The Dispensatory of the United States of America / By George B. Wood...and Franklin Bache.

  • Wood, George B. (George Bacon), 1797-1879.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Dispensatory of the United States of America / By George B. Wood...and Franklin Bache. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    30/1390 (page 12)
    in a pint of boiling water, and allowing the solution to cool. In pharmacy, gum Arabic is extensively used for the suspension of insoluble substances in water, and for the formation of pills and troches. ) i. Off. Prep. Confectio Amygdala, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Amyg- dale, U.S., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Crete, U. S.; Mucilago Acacia, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Crete Compositus, Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Tra- gacanthe Compositus, Zond., Ed.; Trochisci Acacie, £d. WwW. ACETOSELLA. Lond. Wood-sorrel. . ‘*Oxalis Acetosella.”” Lond. eo Oseille de bucheron, Surelle, F'r.; Sauerklee, Germ.; Alleloja, Jtal.; Acedcrilla, Span. Oxauis. Sex. Syst. Decandria Pentagynia.— Wat. Ord. Oxalidaceer. = Gen. Ch. Calyz five-leaved. Petals five, connected by the claws. Sta- mens unequal, the five shorter exterior ones connected at the base. Cap- sules opening elastically at the corners, five angled. Seeds covered with an arillus. Pursh. Oxalis Acetosella. Willd. Sp. Plant. ii.780.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 563. t. 201. The wood-sorrel is a small perennial, herbaceous, stemless plant, with numerous radical leaves, which are all ternate, and supported upon ~ slender hairy petioles. ‘The leaflets are obcordate, entire, hairy, of a yel- : - lJowish-green colour, but frequently purplish on their under surface. ‘The scape or flower-stalk, which usually exceeds the petioles in length, is fur- nished with two scaly bractes near the middle, and terminates in a large white, or flesh-coloured flower, marked with red streaks. ‘The styles are of the same length with the inner stamens. | This plant is a native both of Europe and N. America. In this country it is found chiefly in the mountainous regions of the interior. It selects. shady places, such as woods, groves, and hedges, and flowers in May. Other indigenous species of Oxalis, more widely diffused than the O. Acefosella, __ might be substituted for it without disadvantage, as they possess similar properties. They all have ternate leaves with obcordate leaflets, and, with _the single exception of the O. violacea, bear yellow flowers. ‘The whole herbaceous portion may be used. . . Properties. Wood-sorrel is without smell, and has a pleasant sour taste. It owes its acidity to the binoxalate of potassa, which is sometimes sepa- ‘rated for use, and sold under the name of salt of sorrel. ‘This is prepared, in Switzerland and Germany, from different species of Oxalis and Rumex, by the following process. The plants, previously bruised, are macerated for’ some days in water, and then submitted to pressure. The liquid thus ob- tained is mixed with clay and occasionally agitated for two days. At the end of this time, the clear liquor is decanted, and evaporated so that crystals may form when it cools. These are purified by solution and a new crys- tallization. Five hundred parts of the plant afford four parts of the acidu- lous salt. ‘The same salt may be prepared by exactly neutralizing with potassa one part of oxalic acid in solution, then adding one part more of the acid, and evaporating the solution so that it may crystallize upon cooling. Binoxalate of potassa is in rhomboidal crystals, of a sour, pungent, bitterish taste, soluble in forty parts of cold and six parts of boiling water (Kane), and unalterable in the air. It contains 72-48 parts or two equivalents of oxalic acid, 47°5 parts or one equivalent of potassa, and 18 parts or two equivalents of water. The quadroxalate of potassa is often substituted , »® a