Volume 1

Cooley's Cyclopædia of practical receipts and collateral information in the arts, manufactures, professions, and trades, including medicine, pharmacy, and domestic economy : designed as a comprehensive supplement to the pharmacopœia and general book of reference for the manufacturer, tradesman, amateur, and heads of families.

Cooley, Arnold J. (Arnold James)

Date:: 1892

Credit: Cooley's Cyclopædia of practical receipts and collateral information in the arts, manufactures, professions, and trades, including medicine, pharmacy, and domestic economy : designed as a comprehensive supplement to the pharmacopœia and general book of reference for the manufacturer, tradesman, amateur, and heads of families. Source: Wellcome Collection.

23/916 page 7

$ABSCESS—ABSOLUTE add hot water 500 parts. Filter when cold. It may be applied three times a day. ABSCESS.—A collection of pus, the result of in- flammation, and which may occur in any part of the body. Abscesses are said to be circumscribed if the material which collects is limited by changes in the parts around. When this is not the case, but the process spreads and by degrees involves the surrounding tissue, the abscess is said to be diffused. An abscess is said to be acute, when the contents rapidly liquefy, chronic or cold, when this process is slow. Abscesses always proceed in the direction of the least resistance, and when superficial make their way through the skin, forming a conical projection, the top of which ultimately gives way and allows the contents to discharge freely. Something may be done to direct the course of superficial abscesses by the judicious application of poultices and hot fomenta- tions, which by increasing the inflammation at a particular point, tend to prevent its spread to the parts around. Abscesses on the face connected with decayed teeth may by injudicious external poulticing be made to point externally, and cause a disfiguring scar, whereas by proper treatment, a small bread poultice within the mouth, extraction of the tooth, or use of the lancet, they can be made to break internally. The causes of acute abscesses are various ; a blow or pressure is often sufficient in the case of persons weakened by long illness; foreign bodies such as splinters of wood, broken needles, and the various things which may be introduced into a wound from without, are apt to cause abscesses by setting up local inflamma- tion, whilst diseased bone (as in hip disease) and the stumps of decayed teeth, acting in the same way, bring about the same result from within; in these cases the remedy is removal of the cause of irritation, and this may be done either by opera- tion (removal of diseased bone, extraction of teeth, &c), or by allowing nature to have her way and expel the offending material by a process of suppuration, at the expense of considerable suffer- ing and discomfort and the risk of extensive local injury. Abscesses also break out in various parts of the body as the result of blood-poisoning, and in various so-called septic disorders. Treatment— Rest and soothing local applica- tions ; the abscess should be opened as soon as the presence of pus is recognised, this relieves the pain caused by the tension of the parts, and avoids the scar which would be left if the inflammation were allowed to run its course. The wound should be wrapped in simple antiseptic dressings, e. g. carbolised, orboracic lint, frequently changed, and kept as clean as possible by washing with boiled water. Extensive abscesses, or a number of small ones, greatly affect the general health, and in these cases rest, fresh air, simple food and tonics are indicated. ABSINTHE. [Fr.] Absinthium, L.; Worm- wood, E.; Wermuth, G. This article is met with in commerce in the form of the dried herb with the flowers of Artemisia absinthium, having a whitish-grey appearance, a soft feel, an aromatic and unpleasant odour, and an extremely bitter and aromatic flavour. The plant is indigenous, and grows in thickets, in mountainous districts, and on waste ground. Its odour is due to its con- taining an essential oil; its bitterness is referable to absinthin, a crystallisable principle which may be extracted from the herb by water or spirit. The name absinthe is alsogiven to an intoxicating liqueur which is extensively drunk on the Continent. Absinthe is prepared by pounding the leaves and flowering tops of various species of worm- wood, chiefly Artemisia absinthium along with Angelica root (Archangelica officinalis), Sweet Flag root (Acorus calamus), the leaves of Dittany of Crete (Origanum dictamnus), Star Anise fruit (Illicium anisatum), and other aromatics and macerating them in alcohol. After soaking for about eight days the compound is distilled, yield- ing an emerald-coloured liquor to which a propor- tion of an essential oil—usually Anise—is added, the result is ' Extrait d'Absinthe.' Adulterations are numerous and deleterious, turmeric and indigo for colour, or even cupric sulphate. As^ at present constituted, therefore, and especially when drunk in the disastrous excess now common in Paris, and taken, as it frequently is, on an empty stomach, absinthe forms a chronic poison of almost unequalled virulence, both as an irritant to the stomach and bowels, and also as a destroyer of the nervous system. The effect of absinthe is to produce a superabundant activity of the brain, a cerebral excitement, which at first is agreeable; intoxication comes on rapidly; the head swims, and the effect produced is nearly the same as that of poisoning by a narcotic, which cer- tainly does not occur with an equal dose of brandy. The effects may be summed up as follows: Results of excessive drinking.—Firstly a feeling of exaltation, afterwards the increased dose neces- sary to produce this effect causes derangement of the digestion and loss of appetite with intense thirst, then giddiness, tingling in the ears, hallucinations of sight and hearing, followed by constant mental depression and anxiety. Constant drinking.—Produces muscular quiver- ings, and loss of strength and also of hair, melan- choly aspect, emaciation, wrinkled and sallow skin, lesions of the brain, paralysis and death. With the absinthe-drinker, as with the opium- eater, the excitement the spirit produces diminishes daily in intensity. Each day he is obliged to augment the dose in order to bring himself up to the right pitch. The diseases brought on by the excessive drinking of ardent spirits are produced with greater rapidity by the use of absinthe. Absinthe was introduced into France after the Algerian war of 1844-47 in which the soldiers were advised to mix it with water as a febrifuge. See Liqueurs. ABSINTHIN. C^HsA. The bitter principle of wormwood {Artemisia absinthium). A hard crystalline solid, having an intensely bitter taste; slightly soluble in water, very soluble in alcohol, less so in ether. Its physiological effects resemble those of extract of wormwood.—Dose, % gr. to 2 gr., or more; in dyspepsia; as a stomachic, to promote the appetite, &c.; as a substitute for quinine in intermittents; and in worms. ABSINTHIUM. [L.] See Absinthe. ABSOLUTE. Syns. Absolutus, L.; Ab- SOLU, Fr.; Unbedingt, G. In chemistry, pure, unmixed; as absolute alcohol, pure spirit of wine, i. e. free from water.$

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