A manual of materia medica and pharmacy : comprising a concise description of the articles used in medicine; their physical and chemical properties; the botanical characters of the medicinal plants ... with observations on the proper mode of combining and administering remedies / by H. M. Edwards and P. Vavasseur ; translated from the French, with numerous additions and corrections, and adapted to the practice of medicine and art of pharmacy in the United States, by Joseph Togno and E. Durand.

  • Milne-Edwards, H. (Henri), 1800-1885.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of materia medica and pharmacy : comprising a concise description of the articles used in medicine; their physical and chemical properties; the botanical characters of the medicinal plants ... with observations on the proper mode of combining and administering remedies / by H. M. Edwards and P. Vavasseur ; translated from the French, with numerous additions and corrections, and adapted to the practice of medicine and art of pharmacy in the United States, by Joseph Togno and E. Durand. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    White Bark. This kind is very scarce in commerce, and should be referred to the Cinchona ovalifolia, Mutis, which tree is found in the Andes of Peru, and in New Grenada. B. C. Trunk, eight or ten feet high; bark grayish, chapped, small branches quadrangular, silky; leaves oval, the superior face shining, the inferior silky; flowers white, small; capsules ovoid, fusiform, one inch long. P. P. Bark thin, quilled, brittle, covered with a whitish epi- dermis, fracture fibrous, of a tawny colour internally, of a bitter, nauseating and slightly harsh taste. C. P. The composition of this kind hardly diners from the preceding. Such are the principal species of barks admitted by the phar- macologists of our day. There are besides many others, which are found in commerce together with these; but as they are but little known and as little used, we do not think it necessary to describe them here. Cold and principally boiling water, takes up a portion of the active principles of the various kinds of cinchona; but the decoc- tion becomes turbid on cooling, and is very soon altered. Alcohol is their best solvent. \ Incomp. Subst. Concentrated acids, salts of iron, sulphate of zinc, nitrate of silver, deuto-chloride of mercury. The tartrate of antimony and potassa, the infusions of chamomile, Columbo, catechu, rhubarb, &c. produce an abundant precipitate in the in- fusions and decoctions of several species of bark. Th. E. Given in small doses, the Peruvian bark acts locally and simply on the stomach and intestinal canal; it increases the vitality of this apparatus, stimulates the digestive functions, and renders the assimilation of the alimentary substances more rapid and perfect; but this tonic action is almost exclusively limited to the tissues with which the bark comes in contact; whilst, under the influence of larger doses we perceive the mani- festation of a series of general phenomena, which leaves no doubt that this action is extended to the whole economy. In fact, after the administration of a common dose of bark, under any shape whatever, the mouth becomes dry; the stomach experiences a sensation of heat which extends very soon to the whole abdomen; the circulation is quicker, the pulse becomes more active and full; the general heat, and cutaneous perspiration are increased; finally, a sensation of vigor more or less appreciable and permanent is experienced, which characterizes the tonic medication. Should the dose of bark be too strong, or its use be too long continued, or finally, the digestive canal, or any other organ be in a state of inflammation, all th© phenomena we have just mentioned be- come more intense and all the symptoms of phlegmasia are ag-