American materia medica, therapeutics and pharmacognosy : developing the latest acquired knowledge of drugs, and especially of the direct action of single drugs upon exact conditions of disease, with especial reference to the therapeutics of the plant drugs of the Americas / by Finley Ellingwood ; with a practical consideration of the principles of pharmacy and pharmacognosy, by John Uri Lloyd.

  • Ellingwood, Finley, 1852-1920.
Date:
[1919], ©1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: American materia medica, therapeutics and pharmacognosy : developing the latest acquired knowledge of drugs, and especially of the direct action of single drugs upon exact conditions of disease, with especial reference to the therapeutics of the plant drugs of the Americas / by Finley Ellingwood ; with a practical consideration of the principles of pharmacy and pharmacognosy, by John Uri Lloyd. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    water.* *1 When undesirable in the final product, this fat must be separated.*2 In like manner, primary “bundles’’ derived by means of other solvents, may carry adhering materials whose location as regards solvents, is elsewhere, and which may be transferred to their natural homes by subsequent manipulations with appropriate cleansing*3 solvents. Transference of yet other slivers can be accomplished by means of yet other neutral liquids, having the power of making closer cleavages.*4 In some cases, the process of precipitation by means of a liquid affiliating with the original menstruum, but in which one or more of the constituents soluble in the original liquid is insoluble, may be employed to dissect a bundle of colloids. Thus, if the gum of a water-extracted group is desired,—free, we may say, of an alcohol-insoluble fragment,—the addition of alcohol to the water- extracted colloidal complexity makes a precipitate of the gummy part of the substance, practically free from alcohol-soluble materials. The precipitate may, however, carry a mixture of other substances, such as seeming*5 inorganics, likewise insoluble in alcohol. A next step (after re-solution), by means of yet other liquids, may then precipitate other extractive slivers, some desirable in themselves,‘others undesirable, all being parts of the original percolate. With¬ out the use of energetic chemicals, colloidal plant structures by such manipula¬ tive processes may be dissected and individualized to a degree of pharmaceutical satisfaction, even though not to absolute chemical perfection.*6 For special purposes, dialysis may be employed. (See Colloids by Dialysis, page 15). Spontaneous evaporation through an absorbent mass medium is often applicable, whereby capillarity differentiates colloidal mixtures closely connected * so far as solvency is concerned. Purification by adhesion attractions, through a capillary medium such as blotting paper, may be absolutely necessary as a final separator of certain closely-locked structures. This latter process enables one to make very complete cleavage separations of materials which bear nearly exact solubilities. Colloids in Pharmacy Essential in Therapy—Whoever enters this field, must needs liberate himself from some of the limitations concerning both thought and action embraced in past authoritative pharmaceutical processes, as applied to plant structures. Every root, bark, flower or herb is a separate creation, carrying group entities (“bundles”) that need be studied in a new light as con¬ cerns applied pharmacy. Does not the fact that colloidal substances constitute the bulk of the animal and vegetable kingdoms; that colloidal phenomena dominate life-building as well as life-destroying processes; that the most valuable and kindly of all natural plant remedial agents, as well as those most energetic (does not this apply also to animal vaccines and serums?) are colloidal, bid one absorbed in seemingly distant fields, be patient with a neighbor entangled in the intricacies of these * 1. Even then, the presence of other colloids is essential to solution of material amounts, as well as to the permanency of the solution. In our experience, great difficulty is met in preventing formation of progressively larger molecular aggregations that Anally produce pre¬ cipitates. * 2. For example, benzol will clean the primary water package from its fat, often without disturbing the arrangement of other components of the water-soluble “bundle.” This fat may be a composite that, if desirable, may be shattered into yet closer ultimates. * 3. These adhering substances may be likened to dirt (“matter out of place”), which may be washed away, much as soap-water removes grease from an adhering fabric. * 4. In some manipulative processes, these recovered adhesion films become, on a large scale, valuable by-products. * 5, This term is ventured to cover materials in which earthy substances are present as part of the plant texture. In this writer’s opinion, they are then organic, being naturally- constituted parts of vegetation. Their solubilities are often surprisingly the opposite of artificial salts of these same earthy substances. * 6. Occasionally unexpected destruction of natural structures follows the use of liquids seemingly innocent. For example, the pronounced alkaloidal structure of Sanguinaria is utterly destroyed by contact with Acetone for a very limited period. Chloroform likewise reacts destruc¬ tively in special cases.