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.

    35/658 (page 23)
    Lussac, ami Thenard, the proportions are, two of boron, and one of oxygen. Sub-borate of soda. {Part iii.) 3. Benzoic acid. {Ibid.) 4. Succinic acid. {Ibid.) 5. Oxalic acid, generally obtained by treating sugar with nitric acid, is in the form of white, transparent, shining, four-sided prisms,, which have a very acid taste, redden vegetable blues, and are soluble in their own weight of boiling water. The solution of one part of the acid in 3600 parts, by weight, of water, is perceptibly acid to the taste. Exposed to heat in open vessels, it is decomposed. According to Berzelius, 100 parts contain fifty-two of real acid, and forty-eight of water; and the dry acid is a compound of hydrogen, 0.244; carbon, 33-222 ; and oxygen, 66.534.* Oxalic acid has been swallowed by mistake for Epsom salts, and has produced fatal effects in many instances. I found, by experiments on dogs and rabbits, that it acts on the stomach like other corrosive poisons ; and that a mixture of chalk and water is the best antidote, f 6. Tartaric acid is obtained in white, ir- regular, hard, semitransparent<;rystals, the specific gravity of which is 1-5962. It readily dissolves in water ; is capa- ble of oxidizing iron, zinc, and mercu- ry ; and combines with alkalies, earth, and metallic oxides, forming tartrates. The crystallized acid co.nsists of real acid 100 parts, water 13-43; and 100 parts of the acid are composed of 59-882 of oxygen, 36-167 of carbon, and 3-951 of hydrogen. $ Tartrate of Potash. {Part iii.) Variety. Supertartrate of potash. {Part ii.) Tartrate of potash and soda. {Part iii.) 7. Citric acid. {Ibid.) f. Bitumens. {Part ii.) g. Soaps. The true nature of these com- pounds has been illustrated by Chev- ruel. He found that the fatty matter they contain consists of two distinct sub- stances, which he has named Stearin and Ela'in. These, by the action of salifiable bases, are converted into two acids, the margaritic and the ole'ic ; and soaps are merely combinations of one or both of these acids, with alkaline, earthy, or metallic bases. The alka- iine soaps have a peculiar unpleasant odour and taste, form a milky solution with water, and a transparent one with alcohol; are powerfully detergent, and are decomposed by the earthy and the metallic salts. 2. The earthy soaps * Annals of Phil. vol. v. p. 99. f See London Mai. Jtepotitortj, vol. iii. p. 332. } Berzelius. are insoluble in water, and not deter- gent. 3. Metallic soaps are likewise insoluble in water, but some of them are soluble in alcohol, and others in oil. 1. Hard Soap. {Part ii.) 2. Soft Soap. {Ibid.) Variety. Liniment of ammonia. {Part iii.) 3. Liniment of lime-water. {Ibid.) ll. SoiIB VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. It IS necessary to notice in this place the solid proximate principles only of the vegetable substances which are offici-, nal, or employed as pharmaceutical agents. The constituents of the whole of them are—carbon, hydrogen, oxy- gen, and azote, in different propor- tions. 1. Sugar. {Partn.) It is soluble in nitric acid, and yields oxalic acid. Variety, a. Sugar of Jigs,—found concrete on the outside of the dried fruit. b. Sugar of grapes,—found crystal- lized in some kinds of raisins. When artificially extracted from the juice of the grape, it is white and crystallized, but less sweet than common sugar. c. Sugar from starch :—its crystals are small spherical granules. When dissolved in water, it fer- ments with the addition of yeast. ' d. JMushroom sugar ••—its crystals are four-sided prisms, with square ba- ses ; very crystallizable : digested with nitric acid, it yields abund- ance of oxalic acid. e. JHan?ia ? besides common sugar, contains mucilage, and a nauseous substance to which it owes its pur- gative properties. When digest- ed with nitric acid, it yields saclac- tic as well as oxalic acid. It does not ferment like sugar. 2. Sarcocoll is usually in oblong, semi- transparent, yellow globules, which have a bitter sweet taste, and an odour resembling in some degree that of anise seed. It does not crys- tallize. Soluble in water and alcohol. Treated with nitric acid, yields oxalic acid. Variety. Liquorice ? dissolves in nitric acid, and forms tannin ; and when treated with sulphuric acid, yields about one-fourth of its weight of charcoal. It is not susceptible of fermentation. 3. Gum. {Part ii.) Officinal. Acacia Gum. Variety, a. Gum Senegal,—in lar- ger masses than gum arabic, and darker coloured. It is often mix- ed with gum arabicy