Dr. Pereira's Elements of materia medica and therapeutics : abridged and adapted for the use of medicine and pharmaceutical practitioners and students and comprising all of the medicines of the British Pharmacopœia, with such others as are frequently ordered in prescriptions or required by the physician / edited by Robert Bently and Theophilus Redwood.

  • Jonathan Pereira
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Pereira's Elements of materia medica and therapeutics : abridged and adapted for the use of medicine and pharmaceutical practitioners and students and comprising all of the medicines of the British Pharmacopœia, with such others as are frequently ordered in prescriptions or required by the physician / edited by Robert Bently and Theophilus Redwood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Liquefy the wax, suet, and lard together by a water-bath, and add the resin, previously melted ; then introduce the cantharides, mix the whole thoroughly, and continue to stir the mixture while it is allowed to cool.] The usual time requisite for a blistering plaster to remain in con- tact with the skin is twelve horn's; the vesicle is then to be cut at its most depending part, and dressed with ointment of spermaceti. When the irritation caused by these plasters is excessive, it is some- times necessary to substitute a poultice for the ointment. When we wish to make a perpetual blister, the ointment of cantharides is em- ployed as a dressing ; or if we wish to excite less irritation, and prevent the possibility of the urinary organs being affected, the ointment of savin. The danger of applying blisters to children after exanthematous diseases, especially measles, has been already noticed. [| Liquor Epispasticus. Blistering Liquid. Synonym.—Linimentum Cantharidis, 1864. Take of Cantharides, in powder . . .8 ounces. Acetic Acid ' 4 fluid ounces. Ether ...... a sufficiency. Mix the cantharides and acetic acid ; pack them in a percolator, and at the expiration of twenty-four hours pour ether over the con- tents of the percolator, and allow it to pass slowly through till twenty fluid ounces are obtained. Keep it in a stoppered bottle.] This is a very efficient preparation. It is useful where rapid vesication is required, where the surface intended to be blistered is uneven, and for children or insane persons, who frequently pull off blistering plasters. It should be applied with a camel's-hair brush and the application repeated less or more frequently, according as gentle or rapid and strong vesication is desired. [§ Tinctura Cantharidis. Tincture of Cantharides. Take of Cantharides, in coarse powder . . . \ ounce. Proof Spirit 1 pint. Macerate for seven days in a closed vessel, with occasional agita- tion, strain, press, filter, and add sufficient proof spirit to make one pint.] Dose.—5 minims, gradually increased to 20 minims. Its effects on the bladder must be carefully watched. It should be given in some demulcent liquid, as decoction of barley or infusion of linseed, It is sometimes employed externally as a rubefacient.