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.)
103/504
![pear to be nearly similar, but it acts with greater certainty as a cathartic, and is consequently to be preferred in many cases. Hydrargyri pilule, [U. S.] D. L. E.—Pills of Mercury. Blue pill. Preparation.—By trituratiDgin a mortar, until the globules disappear, two parts of purified mercury, and three parts of conserve of red roses, and then adding one part of extract of liquorice (of liquorice root, fU. S] L. E.), reduced to fine powder, and beating together until they are all incor- porated. Physical Properties.—A soft pill mass, of a dark blue colour. Chemical Properties.—This preparation, like the two last, probably consists of metallic mercury in a state of minute division combined with the suboxide of mercury. Three grains of the pill contain one grain of mercury. Adulterations.—If the pill mass be prepared with conserve of roses to which sulphuric acid had been added, as is sometimes done to brighten its colour, it will contain subsulphate of mercury which pos- sesses very irritating properties. It may be detected by triturating the mass with boiling water, and adding to the filtered liquor solution of nitrate of baryta; if any sulphate be present, a white precipitate insoluble in nitric acid will be produced. Therapeutical Effects.—Although blue pill is most generally employed to produce the specific effect of the mercurial preparations, in full doses it operates as a cathartic. In consequence of its general alterative powers, and the peculiar property it possesses of improving and stimulating the biliary secretions, it is commonly prescribed in combination with the different cathartic pill masses, particularly the compound extract of colocynth. Thus combined, taken at night, and followed by an active purgative draught in the morning, it is found especially useful in the milder forms of derangement of the biliary organs. Dose and Mode of Administration.—Given alone as a cathartic, gr. xij. to gr. xx.; combined with other purgatives, gr. v. to gr. vnj. Jalapa, D. L. E. [U. S.] Root of Convolvulus jalapa, D., of Ipomcea jalapa, [U. S.] L.,—of Ipomcea purga,¥>. Jalap. The offici- nal jalap root is now well known to be obtained from the plant indi- cated by the London and Edinburgh Colleges under different specific names (more recently named Exogonium purga), and not from that adopted by the Dublin College. It is a native of Mexico and Vera- Cruz ; and belongs to the Natural family Convolvulacea, and to the Linnaean class and order Pentandria Monogynia. Botanical Characters.—Roots tuberous, incrassated ; Stems, her- baceous, smooth, climbing; Leaves, greenish, alternate, petioled, cordi- form; Floweis, large, one to three, on axillary peduncles; corolla, large, campanulate, white with a reddish-purple centre. Preparation.—The root is dug up, at the time the young shoots begin to appear, and dried by exposure to the air, or suspended in net bags over a fire. Physical Properties.—Jalap root is met with in commerce in pieces, varying much both in size and form. The entire tubers are ovoid, from the size of a nut to that of an orange, generally incised](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0103.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
