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
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.
![fore, the name is incorrect and not analogous to such names as nitrous ether, butyric ether, etc. The price-lists of chemical manufacturers include three kinds of ether, viz.: sulphuric ether, U. S. P., washed sulphuric ether, and concentrated sulphuric ether. The sulphuric ether, U. S. P. is, of course, understood to corre- spond to the standard of the Pharmacopoeia for ether, which was the same in 1870 as in the new revision. The sulphuric ether, washed [Letheon] has a specific gravity of about 0.735 at 15° C. (59° F.). The sulphuric ether, concentrated has a specific gravity of 0.733 to 0.725. Absolute ether has a specific gravity of 0.710 to 0.712 at 20° C. (68° F.) to 25° C. (77° F.). According to Boullay, absolute ether (ethyl oxide) is soluble in fourteen parts of water, and, on the other hand, it dissolves one thirty- sixth part of its weight of water—that is, water is soluble in thirty-six parts of ether. Pharmacopoeial stronger ether requires only eight parts of water to dissolve it. Ether freely dissolves iodine and bromine, fixed and volatile oils, many resins, corrosive sublimate, etc. It dissolves sulphur and phos- phorus less freely. It must be preserved in well-stoppered bottles [or sealed tin cans] in a cool place, and where no fire or flame can ignite its vapor, as it is extremely inflammable. The vapor of ether mixed with air in certain proportions produces a powerful explosive mixture. This circumstance renders the use of ether as an anaesthetic extremely haz- ardous at night, as in child-bed cases, puerperal convulsions, etc., in which cases chloroform is preferred on this account. As the tension of ether gas varies considerably with the temper- ature, the bottles, tin cans, or other containers in which ether or any ethereal tincture or other liquid, as, for instance, collodion, is put, ought not to be over two-thirds filled. Medicinal Uses.—Ether is a valuable diffusible stimulant. Given internally it produces a sense of burning or warmth, followed by a sen- sation of cooling. Increased action of the heart, flushing of the face, and diaphoresis follow very soon. There is a state of exhilaration, shortly after followed by a period of quiet, and sleep may be produced. The effects resemble the intoxication by alcohol, but are more quickly produced and more transient in their nature. Ether is used internally in syncope (sudden failure of the heart's action); in spasmodic asthma; in flatulent colic; in the painful symp- toms caused by the passage of renal or bilious calculi; in hysteria ; hysterical convulsions, etc. It is also given as an inhalation to meet the same indications. In cases of collapse from any cause, as in poisoning,](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21070866_0086.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
