The Eclectic and general dispensatory : comprehending a system of pharmacy, materia medica, the formulae of the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin pharmacopoeias, prescriptions of many eminent physicians, and receipts for the most common empirical medicines / collated from the best authorities, by an American physician.

Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Eclectic and general dispensatory : comprehending a system of pharmacy, materia medica, the formulae of the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin pharmacopoeias, prescriptions of many eminent physicians, and receipts for the most common empirical medicines / collated from the best authorities, by an American physician. 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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    Phosphurets of Earths. Carburets of Iron. Alloys. Earths. ■with Earths. metallic Oxides. -fixed Alkalies. Solid Acids. Salts and Hydrosulphurets. Bitumens, solid oils. Soaps. jllost vegetable Substances. Many animal Substances. SIMPLE SOLIDS. a. Sulphuh. Although the experiments of Sir H. Davy* have unequivocally proved that hydrogen is always present in sul- . phur as we obtain it; yet, they afford no positive conclusion that it is an essential ingredient of sulphur. I have therefore followed Dr. Thomson in regarding it as a simple solid. For its properties, see paht ii. b. Phosphoiius is semi-transparent, of a yellowish red colour, and a waxy consist- ence, but when perfectly pure is colour- less and transparent. Its specific gravity is 1-770. It is nearly insoluble in water, but is so soft it may be cut with a knife. It is brittle at a temperature under 32°. Above that point it softens, and under 90° is very ductile. It melts at 90; in close vessels is volatized at 219° ; and boils at 550°. When heated in the air to 148° it inflames, and emits a white smoke, which has an alliaceous odour, and condenses to an acid. It is obtained from urine, bones, and other animal mat- ters. By Sir H. Davy's experiments, there are circumstances which favour the idea that it is a compound ; but it is still generally regarded as an undecom- pounded body.f c. Cakbon. The diamond is this substance in a state of purity ; and although char- coal, in its ordinary state, almost invaria- bly contains either hydrogen or water, yet, from the experiments of Messrs. Al- len and Pepys, it is probable that char- coal is essentially as pure carbon as the diamond, and that the hydrogen it evolves depends on water, which it al- ways absorbs on the shortest exposure to the air. Carbon is a constituent of al- most all vegetable and animal substan- ces. 'Elements of Chem. Phil. p. 283. T For experiment, the simplest mode of obtaining phosphorus is to mix a solution of phosphate of soda with a solution of acetate of lead, in the proportion of one part of the former salt to one quarter of the litter, ^'i'his will yield a precipitate of phosphate uf lead, from which phosphorus may be obtained by distillation. Henry1! Element! of Chemistry, ii. p. 7. d. Metals are simple inflammable bodies, of great specific gravity, density, and opacity; and, as the result of these qualities, possess great brilliancy or lus- tre from their power of reflecting almost all the light which falls upon their sur- face. Their colours are generally shades of white, gray, or yellow; their hardness is considerable, and according to its de- gree they are more or less elastic : one only, mercury, is in a fluid state at the ordinary heat of the air. Many of them possess considerable tenacity, and are consequently malleable and ductile; but some are extremely brittle. Metals are sapid and odorous when heated or rub- bed; their fracture is generally hackly; their texture fibrous or foliated ; and many of them are sonorous. They are excellent conductors of caloric, electri- city, and galvanism. When exposed to the action of caloric, they expand and are melted; but differ greatly with regard to fusibility; some of them are volatil- ized at known temperatures. When fused, their surface is convex and globu- lar ; and in cooling they generally crys- tallize. They are very susceptible of oxidizement. The following metals are used as phar- maceutical agents. I. Malleable. 1. Silver. (See Part ii.) 2. Mercury. (Ibid.) 3. Copper. (Ibid.) 4. Iron. (Ibid.) 5. Tin. (Ibid.) 6. Lead. (Ibid.) 7. Zinc. (Ibid.) II. Brittle and easily fused. 1. Bismuth, a reddish white coloured brit- tle metal of a lamellar texture. Its specific gravity is 9*822, but this is in- creased by hammering. It fuses at 476° Fah. and crystallizes cooling: in a higher temperature it volatilizes un- altered ; and on the access of air burns with a blue flame, emitting a yellow smoke, which is an oxide of the metal. The mineral acids act on it; and it readily combines with sulphur and most of the other metals. 2. Antimony. (Part ii.) 3. Arsenic. (Ibid.) III. Brittle and difficultly fused. 1. Manganese. (Part ii.) e. Bohon is obtained from the decomposi- tion of boracic acid, in the form of pow- der, of a deep olive colour, insipid, ino- dorous, and insoluble in water. It under- goes no change at any temperature, when heated in close vessels; but takes fire and burns like charcoal, when heated in the air to about 600°. During combus- tion it attracts oxygen, and is converted into boracic acid. It is also converted into the acid by decomposing sulphuric