“Rugosum Piper et pallentis grana Cumini:”
Pers: Sat: v.
This line of the satirist also records an opinion which is worthy
notice, that Cumin will make those who drink it, or wash themselves
with it, or as some say, who smoke it, of a pale visage. This belief
is mentioned by Dioscorides; and Pliny informs us that the disciples
of Porcius Latro, a famous master of the art of speaking, were
reported to have used Cumin, in order to imitate that paleness which
their master had contracted by his studies; thus too Horace,
——Proh si
“Pallerem casu, biberent exsangue Cuminum.”
Epist. 19. Lib. 1, lin: 18.
Footnote 485:
It may be here observed that Copper, in its metallic form, exerts no
action on the system. A most striking instance of this fact occurred
during my hospital practice, in the case of a young woman who
swallowed six copper penny-pieces with a view of destroying herself;
she was attended by Dr. Maton and myself in the Westminster Hospital
for two years, for a disease which we considered visceral, but which
was evidently the effect of mechanical obstruction, occasioned by the
coin. After a lapse of five years she voided them, and then confessed
the cause of her protracted disease, during the whole course of which
no symptom arose which could in any way be attributed to the poisonous
influence of copper. Dr. Baillie, in his morbid anatomy, relates a
case, in which five halfpence had been lodged in a pouch in the
stomach, for a considerable time, without occasioning any irritation;
and Theodore Gardelle, after his conviction for the murder of Mrs.
King, in Leicester Square, swallowed a number of halfpence, for the
purpose of destroying himself, but without producing any ill effects.
Mr. A. T. Thomson relates also two cases of halfpence being swallowed
by children, in one of which the copper coin remained six months in
the intestines, and in the other two months. The filings of copper
were formerly a favorite remedy in rheumatism, a drachm of which has
been taken with impunity for a dose. It appears therefore that
metallic copper does not undergo any change in the digestive organs by
which it is converted into a poison, notwithstanding the presence of
substances, which, out of the body, would at once render it
destructive, as we have too many cases to shew, from the careless use
of copper utensils in cookery. It is, however, a very important fact,
that copper cannot be dissolved while tin is co-existent in the
mixture, hence the great use of tinning copper utensils; and farther,
it is asserted that untinned coppers are less liable to be injurious
when pewter spoons are used for stirring, than when silver ones are
employed for that purpose; the explanation of this fact is to be
sought for in the well-known principle of Electro-Chemistry, and which
has lately been applied with so much ingenuity by the illustrious
President of the Royal Society, for the protection of copper on the
bottom of ships, by the juxta-position of small discs of Tin or
Iron.[486] For the same reason, M. Proust has shewn that the tinning
of kitchen utensils, which consists of equal parts of tin and lead,
cannot be dangerous from the presence of the latter metal, since it is
sufficient that the lead should be combined with tin, in order to
prevent it from being dissolved in any vegetable acid. M. Guersent
therefore is wrong when, speaking of the tinning of copper vessels, he
says, “it is a light veil, which conceals the danger, instead of being
a true preservative, and that it only inspires a security often
fatal.” Some recent experiments however, of Dr. Bostock, have shewn
that, in consequence of the volatility of acetic acid, copper is not
protected by the juxta-position of discs of tin; since the acid under
such circumstances ceases to form a part of the galvanic circle. The
poisonous effects of the _salts_ of Copper have been strikingly
illustrated during the prosecution of Sir H. Davy’s experiments above
alluded to, for it is found that when the copper sheathing of ships is
not protected by the contact of another metal, they are uniformly free
from marine animals, but that where the solution of the copper is
prevented by galvanic action, the bottoms soon become covered with
every species of sea insect.
Footnote 486:
For a further explanation of this curious fact the student may consult
my work on Medical Chemistry.
Footnote 487:
BATES’S AQUA CAMPHORATA.—Sulphate of copper is the base of this
preparation, which was strongly recommended by Mr. Ware. The following
was his recipe: ℞. Cupri Sulph. Boli Gallic, a. a. gr. xv. Camphoræ
gr. iv. solve. in aq. fervent. f℥iv, dilueque cum aquæ frigidæ oiv ut
fiat Collyrium.
Footnote 488:
It is said to have been introduced into this country from Ceylon. See
the observations made upon the subject of the narcotics used by the
Indians, _page 9_.
Footnote 489:
The seeds undoubtedly contain, in an eminent degree, all the
properties of the plant. It was in the seeds that Brandes first
discovered the Daturia.
Footnote 490:
The oriental beverage, Sherbet, from the Arabic word Sherb, to drink,
so celebrated in eastern song, is a decoction of barley-meal and
sugar, perfumed with roses, orange flower, violet, or citron.
Footnote 491:
LISBON DIET DRINK. Decoctum Lusitanicum.—℞. Sarsap: concis: Rad:
Chinæ, āā ʒj—Nucum Jugland: Cortice Siccatarum, No. xx. Antimonii
Sulphureti ℥ ij. Lapidis Pumicis pulverisat;—Aquæ distillat: lib:
x.—The powdered antimony and pumice stone are to be tied in separate
pieces of rag, and boiled along with the other ingredients. The use of
the pumice stone is merely mechanical, to divide the antimony.
Footnote 492:
It is said that M. Royer has lately succeeded in obtaining from
Digitalis its active basis; to which he has given the name of
_Digitalin_. It was procured by digesting the plant in æther, and
treating the solution with hydrated oxide of lead. It appears as a
brown pasty substance, capable of slowly restoring the blue colour of
reddened litmus paper; very bitter, and deliquescent. It was difficult
to obtain it crystallized, but a drop of its solution in alcohol,
evaporated on glass, over a lamp, when examined by the microscope,
exhibited abundance of minute crystals. (Bib. Univ. xxvi. 102.)
Farther experiments, however, are required to establish the truth of
this statement.
Footnote 493:
See London Medical Repository, Vol. xii. No. 67.
Footnote 494:
A person of the name of STERRY, in the Borough, prepares a plaster of
this description, which is sought after with great avidity. What a
blessing it would be upon the community, if every nostrum were equally
innocuous!
Footnote 495:
Pharmacopœia Chirurgica, p. 89.
Footnote 496:
Diachylon, a δὶα et χυλος succus, i. e. a Plaster prepared from
expressed juices. It has been asserted that all the pharmaceutical
names beginning with _Dia_, are of Arabian origin, this however is not
the fact; we frequently meet with the expression in Galen, η δὶα
δικτάμνου ὴ δια δυοἷν ἁριστολοχιοὶν ἠ δι, &c. &c.
Footnote 497:
At Apothecaries’ Hall, this plaster, as well as others, is made in a
steam apparatus which is so well regulated, that a uniform temperature
of 210° Fah. is insured during the whole process.
Footnote 498:
BAYNTON’S ADHESIVE PLASTER. (Strapping.) Differs only from this
preparation in containing less resin, six drachms only being added to
one pound of the litharge plaster. This excellent plaster is sold
ready spread on calico.
COURT PLASTER. Sticking Plaster. Black Silk is strained and brushed
over ten or twelve times, with the following preparation. Dissolve ℥ss
of Benzoin in f℥vi of rectified spirit: in a separate vessel, dissolve
℥j of Isinglass in oss of water; strain each solution, mix them, and
let the mixture rest, so that the grosser parts may subside; when the
clear liquor is cold, it will form a jelly, which must be warmed
before it is applied to the silk. When the Plaster is quite dry, in
order to prevent its cracking, it is finished off with a solution of
_Terebinth: Chia_, ℥iv, in _Tinct: Benzoes_ f℥vj.
CORN PLASTER. The green coloured plaster sold under this title is
usually composed of 3 parts of wax, 4 of Burgundy pitch, and 2 of
common turpentine; to which is added one part of verdegris.
Footnote 499:
Mystery is rarely practised but as the cloak of imposture; it is
therefore unnecessary to add, that Mr. Barry made no difficulty in
stating the following to be the formula by which it was prepared.
A tincture of Bark, made with rectified spirit, was distilled until
the whole of the spirit was driven off, the remaining solution was
then left to cool, after which the resin that floated on the surface
was removed, and the residuum inspissated at a low temperature.
Footnote 500:
BARCLAY’S ANTIBILIOUS PILLS. Take of the Extract of Colocynth ʒij,
Resin of Jalap (extract Jalap) ʒj, Almond Soap ʒjss, Guaiacum ʒiij,
Tartarized Antimony, grs. viij, essential oils of Juniper, Carraway,
and Rosemary, of each gtt. iv, of syrup of Buckthorn, as much as will
be sufficient to form a mass, which is to be divided into sixty-four
pills.
Footnote 501:
REFINED LIQUORICE. This article, which is sold in the form of
cylinders, is made by gently evaporating a solution of the pure
extract of liquorice with half its weight of gum arabic, rolling the
mass, and cutting it into lengths, and then polishing, by rolling them
together in a box: many impurities however are fraudulently introduced
into this article, such even as glue, &c.
Footnote 502:
The juices of the Iris root, and Bryony root, and those of many other
plants, allow their medicinal elements to separate and subside in a
similar manner, leaving the supernatant liquid perfectly inert; if we
must have a generic name to express such a substance, it should be
termed a feculence, rather than a fecula.
Footnote 503:
“Observations on the nature and preparation of the Elaterium,” read at
the Medical Society of London, April 24, 1819, and which were
published in the Medical Repository, vol. xii, No. 67.
Footnote 504:
When it has a dark green colour, approaching to black, is compact, and
very heavy, and breaks with a shining resinous fracture, we may reject
it as an inferior article.
Since the publication of my experiments upon the ordinary Elaterium of
Commerce, I have been favoured by Mr. Barry with the results of his
trials upon the Elaterium made by W. Allen &. Co. according to the
improved process of Dr. Clutterbuck; of the first sample, he found
that out of ten grains, 5·5 were soluble in spirit of the specific
gravity ·809, of the second 6·2, and of the third 6·4; of that
prepared by the same process at Apothecaries’ Hall, 6 grs. were
soluble. The residue, insoluble in the spirit, was administered to a
patient, and ascertained to be perfectly inert. This report confirms
beyond a doubt the great superiority of the Elaterium when prepared,
without pressure, according to the suggestion of Dr. Clutterbuck.
Footnote 505:
“I have the Cos Lettuce planted about eight inches asunder in rows,
between which there is sufficient space to enable persons to pass up
and down without injuring the plants. I commence my operations just
before the plant is about to flower, by cutting off an inch of the
stem; the milky juice immediately exudes, and is collected on pieces
of Wove Cotton, about half a yard square. As soon as this becomes
charged, it is thrown from time to time into a vessel containing a
small quantity of water, which when sufficiently impregnated is
evaporated at the common temperature of the atmosphere, by exposure in
a number of shallow dishes. The LACTUCARIUM, in a few hours, is found
adhering to the vessels in the form of an Extract, but differing from
every other in all its sensible properties: this method enables me to
collect LACTUCARIUM with great facility and dispatch, but it is still
attended with considerable expense, as the proportion of milky product
is necessarily very small, and the price of the medicine consequently
high, and therefore not within the reach of general practice. This
consideration led me to make farther experiments, for the purpose of
ascertaining whether an EXTRACT might not be obtained from the plant
possessing all the properties of LACTUCARIUM, when administered in
large doses, and which could be introduced at a comparatively trifling
cost. In prosecuting this enquiry, I found that the plants contain
most of the milky juice when they have flowered and the leaves are
beginning to assume a yellow hue, and I observed that when cut down,
the milky juice assumes for the most part a concrete form, having
subsided in the bark of the stalk and in the old leaves, a
circumstance which accounts for the extreme bitterness of these parts.
I was naturally led from these circumstances to choose the above
period for my operations, and to select those parts only of the plant
for my extract, rejecting the substance of the stalk, and the young
sprouts. My method of procuring the extract is as follows. I first
macerate the parts in water, for twenty-four hours, and then boil them
for two, after which I allow the clear decoction to drain through a
sieve, without using any pressure; this is then evaporated, as far as
it can be done with safety, and the process is finished in shallow
dishes, in the manner above described, for obtaining Lactucarium. This
extract, which I have called “EXTRACTUM LACTUCÆ CONCENTRATUM,” is of
course less powerful than Lactucarium, but it possesses all the
properties in larger doses, and it has been found equally useful in a
number and variety of cases, and is not more than a sixth part of the
price.”
Mr. Probart has retired from trade, but I have just learnt that the
same article is now prepared, by a similar process, by Mr. Selway,
Chemist, of New Cavendish Street, and the specimens which I have
received authorise me to recommend it for trial. A concentrated
tincture is also prepared.
The “Succus Spissatus Lactucæ sativæ,” of the shops, must of necessity
be almost inert, since it is commonly prepared at that period when the
plant contains none, or very little of the milky juice; and even if
the Lettuce be employed at a more mature season, it must still fail to
afford an extract of any strength, as it is merely the expressed
juice, and that too of the whole plant indiscriminately, and will be
found to contain a very minute proportion of Lactucarium, the great
bulk being nothing more than inspissated green juice.
Footnote 506:
Doctor Eights of Albany has related two cases of Neuralgia, in which
the use of the Carbonate of Iron was attended with complete success.
See New-York Medical and Physical Journal, Vol. I. p. 323.