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.)
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![ing discharges from remote parts, when they are introduced into the system through the digestive organs ; in the latter case we must sup- pose that they produce some peculiar change in the living principle of the structure generally, which is incompatible with excessive se- cretion or discharge. In cases where the use of astringents is indi- cated, it will be always necessary, in the first instance, to ascertain the cause by which the morbid discharge is produced, as it often occurs in diametrically opposite states of the system, and therefore very dif- ferent remedies will, in different cases, assume the character of an astringent. Thus, wher.e irritability exists, opium, taken from the di- vision°narcotics, will often prove our most useful remedy, given either alone or as an adjuvant to some more immediate astringent. If a state of plethora of the vascular system exist, bleeding and other de- pletory measures will be indicated; or if the discharge, as in some forms of diarrhoea, be caused by acrid or acid matter, emollients or demulcents, and antacids must be employed. ACETUM, LU. S.] L. A.CETUM VINI, D. AcETUM GaLLICUM ET Britannicum, E. Vinegar prepared by fermentation, L. Wine vine- gar, D. French or British vinegar, E. Preparation—Vinegar is an articleof the Materia Medica in the three British Pharmacopoeias. In France it is prepared from the lighter wines, by exposing them to the air in large wooden vessels placed in a room, the temperature of which is raised to between 68° and 80° F. In Britain, va- rious kinds of mall liquor, cider, raw sugar dissolved in water, &c are sub- stiiued for wine. Of late years, a greatly improved process has been intro- duced in Germany by which vinegar may be made in 36 hours :—Strong al- cohol is diluted with five or six parts of water, and about a thousandth part of yeast, honey, or impure vinegar added to it; the mixture is heated to 75° or 80° and made to trickle slowly through a mass of beechwood shavings, contained in a tall cask, narrowed at the bottom, and pierced with small holes at the top and lower part, to allow a circulation of air ; as soon as the mixture is passed through the barrel three or four times, it is converted into vinegar; the change being effected by the alcohol absorbing oxygen from the atmospheric air; the process taking place very rapidly owing to the great surface of the liquid which is expo-ed. Physical Properties.—Vinegar is of a pale reddish yellow colour, transparent; with a sharp, peculiar (acetous) odour, and an acidulous, refreshing taste. Sp. pr. from 1006 to 1019. French, or wine vine- gar is generally of a deep colour, and has a more fragrant odour than British, or malt vinegar; its density also is greater, being from 1014 to 1022. Chemical Properties.—It is composed of acetic acid, colouring matter, mucilage and water, and a trace of alcohol ; British vinegar contains also sulphuric acid, manufacturers being allowed by law to add a thousandth part by weight of that acid. Wine vinegar may be dis- tinguished from malt vinegar by ammonia in excess, causing a pur- plish muddiness, and slowly a purplish precipitate with it. (Ed,. Ph.); in addition to the constituents mentioned above, it generally contains some bitartrate and sulphate of potash. The odorous principle of vin- egar is conjectured to be acetic ether. Its medicinal virtues depend on the acetic acid it contains.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0056.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
