As this is merely a spirituous solution of the Ferrum Ammoniatum, the title of tincture is improperly applied to it; it seems moreover to be a very superfluous preparation.

Qualities. Colour, brownish yellow; Taste, styptic; Odour, very peculiar. Chemical Composition. It is an alcoholic solution of muriate of iron; the iron being in the state of peroxide. Incompatible Substances. Alkalies and their carbonates; the infusions of astringent vegetables; mucilage of gum arabic: by this latter substance it is precipitated in gelatinous flakes. Med. Uses. It is one of the most active preparations of iron which we possess, and it moreover appears to exert a specific influence upon the urinary organs.^[692] Mr. Cline informs us that ♏︎x, given every ten minutes, until some sensible effect is produced, afford in dysuria speedy relief; in hemorrhage from the bladder, kidneys, or uterus, its acts as a powerful styptic. See Form. 35, 60, 97, 114. Externally, it is very efficacious in destroying venereal warts, either used alone, or diluted with a small portion of water. Dose, ♏︎x to fʒss, or fʒj.^[693]

Qualities. This root is knotty, externally blackish, internally reddish; Odour, slightly aromatic; Taste, austere and styptic. Chemical Composition. Its active matter is chiefly Tannin, and except galls and catechu, it appears to contain a larger proportion than any other vegetable astringent.^[694] Solubility. Boiling water extracts all its virtues, as also does spirit. Incompatible Substances. Solutions of Isinglass, the Salts of Iron; Alkalies and Alkaline Earths. Med. Uses. It has been chiefly used in diarrhœa, and it is very efficacious in that which is so frequently attendant on Phthisis. Dr. Fordyce recommends its union with Ipecacuan, by which combination, he observes, we shall astringe the vessels of the intestines, and at the same time relax those of the skin. Forms of Exhibition. In substance, or in decoction made by boiling ℥j of the root in oiss of water until reduced to oj. Dose, of the substance in powder, ʒss to ʒj; of the above decoction f℥j thrice a day. Officinal Prep. Pulv. Cret. Comp. L.

Qualities. Its leaves are inodorous, but have a sub-acrid taste. Chemical Composition. Gallic acid, tannin, and a certain acrimonious matter, upon which the virtues of the plant depend, and which, according to Van Mons, is disengaged from the leaves in the state of gas during the night, or while they do not receive the direct rays of the sun. Med. Uses. Dr. Alderson of Hull introduced the leaves of this plant to notice, in whose hands they proved successful in several cases of Paralysis; the same results however have not been obtained by other physicians; the plant has therefore fallen into disuse, and might, in deference to public opinion, be removed from the materia medica. When applied externally it has been known to produce an erysipelatous affection of the skin; a remarkable instance of which lately occurred at the Botanic garden at Chelsea, where a person merely rubbed his eye after having casually touched the plant in question.

This plant has been regarded as a powerful expectorant from the earliest ages; it is at present only valued for the mucilage which it affords; a handful of the leaves boiled in oij of water, until reduced to oj, will furnish, by the addition of a little sugar candy, a very grateful demulcent.

Qualities. Odour, strong, peculiar and unpleasant; Taste, warm, bitter, and sub-acrid. Chemical Composition. Extractive, gum, resin, fecula, tannin, and a peculiar essential oil which seems to contain camphor, and on which its virtues probably depend. Solubility. Its active matter is extracted by boiling water, alcohol, and the solutions of the pure alkalies. Incompatible Substances. The salts of iron. Med. Uses. It is antispasmodic, tonic, and emmenagogue; and it is highly beneficial in those diseases which appear to be connected with a morbid susceptibility of the nervous system, as in hysteria, hemicrania, and in some species of epilepsy; and it would appear that its virtues in such complaints may be frequently increased by combining it with cinchona. Forms of Exhibition. The form of powder is the most effectual, and next to this a strong tincture made with proof spirit; by decoction its powers are considerably impaired, and consequently the extract is an inefficient preparation. Dose of the powder ℈j to ʒj; when the flavour disgusts, the addition of a small portion of mace or cinnamon will be found to disguise it. See Form. 25, 31, 38. Officinal Preparation. Infus. Valerian. D. Tinct. Valerian. L.D. Tinct. Valerian. ammoniat. L.D. Adulterations. The roots of a species of crowfoot are sometimes mixed with those of valerian; they may be distinguished by a caustic taste on chewing them; the roots have also often a disagreeable smell from the urine of cats, who are allured and delighted by their odour; and they are sometimes inert, from not having been taken up at a proper season, or from not having been carefully preserved.

Qualities. Odour, strong, and disagreeable; Taste, bitter, and very acrid; by drying, the odour is dissipated, and in this state it is found in the shops. Solubility. Its active principles are soluble in water, alcohol, and the alkalies. Chemical Composition. Pelletier and Caventou have lately discovered in this vegetable a new alkaline principle, white, crystalline, and acrid, to which they have given the name of Veratria: it appears to exist in combination with gallic acid. Med. Uses. The effects of this root are extremely violent and poisonous; the ancients employed it in various obstinate cases, but they generally regarded it as their last resource; it acts as a violent emetic and cathartic, producing bloody stools, great anxiety, tremors, and convulsions. Etmuller says, that the external application of the root to the abdomen, will produce vomiting; and Schroeder observed the same phenomenon to take place in a case where it was used as a suppository, and its juice has been applied to the purpose of poisoning arrows; notwithstanding these effects however the veratrum has been very safely and successfully administered in cases of mania, epilepsy, lepra, and gout:^[696] but the most ordinary use of white hellebore is as a local stimulant; as an adjunct to errhine powders; or in the form of decoction, as a lotion; or mixed with a lard, as an ointment in scabies,^[697] and herpetic eruptions: great caution however is required in its application, for several authors affirm that as an errhine, it has caused abortions, floodings which could not be restrained, and fatal hemorrhages from the nose. Dose, gr. iij to v, obtunded by the addition of twelve times its weight of starch, a pinch of which may be taken for several successive evenings; for internal administration it ought not to exceed gr. ij. Officinal Prep. Decoct. Veratri. L. Tinct. Veratri albi. E. Unguent. Veratri. L. Unguent. Sulphur. comp. L.

The term wine is more strictly and especially applied to express the fermented juice of the Grape, although it is generally used to denote that of any sub-acid fruit. The presence of Tartar is perhaps the circumstance by which the grape is most strongly distinguished from all the other sub-acid fruits that have been applied to the purpose of wine making. The juice of the grape, moreover, contains within itself all the principles essential to vinification, in such a proportion and state of balance as to enable it at once to undergo a regular and complete fermentation, whereas the juices of other fruits require artificial additions for this purpose; and the scientific application and due adjustment of these means, constitute the art of making wines.^[698] It has been remarked, that all those wines that contain an excess of malic acid are of a bad quality, hence the grand defect that is necessarily inherent in the wines of this country, and which leads them to partake of the properties of cider, for in the place of the tartaric, the malic acid always predominates in native fruits.

The characteristic ingredient of all wines is Alcohol, and the quantity of this, and the condition or state of combination in which it exists, are the circumstances that include all the interesting and disputed points of medical enquiry. Daily experience convinces us that the same quantity of alcohol, applied to the stomach under the form of natural wine, and in a state of mixture with water, will produce very different effects upon the body, and to an extent which it is difficult to comprehend; it has, for instance, been demonstrated that Port, Madeira, and Sherry, contain from one-fourth to one-fifth their bulk of alcohol, so that a person who takes a bottle of either of them, will thus take nearly half a pint of alcohol, or almost a pint of pure brandy! and moreover that different wines, although of the same specific gravity, and consequently containing the same absolute proportion of the spirit, will be found to vary very considerably in their intoxicating powers; no wonder then that such results should stagger the philosopher, who is naturally unwilling to accept any tests of difference from the nervous system, which elude the ordinary resources of analytical chemistry; the conclusion was therefore drawn, that alcohol must necessarily exist in wine in a far different condition from that in which we know it in a separate state, or in other words, that its elements only could exist in the vinous liquor, and that their union was determined, and consequently alcohol produced, by the action of distillation. That it was the product, and not the educt of distillation, was an opinion which originated with Rouelle, who asserted that alcohol was not completely formed, until the temperature was raised to the point of distillation; more lately the same doctrine was revived and promulgated by Fabbroni, in the memoirs of the Florentine Academy. Gay Lussac has, however, silenced the clamorous partisans of this theory, by separating the alcohol by distillation at the temperature of 66° Fah. and by the aid of a vacuum, it has since been effected at 56°: besides, it has been shewn that by precipitating the colouring matter and some of the other elements of the wine by sub-acetate of lead, and then saturating the clear liquor with sub-carbonate of potass, the alcohol may be completely separated without any elevation of temperature; and by this ingenious expedient Mr. Brande has been enabled to construct a table, exhibiting the proportions of combined alcohol which exist in the several kinds of wine: no doubt therefore can remain upon this subject, and the fact of the difference of effect, produced by the same bulk of alcohol, when presented to the stomach in different states of combination, adds another striking and instructive illustration to those already enumerated in the course of this work, of the extraordinary powers of chemical combination in modifying the activity of substances upon the living system. In the present instance, the alcohol is so combined with the extractive matter of the wine, that it is probably incapable of exerting its full specific effects upon the stomach, before it becomes altered in its properties, or, in other words, digested: and this view of the subject may be fairly urged in explanation of the reason why the intoxicating effects of the same wine are so liable to vary in degree, in the same individual, from the peculiar state of his digestive organs at the time of its potation.^[699] Hitherto we have only spoken of pure wine, but it is essential to state that the stronger wines of Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, are rendered remarkable in this country by the addition of Brandy, and must consequently contain uncombined alcohol, the proportion of which however will not necessarily bear a ratio to the quantity added, because, at the period of its admixture, a renewed fermentation is produced by the scientific vintner, which will assimilate and combine a certain portion of the foreign spirit with the wine: this manipulation, in technical language, is called fretting-in. The free alcohol may, according to the experiments of Fabbroni, be immediately separated by saturating the vinous fluid with sub-carbonate of potass, while the combined portion will remain undisturbed: in ascertaining the fabrication and salubrity of a wine, this circumstance ought always to constitute a leading feature in the inquiry; and the tables of Mr. Brande would have been greatly enhanced in practical value, had the relative proportions of uncombined spirit been appreciated in his experiments, since it is to this, and not to the combined alcohol, that the injurious effects of the wine are to be attributed. “It is well known,” observes Dr. Macculloch, “that diseases of the liver are the most common, and the most formidable of those produced by the use of ardent spirits; it is equally certain that no such disorders follow the intemperate use of pure wine, however long indulged in: to the concealed and unwitting consumption of spirit, therefore, as contained in the wines commonly drunk in this country, is to be attributed the excessive prevalence of those hepatic affections which are comparatively little known to our continental neighbours.” Thus much is certain, that our ordinary wines contain no alcohol, but what is disarmed of its virulence by the prophylactic energies of combination.

The odour, or bouquet, and flavour which distinguish one wine from another, evidently depend upon some volatile and fugacious principle, soluble in alcohol; this in sweet and half fermented wines, is immediately derived from the fruit, as in those from the Frontignan and Muscat grapes; but in the more perfect wines, as in Claret, Hermitage, Rivesaltes, and Burgundy, it bears no resemblance to the natural flavour of the fruit, but is altogether the product of the vinous process; and in some wines it arises from the introduction of flavouring ingredients, as from almonds in Madeira wines, as well as in those of Xeres and Saint Lucar, and hence their well known nutty flavour. Among the ancients it was formerly, and in modern Greece it is to this day, the fashion to give a resinous flavour, by the introduction of Turpentine into the casks.^[700] These wines are supposed to assist digestion, to restrain ulcerous, and other morbid discharges, to provoke urine, and to strengthen the bowels; but Dioscorides also informs us that they were known to produce vertigo, pain in the head, and many evils not incidental to the same quantity of vinous liquor when free from such admixtures.^[701]

Wines admit of being arranged into four classes.^[702]

1. Sweet Wines; which contain the greatest proportion of extractive and saccharine matter, and generally the least ardent spirit, though this is often rather disguised than absent; as in these wines a proportion of sugar has remained unchanged during the process of vinification, they must be considered as the results of an imperfect fermentation, and are in fact mixtures of wine and sugar; accordingly, whatever arrests the progress of fermentation, must have a tendency to produce a sweet wine; thus boiling the must or drying the fruit will, by partially separating the natural leaven and dissipating the water, occasion such a result as is exemplified by the manufacture of the wines of Cyprus, the vino cotto of the Italians and the vinum coctum of the ancients, by that of Frontignac, the rich and luscious wines of Canary, the celebrated Tokay, Vino Tinto (Tent of Hungary) the Italian Montefiascone, the Persian Schiras, the Malmsey wines of Candia, Chio, Lesbos, and Tenedos, and those of the other islands of the Archipelago. The wines of the ancients, as Chaptal observes, were so concentrated by boiling, that they rather deserve the name of extracts or syrups, than that of wines; they, must have been very sweet, and but little fermented; apparently to remedy this, they were kept for a great length of time; according to Aristotle and Galen, seven years was the shortest period necessary for keeping wine before it was fit to drink, but wines of a century old were not uncommon at the tables of the luxurious citizens of ancient Rome, and Horace boasts of his drinking Falernian, born as it were with him, or which reckoned its age from the same consuls.^[703]

2. Sparkling or Effervescing Wines, as Champagne, are indebted for their characteristic properties to the presence of carbonic acid; they rapidly intoxicate, in consequence of the alcohol, which is suspended in, or combined with the gas, being thus applied in a sudden and very divided state to a large extent of nervous surface; for the same reason, their effects are as transitory as they are sudden.^[704]

3. Dry and Light. These are exemplified by the more esteemed German wines, as Hock, Rhenish, Mayne, Moselle, Necker, and Elsass, and those highly flavoured wines, Burgundy, Claret, Hermitage, &c. They contain a very inconsiderable degree of ardent spirit, and combine with it the effect of an acid.

4. Dry and Strong, as Madeira, Port, Sherry, &c. The name Sec, corruptly written Sack, signifies dry; the Sec wine prepared at Xeres^[705] in Spain, is called according to our orthography, Sherris, or Sherry. In the manufacture of Sherry, Lime^[706] is added to the grapes, a circumstance, observes Dr. Macculloch, apparently conducive to its well known dry quality, and which probably acts by neutralizing a portion of malic or tartaric acid.

By the adulteration and medication of wines, three principal objects are attempted, viz. 1. To give them strength, which is effected by adding any ardent spirit; but the wine is slowly decomposed by it. 2. To perfect or change their colour. It is very usual to change white wines, when they have grown brown or rough, into red wines, by means of sloes, or other colouring matter. 3. To lessen, or remove their acidity. It is well known that lead in different forms has frequently been employed for this purpose; the practice, however, is attended with most dangerous consequences; but which Dr. Macculloch is inclined to believe has been over-rated, since the compounds which this metal forms with the tartaric and malic acids are insoluble; but against this argument, the decisive results of experience may be opposed, and Fourcroy conceived that by the addition of Vinegar, a soluble triple salt, an aceto-tartrate of lead, was produced. The fraud may be easily detected by the test^[707] invented by Dr. Hahnemann. The ancients, it appears, were acquainted with this property in lead, for according to Pliny, the Greeks and Romans improved the quality of their wines by immersing a plate of lead in them.^[708] Wine, as a pharmaceutical agent, has been employed to extract several of the principles of vegetables, and to dissolve certain mineral bodies: as a solvent, however, it is liable to many serious objections, as inequality of strength, and uncertainty of composition; thus sound and perfectly fermented dry wine, as Sherry, is frequently unable to dissolve iron, while tartarized antimony is instantly decomposed by every other. As a menstruum, to obtain an extract, it is quite inadmissible on account of the residuum which it leaves by evaporation. From such considerations the London College have at length substituted a weak spirit, for the wine formerly employed, although the term “Vinum” is still retained in the Pharmacopœia, to obviate those embarrassments which must ever attend a change of name, with a corresponding change of properties. The Committee were fully prepared to expect the captious objections which are urged against this measure, but as the name is chemically and medicinally correct, the etymologist may be fairly allowed to enjoy his assumed triumph without molestation.

Vinum Aloes. L.E.D. This solution contains all the virtues of the Aloes, and is more agreeable than the tincture. It is a warm stomachic in doses of fʒj to fʒij, and a stimulating purgative when given from f℥j to f℥ij.

By referring to the Pharmacopœia, it will be perceived that alcoholic menstrua of different strengths, have been employed for the different preparations. The proportions were deduced from careful experiments, and are adapted to the composition of the substances which the spirit is intended to dissolve: e. g.

During the period that I was Censor of the College, I took considerable trouble, in conjunction with my colleagues, to ascertain the state in which this preparation was to be generally met with in the wholesale and retail shops of the metropolis. We were satisfied, during our official visitations, that where sound Sherry wine had been employed as a solvent, an efficient and permanent solution was obtained, and that no precipitation of Antimony took place, the sediment which occurred being merely Tartrate of Lime, an incidental impurity derived from the Cream of tartar: but in a majority of instances an inferior wine of British manufacture was substituted, in which case the Antimonial Oxyd was universally found in a copious precipitate, in combination with vegetable extractive matter; and I have even seen this decomposition so complete, that the supernatant liquor would not yield any trace of the antimonial salt. This report has been confirmed by successive Censors, and the College have accordingly endeavoured to remedy the evil, by superseding the use of wine altogether, and of introducing a spirit of equivalent strength. The virtues of this solution are those detailed under the history of Antimonium Tartarizatum; of which two grains are contained in every fluid-ounce of the preparation. The Medicinal Dynameter will shew the proportion of salt in any other given quantity. Dose, ♏︎x to fʒj, in any suitable vehicle, repeated every three or four hours, in which case it acts as a diaphoretic. As an emetic, it may be given to infants in the dose of a tea-spoonful, every ten minutes, until the desired effect is produced. See Form: 69, and 117.^[710]

Vinum Colchici. This medicated wine is made as follows: Take of the recent bulb of the Colchicum, sliced and bruised, [pound]j; of Proof Spirit, f℥iv; of water, f℥viij; let them infuse for fourteen days, and filter for use. There is perhaps no form better calculated to ensure the medical effects of the plant than the one we are now considering. Its dose may be stated to be from ♏︎xx to fʒiss. The virtues of Colchicum have been already noticed, see Colchici Radix.

Vinum Ferri. L.D. When prepared according to the London College (P.L. 1809.) each pint is stated to contain 22 grains of the red Oxide of Iron; the strength however must in such a case depend upon the quantity of tartar contained in the wine. Very dry Sherry is frequently incapable of acting upon the iron until a small proportion of Cream of Tartar be added to it; would it not therefore be adviseable to direct at once a given portion of ferrum tartarizatum to be dissolved in wine? The Dublin formula is more eligible than that of the former London Pharmacopœia, since it directs the use of Rhenish wine instead of Sherry as a solvent, and iron wire in preference to iron filings; this last circumstance is important, for the purest iron can only be drawn, and this is most easily acted upon by the super-tartrate of potass. These observations are offered to those who still prefer to make the preparation with wine. They can have no relation to the present Vinum Ferri of the London College, which is prepared with a weak spirit, and which contains tartrate of potass and iron, with an excess of super-tartrate which supplies the place of the acid contained in the wine, and ensures the solution of the tartarized iron in the Spirit. According to the experiments of Mr. Phillips, which I have every reason to believe accurate, the present preparation contains less peroxide of iron than the former did; it will be seen by the Dynameter that f℥j contains exactly one grain, which is exactly equivalent to five grains of Tartarized Iron, whereas an equal quantity of the former wine held in solution 1–4/10 gr, which was equivalent to seven grains of the salt. Med. Uses. It is the least unpleasant of all the preparations of iron, and its medicinal activity is supported by the testimony of ages, for it is one of the oldest preparations with which we are acquainted. Dose, fʒij to f℥ss.

Vinum Ipecacuanhæ. L.E.D. The virtues of this root are completely extracted by dilute spirit. Dose, as an emetic, from fʒij to f℥ss: as a diaphoretic, from ♏︎xx to xl. See Form. 63, 137.

Vinum Opii. L.E.^[711] This is a spirituous solution of the extract of Opium combined with various aromatics, which are supposed to modify the effects of the opium, while by the substitution of the extract for the crude opium, it is considered as being less likely to disturb the nervous system. I submit whether the views offered under the history of Wine, respecting the relative effects of combined and uncombined Alcohol, might not lead us, by analogy, to prepare a more efficient vinum opii, and a preparation less likely to affect the stomach: by adding the opium to the wine during its state of fermentation, it would enter into intimate union with its elements, in the same way that brandy is incorporated by the technical manipulation of fretting-in: this suggestion is also sanctioned by the generally acknowledged superiority of the Black Drop, which I have little doubt is indebted for its peculiar efficacy to the state of combination in which the acetate of morphia exists in the vinous menstruum. The preparation, when made with wine, as directed in the late Pharmacopœia, is nearly analogous to the celebrated Liquid Laudanum^[712] of Sydenham, and its degree of narcotic power is nearly the same as that of the ordinary tincture, as may be seen by referring to the Medicinal Dynameter.

Vinum Veratri. L. Since the discovery of the real nature of the Eau Medicinale, this preparation has fallen into comparative disuse, and might have been removed, as we have now introduced the Vinum Colchici. It is however a singular circumstance that both these preparations should owe their medicinal powers to the same elementary principle, viz. Veratria; and as some practitioners are still addicted to its use, the Committee agreed to let it remain.

Qualities. Odour, none; Taste, slightly bitter and mucilaginous. Chemical Composition. Gum, extractive, gallic acid, and super-tartrate of potass. Solubility. Water is its appropriate solvent. Med. Uses. It has been commended in herpetic eruptions, but in the hands of Dr. Willan and others it has not proved successful; it is one of those articles that might be discarded from our Pharmacopœia with much propriety. Officinal Prep. Decoct: Ulmi. L.D.

These are unctuous substances analogous to Cerates except in consistence, which is much less firm, and scarcely exceeds that of butter: formerly, ointments were numerous and complicated in their composition, and surgeons adapted with much technical formality different ointments to answer different indications: this practice however has undergone a very judicious reform, and it is now well understood that in general all that is required in an ointment is a suitable tenacity and consistence, to keep the parts to which it may be applied soft and easy, and at the same time to exclude from them the atmospheric air; in some cases, however, these simple compositions are made the vehicles of more active remedies, as in the following preparations, viz.

Unguentum Cantharidis. L. As the active ingredient in this ointment is derived from an infusion of the Cantharides, it is extremely mild, and frequently inefficacious. The ceratum cantharidis furnishes a more certain application.

Unguentum Elemi Compositum. L. The elemi and turpentine in this ointment, render it stimulant and digestive.

Unguentum Hydrargyri Fortius. L. The precise nature^[713] of this compound does not appear to have been known until the late researches^[714] of Mr. Donovan, (Annals of Philosophy, November, 1819,) which promise to lead to a more uniform, efficacious, and economical mode of preparing it; for they^[715] shew that in the officinal ointment, the mercury exists in two different conditions,—in the state of metal, mechanically mixed, as asserted by Vogel, and in that of an oxide, chemically combined with the lard, and that the medicinal activity of the ointment exclusively resides in this latter portion, the presence of metallic mercury not only being useless but injurious, by obstructing the absorption of the active compound of the oxide. Mr. Donovan accordingly formed a direct chemical combination, by continually agitating together lard and black oxide of mercury at the temperature of 350° Fah: for two hours. At the end of the process it appeared that every ounce of lard had dissolved, and combined with 21 grains of oxide; and from the trials which have been made respecting its activity, it would seem to be as efficient as the officinal ointment, and moreover that it may be introduced by inunction in one third of the time. The investigation is highly important, for it not only offers the means of preparing a mercurial ointment more œconomically, but one more active and manageable, and less liable to that want of uniformity in strength, which must always attend a preparation in which so much labour is required for its completion; for independent of that variation in strength which will arise from imperfect triture, it is by no means an uncommon practice to use chemical means, which are not admissible, to facilitate the process, such as the addition of Sulphur, which is found to abridge very considerably the labour requisite for the extinction of the mercury, but it converts a portion of the metal into a Sulphuret, and diminishes the power of the unguent. There is however a method of facilitating the process, which is not liable to any apparent objection, but the theory of its operation is obscure; it consists in adding to the half-prepared ointment a portion of that which has been long kept; which appears to act as a leaven to the whole mass.

The following table exhibits the relative quantity of mercury contained in each of the different ointments directed by the British Pharmacopœia, and in that prepared according to the process of Donovan.

Mercurial ointment furnishes the most prompt, and least exceptionable mode of impregnating the system. The external method of administering mercury, says Mr. John Hunter, is always preferable to the internal, because the skin is not nearly so essential to life as the stomach, and therefore is capable in itself of bearing much more than the stomach. The inunction is generally performed by rubbing ʒss to ʒj on some part of the body where the cuticle is thin, generally on the inside of the thigh, except perhaps in cases of chronic hepatitis, when it is more usually applied to the region of the liver, care being taken that the friction is continued until every particle of the ointment disappears; and for obvious reasons, the operation ought if practicable to be performed by the patient himself. Where it has been an object to saturate the system with mercury as quickly as possible, I have witnessed the advantage of confining, by means of slips of bladder, a drachm of mercurial ointment in each axilla, in addition to the mercurial friction. Camphor, turpentine, and other stimulants, have been sometimes added to the ointment, with a view of promoting its absorption; this however is an erroneous practice, since these acrid ingredients soon produce pustules on the skin, which prevent the continuance of the friction; the warm bath is a more certain, and less objectionable adjuvant, many practitioners therefore advise the body to be immersed in a warm bath, once and again, before the course is commenced, and to repeat it once or twice a week during its continuance: the length of time to be employed in a course of mercury, and the quantity to be given, are circumstances that must in every case be left to the discretion of the practitioner. Mercury, when introduced into the body, acts as a powerful stimulant, and pervades every part of the system; hence it is the most powerful evacuant belonging to the Materia Medica; from its stimulant operation, exerted directly or indirectly, we are able to explain its utility in the cure of disease, and it may be made to act according to management and circumstances, as a tonic, antispasmodic, diuretic, cathartic, sialogogue, emmenagogue, or alterative; but its most important operation is that displayed in removing the diseases induced by the syphilitic poison, although its modus operandi is still buried amongst the many other arcana of physic. The mode of directing and controlling the influence of mercury in the cure of the venereal disease, is now very generally understood, and it is to be hoped that a full confidence in its antisyphilitic powers is as universally maintained, in spite of the late opinions which tended to depreciate its value and to question its necessity; there is however no advantage to be gained, as was once imagined, by exciting profuse salivation. On its next important application, that of curing chronic affections of the liver and dropsy, a remark which has been suggested to me by the results of practice, may not be unacceptable. I think I have generally observed, that when the remedy has been pushed to such an extent as to excite the salivary glands to excessive secretion, the urinary organs cease to participate in its stimulating action, and vice versa, for the mouth is rarely affected when the mercury runs off by the kidneys; this may suggest a precaution of some practical moment in the treatment of dropsy, and it will be generally judicious to accompany the administration of this metal with certain diuretics, in order to direct its operation to the kidneys;^[716] and it would seem, that for such an object those diuretic medicines should be preferred that act primarily on the organs, as alkalies and their combinations, squill, &c. the success of such a plan of treatment will also depend greatly upon the exact period at which these remedies are administered; it will for instance be right to wait until the system is, to a certain degree, under mercurial influence. It is hardly necessary to observe, that if the mercury runs off by the bowels, we shall be deprived of all, or of a great share of, the benefit to be expected. In certain cases, the lymphatic vessels seem to resist the admittance of mercury, and to refuse the conveyance of it to the general circulation: I have already thrown out some vague hints upon the subject, at page 156, and I must refer the reader to some farther remarks, which I apprehend bear upon this question under the following article.

Unguentum Oxidi Hydrargyri Cinerei. E. This consists of a mixture of one part of grey oxide of mercury, and three parts of axunge: it was reasonable to suppose, a priori, that, as the whole of the mercury in this ointment is oxidized, its adoption would supersede the necessity of the labour required for the preparation of the common mercurial ointment, and at the same time afford a combination of equal if not superior efficacy; but experience has not justified the conclusion, for it has been found to possess little or no activity; the consideration of it is therefore introduced into this work, not on account of its utility, but as an object upon which I may pause with advantage, to offer those observations which its history is so well calculated to call forth and illustrate. The circumstance which renders this preparation inert, will now receive a satisfactory explanation from the experiments of Mr. Donovan, as related in the preceding article; in short, it is a mechanical mixture instead of a chemical combination; and I beg again to urge the importance of this distinction, and to offer the present example as a farther illustration of the views I have already submitted upon the subject. By subjecting this ointment for some hours to a heat of 300°, it would without doubt become an active preparation. It is probable that the lymphatics offers less resistance to the ingress of a mineral body into the system when it is presented to them in combination with some animal substance, which must alone be regarded as their peculiar stimulus, and the only matter which they are destined perpetually to receive and convey; for the same physiological reason, the lacteals may probably take up iron with greater readiness when in combination with vegetable matter, than when introduced into the stomach in a more purely mineral form.

Unguentum Hydrargyri Mitius. L. This weaker preparation is sometimes preferred, as it irritates the skin less; it is however principally used as a topical dressing to venereal sores, and as an application to kill vermin on the body.

Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis. L.E.D. vulgo Citrine Ointment. It is stimulant, detergent, and alterative; when diluted with an equal quantity of simple ointment or almond oil, it may be almost regarded as a specific in ophthalmia tarsi, smeared upon the cilia every night at bedtime.

Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitrico-oxydi. L. An excellent stimulant application, well adapted for giving energy to indolent ulcers. If mixed with any ointment containing resin, it loses its red colour, passing through olive green to black, which depends upon the conversion of the red into the black oxide of mercury.

Unguentum Hydrargyri Præcipitati Albi. L. Stimulant and detergent. It is said to be very efficacious in certain inveterate forms of the Itch. With the addition of Carbonate of Potass, it has been much extolled in various cutaneous affections.^[717]

Unguentum Picis Liquidæ. L.E.D. Tar Ointment. This ointment has been much extolled for the removal of tetter, and for the cure of tinea capitis.

Unguentum Resinæ Nigræ. L. olim, Ung. Basilicum^[718] nigrum. Digestive stimulant.

Unguentum Sambuci. L.D. It possesses no advantage over the simple ointment.

Unguentum Sulphuris. L.E.D. This ointment is a mechanical mixture of Lard and Sulphur, although it would appear that a small proportion of the latter exists also in a state of chemical combination. Med. Uses. A specific in the itch. Dr. Bateman proposes a combination, equally efficacious, but which has not the same disagreeable smell; viz. “Take of sub-carbonate of potass, half an ounce; rose water, one ounce; red sulphuret of mercury, one drachm; essential oil of Bergamot, half a fluid-drachm; sublimed sulphur, hog’s lard, of each eleven ounces. Mix them.” Jasser’s Ointment also, as altered in the Prussian Pharmacopœia, is an excellent application in Psora, viz. ℞.Sulphur: Sublim: ℥ij, Zinci Sulphat: ℥ij, Ol: Lauri, et Axung. q, s, ut fiat Unguentum.

Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum. L. More stimulating than the simple ointment, from the addition of white hellebore; it is however frequently found to excite too much irritation.

Unguentum Veratri. L.D. It is used for the cure of scabies, but is less certain than the ointment of sulphur.

Unguentum Zinci. L.E.D. Astringent and stimulant; very beneficial in some species of ophthalmia, smeared upon the tarsi, every night.

Very efficient preparations may be also constructed by adding together equal weights of lard and narcotic vegetable powders, as those of Conium, Digitalis, Belladonna, &c.

The addition of a small quantity of powdered white sugar will frequently prevent ointments becoming rancid.