative, and that it only inspires a security often fatal.” Some recent experiments however, of Dr. Bostock, have shewn that, in consequence of the volatility of acetic acid, copper is not protected by the juxta-position of discs of tin; since the acid under such circumstances ceases to form a part of the galvanic circle. The poisonous effects of the salts of Copper have been strikingly illustrated during the prosecution of Sir H. Davy’s experiments above alluded to, for it is found that when the copper sheathing of ships is not protected by the contact of another metal, they are uniformly free from marine animals, but that where the solution of the copper is prevented by galvanic action, the bottoms soon become covered with every species of sea insect.

Footnote 486:

For a further explanation of this curious fact the student may consult my work on Medical Chemistry.

Footnote 487:

BATES’S AQUA CAMPHORATA.—Sulphate of copper is the base of this preparation, which was strongly recommended by Mr. Ware. The following was his recipe: ℞. Cupri Sulph. Boli Gallic, a. a. gr. xv. Camphoræ gr. iv. solve. in aq. fervent. f℥iv, dilueque cum aquæ frigidæ oiv ut fiat Collyrium.

Footnote 488:

It is said to have been introduced into this country from Ceylon. See the observations made upon the subject of the narcotics used by the Indians, page 9.

Footnote 489:

The seeds undoubtedly contain, in an eminent degree, all the properties of the plant. It was in the seeds that Brandes first discovered the Daturia.

Footnote 490:

The oriental beverage, Sherbet, from the Arabic word Sherb, to drink, so celebrated in eastern song, is a decoction of barley-meal and sugar, perfumed with roses, orange flower, violet, or citron.

Footnote 491:

LISBON DIET DRINK. Decoctum Lusitanicum.—℞. Sarsap: concis: Rad: Chinæ, āā ʒj—Nucum Jugland: Cortice Siccatarum, No. xx. Antimonii Sulphureti ℥ ij. Lapidis Pumicis pulverisat;—Aquæ distillat: lib: x.—The powdered antimony and pumice stone are to be tied in separate pieces of rag, and boiled along with the other ingredients. The use of the pumice stone is merely mechanical, to divide the antimony.

Footnote 492:

It is said that M. Royer has lately succeeded in obtaining from Digitalis its active basis; to which he has given the name of Digitalin. It was procured by digesting the plant in æther, and treating the solution with hydrated oxide of lead. It appears as a brown pasty substance, capable of slowly restoring the blue colour of reddened litmus paper; very bitter, and deliquescent. It was difficult to obtain it crystallized, but a drop of its solution in alcohol, evaporated on glass, over a lamp, when examined by the microscope, exhibited abundance of minute crystals. (Bib. Univ. xxvi. 102.) Farther experiments, however, are required to establish the truth of this statement.

Footnote 493:

See London Medical Repository, Vol. xii. No. 67.

Footnote 494:

A person of the name of STERRY, in the Borough, prepares a plaster of this description, which is sought after with great avidity. What a blessing it would be upon the community, if every nostrum were equally innocuous!

Footnote 495:

Pharmacopœia Chirurgica, p. 89.

Footnote 496:

Diachylon, a δὶα et χυλος succus, i. e. a Plaster prepared from expressed juices. It has been asserted that all the pharmaceutical names beginning with Dia, are of Arabian origin, this however is not the fact; we frequently meet with the expression in Galen, η δὶα δικτάμνου ὴ δια δυοἷν ἁριστολοχιοὶν ἠ δι, &c. &c.

Footnote 497:

At Apothecaries’ Hall, this plaster, as well as others, is made in a steam apparatus which is so well regulated, that a uniform temperature of 210° Fah. is insured during the whole process.

Footnote 498:

BAYNTON’S ADHESIVE PLASTER. (Strapping.) Differs only from this preparation in containing less resin, six drachms only being added to one pound of the litharge plaster. This excellent plaster is sold ready spread on calico.

COURT PLASTER. Sticking Plaster. Black Silk is strained and brushed over ten or twelve times, with the following preparation. Dissolve ℥ss of Benzoin in f℥vi of rectified spirit: in a separate vessel, dissolve ℥j of Isinglass in oss of water; strain each solution, mix them, and let the mixture rest, so that the grosser parts may subside; when the clear liquor is cold, it will form a jelly, which must be warmed before it is applied to the silk. When the Plaster is quite dry, in order to prevent its cracking, it is finished off with a solution of Terebinth: Chia, ℥iv, in Tinct: Benzoes f℥vj.

CORN PLASTER. The green coloured plaster sold under this title is usually composed of 3 parts of wax, 4 of Burgundy pitch, and 2 of common turpentine; to which is added one part of verdegris.

Footnote 499:

Mystery is rarely practised but as the cloak of imposture; it is therefore unnecessary to add, that Mr. Barry made no difficulty in stating the following to be the formula by which it was prepared.

A tincture of Bark, made with rectified spirit, was distilled until the whole of the spirit was driven off, the remaining solution was then left to cool, after which the resin that floated on the surface was removed, and the residuum inspissated at a low temperature.

Footnote 500:

BARCLAY’S ANTIBILIOUS PILLS. Take of the Extract of Colocynth ʒij, Resin of Jalap (extract Jalap) ʒj, Almond Soap ʒjss, Guaiacum ʒiij, Tartarized Antimony, grs. viij, essential oils of Juniper, Carraway, and Rosemary, of each gtt. iv, of syrup of Buckthorn, as much as will be sufficient to form a mass, which is to be divided into sixty-four pills.

Footnote 501:

REFINED LIQUORICE. This article, which is sold in the form of cylinders, is made by gently evaporating a solution of the pure extract of liquorice with half its weight of gum arabic, rolling the mass, and cutting it into lengths, and then polishing, by rolling them together in a box: many impurities however are fraudulently introduced into this article, such even as glue, &c.

Footnote 502:

The juices of the Iris root, and Bryony root, and those of many other plants, allow their medicinal elements to separate and subside in a similar manner, leaving the supernatant liquid perfectly inert; if we must have a generic name to express such a substance, it should be termed a feculence, rather than a fecula.

Footnote 503:

“Observations on the nature and preparation of the Elaterium,” read at the Medical Society of London, April 24, 1819, and which were published in the Medical Repository, vol. xii, No. 67.

Footnote 504:

When it has a dark green colour, approaching to black, is compact, and very heavy, and breaks with a shining resinous fracture, we may reject it as an inferior article.

Since the publication of my experiments upon the ordinary Elaterium of Commerce, I have been favoured by Mr. Barry with the results of his trials upon the Elaterium made by W. Allen &. Co. according to the improved process of Dr. Clutterbuck; of the first sample, he found that out of ten grains, 5·5 were soluble in spirit of the specific gravity ·809, of the second 6·2, and of the third 6·4; of that prepared by the same process at Apothecaries’ Hall, 6 grs. were soluble. The residue, insoluble in the spirit, was administered to a patient, and ascertained to be perfectly inert. This report confirms beyond a doubt the great superiority of the Elaterium when prepared, without pressure, according to the suggestion of Dr. Clutterbuck.

Footnote 505:

“I have the Cos Lettuce planted about eight inches asunder in rows, between which there is sufficient space to enable persons to pass up and down without injuring the plants. I commence my operations just before the plant is about to flower, by cutting off an inch of the stem; the milky juice immediately exudes, and is collected on pieces of Wove Cotton, about half a yard square. As soon as this becomes charged, it is thrown from time to time into a vessel containing a small quantity of water, which when sufficiently impregnated is evaporated at the common temperature of the atmosphere, by exposure in a number of shallow dishes. The LACTUCARIUM, in a few hours, is found adhering to the vessels in the form of an Extract, but differing from every other in all its sensible properties: this method enables me to collect LACTUCARIUM with great facility and dispatch, but it is still attended with considerable expense, as the proportion of milky product is necessarily very small, and the price of the medicine consequently high, and therefore not within the reach of general practice. This consideration led me to make farther experiments, for the purpose of ascertaining whether an EXTRACT might not be obtained from the plant possessing all the properties of LACTUCARIUM, when administered in large doses, and which could be introduced at a comparatively trifling cost. In prosecuting this enquiry, I found that the plants contain most of the milky juice when they have flowered and the leaves are beginning to assume a yellow hue, and I observed that when cut down, the milky juice assumes for the most part a concrete form, having subsided in the bark of the stalk and in the old leaves, a circumstance which accounts for the extreme bitterness of these parts. I was naturally led from these circumstances to choose the above period for my operations, and to select those parts only of the plant for my extract, rejecting the substance of the stalk, and the young sprouts. My method of procuring the extract is as follows. I first macerate the parts in water, for twenty-four hours, and then boil them for two, after which I allow the clear decoction to drain through a sieve, without using any pressure; this is then evaporated, as far as it can be done with safety, and the process is finished in shallow dishes, in the manner above described, for obtaining Lactucarium. This extract, which I have called “EXTRACTUM LACTUCÆ CONCENTRATUM,” is of course less powerful than Lactucarium, but it possesses all the properties in larger doses, and it has been found equally useful in a number and variety of cases, and is not more than a sixth part of the price.”

Mr. Probart has retired from trade, but I have just learnt that the same article is now prepared, by a similar process, by Mr. Selway, Chemist, of New Cavendish Street, and the specimens which I have received authorise me to recommend it for trial. A concentrated tincture is also prepared.

The “Succus Spissatus Lactucæ sativæ,” of the shops, must of necessity be almost inert, since it is commonly prepared at that period when the plant contains none, or very little of the milky juice; and even if the Lettuce be employed at a more mature season, it must still fail to afford an extract of any strength, as it is merely the expressed juice, and that too of the whole plant indiscriminately, and will be found to contain a very minute proportion of Lactucarium, the great bulk being nothing more than inspissated green juice.

Footnote 506:

Doctor Eights of Albany has related two cases of Neuralgia, in which the use of the Carbonate of Iron was attended with complete success. See New-York Medical and Physical Journal, Vol. I. p. 323.

ED.

Footnote 507:

This fact furnishes the Pharmaceutic Chemist with an easy and effectual mode of cleansing the green crystals from the yellow peroxide which forms upon their surface, viz. by washing them in spirit.

Footnote 508:

By a parity of reasoning, Mr. Carmichael is led to prefer the phosphate of iron to any other preparation of that metal, in cancer, because he thinks iron, combined with an animal acid, enters the system in greater quantity, and unites more intimately with the juices.

AROMATIC LOZENGES OF STEEL. These consist of sulphate of iron with a small proportion of the tincture of Cantharides.

Footnote 509:

FORGE WATER. This popular remedy as a lotion for Aphthæ and other similar diseases, I am well satisfied possesses considerable efficacy. It may, perhaps, be necessary to state that Forge-water is that in which the Blacksmith has plunged his hot iron, for the purpose of refrigeration. It is to be taken early in the morning, when, all the mechanical impurities having had time to subside, it is beautifully limpid. Upon examining some of this water I found it to contain sulphate of iron. The sulphuric acid was probably derived from the sulphur of the coals.

Footnote 510:

Besides the preparations of Iron mentioned by our author, there is another which has recently been introduced into practice, by Dr. Zollickhoffer of Maryland, and this is the Prussiate of Iron, or Prussian Blue. Like the other forms of iron it acts as a powerful tonic, and as a remedy in intermitting and remitting fevers, Dr. Z. conceives it to possess many advantages over Cinchona. These he states to be the following: “1. It is void of taste, and may therefore be much more readily exhibited than the Cinchona Officinalis, which to some is extremely unpleasant. 2. It may be given in every stage of the disease, while the administration of bark is confined to the apyrexiæ. 4. The dose is much smaller, being from four to six grains twice or thrice in twenty-four hours; or at morning, noon and night; while bark, to be effectual, must be given in much larger doses. 4. It never disagrees with the stomach, or creates nausea, even in the most irritable state of this viscus; while bark is not unfrequently rejected. 5. In its effects as a remedy calculated to prevent the recurrence of future paroxysms, it is more certain, prompt, and effectual, than the justly celebrated Cort. Peruvian. 6 and lastly, A patient treated with this article will recover from the influence of intermitting and remitting fevers, in the generality of cases, in much less time than is usual in those cases in which bark is employed.” In using the Prussiate of Iron, Dr. Zollickhoffer directs that care should be taken to select that which is of a very dark blue colour, approaching to a black, having a shining coppery fracture, and adhering firmly to the tongue.

ED.

Footnote 511:

MATHIEU’S VERMIFUGE. This consisted of two distinct Electuaries, the one for killing, the other for expelling the Tapeworm. The former of these was composed of an ounce of Tin Filings, six drachms of the Fern root, half an ounce of Semina Santonici, a drachm of the resinous extract of Jalap, and of Sulphate of Potass, and a sufficient quantity of Honey to make an Electuary, of which a tea-spoonful was taken every three hours for two days; after which the latter electuary was given in the same dose, and consisted of two scruples of powdered Jalap, and Sulphate of Potass, one scruple of Scammony, and ten grains of Gamboge, made into an Electuary with Honey. The inventor of this receipt received the title of Counsellor of the Court, as well as a large pension for life, from the King of Prussia, for making it public!

Footnote 512:

Seguin first proved that gallic acid, and tannin or the astringent principle, are different substances; it is to the former that the property of giving a black colour to the solutions of iron is owing.

Mr. Hatchett has shewn that tan or tannin may be artificially produced by the action of nitric acid upon various vegetable substances.

Footnote 513:

By Dr. Bardsley the same quantity was taken and with similar results. In many cases of Dyspepsia, attended with an irritability of stomach that does not admit of the employment of bulky medicines, gentiania may be used with much advantage. The preferable form is that of pill, given in doses of one grain to be repeated two or three times a day. Unlike the plant from which it is obtained, Gentiania has no tendency to keep the bowels open. Ed.

Footnote 514:

It takes its name from GENTIUS, king of Illyria, its discoverer, who was vanquished by Anicius the Roman Prætor, A. U. 585. i. e. A.C. 167, so that it is neither to be found in Hippocrates nor Theophrastus.

Footnote 515:

BRODUM’S NERVOUS CORDIAL consists of the tinctures of Gentian, Calumba, Cardamom and Bark, with the Compound Spirit of Lavender, and Wine of Iron.

STROUGHTON’S ELIXIR. Is a tincture of Gentian, with the addition of Serpentaria, Orange Peel, Cardamoms, and some other aromatics.

Footnote 516:

PECTORAL BALSAM OF LIQUORICE. The proprietor of this nostrum gravely affirms that f℥iss contains the virtues of a whole pound of Liquorice root; but upon investigation it will be found to consist principally of Paregoric Elixir, very strongly impregnated with the Oil of Aniseed.

Footnote 517:

THE CHELSEA PENSIONER. An empirical remedy for the rheumatism is well known under this name; it is said to be the prescription of a Chelsea Pensioner, by which Lord Amherst was cured; the following is its composition—Gum Guaiac ʒj—Powdered Rhubarb ʒij—Cream of Tartar ℥j—Flowers of Sulphur ℥j.—One Nutmeg finely powdered; made into an Electuary with one pound of Clarified Honey. Two large spoonsful to be taken night and morning.

WALKER & WESSEL’S JESUIT DROPS. This is nothing more than the Elixir Antivenereum of Quincey, consisting of Guaiacum, Balsam of Copaiba, and Oil of Sassafras, made into a Tincture by Spirit.

HATFIELD’S TINCTURE. Guaiac and Soap, equal parts, ʒij—Rectified Spirit oiss.

HILL’S ESSENCE OR BARDANA. Guaiac ℥j—Spirit f℥iij.

Footnote 518:

MATTHEW’S PILLS,—STARKEY’S PILLS. Of the Roots of Black Hellebore, Liquorice, and Turmeric, equal parts, purified Opium, Castille Soap, and Syrup of Saffron, the same quantity, made into pills with Oil of Turpentine.

BACHER’S TONIC PILLS. These are composed of equal parts of the Extract of Hellebore, and Myrrh ℥j, with ʒiij of powdered Carduus Benedictus: which are made into a mass, and divided into pills, each weighing one grain; from two to six of which may be given three times every day, according to the effects they produce.

Footnote 519:

Whence the decoctions of this substance have been termed Ptisans, from πτὶσσω decortico, to peel.

Footnote 520:

A Compound, consisting of Extract of Quassia and Liquorice, is used by fraudulent brewers to economise both malt and hops, and is technically called “MULTUM.” An Extract of Cocculus Indicus is sold under the name of “BLACK EXTRACT,” for imparting an intoxicating quality to the Beer.

Footnote 521:

Ὑδραργυρος of the Greeks, from its fluidity and colour.

Quicksilver. Quick in the old Saxon tongue signifies living, an epithet derived from its mobility.

Mercury. Mythologists inform us that he was the winged messenger of the Gods, and the Patron of Thieves,—What name therefore could be more appropriate for the metal in question than that of this Deity? for it is not only distinguished from all other metals by its mobility, but its universal agency has rendered it the resource of those worst of Thieves—Quacks and Nostrummongers.

Footnote 522:

There is indeed another purpose to which pure quicksilver has been applied that deserves notice. Its administration has been proposed in cases where silver coin has been swallowed, with a view of forming with it an amalgam that would speedily pass through the alimentary canal.

Footnote 523:

Foderé (Med. Leg. T. iii. p. 455) states that he has seen water, in which mercury has been boiled, become purgative and vermifuge; and yet the metal, in such cases, has not lost any of its weight.

Footnote 524:

If the quantity of Lime water be small, the precipitate will assume a red colour, and will be found to be a Submuriate of the peroxide.

Footnote 525:

As this salt has been supposed to arrest the progress of syphilis more rapidly, and at the same time, to excite the salivary glands less than any other preparation of mercury, it generally forms the basis of those dangerous nostrums, which are advertised for the cure of Syphilis without Mercury. The contrivers hope also to elude detection by the density and colour of the preparation.

GOWLAND’S LOTION, Is a solution of sublimate in an emulsion formed of bitter almonds, in the proportion of about gr. jss to f℥j. A solution of this mercurial salt in Spirit of Rosemary, is also sold as an empirical cosmetic.

NORTON’S DROPS. A disguised solution of corrosive sublimate.

WARD’S WHITE DROPS. This once esteemed Anti-Scorbutic was prepared by dissolving mercury in nitric acid, and adding a solution of carbonate of ammonia; or frequently it consisted of a solution of sublimate with carbonate of ammonia.

SPILSBURY’S ANTISCORBUTIC DROPS. Of Corrosive Sublimate ℥ij, Prepared Sulphuret of Antimony ʒj, Gentian root and Orange peel, equal parts ʒij, Shavings of Red Saunders, ʒj, made with a pint of proof spirit into a tincture, which is to be digested and strained.

“THE ANTIVENEREAL DROPS,” so famous at Amsterdam, were analysed by Scheele, who found they were composed of muriate of iron, with a small proportion of corrosive sublimate.

MARSDEN’S ANTISCORBUTIC DROPS. A solution of sublimate in an infusion of Gentian.

GREEN’S DROPS. The basis of these also is sublimate.

SOLOMON’S ANTI-IMPETIGINES. A solution of sublimate.

ROB ANTI-SYPHILITIQUE, par M. Laffecteur, Medicin Chemiste. This popular nostrum of the French contains as a principal ingredient, corrosive sublimate. A strong decoction of Arundo Phragmitis (the bull rush) is made, with the addition of sarsaparilla and aniseeds towards the end, which is evaporated, and made into a rob, or syrup, to which the sublimate is added.

SIROP DE CUISINIERE. This consists of decoctions of sarsaparilla, burrage flowers, white roses, senna, and aniseed, to which sublimate is added, and the whole is then made into a syrup with sugar and honey.

TERRE FEUILLETEE MERCURIELLE of Pressavin. This is Tartarized Mercury, for it is made by boiling the oxyd of mercury (obtained by precipitating it from a nitric solution, by potass) with cream of tartar.

VELNO’S VEGETABLE SYRUP. There has been a great obscurity with respect to the genuine composition of this nostrum; it has generally been supposed to consist of sublimate rubbed up with honey and mucilage. I have lately received from my friend Mr. Brodie a formula, by which a medicine perfectly analogous in its sensible characters, and medicinal properties, to the Syrup in question, may be prepared; and I am assured that, wherever it has been tried, its effects are in every respect similar to those produced by the original nostrum. Take of Burdock root (young and fresh) sliced, ℥ij; Dandelion root ℥i; Spear Mint (fresh) ℥j; Senna Leaves, Coriander Seeds (bruised), Liquorice Root (fresh) of each ʒiss; Water oiss: boil gently until reduced to oj; then strain, and, when cold, add ℔ of lump sugar, and boil it to the consistence of a syrup, and add a small proportion of the solution of Oxy-muriate of Mercury. Swediaur says that volatile alkali enters into this nostrum as an ingredient; this alkali was proposed by Dr. Peyrile, as a substitute for mercury, and it constitutes the active ingredient of the following composition, which was proposed by Mr. Besnard, Physician to the King of Bavaria.

TINCTURA ANTISYPHILLITICA. Sub-carb. potass, ℔j. dissolved in Aq. Cinnam, oj. Opii puri, ℥ij. dissolved in Spir. cinnamom. f℥iv. mix these separate solutions, and put them on a water-bath for three weeks, taking care to shake the vessel frequently; to this add Gum arabic ℥ij, Carb. Ammoniæ ℥j, dissolve in Aq. Cinnamomi; mix, filter, and keep for use. Dose, twenty-four drops three times a day, in a glass of the cold decoction of Marsh Mallow root.

The external use of these drops is also advised for local syphilitic complaints!

Footnote 526:

By this simple and beautiful test, the late Mr. Archdeacon Wollaston identified the presence of Sublimate in the yeast dumplings by which Michael Whiting was poisoned at Ely; a case which I have recorded in my work on Medical Jurisprudence, Vol. II. p. 265.

Footnote 527:

Ann. de Chimie et Phys. iv. 334.

Footnote 528:

For a more elaborate account of the various tests of Corrosive Sublimate, see Beck’s Medical Jurisprudence, Vol. 2, p. 267.—Ed.

Footnote 529:

For the origin of the term Calomel, see note, page 40.

Footnote 530:

Mr. William Phillips has favoured me with a model of this crystal cut in wood; it is a rectangular prism whose solid angles are deeply replaced by planes.

Footnote 531:

Many of the nostrums advertised for the cure of worms, contain Calomel as the principal ingredient, combined with scammony, jalap, gamboge, or some other purgative; they are uncertain and dangerous medicines; the method of exhibiting them in the form of lozenges (worm cakes,) is also attended with inconvenience, for the sugar and the gum generating an acid, by being kept in damp places, may considerably increase the acrimony of the mercury; besides which, the calomel is frequently diffused very unequally through the mass, one lozenge may therefore contain a poisonous dose, whilst others may scarcely possess any active matter.

CHING’S WORM LOZENGES. These consist of yellow and brown lozenges, the former are directed to be taken in the evening, the latter the succeeding morning.

THE YELLOW LOZENGES. Take of Saffron ℥ss, of water oj, boil, and strain; add of White Panacea of Mercury (Calomel washed in spirit of wine) ℔j, white sugar, 28℔, mucilage of Tragacanth as much as may be sufficient to make a mass, which roll out of an exact thickness, so that each lozenge may contain one grain of Panacea.

THE BROWN LOZENGES. Panacea ℥ vij, resin of jalap, ℔iijss, white sugar ℔ix, mucilage of tragacanth q. s. each lozenge should contain gr. ½ of panacea.

STORY’S WORM CAKES. Calomel and jalap made into cakes and coloured with cinnabar.

Footnote 532:

For the origin of this term see page 39.

Footnote 533:

CHAMBERLAIN’S RESTORATIVE PILLS. “The most certain cure for the Scrofula, or King’s Evil, Fistula, Scurvy, and all Impurities of the Blood.”

My attention has been particularly directed to these pills, in consequence of having lately seen, during the course of my professional duty, several highly respectable persons, who had been induced to make trial of their efficacy. Their inventor, if I am rightly informed, resides at Ipswich, where, for the benefit of suffering humanity, he prepares these wonderful pills, and, with the alacrity of his patron deity, Mercury, transmits them to every corner of the United Kingdom. It appears from the printed directions which accompany the “Restorative Pills,” that their use must be continued for a very long period; but upon this occasion we must allow the Doctor to speak for himself. “It may be necessary to observe, that in some cases of Scrofula, especially when the seat of the disease is in the feet, ancles, or hands, it may take a long time to effect a cure, even two years, and it may be twelve or sixteen months, with seeming little or no improvement, yet the cure is certain by perseverance.” What—two years! and to be taken during a period of sixteen months without any sensible benefit! Is it possible that persons can be found with sufficient credulity and resolution to submit to so preposterous a proposal? we have no doubt that Mr. Chamberlain can produce as great a portion of cures after such an ordeal, as was adduced in former times, in proof of the efficacy of the Royal Touch, and for the same obvious reason. (See page 16.)

Upon examining these said pills, I find them to consist of Cinnabar, Sulphur, Sulphate of Lime, and a little vegetable matter, perhaps gum. Each pill weighs a fraction less than three grains; upon dividing one with a penknife, and examining the cut surface through a lens, it exhibited the appearance of scoriæ of a brick red colour, having small yellowish masses imbedded in its substance. When exposed on a piece of platinum foil to the action of the blow-pipe, it yielded vapours of a strong sulphureous smell, and left a residuum of a pearly white matter, which consisted almost entirely of Sulphate of Lime. Upon submitting a portion of the pill, in a glass tube, to the heat of a spirit lamp, two distinct sublimates were produced, the first consisting of Sulphur, the second of Cinnabar; and a small carbonaceous deposit remained. The Pill was then assayed, via humida; distilled water dissolved the Sulphate of lime, which was identified by appropriate tests, and left sulphur and cinnabar on the filtre. By the above experiments I feel warranted in considering the composition of this pill as fully ascertained.

BOERHAAVE’S RED PILL. The basis of this nostrum is Cinnabar.

Footnote 534:

The anatomist employs it for giving colour to his injections; for this purpose it is very essential that it should be quite free from red lead, or his preparations will in a short time lose their splendour, and ultimately become black. This has unfortunately happened with some preparations which Dr. Baillie presented to the College of Physicians. Mr. Accum, in his work entitled “Death in the Pot,” states a case of poisoning from cheese which had been coloured with adulterated Vermillion. I am ready to admit, however, that the source of this information is of very doubtful authority; never did a work appear which so little merited the attention it received; even the title, which seemed to have some claim to originality, was borrowed from a work by Mouchart, called “Mors in Olla.”

Footnote 535:

ANODYNE NECKLACES. The roots of Hyoscyamus are commonly strung in the form of beads, and sold under this name, to tie round the necks of children, to facilitate the growth of their teeth, and allay the irritation of teething. The application of medicated necklaces is a very ancient superstition. See page 13. Such remedies were sometimes called Periapts, περιαπτον.

Footnote 536:

In many cases it is essential that the water should be at the boiling point, a few degrees even less than this will often prove a source of failure; this is well exemplified by the familiar fact of the weakness of our Tea, when made by water that does not quite boil. The Monks of St. Bernard, in the Alps, complain that they cannot make good Bouillie; the case is simply this, that from the altitude of their monastery, the water boils before it can arrive at a sufficiently high temperature. Whence we may deduce this important inference, that the solvent powers of water are affected by a very slight range of temperature. See a fuller account of this subject in my work on “Medical Chemistry.”

Footnote 537:

Where the vegetable matter contains much starch, if the water be of a temperature higher than 165°, instead of dissolving, it will coagulate the starch, and produce a very untractable mass. This fact is well known to Brewers, who are extremely cautious in avoiding a too high temperature.

Footnote 538:

MADDEN’S VEGETABLE ESSENCE. Is little else than the Infusum Rosæ comp: with an increased proportion of Acid.

Footnote 539:

This fact has been lately confirmed by M. F. Cartier, who found 4 gr. of oxide of iron in 1000 gr. of red roses.

Footnote 540:

A valuable paper upon this subject is to be found in the first volume of “The Reports of the Philomatic Society of Paris:” by Bouillon La Grange. It has been lately supposed, but without much probability, that the griping property of Senna depends upon its admixture with some foreign leaf.

Footnote 541:

SELWAY’S PREPARED ESSENCE OF SENNA. This is a concentrated infusion of Senna, in combination with an alkali.

Footnote 542:

The plant yielding the Ipecacuanha of the shops, is more probably a species of Viola than that of Callicocca. According to Linnæus, it is not unfrequently obtained from the Psycotria Emetica. The word Ipecacuanha signifies any emetic substance.

Footnote 543:

A formula for its preparation is introduced into the new CODEX of Paris, being the one used by M. Pelletier; it is as follows. Let ℥i of the powder of Ipecacuan be macerated in ℥ij of æther with a gentle heat for some hours, in a distilling apparatus; let the portion which remains be triturated and boiled with ℥iv of alcohol; it having been previously macerated in it; filter and let the remainder be treated with fresh portions of alcohol, as long as any thing is taken up from the root; mix these alcoholic solutions and evaporate to dryness; let this alcoholic extract be macerated in cold distilled water, in order that every thing soluble in that menstruum may be dissolved; filter, and evaporate to dryness; this extract is Emetine. In this state however it contains a small quantity of gallic acid, but which is too inconsiderable to affect its medicinal qualities.

Footnote 544:

We agree with the author in his estimate of the value of Emetine. As a general remedy, it possesses no advantage over the Ipecacuanha itself, and will probably never supersede it. Cases may occur, however, in which its use will be desirable, and it may then be given in the following doses. As an Emetic, from four to five grains dissolved in a couple of ounces of some aromatic water; as a Diaphoretic, about half a grain repeated every four hours; and as an Expectorant, one-fifth or one-fourth of a grain repeated every two or three hours. These doses apply only to the impure or coloured Emetine, the form in which it is commonly found. Ed.

Footnote 545:

IPECACUANHA LOZENGES. Each Lozenge contains half a grain of Ipecacuanha.

Footnote 546:

SAPO JALAPINUS. It is prepared by taking equal parts of Castille Soap and of resinous extract of Jalap, and digesting them in a sufficient quantity of alcohol, with moderate heat, and evaporating to the consistence of a conserve.

Footnote 547:

The plant which yields Kino is at length satisfactorily proved to be the Pterocarpus Erinacea; the London College have accordingly made the alteration which I anticipated in the former edition of this work.

Footnote 548:

Dr. Pemberton makes the interesting statement in relation to the operation of Kino upon the system, that unless Diarrhœa be actually present, “it appears to have no tendency to confine the bowels. In this drug, therefore,” he adds, “you have a medicine which exerts its powers to restrain the discharges of the glands when they are secreting too much, without exerting any such powers over them when they are acting naturally.” Practical Treatise on the various diseases of the abdominal viscera, p. 112, Am. Ed.

ED.

Footnote 549:

It was known to be a remedy for this disorder at least two hundred years ago; for, in a work entitled, “The Surgeon’s Mate, or Military and Domestic Medicine,” by John Woodall, master in Surgery, London, 1636, the author concludes his eulogium of lemon juice, by saying, “I dare not write how good a sauce it is at meat, lest the chief in the ship should waste it in the great cabin to save vinegar.”

Footnote 550:

ESSENTIAL SALT OF LEMONS. See Potassæ Super-tartras.

Footnote 551:

WARD’S ESSENCE FOR THE HEAD-ACHE.—Nothing more than Liniment. Camph. Comp.

Footnote 552:

STEER’S OPODELDOC.—Castille Soap ℥j, Rectified Spirit, f℥viij, Camphor ʒiiiss, Oil of Rosemary fʒss, Oil of Origanum fʒj. Solution of Ammonia fʒvj.

BATES’S ANODYNE BALSAM.—It consists of one part of Tincture of Opium, and two of Opodeldoc, i. e. Liniment. Sapon. comp.

FREEMAN’S BATHING SPIRITS.—Liniment. Saponis comp. coloured with Daffy’s Elixir. JACKSON’S BATHING SPIRITS differs from the former in the addition of some essential oils.

LYNCH’S EMBROCATION.—Olive oil impregnated with Bergamot and some other essences, and coloured with Alkanet root.

Footnote 553:

Since the last edition of this work, Mr. Dalton has discovered the very curious fact, that lime is more soluble in cold than in hot water, and has given a table of quantities from which he concludes that the quantity held in solution by water at 32° Fah: is nearly double that retained by water at 212°. Mr. Phillips has lately taken up the subject, and confirmed the statement of Mr. Dalton.

thus 10.000 gr. of water, at 212°, dissolve 7.8 of lime 10.000 gr. of water, at 32°, ———— 15.2 ————

Mr. Phillips attempts to account for this apparent anomaly “from the effect which heat sometimes produces of increasing instead of diminishing the attraction of cohesion. In the present case, he continues, the affinities which are brought into play are, the attractions of aggregation of the particles of the lime upon each other, the attraction of the lime to form a hydrate with a small portion of the water, and the mutual affinity existing between that hydrate and the water of solution.” And at the high temperature he thinks that the former affinities may be so heightened as to overpower the latter.

Footnote 554:

Upon this fact Dr. Alton founded his ingenious process for preserving water from putrefaction; in the first place he impregnated the water with lime, which from its antiseptic property answered the purpose of keeping it most completely, and then, in order to get rid of the lime, he merely added the carbonate of magnesia, which by transferring its carbonic acid, rendered the lime insoluble, and consequently the water tasteless and fit for economical purposes. Mr. Henry, however, proposed the introduction of a current of carbonic acid into the cask, and this expedient has been found equally effective, and far more economical.

Footnote 555:

MRS. STEPHEN’S REMEDY FOR THE STONE consisted of lime, which was produced by calcining the shells of eggs and snails, and made into pills with Soap. A decoction was also administered, consisting of Chamomile, Fennel, Parsley and Burdock, together with a portion of Alicant Soap. This is a very rational practice, and is very much what the practitioners of the present day depend upon: the observations of Mrs. Stephens respecting their administration, are equally judicious. “If,” says she, “these medicines produce pain, it will be necessary to give an opiate with them, and it must be at all times a principal care to prevent a looseness, for if this should happen it would carry off the medicines; under such circumstances the quantity of the Decoction, since it is laxative, must be diminished, and other suitable means must be taken by the advice of a Physician.” The credit of introducing alkaline medicines for the cure of calculous disorders, does not however rest with MRS. STEPHENS. It has been before stated in this work, that Basil Valentine employed a fixed alkaline salt in such cases; and I may here add, that SENNERTUS, in his Praxis Medica, mentions a lithonthryptic that was in great esteem and general use in his time, which consisted of one ounce of Salt of Tartar dissolved in a pint of parsley water, and afterwards tinged yellow with orange peel.

Footnote 556:

VIRGIN’S MILK. A preparation is sold under this name, which is a Sulphate of Lead, and is prepared as follows. To a saturated solution of Alum, add of Goulard’s extract one third part. Shake them together;—see Benzoinum for a very different cosmetic bearing the same name.

Footnote 557:

HANKAY’S LOTION, OR PREVENTIVE WASH. This famous nostrum for the prevention of venereal infection, was nothing more than a solution of caustic potass.

Footnote 558:

DR. CHITTICK’S REMEDY FOR THE STONE. This celebrated nostrum consisted of a fixed alkali in veal broth; the broth was usually made by his patients, and sent to him fresh every day, in order to be medicated. A. D. 1766.

Footnote 559:

Magnesia was originally a general term, expressive of any substance which had the power of attracting some principle from the air, from Magnes, the Loadstone. The peculiar body which we now denominate Magnesia, was first sold as a panacea, by a canon at Rome, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, under the title of Magnesia alba, or Count Palma’s Powder.

Footnote 560:

DALBY’S CARMINATIVE. This consists of carbonate of magnesia ℈ij, oils of Peppermint, ♏︎j, of Nutmeg, ♏︎ij, of Aniseed ♏︎iij, of the tinctures of Castor ♏︎xxx, of Assafœtida ♏︎xv, Tincture of Opium, ♏︎v, Spirit of Pennyroyal ♏︎xv, of the Compound Tincture of Cardamoms ♏︎xxx, Peppermint water f℥ij. There are cheaper compositions sold under the same name. In examining the pretensions of this combination, it must be allowed that it is constructed upon philosophical principles; this however is no reason why the physician should recommend it; the mischievous tendency of a quack medicine does not depend upon its composition, but upon its application; we ought to remember, says an eminent physician, that in recommending this nostrum we foster the dangerous prejudices of mothers and nurses, who are unable to ascertain the circumstances under which it should be given, or even the proper doses; if its composition is judicious, why do not physicians order the same in a regular prescription, rather than in a form in which the most valuable remedy will be abused?

Footnote 561:

“Manna, vox chaldaica est, admirantis interjectio, deducta ab Hebraico Manhu, sive quid est hoc?” Chrystom. Magneni Exercitat. de Manno.

Footnote 562:

HONEY WATER.—The article usually sold under this name is a mixture of Essences coloured with Saffron; some add a small quantity of Honey, the effect of which is to communicate a clamminess which retains the scent longer.

Footnote 563:

ESSENCE OF PEPPERMINT.—A spirituous solution of the Essential Oil, coloured green by Spinach leaves.

Footnote 564:

If the Gum arabic be adulterated with that of the Cherry-tree, the solution will be ropy, in consequence of the presence of CERASIN. See Mucilago Tragacanthæ. (Note.)

Footnote 565:

The mucilage is at the same time converted by this salt into a beautiful peach blossom colour.

Footnote 566:

This variety of gum, which is characterised by its gelatinizing, but not dissolving, in water, occurs in several vegetable substances; and as it predominates in the Cherry-tree, Dr. John has distinguished it by the name of CERASIN; but as Tragacanth consists almost entirely of this substance, the term TRAGACANTHIN would have been much more appropriate. Although Cerasin will not dissolve in pure water, it undergoes solution in that menstruum, at the temperature of ebullition, provided a portion of a mineral acid be added.

Footnote 567:

Sir Hans Sloane published a Paper in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 249, Vol. xxi. p. 44, entitled “An account of the Nux Pepita, or St. Ignatius’s Bean (Ignatia Amara, Lin.) A Simple in common use in the Philippine Islands, as a Tonic medicine.”

Footnote 568:

That the active principle of the Nux Vomica expends its virulence upon the spinal marrow has been already noticed. Page 133.

Footnote 569:

M. Henry has given us the most simple formula for the preparation of this substance. It consists in boiling Nux Vomica in water, and evaporating the decoction until it acquires the consistence of Syrup; lime is then added, which unites with the acid, and liberates the Strychnia; which may then be separated by means of alcohol, from which it may be obtained by crystallization.

Footnote 570:

Ann: de Chimie et de Phys. x. 153.

Footnote 571:

M. Majendie has killed a dog with one eighth of a grain, and the editor of the Edinburgh Med: & Surg: journ: has seen one die in two minutes after the injection of one sixth of a grain into the cavity of the pleura. The celebrated Java poison owes its activity to Strychnia.

Footnote 572:

Strychnia was obtained from the beans of St. Ignatius by the following process: a portion of the beans being grated was heated in a close vessel, under pressure, with sulphuric æther, by which an oily matter was dissolved; the residuum then yielded by the action of alcohol, a yellowish brown, very bitter substance, which being boiled in pure magnesia and filtered, the colouring matter was washed out, and the Strychnia and magnesia, in a state of mixture, remained on the filtre. The Strychnia was then separated by alcohol, and thus obtained in a state of great purity.

Footnote 573:

See note under the article Opium.

Footnote 574:

With regard to the use of Strychnia in paralysis, experiments sufficiently numerous have now been made to enable us to judge of its true value and efficacy. Like all other remedies it is by no means infallible. In some cases it does no good, while in others it causes effects which no other remedy is capable of producing. Every thing depends upon the nature of the case. Whenever paralysis is the result of some organic derangement of the brain, such as tumors pressing upon the substance of that organ, diseased alterations in its structure, or extravasations of fluid which cannot be absorbed, then this remedy will be of no avail. On the other hand, where the paralysis depends upon simple diminished nervous excitement, it may and has been completely cured by the use of this article. In paraplegia it has generally been found more successful than in hemiplegia. The first effects of the remedy in all cases are convulsive twitchings of the paralyzed parts, and no benefit is derived from its use until this effect is produced and continued for some time. If plethora should be present, this is to be corrected by venesection, purgatives, and other appropriate treatment. It is a great advantage attending the use of this powerful agent that it does not at all impair the tone of the stomach; on the contrary, it has a tendency to increase the appetite and promote digestion. In having recourse to the Strychnia, the best way is to commence with small doses, increasing them gradually according to the effect produced—one-eighth of a grain twice a day is sufficient to begin with. This may be cautiously increased to 1/6, 1/4, or even ½ a grain twice a day. Should any unpleasant symptoms occur, of course its use should be discontinued; and when the symptoms subside, it may again be resumed. By observing these general precautions there is no danger in using this otherwise potent agent. The best form of giving it is in that of pill, made up with conserve of roses.

From experiments made with Brucia, it is found to exert an influence analogous to that of the Strychnia, only less energetic—one-fourth of a grain of the latter equals in effect about six grains of the former. It occasions violent tetanic attacks, and acts upon the nerves without affecting the brain or the intellectual functions. From the inferior energy of the Brucia, it may be used in cases where the Strychnia would not be proper. The dose to begin with is gr. j. twice a day, increased to three or four times a day. Unless it does some good in five or six weeks its use should be discontinued.—ED.

Footnote 575:

HUILES ANTIQUES. The basis of the best of these oils, is the oil of Ben, from the nuts of the Guilangia Moringa, or oil of hazel, which is a very good substitute, since it is inodorous, colourless, and may be kept for a considerable period without becoming rancid: it is therefore well adapted to receive and retain the odour of those vegetables that yield but a small proportion of essential oil.

Footnote 576:

OIL OF BRICKS. So called because this empyreumatic oil was sometimes obtained by steeping hot brick in oil, and submitting it to distillation.

Footnote 577:

ROCHE’S EMBROCATION FOR THE HOOPING COUGH. Olive oil mixed with about half its quantity of the oils of cloves and amber.

STRUVE’S LOTION FOR THE HOOPING COUGH. This once famous nostrum consisted of ʒj of Tartarized Antimony, dissolved in f℥ij of water, to which was added f℥j of Tincture of Cantharides.

Footnote 578:

The editors have also unaccountably retained the Oleum de Lumbricis!

Footnote 579:

If the plates of the press be heated, the fixed oil from the bitter almond will be odorous.

Footnote 580:

ESSENCE OR BITTER ALMONDS. The preparation sold under this name, for the purposes of perfumery, &c. consists of one part of this essential oil, and seven parts of Rectified spirit.

Footnote 581:

For such reasons there are but few wholesale houses who profess to distil it. I have, however, through the civility and attention of Mr. Johnson, chemist in Oxford-street, who frequently conducts the process on a large scale, had several opportunities of witnessing the interesting phenomena to which it gives rise. So powerful is the odour developed upon these occasions that it fills the premises with an almost insupportable atmosphere, occasioning head-ache, sickness and cough; so that we may safely observe, that, whatever miracles the prussic acid may perform, when applied to the coats of the stomach, its application in the form of vapour to the lungs proves highly irritating to those organs.

The concentrated vapour of this essential oil is almost instantly destructive to animal life. I have seen flies drop lifeless to the floor as they have passed over the still; thus, as it were, realizing in miniature the fabled powers of Avernus.

“Quam super haud ullæ poterant impune volantes Tendere iter pennis: talis sese halitus atris Faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat.” Æn. VI. v. 239.

Footnote 582:

Some authors have considered the olibanum as the Λιβανος quasia Oleum Libani, (Thus) of the ancients, but Dr. Maton has observed that he cannot find any passage in the ancient authors sufficiently precise to corroborate this conjecture. See Abietis Resina.

Footnote 583:

The Greeks and Romans attached a very different meaning to the terms OPIUM and MECONIUM. The former signified the pure juice (οπος succus) that flowed from the scarified poppies; the latter, the juice obtained by bruising and pressing the poppy heads.

Footnote 584:

Annales de Chimie, vol. 45. Derosne first obtained a crystalline substance from Opium in the year 1803, which dissolved in acids; but he did not determine its nature or properties.

Footnote 585:

In 1804 Seguin (Ann. de Chim. vol. 92) discovered another crystalline body in opium, and although he described most of its properties he never hinted at its alkaline nature.

Footnote 586:

Sertuerner at Eimbeck, in Hanover, had at the same time as Derosne and Seguin, obtained these crystalline bodies, (Ann. de Chim. et de Phy. T. v.) but it was not until the year 1817, that he first unequivocally proclaimed the existence of a vegetable alkali, and assigned to it the narcotic powers which distinguish the operation of opium; to this body he gave the name of Morphia, and it appears to be the same as the essential salt noticed by Seguin. The salt of Derosne, now more usually denominated Narcotine, is quite a different principle, although it was constantly mistaken for one of the salts of Morphia, till M. Robiquet (Ann. de Chim. & de Phy. T. v.) pointed out its distinctive properties. It is an azotized substance, crystallizing in beautiful pearly prisms or tables; soluble in fixed oil, and still more so in æther and the acids; insoluble in water, and little soluble in alcohol; destitute of action on the vegetable colours, and incapable of neutralizing acids. There still exists, however, very considerable confusion with respect to this salt, and farther experiments are required to ascertain its chemical nature, as well as its physiological action.

Footnote 587:

The discovery of an alkaline body in opium induced the French and German chemists to examine the composition of other active vegetables, with a view to detect the existence of an analogous principle; and their labours have been rewarded with unexampled success. They have accordingly obtained STRYCHNIA from the nut of the Strychnos nux vomica;—BRUCIA from the bark of the Brucea Anti-dysenterica (False Angustura Bark) VERATRIA from the Veratrum album, V. Sabadilla and Colchicum Autumnale;—CINCHONIA from the bark of the Cinchona Oblongifolia (Red Bark);—QUINA (or Kina) from that of the Cinchona Cordifolia (Yellow Bark);—EMETA from the Callicocca Ipecacuanha;—DELPHIA, from the Delphinium Staphisagria;—PICROTOXA from the Menispermum Cocculus;—SOLANA from the Solanum Nigrum, and S. Dulcamara; GENTIA, from Gentiana lutea;—ATROPIA from the Atropa Belladonna;—HYOSCYAMA, from Hyoscyamus Niger. Besides which, Capsicum, Piper nigrum, and SENNA, have been said to yield analogous principles of a salifiable character. With respect to most of these alkaline bodies farther experiments are required to establish our confidence; it is more than probable that several of them will turn out to be disguised modifications of each other; it has already been questioned whether QUINA and CINCHONIA be not varieties of one alkali; indeed it is possible that all these bodies may have the same alkaline base, and that they differ from each other in consequence of their combination with other principles, derived from the vegetable in question, and impressing upon the salt its characteristic virtues; and this idea receives material support from the fact, that they are neutralized by a very small proportion of acid. (See a paper on this subject in the 70th number of the Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journ.)

They have all many properties in common, such as a degree of bitterness varying in intensity in different species; they are inodorous; are not altered by air or light, but are decomposed by a moderate heat; most of them enter into fusion, but at different temperatures, some for instance at below 212° Fahr. others not until they are about to be decomposed; HYOSCYAMA will even resist a low red heat. They are very sparingly soluble in water, but they are in general rendered more so by the presence of resinous matter. They are nearly all highly soluble in alcohol. Æther readily dissolves DELPHIA, VERATRIA, EMETA, QUINA, and GENTIA; but MORPHIA, CINCHONIA, and PICROTOXA, are very sparingly soluble: and STRYCHNIA and BRUCIA are nearly insoluble in it; they combine with the acids; and, in general, form neutral salts; but it appears that VERATRIA and EMETA always unite with an excess of acid. All the combinations with the mineral acids, excepting the salts of PICROTOXA, are exceedingly soluble in water; and, with the exception of NITRATE OF CINCHONIA, and all the salts of VERATRIA, they are crystallizable. The acetates too, with a few exceptions, are also soluble, and they are disposed to form super-salts. All the oxalates, except that of PICRATOXA, which is the most soluble of its salts, and all tartrates, are rather insoluble, and have likewise a tendency to unite with an excess of acid. The action of concentrated nitric acid on these alkaline bodies is very peculiar, converting the greater number of them into artificial tannin; but it appears to peroxidate MORPHIA, STRYCHNIA, and BRUCIA, rendering them less powerful as salifiable bases, and diminishing or destroying their action on the animal body. See Edinburgh Med. & Surg. Journ. supra citat.

By analysis, with the deutoxide of copper, these alkalies yield carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; but no azote, unless they have been obtained by precipitation with ammonia, as in the process of Sertuerner.

It would appear that these bodies exist in their native plants, in combination with peculiar acids; some of them are found in the state of Malates.

With respect to their physiological action it may be stated, that they would appear to concentrate in themselves the characteristic properties of the vegetables to which they belong, and yet, although their effects are much greater than those of the undecomposed vegetables, the same quantity of alkali is not so powerful in its pure form, as in its natural state of combination. Thus one grain of morphia produces no more effect than two grains of Turkey opium, which do not contain more than a sixteenth part of the alkali. To explain this loss of efficacy which usually attends our attempts at concentration, the reader is referred to the observations which have been already offered upon this subject in the first part of this work, page 153.

Footnote 588:

The manufacture, however, of Indian Opium has been of late years greatly improved by Dr. Fleming, under whose superintendance that important department was placed by the Marquis Wellesley.

Footnote 589:

Forty thousand pounds weight of Opium are annually imported into the Port of London.

Footnote 590:

It has been stated in the Historical Introduction to this work, (page 8) that the nepenthe, which Helen mixed with wine, and gave to the guests of Menelaus, was probably opium; such was the opinion of Sprengel, expressed in his History of Botany. Other authors have entertained a different belief. Delile, in his “Flora Egyptiaca,” considers it to have been a preparation of hyoscyamus albus. Dr. Christen, in his late elaborate Dissertation on Opium, agrees with Forbes, who states, in his Oriental Memoirs, that in Hindostan Bendsch, i. e. nepenthe is prepared from the cannabis sativa of Linnæus. Linder informs us that bangue is prepared from the dried leaves of the wild cannabis, the smoke of which is said to be more narcotic than even that of opium. There seems, however, to be good reason for supposing that Indian bangue is a compound of several ingredients. Ray says that he learned from Sir Hans Sloane, that the principal ingredient was not hemp, but a plant somewhat like it.

Footnote 591:

The operation of Opium is not unfrequently attended with an itching, or sense of pricking of the skin, which is sometimes terminated by a species of miliary eruption.

Footnote 592:

Opium is the Quack’s sheet anchor. The various nostrums advertised as “Cough Drops, for the cure of colds, asthmas, catarrhs, &c.” are preparations of Opium very similar to paregoric elixir. PECTORAL BALSAM OF LIQUORICE, and ESSENCE OF COLTSFOOT, are combinations of this kind. GRINDLE’S COUGH DROPS, are a preparation of the same description, only made with Rectified, instead of Proof Spirit, and consequently more highly charged with stimulant materials. “The mischief,” says Dr. Fothergill, “that has proceeded from the healing anodynes of quacks can be scarcely imagined; for in coughs, arising from suppressed perspiration or an inflammatory diathesis, Opiates generally do harm.”

SQUIRE’S ELIXIR. Opium, camphor, serpentaria, sub-carbonate of potass, anise and fennel seeds, made into a tincture, and coloured with cochineal.

FORD’S BALSAM OF HOREHOUND. This nostrum may very properly be classed under the present head. It consists of an aqueous infusion of horehound and liquorice root, with double the proportion of proof spirit or brandy; to which is then added, opium, camphor, benzoin, squills, oil of aniseed, and honey.

Footnote 593:

LIQUOR MORPHII CITRATIS. ℞.Opii Crudi Optimi ℥iv; Acidi Citrici (Cryst:) ℥ij; semel in mortario lapideo contunde, dein aquæ distillatæ bullientis oj affunde; et intime misceantur; macera per horas viginti quatuor; per chartam bibulosam cola.

Footnote 594:

THE BLACK DROP, or The Lancaster, or Quaker’s Black Drop. This preparation, which has been long known and esteemed, as being more powerful in its operation and less distressing in its effects than any tincture of opium, has until lately been involved in much obscurity; the papers however of the late Edward Walton, of Sunderland, one of the near relations of the original proprietor, having fallen into the hands of Dr. Armstrong, that gentleman has obliged the profession by publishing the manner in which it is prepared, and is as follows:—“Take half a pound of opium sliced; three pints of good verjuice (juice of the wild crab,) and one and a half ounce of nutmegs, and half an ounce of saffron. Boil them to a proper thickness, then add a quarter of a pound of sugar, and two spoonsful of yeast. Set the whole in a warm place near the fire, for six or eight weeks, then place it in the open air until it becomes a syrup; lastly, decant, filter, and bottle it up, adding a little sugar to each bottle.” One drop of this preparation is considered equal to about three of the Tincture of Opium. P. L. It would appear that an Acetate of Morphia is formed, which is more active, and less distressing in its effects, than any other narcotic combination.

The French Codex contains directions for preparing a compound very similar to the Black Drop; viz.

VINUM OPIATUM FERMENTATIONE PARATUM, or Guttæ seu Laudanum Abbatis Rousseau. Take of white honey twelve ounces; warm water, three pounds; dissolve the honey in the water, pour it into a matrass, and set it aside in a warm place: as soon as fermentation has commenced, add four ounces of good opium, having previously dissolved, or rather diffused it in twelve ounces of water; allow them to ferment together for a month, then evaporate until ten ounces only remain, filter, and add four ounces and a half of alcohol.

LIQUOR OPII SEDATIVUS. Under this name, Mr. Battley, a manufacturing druggist, of Fore-street, London, has offered for sale a narcotic preparation, which it is generally supposed owes its efficacy to the acetate of morphia; on being kept, however, I found that it underwent some important change, during which so much air was disengaged as to blow out the cork from the bottle with violence. This is an objection to its admission into practice, unless we can ensure recently prepared portions as often as they may be required.

In publishing the above statement, I have unfortunately been the cause of much unnecessary INK-SHED. A letter, by Mr. Battley, has been industriously circulated through the different ranks of the profession, purporting to be an apology for his preparation, but after a careful perusal of it, instead of being able to discover any argument in its favour, we receive a full acknowledgment of the validity of the objection above stated. “I explained to Dr. Paris, that the liability of the solution to undergo change, WAS A DEFECT in the preparation, but that the addition of a little spirit would prevent decomposition,” and yet in the next sentence he tells us that in those cases in which it is most beneficial, “the addition of spirit would be highly improper.” See Medical Repository, vol. xiii, p. 273.

But the circumstance which has excited the greatest indignation in the mind of Mr. Battley, is my having applied the term NOSTRUM to his preparation. Every medicine that is prepared by a secret process, and sold for the private advantage of an individual, is properly designated a NOSTRUM. And I am at a loss to discover any feature in the present case that can entitle it to be considered as an exception to this general rule; but perhaps Mr. Battley is inclined to be hypercritical, and as the preparation is not indebted to him, but to Wedelius or Le Mort, for its origin, is prepared to exclaim with the Roman Poet:

“Quæ non fecimus ipsi vix ea NOSTRA VOCO.”

Mr. Battley also complains bitterly of my having inserted his preparation under so odious a motto as “Arcana Revelata fætent,” for my own part I cannot conceive any thing more appropriate to the case, viz. Arcana, these secret preparations, revelata, exposed to the air, fætent, grow fœtid. But, notwithstanding the objections which I have thus felt it my duty to offer, I am disposed to speak favourably of its mild and uniform effects, and in justice to Mr. Battley, I will further state the same opinion has been formed by a great number of respectable practitioners. The late Mr. Haden, who during his protracted illness took a large quantity of this preparation, states, in his Translation of the Formulary of Dr. Majendie, that it is devoid of exciting, and almost of constipating, properties. He made a very good substitute, “by macerating the dregs, remaining after making tincture of opium, in a solution of Tartaric acid.” The preparation formed a tolerably deep tincture, and 40 drops acted, he thought, in all respects, like 20 of the liquor opii sedativus. It neither stimulated, nor produced costiveness.

Footnote 595:

GODBOLD’S VEGETABLE BALSAM. In the specification of the Patent for this nostrum forty-two different vegetables are directed to be distilled “for the purpose of extracting their essences, which are to be preserved separately and apart from each other, in syrups, and are to be mixed with the following gums and drugs, viz. Gum Dragon, Gum Guaiacum, Gum Arabic, and Gum Canada, these being dissolved in double distilled vinegar, with a quantity of Storax dissolved in Spirits of Wine and Oil of Cinnamon. It is to be bottled off, and kept three years before it is fit to be administered for the CURE of Consumption, or any Asthmatic Complaint.” It is hardly necessary to observe, that no such directions ever are, or indeed ever could be followed; in short the “BALSAM” is little else than simple oxymel. It is, however, not a little curious that amongst the forty-two plants enumerated, there should be several that would on distillation yield Prussic acid, such as the Bays. We wonder that this accidental circumstance has not been noticed, and turned to account, by some of those worthy disciples of Esculapius who live by the credulity of mankind, and, as Falstaff expresses it, “Turn diseases to a commodity.”

Footnote 596:

“It is in this manner, I apprehend, that stimulating syrups will frequently remove hoarseness.”

Footnote 597:

Although it has been long known that the seeds of the poppy, and the oil obtained from them by expression, do not possess any of the narcotic properties of the plant, and that they were even baked into cakes and used as an article of food by the ancients, yet has there been in later times very considerable contention respecting the propriety and safety of using such oil. The cultivation of the Poppy for the sake of the oil of its seeds, as an article of food, has been long carried on in France, Brabant, and Germany; and more recently in Holland. At about the beginning of the 17th century, the opposition to this use of the Poppy manifested itself in France, and became so violent, that the Lieutenant General of the Police of Paris ordered the medical faculty of that city to make the strictest examination concerning this point, and they accordingly reported that, as there is nothing narcotic or prejudicial to health in the oil, the use of it might be permitted. But this decision was unsatisfactory; and popular clamour determined the Court to pass a decree in 1718, prohibiting the sale of Poppy Oil, whether mixed or unmixed! The sale of the article, however, notwithstanding this most singular decree, was clandestinely encouraged, and it gradually increased until the year 1735, when the Court issued a severe decree, enjoining the superintendent to mix a certain quantity of the extract of Turpentine, with every cask containing 1100 lbs. of this oil, of which no less than 2000 casks were consumed in Paris alone. But the secret demand for it increased until 1773, when a Society of Agriculture undertook to examine the question, and the result of their labours had the effect of reversing the prohibition, and of convincing the multitude that their fears were entirely unfounded, and that there was really no narcotic power, nor any secret mischief in the article.

Footnote 598:

As these pills are liable to become hard and insoluble by being kept, it is better to keep the ingredients in powder, and to form them extemporaneously with a little syrup.

Footnote 599:

The Pix Arida of the late Pharmacopœia.

Footnote 600:

Tar water was also at one period celebrated as an antisiphylitic remedy. M. Acharius, in his work “On the Use and advantages of Tar Water in Venereal Complaints,” enumerates the cases of a number of patients cured by this remedy alone in the Hospital of Stockholm, without any Mercury.

Footnote 601:

Dr. Mudge in the year 1782 had recommended the fumigation of balsams, in a pamphlet on the subject of his Inhaler; little or no notice however was taken of this recommendation, a circumstance which cannot excite our surprise when we consider the extravagant terms in which the pretensions of the remedy were supported. “I believe,” says he, “that much of the benefit which consumptive persons experience from sea voyages, is derived from the tar vapour constantly present on board a ship!”

A Radical and Expeditious Cure for a recent Catarrhous Cough. By J. Mudge, Plymouth, 1783.

Footnote 602:

Litharge. The word is derived from λὶθος, Lapis, a stone, and ἄργυρος, Argentum, Silver; from the fact of the lead being thrown off in this state during its application for the refinement of Silver.

Footnote 603:

That the oak cask imparts astringent matter to the contained spirit, is shewn by the facts enumerated under the history of Brandy, see Spiritus Tenuior.

Footnote 604:

Sir George Baker considered the dry-belly-ache, which is common to drinkers of new Rum, in the West Indies, entirely referable to its contamination with Lead.

Footnote 605:

See next Note.

Footnote 606:

I uniformly adopt this plan; the acetic acid is the best guard that can be selected to protect the salt from decomposition; even the Tartrate of Lead, which is so insoluble in water, forms with vinegar a soluble triple salt.

Footnote 607:

ROYAL PREVENTIVE.—This pretended prophylactic against venereal virus is a solution of Acetate of Lead.

Footnote 608:

Peroxide of Potassium is produced by heating the metal in a considerable excess of oxygen. It is an orange-coloured body, which, upon being put into water effervesces, and gives off oxygen, and is thus reduced to the state of protoxide.

Footnote 609:

Potass forms the basis of many of those preparations, sold as Depilatories; in some instances combined with Lime. COLLEY’S Depilatory appears to consist of Quick-lime, and a portion of Sulphuret of Potass.

Footnote 610:

Sal Prunelle. Nitre, when coloured purple like a plum, has been long esteemed in Germany as a powerful medicine, under this name.

M. Chevreul supposes the urinous taste attributed to fixed alkaline bases not to belong to these substances, but to the ammonia, which is set at liberty by their action on the ammoniacal salts contained in the saliva; the proofs of which, he says, may be derived from the facts that the sensation disappears upon pressing the nostrils; and that the same odour is perceived when we smell to a mixture of recent saliva and fixed alkali, made in a small glass or porcelain capsule. (See my work on Medical Chemistry, § 8.)

Footnote 611:

See my “Elements of Medical Chemistry,” p. 157.

Footnote 612:

Ibid. p. 605.

Footnote 613:

I may take this opportunity to state that Sulphuretted Hydrogen, in a state of simple solution, or in combination with other bodies, possesses considerable powers as a remedy in many cutaneous disorders of a chronic character. The “Gas-Water,” or that which remains after the gas, used for illumination, has passed through the purifier, and which consists of Hydro-Sulphuret and Hydro-bi-Sulphuret of Lime, has been used with great success in such cases.

Footnote 614:

It may be termed a Boro-tartrate.

Footnote 615:

ESSENTIAL SALT OF LEMONS. The preparation sold under this name, for the purpose of removing iron moulds from linen, consists of cream of tartar, and super-oxalate of potass, or salt of sorrel, in equal proportions.

Footnote 616:

See page 183.

Footnote 617:

His specification, lodged in Chancery, is as follows. “Take Antimony, calcine it with a continued protracted heat, in a flat unglazed vessel, adding to it from time to time, a sufficient quantity of any animal oil and salt, dephlegmated; then boil it in melted nitre for a considerable time, and separate the powder from the nitre by dissolving it in water.”

JAMES’S ANALEPTIC PILLS. These consist of James’s powder, gum ammoniacum, and the pill of aloes with myrrh, (Pil. Rufi) equal parts, with a sufficient quantity of the tincture of castor to make a mass.

Footnote 618:

In consequence of the antimonial powder having proved inert in the hands of Dr. Elliotson, although exhibited to the amount of a hundred grains for a dose, Mr. Phillips was induced to examine more particularly into the nature of the oxide which enters into its composition. “After the well established fact,” says he, “that peroxide of antimony is nearly or totally inert, it appears to me, that if proof could be obtained, that the oxide of antimony is in this state, the deficiency of power in the Pulvis Antimonialis would be accounted for.” He then proceeds to detail his experiments, from which he deduces the composition of this preparation to be as follows:

Peroxide of Antimony 35 Phosphate of Lime 65 ——— 100

which exist together in a simple state of mixture. Until the subject be elucidated by farther experiments, it will be difficult for the chemist to persuade the physician, that he can never have derived any benefit from the exhibition of Antimonial Powder, although I am by no means inclined to concede to it that extraordinary degree of virtue, which many practitioners are so eager to maintain.

Footnote 619:

This plant is esteemed by the American Indians as a universal remedy, and is always carried about with them. The members of the profession have doubtless heard of an irregular practitioner, who has persuaded a certain number of persons in this metropolis, that he possesses remedies, obtained from the American Indians, by which he is enabled to cure Scrofula in its worst forms; it is to this Empiric that I alluded in the note at page 33; and it may be worthy of notice that the plant upon which he relies for success, is the Pyrola Umbellata.

Footnote 620:

Philosophical Transactions, 1799.

Footnote 621:

WARNER’S CORDIAL. Rhubarb bruised ℥j; Sennæ ℥ss; Saffron ʒj; Powdered Liquorice ʒiv; Raisins pounded ℔j; Brandy oiij; digest for a week and strain.

MOSELEY’S PILLS. The stomachic Pills which are sold under this name, consist merely of Rhubarb and Ginger.

Footnote 622:

Dr. Rehman asserts that it is the root of the same species as that which produces the Turkey variety, but that it is prepared with less care.

Footnote 623:

The seeds of this plant, from which the oil is expressed, are variegated with black and white streaks, resembling in shape as well as colour, the insect RICINIS or Tick, whence the name. These seeds, from the acrid juice in their skins, are very drastic and emetic; they were however used by HIPPOCRATES. MATHIOLUS attempted to correct their emetic quality by torrefaction, but without success. GULIELMUS PISO proposed a tincture of them, but the preparation is not only uncertain, but unsafe in its operation. See Tiglii Semina.

Footnote 624:

For the derivation of the name Castor oil, see p. 39.

Footnote 625:

The sugar cane is called in Arabic Lukseb. The produce of it, Assakur, hence Sugar. Some authors have attempted to derive the word from Succus a juice; this is obviously an error.

Footnote 626:

For this purpose it may be added to certain ointments to prevent their becoming rancid. For the reasons, however, above stated, it must not be boiled with the ingredients, but added after they are cold.

Footnote 627:

In those districts where Soap is generally made from wood ashes, or from Russian or American potass, unless Salt were added in large quantities, it would not have any consistence. As Kelp and common Barilla contain a sufficient quantity of it, no further addition is required.

Footnote 628:

TRANSPARENT SOAP is made by carefully evaporating the alcoholic solution. The solution itself is sold under the name of SHAVING LIQUID, or “ESSENCE ROYALE POUR FAIRE LA BARBE.”

Footnote 629:

When a solution of soap and sub-acetate of lead are added together, the potass of the former combines with the acetic acid of the latter, and the fat and oxyd of lead are disengaged; the one rising to the surface, while the other is precipitated; and yet notwithstanding this complete decomposition, some surgeons are in the habit of using an application which consists of a drachm of the Liquor Plumbi Sub-Acetatis, and two ounces of the Linimentum Saponis! We cannot have any hesitation in deciding upon the inefficacy of such a mixture.

Footnote 630:

GODFREY’S CORDIAL. The following receipt for this nostrum was obtained from a wholesale druggist, who makes and sells many hundred dozen bottles in the course of a year. There are however several other formulæ for its preparation, but they are not essentially different. Infuse ℥ix of Sassafras, and of the seeds of Carraway, Coriander, and Anise, of each ℥j, in six pints of water, simmer the mixture until it is reduced to four pints; then add ℔vj of Treacle, and boil the whole for a few minutes; when it is cold, add f℥iij of the tincture of Opium. The extensive and indiscriminate use of this nostrum in the nursery, is a subject of national opprobrium, and is so considered by foreign writers. See Fodéré, Medicine Legale, vol. iv. p. 22.

Footnote 631:

M. Virey says, “On observe que des acides châtrent, pour ainsi parler, tout l’energie de la Scammonée.”

Footnote 632:

COUNT WARWICK’S POWDER. The purgative long known and esteemed under this name, consisted of Scammony, Oxide of Antimony, and Cream of Tartar. It is much extolled by Baglivi, and by Van-Swieten, as an efficacious purgative in intermittent fevers.

Footnote 633:

The English physicians do not do justice to this valuable article. In this country it enjoys a high and deserved reputation. As a remedy in Croup it has long been esteemed as one of our most efficient resources, and more recently it has been very warmly recommended as a powerful emmenagogue. In Croup, it should not be given until after the use of venesection and other evacuants. It may then be administered in the form of decoction, prepared from half an ounce of the bruised root boiled in eight ounces of water down to four. Of this a tea spoonful is to be taken every hour or half hour as circumstances may require. When used as an emmenagogue, the decoction is to be prepared by simmering in a close vessel ℥j of the bruised root in a pint of boiling water, until it is reduced about one third—of this four ounces are to be taken daily, and to be increased as far as the stomach will bear, at the menstrual period. Ed.

Footnote 634:

It enters into the composition of Stoughton’s Elixir, for which see Gentianæ Radix.

Footnote 635:

It is for this reason that the cake left after expression is so much more pungent than the seeds, for the fixed oil can be easily separated by pressure.

Footnote 636:

WHITEHEAD’S ESSENCE OF MUSTARD.—This consists of oil of turpentine, camphor, and a portion of spirit of rosemary; to which is added a small quantity of flour of mustard.

WHITEHEAD’S ESSENCE OF MUSTARD PILLS.—Balsam of Tolu, with resin!

READY MADE MUSTARD.—This is made up with currant wine, and sugar; formerly Must, or grape juice, was employed for this purpose, whence the name Mustard.

Footnote 637:

This term is also applied to the Sub-carbonate of Ammonia. The objection to its use depends upon the solecism which it involves; the division of an atom, which, according to chemical principles, is indivisible; but this objection may be answered by stating, that the term is one merely of convenience, and serves to express the proportions of the acid and its base. The chemical difficulty is at once solved by multiplying each by two, which will make the proportions as 3 to 2. instead of 1½ to 1.

Footnote 638:

SODAIC POWDERS.—Contained in two distinct papers, one of which is blue, the other white; that in the former consists of ʒss of the carbonate of soda, that in the latter of grs. xxv of tartaric acid. These powders require half a pint of water. It is very evident that a solution of these powders is by no means similar to “Soda Water,” which it is intended to emulate; for in this latter preparation, the soda is in combination only with carbonic acid; whereas the solution of the “Sodaic Powders” is that of a neutral salt, with a portion of fixed air diffused through it.

PATENT SEIDLITZ POWDERS.—These consist of two different powders; the one, contained in a white paper, consists of ʒij of Tartarized Soda, and ℈ij of Carbonate of Soda; that in the blue paper, of grs. xxxv of tartaric acid. The contents of the white paper are to be dissolved in half a pint of spring water, to which those of the blue paper are to be added; the draught is to be taken in a state of effervescence. The acid being in excess renders it more grateful, and no less efficacious as a purgative. This preparation cannot be said to bear any other resemblance to the mineral water of Seidlitz, than in being purgative. The water of this spring, which was discovered by Hoffman about a century ago, contains Sulphate of Magnesia as its active ingredient, together with Muriate of Magnesia, and Sulphate, and Carbonate of Lime. In the Codex Medicamentarius of Paris there are two formulæ for the preparation of a water which may resemble that of Seidlitz, the one differing from the other merely in the proportion of its Sulphate of Magnesia.

Footnote 639:

Our English Salt is generally thus contaminated; for which reason it is unfit for the curing of several kinds of fish; this will not appear strange, says Mr. Parkes, when it is considered that merely its own weight of water is all that is necessary for the complete solution of muriate of magnesia; a circumstance which renders it impossible to preserve such salt for any length of time in a dry state. This muriate however might be separated from common salt, on a large scale, for one shilling per cwt. By exposing the salt to a gentle heat in reverberatory furnaces, the muriatic acid of the magnesian muriate will fly off, and the magnesia (on a subsequent solution of the salt) will be precipitated. It is well known that muriate of magnesia begins to part with its acid at a temperature a little higher than that of boiling water.

Footnote 640:

The annual quantity of salt raised from the Salt Mines and Springs in Europe, is estimated at from 25 to 30 millions of cwt.

Footnote 641:

The respect paid to Salt amongst Eastern nations is very remarkable, and may be traced to the highest antiquity. Homer gives to it the epithet of θεὶον, Il. ix. p. 214.

Footnote 642:

In addition to the numerous instances cited by these authors, I may here introduce one which has been just communicated to me by my friend Mr. John Taylor, the agent of the London Company for working the Real del Monte Silver Mines in Mexico. He states that the ore, which consists of the Sulphuret of Silver, is, together with Mercury, amassed in heaps with iron pyrites and common salt; and that such is the greediness of the Mules employed in the works for the Salt, that they are constantly licking the materials; the consequence is that a portion of the Silver Amalgam is introduced into their stomachs; the animals, however, suffer no inconvenience; but, after death, on opening their stomachs, it is not unusual to find considerable masses of Silver, the mercury having escaped, or been dissolved by the gastric juice.

Footnote 643:

The celebrated Indian Tonic for Dyspepsia and Gout, called Bit laban, is prepared by fusing together muriate of soda and some other ingredients. See Dr. Fleming’s Catalogue of Indian Medicinal plants and drugs, p. 54, 55.

Footnote 644:

I have myself witnessed the bad effects of a diet of unsalted fish; and in my examination before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1818, appointed “for the purpose of inquiring into the laws respecting the Salt Duties,” I stated the great injury which the poorer classes in many districts sustained in their health, from an inability to procure this essential article. Lord Somerville (in his address to the Board of Agriculture) gave an interesting account of the effects of a punishment which formerly existed in Holland. “The ancient laws of the country ordained men to be kept on bread alone, UNMIXED WITH SALT, as the SEVEREST punishment that could be inflicted upon them in their moist climate; the effect was horrible: these wretched criminals are said to have been DEVOURED BY WORMS, engendered in their own stomachs.”

SALT was an object of taxation at a very early period in this country; Ancus Martius, 640 years before our era ‘Salinarum Vectigal instituit.’ This tribute was continued on the Britons when our Isle was possessed by the Romans, who worked the Droitwich Mines, and who made salt part of their soldiers Salarium, or salary. Hence the custom at the Eton Montem of asking for salt.

The great advantages which must ultimately accrue to this nation in its fisheries, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, from a late remission of the odious and impolitic tax upon salt, are incalculable. The government of France appears to have been as impolitic with regard to this tax as the English. Buonaparte abolished the collection of turnpike dues; and imposed a tax on salt, payable at the Salt-pans, in its stead. It is not perhaps generally known, that by the aid of this tax he was enabled to complete the grand entrance into Italy, over the Simplon; so that it may be fairly observed, that if HANNIBAL was enabled to cross the Alps by the aid of VINEGAR—BUONAPARTE, by the assistance of SALT, succeeded in constructing a public road over the same mountains.

Footnote 645:

CHELTENHAM SALTS.—A factitious compound has been long vended, as a popular purgative, under this name; it is formed by triturating together the following salts. Sulphate of Soda, grs. 120. Sulphate of Magnesia, grs. 66. Muriate of Soda, 10. Sulphate of Iron, gr. ½. As a purgative it is very efficacious, and superior probably to that which is actually obtained by the evaporation of the Cheltenham water itself; for notwithstanding the high pretensions with which this latter salt has been publicly announced, it will be found to be little else than common Glauber’s Salt. This fact has been confirmed by the experiments of Mr. Richard Phillips, (Annals of Philosophy, No. lxi,) who observes, that the “REAL CHELTENHAM SALTS contain no chalybeate property, but are merely sulphate of soda, mixed with a minute quantity of soda, and a very small portion of common salt.” It could not be imagined that the salt should contain oxide of iron even in a state of mixture, much less in combination, for carbonate of iron is readily decomposed by ebullition, and the oxide of iron is precipitated before the salt can be crystallized. A preparation, under the name of Thomson’s Cheltenham Salts, is accordingly manufactured in London, by evaporating a solution consisting of sulphate of soda and sub-carbonate of soda.

“EFFLORESCENCE OF REAL CHELTENHAM SALTS.” The preceding salt deprived of its water of crystallization.

“EFFLORESCENCE OF REAL MAGNESIAN CHELTENHAM SALTS,” MADE FROM THE WATERS OF THE CHALYBEATE MAGNESIAN SPA. This is asserted to be a sub-sulphate from nature, which combines both a pure and a sub-sulphated magnesia in its composition; “but,” says Mr. Phillips, “neither nature nor art has ever produced such a combination; in truth, it consists of Epsom Salt, with small portions of magnesia, and muriate of magnesia or muriate of soda.”

MURIO-SULPHATE OF MAGNESIA AND IRON. The preparation thus named by Mr. Thomson, was found by Mr. Phillips to consist of Epsom Salt, deprived of part of its water of crystallization, and discoloured by a little rust of iron, and containing a small portion of muriate of magnesia.

Thus it appears, that not one of these preparations is similar to the water which is drank at the Spa; in order to remedy this difficulty, Mr. Thomson prepared the “ORIGINAL COMBINED CHELTENHAM SALTS,” by evaporating the waters to dryness: but a very small share of chemical penetration is required to satisfy us that no process of this description can remedy the defect described, for as Mr. Phillips has observed, the chalybeate properties of the water must be essentially altered by such an operation.

Footnote 646:

HUNGARY WATER. Aqua Reginæ Hungariæ. This article, when genuine, is a pure spirit distilled from the Rosemary, and is strongly scented with the rich perfume of that aromatic plant.

Footnote 647:

I apprehend that the peculiar flavour of Cogniac depends upon the presence of an æthereal spirit, formed by the action of Tartaric or perhaps Acetic acid upon Alcohol; it is on this account that Nitric Æther, when added to Malt spirits, gives them the flavour of French Brandy. The same flavour is also successfully obtained by distilling British spirits over wine lees, or by distilling a spirit obtained from Raisin Wine, which has become acescent.

In new brandy there also appears to be an uncombined acid, giving to it a peculiar taste and quality, which are lost by age. This explains the reason why the addition of five or six drops of “liquor ammoniæ,” to each bottle of new brandy, will impart to it the qualities of that of the oldest date.

Footnote 648:

TAYLOR’S RED BOTTLE, commonly called the Whitworth Doctor. British Brandy coloured with Cochineal, and flavoured with oil of Origanum.

Footnote 649:

Mr. Parkes, in his Chemical Essays, has the following remark: “an ingenious friend assures me that if new rum be exposed for a night to a severe frost, and then removed to a heated room, and thus alternately treated for a week or two, it will in that short time have acquired a flavour equal to fine old spirits.” The mischievous effects of new rum, as drank in the West Indies, would seem to depend upon the presence of Lead; see Plumbi Acetas.

Footnote 650:

Mock Arrack. The author of ‘Apicius Redivivus,’ directs, for the purpose of making a mock Arrack, that two scruples of Benzoic acid be added to every quart of Rum. By a receipt of this kind the celebrated Punch of Vauxhall is prepared.

Footnote 651:

The famous Helvetian Styptic, described in page 83, depended wholly on this accidental contamination for its colour, and it was no small mortification to our chemists, when this nostrum was first introduced amongst us, that they could not prepare it with our own spirits, but were obliged to be at the expense of true French Brandy. Our own Spirits, although equally coloured, would never produce a violet tincture; at length, however, the mystery was discovered, and the gall nut imparted to the tincture that characteristic colour which was so long considered essential to its efficacy; but the discovery threw discredit upon the nostrum, and it fell into disuse.

Footnote 652:

If any additional argument were necessary, we might repeat, that Arsenic in its metallic state is not poisonous. As it is almost impossible to reduce metallic arsenic to a state of powder, without its becoming oxidized, M. Renault had recourse to its alloys for deciding the question; and he found that Mispickel (an alloy of iron and arsenic,) when given to the extent of two drachms, had no apparent effect; this result agrees with the conclusion of Bayen in his work on Tin, and proves that the arsenic which may be contained in that metal cannot produce any medicinal effect, as it exists in its metallic state. Recherches Chimiques sur l’Etain, par Bayen et Charlard, 1781.

Footnote 653:

GUY’S POWDER OR ETHIOPIA. This once celebrated remedy consisted of pure rasped Tin, Mercury, and Sublimed Sulphur, triturated together.

BLAINE’S POWDER FOR THE DISTEMPER IN DOGS. The basis of this nostrum is the Aurum Musivum, or Sulphuret of Tin, and which has been said to be more efficacious in cases of Tænia than the simple metal.

MATHIEU’S VERMIFUGE was indebted to Tin for its efficacy, see Filicis Radix.

Footnote 654:

SULPHUR LOZENGES. Sublimed Sulphur one part, sugar eight parts, Tragacanth mucilage q. s. used in Asthma, and in Hæmorrhoids.

Footnote 655:

Sugar, perfectly free from the extractive matter with which it exists in combination in nature, and which constitutes that compound to which the name of Sweet Principle has been given, will not, however diluted, undergo any kind of fermentation; for it is the presence of this peculiar extractive matter, the natural leaven of fruits, that enables it to undergo that process; since, however, all clayed sugars, or modifications of sugar which are short of perfect purity, still contain a small proportion of this extractive, they are capable of fermenting, when sufficiently dilute; Dr. Maccullough, in his essay on the art of making wine, observes, that by the addition of a very small quantity of the Sulphite of Potass, the fermentation of syrups and preserves may be effectually prevented; he states also, that the same object may generally be attained by the use of Oxy-muriate of Potass, a salt absolutely tasteless, and easily procured.

Footnote 656:

The Damask Rose, Rosa Centifolia, of which this Syrup is composed, was imported into this country by Linacre, on his return from Italy.

Footnote 657:

MAJOR COCHRANE’S COUGH MEDICINE. White poppy heads without seeds, are made into a decoction, which is strained, and boiled again with vinegar and brown sugar, until it assumes the consistence of syrup, which is then acidified by elixir of vitriol.

Footnote 658:

It would appear that there are two principles of activity in Tobacco, an essential oil, and nicotin, either of which are, individually, capable of producing death, but by a very different physiological action, the former by its effects on the brain, the latter by its influence on the heart! See page 132.

Footnote 659:

It seems very probable that the “juice of cursed hebenon,” by which, according to Shakespeare, the king of Denmark was poisoned, was no other than the essential oil of Tobacco:—

——“Sleeping within mine orchard, My custom always of the afternoon, Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, And in the porches of mine ears, did pour The leperous distilment.”

In the first place, the learned commentator Dr. Grey, observes that the word here used (hebenon), was more probably designated by a metathesis, either of the poet or transcriber, for henebon, i. e. henbane. Now it appears from Gerarde, that “tabaco” was commonly called henbane of Peru, (hyoscyamus Peruvianus,) and when we consider how high the public prejudice ran against this herb in the reign of James, it seems very likely that Shakespeare should have selected it, as an agent of extraordinary malignity. No preparation of the hyoscyamus, with which we are acquainted, would produce death by application to the ear, whereas the essential oil of Tobacco would, without doubt, occasion a fatal issue. The term distilment has also called forth a remark from Steevens, which is calculated to support this conjecture; surely, says he, this expression signifies, that the preparation was the result of a distillation.

Footnote 660:

See “An Essay on the means of lessening Pain, and facilitating certain Cases of difficult parturition, by W. P. Dewes, M.D. 1806. also Med. Journ. vol. xviii.”

Footnote 661:

CEPHALIC SNUFF. The basis of this errhine is powdered Asarum, diluted with some vegetable powder.

Footnote 662:

Tamarind, from Timmer a Date, and Hend India, Timmerhend, i. e. Date of India.

Footnote 663:

Various substances have been proposed at different times as substitutes for Coffee. In the “Fourth Century of Observations” in the “Miscellanea Curiosa,” we find a critical dissertation on the (Cahve) Coffee of the Arabians; and on European Coffee, or such as may be prepared from grain or pulse. Dillenius gives the result of his own preparations made with Pease, Beans, and Kidney Beans, but says that that made from Rye comes the nearest to true Coffee, and was with difficulty distinguished from it. This fact is curious, in as much as a spurious Coffee has been lately vended, which is nothing more than roasted Rye. The article is well known by the name of “HUNT’S ŒCONOMICAL BREAKFAST POWDER.”

Footnote 664:

See “Some account of the Medicinal and other Uses of various Substances prepared from Trees of the genus Pinus, by W. G. MATON, M.D. &c. being a Supplement to Mr. Lambert’s splendid work on that genus.”

Footnote 665:

The Τερμὶνθος of Theophrastus (lib. 3. c. 3.) and Dioscorides; (lib. 1, c. 76) from which the word Terebinthus seems to have been derived.

Footnote 666:

The term Balsam is very improperly applied to this substance, since it contains no Benzoic Acid.

Footnote 667:

The product of the Amyris Gileadensis, and probably the Balsamum Judaicum, Syriacum e Mecca, Opobalsamum, &c. of the older writers.

Footnote 668:

A fluid extract, prepared by decoction from the twigs of this species of Fir, is the well known Essence of Spruce, which, when fermented with melasses, forms the popular beverage, called “Spruce Beer,” (Cerevisia Pini Laricis.)

TRUE RIGA BALSAM, Beaume de Carpathes, from the shoots of the Pinas Cembra, previously bruised, and macerated for a month in water.

This same fir also affords BRIANÇON TURPENTINE.

HUNGARIAN BALSAM.—A spontaneous exudation from the P. Pumilio, or Mugho Pine.

Footnote 669:

Lib. 16, c. 10.

Footnote 670:

Prax. Med. Lib. 14. c. 1.

Footnote 671:

STARKEY’S SOAP. This compound is effected by a long and tedious trituration of alkali and oil of turpentine.

Footnote 672:

This case was occasioned by a violent whirling of the body in a frolic! the circumstances attending it are so interesting, that I shall take an opportunity of submitting the details to the profession. See Dr. Yeat’s work on Hydrocephalus.

Footnote 673:

See “A Memoir on the employment of Terebinthinous Remedies in Disease, by James Copland, M.D.” in the Medical and Physical Journal for 1821, p. 185.

Footnote 674:

Kaauw de Persp. N. 430.

Footnote 675:

THE GUESTONIAN EMBROCATION FOR RHEUMATISM. ℞. Ol. Terebinth: f℥iss—Ol: Oliv: f℥iss—Acid: Sulph. dilut: fʒiij.

Footnote 676:

SCOURING DROPS. The peculiar odour which distinguishes oil of turpentine, may be destroyed by the addition of a few drops of some fragrant volatile oil, as that of lemons: a combination of this kind is commonly sold under the name of Scouring Drops, for the purpose of removing paint, oil, or grease from cloth.

Footnote 677:

DUTCH, or HAERLEM DROPS. The basis of this nostrum consists of the residue of this redistillation, which is a thick, red, resinous matter, to which the name of Balsam of Turpentine has been given; a preparation, however, is frequently vended as “Dutch Drops,” which is a mixture of oil of turpentine, tincture of guaiacum, spirit of nitric ether, with small portions of the oils of amber and cloves. Serapion, the younger, one of the earlier Arabian writers on the Materia Medica, describes them as bearing some analogy to “Pine nuts.”

Footnote 678:

The reader will find an account of the Botanical Literature of this plant, by J. Frost, Director of the Medico-Botanical Society, in the 17th volume of the Medical Repository, p. 461.

Footnote 679:

Rumphius, (Herb: Amboinense) in speaking of the Grana Molucca, observes that women who are desirous of getting rid of their husbands, give them four grains at one dose.

Footnote 680:

See Ainslie’s Materia Medica of Hindostan.

Footnote 681:

I state this fact on the authority of a communication made by order of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, to the College of Physicians, enclosing the extract of a letter from Mr. Conwell.

Footnote 682:

Journal of Science and Arts. No. xxvi.

Footnote 683:

I understand that to the Veterinary Surgeon this oil has proved an article of great utility, as it uniformly purges the horse, and may be employed, for that purpose, in those cases in which Aloes would be inadmissible.

Footnote 684:

In making such a tincture we should employ a fluid-drachm of Rectified Spirit, to two drops of the oil. They should be digested for some time and then filtered. With all the care that can be used, a certain portion of the spirit will be evaporated, and half a fluid-drachm of the tincture may be thus considered as nearly equivalent to a drop and a half of the oil.

Footnote 685:

The object of this preliminary step is to saturate the alcohol with a fixed oil, that it may not dissolve any portion of that in the Tiglium, and thus confuse the results. The quantity of fixed oil which alcohol is capable of dissolving is extremely small, and will not in the least degree injure the alcoholic solution for subsequent medicinal use.

Footnote 686:

The change of colour which Guaiacum undergoes by admixture with other bodies, not only affords a test by which we may appreciate its purity, but at the same time it becomes a reagent by which we may assay the virtues of other vegetable substances. According to the experiments of M. Taddey and Rudolphi, it appears that GUAIACUM in powder, is an excellent test for vegetable gluten, forming with it a fine blue colour, whence it affords the means of determining the quality of wheat flour. From the experiments of M. Planche, it moreover appears that there is a series of vegetable roots which, when fresh, are capable of producing a blue colour, if introduced into an alcoholic solution of Guaiacum: so that we may hereafter be furnished with a chemical test that will at once appreciate their freshness, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest desiderata of pharmaceutical science.

A communication has appeared from Mr. A. T. Thomson, in which he proposes Guaiacum as a test for the freshness of Colchicum. I have, however, never been able to succeed with it, to my satisfaction.

Footnote 687:

HUDSON’S PRESERVATIVE FOR THE TEETH AND GUMS. Equal parts of Tincture of Myrrh, Tincture of Bark, and Cinnamon water, to which are added Arquebusade and Gum Arabic.

GREENOUGH’S TINCTURE FOR THE TEETH. The following receipt is given on the authority of Mr. Gray. Of Bitter Almonds, 2 oz. Brazil Wood and Cassia Buds, equal parts, half an ounce; root of the Florentine Iris, 2 dr.: of Cochineal, Salt of Sorrel, and Alum, equal parts, one drachm; Rectified Spirit, 2 pints; Spirit of Horse Radish, half an ounce.

RUSPINI’S TINCTURE FOR THE TEETH. This consists of the root of the Florentine Iris, eight ounces; Cloves, one ounce; Rectified Spirit, two pints; Ambergris, one scruple.

Footnote 688:

From παρηγορέω lenio, to assuage pain.

Footnote 689:

MATTHEW’S INJECTION. This once celebrated remedy for Fistula in Ano, was nothing more than a diluted Tincture of Cantharides.

Footnote 690:

SOLOMON’S BALM OF GILEAD. An aromatic tincture, of which Cardamoms form a leading ingredient, made with brandy. Some practitioners have asserted that Cantharides enter its composition.

Footnote 691:

DAFFY’S ELIXIR. This is the Tinctura Sennæ Composita, with the substitution of treacle for sugar candy, and the addition of aniseeds and elecampane root. Different kinds of this nostrum are sold under the names of DICKY’S DAFFY, and SWINTON’S DAFFY; but they differ merely in some subordinate minutiæ, or unimportant additions.

Footnote 692:

The following remarks, with which I have lately been favoured by Dr. Davy, appear interesting. “In the few cases which I have tried this remedy for the retention of urine, I have seen no good effects produced, until it excited nausea. For this purpose I have found it advantageous to give it in a little tepid water: upon chemical examination I could not discover that it ever passed off by the urine; the fæces, however, are uniformly coloured black by it, whence I conclude it must be evacuated through the bowels. In order to prevent its tendency to constipate the bowels, I have found it necessary to give some aperient, as castor oil, speedily after its exhibition.” May not this latter circumstance explain the reason of his not having detected it in the urine? (See p. 95.)

Footnote 693:

DE LA MOTTE’S GOLDEN DROPS. An Æthereal solution of Iron.

Footnote 694:

It has, for this reason, been substituted for oak bark in the tanning of leather.

Footnote 695:

BRITISH HERB TOBACCO. The basis of which is Coltsfoot; this appears to have had a very ancient origin, for the same plant was smoaked through a reed in the days of Dioscorides, for the purpose of promoting expectoration, and was called by him βηγὶον, from βηξ, tussis, whence Tussilago.

ESSENCE OF COLTSFOOT. For an account of this nostrum, see page 314.

Footnote 696:

In the first edition of this work, I stated the probability of the Veratrum being the active ingredient of the EAU MEDICINALE, and, upon the authority of Mr. James Moore, I inserted a formula for its preparation; subsequent enquiry, however, has shewn the fallacy of this opinion; but the fact of the medicinal efficacy of the Veratrum, when combined with opium, in the cure of gout, remains incontrovertible. One of the two Sweating Powders of WARD was a combination of the Veratrum and Opium, it is certainly a very singular coincidence, that recent experiments should have shewn that the active principle of colchicum is identical with that which gives efficacy to the hellebore, viz. Gallate of Veratria. The fact itself offers a striking instance of medical experience having anticipated the discoveries of chemistry, while it affords a powerful case in support of the arguments which I have urged in the first part of this work, p. 55.

Footnote 697:

EDINBURGH OINTMENT. The principal ingredients of which are the White Hellebore and Muriate of Ammonia.

Footnote 698:

For an account of which the reader is referred to a most ingenious and interesting Essay by Dr. Macculloch, entitled “Remarks on the Art of making Wine, with suggestions for the application of its principles to the improvement of Domestic Wines.”

Footnote 699:

This may also explain why bitters, under certain circumstances, have been found to counteract the effects of wine, as in the instance of the “Poculum Absinthiatum,” of which the ancients entertained so high an opinion. See page 68.

Footnote 700:

“Resinata bibis vina, Falerna fugis.—Martial.”

Pliny (lib: 14. c. 14.) mentions a Wine under the name of Myrrhina, which was so called on account of its being impregnated with Myrrh.

This custom explains the origin and meaning of the Thyrsus of Bacchus, which appears to have been a spear entwined with leaves or a fillet, and surmounted with a Fir cone; thus,

Footnote 701:

See Dioscorides, lib. 5, c. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39.

Footnote 702:

An interesting and highly embellished work upon the subject of Wines, has lately been published by Dr. Henderson.

Footnote 703:

“O Nata mecum consule Manlio.”—Od: xxi. Lib: 3.

The Odes of Horace abound with manifestations of the same taste, thus,

“I pete—— Et Cadum Marsi memorem duelli.”—Od: xiv. Lib: 3.

Here Horace sends his Slave for a cask of the wine on which the Marian war was recorded, and which must therefore have been sixty-eight years old.

In ode xxviii. book 3, we find him calling for

“Bibuli Consulis amphoram.”

Now as the poet was born in the Consulate of Manlius, as above stated, which happened A. U. C. 688, and Bibulus was Consul in 694, the wine must have been hoarded from the time Horace was six years of age.

Wine however might, according to the opinion of our Poet, be too old; he terms wine of this description “Languidiora Vina,” and Plautus compares old wine which has lost its relish and strength, to a man who has lost his teeth by age, “Vinum vetustate edentulum.”

Nestor’s wine was eleven years old. Od. γ. 390.

The Romans had their wine cellars at the top of their houses; thus Horace,

“descende Corvino jubente.”

The object of such an arrangement was that the wine might ripen sooner by the smoke, for their fires were made in the middle of their rooms, with an opening above to let out the smoke, which is described as rolling to the top of the house, in the Eleventh Ode of the Fourth Book.

“Rotantes vertice fumum.”

Footnote 704:

From the noxious effects which some persons experience from potations of Champagne, it has been conjectured that this wine must possess some narcotic principle like that which exists in many species of Fungi. This, however, is extremely improbable.

Footnote 705:

ξηρος signifies dry. This is a curious coincidence.

Footnote 706:

The Sack of Shakespeare was probably Sherry; a conjecture which receives additional strength from the following passage.

Falstaff.—“You rogue, here’s lime in this Sack too: There is nothing but roguery to be found in villainous man: yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime in it; a villainous coward.”

Huldrick Van Speagle, in his “Famous Historie of most Drinks”, says “Sack is no hippocrite, for any man who knows what an Anagram is will confesse that it is contained within the litteral letters and limmits of its own name, which is to say. CASK, i. e. Sack.” See Taylor’s Translation of the “Work of the painful and industrious Huldricke Van Speagle, a grammatical Brewer of Lubeck. A.D. 1637.”

Footnote 707:

Expose equal parts of sulphur and powdered oyster shells to a white heat for fifteen minutes, and when cold, add an equal quantity of cream of tartar; these are to be put into a strong bottle with common water to boil for an hour; and the solution is afterwards to be decanted into ounce phials, adding 20 drops of muriatic acid to each. This liquor will precipitate the least quantity of lead from wines in a very sensible black precipitate. As iron might be accidentally contained in the wine, the muriatic acid is added to prevent its precipitation.

Footnote 708:

Lead will not only correct the acidity of wines, but remove the rancidity of oils: a property which is well known to Painters, and which affords an expedient for making an inferior oil pass for a good one.

Footnote 709:

The quantity of rectified spirit and water ordered will be found on admixture to produce a spirit nearly of the above strength.

Footnote 710:

WARD’S RED DROP. A strong vinous solution of Tartarized Antimony.

Footnote 711:

FORD’S LAUDANUM. This is similar to the Vinum Opii of the present Pharmacopœia.

Footnote 712:

Laudanum. Paracelsus first bestowed the term Laudanum upon a preparation of Opium, a LAUDATA ejus efficacia, LAUDATUM medicamentum.

Footnote 713:

According to the experiments of M. Vogel, Annales de Chimie, (t. lxiv. p. 220) this ointment is nothing more than metallic mercury mixed with grease, the division of which has been carried to such an extent as to impart a blackish colour to the mixture.

Footnote 714:

It is to be hoped that a quantity of the ointment will be prepared according to these views, and be submitted to a more extended series of experiments. The oxide may be procured by decomposing Calomel by a solution of pure potass, or by pouring a solution of the nitrate of mercury into a caustic alkaline solution; this oxide should be at first triturated with a little lard, in the cold, to make the penetration complete, taking care that the lard be quite free from common salt, or else Calomel will be the ultimate result: the mixture is then to be submitted to the action of heat, and it is very important to attend to the necessary temperature, for at 212° the oxide and lard will not unite, at 600° the oxide will be decomposed and the mercury volatilized, at 500° and 400° the oxide is partially decomposed, some red oxide being formed and mercury reduced; the proper temperature is between 300° and 320°, at which it should be maintained for an hour, and the ointment should be stirred until cold.

Footnote 715:

Four ounces, troy, of mercurial ointment, prepared six months before, were kept at 212°, when it separated into two distinct strata, viz. the upper one which was light grey, and extremely active as a medicine, and the under one, which upon being triturated with magnesia, yielded a large proportion of metallic mercury, and which was not found to possess any activity.

Footnote 716:

Whenever it is our object to direct the mercurial impression to any particular organ, we should if possible rouse its excitability by some specific stimulus. An exception, however, to this doctrine would seem to offer itself in the fact, that children at the period of dentition are not readily salivated; a priori, we should have certainly supposed that a predisposition to a flux of saliva would have produced a contrary effect. As it is, we can only conclude that those organs are not disposed to take on any action that may be incompatible with, or adverse to, that of dentition.

Footnote 717:

The Unguentum Werholfii, so long celebrated on the Continent, was a combination of this kind.

Footnote 718:

Basilicon, i. e. the Royal Ointment.

BAILEY’S ITCH OINTMENT. This is a very complicated combination; containing Nitre, Alum, Sulphate of Zinc, and Cinnabar, made into an ointment with Olive oil and Lard, and perfumed with the essential oils of Anise Seeds, Origanum, and Lavender; and coloured with Alkanet root.

The Indians use an ointment in inveterate itch, which is said to prove very successful, and consists of finely powdered Cocculus Indicus mixed with a little warm Castor oil.

Footnote 719:

I have been lately informed by a practical chemist, that he has occasionally found his hydrogen, when produced by zinc and dilute acid, to contain a portion of Arsenuretted hydrogen; a fact which confirms the assertion of Roloff.

Footnote 720:

The various quack remedies advertised for the cure of the hooping cough are either Opiates, or medicines composed of sulphate of zinc. The nostrum, sold under the name of Anti-pertussis, contains this metallic salt as its principal ingredient.

Footnote 721:

OXLEY’S CONCENTRATED ESSENCE OF JAMAICA GINGER.—A mere solution of Ginger in Rectified spirit.

GINGER BEER POWDERS.—White sugar, ʒj ℈ij, ginger grs. v. sub-carbonate of soda grs. xxvj, in blue paper. Tartaric acid grs. xxx, in each white paper. These proportions are directed for half a pint of water.

GINGER BEER.—The following is the receipt by which this popular beverage is prepared. Take of lump sugar half a pound; of cream of tartar half an ounce; Bruised Ginger an ounce; boiling water one gallon. Ferment for twenty-four hours with yeast.

PRESERVED GINGER.—That from India is almost transparent, while that manufactured in Europe is always opaque and fibrous.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. P. ix, changed “notorius Quack Medicines” to “notorious Quack Medicines”. 2. P. 21, changed “antisyphylitic powers” to “antisyphilitic powers”. 3. P. 28, changed “Ipecacuhan had been imported” to “Ipecacuan had been imported”. 4. P. 82, changed “absosolute and relative remedies” to “absolute and relative remedies”. 5. P. 174, changed “mucus of the uretha” to “mucus of the urethra”. 6. P. 189, changed “erysipelatous efflorence” to “erysipelatous efflorescence”. 7. P. 279, changed “brused seeds” to “bruised seeds”. 8. P. 298, changed “Desgrangès (Recueil Period: de la Societé” to “Desgranges (Recueil Period: de la Société”. 9. P. 302, changed “alkaline phospate” to “alkaline phosphate”. 10. P. 307, “1⁄000,000” is unchanged from the original. 11. P. 311, changed “Myroxylon Pruiferum” to “Myroxylon Peruiferum”. 12. P. 329, “Sp. Grav. 9·433” is grossly overstated. 13. P. 333, changed “opothecary at Annecy” to “apothecary at Annecy”. 14. P. 386, changed “forms of Desentery” to “forms of Dysentery”. 15. P. 398, changed “tatarized antimony” to “tartarized antimony”. 16. P. 403, changed “when administed” to “when administered”. 17. P. 414, changed “Saturine applications” to “Saturnine applications”. 18. P. 434, split the three part footnote with three anchors into three distinct footnotes. 19. P. 454, changed “iron, and maganese” to “iron, and manganese”. 20. P. 467, changed “suphate of zinc” to “sulphate of zinc”. 21. P. 476, changed “hexaedral prisms” to “hexahedral prisms”. 22. Table of Contents added by transcriber. 23. Silently corrected punctuation errors and variations in spelling. 24. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. 25. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter. 26. Enclosed italics font in underscores. 27. Enclosed bold font in =equals=. 28. Superscripts are denoted by a caret before a single superscript character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.

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