A manual of organic materia medica : being a guide to materia medica of the vegetable and animal kingdoms for the use of students, druggists, pharmacists, and physicians / by John M. Maisch.

  • John Michael Maisch
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of organic materia medica : being a guide to materia medica of the vegetable and animal kingdoms for the use of students, druggists, pharmacists, and physicians / by John M. Maisch. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Description.—Cera flava, Yellow wax. Yellow or somewhat brownish-yellow, breaking with a granular fracture at and below 10° C. (50° F.), becoming plas- tic by the heat of the hand; spec. grav. .96 to .97 ; melting point between 62° and 63° C. (about 145° F.); congealing with a smooth and level surface; odor aromatic, honey-like ; taste mild ; partly soluble in alcohol; soluble in boiling ether and in chloro- form. Cera alba, White wax. Yellowish-white circular cakes, somewhat translucent in thin layers, brittle in the cold, but becoming plastic by the heat of the hand; melting point 65° C. (149° F.); odor slightly rancid. Constituents.—Aromatic and coloring matters in yellow wax; cerin or cerotic acid, C27H5J02, 10 to 20 per cent, (crystallizes from boiling alcohol); myricin or myricyl palmitate, C30H61.C]6H31O2 (acicular crys- tals, slightly soluble in hot alcohol, soluble in hot ether). Adulterations.—Tallow renders wax softer and les- sens its specific gravity. Paraffin is not destroyed by hot sulphuric acid ; 5 grams of the wax are heated in a flask for fifteen minutes with 25 grams of sulphuric acid to 160° C. (320° F.), and the mixture is diluted with distilled water; a layer of paraffin should not be separated. Eesin is dissolved by hot 70 per cent, alcohol, and, after cooling, is precipitated by water. Mineral and starchy substances are insoluble in chlo- roform. Properties.—Protective ; used in ointments, cerates, and plasters, r*- -