Copy 2

A manual of pharmacy / By William Thomas Brande.

  • Brande, William Thomas, 1788-1866.
Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of pharmacy / By William Thomas Brande. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/580
    MANUAL OF PHARMACY. PART LI. MATERIA MEDICA. ABIETIS RESINA— The Resin of the Pinus Abies, or Spruce Fir—the Thus of the old Pharmacopeia.—It is usu- ally in softish masses, and imported from Germany, in casks of 1 to 2 cwt. each. Its only use is as an ingredient in some plaisters. It has an aromatic and terebinthine odour ; a pale yellowish-brown colour, often imtermixed with white streaks ; and is occasionally met with in the form of rounded masses or tears, which have spontaneously exuded from and dried upon the trees. Genuine Burgundy pitch is also the produce of the pinus abies, obtained by incision through the bark. The different portions are collected, fused in boiling water, and cleansed by pressing through canvass cloths. When genuine, it has a very peculiar odour ; and although brittle in cold weather, it assumes a tenacious viscidity when gently heated, or kneaded in the warm hand. ‘ It therefore forms an excellent adhesive and gently stimulant plaister, exciting some degree of irrita- tion, and often a slight serous exudation from the parts to which it is applied. It will remain adherent to the cuticle for a long time ; and is usefully applied to the thorax in catarrhal affections, and to the loms in rheumatism and lumbago. These plaisters, independent of the cuticular irritation which they excite, are useful merely as keeping the part warm and supported. It is customary with apothecaries to keep Bur- | gundy pitch in a small ladle, or old saucepan, and to remelt R | Y