Materia medica and therapeutics : for physicians and students / by John B. Biddle.
- John Barclay Biddle
- Date:
- 1886
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Materia medica and therapeutics : for physicians and students / by John B. Biddle. Source: Wellcome Collection.
47/572 page 37
![now usually prepared by dissolving the volatile principles in alcohol or diluted alcohol. The spirits of the aromatic vege- table oils are used to give a pleasant odor and taste to mix- tures, to correct the nauseating and griping effects of cathartics, and also as carminatives and stomachics. Wines (Vina) are solutions of medicinal substances in stronger white wine. They are more liable to decomposition than tinct- ures, and are of variable strength ; but they are in some cases preferred, from the less stimulating character of the menstruum, which has also sometimes an increase of solvent power, from the acid which it contains. Vinegars [Aceta] are infusions or solutions of medicinal sub- stances in distilled vinegar or diluted acetic acid, which is a particularly good solvent of many vegetable principles, as the organic alkalies. Honeys {Mellita) are preparations of medicinal substances in honey. Syrups (Syrupi) are preparations of medicinal substances in concentrated solutions of sugar. The term syrup {syrupus\ or simple syrupy is applied to a solution of sugar (65 parts) in water (sufficient to make 100 parts of syrup), dissolved with the aid of heat. Medicated syrups are usually made by incor- porating refined sugar with vegetable infusions, decoctions, ex- pressed juices, fermented liquors, or simple aqueous solutions. They may also be prepared by adding a tincture to simple syrup, and afterwards evaporating the alcohol; or by mixing the tincture with sugar in coarse powder, and dissolving the impregnated sugar, after evaporation, in the necessary propor- tion of water. Syrups are apt to be spoiled by heat, and should be made in small quantities at a time. By the evaporation of the solutions of vegetable principles, a very useful class of preparations, termed Extracts [Extracta], is obtained. They are prepared from infusions, decoctions, tinctures, and vinegars; and sometimes, in the case of recent vegetables, from the expressed juices of plants, usually diluted](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20386357_0047.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
