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.

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    injury to their edges by thorough wiping with absorbent cotton saturated with alcohol. As an additional precaution they are sometimes previously immersed m boiling water. During an operation they can be kept on a napkin saturated with alcohol, or in a rack over a layer of alcohol con- tained in a shallow pan or waiter. Alcohol, though perhaps the most perfect of aseptic fluids, is not antiseptic, and even alcoholic solutions of antiseptics are without value as germicides (Koch, Sattler, and others). Alcohol at any rate is too irritating for application to the eye. ALDEHYD. Dehydrogenated Alcohol. Acetic Aldehyd is here to be understood. It is a colorless, mobile, inflammable liquid, having a rather pungent, ethereal, and suffocating odor (USD) Its specfic gravity is 0.79. Aldehyd mixes in all proportions with water, alcohol, and ether, and is rapidly converted into acetic acid by exposure to the air (USD) When desired pure it is prepared by a very complex process from alcohol. Diseases of the Throat, etc.—Aldehyd is sedative and probably astringent to the respiratory tract. As an inhalant it may be employed in the proportion of 80 minims to the ounce of water. For the pharynx a preparation of aldehyd, two parts; carbolic acid, one part; and glycerin, five parts may be applied with a brush; or aldehyd and glycerin may be employed in equal parts. Lennox Browne claims that aldehyd arrests excessive secretion of mucus. ALTHAEA. Marshmallow. '«The root of Althcza officinalis, (U. S. P.) Marshmallow root yields a yellowish white powder, containing much starch and mucilaginous matter, and some saccharine matter. The powder is bland, soothing, and non-irritating, and is an excellent vehicle for more active remedies. General Surgery.—A decoction of marshmallow is occasionally used as a sedative injection to allay Irritation in the vagina and rectum. The root is used in France for children to cut teeth on, as orris root is used elsewhere. Diseases of the Throat, etc.—Althaea acts in diseases of the throat as a demulcent. It is not often prescribed. The so-called marshT mallow confection of the shops is composed of gum arable. Pastilles containing althsea are known under the name of '* Pastilles guimauve. Althaea is occasionally»employed to weaken astringents when it is desired to use the.se agents in the form of powders.