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.

  • Henri Milne-Edwards
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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    Measures op Capacity. Apoth. French Grains. Grammes. 58443 3784 7305 473 456.5 29.68 57. 3.71 0.9 0.061 15444 1000 7722 500 3861 250 1930 125 2412 156.25 315 19.50 63 3.90 0.878 0.055 40128 2622 16560 1082.80 United States, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Pharma- copoeias. C. Congius Gallon O. Octans Pint f.^ fluiduncia fluid ounce f.g fluid drachma fluid drachm tt\,. minimum* 8 pints or 8 fluid lbs. 16 fluid ounces - - 8 fluid drachms - - 60 minims - - - - minim 1 fluid grain - French Codex. One litre or pinte - - • Half litre or chopine - Quarter of a litre or setier One-eighth of a litre or half setier Cyath. or tumblerful - Cochl. maj. or table-spoonful 3 v. Cochl. min. or coffee-spoonf ^j. Gut. - drop ---- gr.j ifeij- ibj. Sv. 2 French pounds 1 do. pound do. do. do. do. do. do. ounces do. do. drachms do. grain Tlie Swedish Kanne, Cantharus, contains 88 Swedish ounces ...__.._ The Berlin Measure contains 36 Nuremberg ounces * The difference existing in the bulk of drops of various liquids had long been remarked, but no effort had been made to trace out the cause of this difference, which was merely attributed to the variable density of the fluids. Dr. Shuttle- worth of Liverpool, seems to have been the first who ascertained by a series of experiments made on the weight of drops of different liquids the inaccuracy and danger of the practice of exhibiting active fluid substances in drops. An important change was soon after introduced by the College of Physicians of London, for the mensuration of liquids and the division of the wine pint, to in- sure accuracy in the measurement of quantities of liquids below one drachm. The subdivision of the wine pint, was, therefore, extended to the sixtieth part of the fluid drachm, and each division called a minim. The authors of the Phar- macopoeia of the United States have adopted this measure, which, however, is still too generally mistaken, in this country, as equivalent to a drop, although it is only a measure of bulk. In order to show the difference existing between minims and drops of various liquids, we have performed a series of experiments, with accurate instruments, and with the greatest care, on the principal liquid preparations of the Pharma- copoeia of the United States, and on a few others peculiar to foreign pharmaco- *poeize; which experiments we have further extended to ascertain the difference between grains and drops. From the results we have obtained, we have been enabled to establish the following table, which we think may prove useful in the practice of medicine, by enforcing the necessity of abandoning entirely the erroneous method of pre- scribing in drops, and substituting for them the more uniform and certain mode of measuring by minims. With respect to the size and weight of the drops of the various liquids, we may establish, as a general rule, from the following table; 1st. That the liquids which contain a small proportion of water afford also a small drop,- while, on the contrary, the liquids containing a large quantity of water furnish a large drop. For instance, concentrated urids, dims, rectified alcohol, fixed and essential oils, &.c. which contain but a very small proportion of water, yield % smaller drop than diluted acids, in oh-alcohol, wine, vinegar, &.c 2d. That amongst the liquids containing a large proportion of water, those which are not charged with reme- dial substances give a largo- and heavier drop than these same liquids contain- ing extraneous bodies in solution. For instance, weak alcohol, wine, vinegar, and furnish a larger and heavier drop than the tinctures prepared from them. fTlic French coffee-spoon is larger than our tea-spoon.]