A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    258/554 (page 246)
    At one time at the Pennsylvania Hospital an attempt was made to sub- stitute glycerite of starch, to which a small proportion of bichloride of mercury had been added, for zinc and boric ointment in the treatment of Superficial Abrasions and Ulcerations, with the hope that wounds could be more readily washed and cleaned. The dressing did not prove as satisfactory as had been .hoped for. Glycerite of starch may be era- ployed with advantage where a moist or wet dressing or a light poultice might be advisable, as in Superficial Burns or Erysipelatous Inflam- mations. Diseases of the Skiri.—Glycerite of Starch (sometimes called plasma ) is a valuable emollient in some cases of Acute Eczema, espe- cially Eczema of the Scalp and Ears, and offers an admirable preliminary treatment in these cases. The glycerite of starch is a good substitute for lard or cosmoline as a base for ointments. It does not easily become spoiled and keeps for a long time. It has been recommended to prevent pitting in Variola. The glycerite of carbolic acid is a useful application in Tinea Tonsurans. The glycerite of tannin may sometimes be employed when an astrin- gent application is required. Recently H. von Hebra has brought forward a class of preparations which he calls Saponated glycerin preparations. They will be found described under soaps. French dermatologists combine one part of tartaric acid with twenty parts of the foregoing to form glycerole tartarique, a soothing appli- cation in Eczema. GLYCYRRHIZA. Liquorice Root. Licorice. . The root of Glycyrrhiza glabra.'' (U. S. P.) Liquorice root contains a large pro- portion of a substance called Glycyrrhizin, which is very sparingly soluble in cold water and very freely soluble in boiling water, with which it forms a jelly as it cools. To this substance liquorice root owes its taste and flavoring properties. Ammoniated Glycyrrhizin (official in the United States Pharmacopoeia) is glycyrrhizin separated from liquorice root and combined with ammonia, and is in dark brown or reddish-brown scales, inodorous, of a very sweet taste, and sokble in water and in alco- hol. (U. S. P.) Glycyrrhiza is often employed to dilute astringents when desired to use these agents in the form of powder. It enters into the composition of a favorite lozenge in the proportion of from one to four grains of the extract to each mass.