Oats in May, when in the grass state, soon receive damage.
Barley, mangel, common turnips, rhubarb.
III. Laurels (British and Portugal), aucubas, yews, holly, gorse--receive
damage in winter, but more in summer.
Old grass meadows and pastures receive much damage in winter.
IV. Ashes, oaks, hazels, horse-chestnuts, walnuts, Spanish chestnuts, sloe
thorn.
V. Swedish turnip and cabbages, damson, other fruit trees, beech, elm,
birch, alder, sycamores.
=ACIDULÆ.= [L. pl.] In _medicine_, mineral waters rich in carbonic acid.
=ACIDULATED=. _Syn_. ACIDULATUS, L.; ACIDULÉ, Fr. Blended or flavoured
with an acid; made slightly sour. See KALI (Acidulated), DROPS, LOZENGES,
&c. In _chemistry_, the addition of an acid to a neutral or alkaline
liquid until it reddens blue litmus paper.
=ACIDUM.= [L.] An acid.
=ACNE.= [_Syn._ PIMPLED FACE.] There are two forms of this affection. 1st.
In young persons of both sexes; generally in phlegmatic habits. The
disease shows itself by hard pimples, with a small black spot on the apex,
unaccompanied with redness or inflammation at first, but after a while
they become red and inflamed, and sometimes suppurate, with a greasy look
of the skin between them. In this form of acne the black spots should be
picked out with a needle or a small pair of tweezers. A long piece of
thick matter, like a worm, is extracted; but is no worm. Afterwards wash
the face with water in which a small piece of Quillar bark has been
steeped, or with bitter almond emulsion, or borax, one drachm, water 4 oz.
When there is no inflammation, use Eau de Cologne, or a few drops of oil
of rosemary dissolved in spirit of wine, taking a small dose of magnesia
in the morning, or milk of sulphur daily. When the pimples are very
sluggish the cautious application of tincture of iodine, or of ointment of
nitrate of mercury, will be found serviceable.
2nd. Arises from intemperance. In this case a gradual change of habits is
essential. The use of soap should be avoided, and recourse had to warm
fomentations of slippery elm, or thin oat gruel. The following should be
applied to the pimples:--Cold cream, 1 oz., Goulard's extract 20 drops,
mixed together; or lemon juice diluted, or solution of borax in water. The
internal administration of the mineral acids combined with bitter tonics,
or small doses of iodide of potassium, will be found effectual.
_Treatment._ Fomentations, poultices, chloride of zinc solution
externally; sulphur and alteratives internally.
=ACOLOGY=. _Syn._ In _medicine_, the doctrine of, or a discourse on,
remedies or the materia medica.
=ACONITE.= (-nite). _Syn._ ACON'ITUM, L.; ACONIT, Fr.: AKONITUM, EISENHUT,
STURMHUT, Ger. Monkshood; wolfsbane. In _botany_, a genus of exogenous
plants. _Nat. ord._, Ranunculaceæ; _Sex. syst._, Polyandria Trigynia. They
are characterised by showy purple or yellow helmet-shaped flowers growing
in panicles, deeply cut leaves, and perennial (usually) tap-shaped or
tapering roots. The whole plant is highly poisonous, the roots being more
poisonous than the leaves. In _medicine_ and _materia medica_, the plant
Aconitum Napellus (which _see_).
_Symptoms._ Numbness and tingling in the mouth and throat, which are
parched; followed by giddiness, dimness of sight, and (sometimes)
delirium, but seldom complete coma; there is numbness and tingling of the
limbs, a loss of power in the legs, (in some cases) frothing at the mouth,
severe abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrh[oe]a; tremors or
twitchings of the voluntary muscles, (sometimes) convulsions (in animals,
but not in man); sharp cries; pupil (generally) dilated, very rarely
contracted; pulse fitful and sinking; skin cold and livid; difficulty of
breathing; general prostration; loss of sensation or feeling,
insensibility, general trembling, fainting, and sudden death. The eyes are
often glaring; and, in some cases, the patient is completely paralysed,
yet retains consciousness to the last. The case generally proves fatal in
from 1 to 8 hours. If it last beyond this period there is hope of
recovery. (Fleming.)
_Antidotes._ Ammonia, or brandy, with artificial respiration if necessary:
cold affusion and friction, with warm towels to the back and limbs. See
ALKALOIDS.
=ACONITE LEAVES= (B. Ph.). _Syn._ ACONITI FOLIA, L. The fresh leaves and
flowering tops of _aconitum napellus_, Linn., gathered when about one
third of the flowers are expanded, from plants cultivated in Britain.
_Char._ Leaves smooth, palmate, divided into five deeply cut wedge-shaped
segments; excizing slowly, when chewed, a sensation of tingling. Flowers
numerous, irregular, deep blue, in dense racemes.
_Prep._ Extractum aconiti.
=ACONITE ROOT.= (B. Ph.). _Syn._ ACONITI RADIX, L. The dried root of
_aconitum napellus_. Imported from Germany, or cultivated in Britain, and
collected in the winter or early spring before the leaves have appeared.
_Prep._ Aconitia, the active principle; Linimentum Aconiti, 1 ounce to 1
fluid ounce; Tinctura Aconiti, 54-1/2 grains to 1 fluid ounce.
_Char._ Usually from one to three inches long, not thicker than the finger
at the crown, tapering, blackish-brown, internally whitish. A _minute_
portion, cautiously chewed, causes prolonged tingling and numbness.
=ACONITI FOLIA.= See ACONITE LEAVES.
=ACONITI RADIX.= See ACONITE ROOT.
=ACONITIA.= C_{30}H_{47}O_{7}N. (B. P.) _Syn._ ACONITIA, L. An alkaloid
obtained from aconite.
Take of
Aconite root, in coarse powder, 14 pounds.
Rectified spirit }
Distilled water } of each
Solution or ammonia } a sufficiency.
Pure ether }
Diluted sulphuric acid}
Pour upon the aconite root three gallons of the spirit, mix them well, and
heat until ebullition commences; then cool and macerate for four days.
Transfer the whole to a displacement apparatus, and percolate, adding more
spirit, when requisite, until the root is exhausted. Distil off the
greater part of the spirit from the tincture, and evaporate the remainder
over a water bath until the whole of the alcohol has been dissipated. Mix
the residual extract thoroughly with twice its weight of boiling distilled
water, and when it has cooled to the temperature of the atmosphere, filter
through paper. To the filtered liquid add solution of ammonia in slight
excess, and heat them gently over a water bath. Separate the precipitate
on a filter, and dry it. Reduce this to coarse powder, and macerate it in
successive portions of the pure ether with frequent agitation. Decant the
several products, mix and distil off the ether until the extract is dry.
Dissolve the dry extract in warm distilled water acidulated with the
sulphuric acid; and, when the solution is cold, precipitate it by the
cautious addition of solution of ammonia diluted with four times its bulk
of distilled water. Wash the precipitate on a filter with a small quantity
of cold distilled water, and dry it by slight pressure between folds of
filtering paper.
_Characters and Tests._ A white, usually amorphous, solid, soluble in 150
parts of cold, and 50 of hot water, and much more soluble in alcohol and
in ether; strongly alkaline to reddened litmus, neutralising acids, and
precipitated from them by the caustic alkalies, but not by carbonate of
ammonia or the bicarbonates of soda or potash. It melts with heat, and
burns with a smoky flame, leaving no residue when burned with free access
of air. When rubbed on the skin it causes a tingling sensation, followed
by prolonged numbness. It is a very active poison.
=ACONITIA, CRYSTALLISED.= C_{27}H_{40}NO_{10}. Exhaust the root of wild
aconite, carefully picked and powdered, with very strong alcohol, to which
1 per cent. of tartaric acid has been added. Distil at a gentle heat, and
sheltered from the air, to recover the alcohol. Treat the extract with
water to separate all the fatty and resinous matters. The solution which
contains the aconite in the state of acid tartrate is first shaken with
ether to remove colouring matters, and then the alkaloid is set free by
the addition of alkaline bicarbonate, until the cessation of
effervescence. A fresh treatment with ether of this alkaline solution
removes the alkaloid, which crystallizes upon the concentration of the
ethereal liquid, with an addition of petroleum spirit. The crystals are
colourless tables, rhombic or hexagonal, according to the modifications
produced principally in the acute angles. Crystallized aconitia is soluble
in alcohol, ether, benzine, and chloroform; insoluble in petroleum oils
and glycerine.
ACONITIA NITRATE, CRYSTALLISED. Crystallised aconitine q. s.; nitric acid,
sp. gr. 1·442, q. s. Saturate the nitric acid with the aconitine and
evaporate. Voluminous crystals are easily obtained (from 'Formulæ for New
Medicaments adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society').--'Pharm.
Journal.' Owing to the decomposition which this alkaloid undergoes in the
animal organism, as well as to its liability to decompose during the
process of evaporation, and exposure to the air, it often becomes
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain it in a separate state
in conducting a _post-mortem_ examination. The physiological effects seem
to furnish the most prominent and characteristic evidence of its presence
in such cases, or at any rate these may serve as a valuable guide to the
toxicologist.
Uncrystallised aconitia is sometimes contaminated with delphinia, as well
as with aconella, another constituent of aconite root. For the dissection
of these see ALKALOIDS. One fiftieth of a grain of aconitia is stated to
have killed a dog.
_Antidotes._ See ACONITE.
=ACONITIC ACID.= (Identical with _Pyrocitric Acid_.) An acid extracted by
Peschier from _aconitum napellus_, and by Bracconnot from _equisetum
fluviatile_. It exists in these plants chiefly in the form of aconitate of
calcium.
_Properties._ A white, colourless, semi-crystalline mass.
=ACONITINA.= See ACONITIA.
=ACONITINE.= See ACONITIA.
=ACONI'TUM.= [L.] Aconite. The pharmacop[oe]ial name of _aconitum
napellus_(see _below_).
=Aconitum Ferox.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Temperate and sub-Alpine Himalaya,
at 10,000 to 14,000 feet elevation, from Gurhwal to Sikkim.
_Officinal part._ The dried root (_Aconiti ferocis Radix_), in common with
those of other Himalayan species, viz., _aconitum napellus_, _a.
palmatum_, and _a. luridum_, constitutes the drug well known in the
bazaars of Upper India under the Hindostani name of _Bish_ or _Bikh_.
It occurs in the form of tuberous roots of a more or less conical form,
from two to three inches in length, and from half an inch to one inch in
thickness at their upper end. They have usually a shrunken appearance, and
are covered with a dark shrivelled bark; fracture shining and resinous;
sometimes waxy, varying in colour from pale to deep brown. Some specimens
are white and spongy; and these, it is asserted, are superior in activity
to the more compact kinds. Inodorous; taste at first slightly bitter,
leaving a peculiar sense of numbness on the tongue and fauces. Active
principle, aconitia.
_Medical Properties and Uses._ Similar to those of _aconitum napellus_ of
Europe. _Preparations._ This root may be advantageously used for the
manufacture of aconitia, the proportion of this alkaloid being much larger
than in the European drug; and also for the preparation of Linimentum
Aconiti. From its greater activity, however, it is unsuited for the
preparation of this tincture, which is intended for external use.
=Aconitum Hetorophyllum.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Western temperate Himalaya,
at 8000 to 13,000 feet elevation; from Indus to Kumaon. _Officinal part._
The dried root (_Aconiti heterophylli Radix_). Ovoid tuberous roots,
tapering downwards to a point, from one to one and a half inches or more
in length, and from three eighths to half an inch in thickness. The
surface, which is covered with a thin greyish epidermis, is slightly
wrinkled longitudinally, and marked here and there with root scars. It is
inodorous, and of a bitter taste, devoid of acridity. Does not contain
aconitia. It may be readily distinguished from other roots sold in the
bazaars under the same vernacular name (Atis) by its characteristic
bitterness. _Properties._ Tonic and antiperiodic. It may be administered
internally with safety, as it contains no poisonous principle.
_Therapeutic uses_. In convalescence after debilitating diseases, and in
intermittent and other paroxysmal fevers, it has been found an efficient
remedy. _Doses._ Tonic, 5 to 10 grains thrice daily; antiperiodic, 20 to
30 grains of the powdered root every three or four hours, irrespective of
the presence of pyrexia.
=Aconitum Napell'us.= [Linn.] _Syn._ ACONI'TUM, Ph. L., E., & D.;
ACONITNAPÈL, CHAPERON DE MOINE, Fr.; EISENHUT, BLAUERSTURMHUT, Ger. Early
blue wolfsbane, or deadly aconite. _Hab._ Various parts of Europe; grows
wild in England, flowering in June and July. The fresh and dried leaves
(ACONITI FO''LIUM), Ph. L. & E. The root (ACONITI RA'DIX), Ph. L. & D.
This is the species of aconite ordered in the pharmacop[oe]ias, and
commonly used in medicine. When chewed it imparts a sensation of acrimony,
followed by a pungent heat of the lips, gums, palate, and fauces, which is
succeeded by a general tremor and chilliness. The juice applied to a wound
or the unsound skin affects the whole nervous system. Even by remaining
long in the hand, or on the bosom, it produces unpleasant symptoms. Fatal
cases of poisoning, by eating the root in mistake for horseradish, have
been common of late years. The two roots may be, however, easily
distinguished from one another; when scraped aconite emits an earthy, and
horseradish its well-known pungent odour. Moreover, the shape of the roots
is very different. In the accompanying figure _a_ represents aconite root,
and _b_ horseradish root.
[Illustration]
The leaves should be gathered as soon as the flowers appear. The root
should be taken up in autumn. When the whole plant is employed, it should
be gathered as soon as the flowers begin to open. The strength (richness
in aconitia) varies considerably with the time of the year. 1 oz. of the
fresh root contains 1/4 to 3/4 gr. of aconitia; 1 lb. of the dried English
root contains from 12 to 36 gr. (Herapath). The leaves possess the
greatest activity just before flowering; the root, after it. The root is
at all times fully six times as strong as the leaves or herb. The wild
plant contains much more aconitia than that which is cultivated. The herb,
and all its preparations, lose their efficacy if long kept. The powder,
more particularly, cannot be relied on. Mr Holmes says it is difficult to
find in a commercial sample of aconite root one root in a dozen, which
upon fracture appears sound and in good condition.
_Properties, Antidotes, &c._ See ACONITE.
_Tests, &c._ See ACONITE.
_Uses, &c._ In small doses aconite is narcotic, powerfully diaphoretic,
and sometimes diuretic; in larger ones, the symptoms are similar to those
produced by aconitia. It acts as a powerful sedative on the heart's
action, and destroys sensibility without disturbing the mental faculties.
It has been given in chronic rheumatism, gout, paralysis, scirrhus,
scrofula, cancers, venereal nodes, epilepsy, amaurosis, intermittents,
&c.; but its exhibition requires the greatest possible caution. As a
topical benumber it has been used with great advantage in painful
affections depending on increased sensibility of the nerves. Externally it
"is most valuable for the cure of neuralgic and rheumatic pains. In
neuralgia, no remedy, I believe, will be found equal to it. One
application of the tincture produces some amelioration; and after a few
times' use, it frequently happens that the patient is cured. In some
cases, the benefit appears almost magical. In others, however, it entirely
fails to give permanent relief." "I do not think that in any (case) it
proves injurious." "When it succeeds, it gives more or less relief at the
first application. When the disease depends on inflammation, aconite will
be found, I think, an unavailing remedy." "In rheumatic pains,
unaccompanied with local swelling or redness, aconite is frequently of
very great service." (Pereira, iii, 691.) _Dose_, of the powder, 1 to 2
gr., gradually increased to 6 or 8. Dr Stocrk was the first who gave
wolfsbane internally, about the year 1762. It has since been successfully
employed in Germany in cases of chronic rheumatism, gout, &c., some of
which were of long standing and had resisted every other remedy. In
England it has been less extensively used.
=Aconitum Panicula'tum.= Panicled wolfsbane; a species formerly ordered in
the Ph. L.; and, with _a. napellus_, also in the Ph. U. S. It is less
active than the officinal species.
=A'CORN.= _Syn._ GLANS. QUER'CUS, L. The seed or fruit of the oak. In the
early ages of the world, acorns probably formed one of the principal
articles of the food of man. (Ovid, _Met._, i, 106; Virgil, _Georg._, i,
8; &c.) In modern times, during periods of scarcity, they have been
consumed as food on the Continent. Besides starch, they contain a peculiar
species of sugar, which crystallises in prisms, and is unfermentable; they
also contain tannic and gallic acids. Mannite and dulcose are the
substances which it most nearly resembles. (M. Dessaignes.) During the
autumn, acorns are said to be sometimes poisonous to cattle and sheep.
Supposed cases of so-called acorn poisoning are best treated by
withdrawing the supply of acorns, or removing the animals from the
pastures on which the acorns fall, and by the administration of aperients,
alkalies, and stimulants.
=AC'ORUS CAL'AMUS.= See SWEET FLAG.
=ACOTYLE'DONS= (-ko-te-l[=e]'-). _Syn._ ACOTYLE'DONES (d[)o]n-[=e]z; L.,
prim. Gr.), Jussieu; ACOTYLÉDONS, Fr.; OHNE SAMENLAPPEN, Ger. In _botany_,
plants whose seeds are not furnished with distinct cotyledons or
seed-lobes. _Acotyledonous plants_ form one of the two great divisions of
the vegetable kingdom, according to the natural system. They are
remarkable by increasing chiefly in length, by additions to their end; and
not by addition to the outside, as in Exogens; nor to the inside, as in
Endogens. They are also termed ASEX'UAL and FLOWERLESS PLANTS, and answer
to the CRYPTOGAMIA of the Linnean system. See ACROGENS, CELLULARES,
THALLOGENS, &c.
=ACOUS'TICS= (-kow'-). The science of audition and sound; that branch of
physics which treats of their cause, nature, and phenomena. The doctrine
of the production and transmission of sound is termed DIACOUS'TICS; that
of reflected sound CATACOUS'TICS.
=Acoustics.= In _medicine_, remedies employed to relieve deafness. See
DEAFNESS and DROPS, ACOUSTIC.
=ACQUETTA.= [IT., _Little Water._] _Syn._ AQUA TOFFANA; A. TOFFANIA;
ACQUETTA DI NAPOLI DELLA TOFFANA, IT. A celebrated poison, prepared by an
Italian woman named Toffano, or Tophana, and in great request in Rome
about the middle of the 17th century. The composition of this poison has
been a matter of frequent controversy. Pope Alexander VII, in his
proclamation, described it as "aquafortis distilled into arsenic." This
would produce a concentrated solution of arsenic acid. The Emperor Charles
VI, who was governor of Naples during Toffano's trial, declared to his
physician, Garelli, that it was arsenic (arsenious acid) dissolved in
_aqua cymbalariá_. According to Gerarde this cymbalarià was an aquatic
species of pennywort, highly poisonous. The only objection to the latter
statement is the smallness of the dose, regard being had to the
comparative insolubility of arsenious acid; but if the woman Toffano
prepared two poisons, as is probable from history--one, a single dose of
which was fatal, and another, of which the dose required repetition, and
which was more gradual in its activity--the discrepancy will be at once
removed.
=AC'RID.= _Syn._ AC'ER, AC'RIS, L.; ACRE (âcre), Fr.; BEISSEND, SCHARF,
Ger. In _chemistry_ and _medicine_, sharp, pungent, acrimonious. Acrid
substances are such as excite a sensation of pungency and heat when
tasted, and which irritate and inflame the skin; as mustard, turpentine,
cantharides, &c.
=ACRIDITY.= _Syn._ ACRETÉ, Fr.; ACRITUDO, L. The quality of being acrid.
=AC'RIMONY.= _Syn._ ACRIMO'NIA, L.; ACRIMONIÉ, ACRETÉ, Fr.; SCHARFE, Ger.
In _medicine_ and _chemistry_, the quality or property of inflaming,
irritating, corroding, dissolving, or destroying other bodies.
=ACROGENS.= _Syn._ ACROGENÆ, L.; ACROGÈNES, Fr. In _botany_, acotyledonous
or cryptogamic plants, in which stems and leaves, or an organisation
approaching leaves, are distinguishable; which have stomates or breathing
spores on their surface, are propagated by spores, and increase by the
growth of the stem at the point only. Ferns and club-mosses are examples
of this class of plants.
=ACROLEIN.= _Syn._ ACRYLIC ALCOHOL. This substance occurs amongst the
products of decomposition when glycerine or any of its compounds is
subjected to ordinary distillation. It derives its name from its violently
irritant effect upon the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory
organs. It is best prepared by the process of Redtenbacher (see 'Leibig's
Ann.,' xlvii, 114), by distilling in a capacious retort, a mixture of
glycerine with phosphoric anhydride, or with hydric-potassic sulphate (the
acid sulphate or bisulphate of potash); the vapours must be condensed in a
properly cooled receiver, which is luted on to the retort and provided
with a tube opening into a chimney having a good draught. The distilled
liquid separates into two layers, the upper one consisting of acrolein,
and the lower one of an aqueous solution of the same substance mixed with
a quantity of acrylic acid. This distillate, after digestion with finely
powdered litharge, with the object of neutralising the acid, must be
rectified by the heat of a water bath: the acrolein so obtained must be
submitted to a second rectification from calcic chloride. All these
operations must be conducted in vessels filled with carbonic anhydride
(carbonic acid) because acrolein becomes rapidly oxidized when exposed to
the air.
Acrolein is a clear colourless liquid, lighter than water, boiling at
about 125° F. It has great refracting power and a burning taste; when pure
it is neutral to test paper.
=AC'ROSPIRE= (-spire). _Syn._ ACROSPI'RA, L.; PLUMULE, Fr.; BLATTKEIM,
Ger. The shoot or sprout of a seed, when it begins to grow; the part of a
germinating seed termed the plume, or plumula.
When the growth of a seed begins to be developed, the germ, from which the
stem originates, shoots forth under the form of a delicate curved fibre,
which, gradually bursting its covering, makes its appearance at the end of
the seed. The fibrils of the radicle first sprout forth from the tip of
the grain; a white elevation appears, that soon divides into three or more
radicles, which rapidly grow larger, and are succeeded by the plumula,
which peeps forth at the same point, in the form of a pale green leaflet,
which, twisting thence beneath the husk to the other end of the seed,
ultimately bursts its prison-house, and becomes a perfect leaf. See
GERMINATION and MALTING.
=ACTINIC RAYS.= See ACTINISM.
=ACTINISM.= _Syn._ ACTINIC RAYS; CHEMICAL RAYS. A term given to a supposed
principle accompanying the heat and light of the sunbeam. Actinic rays
chiefly exist beyond the violet extremity of the solar spectrum, and are
characterised by the power of exciting chemical change, _e.g._, the
decomposition of certain silver salts (in photography); the combination of
a mixture of chlorine and hydrogen, &c. The so-called vital functions of
animals and plants are also greatly influenced by the actinic or chemical
rays.
=ACTINOGRAPH.= An instrument for registering the intensity of the chemical
influence (_actinism_) of the sun's rays.
=ACT, TOWNS IMPROVEMENT CLAUSES, 1847= (10 & 11 Vict., c. 34), The
following provisions of this Act are incorporated in the Public Health
Act, 1875, and refer exclusively to urban districts:--