The object of this process is to ensure a pure and uniform oxide; it has been already stated that a more dangerous fraud can scarcely be committed than the adulteration of arsenic; I am therefore not inclined to coincide with Mr. Thomson, and to regard “the present process as superfluous,” and the committee of the college entertained a similar opinion.

Qualities. The leaves, when recent, are nauseous, bitter, and acrimonious, and prove violently purgative and emetic, properties which are impaired by keeping. Chemical Composition, a peculiar acrid principle, not well understood. Solubility, water by infusion extracts their sensible properties, but they are lost by decoction. Uses. As an errhine, Dr. Cullen has remarked that they form the most useful species of this genus of local stimulants. Dose, gr. iij. to v. repeated every night until the full effect is produced. Officinal Prep. Pulvis Asari compositus. E.D.

[The root of this plant, which is very abundant in every part of the United States, is the part used in medicine. It has a bitter taste, and its most soluble portions are fecula and a bitter extractive matter. Its best menstruum is boiling water. Its medicinal properties are expectorant and diaphoretic. The diseases in which it has been found useful are catarrh, bronchitis, the passive stage of pneumonia, and in rheumatism. In substance it may be taken in doses from ℈j to ʒss. Of the decoction, made by boiling half an ounce of the root in water, a tea cup full may be taken frequently during the day.]

Qualities. Form, small irregular masses, adhering together, of a variegated texture, and containing many little shining tears of a whitish, reddish, or violet hue. Taste, bitter and sub-acrid. Odour, fœtid and alliaceous, but this latter property is very much impaired by age. Chemical Composition. Gum (or according to Brugnatelli, extractive) 60, resin 30, and essential oil 10 parts. Solubility. It yields all its virtues to alcohol and æther; if triturated with water it forms a milky mixture, but which is not permanent, unless some intermede be employed for the suspension of the gum-resin; for this purpose egg may be added, in the proportion of one yolk to a drachm of assafœtida, or a permanent mixture may be effected by carefully triturating the gum resin with double its weight of mucilage. If ʒvj of assafœtida be triturated with ʒss of camphor, a mass results of a proper consistence for a plaster; if triturated with carbonate of ammonia, it is easily reduced to powder, but undergoes no other change. Forms of Exhibition; in mixture or in pills. The Indian physicians have an idea that on account of its stimulating powers, it will, if administered to a pregnant woman, produce abortion. Dose, gr. v. to ℈j. Form. 23, 29. Medicinal Uses, stimulant, antispasmodic, expectorant, and anthelmintic; in coughs, attended with pulmonary weakness, and a tendency to spasm, it is very beneficial; in cases of flatulent cholic, it has, in the form of enema, acted like a charm; in habitual costiveness it often proves an invigorating aperient, and may be advantageously combined with resinous purgatives in torpor of the bowels connected with nervous symptoms. Officinal Prep. Mist: Assafœtid: L.D. Tinct: Assafœtid: L.E.D. Spir: Ammoniæ fœtid: (B) L.E.D. Tinct: Castori, comp: (B) E. Pil: Aloes cum Assafœtid: (G) E. Pil: Galbani: comp: (B) L. Enema Fœtid: D. Impurities. Its characteristic odour should be powerful, and when broken, its fracture ought to exhibit a bluish-red appearance. It ought not to be brittle.

[Gold was early used as a medicine. It fell however into total disrepute until its use was a few years since revived in France. Although it has attracted some attention lately, it can hardly be said to have reclaimed a permanent place in the materia medica. The most striking effects which it produces on the system, are an increase of urine and perspiration. It has been recommended in glandular swellings, gleets, schirrus of the uterus, scrofula, and dropsy. It is however as an antisyphilitic remedy that it has been principally celebrated. According to Dr. Chrestien of Montpelier, it would appear that gold was not merely adequate to the cure of syphilis in all its forms, but that it possesses very great advantages over mercury—It does not affect the gums, nor does it in any way disturb the general health of the patient. Notwithstanding this warm recommendation of Dr. Chrestien, it is still doubtful whether gold is adequate to the cure of syphilis. The best form in which the gold can be given is that of the muriate, prepared according to the directions of the Pharmacopœia of the United States; of this the dose is one fifteenth to one fourth of a grain, in pills, given every six, eight, or twelve hours.]

Qualities. Form, a thick tenacious liquid becoming concrete by age, in which state it is usually found in the shops. Taste, warm and sweetish. Odour, extremely fragrant, resembling that of lemons. Chemical Composition. Volatile oil, resin, and benzoic acid. Solubility. It is soluble in alcohol, forming a tincture which is rendered milky by water, but no precipitate falls. When dissolved in the smallest quantity of a solution of potass, its odour is changed into one that resembles clove pink. Medicinal Uses. It has been regarded as expectorant. In turning to the classification of expectorants, p. 102, it will be found to occupy a place in the second division of our first class, for it may be considered as capable of stimulating the pulmonary exhalants; whence its use in chronic coughs. Forms of Exhibition. It may be suspended in water by means of mucilage, or yolk of egg, but it is rarely employed except on account of its agreeable flavour;^[424] its virtues are similar to those of the balsam of Peru. Officinal Prep. Tinct: Benzoin. comp: L.E.D. Tinct: Toluiferi Balsam: E.D. Syrup: Tolut: L.

Qualities. The leaves are inodorous. Taste, slightly nauseous, sweetish, and sub-acrid; their peculiar properties are not lost by drying. Chemical Composition. Vauquelin found that the leaves contained a substance analogous to albumen, salts with a base of potass, and a bitter principle on which its narcotic properties depended, and more lately the presence of an alkaline element has been detected, which has received the appellation of Atropia, the sulphate of which crystallizes very beautifully. Solubility. Water is the most powerful solvent of its active matter. Uses. It is a powerful sedative and narcotic, both as an internal medicine and as an external application; in this latter form, it alleviates local pains very effectually, but is liable to affect the nervous system. The recent leaves powdered, and made into an ointment with an equal weight of lard will be found an efficient form for many purposes; rubbed over the penis it prevents priapism and relieves chordee more effectually than any application which has been proposed. Forms of Exhibition. Every part of the plant is poisonous, and the berries from their beautiful appearance have often tempted the unwary; the leaves however furnish the most convenient and powerful form of exhibition; externally, they may be used as a poultice, internally, one grain of the dry leaves powdered, and gradually increased to 10 or 12 grains, or the leaves may be infused in boiling water in the proportion of four grains to two fluid-ounces, which may be given as a dose. A little of this infusion dropped into the eye permanently dilates the pupil, for which intention it has been successfully applied previous to an operation for the cataract. The extract of this plant, since its active principle is fixed, ought to possess activity, but as it occurs in commerce it is found to be very uncertain and variable, a circumstance which entirely depends upon the manner in which it has been prepared.^[426] See Extractum Belladonnæ. An overdose of belladonna produces the most distressing and alarming symptoms, and so paralyzing is its influence, that vomiting can be hardly excited by the strongest doses of tartarized antimony; in such cases vinegar will be found the best antidote, or the affusion of cold water over the surface of the body, after the application of which, emetics are more likely to perform their duty, for physiological reasons explained in p. 85. Officinal Preparations. Extract: Belladonnæ L. Succus spissatus Atropæ Belladonnæ. E.

Qualities. Form, brittle masses, composed of white and brownish, or yellowish fragments; Odour, fragrant; Taste, scarcely perceptible. When heated, it exhales benzoic acid in the form of crystals. Chemical Composition. Resin, and a large proportion of benzoic acid. Solubility. It is readily dissolved by alcohol and æther, and is again separated from them by water; solutions of lime, and the fixed alkalies separate the benzoic acid from it, which can afterwards be recovered from such solutions by the addition of an acid. Uses. It is considered expectorant, and was formerly used in asthma, and other pulmonary affections; it has however fallen into disuse, and is now principally employed in perfumery, and odoriferous fumigations.^[427] Officinal Preparations. Acidum Benzoicum L.E.D. Tinct: Benzoini comp:^[428] L.E.D. Impurities. It is found in the market in various degrees of purity, the best is yellowish, studded with white spots: the worst is full of dross, and very dark or black.

Qualities. Form, a white, inodorous, tasteless powder. Chemical Composition. Oxide of Bismuth in combination with some water and a little nitric acid. Solubility. It is insoluble in water and dilute acids, but is dissolved by the concentrated acids, and is again precipitated by water. The alkalies, Potass and Soda, also dissolve it, but sparingly; it is more soluble in ammonia. Uses. It was formerly employed as a cosmetic, under the name of Magistery of Bismuth, or that of Pearl White;^[429] since, however, it becomes black from the operation of Sulphuretted Hydrogen and its compounds,^[430] much inconvenience attends its application. Its medicinal powers appear to have been first noticed by Jacobi,^[431] but the remedy attracted little or no attention until the publication of a paper upon the subject by Odier^[432] of Geneva. The diseases in which its powers as a tonic have been more particularly displayed, are Gastrodynia, Pyrosis, and Dyspepsia attended with cholic. Dr. Marcet in a paper read in 1801 before the Medico-chirurgical Society of London, says, “I have had frequent opportunities of trying the oxide of Bismuth in spasmodic affections of the stomach in Guy’s Hospital, and those trials have fully confirmed the opinion which I formerly gave of the utility of this medicine.” The practitioner will receive a further confirmation of its value by referring to Dr. Bradsley’s Medical Reports: and Dr. Yeats has published in the Royal Institution Journal^[433] a striking case illustrative of its efficacy.^[434] Dose, gr. v to xv, in the form of pills.

Qualities. This root has no odour, but is highly astringent. Chemical Composition. Its active principles are tannin and gallic acid. Med. Uses. It acts as an astringent, and is accordingly used in hemorrhages and fluxes. Dose of the root ℈j-ʒj; of a decoction f℥j-f℥ij. Combined with Calamus it has been successfully administered for the cure of intermittent fevers. See p. 167.

Qualities. This root is full of joints, crooked, and flattened on the sides, internally of a white colour, and loose spongy texture. Odour, fragrant and aromatic. Taste, bitter and pungent, qualities which are improved by exsiccation. Chemical Composition. The principles in which its qualities reside appear to be essential oil, and bitter extractive; the root likewise contains fecula, which is copiously precipitated from its infusion by sub-acetate and acetate of lead. Watery infusion extracts all its virtues, but decoction impairs them. Spirit is also an appropriate solvent, and a resinous extract may be produced accordingly. Uses. It is not employed so frequently as it deserves;^[435] it would be a useful addition to many of the compound infusions of vegetable stomachics. Dose. A cupful of the infusion made by adding ʒvj of the dried root to f℥xij of boiling water. It is so favourite a remedy with the native practitioners of India, in the bowel complaints of children, that there is a penalty incurred by any druggist who will not, in the middle of the night, open his door and sell it, if demanded.

Qualities. Form, the dried root imported into this country is in transverse sections; the bark is thick, and easily detached; the wood is spongy and yellowish; the pieces are frequently perforated, evidently by worms. Odour, slightly aromatic. Taste, bitter and somewhat acrid. Chemical Composition. Cinchonia, bitter resin, volatile oil, and starch, in addition to which M. Planche has found a peculiar animal-like substance; it appears also to contain Malate and Sulphate of Lime. Solubility. Boiling water takes up about one-third of its weight, but proof spirit appears to be its most perfect menstruum. Incompatible Substances. No change is occasioned in the infusion by the solutions of nitrate of silver, sulphate of iron, muriate of mercury, or tartarized antimony; but precipitates are produced by the infusion of galls, and yellow Cinchona bark, by sub-acetate and acetate of lead, oxy-muriate of mercury, and lime-water. The infusion very soon spoils. Dose of the powdered root gr. xv to ʒss; of the infusion f℥iss to f℥ij. Uses. It is one of the most valuable tonics and stomachics which we possess. It seems to be superior to many others, from not possessing astringent, and stimulant powers, on which account it is singularly eligible in certain pulmonary and mesenteric affections; it may be given in combination with chalybeates, aromatics, saline purgatives, or with rhubarb, as circumstances may require. (Form. 34, 155.) Officinal Preparations. Infus: Calumbæ. L. Tinct: Calumbæ. L.E.D. It becomes worm-eaten by age, and, in that condition, should be rejected. Those pieces which have the brightest colour, and the greatest specific gravity, are the best. The root of white briony, tinged yellow with the tincture of Calumba, has been fraudulently substituted for this root.

Qualities. Form, lumps of a solid consistence, breaking with a vitreous fracture; Odour, none; Colour, deep yellow, bordering on red, and becoming, when moistened, a brilliant light yellow. Sp. Grav: 1·221. Taste, slightly acrid, but which is not experienced unless it be allowed to remain long in the mouth. Chemical Composition. One part of gum, (Cerasin,) and four parts of a brittle resin; but this knowledge throws no light on the nature of its cathartic property. Solubility. When triturated with water two-thirds of its substance are speedily dissolved, and a turbid solution results; alcohol dissolves nine-tenths, and forms a yellow transparent tincture, which is rendered turbid by the addition of water; sulphuric ether dissolves six-tenths of the substance; it is also soluble in alkaline solutions, and the resulting compound is not rendered turbid by water, but is instantly decomposed by acids, and the precipitate so produced is of an extremely brilliant yellow colour, and soluble in an excess of acid. Incompatible Substances. No bodies appear to produce in gamboge such a chemical change as to destroy the chemical properties which distinguish it, but by a mechanical admixture, its solubility and consequently its operation, may be materially modified. Dr. Cullen found that the inconvenience arising from its too rapid solubility, and sudden impression upon the stomach, might be obviated by diminishing the dose, and repeating it at short intervals as directed in Form: 89. Forms of Exhibition. No form is more judicious than that of pill. Its alkaline solution has been sometimes exhibited in dropsy, when it is said to operate both on the bowels and kidneys. Dose, gr. 2 to gr. 6. Uses. It is a powerful drastic cathartic, and hydragogue, very liable to excite vomiting, and from this peculiar action upon the stomach it has been frequently employed with success in the expulsion of teniæ (Form: 161.) and it accordingly enters as an ingredient into many of the empirical compositions which are sold for the cure of tape worms.^[436] Officinal Preparations. Pil: Cambogiæ comp: L. There is considerable difference in the degree of purity in which this substance occurs in the market; it should be estimated by its clearness and brilliancy.

Qualities. Form, a white brittle substance, unctuous to the touch, but possessing at the same time a degree of ductility which prevents its being easily pulverised, unless a few drops of spirit be previously added. It is capable of affecting a crystalline form.^[438] Odour, peculiar, fragrant, and penetrating. Taste, bitter, pungent, and aromatic. Specific gravity, ·9887, it therefore swims on water; it is so volatile that during warm weather a considerable proportion will evaporate, especially if at the same time the atmosphere be rather moist, for the reason stated in page 175. It is readily ignited, and burns with a brilliant flame and much smoke; it melts at 288°, and boils at 400. Chemical Composition. It is a proximate vegetable principle, resembling the essential oils in many of its habitudes, and probably differs from them in composition only in containing a larger proportion of carbon. Solubility. Water may be said to dissolve about a nine hundredth part of its weight, or f℥j rather more than gr. ½, but its solvent power is considerably increased by the addition of carbonic acid gas; camphor is also rendered more soluble by trituration with magnesia; it is soluble in an equal weight of alcohol, but it is again separated by the addition of water; it is also dissolved by oils, both fixed and volatile,^[439] especially if their temperature be a little raised, and by sulphuric and other æthers, but strong acetic acid may be said to be its most powerful solvent. By repeatedly distilling it with nitric acid it is converted into Camphoric acid, an acid distinguished by peculiar properties, and composing, with alkalies and earths, a class of salts called Camphorates, but which do not possess any medicinal value. The alkalies do not produce any effect upon camphor. Incompatible Substances. It is not affected by any substance with which we can combine it. Forms of Exhibition. It is preferable in the form of mixture, since it is very liable in the solid state to excite nausea, and, from swimming on the contents of the stomach, to occasion pain at its upper orifice. If a larger dose be required than that which water can dissolve, an additional proportion may be suspended by means of sugar, almonds, yelk of egg, or mucilage, for which purpose three times its weight of gum arabic is required. If Camphor be first dissolved by trituration in a very small portion of oil, it readily mixes with mucilage of gum arabic, and may then be conveniently blended with liquids. It has also the property of uniting with gum-resins, and of converting them into permanently soft, and uniform masses; hence they may sometimes be conveniently applied for diffusing it in water. It may be formed into pill-masses by stiff mucilage, fœtid gums, or by a confection. Medicinal Uses. In moderate doses it exhilarates, without raising the pulse, and gives a tendency to diaphoresis; and under certain conditions of the body, when opium fails, it will frequently promote sleep. As its effects are transient, its dose should be repeated at short intervals. Illustrative Formulæ 1, 6, 21, 125, 134, 164. Camphor is said to correct the bad effects of opium, mezereon, cantharides, and the drastic purgatives, and diuretics. Dose, gr. ij to ℈j. In excessive doses it occasions anxiety, vomiting, syncope, and delirium; these violent effects are best counteracted by opium. Officinal Preparations. Mistura Camphoræ. L.D. Emulsio Camphorata. E. Spiritus Camphoræ, L.E.D. Tinctura Camphoræ comp: L.E.D. Acidum Acetosum Camphoratum. E.D. Linimentum Camphoræ. L.E.D. Liniment: Camphoræ comp: L. Liniment: Saponis. (G) L.E.D. Adulterations. It has been stated that pure camphor may be known by placing it upon hot bread, when it will turn moist, whereas an adulterated specimen becomes dry—but with what can it be adulterated?

Qualities. Form; it occurs in quilled and flat pieces; the former are of a whitish-yellow colour, considerably thicker than cinnamon; the latter, which are probably the bark of the larger branches, or of the stem of the tree, are yellow on the outside, and pale brown within. Odour, resembling that of cloves. Taste, warm, pungent, and slightly bitter. Chemical Composition. Its virtues depend upon an essential oil, and a bitter resin. Solubility. Water extracts only the bitterness, but proof spirits both the bitterness and aroma. Medicinal Uses. As a warm stimulant to the stomach, and as a corrigent to other medicines. In America it is considered as a powerful antiscorbutic. Dose of the powdered bark gr. x to ʒss. Officinal Preparations. Tinct. Gentian. comp. (B. G.) E. Vinum Aloes, (G) L.D. Pulv. Aloes cum canella, (G) D.

This beautiful insect of the beetle tribe is exceedingly abundant in the southern parts of Europe, and particularly in Spain. They are collected from the leaves of the different trees on which they delight to dwell, in June and July, and are afterwards destroyed, as recommended by Dioscorides, by the fumes of strong vinegar, and dried in the sun. The chemical history of Cantharides is still involved in some obscurity; the blistering principle has been obtained by Robiquet in a separate state, when it assumes the form of small crystalline plates, having a micaceous lustre, not unlike spermaceti; Dr. Thomson has given to it the name of Cantharidin;^[441] when pure, it is insoluble in water and in cold alcohol; boiling alcohol, however, dissolves it, but precipitates it again on being cooled. Æther and the oils dissolve it readily. Although not soluble in water it is rendered so by the presence of a yellow matter which exists in native combination with it. A very minute portion of this substance dissolved in sweet oil, and applied to the skin with a piece of paper, produces vesication in five or six hours. In addition to this active principle, Cantharides contain a green concrete oil; a yellow fluid oil; a peculiar black substance soluble in water and proof spirit, but not in pure alcohol; a saponaceous or yellow substance, soluble both in water and alcohol; Uric acid; Acetic acid; Phosphate of Magnesia, and a parenchymatous substance.^[442] Medicinal Uses. Cantharides, when administered internally, are powerfully stimulant and diuretic;^[443] and whether applied as a vesicatory to the skin, or taken into the stomach, they have a peculiar tendency to act upon the urinary organs, and especially to irritate and inflame the neck of the bladder, and occasion strangury. On this account they have been very successfully employed both for the cure of incontinence of urine, and suppression of this discharge, from torpor or paralysis of the bladder; they have also been used in gleet and leucorrhæa, and in cases of seminal weakness and impotence. In consulting the works of Dioscorides, Galen, and Pliny, we shall find they entertained a notion, that the virus existed only in the body of the fly, and that the head, feet and wings, contained its antidote! Hippocrates prescribed them internally in Dropsy, Jaundice, and Amenorrhœa; and yet in the end of the sixteenth century, Dr. Groenvelt was charged and sued^[444] for giving them inwardly, in substance, for the cure of the stone. Dose, in substance, not exceeding gr. i, combined with opium or hyoscyamus. See Tinctura: Cantharid. A strong decoction of the Cantharides in Oil of Turpentine furnishes a most powerful Epispastic, and may be easily applied by means of dossils of lint. As the general belief, which exists with respect to the aphrodisiac powers of this substance, may induce persons to try its efficacy in large doses, either for goading the exertions of exhausted nature, or for incensing the passions of females whose seduction is meditated, it behoves the medical practitioner to become acquainted with the symptoms which it may produce, and of which the following may be considered as the most prominent;—violent retching; copious alvine evacuations, frequently bloody; very severe colics; active inflammation of the stomach and intestines; sometimes universal convulsions, attended with a horror of liquids, resembling that which occurs in hydrophobia; furious delirium, &c. But the affections of the urinary passages, and organs of generation, may be regarded κατεξοχην, as the peculiar symptoms of poisoning by Cantharides; such as heat in the bladder, bloody micturition, horrible strangury, painful and obstinate priapism, satyriasis, &c. The method of treatment to be pursued on such occasions will consist in copious bleeding, warm bath, local fomentations, mild and mucilaginous drinks; and opium, especially in the form of clyster or suppository. Officinal Prep. Tinct: Cantharid: L. Emplast: Cantharid: L. Ceratum Cantharid: L. Unguent: Infusi Cantharid: Vesicat: E. Unguent: Cantharid: D. The flies do not lose their virtues by being kept; it is, however, curious that even those acrid insects are soon reduced to dust by others feeding upon them; but since the inert parenchymatous portion is alone selected by them, the residue is extremely active.^[445]

Qualities. Form, pods, long, pointed, and pendulous; Colour, when ripe, a bright orange red. Odour, aromatic and pungent. Taste, extremely acrimonious and fiery. Solubility. Its qualities are partially extracted by water, but more completely by æther and spirit. Chemical Composition. Cinchonia, resin, mucilage, and an acrid principle said to be alkaline.^[446] Incompatible Substances. The infusions of capsicum are disturbed by Infusion of Galls; Nitrate of Silver; Oxy-muriate of Mercury; Acetate of Lead; the Sulphates of Iron, Copper and Zinc; Ammonia, Carbonate of Potass, and Alum, but not by sulphuric, nitric, or muriatic acid. Medicinal Uses. It is a most powerful stimulant to the stomach, and is unaccompanied with any narcotic effect; as a gargle in cynanche maligna, and in relaxed states of the throat, it furnishes a valuable remedy; combined with purgatives, it proves serviceable in dyspepsia, (Form: 78,) it has lately been given with success in the advanced stages of acute rheumatism; in various diseases attended with cold feet, it has been recommended to wear socks dusted with Cayenne Pepper. Forms of Exhibition. It may be given, made into pills with crumb of bread, or in the form of tincture, diluted with water; for the purpose of a gargle, a simple infusion in the proportion of gr. j to f℥j of boiling water, or fʒvi of the tincture to f℥viij of the Infusum Rosæ, may be directed. Dose, of the substance, gr. vj to x, of the tincture fʒj to fʒij in an aqueous vehicle. Officinal Preparations. Tinct: Capsici: L.D.^[447]

Cayenne Pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of the dried pods of several species of capsicum, but especially of the Capsicum baccatum, (Bird pepper.)

Adulterations. Cayenne pepper is generally mixed with muriate of soda, which disposes it to deliquesce. Red Lead may be detected by digesting it in acetic acid, and adding to the solution sulphuret of ammonia, which will produce, if any lead be present, a dark coloured precipitate; or the fraud may be discovered by boiling some of the suspected pepper in vinegar, and after filtering the solution adding to it sulphate of soda, when a white precipitate will be formed, which, after being dried and exposed to heat, and mixed with a little charcoal, will yield a metallic globule of lead.

Qualities. It is a black, inodorous, insipid, brittle substance; when newly prepared it possesses the property of absorbing very considerable quantities of the different gases; it is also capable of destroying the smell and taste of a variety of vegetable and animal substances, especially of mucilages, oils, and of matter in which extractive abounds; and some medicines are said to be even deprived of their characteristic odour by remaining in contact with it, as Valerian, Galbanum, Balsam of Peru, and Musk. The use of charring the interior of water casks, and of wrapping charcoal in cloths that have acquired a bad smell, depends upon this property; for the same reason it furnishes a very excellent tooth powder,^[448] for which purpose, that which is obtained from the shell of the cocoa nut is to be preferred. None of the fluid menstrua with which we are acquainted have any action whatever as solvents upon carbon.^[449] Medicinal Uses. It is antiseptic, and has been administered internally, to correct the putrid eructations which sometimes attend dyspepsia, but in order to produce this effect it should be newly prepared, or such as has been preserved from the access of air, for it operates by absorbing the putrid gas, as well as by checking the decomposition of the undigested element.^[450] Dose, grs. x to ʒj. It has been lately asserted to possess powers as an antidote to arsenic; if this be true, its action can only be mechanical by absorbing like a sponge the arsenical solution, and thereby defending the coats of the stomach from its virulence.^[451] Charcoal, when mixed with boiled bread, forms a very valuable poultice for foul and gangrenous sores. In a state of impalpable powder, it is said to be effectual as a styptic; Dr. Odier informs us that the celebrated powder of Faynard, for stopping hemorrhage, was nothing more than the charcoal of beech-wood finely powdered.

Charcoal is prepared for the purposes of medicine and the arts, from a variety of substances, viz.

Burnt Sponge. Spongia Usta. L. Consists of charcoal with portions of phosphate and carbonate of lime, and sub-carbonate of soda; it has been highly commended in bronchocele and scrophulous complaints, in the form of an electuary, or in that of a lozenge, and it has been lately asserted that it owes its power to the presence of Iodine.

Vegetable Æthiops. Pulvis Quercus marinæ. From the fucus vesiculosus, or bladder-wrack, used as the preceding.

Ivory Black. Ebur Ustum. From ivory shavings burned; used as a dentifrice and a pigment, under the name of “blue-black,” for its hue is bluish; but bone-black is usually sold for it.

Lamp Black. Fuligo Lampadum. By burning resinous bodies, as the refuse of pitch, in furnaces of a peculiar construction.

Wood Soot. Fuligo ligni, collected from chimnies under which wood is burnt. It contains sulphate of ammonia, which imparts to it its characteristic bitterness. It has been considered antispasmodic, and a tincture was formerly prepared of it.

Qualities. Odour, aromatic and agreeable; Taste, warm and pungent, but unlike the peppers, they do not immoderately heat the stomach. Solubility. Water, alcohol and æther extract their virtues; the two latter most completely, and the result is transparent, whereas the watery infusion is turbid and mucilaginous. Chemical Composition. Fecula, mucilage, and essential oil. Medicinal Uses. They are carminative and stomachic, and prove grateful adjuncts to bitter infusions; they are principally employed to give warmth to other remedies. Dose of the powder, gr. vj to ℈j. Officinal Preparations. Extract: Colocynth: comp: (E) L.D. Tinct. Cardamomi, L.E.D. Tinct. Cardamom: comp: L.D. Tinct: Cinnamomi, co. (B) L.E. Tinct. Gentian, co. (G) L. Tinct. Rhei, (E) L.E.D. Tinct. Rhei cum Aloe, (G) E. Tinct. Sennæ, (E) L.D. Spir. Ether. Aromat. (B) L. Vinum Aloes Socot. (G) E. Confect. Aromat. (B) L. Pulv. Cinnamom. co. (B) L.E.D. Pil. Scilliticæ, (E) E. Infus. Sennæ. D. (E.)

Cardamom seeds should be kept within their husks, or their virtues will soon be considerably impaired; they are frequently mixed with grains of paradise, which are much hotter and more spicy, but less aromatic in their flavour.

Qualities of the dried fig are too well known to require description. The fig consists almost entirely of mucilage and sugar. Uses. It has been already stated that the most ancient cataplasm on record was made of figs, (2 Kings, chap. xx. 7.) they are employed medicinally in many demulcent decoctions, as Decoctum Hordei comp: L.D. They are gently aperient; it is curious to learn that they constituted the chief part of the food of the ancient Athletæ.

Cloves are the unexpanded flowers, or flower-buds, of the clove tree, which are first obtained when the tree is six years old; they are gathered in October and November before they open, and when they are still green; and are dried in the sun, after having been exposed to smoke at a heat of 120°, till they assume a brown hue. It is a curious fact that the flowers when fully developed are quite inodorous, and that the real fruit is not in the least aromatic. Qualities. Form, that of a nail, consisting of a globular head, formed of the four petals of the corolla, and four leaves of the calyx not yet expanded; and a germen situated below nearly cylindrical, and scarcely an inch in length. Odour, strong, fragrant, and aromatic. Taste, acrid, aromatic and permanent. Benzoic acid has lately been discovered in them.

Solubility. Water extracts their odour, but little of their taste; alcohol and ether take up both completely. Medicinal Uses. They are more stimulant than any of the other aromatics; they are sometimes given alone, but more generally as a corrigent to other medicines. Officinal Preparations. Infusum Caryophyllorum. L. Spir. Lavand. co. D. (B) Frauds. The Dutch frequently mix the best cloves with those from which the oil has been drawn.

Caryophyllorum Oleum. This essential oil, in consequence of the resinous matter which it holds in solution, has a specific gravity of 1·020, and consequently sinks in water. When the oil has a hot fiery taste, and a great depth of colour, it is adulterated. It is imported from the spice islands. On account of its stimulant properties, it is added to griping extracts, or used as a local application in the tooth-ache. Vauquelin obtained from the leaves of the Agathophyllum ravensara an essential oil, in every respect similar to that of cloves; and I am informed by Dr. Davy that an oil exactly resembling in smell the oil of Cloves is procured in Ceylon from the leaf of the Cinnamon tree; but very little, if any, has ever been exported.