The dictionary of medical and surgical knowledge and complete practical guide in health and disease for families, emigrants, and colonists / by the editor of the "Dictionary of useful knowledge" [i.e. Robert Kemp Philp], etc. [With illustrations.].

Date:: MDCCLXIV [1864]

Credit: The dictionary of medical and surgical knowledge and complete practical guide in health and disease for families, emigrants, and colonists / by the editor of the "Dictionary of useful knowledge" [i.e. Robert Kemp Philp], etc. [With illustrations.]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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$Mix thoroiiglilj', and divide into 12 | l^owders, of -whicli one is to 1)0 taken in a wincglassful of cold water an hour before each meal, or four times a day. At the same time, care must he taken with the diet; all gi-avies, brotlis, or made dishes avoided, and each meal made as much as possible on solid food, with a lai'ge proportion of juicj animal fibre. See IXDIGESTIOX. APPLES. — There are nearly 1,500 varieties of this valuable fruit; and of all the productions of oui* orchards, there is no fruit more serviceable to the in- habitants of this country than the apple, not only as a luxuiw, hut as a wholesome and nutritious food. Apples contain sugar, gum, a small quantity of oxahc, and a large proportion of mahc acid, — that acid principle on which the grateful odom- of the fruit depends. Raw apples, in the estimation of some practitioners, are considered paidicularly unwholesome to persons of weak digestion, causing flatidcnce, pain, and indigestion; but if this is a fact, it will generally he found to depend more on the manner in which they are eaten, than from any fault in the fruit. All apples contain a large amount oifixed air, and, if eaten hastily,' the pulp passes into the stomach before it is liberated,—in which case, when given off by the process of digestion, and ex- panded by the heat of the stomach, that organ natm’ally becomes distended and ilatulent. A pereon with weak digestion should first peel the apple, then scrape the pith with a knife, and separating the seeds and fibrous cell-cases, cat the scraped pulp, cither alone or on thin slices of bread. In cither of these forms, apples will be found io 'promote digestion rather than impede it. It is a peculiarity with this fruit, that, whenever it docs produce unpleasant effects, those consequences pass off by continuing its use, and aft(,‘r a few times it may he taken at any hour, and almost m any quantity. It is a belief of some that apples arc most serviceable when taken in the morning, less beneficial in the day, and hurtful at night; but this, like other popular sayings, is only partly true : thousands of Ihvncli and Swiss make a hearty supper of an apple and a piece of bread. It is not in the practice of eating apples, but in the occasional use of them only, that any harm resides. When cooked, apples be- come extremely nutritive, as then much of the free acid is converted into sugar. 06 Medicinally, the apple acts as a stomachic, by promoting digestion, and, cither raiv or boiled, becomes a laxative, especially in the morning; while in its ripe state, it is most beneficial as a grateful and refreshing luxiuy, coiTecting the im- pmitics of the blood, and cooling the system. Apples are also admirable as a condiment or coiTcctive to rich food, especially when used as sauce. There is only one variety of food with or after which apples are injurious, and that is, fish. See Cidee, Eeuits, Food. APPOSITE.—A term, used in surgery to express the laying together of the fractured extremities of a broken bone in a position as near to nature as possible, so as to insm-e their reunion. To place in apposition is to adjust the parts as nearly in a natural state as possible. APRICOT. — This well-knomi and highly esteemed fruit belongs to the species knomi as the Frunus Armeniaca, of which there are nearly 30 varieties, 15 being native to this country. The apricot is^ nourishing, sweet, and very wholesome, surpassing the peach, nec- tarine, and cherry in all its qualities. The Chinese make lozenges out of the clarified juice of the apricot, which, when dissolved in water, makes a very beautiful and re- freshing beverage. Like aU its species, the kernels of this fruit contain a certain amormt of prussic acid. The young shoots of the plant are used as a dye-stuff, to impart a rich, warm, cinnamon coloru to wool. See Feuit. AQUA.—The Latin name for water. Besides the natural waters, such as spring, river, and rain waters, and the mcdicmal springs, such as the saline and chalybeate, there are many artificial waters used in medicine. Of the first, the most important arc the aqua fontana, or fountain water, and aqiia distillata, distilled water. For the uses and properties of both, see W ATEE. For lime water, mint, peppermint, older flow'd’, cinnamon, and other medicinal waters of that nature, see the different substances named. AQUAFORTIS.—Strong w’nter. This misnamed article is the strongest and most corrosive of all the acids in th(‘ Pharmacopceia, and takes the foremost place among the mineral acids,—aquaforti or nitric acid. For its chemical and medicinal properties, see Nttuic Acid. AQUA REGALIS, or Royal Watek. —So named because it possessed the power F$