A companion to the United States Pharmacopoeia : being a commentary on the latest edition of the pharmacopoeia and containing the descriptions, properties, uses, and doses of all official and numerous unofficial drugs and preparations in current use in the United States, together with practical hints, working formulas, etc., designed as a ready reference book for pharmacists, physicians, and students : with over 650 original illustrations / by Oscar Oldberg and Otto A. Wall.

  • Oscar Oldberg
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A companion to the United States Pharmacopoeia : being a commentary on the latest edition of the pharmacopoeia and containing the descriptions, properties, uses, and doses of all official and numerous unofficial drugs and preparations in current use in the United States, together with practical hints, working formulas, etc., designed as a ready reference book for pharmacists, physicians, and students : with over 650 original illustrations / by Oscar Oldberg and Otto A. Wall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    19/1236 (page 5)
    Acacia; IT. S. Acacia. Acac'ice Gummi • Gumnii Arahicum—Arabisches Gummi, G,; Gomme Arabique, F.; Goma Ardbiga, Sp.; Arabiskt Gu^nmi, Sw.— Giim Arabic. Origin.—Acacia Verek, Guillemin et Perrottet, and other species of Acacia (Leguminosse). Habitat.—Africa. Part used.—The dry gurnmy exudation. Description.—See the Pharmacopoeia, page 8. Select No. 1 gum arabic—the kind pharmacists use for medicinal purposes—is the grade described in the Pharmacopoeia. It must be free from impurities or •discolored pieces; has but a faint, peculiar, not the least sourish odor; is completely soluble iti an equal weight of water, forming mucilage. Varieties and Grades.—The best acacia comes iroxa Kordofan. ■*' Senaar gum is also of fine quality. Some varieties of gum arabic, although of handsome appearance, do not dissolve completely in water, having probably been dried too far or exposed to a too high temperature in drying, whereby.the arabic acid is altered (see mucilage). Senegal gum is more clear or transparent than Kordofan giirriy having but few fissures; the tears are also larger in this variety of acacia; but it is always more or less colored (yellowish or reddish), and its taste is not as pure. ]\fezquite gum is also discolored, and a mucilage made from it does not give a precipitate with subacetate of lead, ferric chloride, or borax. The different grades of gum arabic in the market are designated by numbers. No. 1 being the best tears selected from the whole lot. The next best selection becomes No. 2, and so on, until about five selections have been made. The remainder, consisting of more or less colored pieces and all the impurities, receives the designation sorts. The term sorts, however, sometimes means the unsorted gum arabic containing all the grades, or consists of all except the first and second grades. Jobbers sometimes distinguish between strong and weak gums, these designations having reference partly to the relative quantity of mois- ture contained in the drug, the strong gums being the drier; and partly to the degree of solubility, the weaker gums being those which swell in water but do not completely dissolve. Original Packages.—Picked gum arable is sold in cases of two