On ailantus excelsa, a new Indian remedy / by Náráyan Dájí.

  • Náráyan Dájí.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On ailantus excelsa, a new Indian remedy / by Náráyan Dájí. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    oxalate of ammonia; red and yellow prussiates of potash ; sulpho- cy ankle of potassium; proto-chloride of tin; potassio-tartrate of antimony; proto and per-salts of iron ; and sulphate of copper. Atlantic acid does not possess the power of setting free iodine from a solution of iodide of potassium. A concentrated solution of it dissolves oxalate of lime. Ailantate of lime.—In this form ailantic acid exists in nature. It is soluble in water forming a pale orange coloured solution, which is very bitter. Oxalic acid and oxalate of ammonia separate the lime from combination. It can be dried into a hard, solid, reddish brown mass, Avhich when exposed to air, attracts moisture but less quickly than the pure acid, and is less sticky to the feel. When drying, it swells much more than the pure acid. Its taste is not so bitter as that of the pure acid ; it dissolves freely in water and is unc^stallizable. Ailantate of lead.—This compound is formed during the pre- paration of ailantic acid. It is of an ochre yellow color when fresh, but changing to a darker red when kept. When hot and dry it is hard and brittle like resin, but when cool and kept for some time even in an air-tight bottle, it gets sticky and soft. AVhile hot and soft it can be moulded into any shape like wax or gutta-percha and can be drawn into silk-like fibres, which on cooling become soft and glutinous. The freshly dried salt can be easily powdered, a property not observed in other compounds of this acid; the powder if inhaled through the nose, excites sneezing; it readily attracts moisture when cool; sulphuric acid or sulphuretted hydrogen removes the lead and leaves the acid free. Its taste is as bitter as that of the free acid. It is freely soluble in water and is uncrys- tallizable. Medicinal Properties and Uses.—From the natural order to which this tree belongs it may be inferred a priori that it would possess the characteristic properties of that order, and this is found from experiment to bo true. The medicinal and phy- siological properties of this tree resemble so closely those of the officinal Tiercena excelsa or Jamaica Quassia tree, that our Indian plant may safely be considered a substitute lor it.
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