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.)
70/504
![dark brown externally, reddish internally ; has an aromatic clove-like odour in the recent state, which is lost by dying ; its taste is aromatic and astringent. Chemical Properties.—The principal constituents of the root are tannin, volatile oil, resin, and a trace of gallic acid. Therapeutical Effects.—As an astringent, this root was former- ly much employed in various diseases, and still bears a high character in many parts of the Continent; in this country, though retained in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, it is only used as a domestic remedy. Dose* and Mode of Administration.—In powdej, 3ss. to 3i-— Decoctum Gei radicis, (Geum root, bruised, §i. ; boiling water, Oi.; boil down to fgxij.) Dose, f§ss. to f§i. Incompatibles.—All substances incompatible with tannin. HjEMATOXYLON, [U. S.] E. HiEMATOXYLUM, L. H^MATOXYLUM campechianum, lignum, D. Logwood; Wood of Hcematoxylum Campechianum.—A native of Campeachy in Central America, nojv naturalized in Jamaica. It belongs to the Natural family Leguminosa (Fabacea, Lindley), and to the Linnaean class and order Decandna Monogynia. Botanical Characters.—Stem crooked, about 8 inches in diameter, and 40 or 50 feet high ; Leaves large, pinnate ; Flowers yellow, in racemes. Physical Properties.—The heart-wood of the tree which is of a dark-red colour, is alone employed, the bark and alburnum being chip- ped off. It is imported in billets, which are dense and hard, have a weak agreeable odour, and a 6weetish astringent taste. Chemical Properties.—Logwood contains a peculiar red, crystal- line, bitter principle, which has been named hcemalin or hematoxylin, resin, volatile oil, some tannin, acetic acid, and various salts. Hcematin is often found in the fissures of the wood, in beautiful, large, red crystals. Logwood yields its active principles to both water and alcohol ; the solutions are of a fine purple colour, which is changed to violet by the alkalies; with alum, or acetate of lead, a blue preci- pitate is produced ; a dark brown, with the salts of iron ; and a red- dish with gelatine. It is consequently very much employed as a dye wood. Adulterations.—Various red-coloured woods are substituted for logwood, from which they may be readily distinguished, by their not possessing the same agreeable odour. Therapeutical Effects.—Logwood is an excellent astringent in chronic diarrhcea and dysentery, for which it is peculiarly adapted, as, although it checks the excessive discharge, it does not produce con- stipation. It has been also used in the profuse sweating of phthisis, and in diabetes. Dose and Mode of Administraton.—Decoctum Hamatoxyli, D. E. (Logwood, in fine chips, §iss. (§i., E.;) cinnamon, bruised (powdered, E.,) 3j. ; water, by measure Ibij. (Oi., E. ;) Boil the logwood in the water down to one half, adding the cinnamon towards the close ; and strain.) Dose, f§i. to f§ij.—Extractum Hcematoxyli, D. L. E. ( Prepared as the simpler extracts, D.— Logwood, powdered (in chips, E.,) Ibiiss. (ibj. E. ; boiling water, (distilled, L.,) cong. ij. (cong. i., E.,) macerate for 24 hours, then boil down to cong. j. (Oiv. E.,) strain while hot, and evaporate in the water-bath,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0070.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
