The pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London [1824] / A translation ... by Richard Phillips.

Date:
1824
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London [1824] / A translation ... by Richard Phillips. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    164/420 (page 142)
    DECOCTUM PAPAVERIS. Decoction of Poppy. Decoction Papaveris, P.L. 1809, P.L. 1824. Take of Poppy [Capsules], sliced, four ounces, Water four pints; Boil for a quarter of an hour, and strain. Medicinal Uses.—External as an anodyne fomentation in pain- ful swellings, and in the excoriations produced hy the acrid dis- charge of ulcers. DECOCTUM QUERCUS. Decoction of Oak [Bark]. Decoction Qnercus, P.L. 1809, P.L. 1824. Take of Oak [Bark] ten drachms, Distilled Water two pints ; Boil down to a pint, and strain. Remarks.—The well-known astringent property of oak and similar barks has been ascribed to a proximate principle called tannin, on account of its power of converting skin into leather, and it has been lately found that they contain besides gallic acid a quantity of a peculiar acid in which the tanning power has been, at least partly, supposed to reside, called tannic acid. All vege- table matters which are employed in tanning give an insoluble precipitate with albumen and gelatine, and a dark-coloured one with the salts of iron, which has been called tanno-gnllate of iron. The exact effect produced by each peculiar principle has not however been satisfactorily ascertained. Medicinal Uses.—This decoction is principally employed in the form of gargle, injection, or lotion, as a local astringent. It is nearly inodorous and has a very astringent taste. Incompatibles.—Decoction of cinchona, metallic salts, solution of isinglass, and alkaline solutions destroy its astringency.