361. Taylor’s Remedy for Deafness. Garlic infused in oil of almonds, and coloured by alkanet root.

362. Dr. Sibthorpe, in his Flora Græca, states that the Aloe Vulgaris is the true Aloe described by Dioscorides.

363. From the action which aloes exercises over the large intestines it has long been supposed that the continued use of it caused the production of hemorrhoids. It would seem hardly possible that an opinion, so generally received, could be without some foundation; and, no doubt, in many cases it may produce such an effect. In my own experience, however, I do not recollect to have met with it in a single instance, even where its use had been continued for several months in succession.

364. Anderson’s Pills consist of the Barbadoes Aloes with a proportion of Jalap, and Oil of Aniseed.

Hooper’s Pills.—Pil. Alöes cum Myrrha, (Pil. Rufi) Sulphate of Iron, and Canella Bark, to which is added a portion of Ivory Black.

Dixon’s Antibilious Pills.—Aloes, Scammony, Rhubarb, and Tartarized Antimony.

Speediman’s Pills.—Aloes, Myrrh, Rhubarb, Extract of Chamomile, and some Essential Oil of Chamomile.

Dinner Pills—Lady Webster’s, or Lady Crespigny’s Pill. These popular pills are the “Pilulæ Stomachicæ,” vulgo, “Pilulæ ante cibum” of the Codex Medicamentarius Parisiensis. Editio Quinta, A.D. 1758. viz. ℞. Aloes optimæ ʒvj, Mastiches, et Rosarum rubrarum āā ʒij, Syrupi de Absinthio q, s, ut fiat massa,—the mass is divided into pills of 3 grains each. The operation of this pill is to produce a copious and bulky evacuation, and in this respect experience has fully established its value. It is difficult to explain the modus operandi of the Mastiche, unless we suppose that it depends upon its dividing the particles of the Aloes, and thereby modifying its solubility.

Fothergill’s Pills.—Aloes, Scammony, Colocynth, and Oxide of Antimony.

Peter’s Pills.—Aloes, Jalap, Scammony, and Gamboge, equal part ʒij—Calomel ʒi.

Radcliffe’s Elixir—℞. Aloes Socot: ʒvi, Cort:—Cinnamon et Rad: Zedoar: āā ʒss—Rad: Rhei ʒi.—Coccinel: ʒss—Syrup: Rhamni f℥ij—Spirit: Tenuior: oj—Aquæ Puræ f℥v.

Beaume de Vie, see Decoct: Aloes compositum.

The Elixir of Longevity, of Dr. Jernitz of Sweden. This is an aromatic tincture, with Aloes.

365. The best mode of using alum as a styptic is that of a tepid saturated solution. In this form it proves much more efficacious in arresting hemorrhage than in the usual way of applying it. Dr. Scudamore, to whom we are indebted for this observation, has detailed some striking and interesting experiments satisfactorily proving its correctness. See “Scudamore on the Blood.” p. 157.—Ed.

366. Godfrey’s Smelling Salts. This highly pungent preparation is obtained by resubliming the common sub-carbonate of ammonia with pearlash, and a proportion of rectified spirit. The sub-carbonate of potass in this case, abstracts a fresh portion of carbonic acid from the ammoniacal salt. Its atomic composition has not yet been ascertained, but it will probably be found to consist of equal atoms of carbonic acid and ammonia, and must therefore be a true Carbonate.

367. It appears that this is not the only article that has suffered in its quality by the cheap materials which have been brought into the market from those works. I understand that the practical chemist can obtain little or no Naphtha from the Barbadoes Tar, owing to its adulteration with the residue of the gas light process.

368. Noyau.—Crème de Noyau. Bitter Almonds blanched 1 oz. Proof spirit half a pint, Sugar 4 oz. It is sometimes coloured with cochineal. The foreign Noyau, although differently prepared, is indebted to the same principle for its qualities. It is a liqueur of a fascinating nature, and cannot be taken to any considerable extent without danger; the late Duke Charles of Lorraine nearly lost his life from swallowing some “Eau de Noyau,” (water distilled from Peach kernels) too strongly impregnated. Journal des Debats, 22, Decembre, 1814.

369. Almond Paste. This Cosmetic for softening the skin and preventing chaps, is made as follows: Bitter almonds blanched 4 oz.; the white of an egg; rose water and rectified spirit, equal parts, as much as is sufficient.

370. For the derivation of this term, and remarks thereon, see p. 38. (Note).

371. The fecula of various grains are employed as articles of diet for the sick, e. g. Sago, prepared from the pith of the Cycas Circinalis, its granular form is imparted to it by passing it, when half dry, through a coarse sieve. Salop, from the Orchis Mascula. Tapioca from the root of the Jatropa Manhiot. By expressing the root of this plant, the juice of which is extremely acrid, and baking the cake that is left, an alimentary substance is prepared called Cassava, the peculiar merit of which, like tapioca, is to swell and soften in water, and thus to make an excellent pudding. Arrow Root is from the Maranta Arundinacea. The arrow root however, usually sold, is the fecula of potatoes; 100 lbs. of which would yield about 10 lbs. of fecula, and it is worthy of remark that for this purpose frozen potatoes answer as well as those not spoiled by the frost. Dr. Ainslie, in his Materia Medica of Hindostan, informs us that “an excellent Arrow root, if it may be so called, is now prepared in the Travancore country from the root of the Curcuma Angustifolia, no way inferior to that obtained from the Maranta Arundinacea.”

372. The method of deducing the value of seeds, from their relative weights, appears to have been one of the earliest instances of the art of taking specific gravities; thus Pliny (Nat. Hist. lib. xviii.) estimated the relative weights of several species of grain.

373. Chamomile Drops. The nostrum sold under this name is a spirit flavoured with the essential oil of Chamomile. It is very obvious that it cannot possess the bitter tonic of the flowers.

374. The Everlasting Pill of the ancients consisted of metallic Antimony, which being slightly soluble in the gastric juice was supposed to exert the property of purging as often as it was swallowed. This was economy in right earnest, for a single pill would serve a whole family during their lives, and might be transmitted as an heir-loom to their posterity. We have heard of a Lady who having swallowed one of these pills, became seriously alarmed at its not passing; upon sending however for her physician, he consoled her with the assurance that it had already passed through a hundred patients with the best effect.

375. The manner of doing it among the Turks, is described by Shaw and Russel. Chateaubriand also remarks, “The women of Athens appear to me smaller and less handsome than those of the Morea, their practice of painting the orbits of the eyes blue, and the ends of the fingers red, is disagreeable to the stranger.” Dr. Badham has also given us an interesting note upon this subject in his learned Translation of Juvenal. Sat. II. 1. 141. See also the present work, p. 49.

376. The Sulphuret of Antimony is an ingredient in Spilsbury’s Drops. See Hydrargyri Oxy-murias. Dr. Duncan also observes that it seems to constitute a quack remedy which has acquired some reputation in Ireland for the cure of cancer, where it is used as an external application to the sore.

377. This saline body was first made known by Adrian de Mynsicht in his Thesaurus Medico-chymicus, published in 1631; although it appears probable that the preparation was suggested by a treatise, entitled “Methodus in Pulverem,” published in Italy in 1620. This book, written by Dr. Cornachinus, gives an account of a method of preparing a powder which had been invented by Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and which had acquired considerable celebrity in Italy; this powder was composed of Scammony, Sulphuret of Antimony, and Tarter, triturated together.

378. There is a Tartrate of Antimony, but it can scarcely be made to crystallize; it easily assumes a gelatinous form; and it may be here observed that Antimony is one of those metals whose oxides seem to combine with difficulty, and to form compounds of little permanency with acids, unless there be present at the same time an alkali or earth; and their solutions, in most cases, yield, on dilution, a white precipitate.

379. The compound of Tartarized Antimony and Bark, is said to purge, and to constitute the “Bolus ad Quartanas” of the French physicians.

380. The Sugar is added with a view to prevent the ointment from becoming rancid.

381. Norris’s Drops. A solution of tartarized antimony in rectified spirit, and disguised by the addition of some vegetable colouring matter. I am credibly informed that the original recipe contained opium, but that which I have examined, and which was procured from a respectable agent, yielded no indications of its presence.

382. Hard water has a tendency to produce diseases in the spleen of certain animals, especially sheep: this is the case in the eastern side of the island of Minorca, as we are informed by Cleghorn. The mischievous tendency of bad water, where it cannot be corrected by some chemical process, would seem to be best counteracted by bitter vegetables. Virey supposes that this circumstance first induced the Chinese to infuse the leaves of the tea plant.

383. Alpini informs us that Elephantiasis is endemial in Egypt; Galen ascribes it to the impure waters of the Nile, and Lucretius adopted the same opinion.

384. Dr. Percival observes that bricks harden the softest water, and give it an aluminous impregnation; the common practice of lining wells with them, is therefore very improper, unless they be covered with cement.

385. The same strumous affection occurs at Sumatra, where ice and snow are never seen; while, on the contrary, the disease is quite unknown in Chili and Thibet, although the rivers of these countries are chiefly supplied by the melting of the snow with which the mountains are covered. The trials of Captain Cook, in his voyage round the world, prove the wholesomeness of Ice water beyond a doubt; in the high southern latitudes he found a salutary supply of fresh water in the ice of the sea; “this melted ice,” says sir John Pringle, “was not only sweet but soft, and so wholesome as to shew the fallacy of human reasoning unsupported by experiments.”

386. I take this opportunity of observing that I have made analyses of several of those springs in Cornwall, which have from time immemorial enjoyed a reputation in the neighbourhood for curing diseases, amongst which were the waters of Holywell, so named from its supposed virtues, and those of Permiscen Bay, equally extolled for their medicinal qualities. But I have only been able to detect minute quantities of carbonate of lime, derived from infiltration through banks of calcareous sand. See Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, Vol. I.

387. See “Remarks on the Pump water of London,” by W. Heberden, M. D. in the 1st. vol. of the Medical Transactions; also, Acad. Royale des Scienc. 1700, Hist. pag. 58. Perrault Vitruve. L. VIII. c. 5.

388. I am informed by a respectable chemist in this town, that he sells a large quantity of alum for this very purpose, as well as to publicans for the sake of clearing their spirituous liquors; for the same end, we are told, that the wine merchants in Paris put into each cask of wine as much as a pound of alum.

389. This is particularly the case with respect to the water of the River Thames; for as it contains but a small proportion of saline matter, it is remarkably soft, although it holds suspended mud, and vegetable and animal debris, which occasion it to undergo a violent change on being kept: a large volume of carburetted and sulphuretted hydrogen gases is evolved, and it becomes black and insufferably offensive; upon racking it off however into large earthen vessels, and exposing it to the air, it gradually deposits a quantity of black slimy matter, and becomes as clear as crystal, and perfectly sweet and palatable, and is exceedingly well adapted for sea store. “The New River Water” contains a small proportion of muriate of lime, carbonate of lime, and muriate of soda; it differs also in its gaseous contents: 100 cubic inches of New River Water contain 2·25 of carbonic acid, and 1·25 of common air, whereas the water of the Thames contains rather a large quantity of common air, and a smaller proportion of carbonic acid.

390. The law which determines such combinations has been investigated with singular ingenuity and success by Dr. Murray, (Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1816). Berthollet had already established the important fact, that combinations are often determined by the force of cohesion, in such a manner, that in principles acting on each other, those on which this force operates most powerfully, in relation to the fluid which is the medium of action, are combined together; hence from a knowledge of the solubility of the compounds which substances form, we may predict what combinations will be established when they act on each other, those always combining which form the least soluble compounds. It is for the extension of these views, and for the useful application of them, that we are indebted to Dr. Murray, who justly observes that if the force of cohesion can so far modify chemical attraction, as to establish among compound salts dissolved in any medium, those combinations whence the least soluble compound are formed, we are entitled to conclude that the reverse of this force, i. e. the power of a solvent, may produce the opposite effects, or cause the very reverse of these combinations to be established, so that in a concentrated medium the least soluble will be formed, and in a dilute one, the more soluble compounds will be established. Hence follows the simple rule by which the actual state in which saline bodies exist in a solution may be determined, viz. that in any fluid containing the elements of compound salts, the binary compounds existing in it will be generally those which are most soluble in that fluid, and the reverse combinations will only be established by its concentration favouring the influence of cohesion. It appears that by simply evaporating a saline solution we may produce changes in its composition, and obtain products which never existed in its original state of dilution; thus, suppose muriate of magnesia and sulphate of soda to be dissolved in water, as is actually the case in the water of the ocean, and the solution to be concentrated by evaporation from heat; the combinations of sulphate of magnesia and muriate of soda, being on the whole less soluble in water, this circumstance of inferior solubility, or the force of cohesion thus operating, actually determines the formation of these compounds; and the production of sulphate of magnesia from the bittern is to be explained upon this principle. Since it appears therefore that the influence of solubility is most important, temperature, to whose dominion it is under all circumstances subject, must necessarily be alike powerful; let us exemplify this fact by the action of the very salts under consideration; it has been just stated that muriate of magnesia and sulphate of soda decompose each other in a concentrated solution at a high temperature, producing muriate of soda and sulphate of magnesia, but at temperatures below 32° the reverse actually takes place, muriate of soda and sulphate of magnesia reacting, and being converted into sulphate of soda and muriate of magnesia; a fact evidently owing to the relation of the solubility of these salts to temperature. Muriate of soda has its solubility scarcely altered, either by heat or cold; sulphate of soda is, in these respects, completely the reverse; hence at an elevated temperature, muriate of soda is the least, and sulphate of soda the most soluble salt, whilst at a low temperature, the reverse of this happens. All the circumstances of this investigation are most interesting; the medical practitioner will at once perceive its importance, as enabling him to appreciate the real nature of saline solutions, and even in many instances to preserve their identity. See Aquæ Minerales.

391. There is a precaution respecting the preservation of these waters for analysis with which the chemist ought to be acquainted; it will be fully explained by the relation of the following anecdote. M. Wurza, on examining some bottles of Chalybeate water, could detect no signs of iron in them, and on seeking for the cause of this circumstance, he discovered it in the astringent nature of the corks which had combined with the metallic substance, and abstracted it from the water.

392. The Mineral Springs in the United States more especially deserving of notice, are those of Saratoga and Ballston in the State of New-York, and of Schooley’s Mountain in New-Jersey. Of the two first, various analyses have been published by different chemists, but with so little uniformity of result as to leave their true chemical character still in a state of uncertainty. An account of these discrepancies may be seen in the New-England Journal of Medicine and Surgery for 1817. As the analyses of Dr. Steel appear upon the whole to be most satisfactory, we shall quote them. One gallon of the water was the quantity used in the experiments.

According to the analysis of Dr. M‘Nevin, these waters consist of

The diseases in which the Ballston and Saratoga waters have been recommended are dyspepsia, hypochondriasis, hysteria, dropsy, paralysis, chronic gout, rheumatism, chlorosis, suppression of the menses, and diseases of the bladder and kidneys. The waters of Schooley’s Mountain, besides their general utility in diseases of the digestive organs, have proved eminently successful in calculous affections. Ed.

393. New-York Med. and Phys. Journal, No. 21. p. 73.

394. For the same purpose the French employ a pomatum prepared with the oxide of bismuth, and it is said to answer the intention.

395. Permanent Ink for Marking Linen. This preparation is a solution of nitrate of silver, thickened with sap green, or cochineal. The preparing liquid, or Pounce liquid, as it is technically called, with which the linen to be marked is previously wetted, is a solution of soda, boiled with gum, or some animal mucilage. It is a curious circumstance, that if potass be used for this purpose, the marking ink will run.

396. Nitrate of Silver is commonly called an Escharotic. This, however, gives no just idea of the properties of this valuable article, or of the uses to which it may be applied. As a local application in cases of external inflammation, punctured wounds, and ulcers, I have found it a remedy of surpassing utility. It is to Mr. Higginbottom that we are indebted for the full developement of this subject.—See “An Essay on the use of Nitrate of Silver, in the cure of Inflammation, Wounds, and Ulcers.” Ed.

397. Horse-radish; horse-mint; bull-rush; &c. These epithets are Grecisms; ιππος and βους, i. e. horse and bull, when prefixed to any word, signified no more than great; thus the great Dock, Hippo-lapathum, and the horse of Alexander from the size of his head was named Bucephalus.

398. An infusion of horse-radish is a very ancient remedy in disorders of the stomach. In Paulus Ægineta we shall find a letter written by Carytius Antigonus, in which it is highly recommended for such a purpose.

399. The chemist may satisfy himself of this fact by heating some arsenious acid on a piece of platinum foil, and alternately raising and depressing it into the blue flame of the spirit, when corresponding changes in odour will take place.

400. It will probably afford a satisfactory explanation of the circumstance mentioned by Dr. Percival, that the workmen who solder silver filligree with an arsenical alloy, are never affected by the fumes. Dr. Percival does not appear to have been in the least aware of the probable reason of this fact; he says, “This solder is melted by the flame of a lamp directed by a blow-pipe; the greatest part of the arsenic is evaporated by the blast and flame, and some part also of the rest of the solder, and yet the men appear to enjoy as good health, and to live as long as other artists! Amongst other examples of the truth of this observation, I lately saw in the manufactory at the Soho at Birmingham, a man of more than fifty years of age, who had soldered silver filligree for thirty-five years, and had regularly, during that period, passed from eight to ten hours daily in his occupation, and yet he was fat, strong, active, cheerful, and of a complexion by no means sickly; neither he nor his brother artists use any means to counteract the effect of their trade.” Dr. Rotheram, in a letter to Dr. Percival, comments upon this fact, and says, “how far the fluxes used in soldering the filligree may fix the parts of the arsenic, or from what cause these workmen might escape, I dare not say, but I should notwithstanding strongly suspect the fumes of this very volatile and caustic mineral to be very prejudicial.”—I have shewn above that arsenious acid is readily decomposed when heated in contact with an oxidable metal, and I apprehend that this fact will explain the reason why the fumes of the alloy in question are disarmed of their virulence.

401. In my work on Medical Jurisprudence, (Vol. ii. p. 216) the reader will find a very full account of the symptoms produced by this poison.

402. Plunkett’s Ointment, consists of arsenious acid, sulphur, and the powdered flowers of the Ranunculus Flammula, and Cotula Fœtida, levigated and made into a paste with the white of an egg, and applied, on a piece of pig’s bladder, to the surface of the cancer.

Pate Arsenicale. This favourite remedy of the French surgeons consists of 70 parts of cinnabar, 22 of sanguis draconis, and 8 of arsenious acid, made into paste with saliva, at the time of applying it. This combination, observes a periodical writer, is similar, with the exception of the ashes of the soles of old shoes, to that recommended by Father Cosmo under the name of “Pulvis Anti-carcinomatosa.”

Davidson’s Remedy for Cancer, arsenious acid, and powdered hemlock.

403. In the Journal de Medicine, the following case of a woman is related who was killed by her husband having insinuated powdered arsenic into the vagina, at the moment of enjoying the conjugal rites. “A woman at Leneux, department de l’Ourthe, aged 40, having died after a short illness, attended with considerable tumefaction of the genital parts, uterine hemorrhage, vomiting, and purging, the body was inspected by order of the mayor, when the surgeons reported that they found the vulva in a state of gangrene, the abdomen much distended with air, and the intestines inflamed and gangrenous. The culprit was arrested, convicted, and executed.” In the Acts of the Society of Medicine of Copenhagen, a similar crime is recorded, committed also by a peasant; in this latter case, although some small pieces of arsenic were found within the vagina, yet, some doubting the possibility of this species of poisoning, the magistrates consulted the College of Medicine of Copenhagen, who decided the question in the affirmative, by instituting a series of experiments upon horses.

Singleton’s Eye Salve, or Golden Ointment. Under this name is sold a preparation which consists of sulphuret of arsenic (orpiment) with lard, or spermaceti ointment. The Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitrico Oxydi of the London College is also sold under the same title.

Delcroix’s Poudre Subtil, “for removing superfluous hair in less than ten minutes.”! This fashionable depilatory appears upon examination to consist of Quick-lime and Sulphuret of Arsenic, with some vegetable powder. It is, however, so unequally mixed, that in submitting it to analysis, no two portions afforded the same results. It can scarcely be necessary to state, that such a composition is incapable of fulfilling the intention for which it is so confidently vended.

In Paris, arsenic forms the basis of several blistering cerates. Such applications cannot be safe.

404. This substance may be considered as consisting of charcoal, in a state of extremely minute division, and the sub-carbonate of potass. It is prepared by deflagrating, in a crucible, two parts of Super-tartrate of Potass with one part of Nitrate of Potass.

405. In order to close the end of the tube, where a blow-pipe is not to be procured, the end is to be placed in a common fire, until it is completely softened, and a pair of small tongs being at the same time made red hot, the tube is to be withdrawn from the fire, and then heated and pinched by the tongs, and at the same time bent up at an acute angle, so as to be brought parallel to the body of the tube. The tube is then to be heated a second time, and being again firmly pinched by the hot tongs, the end will be found to be completely impervious. Where a glass is not at hand Mr. R. Phillips says a common draught phial may be made to answer the purpose, especially a ten drachm phial, for it is long in proportion to its diameter. In using it, however, care must be taken that the suspected powder and black flux do not reach the bottom, for, on account of its thickness, it will readily break on the application of heat. The phial must therefore be heated laterally by means of a spirit lamp.

406. Dr. Bostock has informed us that the best proportions for this coating are one part of common pipe clay, to three parts of fine sand; which are to be well kneaded together, and reduced to such a state of tenacity that the lute will readily adhere to the tube, and its different parts unite, without forming a visible seam, (Edinb. Med. & Surg. Journ. April, 1809.)

407. Should the operator be unable to procure a spirit lamp, a very convenient substitute may be provided in the following manner. Let a piece of tin plate, about an inch long, be coiled up into a cylinder of about ⅜ths of an inch in diameter, and, if the edges be well hammered, it is not necessary to use solder. Perforate a cork, previously fitted to a phial, and put a cotton wick through the short tin tube, and the tube through the cork. The lamp is now complete, and will afford a strong flame, taking care of course not to prevent the rise of the spirit by fitting the cork too closely.

408. In the celebrated case of Kesler, who was tried in the state of New-York some few years ago, for having poisoned his wife with arsenic, this very question was agitated, and gave rise to much learned controversy. The physicians originally called to examine the body of the deceased, found, on dissection, the stomach and intestines highly inflamed, and on the inner surface of the stomach, particles of a vitreous appearance. These particles were subjected to various chemical tests, all of which very strikingly concurred in confirming the suspicion that they were arsenic. Upon this, in connexion with the other testimony adduced in the case, the prisoner was found guilty and condemned to death. The minutes of the trial were transmitted by the presiding judge (Yates) to Governor Clinton, who submitted the professional part of them to Dr. M‘Nevin of New-York, for his opinion in relation to it. Thus called upon, Dr. M. seems to have considered that his only duty was to find fault. Objections were accordingly raised against every test hitherto employed by the best chemists for the detection of arsenic. They were all pronounced to be uncertain, and “the only thing to be relied on,” according to him, was “the exhibition of the metal itself in its metallic lustre and state.” In consequence of this difference of opinion, the execution of Kesler was suspended by the Governor, and the whole case referred by him to the Legislature. That distinguished body appointed a committee to investigate the business, and the result was that the original verdict of the jury was confirmed by the Legislature, and the criminal was executed. It must furnish a source of the purest gratification to the medical witnesses concerned in this case, to find their opinions so unequivocally and so justly confirmed by an authority so high as Dr. Paris. For a detailed account of this trial we refer to Beck’s Medical Jurisprudence, vol. 2, p. 239.—Ed.

409. If any trifling opacity occur in a simple solution of arsenic, when assayed by the nitrate of silver, it may be considered as the effects of some casual impurities; this is further demonstrated by bringing over the surface of the arsenical liquid, a piece of blotting paper, or a stopper, moistened with a solution of ammonia, when there will instantly form a copious yellow precipitate of arsenite of silver. If this experiment be performed on a surface of glass, laid over white paper, the result is very striking and beautiful.