Footnote 511:
MATHIEU’S VERMIFUGE. This consisted of two distinct Electuaries, the
one for _killing_, the other for _expelling_ the Tapeworm. The former
of these was composed of an ounce of Tin Filings, six drachms of the
Fern root, half an ounce of Semina Santonici, a drachm of the resinous
extract of Jalap, and of Sulphate of Potass, and a sufficient quantity
of Honey to make an Electuary, of which a tea-spoonful was taken every
three hours for two days; after which the latter electuary was given
in the same dose, and consisted of two scruples of powdered Jalap, and
Sulphate of Potass, one scruple of Scammony, and ten grains of
Gamboge, made into an Electuary with Honey. The inventor of this
receipt received the title of Counsellor of the Court, as well as a
large pension for life, from the King of Prussia, for making it
public!
Footnote 512:
Seguin first proved that gallic acid, and tannin or the astringent
principle, are different substances; it is to the former that the
property of giving a black colour to the solutions of iron is owing.
Mr. Hatchett has shewn that tan or tannin may be artificially produced
by the action of nitric acid upon various vegetable substances.
Footnote 513:
By Dr. Bardsley the same quantity was taken and with similar results.
In many cases of Dyspepsia, attended with an irritability of stomach
that does not admit of the employment of bulky medicines, _gentiania_
may be used with much advantage. The preferable form is that of pill,
given in doses of one grain to be repeated two or three times a day.
Unlike the plant from which it is obtained, Gentiania has no tendency
to keep the bowels open. _Ed._
Footnote 514:
It takes its name from GENTIUS, king of Illyria, its discoverer, who
was vanquished by Anicius the Roman Prætor, A. U. 585. i. e. A.C. 167,
so that it is neither to be found in Hippocrates nor Theophrastus.
Footnote 515:
BRODUM’S NERVOUS CORDIAL consists of the tinctures of Gentian,
Calumba, Cardamom and Bark, with the Compound Spirit of Lavender, and
Wine of Iron.
STROUGHTON’S ELIXIR. Is a tincture of Gentian, with the addition of
Serpentaria, Orange Peel, Cardamoms, and some other aromatics.
Footnote 516:
PECTORAL BALSAM OF LIQUORICE. The proprietor of this nostrum gravely
affirms that f℥iss contains the virtues of a whole pound of Liquorice
root; but upon investigation it will be found to consist principally
of Paregoric Elixir, very strongly impregnated with the Oil of
Aniseed.
Footnote 517:
THE CHELSEA PENSIONER. An empirical remedy for the rheumatism is well
known under this name; it is said to be the prescription of a Chelsea
Pensioner, by which Lord Amherst was cured; the following is its
composition—Gum Guaiac ʒj—Powdered Rhubarb ʒij—Cream of Tartar
℥j—Flowers of Sulphur ℥j.—One Nutmeg finely powdered; made into an
Electuary with one pound of Clarified Honey. Two large spoonsful to be
taken night and morning.
WALKER & WESSEL’S JESUIT DROPS. This is nothing more than the Elixir
Antivenereum of Quincey, consisting of Guaiacum, Balsam of Copaiba,
and Oil of Sassafras, made into a Tincture by Spirit.
HATFIELD’S TINCTURE. Guaiac and Soap, equal parts, ʒij—Rectified
Spirit oiss.
HILL’S ESSENCE OR BARDANA. Guaiac ℥j—Spirit f℥iij.
Footnote 518:
MATTHEW’S PILLS,—STARKEY’S PILLS. Of the Roots of Black Hellebore,
Liquorice, and Turmeric, equal parts, purified Opium, Castille Soap,
and Syrup of Saffron, the same quantity, made into pills with Oil of
Turpentine.
BACHER’S TONIC PILLS. These are composed of equal parts of the Extract
of Hellebore, and Myrrh ℥j, with ʒiij of powdered Carduus Benedictus:
which are made into a mass, and divided into pills, each weighing one
grain; from two to six of which may be given three times every day,
according to the effects they produce.
Footnote 519:
Whence the decoctions of this substance have been termed Ptisans, from
πτὶσσω decortico, to peel.
Footnote 520:
A Compound, consisting of Extract of Quassia and Liquorice, is used by
fraudulent brewers to economise both malt and hops, and is technically
called “MULTUM.” An Extract of Cocculus Indicus is sold under the name
of “BLACK EXTRACT,” for imparting an intoxicating quality to the Beer.
Footnote 521:
Ὑδραργυρος of the Greeks, from its fluidity and colour.
Quicksilver. Quick in the old Saxon tongue signifies living, an
epithet derived from its mobility.
Mercury. Mythologists inform us that he was the winged messenger of
the Gods, and the Patron of Thieves,—What name therefore could be more
appropriate for the metal in question than that of this Deity? for it
is not only distinguished from all other metals by its mobility, but
its universal agency has rendered it the resource of those worst of
Thieves—Quacks and Nostrummongers.
Footnote 522:
There is indeed another purpose to which pure quicksilver has been
applied that deserves notice. Its administration has been proposed in
cases where silver coin has been swallowed, with a view of forming
with it an amalgam that would speedily pass through the alimentary
canal.
Footnote 523:
Foderé (Med. Leg. T. iii. p. 455) states that he has seen water, in
which mercury has been boiled, become purgative and vermifuge; and yet
the metal, in such cases, has not lost any of its weight.
Footnote 524:
If the quantity of Lime water be small, the precipitate will assume a
red colour, and will be found to be a Submuriate of the peroxide.
Footnote 525:
As this salt has been supposed to arrest the progress of syphilis more
rapidly, and at the same time, to excite the salivary glands less than
any other preparation of mercury, it generally forms the basis of
those dangerous nostrums, which are advertised for the cure of
Syphilis without Mercury. The contrivers hope also to elude detection
by the density and colour of the preparation.
GOWLAND’S LOTION, Is a solution of sublimate in an emulsion formed of
bitter almonds, in the proportion of about gr. jss to f℥j. A solution
of this mercurial salt in Spirit of Rosemary, is also sold as an
empirical cosmetic.
NORTON’S DROPS. A disguised solution of corrosive sublimate.
WARD’S WHITE DROPS. This once esteemed Anti-Scorbutic was prepared by
dissolving mercury in nitric acid, and adding a solution of carbonate
of ammonia; or frequently it consisted of a solution of sublimate with
carbonate of ammonia.
SPILSBURY’S ANTISCORBUTIC DROPS. Of Corrosive Sublimate ℥ij, Prepared
Sulphuret of Antimony ʒj, Gentian root and Orange peel, equal parts
ʒij, Shavings of Red Saunders, ʒj, made with a pint of proof spirit
into a tincture, which is to be digested and strained.
“THE ANTIVENEREAL DROPS,” so famous at Amsterdam, were analysed by
Scheele, who found they were composed of muriate of iron, with a small
proportion of corrosive sublimate.
MARSDEN’S ANTISCORBUTIC DROPS. A solution of sublimate in an infusion
of Gentian.
GREEN’S DROPS. The basis of these also is sublimate.
SOLOMON’S ANTI-IMPETIGINES. A solution of sublimate.
ROB ANTI-SYPHILITIQUE, par M. Laffecteur, Medicin Chemiste. This
popular nostrum of the French contains as a principal ingredient,
corrosive sublimate. A strong decoction of Arundo Phragmitis (the bull
rush) is made, with the addition of sarsaparilla and aniseeds towards
the end, which is evaporated, and made into a rob, or syrup, to which
the sublimate is added.
SIROP DE CUISINIERE. This consists of decoctions of sarsaparilla,
burrage flowers, white roses, senna, and aniseed, to which sublimate
is added, and the whole is then made into a syrup with sugar and
honey.
TERRE FEUILLETEE MERCURIELLE of Pressavin. This is Tartarized Mercury,
for it is made by boiling the oxyd of mercury (obtained by
precipitating it from a nitric solution, by potass) with cream of
tartar.
VELNO’S VEGETABLE SYRUP. There has been a great obscurity with respect
to the genuine composition of this nostrum; it has generally been
supposed to consist of sublimate rubbed up with honey and mucilage. I
have lately received from my friend Mr. Brodie a formula, by which a
medicine perfectly analogous in its sensible characters, and medicinal
properties, to the Syrup in question, may be prepared; and I am
assured that, wherever it has been tried, its effects are in every
respect similar to those produced by the original nostrum. Take of
Burdock root (young and fresh) sliced, ℥ij; Dandelion root ℥i; Spear
Mint (fresh) ℥j; Senna Leaves, Coriander Seeds (bruised), Liquorice
Root (fresh) of each ʒiss; Water oiss: boil gently until reduced to
oj; then strain, and, when cold, add ℔ of lump sugar, and boil it to
the consistence of a syrup, and add a small proportion of the solution
of Oxy-muriate of Mercury. Swediaur says that volatile alkali enters
into this nostrum as an ingredient; this alkali was proposed by Dr.
Peyrile, as a substitute for mercury, and it constitutes the active
ingredient of the following composition, which was proposed by Mr.
Besnard, Physician to the King of Bavaria.
TINCTURA ANTISYPHILLITICA. Sub-carb. potass, ℔j. dissolved in Aq.
Cinnam, oj. Opii puri, ℥ij. dissolved in Spir. cinnamom. f℥iv. mix
these separate solutions, and put them on a water-bath for three
weeks, taking care to shake the vessel frequently; to this add Gum
arabic ℥ij, Carb. Ammoniæ ℥j, dissolve in Aq. Cinnamomi; mix, filter,
and keep for use. Dose, twenty-four drops three times a day, in a
glass of the cold decoction of Marsh Mallow root.
The external use of these drops is also advised for local syphilitic
complaints!
Footnote 526:
By this simple and beautiful test, the late Mr. Archdeacon Wollaston
identified the presence of Sublimate in the yeast dumplings by which
Michael Whiting was poisoned at Ely; a case which I have recorded in
my work on Medical Jurisprudence, Vol. II. p. 265.
Footnote 527:
Ann. de Chimie et Phys. iv. 334.
Footnote 528:
For a more elaborate account of the various tests of Corrosive
Sublimate, see Beck’s Medical Jurisprudence, Vol. 2, p. 267.—_Ed._
Footnote 529:
For the origin of the term Calomel, see note, page 40.
Footnote 530:
Mr. William Phillips has favoured me with a model of this crystal cut
in wood; it is a rectangular prism whose solid angles are deeply
replaced by planes.
Footnote 531:
Many of the nostrums advertised for the cure of worms, contain Calomel
as the principal ingredient, combined with scammony, jalap, gamboge,
or some other purgative; they are uncertain and dangerous medicines;
the method of exhibiting them in the form of lozenges (worm cakes,) is
also attended with inconvenience, for the sugar and the gum generating
an acid, by being kept in damp places, may considerably increase the
acrimony of the mercury; besides which, the calomel is frequently
diffused very unequally through the mass, one lozenge may therefore
contain a poisonous dose, whilst others may scarcely possess any
active matter.
CHING’S WORM LOZENGES. These consist of yellow and brown lozenges, the
former are directed to be taken in the evening, the latter the
succeeding morning.
THE YELLOW LOZENGES. Take of Saffron ℥ss, of water oj, boil, and
strain; add of White Panacea of Mercury (Calomel washed in spirit of
wine) ℔j, white sugar, 28℔, mucilage of Tragacanth as much as may be
sufficient to make a mass, which roll out of an exact thickness, so
that each lozenge may contain one grain of Panacea.
THE BROWN LOZENGES. Panacea ℥ vij, resin of jalap, ℔iijss, white sugar
℔ix, mucilage of tragacanth q. s. each lozenge should contain gr. ½ of
panacea.
STORY’S WORM CAKES. Calomel and jalap made into cakes and coloured
with cinnabar.
Footnote 532:
For the origin of this term see page 39.
Footnote 533:
CHAMBERLAIN’S RESTORATIVE PILLS. “The most certain cure for the
Scrofula, or King’s Evil, Fistula, Scurvy, and all Impurities of the
Blood.”
My attention has been particularly directed to these pills, in
consequence of having lately seen, during the course of my
professional duty, several highly respectable persons, who had been
induced to make trial of their efficacy. Their inventor, if I am
rightly informed, resides at Ipswich, where, for the benefit of
suffering humanity, he prepares these wonderful pills, and, with the
alacrity of his patron deity, Mercury, transmits them to every corner
of the United Kingdom. It appears from the printed directions which
accompany the “Restorative Pills,” that their use must be continued
for a very long period; but upon this occasion we must allow the
Doctor to speak for himself. “It may be necessary to observe, that in
some cases of Scrofula, especially when the seat of the disease is in
the feet, ancles, or hands, it may take a long time to effect a cure,
even two years, and it may be twelve or sixteen months, with seeming
little or no improvement, yet the cure is certain by perseverance.”
What—two years! and to be taken during a period of sixteen months
without any sensible benefit! Is it possible that persons can be found
with sufficient credulity and resolution to submit to so preposterous
a proposal? we have no doubt that Mr. Chamberlain can produce as great
a portion of cures _after_ such an ordeal, as was adduced in former
times, in proof of the efficacy of the Royal Touch, and for the same
obvious reason. (See page 16.)
Upon examining these said pills, I find them to consist of Cinnabar,
Sulphur, Sulphate of Lime, and a little vegetable matter, perhaps gum.
Each pill weighs a fraction less than three grains; upon dividing one
with a penknife, and examining the cut surface through a lens, it
exhibited the appearance of scoriæ of a brick red colour, having small
yellowish masses imbedded in its substance. When exposed on a piece of
platinum foil to the action of the blow-pipe, it yielded vapours of a
strong sulphureous smell, and left a residuum of a pearly white
matter, which consisted almost entirely of Sulphate of Lime. Upon
submitting a portion of the pill, in a glass tube, to the heat of a
spirit lamp, two distinct sublimates were produced, the first
consisting of Sulphur, the second of Cinnabar; and a small
carbonaceous deposit remained. The Pill was then assayed, _via
humida_; distilled water dissolved the Sulphate of lime, which was
identified by appropriate tests, and left sulphur and cinnabar on the
filtre. By the above experiments I feel warranted in considering the
composition of this pill as fully ascertained.
BOERHAAVE’S RED PILL. The basis of this nostrum is Cinnabar.
Footnote 534:
The anatomist employs it for giving colour to his injections; for this
purpose it is very essential that it should be quite free from red
lead, or his preparations will in a short time lose their splendour,
and ultimately become black. This has unfortunately happened with some
preparations which Dr. Baillie presented to the College of Physicians.
Mr. Accum, in his work entitled “Death in the Pot,” states a case of
poisoning from cheese which had been coloured with adulterated
Vermillion. I am ready to admit, however, that the source of this
information is of very doubtful authority; never did a work appear
which so little merited the attention it received; even the title,
which seemed to have some claim to originality, was borrowed from a
work by Mouchart, called “Mors in Olla.”
Footnote 535:
ANODYNE NECKLACES. The roots of Hyoscyamus are commonly strung in the
form of beads, and sold under this name, to tie round the necks of
children, to facilitate the growth of their teeth, and allay the
irritation of teething. The application of medicated necklaces is a
very ancient superstition. See page 13. Such remedies were sometimes
called Periapts, περιαπτον.
Footnote 536:
In many cases it is essential that the water should be at the boiling
point, a few degrees even less than this will often prove a source of
failure; this is well exemplified by the familiar fact of the weakness
of our Tea, when made by water that does not quite boil. The Monks of
St. Bernard, in the Alps, complain that they cannot make good
Bouillie; the case is simply this, that from the altitude of their
monastery, the water boils before it can arrive at a sufficiently high
temperature. Whence we may deduce this important inference, that the
solvent powers of water are affected by a very slight range of
temperature. See a fuller account of this subject in my work on
“Medical Chemistry.”
Footnote 537:
Where the vegetable matter contains much starch, if the water be of a
temperature higher than 165°, instead of dissolving, it will coagulate
the starch, and produce a very untractable mass. This fact is well
known to Brewers, who are extremely cautious in avoiding a too high
temperature.
Footnote 538:
MADDEN’S VEGETABLE ESSENCE. Is little else than the Infusum Rosæ comp:
with an increased proportion of Acid.
Footnote 539:
This fact has been lately confirmed by M. F. Cartier, who found 4 gr.
of oxide of iron in 1000 gr. of red roses.
Footnote 540:
A valuable paper upon this subject is to be found in the first volume
of “The Reports of the Philomatic Society of Paris:” by Bouillon La
Grange. It has been lately supposed, but without much probability,
that the griping property of Senna depends upon its admixture with
some foreign leaf.
Footnote 541:
SELWAY’S PREPARED ESSENCE OF SENNA. This is a concentrated infusion of
Senna, in combination with an alkali.
Footnote 542:
The plant yielding the Ipecacuanha of the shops, is more probably a
species of Viola than that of Callicocca. According to Linnæus, it is
not unfrequently obtained from the Psycotria Emetica. The word
Ipecacuanha signifies _any_ emetic substance.
Footnote 543:
A formula for its preparation is introduced into the new CODEX of
Paris, being the one used by M. Pelletier; it is as follows. Let ℥i of
the powder of Ipecacuan be macerated in ℥ij of æther with a gentle
heat for some hours, in a distilling apparatus; let the portion which
remains be triturated and boiled with ℥iv of alcohol; it having been
previously macerated in it; filter and let the remainder be treated
with fresh portions of alcohol, as long as any thing is taken up from
the root; mix these alcoholic solutions and evaporate to dryness; let
this alcoholic extract be macerated in cold distilled water, in order
that every thing soluble in that menstruum may be dissolved; filter,
and evaporate to dryness; this extract is _Emetine_. In this state
however it contains a small quantity of gallic acid, but which is too
inconsiderable to affect its medicinal qualities.
Footnote 544:
We agree with the author in his estimate of the value of _Emetine_. As
a general remedy, it possesses no advantage over the Ipecacuanha
itself, and will probably never supersede it. Cases may occur,
however, in which its use will be desirable, and it may then be given
in the following doses. As an Emetic, from four to five grains
dissolved in a couple of ounces of some aromatic water; as a
Diaphoretic, about half a grain repeated every four hours; and as an
Expectorant, one-fifth or one-fourth of a grain repeated every two or
three hours. These doses apply only to the impure or coloured Emetine,
the form in which it is commonly found. _Ed._
Footnote 545:
IPECACUANHA LOZENGES. Each Lozenge contains half a grain of
Ipecacuanha.
Footnote 546:
SAPO JALAPINUS. It is prepared by taking equal parts of Castille Soap
and of resinous extract of Jalap, and digesting them in a sufficient
quantity of alcohol, with moderate heat, and evaporating to the
consistence of a conserve.
Footnote 547:
The plant which yields Kino is at length satisfactorily proved to be
the Pterocarpus Erinacea; the London College have accordingly made the
alteration which I anticipated in the former edition of this work.
Footnote 548:
Dr. Pemberton makes the interesting statement in relation to the
operation of Kino upon the system, that unless Diarrhœa be actually
present, “it appears to have no tendency to confine the bowels. In
this drug, therefore,” he adds, “you have a medicine which exerts its
powers to restrain the discharges of the glands when they are
secreting too much, without exerting any such powers over them when
they are acting naturally.” Practical Treatise on the various diseases
of the abdominal viscera, p. 112, Am. Ed.