QUALITIES. _Form_, pods, long, pointed, and pendulous; _Colour_, when
ripe, a bright orange red. _Odour_, aromatic and pungent. _Taste_,
extremely acrimonious and fiery. SOLUBILITY. Its qualities are partially
extracted by water, but more completely by æther and spirit. CHEMICAL
COMPOSITION. Cinchonia, resin, mucilage, and an acrid principle said to
be alkaline.[446] INCOMPATIBLE SUBSTANCES. The infusions of capsicum are
disturbed by _Infusion of Galls_; _Nitrate of Silver_; _Oxy-muriate of
Mercury_; _Acetate of Lead_; _the Sulphates of Iron, Copper and Zinc_;
_Ammonia, Carbonate of Potass, and Alum_, but not by sulphuric, nitric,
or muriatic acid. MEDICINAL USES. It is a most powerful stimulant to the
stomach, and is unaccompanied with any narcotic effect; as a gargle in
cynanche maligna, and in relaxed states of the throat, it furnishes a
valuable remedy; combined with purgatives, it proves serviceable in
dyspepsia, (_Form: 78_,) it has lately been given with success in the
advanced stages of acute rheumatism; in various diseases attended with
cold feet, it has been recommended to wear socks dusted with Cayenne
Pepper. FORMS OF EXHIBITION. It may be given, made into pills with crumb
of bread, or in the form of tincture, diluted with water; for the
purpose of a gargle, a simple infusion in the proportion of gr. j to f℥j
of boiling water, or fʒvi of the tincture to f℥viij of the _Infusum
Rosæ_, may be directed. DOSE, of the substance, gr. vj to x, of the
tincture fʒj to fʒij in an aqueous vehicle. OFFICINAL PREPARATIONS.
_Tinct: Capsici:_ L.D.[447]
_Cayenne Pepper_ is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of the dried
pods of several species of capsicum, but especially of the Capsicum
_baccatum_, (Bird pepper.)
ADULTERATIONS. Cayenne pepper is generally mixed with _muriate of soda_,
which disposes it to deliquesce. _Red Lead_ may be detected by digesting
it in acetic acid, and adding to the solution sulphuret of ammonia,
which will produce, if any lead be present, a dark coloured precipitate;
or the fraud may be discovered by boiling some of the suspected pepper
in vinegar, and after filtering the solution adding to it sulphate of
soda, when a white precipitate will be formed, which, after being dried
and exposed to heat, and mixed with a little charcoal, will yield a
metallic globule of lead.