Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan.
- John Neligan
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
102/504
![the limited employment of the drug, the fraud is not practised in this country. The root should be constantly renewed, as it loses its medicinal properties by keeping-. Therapeutical Effects.—This substance is classed among the vegetable irritant poisons, but in medicinal doses it operates as a dras- tic cathartic ; and although little esteemed in modern practice, it was highly prized by the ancients, as a purgative in cerebral and nervous disorders and in dropsy ; it was also said to possess emmenagogue and anthelmintic properties. Dose and Mode of Administration.—In powder gr. iij. to gr. xij.—Tinctura Hellebori, [U. S.] D. L. (Black hellebore root, in coarse powder (bruised, L.,) §iv. (§v., L. ;) proof spirit, by mensureibij. (Oij., [U. S.] L.) ; macerate for 7 (14, [U. S.] L.) days and strain.) Dose, f5i. to f3ij. Hydrargyrum cum creta, [U. S.] D. L. E.—Mercury with chalk. Preparation.—Dub.— Take of purified mercury; and manna, of each, two parts; precipitated chalk one part; triturate the mercury and manna in an earthenware mortar, adding a iew drops of water to give the mass the consistence of syrup; as soon as the globules disappear, add with constant trituration an eighth of the chalk ; all being well mixed add 16 parts of water, agitate, and after resting, when the sediment falls, pour off the liquor; let the washing be repeated again and a third time, so as to remove all the manna, mix with the moist powder the rest of the chalk, and dry on blotting paper. Lond. Edin. [U. S.]— Triturate together mercury. §iij., and prepared chalk, §v., till the globules disappear. In the Dublin formula, the manna is employed to effect the minute division and oxidation of the mercury. Physical Properties.—A greyish, heavy, insoluble powder ; void of odour, but having an astringent, metallic taste. Chemical Properties.—According to the recent investigations of many celebrated chemists, this preparation appears to consist of metal- lic mercury in a state of minute division, suboxide of mercury, and carbonate of lime combined mechanically; but in what proportion the metal and oxide exist has not been yet ascertained. On the addition of the stronger acids to the powder effervescence takes place ; and by exposure to heat the mercury is volatilised. Therapeutical Effects.—A gentle cathartic and alterative, pecu- liarly adapted for infancy and childhood, promoting and improving the secretions of the liver, pancreas, and intestines. In combination with rhubarb, it is employed with much benefit in the diarrhoea of children when the stools are clay-coloured, and when there is acidity of the primse viae. Prescribed with dried carbonate of soda, it is our most useful alterative in the cutaneous affections of infancy and childhood. Dose and Mode of Administration.—In powder, gr. ij. to gr. v., for children ; it is seldom prescribed for adults, the dose would be from gr. x. to 3ss. Incompatibles.—The mineral acids ; acetic acid ; alum ; and all sulphates. Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia, D.—Mercury with Magnesia. Prepared in a similar manner to the last, carbonate of magnesia being employed instead of prepared chalk. Its properties would ap-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0102.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
