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.

    96/554 (page 84)
    General Surgery.—Almond oil, when pure, forms a bland prepara- tion which may be applicable for the same purposes as sweet oil. Diseases of the Skin.—In addition to entering into the composition of several valuable ointments the oil of almond is used as a bland appli- cation to the inflamed skin, and especially to soften crusts and scales pre- paratory to more active treatment. Carbolic acid is sometimes added to almond oil as a local treatment in Pruritus. (See 01. Olivse.) Unguentum Aqu^ Ros^. Cold Cream. R. Expressed oil of almond, gv; spermaceti, ; white wax, ^j; rose water, ^ iij. Melt together by means of water bath, and stir the mixture constantly while cooling. Farina Amygdala. Almond Meal. This is usually prepared either from sweet almonds, or from sweet and bitter almonds together, by blanching them {i.e., removing the epidermis by immersion in hot water), then either grinding them to a meal in a suitable mill as they then are (in which case the product is an oily meal), or pressing them between hot plates to remove the oil, and then grinding the cake. If a proportion of bitter almond be employed, the meal when mixed with water will give off the odor of oil of bitter almond; otherwise, it is odorless. The oily meal soon becomes rancid, but when fresh is more demulcent than is the meal made from the expressed cake. A less elegant almond meal is made by grinding the cake left after the commercial expression of oil of sweet almond. This meal is brown in color, because of the non-separation of the epidermis. Diseases of the Skin.—Both the bitter and the sweet almond are used in the treatment of skin diseases. The crushed kernel of the bitter almond is employed in the form of cataplasm applied in cases of Pruritus VuLViE, while the oil has been employed dissolved in water of the strength of one drop to the ounce, to allay general pruritus. The virtue of bitter almond is due to the hydrocyanic acid it contains. The mixture of sweet almond is used as a vehicle for various lotions, particularly those employed upon the face. Almond meal gives a peculiarly soft and soothing quality to water, and is often used in washing the hands when chapped or eczematous. AMYL NITRIS. Nitrite of Amyl. A liquid produced by the action of nitric or nitrous acid on amylic alcohol, which volatilizes between 262° and 270° F. It consists chiefly of nitrite of amyl. It should be stored in hermetically-sealed vessels, or in well stopped bottles, and in a cool, dark place. (Ph. Br.) It is insoluble in water, but soluble in all proportions in alcohol ether, chloroform, benzol, and benzin. (U. S. P.) Nitrite of amyl is antispasmodic. Upon the skin it acts the part of an irritant.