A manual of materia medica and pharmacy : comprising a concise description of the articles used in medicine; their physical and chemical properties; the botanical characters of the medicinal plants ... with observations on the proper mode of combining and administering remedies / by H. M. Edwards and P. Vavasseur ; translated from the French, with numerous additions and corrections, and adapted to the practice of medicine and art of pharmacy in the United States, by Joseph Togno and E. Durand.

  • Milne-Edwards, H. (Henri), 1800-1885.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of materia medica and pharmacy : comprising a concise description of the articles used in medicine; their physical and chemical properties; the botanical characters of the medicinal plants ... with observations on the proper mode of combining and administering remedies / by H. M. Edwards and P. Vavasseur ; translated from the French, with numerous additions and corrections, and adapted to the practice of medicine and art of pharmacy in the United States, by Joseph Togno and E. Durand. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

    288/540 (page 282)
    D. & M. or Adm. Internally. Syrupus nitratis hydrargyri, or Dr. Belet's sy- rup. (Nitrate of mercury, 3 partg; nitric ether, 1 part; simple syrup, 256 parts.) One ounce contains rather more than six grains of nitrate; the dose is from gij. to 5'iv. in a mucilaginous menstruum. Externally. Liquor mercurialis, P. (Mercury, 4; nitric acid, 3; distilled water, 30 parts.) At the H6tel Dieu and St. Louis' hospitals, a solution of crystallized proto-nitrate of mercury in eight parts of nitric acid is used, under the name of Super-nitrate of Mercury, (Ni- trate de mercure acide.) It is a transparent and colourless liquid, which turns green by the action of light, inodorous, and of a me- tallic and caustic taste. This super-nitrate of mercury is one of the most energetic caustics, which seems, at the same time, to act in a peculiar manner upon the tissues to which it is applied. It changes, as it were,their mode of vitality. It is daily used in the above-men- tioned hospitals, against spreading tetters, cancerous ulcers of the skin, and even those of the neck of the womb. Dr. Goddard, to whom we are indebted for these details, thinks that it is preferable, in a great number of cases, to arsenical preparations, because it is not commonly absorbed; and, besides, it seems to act in a more cer- tain manner. It is applied to the diseased part with a brush, and covered over with lint, which is afterwards soaked with the same caustic liquid. [The Solution of Mercury in an excess of hot nitric acid, contains both proto-nitrate and deuto-nitrate of mercury.* It is used only externally.] D. & M. or Ajim. Unguentum hydrargyri nitratis fortius, U. S., E. (Mercury, 1 part; nitric acid, 2 parts; olive oil, 9 parts; lard, 3 parts.)—L. (Mercury, 5Ej.; nitric acid, f.gxi.; prepared lard, §vj.; olive oil, £iv.)—D., F. (Mercury, 3J.; nitrous acid, ^ij.; olive oil, Oj.; lard, ^iv.)—P. (Mercury, 2; nitric acid, 3; lard, 32.) Unguentum hydrargyri nitratis mitius, U. S., E. (This ointment is made in the same manner as the stronger ointment, with a triple proportion of hog's lard and sweet oil.) Acetate of Mercury, Hydrargyri acetas, is in the form of crystalline scales, white, but turning black by exposure to light; of an acrid and metallic taste, and almost insoluble in water and alcohol. It is prepared by treating the deutoxide of mercury with acetic acid, and crystallizing the liquor, t This remedy is seldom • [Potassa and soda form a yellow precipitate with the deuto-nitrate, and a black one with the proto-nitrate.]—Am. Ens. •j- [Mr. Garot has ascertained that two acetates of mercury are formed by this process, a protucctate and a deutacetate. It appears that the occasional violent operation of the Keyser's pill is owing to the presence of the latter. Mr.Vallee, former Professor of the School of Pharmacy of Paris, prepared this pill by dou- ble decomposition between the proto-nitrate of mercury and the acetate of lime.] —Am. Eds.