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.)
150/504
![potash, one eq. of tartrate of antimony, and two eq. of water, (KO, Sb O3, 2 (C8 H4 O10) -f 2 HO). The crystals effloresce in the air soon becoming white and opaque, and losing their water of crystalliza- tion. Strongly heated the salt is decomposed, and an alloy of antimo- ny and potash is obtained. It is soluble in 14 times its weight of cold water, and in less than twice its weight of boiling water ; it is insolu- ble in alcohol. The solution gives white precipitates with oxalic and sulphuric acids, caustic potash, and lime water; straw coloured with infusion of nut-galls ; and bright orange-red with sulphuretted dydrogen or the soluble hydrosulphates ; the latter is the most charac- - teristic test. Adulterations.—In the crystalline state, this salt is seldom adultera- ted ; in a few instances I have found crystals of sulphate of potash mixed with those of tartar emetic, evidently an intentional fraud, but one easy of detection, as crystals of tartar emetic when dropped into a solution of sulphuretted hydrogen have an orange-coloured deposit formed on them. The powder is very commonly adulterated with cream of tartar, and from being badly prepared frequently contains a large quantity of the oxide of iron ; both impurities are readily detect- ed by the tests of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia : Entirely soluble in 20 parts of water, solution colourless and not affected by solution of ferrocyanide of potassium ; a solution in 40 parts of water is not af- fected by its own volume of a solution of 8 parts of acetate of lead in 32 parts of water, and 15 parts of acetic acid. Therapeutical Effects.—In properly regulated doses, tartar emetic produces diaphoresis more uniformly and more certainly than any other of the antimonial preparations ; nausea sometimes accompa- nies its diaphoretic action, but this is attended with the advantage of placing the system in a condition in which sweating is more freely produced. In all the varieties of febrile diseases, especially when a determination of blood to the head forbids the use of the more stimu- lating diaphoretics, tartar emetic is employed with great benefit. It has been also used with much advantage in obstinate cutaneous dis- eases, administered in decoction of sarsaparilla, or in decoction of elm bark if much debility be present. The employment of the antimonial preparations generally is contraindicated in diseases where gastric ir- ritation is present. (See Emetics and Sedatives. Dose and Mode of Administration.—l-12th to 1-6th of a grain frequently repeated ; it may be administered dissolved in a large quantity of distilled water without any flavouring adjunct; thus, gr. ij. may be dissolved in Oj. of water, and f§i. of this taken every hour until sweating is produced ; given in the form of pill, however, it is less apt to produce vomiting than when in solution. The following is used as a substitute for James1 powder.—Tartar emetic, gr. i. ; sulphate of potash, in fine powder, gr. xx. ; mix. Dose, gr. ij. to gr. iij., every hour.—Liquor Tartari Emetici, D. Vinum Antimonii Polassio-tartratis, L. Vinum Antimoniale, E. [Vinum antimonii, U. S.] ( Tartar emetic, 9i. ; boiling distilled water, by measure, §viij.; rectified spirit of wine, by measure §ij. ; dissolve in the water, filter and add the spirit, D. Dissolve gr. xl. of tartar emetic in Oj. of sherry, L. E.). [Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa 9j. ; wine f§x. Dissolve in the wine. U. S.] Every fluid ounce contains gr. ij. of tartar emetic ; Dose as a diaphoretic, min. xx. to min. xxx., every hour.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0150.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
