A Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts, Processes, and Collateral Information (part 11)

Obs. The Verbena officinalis was formerly highly recommended by Etmuller, Hartman, De Haën, Morley, and others, in scrofula, cephalalgia, &c., but afterwards fell into neglect. More recently, a decoction of the plant has been highly extolled by Boshanov and others as an anti-febrile.

Decoction, Vul′nerary. Syn. Decoctum vulnera′′rium, L. Prep. From ground ivy and broad-leaved plantain, of each ⁄2 oz.; water, 3 pints; boil to 1 quart, strain, and add sugar, 1 oz. A popular pectoral and tonic, especially in old coughs; also to heal wounds.—Dose, ⁄2 a teacupful or more twice a day.

Decoction of Wal′nut Bark. Syn. Decoctum jugland′is, L. Prep. (Ph. Gen.) Green bark of walnuts, 1 oz.; water, 1 pint; boil for 15 minutes, and strain. As an anti-syphilitic. Before the general introduction of sarsaparilla it was much esteemed in most cases in which that drug is now taken.—Dose, &c. The same as those of comp. dec. of sarsaparilla. Pearson says that “when the putamen (green rind) of the walnut has been omitted, either intentionally or by accident (from Decoctum Lusitanicum), the same good effects have not followed its use as when it contained this ingredient.

Decoction of Walnut Leaves. Syn. Decoctum jugland′is folio′′rum, L. Prep. (Negrier.) Walnut leaves, 1 handful; water, 1 quart; boil 15 minutes, and strain. Detersive, diaphoretic, and alterative.—Dose, &c. As the last, especially in chronic rheumatism, secondary syphilis, &c.

Decoction of Wa′terdock. Syn. Decoctum rumi′cis, D. r. aquat′ici, L. Prep. (A. T. Thomson.) Root of common waterdock (Rumex obtusifolius), 1 oz.; water, 1 pint; boil for 10 minutes, and strain.

Obs. This decoction is astringent, and was once much celebrated as a remedy for scurvy and some other cutaneous affections. “It is the only remedy which proves efficacious in that disease when the ulcers are healed, and the patient is attacked with asthma.” (Linnaeus, on the Scurvy of the Laplanders.)

Decoction, White (Sydenham’s). Syn. Hartshorn drink; Mis′tura cor′nu usti. Prep. Prepared burnt hartshorn, 2 oz.; gum Arabic, 1 oz.; water, 3 pints; boil to 1 quart, and strain. Mucilaginous; demulcent. Taken ad libitum.

Decoction of Whor′tleberry. Syn. Decoction of bear-berry, D. of uva-ursi; Decoctum uvæ ursi (Ph. L. & D.), L. Prep. 1. (Ph. L.) Whortleberry leaves, 1 oz.; water, 1⁄2 pint; boil to a pint, and strain.

2. (Ph. D.) Uva-ursi (the leaves), ⁄2 oz.; water, ⁄2 pint; boil 10 minutes, and strain.

Dose, &c. 1 to 3 fl. oz. two or three times daily; in phthisis and purulent affections of the urinary organs, unaccompanied with active inflammation; especially in chronic affections of the bladder.

Decoction of Wil′low Bark. Syn. Decoctum salicis, D. s. corticis, L. Prep. 1. (Wilkinson.) Willow bark (Salix latifolia), bruised, 1⁄2 oz.; macerate in water, 2 lbs., for 6 hours, then boil for 15 minutes, and strain. Tonic, astringent, and febrifuge.—Dose. A wine-glassful.

2. (Nieman.) Willow bark (Salix alba), 1⁄2 oz.; water, ⁄4 pint; boil to one half.—Dose, 1 to 2 fl. oz. Both are used as substitutes for decoction of cinchona bark.

Decoction of Win′ter-green. Syn. Decoction of pyrola, D. of umbellated winter-green, D. of pipsissewa; Decoctum chimaphilæ (Ph. L.), D. pyrolæ (Ph. D.), L. Prep. 1. (Ph. L.) Chimaphila (dried herb), 1 oz.; water, 1⁄2 pint; boil to a pint, and strain.

2. (Ph. D.) Winter-green (dried leaves), ⁄2 oz.; water, ⁄2 pint; boil 10 minutes in a covered vessel, and strain. Tonic, stomachic, alterative, and diuretic.—Dose, 1 to 2 fl. oz.; in dropsies, scrofula, debility, loss of appetite, &c.; and in those affections of the urinary organs in which uva-ursi is commonly given.

Decoction of Worm′seed. Syn. Decoctum santonici, L. Prep. 1. Wormseed, bruised, 2 oz.; water, 1 pint; boil down to 16 fl. oz., and strain.

2. (Dr R. E. Griffith.) Fresh leaves of wormseed(Chenopodium anthelminticum),—Linn.), 1 oz.; water, 1 pint; orange peel, 2 dr.; boil (10 minutes), and strain. The above are bitter, stomachic, and vermifuge.—Dose. A wine-glassful twice a day; in worms. It is also used as an injection against ascarides.

Decoction of Yar′row. Syn. Decoctum millefolii, L. Prep. From milfoil or yarrow tops, 1⁄2 oz.; water, 1⁄4 pint; boil to a pint, and strain. Astringent, tonic, and vulnerary.—Dose. A wine-glassful thrice daily; in dropsies, &c. It is also used as a fomentation to bruises, &c.

Decoction of Black Snake Root. Syn. Decoctum Cimicifuge. Black snake root, 1 oz.; water, 16 oz.; boil for 10 minutes.—Dose, 1 oz. to 2 oz. in rheumatism and dropsy.

Decoction of Stavesacre. Syn. Decoctum Staphisagriæ. Stavesacre seed, 1 oz.; water, 2 pints; boil for a few minutes, and strain. For external use.

Decoction of Snails. Syn. Decoctum Limatum (Mars mouchon). Flesh of vine or garden snails (cleansed from shell and intestines), 5 oz.; water, 2 pints; simmer gently for 2 hours, adding towards the end, maiden hair 2 oz., and strain.

Decoction of Soapwort. Syn. Decoctum Saponariæ (Swediaur). Soapwort, 2 oz.; water, 4 lbs.; boil to 2 lbs., and strain.

Decoction of Wood-Soot. Syn. Decoctum Fuliginis (Dr Neligan). Wood-soot, 4 oz.; water, 1⁄2 pint.

DECOLORA′TION. The blanching or removal of the natural colour of any substance. Syrups and many animal, vegetable, and saline solutions are decoloured or whitened by agitation with animal charcoal, and subsequent subsidence or filtration. Many fluids rapidly lose their natural colour by exposure to light, especially to the direct rays of the sun. In this way castor, nut, poppy, and several other oils are whitened. Fish oils are partially deodorised and decoloured by filtration through animal charcoal. Cottons and linens are still commonly bleached by the joint action of light, air, and moisture. The peculiar way in which light produces this effect has never been satisfactorily explained. The decoloration of textile fabrics and solid bodies generally is called bleaching. See Blanching, Bleaching, Oils, Tallow, Syrups, Sugar, &c.

DECOMPOSI′′TION (-zĭsh′un). In chemistry, the resolution of compounds into their elements, or the alteration of their chemical constitution in such a manner that new products are formed.

DEFECA′TION. The separation of a liquid from its lees, dregs, or impurities by subsidence and decantation. It is commonly employed for the purification of saline solutions and glutinous or unctuous liquids on the large scale in preference to filtration; than which it is both more expeditious and expensive. See Clarification, Decantation, Filtration, &c.

DEFLAGRA′TION. The sudden combustion of any substance for the purpose of producing some change in its composition, by the joint action of heat and oxygen. The process is commonly performed by projecting into a red-hot crucible, in small portions at a time, a mixture of nitrate of potash, and the body to be oxidised.

DELIQUES′CENCE. Spontaneous liquefaction by absorption of the moisture of the atmosphere. Deliquescent salts are those which by exposure gradually assume the liquid state. They should all be kept in well-closed bottles or jars.

DELIR′IUM TRE′MENS. [L.] The madness of drunkards; a disease of the brain resulting from the excessive and protracted use of intoxicating liquors, particularly of ardent spirits. The early symptoms are extreme irritability and fretfulness, with unusual mobility of the body. Sleeplessness and unpleasant dreams soon follow. At length frightful dreams and visions harass the patient. He sees remarkable sights, hears extraordinary sounds, and labours under all the strange delusions of insane persons, which, however vague and unfounded, operate on him with all the force of realities till he becomes furiously mad. The fit almost always comes on after hard drinking; and the hands are usually, but not always, tremulous. A similar affection is occasionally produced by the abuse of opium, excessive mental anxiety, night watching, or depletion. According to Dr Armstrong, even respiring the fumes of ardent spirits will, under some circumstances, produce this disease. Persons who have undergone surgical operations under the influence of chloroform are more liable to attacks of this kind than other persons.

The treatment of delirium tremens consists mainly in the judicious use of opium, laudanum, or morphia, in rather large doses, frequently repeated. Thirty to sixty drops of laudanum may be given every hour or two during the fit, its effects being carefully watched. The object is to produce quiet sleep, from which the patient usually wakes free from the worst symptoms of the disease. Diaphoretics and mild aperients may also be given, and a light, nutritious diet adopted throughout. Depletion, especially bleeding, should be particularly avoided. Alcoholic stimulants and wine, in certain cases, have proved useful. Under this treatment, the patient, unless of a very bad habit of body, or much debilitated by previous excesses, usually recovers. He is, however, very liable to relapses and subsequent attacks, which are best prevented by judicious moral management.

The judicious administration of chloral hydrate, in doses of from thirty to sixty grains as well as of bromide of potassium in twenty-grain doses, either alone or combined with the chloral, has lately been had recourse to with the happiest results, for the production of sleep in cases of delirium tremens or in the insomnia of dipsomaniacs.

The repetition of the dose of chloral requires to be regulated with very great caution; and it is only in the case of emigrants and others unable to obtain medical aid that we would recommend it to be given, and then only should opium have failed to produce the desired effect. Not more than sixty grains of the chloral should be administered during the twenty-four hours. The internal administration of tincture of capsicum in moderately large doses, in the intervals of the opiates or chloral hydrate, has lately been tried in the treatment of this disease, it is said, with success.

DELPHIN′IC ACID. Syn. Phoce′nic acid. A fatty acid, obtained by saponifying the oil of the delphinus or porpoise. According to recent experiments, it is identical with valeric acid.

DELPHIN′INE. Syn. Del′phine, Del′phia, Delphin′ia. An alkaloid discovered by Lassaigne and Feneulle in Delphinium staphysagria or stavesacre.

Prep. 1. The husked seeds (in powder) are boiled in a little water, and pressed in a cloth; a little pure magnesia is then added to the filtered decoction, the whole is boiled for a few minutes, and refiltered; the residuum, after being well washed, is digested in boiling alcohol, which dissolves out the alkaloid, and gives it up again by gentle evaporation and cooling.

2. The bruised, but unshelled, seeds are digested in dilute sulphuric acid, the filtered liquor precipitated with carbonate of potassa, and the precipitate digested in alcohol as before.

3. (Parrish.) An alcoholic extract of the seeds is treated with dilute sulphuric acid, precipitated with an alkali, again dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid; the colouring matter precipitated by a few drops of nitric acid, the alkaloid by potassa. The alkaloid is then dissolved in absolute alcohol, and the solution thus formed is evaporated; one pound yields about one drachm.

Prop., &c. A light-yellowish or white, odourless powder; extremely acrid and bitter; scarcely soluble in water; dissolves in ether, and readily in alcohol; and has an alkaline reaction. Its alcoholic solution produces a burning and tingling sensation when rubbed on the skin, and a similar sensation is produced in various parts of the body when it is taken in doses of a few grains. It has been exhibited in neuralgia and rheumatism by Dr Turnbull.—Dose, ⁄12 gr. every three hours, made into a pill with 1 gr. each of the extracts of henbane and liquorice. It is also used externally under the form of ointment and lotion.

DELPHINUM—A Boot Varnish. Shell-lac, 7·5 grammes dissolved in alcohol, 15 grammes, mixed with 20 drops fish oil, and ·1 gramme lampblack. (Geisse.)

DEMUL′CENTS. In medicine, substances which are calculated to soften and lubricate the parts to which they are applied. Though having the same signification as the word EMOLLIENTS, it is desirable to restrict the latter term to such as are intended for external application, and to include under the above head only such as are intended for internal exhibition. The principal demulcents are gum Arabic, gum tragacanth, liquorice, honey, arrow-root, pearl barley, isinglass, gelatin, milk, almonds, spermaceti, almond and olive oils, and most other mucilaginous, amylaceous, saccharine, and oily substances. For use, these are made into MUCILAGES, DECOCTIONS, EMULSIONS, or MILKS, with water, and form suitable beverages in dysentery, diarrhœa, catarrh, diseases of the urinary organs, and all other diseases where diluents are useful. See Emollients.

DENGUE. This disease is most commonly met with in the East and West Indies, and occasionally as an epidemic in America. In England it rarely shows itself in an epidemic character. The symptoms of dengue appear to combine those of rheumatism and scarlet fever. On the third or fourth day an eruption shows itself, accompanied with pains in the limbs, glandular swellings, and languor. The course of the disease is varied by frequent remissions. It does not come within our design to indicate the treatment, which appears to be the same as that pursued in scarlet fever.

DENS′ITY. Comparative masses of equal weights, or the quantity of matter contained in a given space. It is commonly used synonymously with SPECIFIC GRAVITY, which, however, refers to comparative weights of equal bulks. Thus, quicksilver is said to have a density greater than that of copper, and alcohol one less than that of oil of vitriol.

DENTI′FRICES. Syn. Dentifricia, L. Substances applied to the teeth, to cleanse and beautify them. The most useful form of dentifrices is that of powder (TOOTH POWDER); but liquids (TOOTH WASHES), and electuaries (TOOTH ELECTUARIES, TOOTH PASTES), are also employed. The solid ingredients used in dentifrices should not be so hard or gritty as to injure the enamel of the teeth; nor so soft or adhesive as to adhere to the gums, after rinsing the mouth out with water. Pumice-stone (in fine powder) is one of those substances that acts entirely by mechanical attrition, and is hence an objectionable ingredient in tooth powder intended for daily use. It is, however, very generally present in the various advertised dentifrices, which are remarkable for their rapid action in whitening the teeth. Bath brick is another substance of a similar nature to pumice, and, like that article, should be only occasionally employed. Cuttle-fish bone, coral, and prepared chalk, are also commonly used for the same purpose, but the last is rather too soft and absorbent to form the sole ingredient of a tooth powder. Charcoal, which is so very generally employed as a dentifrice, acts partly mechanically and partly by its chemical property of destroying foul smells and arresting putrefaction. For this purpose it should be newly burnt, and kept in well-closed vessels, until used, as by exposure to the air it rapidly loses its antiseptic powers. Powdered rhatany, cinchona bark, and catechu, are used as astringents, and are very useful in foulness or sponginess of the gums. Myrrh and mastic are employed on account of their odour, and their presumed preservative action and power of fixing loose teeth. Insoluble powders have been objected to on account of their being apt to accumulate between the folds of the gums and in the cracks of the teeth, and thus impart a disagreeable appearance to the mouth. To remedy this defect, a reddish or flesh-coloured tinge is commonly given to them with a little rose pink, red coral, or similar colouring substance, when any small portion that remains unwashed off is rendered less conspicuous. Some persons employ soluble substances as tooth powders, which are free from the above objection. Thus, sulphate of potash and cream of tartar are used for this purpose, because of the grittiness of their powders and their slight solubility in water. Phosphate of soda and common salt are also frequently employed as dentifrices, and possess the advantage of being readily removed from the mouth by means of a little water. Among those substances that chemically decolour and remove unpleasant odours, the only ones employed as dentifrices are charcoal and the chlorides of lime and soda. The first has been already noticed; the others may be used by brushing the teeth with water to which a very little of their solutions has been added. A very weak solution of chloride of lime is commonly employed by smokers to remove the odour and colour imparted by tobacco to the teeth. Electuaries, made of honey and astringent substances, are frequently employed in diseases of the gums. The juice of the common strawberry has been recommended as an elegant natural dentifrice, as it readily dissolves the tartarous incrustations on the teeth, and imparts an agreeable odour to the breath. See Paste and Powder (Tooth), also Washes (Mouth).

DENT′INE. The tissue of which the teeth are composed.

DENTISTRY. The art or practice of a dentist. Directions for the extraction of teeth, as well as elaborate details for stopping them, and for the manufacture of artificial ones, are branches of the dentist’s art, which, as they necessitate the exercise of considerable skill and long practice, do not call for notice in a work like the present. We shall confine ourselves, therefore, to that section of dentistry which concerns itself with stoppings for the cavities of decayed teeth, and for the preparation of which we give the following formulæ:—

1. (Soubeiran’s.) Powdered mastic and sandarach, of each 4 dr.; dragon’s blood, 2 dr.; opium, 15 gr.; mix with sufficient rectified spirit to form a stiff paste. A solution of mastic, or of mastic and sandarach, in half the quantity of alcohol, is also used, applied with a little cotton or lint.

2. Sandarach, 12 parts; mastic, 6 parts; amber, in powder, 1 part; ether, 6 parts. Applied with cotton. Or simply a paste of powdered mastic and ether. Or a saturated ethereal solution of mastic, applied with cotton.

3. Taveare’s cement is made with mastic and burnt alum. Bernoth directs 20 parts of powdered mastic to be digested with 40 of ether, and enough powdered alum added to form a stiff paste.

4. Gutta percha, softened by heat, is recommended. Dr Rollfs advises melting a piece of caoutchouc at the end of a wire, and introducing it while warm.

5. (Gauger’s Cement.) Put into a quart bottle 2 oz. of mastic and 3 oz. of absolute alcohol; apply a gentle heat by a water-bath. When dissolved, add 9 oz. of dry balsam of tolu, and again heat gently. A piece of cotton dipped in this viscid solution becomes hard when introduced into the tooth, previously cleansed and dried as above.

6. (Mr Robinson’s.) After washing out the mouth with warm water containing a few grains of bicarbonate of soda, and cleaning the cavity as above directed, he drops into it a drop of collodion, to which a little morphia has been added, fills the cavity with asbestos and saturates with collodion, placing over all a pledget of blotting paper.

7. (Ostermaier’s Cement.) Mix 12 parts of dry phosphoric acid with 13 of pure and pulverised quicklime. It becomes moist in mixing, in which state it is introduced into the cavity of the tooth, where it quickly becomes hard. [In some hands this has failed, from what cause we are not aware.] The acid should be prepared as directed under Acid, Phosphoric.

8. (Silica.) This name has been given to a mixture of Paris plaster, levigated porcelain, iron filings, and dregs of tincture of mastic, ground together.

9. (Wirih’s Cement.) It is said to consist of a viscid alcoholic solution of resins, with powdered asbestos.

10. (Metallic Cement.) Amalgams for the teeth are made with gold or silver, and quicksilver, the excess of the latter being squeezed out, and the stiff amalgam used warm. Inferior kinds are made with quicksilver and tin, or zinc. A popular nostrum of this kind is said to consist of 40 gr. of quicksilver and 20 of fine zinc filings, mixed at the time of using. Mr Evans states that pure tin, with a small portion of cadmium, and sufficient quicksilver, forms the most lasting and least objectionable amalgam. The following is the formula:—Melt 2 parts of tin with 1 of cadmium, run it into ingots, and reduce it to filings. Form these into a fluid amalgam with mercury, and squeeze out the excess of mercury through leather. Work up the solid residue in the hand, and press it into the tooth. Or, melt some beeswax in a pipkin over the fire, throw in 5 parts of cadmium, and, when melted, add 7 or 8 parts of tin in small pieces; pour the melted metals into an iron or wooden box, and shake them till cold, so as to obtain the alloy in a powder. This is mixed with 2⁄2 or 3 times its weight of quicksilver in the palm of the hand, and used as above.

Another cement consists of about 73 parts of silver, 21 of tin, and 6 of zinc, amalgamated with quicksilver. An amalgam of copper is said to be sometimes used. But this class of stoppings is altogether disapproved of by other authorities. Pure leaf-gold seems the least objectionable.

11. (Marmoratum.) Finely levigated glass, mixed with tin amalgam.

12. (Poudre Metallique.) The article sold under this name in Paris appears to be an amalgam of silver, mercury, and ammonium, with an excess of mercury, which is pressed out before using it.

13. (Fusible Metal.) Melt together 8 parts of bismuth, 5 of lead, 3 of tin, and 1⁄2 or 1·6 of quicksilver, with as little heat as possible. (Chaudet.)

14. (Non-expensive Metallic Tooth-stopping.) Take 1 part of sulphate of mercury, 1 part of copper in fine powder; rub them well together with a little warm water; when the amalgam is formed wash well, and remove the surplus of mercury by pressing it through chamois.—Pharm. Journ.

Expensive Metallic Tooth-stopping and much preferable. Take pure gold, pure gelatin, 1 part of each; pure silver, 2 parts; melt, and when refrigerated, reduce to a powder by means of a file; wash well and dry. In the moment of using it add sufficient mercury to form a plastic paste.—Pharm. Journ.

Paste for Destroying the Sensibility of the Dental Pulp previous to Stopping. Arsenious acid, 30 gr.; sulphate of morphia, 20 gr.; creasote, q. s. [Unsafe; it is only inserted by way of warning against what may prove an unsuspected cause of mischief.]

Pivots for Artificial Teeth. An alloy of platinum and silver.

Springs for Artificial Teeth. Equal parts of copper, silver, and palladium. (Chaudet.)

For Cachou Aromatisé, and other compounds for sweetening the breath, see Perfumery.

DENTI′TION. See Teething.

DEOB′STRUENT. In medicine, a substance which removes obstructions, and opens the natural passages of the fluids of the body, as the pores, lacteals, and glands. Iodine, mercury, sarsaparilla, and aperients, are deobstruents.

DEO′DORISER. Any substance having the power of absorbing or destroying fetid effluvia. Chlorine, chloride of lime, chloride of zinc, nitrate of lead, sulphate of iron, and freshly-burnt charcoal, are the most effective and convenient deodorisers. Peat charcoal has been highly recommended for deodorising manure, &c., on the large scale. When it is mixed with these substances their fetor is immediately destroyed, and a compost produced, which may be substituted for guano for agricultural purposes. ‘Biedermann’s Centralblatt für Agricultur Chemie’ for June, 1877, contains the results of some experiments undertaken by A. Eckstein on the comparative deodorising values of certain substances. Herr Eckstein found that 1 kilo of copperas dissolved in water destroyed the stench of sulphuretted hydrogen in a privy used daily by at least 100 persons. The action ceased after twelve hours. A solution of aqueous sulphate of copper produced a similar result. When 1 kilo of solid copperas was employed the action lasted for two days. The same result was obtained by using 1 kilo of a mixture compound of copperas, sulphate of copper, and carbonate of lime. Liquid sulphurous acid was found to act very rapidly, rendering the atmosphere difficult to breathe for an hour; its action ceased after twenty-three hours. Crude carbolic acid, which was used to the extent of 30 grams, gave so unpleasant a smell for two days as to render the result impossible to be arrived at. One kilo of copperas enclosed in a bag of parchment paper only began to act after two hours, and kept the place odourless for two days. One kilo of good chloride of lime, placed in a similar bag, did not lose its effect for nine days. With 60 grams of permanganate of soda the action commenced immediately, but the effect was over in twenty-four hours; when enclosed in parchment paper it was efficacious for two days. In Herr Eckstein’s opinion the most powerful deodoriser known is chloride of lime along with sulphuric acid. Powdered gypsum is a good absorber of ammonia, and for this purpose may be sprinkled over the floors of stables, manure heaps, &c. See Disinfectant.

DEOX′IDATION. See Reduction.

DEPIL′ATORY. A cosmetic employed to remove superfluous hairs from the human skin. Depilatories act either mechanically (MECHANICAL DEPILATORIES), or chemically (CHEMICAL DEPILATORIES). To the first class belong adhesive plasters, that, on their removal from the skin, bring away the hair with them. The second class includes all those substances which destroy the hair by their chemical action.

Lime or orpiment, and generally both of them, have formed the leading ingredients in depilatories, both in ancient and modern times. The first acts by its well-known causticity, and also, when an alkali is present, by reducing that also, either wholly or in part, to the caustic state. The action of the orpiment is of a less certain character, and its use is even dangerous when applied to a highly sensitive or an abraded surface. The addition of starch is to render the paste more adhesive and manageable.

In using the following preparations, those which are in the state of powder are mixed up with a little warm water to the consistence of a paste, and applied to the part. Sometimes soap lye is used for this purpose, and some persons spread the pulpy mass on a piece of paper, and apply it like a plaster. In 12 or 15 minutes, and sooner, if much smarting ensues, the whole should be washed off with warm water, and a little cold cream, lip-salve, or spermaceti cerate, applied to the part. The application of the liquid preparations is generally accompanied with gentle friction, care being taken to prevent them extending to the adjacent parts. All the following effect the object satisfactorily, with proper management; but some are much more effective than others. A small wooden or bone knife is the best for mixing them with. They must all be kept in well-stoppered bottles, and no liquid must be added to them until shortly before their application; and then no more should be mixed than is required for immediate use.

Depilatory, Arsen′ical. Orpiment (sulphide of arsenic) forms the principal ingredient in many fashionable depilatories, but its use is not free from danger. The following are well-known preparations:

1. (Colley’s D.) From nitre and sulphur, of each 1 part; orpiment, 3 parts; quicklime, 8 parts; soap lees, 32 parts; boil to the consistence of cream. Very caustic.

2. (Delcroix’s d.; ‘poudre subtile,’) Orpiment, 1 oz.; quicklime, 10 oz.; starch, 14 oz.

3. (Oriental d.; Oriental rusma.)—a. Quicklime, 3 oz.; orpiment, ⁄2 dr.; strong alkaline lye, 1 lb.; boil together in a clean iron vessel until a feather dipped into the liquor loses its flue.

b. From pearlash, 2 oz.; orpiment, 3 dr.; liquor of potassa, ⁄2 pint; boil together as before. One of the most caustic and consequently the most certain of depilatory preparations; but, with the rest of its class, open to the objections of containing orpiment. (See No. 7.)

4. (Paste d.; ‘Pâte épilatoire,’) To No. 1 add of orris root, 3 parts.

5. (Plenck’s d.; ‘Pasta epilatoria,’) Orpiment, 1 part; quicklime and starch, of each 12 parts.

6. (Soap d.; ‘Savon épilatoire,’) Turkish depilatory and soft soap, equal parts. Must not be mixed until about to be applied. (See No. 7.)

7. (Turkish d.; Turkish rusma.) Orpiment, 1 part; quicklime, 9 parts. For use, it is mixed up with soap lees, and a little powdered starch.

Depilatory, Boettger’s. Powdered sulphydrate of sodium, one part; washed chalk, three parts; made into a thick paste with a little water. Let a layer about the thickness of the back of a knife be spread upon the hairy surface. After two or three minutes the stoutest hairs are transformed into a soft mass which may be removed by water. A more prolonged action would attack the skin.

Depilatory, Boudet’s. Prep. Sulphide of sodium (crystallised), 3 parts; quicklime (in fine powder), 10 parts; starch, 10 parts; mix. To be mixed with water, and applied to the skin, and scraped off in 2 or 3 minutes with a wooden knife. Very effective and safe.

Depilatory, Cazenave’s. Syn. Mahon’s d.; Pommade épilatoire de Cazenave, Fr. Prep. Quicklime, 1 part; carbonate of soda, 2 parts; lard, 8 parts; mix. Applied as an ointment.

Depilatory, Chi′nese. Prep. 1. Quicklime, 8 oz.; pearlash (dry) and liver of sulphur, of each 1 oz.; all reduced to a fine powder; mixed, and kept in a close bottle.

2. (Roseate d.) As No. 1., but coloured with a little rose pink or light red.

These preparations are applied in the same manner as Boudet’s Depilatory.

Depilatory, Colley’s. See Depilatory, Arsenical.

Depilatory, Hydrosulphate of Lime. Prep. (Beasley.) Mix quicklime and water to a thick cream, and pass into the mixture 25 or 30 times its volume of sulphuretted hydrogen gas. When the gas ceases to be absorbed, stop the process. The pulpy mass is spread on paper, and applied for 12 or 15 minutes. It is very effective, but has a most disgusting smell. Spolasco’s depilatory is a very similar preparation (see below).

Depilatory, Mechan′ical. Syn. Depilatory plastee. Prep. From pitch and resin, equal parts, melted together and spread on leather. Applied as a plaster.

Depilatory, Rayer’s. Prep. Quicklime, 2 oz.; salt of tartar, 4 oz.; charcoal, ⁄4 oz. Less active than Chinese Depilatory.

Depilatory, Redwood’s. Prep. A strong solution of sulphide of barium, made into a paste with powdered starch, and applied immediately. Mr Redwood says this is “the best and safest depilatory.”

Depilatory, Ro′seate. See Depilatory, Chinese.

Depilatory, Spolasco’s. Prep. Freshly prepared sulphide of calcium and quicklime, equal parts. Almost equal to Redwood’s (above).

DEPOSI′TION (of Metals). See Electro-type.

DERBY CONDITION POWDERS (J. Tobias Simpson, New York). Celebrated as a safe, infallible, and speedy remedy for glanders, coughs, colds, over feeding, worms, mouth disease, and loss of horns or hair, in horses and other valuable domestic animals. Tartar emetic, 2 grammes; black antimony, 20 grammes; sulphur, 10 grammes; nitre, 10 grammes; fenugreek, 40 grammes; juniper berries, 20 grammes. (Schädler.)

DER′BYSHIRE NECK. See Goitre.

DERMASOT (Apotheker Bertschinger, Baden, Switzerland). For profuse perspiration of the feet. Consists of acetate of alumina, 7·5 grammes; distilled water, 120 grammes; butyric ether, 2 drops; rosanilin to colour it slightly. (Weber.)

DESBRIERRE’S CHOCOLATE A LA MAGNESIE. 44 grammes of chocolate paste and 15 grammes of calcined magnesia, made into two tablets. (Reveil.)

DESIC′CANTS. Syn. Desiccan′tia, L. In pharmacology, substances that check secretion and dry sores of abraded surfaces, without acting as styptics, or constringing the fibres of the parts to which they are applied. See Astringents.

DESICCA′TION. Syn. Exsicca′tion. The evaporation or drying off of the aqueous portion of solid bodies. Plants and chemical preparations are deprived of their humidity by exposure to the sun, a current of dry air, an atmosphere rendered artificially dry by sulphuric acid, or by the direct application of heat by means of a water bath, a sand bath, or a common fire. Planks and timber are now seasoned, on the large scale, in this way, by which a condition may be produced, in 2 or 3 days, which on the old system is barely attainable in as many years. “Endeavours were made to enforce the importance and value of the desiccation of woods to the builder, cabinet maker, architect, and civil engineer, so long back as 1843, but without success. Since that period certain persons have availed themselves, commercially, of our ideas and experiments on the subject, without any acknowledgment, either verbal or pecuniary.” (Cooley.)

DESTEM′PER. Syn. Distemper. Colours ground up with size, gum, or white of egg, and water, as in scene painting. The art of executing work in distemper is called ‘distemper painting.’

DETER′GENT. An agent having the power of removing offensive matter from the skin. The name is now generally restricted to applications that tend to cleanse foul wounds and ulcers.

Detergent, Collier’s. Prep. From liquor of potassa, 2 fl. dr.; rose water, 5⁄2 fl. oz.; spirit of rosemary, ⁄2 fl. oz.; mix. One of the best applications known to free the head from scurf, when the hair is strong and healthy. The head should be afterwards sponged with clean, soft water.

DETONA′TION. See Fulminating Compounds.

DEUTOX′IDE. See Oxides.

DEUTSCHE SIEGESTROPFEN—German Triumphal Drops (Schmidt). 480 grammes of a brown fluid with an agreeably sweet spirituous and aromatic taste, containing in a hundred parts five parts of the portion soluble in weak spirit of cloves and orange peel, 29 parts sugar, 36 parts alcohol, and 30 parts water. (Wittstein.)

DEW-POINT. The temperature at which dew begins to form, as observed by a thermometer. It varies with the humidity of the atmosphere.

DEX′TRIN. C6H10O5. Syn. Starch gum, Dextrina, Dextrinum, British gum. A soluble substance resembling gum, formed by the action of dilute acids at the boiling temperature, and by infusion of malt, at about 160° Fahr., on starch. It is also formed when potato starch and some of the other farinas are exposed to a heat of about 400°. See Diastase and Gum (British).

DEX′TRO-RACE′MIC ACID. See Racemic acid.

DIABE′TES. See Urine.

Diabetes (Saccharine). The symptoms observed in this generally fatal ailment are the passing of an excessive quantity of pale, straw-coloured urine, of high specific gravity, containing more or less grape sugar; great thirst and hunger, obstinate dyspepsia, constipation, an unpleasant odour from the feet, or perspiration of the arm-pits, and bodily debility, and emaciation. All these symptoms vary in intensity according to the course and duration of the disease, which is frequently accompanied with hectic fever, cough, and sometimes carbuncles, and generally ends in consumption or some organic disease. The flow of urine sometimes reaches as much as eight gallons in 24 hours; the average quantity, however, is about two gallons. The specific gravity of the urine varies between 1030 and 1070. The quantity of sugar excreted in the twenty-four hours differs greatly, ranging from half a pound to three pounds.

In the treatment of diabetes, great attention should be paid to diet, which should consist principally of digestible, broiled, or roasted meat, gluten and bran bread (these latter being substituted for ordinary bread, which with sugar must be especially avoided), liquids in moderate quantity, of which the most preferable are weak beef tea or mutton broth. If the thirst is extreme, it is best assuaged by drinking water acidulated with phosphoric acid. Spirituous liquids as well as saline aperients should be eschewed. Claret is, however, a suitable beverage.

Small doses of laudanum, given three or four times a day, have been found of great service.

Dr Watson recommends also the administration of creosote. The bowels must be regulated by means of mild aperients. Warm baths are also of use, as they augment the secretion of the skin. The disease may be kept under by administering from twenty to forty minims of tincture of perchloride of iron, 3 times a day. The above treatment is inserted for the guidance only of emigrants and others unable to obtain professional aid; wherever this can be obtained, no time should be lost in seeking it. This is the more important, since the earlier the patient has recourse to the proper remedies, the greater are the chances of recovery.

Horses. The disease occurs, although rarely, in horses. It is not known either in cattle or dogs. The treatment consists in depriving the animal for some weeks of food containing starch, or other matters capable of forming sugar. He must be fed on meat soup and cooked animal diet, to which he quickly becomes reconciled. The strength must be kept up by means of tonic. To counteract the intense thirst, Mr Finlay Dun recommends the following to be given three times a day in water:—A drachm of iodide of potassium, a scruple of iodine, and four drachms of carbonate of soda.

DIACH′YLON. See Plasters.

DIALY′′SER. In practical chemistry, an instrument for separating ‘crystalloids’ from ‘colloids,’ introduced by the late Prof. Graham. In its most convenient form it consists of a hoop of gutta percha, over which a circular piece of parchment paper is stretched. The paper is applied to the hoop while wet, and is kept stretched by a second hoop, by an elastic band, or by a few turns of string. The instrument, when complete, resembles an ordinary tambourine. It is distinguished as the ‘HOOP DIALYSER,’ The fluid to be ‘dialysed’ is poured into the hoop upon the surface of the parchment paper, to a small depth only, such as half an inch, and the dialyser is then floated upon water in a large glass basin. Another form of dialyser, termed the ‘BULB DIALYSER,’ consists of a small glass bell-jar, the mouth of which is covered by a piece of parchment paper. This is suspended or otherwise supported in a large vessel of water in such a manner that the parchment paper septum just dips below the surface. See Dialysis (below), Parchment paper.

DIAL′YSIS. In practical chemistry, the method of separating substances by ‘diffusion’ through a septum of gelatinous matter. When a solution having a sp. gr. greater is introduced into a cylindrical glass vessel, and then water very cautiously poured upon it, in such a manner that the two layers of liquid remain unmoved, the substance dissolved in the lower liquid will gradually pass into the supernatant water, though the vessel may have been left undisturbed, and the temperature remain unchanged. The gradual passage of a dissolved substance from its original solution into pure water taking place, notwithstanding the higher sp. gr. of the substance which opposes this passage, is called the ‘diffusion of liquids.’ From the investigation of the phenomena of this diffusion, the late Prof. Graham derived the remarkable results upon which the method under notice is based. Different substances, when in solution of the same concentration, and under other similar circumstances, diffuse with very unequal velocity. “The range in the degree of diffusive mobility,” says Prof. Graham, “exhibited by different substances, appears to be as wide as the scale of vapour-tensions. Thus, hydrate of potassa may be said to possess double the velocity of diffusion of sulphate of potassa, and sulphate of potassa again double the velocity of sugar, alcohol, and sulphate of magnesia. But the substances named belong, as regards diffusion, to the more volatile class. The comparatively fixed class, as regards diffusion, is represented by a different order of chemical substances (marked out by the absence of the power to crystallise), which are slow in the extreme. Among the latter are hydrated silicic acid, hydrated alumina, and other metallic peroxides of the aluminous class, when they exist in the soluble form; with starch, dextrine, and the gums, caramel, tannin, albumen, gelatin, vegetable and animal extractive matters. Low diffusibility is not the only property which the bodies last enumerated possess in common. They are distinguished by the gelatinous character of their hydrates. Although often largely soluble in water, they are held in solution by a most feeble force. They appear singularly inert in the capacity of acids and bases, and in all the ordinary chemical relations. But, on the other hand, their peculiar physical aggregation, with the chemical indifference referred to, appears to be required in substances that can intervene in the organic processes of life. The plastic elements of the body are found in this class. As gelatin appears to be its type, it is proposed to designate substances of this class as ‘COL′LOIDS,’ and to speak of their peculiar form as the ‘colloidal condition of matter.’ Opposed to the colloidal is the ‘crystalline condition.’ Substances affecting the latter form will be classed as ‘CRYSTAL′LOIDS,’ The distinction is, no doubt, one of intimate molecular constitution.” A certain property of colloidal substances comes into play most opportunely in assisting diffusive preparations. The jelly of starch, that of animal mucus, of pectin, of vegetable gelose, and other solid colloidal hydrates, all of which, strictly speaking, are insoluble in cold water, are themselves permeable when in mass, as water is, by the more highly diffusive class of substances. But such jellies greatly resist the passage of the less diffusible substances, and cut off entirely other colloid substances like themselves that may be in solution. A mere film of the jelly has the separating effect. Now, parchment-paper, when wetted, acts just like a layer of animal mucus or other hydrated colloid, by permitting the passage of crystalloids, but not of colloids; consequently this substance may be used for dialytic septa (see Dialyser, above). The following experiments recorded by Graham will give some idea of the results which may be obtained by dialysis:—

1. Half a litre of urine was placed in a hoop dialyser, which was then floated on a considerable quantity of pure water. Dialysed for 24 hours, the urine gave its crystalloidal constituents to the external water. The latter, evaporated by a water bath, yielded a white saline mass. From this mass urea was extracted by alcohol in so pure a condition as to appear in crystalline tufts upon the evaporation of the alcohol.

2. By pouring silicate of soda into diluted hydrochloric acid (the acid being maintained in large excess), a solution of silica is obtained. But in addition to hydrochloric acid, such a solution contains chloride of sodium, a salt which causes the silica to gelatinise when the solution is heated, and otherwise modifies its properties. Now, such a solution placed for 24 hours in a dialyser of parchment paper was found to lose 5% of its silicic acid (silica) and 86% of its hydrochloric acid. After 4 days on the dialyser, the liquid ceased to be disturbed by nitrate of silver. All the chlorides were gone, with no further loss of silica. What remained was a pure solution of silicic acid, which could be boiled in a flask, and considerably concentrated, without change.

3. Half a litre of dark-coloured porter, with ·05 gramme of arsenious acid added (⁄10000th part of arsenious acid), was placed on a hoop dialyser, 8 inches in diameter, and the whole floated in an earthenware basin containing 2 or 3 litres of water. After 24 hours the latter fluid had acquired a slight tinge of yellow. It yielded, when concentrated and precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen, upwards of one half of the original arsenious acid in a fit state for examination.

DIAMANTKITT—Diamond Cement. 50 parts graphite, 15 parts litharge, 10 parts milk of lime, 5 parts slaked lime, intimately mixed with enough linseed oil to make a firm mass. (Hager.)

DIAMANTTROPFEN—Diamond Drops (Dr Allinhead). A combination of the juices of mysterious herbs of tropical climes, which has the power to make all men transparent.

DI′AMOND. The diamond is pure carbon, and differs from the carbon of charcoal and lampblack simply in being limpid, colourless, and highly refractive of light, properties which are generally referred to its crystalline form. The weight, and, consequently, the value of diamonds, is estimated in carats, one of which is equal to 4 grains; and the price of one diamond, compared to that of another of equal colour, transparency, purity, form, &c., is as the squares of the respective weights. The average price of ROUGH DIAMONDS that are worth working is about £2 for the first carat; that of a CUT DIAMOND is equal to that of a rough diamond of double weight, exclusive of the price of workmanship. “To estimate the value of a wrought diamond, ascertain its weight in carats, double that weight, and multiply the square of this product by £2.” (Ure.) Thus, a cut diamond of—

1 carat is worth £8

2 carats ” £32

3 ” ” £72

4 ” ” £128

&c., &c. See Carbon, Gems.

Di′amond Dust. Genuine diamond dust is the powder produced by the abrasion of diamonds against each other in the process of cutting and polishing them. It possesses the valuable property of polishing the gems, and giving “the finest edge to every kind of cutlery.” The discovery of the latter fact, a few years since, led certain dishonest persons to extensively advertise spurious preparations, consisting chiefly of emery powder or powdered quartz, under the name of diamond dust. The factitious articles acquired a very short and bad notoriety. Instead of sharpening cutting instruments, they infallibly destroyed their edge, and were particularly unfortunate in converting razors into saws.

DIAPEN′TE. Syn. Pulvis diapente. Prep. 1. (Ph. E. 1744) Bay-berries, birth-wort, gentian, ivory dust, and myrrh, equal parts. An excellent warm tonic, especially useful in the debility and rickets of children. The substance sold under this name in the shops is an inferior mixture, used principally as a tonic in veterinary practice. The following are the forms commonly adopted in its preparation:—

2. Turmeric, 4 lbs.; laurel berries and mustard, of each 3 lbs.; gentian, 2 lbs. (all in fine powder); mix.

3. Bay-berries, gentian, mustard, and turmeric, equal parts.

4. Gentian, 6 lbs.; bay-berries, 1 lb. This is the formula generally used by the farriers. Sometimes mustard, 1 lb., is added.

DIAPHORET′ICS. Syn. Sudorif′ics; Diaphoretica, Sudorifica, L. Medicines which promote or increase the perspiration. Those that produce this effect in a very marked degree are more particularly called ‘sudorifics.’ The principal diaphoretics are:—warm diluents, as barley-water, gruel, tea, &c.; salts of the alkalies, as the citrates of potassa and soda, acetate of potassa, acetate and carbonate of ammonia, sal-ammoniac, nitre, &c.; preparations of antimony, as antimonial powder, tartar emetic, &c; also alcohol, camphor, Dover’s powder, ipecacuanha, opium, wine, &c.

The use of diaphoretics is indicated in nearly all diseases accompanied by fever and a dry skin, and particularly in febrile and pectoral affections.

DI′APHRAGM (frăm). A partition through or across; a dividing substance. In anatomy, the term is applied to the midriff, a muscle separating the chest or thorax from the abdomen or lower belly. In astronomy and optics the term is applied to a circular ring placed in a telescope or other instrument to cut off the marginal portions of a beam of light. In electricity the name is commonly used to denote the porous partition, cell, or vessel, that separates the fluid containing the positive plate from the fluid which surrounds the negative plate, in a constant voltaic battery. Thin partitions of sycamore, or other porous wood, are occasionally used, but cells made of thin biscuit ware are the most convenient and durable diaphragms. Plaster of Paris, animal membrane, coarse and tightly wove canvas, &c., are used also for the purpose. Plaster cells are also formed by surrounding an oiled cylinder of wood with a hoop of paper, and pouring plaster of Paris, mixed up with water, into the space between the two. See Electrotype.

DIARRHŒ′A. A purging or looseness of the bowels. The causes of diarrhœa are various, but among the most common are the presence of irritating matter, worms, or acidity in the stomach or bowels; and exposure to cold (especially cold to the feet) or sudden changes of climate or temperature.

Treatment. In general, it will be proper to administer a mild aperient, for which purpose rhubarb or castor oil is usually preferred. The dose of the first may be from 20 to 30 grains in sugar, or made into a bolus; that of the second, from ⁄4 oz. to ⁄2 oz., with a little mint or peppermint water. After the due operation of this medicine, opium, astringents, and absorbents, may be taken with advantage, but not in excessive doses, as is commonly the practice. The first and second are indicated when great irritability exists, and the third, in cases of diarrhœa arising from the presence of acidity. Chalk mixture, to which a few drops of laudanum have been added, or the compound powder of chalk and opium, are excellent medicines, and will generally quiet the bowels. A small piece of catechu or hard extract of logwood, sucked in the same way as a lozenge, is a pleasant method of taking either of these powerful astringents, and will generally cure cases of simple diarrhœa arising from excessive peristaltic motion, or want of tonicity of the muscular coats of the intestines.

In bilious diarrhœa, characterised by the bright yellowish-brown colour of the dejections, a dose of blue pill or calomel, assisted by mild diluents and demulcents, and warmth, generally proves efficacious. Small doses of opium are also useful in some cases.

In catarrhal diarrhœa, chylous diarrhœa, and the like varieties, characterised by the dejections being nearly colourless, and consisting chiefly of water and mucus; or white and milky, showing the entire absence of bile; or, being entirely liquid, limpid, and serous (in some cases resembling the washings of flesh), opinions are divided as to the treatment. The majority of the best authorities regard purging as injurious in these varieties, and rely chiefly on warm baths and warm fomentations, with the internal administration of mild salines and diaphoretics, followed by astringents, tonics, and occasional doses of opiates. Choleraic diarrhœa demands a nearly similar treatment.

The diet in every variety of diarrhœa should be light and non-irritating. Glutinous broths, beef tea, and arrow-root, are among the best articles which can be taken. To these may be added a little dry toast. Arrow-root (genuine), either with or without a spoonful of port wine or brandy (preferably the former), will of itself cure all ordinary cases of diarrhœa, if accompanied with repose and a recumbent posture.

Among external remedies, warm and stimulating fomentations, liniments, &c., to the epigastrium and abdomen, will be found useful adjuncts to other treatment. A spoonful or two of laudanum, used as a friction, will generally allay pain, and in many cases settle the bowels when all other remedies have been tried in vain.

Treatment for Animals. If for the horse, give at the commencement of the attack from 2 to 4 dr. of aloes, mixed with 1 oz. of bicarbonate of soda, and the same quantity of ginger in powder; administer clysters occasionally. Cattle may be treated by having administered to them ⁄4 lb. of Epsom or common salt, or a pint of linseed oil. Whichever of the two is employed, it must be combined with 2 oz. each of bicarbonate of soda and ginger, and ⁄2 lb. of treacle; 1 oz. of laudanum should be added to the above drenches whenever there is much pain and straining, whether in the horse or cow. Should laxatives fail, aromatics and astringents are called for, and 1 oz. each of tincture of catechu, ginger, and gentian, given in a pint of warm ale, may be tried several times a day for a horse. For cows a double dose is required. Sheep need only half the dose.

DI′ASTASE. A peculiar azotised substance contained in malt, which effects the conversion of starch, first into dextrin, and then into grape sugar.

Prep. A cold infusion of malt is heated to 158° Fahr. (to coagulate in albumen); it is then allowed to cool, and alcohol is added to the filtered liquor, when diastase is precipitated, under the form of a tasteless white powder, which is freely soluble in water.

Prop., &c. Diastase seems to resemble vegetable albumen, but very little is known respecting it, as it has never been got in a state of purity. One part of diastase is capable of converting 2000 parts of starch into grape sugar. Malted barley is said to contain ⁄500th part of this substance; yet this small portion is quite sufficient to convert the starch of the malt into sugar during the operation of mashing, in the manufacture of beer. See Brewing, Dextrin, &c.

DICTA′MIA. A nutritious, dietetic article. Prep. (Beasley.) Sugar, 7 oz.; potato arrow-root, 4 oz.; flour of brent barley (Triticum monococcum), 3 oz.; Trinidad and Granada chocolate, of each 1 oz.; vanilla, 15 gr.; triturate together.

Dictamia. A strengthening and restorative preparation. Arrowroot, 6 parts; meal of triticum monococcum, 6 parts; chocolate, 4 parts; vanilla, ⁄4 part (Richter). Sugar, 217 parts; bran extract, 92 parts; starch, 125 parts; Caracas and Maragnan cocoa, 30 parts; vanilla, 1 part. (Chevallier.)

DIDYM′IUM. Di. A rare metal, found associated with cerium and lanthanium in the Swedish mineral cerite. See Cerium.

DI′ET. Food or victuals. In medicine food regulated by certain rules, or prescribed for the cure or prevention of disease. The dietetic part of medicine is no inconsiderable branch, and deserves a much greater share of regard than it commonly meets with. A great variety of diseases might be removed by the observance of a proper diet and regimen, without the assistance of medicine, were it not for the impatience of the sufferers. On all occasions it may come in as a proper assistant to the cure, which sometimes cannot be performed without a due observance of the non-naturals.

Writers on dietetics (DIETETICA, L.) have taken much trouble to divide and classify the numerous articles of food suitable to the various conditions of the body in health and disease; but little practical advantage has resulted from their labours. Low diet, middle diet, full diet, milk diet, farinaceous diet, fruit diet, and vegetable diet, are terms which, under most circumstances, are sufficiently simple to be almost self-explanatory.

DIGES′TION. In chemistry and pharmacy the operation of exposing bodies to a gentle and continuous heat. The best digesters are thin glass flasks and beakers, and the most convenient source of heat is the sand bath. Digestion is often performed to soften and otherwise modify bodies that are to be distilled. In physiology the term is applied to the conversion of food into chyme, or the process of dissolving food in the alimentary canal, and preparing it for circulation and nourishment. In surgery digestion signifies a method of treating ulcers, wounds, &c. See Digestives (below).

DIGESTIBILITY OF DIFFERENT FOODS.

Foods. How cooked. Mean time
of chymification
in stomach.

h. m.

Rice Boiled 1

Eggs, whipped Raw 1 30

Trout, salmon, fresh Boiled 1 30

Venison, steak Broiled 1 35

Sago Boiled 1 45

Milk Boiled 2

Eggs, fresh Raw 2

Milk Raw 2 15

Turkey Boiled 2 25

Gelatin Boiled 2 30

Goose, wild Roasted 2 30

Pig, sucking Roasted 2 30

Lamb, fresh Broiled 2 30

Beans, pod Boiled 2 30

Potatoes, Irish Baked 2 30

Chicken Fricassed 2 45

Oysters, fresh Raw 2 55

Eggs, fresh Soft-boiled 3

Beef, lean, rare Roasted 3

Mutton, fresh Boiled 3

Bread, corn Baked 3 15

Butter Melted 3 30

Cheese, old, strong Raw 3 30

Potatoes, Irish Boiled 3 30

Beef Fried 4

Veal, fresh Broiled 4

Fowls, domestic Roasted 4

Ducks, Domestic Roasted 4

Veal, fresh Fried 4 30

Pork, fat, and lean Roasted 5 15

Cabbage Boiled 4 30

The results recorded in the above table, giving the respective time required for the digestion of different foods, were obtained by Dr Beaumont, through his being enabled to watch the process of digestion actually going on in the stomach of a man, who had received a wound in that organ, by which part of it was laid bare, and could thus be seen into.

The above data were controlled by a series of independent experiments, which consisted in digesting different foods in a solution of gastric juice, and heating the mixture to 100°. The relative results of both sets of experiments were found to agree pretty closely; and they have since, on the whole, being confirmed by the researches of other physiologists.

DIGES′TIVES. In surgery substances which, when applied to wounds or tumours, induce or promote suppuration. All stimulating applications are of this class. Heat is a most powerful digestive agent. The action of digestives is opposed to that of DISCUTIENTS, which repel or resolve tumours and indurations.

DIGITA′LIN. Syn. Digita′lia. A vegetable principle discovered by M. Royer in Digitalis purpurea, or purple foxglove.

Prep. 1. (Majendie.) Foxglove leaves (powdered), 1 lb., are digested in ether, first in the cold, and then heated under pressure; when the whole has again become cold, the liquor is filtered (rapidly), and the ether is distilled off in a water bath; the residuum is dissolved in water, the filtered solution treated with hydrated oxide of lead, the whole gently evaporated to dryness, and the dry residuum again digested in hot ether; from this solution the alkali is obtained, by evaporation and repeated resolutions, in a crystalline form.

2. (Homolle and Henry.) Foxglove leaves (carefully dried and powdered), 2⁄2 lbs., are digested in rectified spirit, and the tincture expressed in a tincture press; the spirit is then distilled off, and the residual extract treated with distilled water, ⁄2 pint, acidulated with about 2 fl. dr. of acetic acid, a gentle heat being employed; some animal charcoal is then added, and the whole filtered; the filtrate is then diluted with water, and partly neutralised with ammonia; a fresh-made, strong decoction of galls is next added; a copious precipitation of tannate of digitalin ensues; the precipitate is washed with water, and mixed with a little alcohol, after which it is triturated with litharge (in fine powder) and exposed to a gentle heat; the whole is now digested in alcohol, the tincture treated with animal charcoal, and evaporated; the dry residuum is, lastly, treated with cold sulphuric ether, which takes up some foreign matter, and leaves the digitalin. 2 lbs. 8 oz. of the dried leaves yield 140 to 150 gr. of the digitalin.

Prop., &c. White, inodorous, porous masses, or small scales; it crystallises with difficulty, is intensely bitter, and excites violent sneezing when smelled to; dissolves freely in alcohol; scarcely soluble in cold ether; and takes 2000 parts of water for its solution; it is neither basic nor alkaline; concentrated colourless hydrochloric acid dissolves it, forming a characteristic solution which passes from yellow to a fine green. (Homolle.) It is one of the most powerful of known poisons, being fully 100 times stronger than the powdered leaves of the dried plant. It is used in the same cases.—Dose, ⁄60 to ⁄30 gr.; either made into pills or dissolved in alcohol and formed into a mixture. Owing to the difficulty and uncertainty connected with dispensing such small quantities, it is now seldom employed in this country.

Digitalin, Crystallised. Digitalis leaves from the Vosges, in rather fine powder, 1000 grams; neutral lead acetate, 250 grams; distilled water, 1000 grams. The digitalis should be collected in its second year just when the first flowers appear. With respect to the lead acetate, it is very important that it should not have an alkaline reaction; a slight acidity would be preferable. The lead salt is dissolved in the cold water, the powder added and thoroughly mixed, the whole passed through a sieve and left in contact twenty-four hours, taking care to mix it from time to time. The mixture is then packed sufficiently in a displacement apparatus, and exhausted with 50° alcohol, until it no longer yields any bitterness. About six parts of liquor are thus obtained, and this is neutralised exactly with sodium bicarbonate dissolved to saturation in cold water; about 25 to 30 grams will be required. When effervescence ceases, the alcohol is distilled, and the liquor remaining is evaporated in a water bath down to 2000 grams; it is then left to cool and diluted with its weight of water. Two or three days afterwards the clear liquor is decanted off, by means of a syphon, and the precipitate drained upon a linen filter. When freed from the extractive liquor the precipitate weighs about 100 grams. It is suspended in 1000 grams of 80° alcohol, and the whole passed through a metal sieve or a fine cloth; the turbid liquor obtained is heated to ebullition, and to it is added a solution containing 10 grams of neutral lead acetate; the heating is continued a few moments, and the liquor is then left to cool and filtered. The deposit in the filter is washed with alcohol to remove any liquor it may retain, and then pressed. To this liquor is added 50 grams of finely powdered vegetable charcoal that has been washed with acid and afterwards with water until quite neutral, and it is then distilled, the residue being heated for some time in a water bath, it being very important that all the alcohol should be driven off. A little water is added to replace what may evaporate; the residue is allowed to cool, then drained upon the cloth that was used to separate the precipitate, and the carbonaceous mass is washed with a little water to remove the last portion of the coloured liquor. The carbonaceous residue is then dried completely in a stove at a temperature not exceeding 100° C., and exhausted by displacement with pure chloroform until it passes colourless. This liquid is distilled to dryness, and a few grams of 95° alcohol are placed in the retort, and evaporated to drive off the last traces of chloroform.

The residue is crude digitalin with viscous and oily matter. It is dissolved with heat in 100 grams of 90° alcohol, and 1 gram of neutral lead acetate dissolved in a little water added, together with 10 grams of animal charcoal in fine granules without powder that has been treated with hydrochloric acid, and washed until the washings are no longer acid. After boiling for ten minutes it is allowed to cool and settle, and then filtered in a glass cylinder furnished with a tight cotton plug, through which it passes quickly and clear. The black deposit is added last, and exhausted of all bitterness with alcohol. After distillation the digitalin remains as a grumous crystalline mass, now only contaminated with the coloured oil. A little aqueous liquor that occurs with it is separated and the weight of the impure digitalin is taken in the previously tarred vessel. The digitalin is then dissolved with heat in exactly sufficient 90° alcohol for its solution (from 6 to 12 grams). Any alcohol evaporated is replaced, and then to the cooled solution is added, sulphuric ether rectified at 65°, to half the weight of the alcohol employed; after mixing, distilled water equal to the weight of the alcohol and ether combined is added, and the flask is closed and shaken. Two layers are formed: the upper is coloured, and consists of the ether which has taken up the fat oil; the lower is colourless, and contains the digitalin, which being now free quickly crystallises. The flask is placed in a cool place. Two days afterwards the whole is thrown into a small cylinder furnished with a moderately tight cotton plug; the mother liquor runs off, and then the coloured layer, and the small quantity that remains adherent to the crystals, is removed by a little ether. Thus obtained, this first crystallisation of digitalin is slightly coloured; it is sufficiently pure, however, for its weight to be taken in an analysis; one tenth being deducted for the digitalin it still contains. To obtain it perfectly white, two purifications are necessary, but first a treatment with chloroform is indispensable to separate the remainder of the digitalin which injures its purity.

The digitalin, well dried and reduced to a fine powder, is dissolved in 20 parts of chloroform, and the solution is filtered in a cylinder through a tight cotton plug. The liquor passes limpid; it is distilled to dryness, and a little alcohol is poured into the retort, and evaporated to remove the last traces of chloroform.

The digitalin is dissolved in 30 grams of 90° alcohol, 5 grams of washed granular animal black added, and the whole boiled for 10 minutes; the liquor is filtered and the charcoal exhausted as before indicated; and, lastly, it is distilled, the digitalin in dry crystals is found on the sides of the vessel, but it is still slightly coloured. To obtain it perfectly white it is dissolved with heat in exactly sufficient 90° alcohol (about 6 to 8 grams); to the solution is added ether equal to half the weight of alcohol employed, and double the quantity of distilled water, and the flask is closed and agitated; the crystallisation commences quickly. The ether does not separate. It is exposed to the coolness of the night, and by the next day nearly the whole of the digitalin is deposited in small groups of white needles, that which retains colouring matter remaining in the mother liquor. The whole is thrown into a cylinder and the crystals washed with ether as before described. 1000 grams of Vosges digitalis of good quality yields about 1 gram of crystallised digitalin. Digitalin occurs under the form of very white light crystals, consisting of short slender needles, grouped around the same axis. It is very bitter and scarcely soluble in water. 90° alcohol dissolves it well, anhydrous alcohol dissolves it less freely. Pure ether dissolves only traces. Chloroform is its best solvent. Brought into contact with a small quantity of hydrochloric acid, digitalin is coloured emerald green, and this reaction is favoured by a very slight heat. From ‘Formulæ for New Medicaments, adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society.’

DILL. Syn. Anethum (Ph. L. & E.), L. The fruit (seed) of Anethum graveolens, or garden dill, Anethi fructus, B. P. Dill is an aromatic stimulant and carminative. The Cossacks employ it as a condiment; and in this country it is frequently employed to heighten the relish of soups and pickles, especially cucumbers. Dill water is a favorite remedy of nurses to promote the secretion of milk, and to relieve the flatulence and griping of infants.—Dose, of the powder, 10 gr. to ⁄2 dr., or more. Oil of dill (OLEUM ANETHI) and dill water (AQUA ANETHI) are officinal in the pharmacopœias.

DIL′UENTS. Syn. Diluentia, D. Aqueous liquors; so named because they increase the fluid portion of the blood. Tea, barley-water, water-gruel, and similar articles, are the most common diluents, after pure water. The copious use of diluents is recommended in all acute inflammatory diseases not of a congestive character, and to promote the action of diuretics and sudorifics.

DINNER PILLS. See Pills.

DIOS′MA. Syn. Bookoo, Buku; Folia barosmæ, F. diosmæ, L.; Buchu (Ph. L.), Bucku (Ph. E.), Diosma (Ph. L. 1836). “The leaves of Barosma serratifolia, B. crenulata, and B. crenata.” (Ph. L.) These species were all included by De Candolle in the genus Diosma. Buchu is principally employed in chronic affections of the urino-genital organs, especially that of the mucous membrane of the bladder, attended with copious discharge of mucus.—Dose, 20 gr. to ⁄2 dr. of the powder, taken in wine; or made into an infusion or decoction.

The officinal buchu leaves are “glabrous, glandular; either linear-lanceolate with small serrations, or ovato-oblong, obtuse, crenated, ovate or obovate, serrated.” (Ph. L.) Their odour somewhat resembles that of rue, and their taste is warm and mint-like.

DIOS′MINE. A bitter extractive matter, obtained by Brande from buchu leaves. It is very soluble in water, but not in alcohol and ether.

DIPHTHERIA. A contagious disease affecting the throat and adjoining parts. A false membrane forms on the mucous lining of the several parts of the throat. This alarming malady generally commences with a little soreness of throat attended with fever; sometimes, however, the fever may not come on for some days after the sore throat has shown itself. An ash-coloured spot makes its appearance on one or both tonsils. This spreads to other parts, extending in doing so, over the soft palate and uvula, inclosing the latter in a sheath. Sometimes a thin red line surrounds the opaque membrane thus formed. As the disease proceeds this opaque and false membrane tends to enlarge itself, and may spread down the gullet into the stomach, or, what is more dangerous still, it may involve the mucous membrane of the larynx, and thence extend along the windpipe into the bronchial tubes. When this is the case the disease is accompanied with cough, and the peculiar noise of croup; harsh, noisy breathing. There also frequently runs from the nostrils a thin acrid secretion, smelling very offensively, and often tainting the whole atmosphere of the room.

By the inexperienced diphtheria is almost always mistaken for ulcerated sore throat.

As in croup, part of the exudation or false membrane is often coughed up; sometimes it peels off from the tonsils. Some pathologists think that minute particles of this membrane, loosely adhering to drinking vessels, linen, sheets, the night-dress, &c., of the patient, may be the means of communicating the disease; by others, however, this surmise is not accepted. The absence of certainty on this point does not remove the stringent necessity of thoroughly cleansing and disinfecting everything with which the secretions of the patient come into contact.

The foregoing has been written with the object of enabling the reader to detect the only symptoms by which this dangerous disease manifests itself, in order that he may seek medical assistance with which to combat the complaint as promptly as possible.

After stating thus much, it is needless to say that we only recommend the adoption of the following treatment, in the extreme case of emigrants and others unable to obtain the services of a medical practitioner. A saturated solution of borax in the form of a gargle should be first used, and used without stint. Should this fail to arrest the formation of the membrane, then a strong solution of alum should be employed instead; or alum in powder should be applied to the throat every half hour or hour. When children are to be submitted to this treatment, the alum instead of being used as a gargle may be mixed with honey, and in this condition laid on the parts with a feather; or the powdered alum may be blown on the affected parts with a tube. Tincture of perchloride of iron, diluted hydrochloric acid, and chlorate of potash are also said to have been used successfully as topical applications. The diet should consist of rich nourishing food, such as strong beef tea and mutton broth, aided by port wine. The internal remedies embrace quinine or bark, tincture of perchloride of iron, pernitrate of iron, chlorate of potash, and small, but repeated doses of the mineral acids. Dr Gardner, in his useful work ‘Household Medicine,’ says, “a definite plan said to have been successful is to employ as a gargle a solution of chlorinated soda half an ounce, syrup half an ounce, water six ounces, mixed. At the same time give internally four drops of the solution every two hours, for two days, then add quinine. We may add that if this latter prescription be used the diet before indicated should be adopted.”

DISCU′TIENTS. In surgery, substances or agents which disperse or resolve tumours, &c. See Digestives.

DISH-COVERS. As these are made of various materials they must be cleaned and polished with the substances best adapted for each. All kinds of dish-covers directly they come from table should be washed free from grease and wiped dry.

Plated and silver dish-covers should be polished with plate powder; that free from mercury should be preferred. When dish-covers (as is usually the case) are made of block tin, they should be polished, by first rubbing them with sweet oil, and then dusting over the oil finely powdered whiting; finishing off the polishing with soft rags. All the best covers are provided with movable handles, which must be removed during the process of cleaning.

DISINFECT′ANT. An agent which absorbs, neutralises, or destroys, putrescent effluvia, miasmata, or specific contagia, and thus removes the causes of infection. The principal disinfectants are chlorine, iodine, bromine, the so-called chlorides of lime and soda, chloride of zinc, ozone, carbolic acid, the alkaline manganates and permanganates, peat charcoal, the fumes of nitric and nitrous acid, sulphurous acids, heat, and ventilation. The last two are the most efficient and easily applied. The clothing, bedding, &c., of patients labouring under contagious diseases may be effectually (?) disinfected by exposure to a temperature a little higher than that of boiling water, for about an hour. Neither the texture nor colour of textile fabrics is injured by a heat of even 250° Fahr. (Dr Henry.) See Disinfecting Chambers.

It is a practice at some of the workhouses to bake the clothes of the paupers who have the itch, or who are infested with vermin. The soaking and boiling of clothes in the absence of being able to bake them is by no means a bad method for disinfecting them. The process is rendered the more effective by adding to the water in which they are immersed or boiled 1 part of strong solution of chloride of lime to 20 or 30 parts of water; or carbolic acid in the proportion of 1 part of the pure acid to 100 parts of water. In the German army, if the clothes cannot be baked they are soaked for 24 hours in water containing 1 part of sulphate of zinc to 120 of water, or 1 part of chloride of zinc to 240 of water, after which they are washed in soap and water and dried.

Quicklime rapidly absorbs carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, and several other noxious gases, and is therefore commonly used as a wash for the walls of buildings. Acetic acid, camphor, fragrant pastilles, cascarilla, brown paper, and other similar substances, are frequently burnt or volatilised by heat, for the purpose of disguising unpleasant odours, but are of little value as disinfectants. The sulphates of iron and zinc have the property of rapidly destroying noxious effluvia. A quantity of either of these sulphates thrown into a cesspool, for instance, will in a few hours render the matter therein quite scentless. Of gaseous disinfectants, “sulphurous acid gas (obtained by burning sulphur) is preferable, on theoretical grounds, to chlorine. No agent checks so effectually the first development of animal and vegetable life. All animal odours and emanations are immediately and most effectually destroyed by it.” (Graham.) See Antiseptic, Deodoriser, Fumigation, Infection, Ozone, Carbolic acid, Salicylic acid, Bacteria as originators of disease, Lime, Chloride, Charcoal, also the Disinfecting Compounds given below.

Dr Wynter Blyth divides disinfectants into two great classes:—Gaseous, and solid or liquid.

I. Volatile, in the form of Gas or Vapour.

1. Substances which, like the halogens, appear to form substitution compounds, e.g.

Chlorine,

Bromine,

Iodine.

2. Substances which probably combine chemically, and thus destroy contagion:

Sulphurous acid,

Nitrous acid,

Fumes of other acids.

3. Oxidising substances, such as—

Pure air,

Oxygen,

Ozone.

4. The volatile oils, &c. Feeble disinfectants, supposed, however, to oxidise—

Camphor,

Oil of hops,

Oil of rue,

Oil of rosemary,

Oil of chamomile.

II. Solid or Liquid Disinfectants.

1. The chlorides of different metals, earths, or bases:

Chlorides of the alkalies,

Chlorides of iron,

Chlorides of copper,

Chlorides of manganese,

Chlorides of zinc,

Chlorides of aluminium,

Chlorides of lime,

Chlorides of mercury,

and, in fact, all chlorides which are soluble.

2. All soluble sulphates, especially sulphates of iron and aluminium.

3. All soluble sulphites.

4. Some acetates, as acetate of iron.

5. Some nitrates, such as the nitrates of potash and soda.

6. Certain agents which appear to arrest putrefaction or condense certain gases, &c., without either destruction or oxidation:

Carbolic acid,

Tar acids,

Charcoal,

Great cold,

Heat sufficient to dry organic substances, but not to char them.

7. Preservative liquids and solutions. Many of these act by coagulating the albumen of organised bodies:

Antiseptics,

Alcohol,

Solutions of corrosive sublimate,

Solutions of common salt,

Solutions of saltpetre.

8. Destructive agents. Not true disinfectants, they act not by disinfection, but by destruction:

A dry heat of 200° to 400° F.,

The strong undiluted acids and alkalies.

9. Agents which act in many ways, partly by condensing gases, partly by absorbing moisture, and partly by a peculiar action on organic matter analogous to tannin:

Dry earths,

Clays,

The natural and artificial compounds of aluminium.

The table on the next page is a summary by the late Dr Letheby of some experiments made by Drs Dougall and Calvert, with the view of determining the relative powers possessed by certain substances of arresting putrefaction, as measured by their action in preventing the germination of animalcules and fungi, and the development of vaccine lymph.

Disinfecting Compounds. 1. (Sir Wm. Burnett’s Disinfecting Liquid.) A concentrated solution of chloride of zinc. See Zinc.

2. (Collins’ Disinfecting Powder.) A mixture of dry chloride of lime, 2 parts, and burnt alum, 1 part. Used either dry or moistened with water. See Lime.

3. (Condy’s Disinfecting Fluids.) Solutions of the alkaline manganates and permanganates. Although this is an excellent and rapid deodoriser, and makes a most serviceable dressing for fetid sores, it must be borne in mind that it is in no sense an aërial disinfectant, its action being limited to the solid or liquid matters only with which it is brought into immediate contact. It exercises no corrosive action, but it is open to the objection that it leaves a brown stain upon linen. See Manganese.

4. (Ellerman’s Deodorising Fluid.) This is said to consist chiefly of the perchlorides and chlorides of iron and manganese.

“In a report addressed to the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1859, Drs Hoffmann and Frankland stated that the perchloride of iron was the cheapest and most efficient deodoriser that could be applied to sewage.” (Beasley.)

5. (Labarraque’s Disinfecting Solution; Liquor sodæ chlorinatæ, Ph. L. & D.) A solution of chlorinated soda, or, as it is commonly called, ‘chloride of soda.’ M. Labarraque made known this valuable disinfectant in 1822, and obtained the prize of the French ‘Society for Encouraging National Industry’ for its introduction.

6. (Ledoyen’s Disinfecting Fluid.) A solution of nitrate of lead, 1 part, in about 8 parts of water; or, of litharge, 13⁄2 oz., in nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·38), 12 oz., previously diluted with water, 6 pints. Sp. gr. 1·40.

7. (Siret’s Disinfecting Compounds.)—a. A mixture of sulphate of lime, 53 lbs., sulphate of iron, 40 lbs., sulphate of zinc, 7 lbs., and peat charcoal, 2 lbs., made into balls.

b. Sulphate of iron, 20 parts; sulphate of zinc, 10 parts; tan or waste oak-bark (in powder), 4 parts; tar and oil, of each 1 part; as before. Used for deodorising cesspools, &c.

8. (Bisulphide of Carbon.) This generates, when burnt, sulphurous acid, and is, therefore, a very valuable disinfectant. Its highly inflammable nature, however, renders the adoption of certain precautions necessary in its use. A method of employing it in the form of fumigation will be found under the article “Fumigation.”

9. Dry salicylic acid volatilised from a hot plate purifies the air, and perfectly disinfects the walls of a closed room. (Von Heyden.)

10. “Sanitas” is the name given by Mr Kingzett, its discoverer, to a new liquid antiseptic and disinfectant, containing peroxide of hydrogen and camphoric acid, and obtained by the atmospheric oxidation of turpentine. Sanitas is said by its inventor to possess the great advantages of being non-poisonous, and to exercise no injurious effects either on clothing or furniture. It is stated that its antiseptic power is distributed between the peroxide of hydrogen and camphoric acid, the peroxide of hydrogen being able to evolve large quantities of oxygen, which in this state is nascent, and of a powerful and oxidising character.

11. Cooper’s Universal Disinfecting Powder. According to Professor Wanklyn this powder contains 70 per cent. of mixed chloride of sodium and chloride of calcium, and about 6 per cent. of anhydrous sulphate of zinc (equal to about 12 per cent. of hydrated sulphate), a little insoluble matter, and 15 per cent. of moisture.

12. Dr Bond’s Cupralum and Ferralum. The first of these disinfectants is stated to be a mixture of the sulphates of copper and aluminium, with potassic dichromate and turpentine. Its inventor claims for it that it possesses great power of coagulating albumen and high value both as an antiseptic and deodorant. Ferralum is a mixture of ferrous and aluminic sulphates, turpentine, and carbolic acid. Its chief use is for flushing sewers and in deodorising cesspools, urinals, &c.

13. Bayard’s Disinfectant. A mixture of sulphate of iron, clay, lime, and coal tar.

Summary of the Experiments made by Dr J. Dougall, and by Dr Crace
Calvert, on the action of various Antiseptics on Protoplasmic and
Fungus Life, and on Vaccine Lymph.

KEY:

A - Quantity required to prevent Animalcules in six days.

B - Number of Days before Life appeared in a solution containing 1 of substance in 500 water and ⁄2 drachm of following—

C - Number of Days before Vibrio Life appeared in a solution of Albumen containing 1 of substance in 1000 of solution.

D - Beef Juice.

E - Sol. of Egg Albumen.

F - Reaction of the Solution.

G - Infusion of Hay. 1 part in—

H - Human Urine. 1 part in—

I - Beef Juice and Egg Albumen. 1 part in—

J - Average of all. 1 part in—

K - Effect on Animalcules in Putrid Beef Juice and Egg Albumen, when added in proportion in third column.

L - Animalcules.

M - Fungi.

N - Animalcules.

O - Fungi.

P - Effect of the Vapour or Gas during 24 hrs. on Vaccine Lymph.

Q - Animalcules.

R - Putrid Odour.

S - Fungi.

T - Mouldy Odour.

Substances used. EXPERIMENTS MADE BY DR JOHN DOUGALL, OF GLASGOW. EXPERIMENTS BY DR CRACE CALVERT.

F A K B P C

G H I J D E Q R S T

L M N O

Acids.

Mineral.

Sulphurous Acid. 250 50 50 117 Death. 24 4 P. 8 Over 100 Killed. 11 Over 40 21 Over 40

Nitric ” 400 400 200 333 ” 18 4 P. 15 5 T. ” 10 50 10 23

Hydrochloric ” 500 400 100 333 ” 28 4 P. 9 Over 100 ” — — — —

Sulphuric ” 800 500 100 467 ” Over 100 Over 100 30 10 T. — 9 — 9 11

Chromic ” 4000 1400 1200 2200 — 78 38 P. Over 100 Over 100 — — — — —

Organic.

Carbolic Neutral. 300 300 200 267 None. 12 50 T. 38 36 P. None. Over 40 Over 40 Over 40 Over 40

Cresylic ” — — — — ” — — — — ” ” ” ” ”

Acetic Acid. 350 25 10 125 — — — — — Killed. 30 — 9 50

Picric ” 350 350 350 350 Death. 44 11 P. Over 100 44 P. — 17 Over 40 19 Over 40

Benzoic ” 700 700 200 533 ” Over 100 Over 100 ” Over 100 — — — — —

Alkalies.

Lime Alk. — — — — — — — — — — 13 19 Over 40 Over 40

Potash ” 300 50 10 120 Death. — — — — — 16 — — —

Soda ” — — — — — — — — — — 23 31 18 29

Ammonia ” — — — — — — — — — — 24 50 20 Over 40

Haloids.

Iodine tincture Neutral. 400 400 50 283 Death. 1 80 T. 15 Over 100 — — — — —

Chlorine gas Acid. — — — — — — — — — Killed. 7 21 21 —

Chloride lime Alk. 200 200 25 142 Death. 27 27 T. 40 Over 100 ” 7 18 16 —

Chloride zinc Acid. 300 300 300 300 ” 4 Over 100 18 ” — Over 40 Over 40 50 Over 40

Chloride aluminum ” 2000 500 300 933 — 19 4 P. Over 100 8 P. — 10 ” 21 50

Sulphates, &c.

Bisulphite lime Acid. 100 50 25 58 Death. 4 92 T. 9 Over 100 — 11 21 14 Over 40

Sulphate zinc ” 300 300 200 267 ” 30 4 P. 90 70 P. — — — — —

Sulphate iron ” 500 500 100 367 ? 14 5 T. 35 40 T. — 7 Over 40 15 —

Common alum ” 800 500 100 467 — 14 3 P. 38 15 T. — — — — —

Sulphate copper ” 1000 1000 800 933 Death. 86 20 P. Over 100 Over 100 — — — — —

Permanganate potash Neutral. 500 200 125 275 None. — — — — — 9 50 22 Over 40

Alcohol ” 350 50 20 140 Death. 4 4 T. 10 Over 100 — — — — —

Camphor ” 300 150 50 167 None. — — — — None. — — — —

Turpentine ” — — — — — — — — — — 14 Over 40 42 Over 40

Note.—In the first set of Dr John Dougall’s experiments 3 drachms of a solution of the strength mentioned were treated with 1 drachm of a filtered infusion of hay, or with half a drachm of urine or half a drachm of the mixture of beef juice and egg-albumen. In the second set of experiments equal parts of a putrid solution of beef juice and egg-albumen, full of living animalcules, and of the solution of the various substances of the strength known to be preventive of life (as in third column), were mixed together, and the results immediately noted. In the third set of experiments 3⁄2 drachms of distilled water, containing 1 in 500 of the substances named, were treated with half a drachm of filtered beef juice, or half a drachm of a solution consisting of 1 part white of egg to 4 parts water. In the last set of experiments, separate minims of vaccine lymph were exposed to the several vapours for 24 hours, and the dried spot in each case was moistened with glycerin and water, and sealed in a capillary tube until an opportunity for vaccination occurred, when the whole of the diluted lymph was used in one insertion so as to ensure its full effect.

In Dr Crace Calvert’s experiments, 0·026 of a gramme of the substance was added to 26 grammes (1 to 1000) of a solution of albumen containing 1 part white of egg to 4 parts pure distilled water.

The Animalcules observed were Monads (microphymes), Vibrios, and their cell segments (microerphymes), Bacteria (microzymes), Amœba, &c.; and the Fungi were Torula, Mycelium, Penicilium, &c., indicated in Table by letters T and P. Putrefaction was always characterised by a putrid odour, an alkaline reaction, and the presence of animalcules; whereas Mouldiness and Fermentation were distinguished by a mouldy or musty odour, an acid reaction, and the presence of Fungi.

14. Larmande’s Antimephetic Liquor. A solution of the sulphates of zinc and copper.

15. Thymol. From experiments made with this substance it appears to be a very powerful and valuable antiseptic, and likely, because of its non-poisonous and non-irritant qualities, to supplant carbolic acid in various branches of surgical practice, in which this latter agent has hitherto been employed; such, for example, as a dressing for wounds, ulcers, and as a topical application for certain skin eruptions, &c. Its difficult solubility and price (spite of its much greater antiseptic power), however, for the present at any rate, preclude it from being made available as an ordinary common disinfectant, as this term is generally understood. See Thymol.

16. Silicate of Soda. It is stated that this salt has considerable anti-putrefactive powers.

17. Aluminised Charcoal. This is recommended by Dr Stenhouse as a cheap and very efficient decolorising agent. It is made by dissolving in water 54 parts of the sulphate of alumina of commerce in water, and mix it with 92⁄2 parts of finely powdered wood charcoal. When the charcoal is saturated it is evaporated to dryness, and heated to redness in covered Hessian crucibles till the water and acid are dissipated. The charcoal contains 7⁄2 per cent. of anhydrous alumina.

The natural disinfectants are air and water.

Air, when in violent motion, as is the case during a hurricane, has in many instances been known to arrest the course of certain epidemics; whilst in the form of ordinary ventilation, although inadequate alone to destroy the causes (whatever they may be) of contagion or infection, it is nevertheless found to supplement, to a considerable extent, the application of artificial and specific disinfectants. Hence the paramount necessity of perfect ventilation in all apartments in which the sick are placed, and hence also the measures taken in all hospitals to ensure by this means an increasing supply of fresh air to the wards in which the patients are lying.

The diminution in the amount of sickness prevailing in an army caused by the removal of the soldiers from barracks and placing them in sheds or under canvas is another illustration, tending to show the disinfectant properties possessed by an atmosphere in a state of circulation, when, of course, other hygienic precautions are not neglected.

In Hammond’s ‘Hygiène’ for 1863 the author, who was surgeon-general in the United States army, says that he only met with one instance of hospital gangrene in a wooden pavilion hospital, and not a single one in a tent; and the same result is recorded by Kraus, of the Austrian army in 1859, who says he never discovered that gangrene originated in a tent; that, on the contrary, cases of gangrene at once began to improve when those suffering from the disease were sent from hospital wards into tents. In his work on ‘Practical Hygiène’ Dr Parkes advises all cases of typhus occurring in barracks, whenever practicable, to be sent to tents or wooden huts having badly-jointed walls.

The great solvent power of water, superadded to its being able to hold matters in suspension, renders it a most important disinfectant, and thus enables it in the form of rain to remove from the atmosphere many noxious and pestilential bodies that would doubtless, if allowed to increase, become a source of disease. The air-current which constitutes the ventilation of the House of Commons, before entering the Commons’ chamber, is made to pass over a fine spray of water, by which means it has any dust or other organisms washed out of it. The beneficial effect of rain also in flushing drains and canals, and sweetening the superincumbent air, and of washing out of it many solid as well as gaseous objectionable impurities, is well known. The year 1860 was one of the wettest on record, as it was also one of the healthiest. Dr W. Budd recommends that when a room is to be disinfected, a short time before the process is commenced a tub of boiling water should be placed in the apartment, so that the steam may become condensed on the walls, and diffused throughout the air, as he believes there is a greater chance of ensuring the destruction of the disease germs by the aërial disinfectants than if these latter were allowed to act on the germs in the dry state.

We have already enforced in these pages the importance of the habit of personal cleanliness as being one of the greatest aids to the preservation of health; and although the unstinted use of soap and water will alone fail to effect the removal of any infectious or contagious maladies, their use will be found important auxiliaries in assisting recovery. But personal ablution is not the sine quâ non. The frequent cleansing of our dwellings, streets, alleys (more particularly culs-de-sac), lanes, and the sheds and habitations of animals, by soap and water, or water alone, as well as the removal of all decaying or refuse materials from our midst, is of equal importance, and must not be disregarded, if we desire to make our sanitary surroundings such as they ought to be.

We extract the following from Dr Parkes’ valuable and standard work—‘Practical Hygiene,’

“Disinfection of Various Diseases.

“Exanthemata, Scarlet Fever, and Rothëln. The points to attack are the skin and throat. The skin should be rubbed from the very commencement of the rash until complete desquamation, with camphorated oil, or oil with a little weak carbolic acid. The throat should be washed with Condy’s fluid, or weak solution of sulphurous acid.

“Clothes to be baked, or to be placed at once in boiling water, as directed further back. The clothes should not be washed at a common laundry. Chlorine or euchlorine should be diffused in the air, the saucer being put some little distance above the head of the patient. Carbolic acid and ether or carbolic-acid spray may be used instead.

“Smallpox.—In this, as in all cases, there can be no use in employing aërial disinfectants, unless they are constantly in the air, so as to act on any particle of poison which may pass into the atmosphere.

“The skin and the discharges from the mouth, nose, and eyes are to be attacked. There is much greater difficulty with the skin, as inunction cannot be so well performed. By smearing with oil and a little carbolic acid and glycerin, or, in difficult cases, applying carbolised glycerin to the papules and commencing pustules, might be tried. The permanganate and sulphurious acid solutions should be used for the mouth, nose, and eyes. The clothing should always be baked before washing, if it can be done.

“The particles which pass into the air are enclosed in small dry pieces of pus and epithelial scales; and Bakewell, who has lately examined them, expresses great doubts whether any air purifier would touch them. Still it must be proper to use euchlorine or carbolic acid. Iodine has been recommended by Richardson and Hoffmann.

“Measles.—Oily applications to the skin and air purifiers, and chlorides of zinc and aluminium in the vessels receiving the expectoration, appear to be the proper measures.

“Typhus (Exanthematicus).—Two measures seem sufficient to prevent the spread of typhus, viz. most complete ventilation and immediate disinfection and cleansing of clothes. But there is also more evidence of use from air purifiers than in the exanthemata. The nitrous acid fumes were tried very largely towards the close of last century and the beginning of this in the hulks and prisons where Spanish, French, and Russian prisoners of war were confined. At that time so rapidly did the disease spread in the confined spaces where so many men were kept, that the efficacy even of ventilation was doubted, though there can be no question that the amount of ventilation which was necessary was very much underrated. Both at Windsor and Sheerness the circumstances were most difficult. At the latter place (in 1785), in the hulk, 200 men, 150 of whom had typhus, were closely crowded together; 10 attendants and 24 men of the crew were attacked; 3 medical officers had died when the experiments commenced. After the fumigations one attendant only was attacked, and it appeared as if the disease in those already suffering became milder. In 1797 it was again tried with success, and many reports were made on the subject by army and naval surgeons. It was subsequently largely employed on the Continent, and everywhere seems to have been useful.

“These facts lead to the inference that the evolutions of nitrous acid should be practised in typhus-fever wards, proper precautions being taken to diffuse it equally through the room, and in a highly dilute form.

“Hydrochloric acid was employed for the same purpose by Guyton de Morveau in 1773, but it is doubtless much inferior to nitrous acid. Chlorine has also been employed, and apparently with good results.

“In typhus it would seem probable that the contagia pass off entirely by the skin, at least the effect of ventilation, and the way in which the agent coheres to the body linen seems to show this.

“The agent is not also enclosed in quantities of dry discharges and epidemics, as in the exanthemata, and is therefore less persistent and more easily destroyed than in those cases. Hence possibly the greater benefit of fumigations, and the reason of the arrest by ventilation. The clothes should be baked, steeped, and washed, as in the exanthemata.

“Bubo Plague. The measures would probably be the same as for typhus.

“Enteric (typhoid fever). The bowels’ discharges are believed to be the chief, if not the sole agents in spreading the disease; the effluvia from them escape into the air, and will adhere to walls and retain power for some time, or the discharges themselves may get into drinking-water. Every discharge should be at once mixed with a powerful chemical agent; of these, chloride and sulphate of zinc have been chiefly used, but sulphate of copper (which Dougall found so useful in stopping the growth of animalculæ), chloride of aluminium, or strong solution of ferrous sulphate (1 ounce to a pint of water), or carbolic acid. After complete mixing the stools must be thrown into sewers in towns; but this should never be done without previous complete disinfection. In country places they should be deeply buried at a place far removed from any water supply; they should never be thrown on to manure heaps or on to middens, nor into earth closets, if it can be possibly avoided. As the bedclothes and beds are so constantly soiled with the discharges, they should be baked, or, if this cannot be done, boiled immediately after removal with sulphate or chloride of zinc. It would be less necessary to employ air purifiers in this case than in others.

“Cholera. There can be little doubt that the discharges are here also the active media of the conveyance of the disease, and their complete disinfection is a matter of the highest importance. It is, however, so difficult to do this with the immense discharges of cholera, especially when there are many patients, that the evidence of the use of the plan in the last European epidemic is very disappointing.

“The ferrous sulphate (green vitriol), which has been strongly recommended by Pettenkofer as an addition to the cholera evacuations, was fully tried in 1866 at Frankfurt, Halle, Leipzig, in Germany, and at Pill, near Bristol, and in those cases without any good result. In other places, as at Baden, the benefit was doubtful. It seemed to answer better with Dr Budd and Mr Davies at Bristol; but other substances were also used, viz. chlorine gas in the rooms, and chloride of lime and Condy’s fluid for the linen. On the whole it seems to have been a failure. Ferric sulphate, with or without potassium permanganate, has been recommended by Kühne instead of ferrous sulphate, but I am not aware of any evidence on the point. Carbolic acid was largely used in England in 1866, and appeared in some cases to be of use, as at Pill, near Bristol, and, perhaps, at Southampton. It failed at Erfurt, but, as it is believed the wells were contaminated by soakage, this is perhaps no certain case. Chloride of lime and lime were used at Stettin without any good result, and, on the whole, it may be said that the so-called disinfection of the discharges of cholera does not seem to have been attended with very marked results. At the same time it cannot be for a moment contended that the plan has had a fair trial, and we can easily believe that unless there is a full understanding on the part of both medical men and the public of what is to be accomplished by this system, and a conscientious carrying out of the plan to its minutest details, no safe opinions of its efficacy or otherwise can be arrived at. It would be desirable to try the effect of chromic acid or bichromate of potash.

“With regard to air purifiers little evidence exists. Chlorine gas diffused in the air was tried very largely in Austria and Hungary in 1832, but without any good results. Nitrous-acid gas was used in Malta in 1865, but apparently did not have any decided influences, although Ramon da Luna has asserted that it has a decided preservative effect, and that no one was attacked in Madrid who used fumigations of nitrous acid. But negative evidence of this kind is always doubtful. Charcoal in bulk appears to have no effect. Dr Sutherland saw a ship’s crew severely attacked, although the ship was loaded with charcoal.

“Carbolic-acid vapour diffused in the atmosphere was largely used in 1866 in England; the liquid was sprinkled about with water, and sawdust moistened with it was laid on the floors and under the patients. The effect in preventing the spread of the disease was very uncertain.

“Yellow Fever. In this case the discharges, especially from the stomach, probably spread the disease, and disinfectants must be mixed with them.

“Fumigations of nitrous acid were employed by Ramon da Luna, and it is asserted that no agent was so effectual in arresting the spread of the disease.

“Dysentery. It is well known that dysentery, and especially the putrid dysentery, may spread through an hospital from the practice of the same close stool or latrines being used. As long ago as 1807, fumigations of chlorine were used by Mojon to destroy the emanations from the stools, and with the best effects. The chlorine was diffused in the air, and the stools were not disinfected; but this ought to be done as in enteric fever, and especially in the sloughing form. It is probable that carbolic acid in large quantity would be efficacious.

“With respect to Erysipelas, Diphtheria, Syphilis, Gonorrhœa, Glanders, and Farcy, local applications are evidently required, and carbolic acid in various degrees of strength, and the metallic salts, are evidently the best measures.

“Cattle Plague. The experiments made by Mr Crookes on the disinfectant treatment of cattle plague with carbolic acid vapour have an important bearing on human disease. Although the observations fall short of demonstration there are grounds for thinking that when the air was kept constantly filled with carbolic acid vapour, the disease did not spread.

“So also euchlorine was employed in Lancashire by Professor Stone of Manchester, with apparent benefit. Dr Moffat employed ozone (developed by exposing phosphorus to the air), and he believes with benefit. As such experiments are very much more easily carried out on the diseases of animals than on those of men, it is much to be wished that the precise effect of the so-called disinfectants should be tested by continuing the experiments commenced by Mr Crookes, not only in cattle plague in the countries where it prevails, but in epizootic diseases generally.

“It may be said, in conclusion, that although positive evidence is so deficient, yet, taking into consideration the decidedly great and known effect of many so-called disinfectants, and air-purifiers on organic matters, and the fact that the infectious organic agencies are certainly easily destroyed in most cases (since free ventilation renders many of them inert, and few of them retain their power very long), it is highly probable that the specific poisons of the so-called zymotic diseases are destroyed by some of these chemical methods, and at any rate the careful and constant use of chemical agents for the destruction of the specific poisons in the excreta and discharges from the body, and when they pass into the air, is not only warranted, but should be considered comparative.

“Purification of rooms after infectious diseases. In addition to thorough cleansing of all woodwork with soft soap and water, to which a little carbolic acid has been added (1 pint of the common liquid to 3 or 4 gallons of water), and to removal and washing of all fabrics which can be removed, the brushing of the walls, the room should be fumigated for 3 hours with either the fumes of sulphurous or nitrous acids. Both of these are believed to be superior to chlorine, especially in smallpox. All doors and windows, and the chimney being closed, and curtains taken down, the sulphur is ignited as directed in our article Fumigation.

“In white-washed rooms the walls should be scraped, and then washed with hot lime to which carbolic acid is added.

“Mortuaries and dead-houses are best purified with nitrous acid.”

These directions may be supplemented by the following:—The towels, sheets, articles of clothing, &c., should be boiled in water, or plunged in boiling water containing one to two handfuls of soda to the gallon, before being taken from the room, after which treatment they should be steeped in water containing 4 fluid ounces of carbolic acid to a gallon of water.

Fabrics soiled by the discharges, &c., such as rags, bandages, and dressings, if of little value should be immediately consigned to the flames; but if this be not convenient, they may be treated with carbolic acid and water, in the same manner as directed for towels, sheets, &c.

As soon as any infectious disease sets in, the room of the patient should be at once stripped of curtains, carpet, bed-curtains, valances, and all unnecessary garments, whether in a wardrobe or drawers, as well as of all superfluous furniture, especially chairs stuffed with wool or covered with fabric of any kind.

Disinfections of the apartment by fumigations must be postponed until it is vacated; as before such a time thorough disinfection is impossible.

Infected bedding, &c., should be removed in the boxes made for the purpose, and subjected to the heating process. In most towns provision is made by the Board of Guardians, and under the directions of the medical officer of health, for the disinfection process to be efficiently carried out. See Disinfecting Chambers.

The disinfection of articles of food is accomplished by thorough cooking, boiling in the case of milk, boiling and filtration in the case of water, and complete roasting, stewing, and frying of meat.

The experiments of Mr Crookes (to which reference has been made in the extract taken from Dr Parkes’ ‘Practical Hygiène’) with carbolic acid during the cattle plague possess great practical interest both for the chemist and physiologist.

Of the use of carbolic acid as a disinfectant Mr Crookes, in the Appendix to the Report of the Cattle Plague Commissioners, writes as follows:

“According to the principles laid down, the air must be treated, and where there is no disease there is only a secondary use in treating anything besides the air. Several cowhouses have been treated with carbolic acid with very excellent results. The mode has been, first, to remove from the floor the mass of manure, which too often adheres to it; secondly, to sprinkle the floor with strong carbolic or cresylic acid; next, to wash the walls, beams, and rafters, and all that is visible in the cowhouse, with lime, in which is put some carbolic acid, 1 to 50 of the water used, or with strong carbolic acid alone. Next, to make a solution containing 1 of carbolic or cresylic acid to 100 of water, or, perhaps still better, 60 of water, and to water the yard and fold until the whole place smells strongly of the acid. Only a few farms have been treated in this way, so far as I know, but in each it has been successful. It may be well to give the cattle a little of the weak solution of carbolic acid, but this has not been so fully tried as the external use. The washing of the mouth and of the entire animal with the weak solution may be attended with good results, especially in the early stage of disease; but I know nothing of cure, and speak only hopefully of prevention.

“The animals seem to have an instinct for disinfection, and lick substances touched with this acid. They must not be allowed to drink it, as when strong it blisters the skin, and especially the mouth and tongue.”

Mr Crookes also tried the effect of the acid by injecting it into the veins of the animals, and thus details the results of his experiments:—“It appeared evident that if harm were to follow the injection of carbolic acid, the mischievous effect would be immediate; but that if the fluid could pass through the heart without exerting its paralysing action on that organ, and could get into the circulation, no present ill effects need be anticipated. I therefore determined to push these experiments as far as possible, increasing the quantity of carbolic acid, until it produced a fatal result.

The next operation was on cow No. 11, in which 3 oz. of solution (containing 52⁄2 gr. of pure carbolic acid) were very slowly injected; no bad effect followed. Increasing the dose, cow No. 12 had injected into her vein 4⁄2 oz. of solution (equal to 78⁄4 gr. of carbolic acid); this also was followed by no immediate ill effect. Cow No. 13 was then treated with 6 oz. of solution (containing 105 gr. of pure carbolic acid), in two portions of 3 oz. each, five minutes’ interval elapsing between each injection. The first 3 oz. produced a slight trembling, but not so severe as in the case of cow No. 10, as she seemed better in a few minutes. The second dose of 3 oz. was injected. This proved too much, or was pumped in too hurriedly, for almost before I had finished the animal trembled violently, its eyes projected, its breathing became laborious, it fell down and expired. The result could scarcely be attributed to the accidental injection of air into the vein, for the distress began with the injection of the first syringeful, and was only increased by the second; nor is it likely that this accident would happen twice consecutively. I was particularly careful on this point, and the construction of the instrument rendered such an occurrence scarcely possible with ordinary precaution. It is probable that the injection was performed too rapidly, or that the vital powers were lower than usual. In the case of the remaining animal, No. 14, I decided to inject as large a dose as it would bear, stopping the operation at the first sign of trembling, and delivering the liquid very gradually. The first syringeful caused no bad symptoms, and I had just finished injecting the second dose when trembling commenced. It was rather violent for a short time, but soon went off, and in five minutes the animal appeared as well as before.

This cow, therefore, bore without inconvenience the injection of 6 oz. of a 4 per cent. solution, containing 105 gr. of pure carbolic acid. Careful observations with the thermometer were taken before each operation. There were no more diseased beasts on the farm, or I should have carried my experiments still further. On visiting the farm the next day I was told that all the animals seemed better, and on testing them with the thermometer that statement was confirmed. I gave directions that each animal was to be drenched with half a wine-glassful (1 oz.) of carbolic acid in a quart of warm water every morning, but in other respects they might be treated as Mr Tomlinson, a skilful cow doctor, should direct.

“Business now calling me to London, I was unable to watch the further progress of these cases.

“This is to be regretted, as a series of daily thermometric observations would have been of great value in suggesting further experiments. I had, however, frequent accounts sent me. Cow No. 14 continued to improve slowly until convalescent; she is now quite well. Nos. 10, 11, and 12 remained apparently in the same state for four days; they then changed for the worse, and died. It is not improbable that had I been able to inject a further quantity of carbolic acid during the four days in which they were thus hovering between recovery and relapse, it would have turned the scale, and some of them at all events would be now alive and well.

The following table gives the thermometric observations;—

Table showing the results of injecting carbolic
acid into the blood of animals suffering
from the cattle plague.

No. Grains of Carbolic
Acid Injected. Temperature before
Injection Second Day. Third Day.

F. F.

10 26⁄2 105·4 103·8 Better. Died on 6th day.

11 52⁄2 103·8 102·8 ” Died on 6th day.

12 78⁄4 104·8 104·4 ” Died on 6th day.

14 105 103·7 103·1 ” Recovered.

If future experiments prove that injection of carbolic acid or other antiseptic will do good, it is an operation very easily performed. I have injected five animals, and taken thermometric observations within an hour. Sulphite or bisulphite of soda apparently occasions some pain, as the animals struggle very much; with carbolic acid I found them tolerably quiet. I have calculated the proportion which the carbolic acid bore to the whole quantity of blood in these operations. Taking the whole amount of blood in the animal at 150 lbs., there were injected into—

No. 10, 1 part of carb. acid, in 40,000 of blood.

” 11, ” ” 20,000 ”

” 12, ” ” 13,300 ”

” 14, ” ” 10,000 ”

It is worth mentioning incidentally, that in the case of cow No. 14 (which recovered) the proportion of carbolic acid injected into the blood would have been enough to keep from decomposition the whole quantity of that liquid for a considerable time. In Nos. 10, 11, and 12 the proportion of carbolic acid would probably not have been sufficient for that purpose. I am informed by Dr Calvert that cresylic acid has much less coagulating power on albumen than carbolic acid, and my own experiments entirely confirm this statement.”

We have described under “Charcoal” the disinfecting properties of that substance. These properties have been turned to excellent account by Dr Stenhouse, who has invented a charcoal respirator, which, causing the wearer to breathe air drawn through a layer of that substance, and by thus depriving the air so inspired of any noxious gases or exhalations, if present, becomes, if worn in an infected atmosphere, a great safeguard against disease. Dr Letheby was accustomed to use a charcoal respirator when analysing dead bodies and other putrid matters of suspected poisoning, and by so doing never experienced any ill effects, nor was he conscious of the offensive odour which but for its adoption he must have encountered.

Professor Tyndall has suggested for the same purpose a respirator of cotton wool, by means of which the air, being filtered before it enters the lungs, becomes deprived of minute particles of various substances suspended in it, as well as of the germs, which so many pathologists believe to be always present during the prevalence of epidemic maladies, and the cause, when inhaled, of the maladies themselves.

DISINFECTING CHAMBERS. The sanitary authorities of most large cities have made provision for the purification of mattresses, linen, wearing apparel, &c., by means of disinfecting chambers or ovens, in which receptacles the infected articles are subjected for a certain time to hot air. The simplest form of apparatus for this purpose, and one that could be used on an emergency, provided the articles to be disinfected were not too bulky, is a baker’s oven. The drying closet of a good laundry would be so far unsafe, because it would occasionally fail to give a heat sufficient for the destruction of the noxious principles.

The disinfecting chambers employed in Liverpool are arched ovens of solid brickwork, having a depth of 7 feet from front to back, a width of 5 feet from side to side, and a height of 6⁄2 feet from the floor to the crown of the arch. The doors are made of wrought iron, tightly fitting into cast-iron framework. The floors are made of double iron gratings, having alternate openings, so arranged as to admit at pleasure hot air into the chamber. At the top of the arch there is an opening fitted with an iron valve, by which the air of the chamber escapes into an exhausting shaft which is connected with the chimney. The heating is accomplished by means of a cast-iron cockle, the smoke from which escapes by two cast-iron smoke flues, which, after forming a coil for the purpose of affording as great a heating surface as possible, pass along the hot-air passage under the chamber, into a chimney situated at the opposite end.

The cold air is drawn into a brick flue placed underneath the floor of the stokehole into a cavity on each side of the cockle, and thence into a space underneath the chamber, whence it becomes heated by the radiation from the surface of the two cast iron flues. From this cavity or passage it is conveyed at will through the gratings as already described. At the entrance of the cold air flue there is a damper, by which the temperature of the air may be regulated. A heat equal to 280° F. has been registered in this chamber, and as high as 380° in a drying closet over the cockle. Dr French, the medical officer of health for Liverpool, says “that, if necessary, a temperature reaching 500° F. can be attained in these chambers; but this temperature is of course never employed. Experience has proved that from 220° to 250° F. is the most suitable. Instances have been known where fabrics, after being exposed for some length of time to a temperature above 212° F., have sustained injury from being scorched.

In some of the chambers, carbolic acid powder is sprinkled on the floor.

We have taken the liberty of transcribing the following description and plates illustrative of the disinfecting stove used in the Royal Victoria Yard, Deptford, from that very useful publication, ‘Chemistry, Theoretical, Practical, and Analytical,’ published by Mr W. Mackenzie.

“This stove consists of a brick chamber with a slightly arched roof, and an iron movable floor in two pieces. The chamber is 7 feet deep, 6 feet 9 inches wide, and 5 feet 8⁄2 inches high in the centre of the arch. It is heated by a flue below the iron floor passing round 3 sides of the chamber and up a chimney. There is an opening in the upper part of the chamber in its centre, which passes along in the roof to the side, from thence down in the wall entering beneath the fire; this carries away any of the foul air of the clothes from the chamber through the fire and up the flue. This proceeding takes place after the clothes have been in the chamber say an hour and a half in the following manner:—The damper in the foul air shaft is withdrawn, and the furnace door is shut; any draught that gets to the fire comes to the chamber. Over the opening into the furnace is a square opening, fitted with a glass, inside of which is a fixed thermometer. When this shows a temperature of 200° F., the interior of the chamber is at 250° F., the highest point at which it is allowed to be. In the interior of the chamber at the sides there are little movable cranes, three rows of three supporting rods of iron on which wooden trays rest, and on which the clothes are placed when the iron cart is not used. The cranes move fore and aft to be out of the way when the cart is used. The cart is of iron on wheels, and runs into the chamber on tramways to keep it in position; in the interior of the cart are three iron trays for laying the clothes on. The lowest tray is always the hottest, so that it is prudent to use the cart, the iron bottom of which prevents burning. The iron ends of the cart are removed when it is placed in the chamber; so is the handle. It is usual to keep the clothes at the temperature of 250° F. for two hours.

There is a trap door 8 inches square about 14 inches above the upper edge of the furnace, and on a level with the iron floor of the chamber, for disinfectants. Carbolic acid and sulphur are used; the former is placed on a flat plate, the latter is sprinkled over the floor. These are used as the last, and after that has been the clothes are fit to be used without danger to any one.

Elevation plan (fig. 5) shows the front of the chamber with the doors closed; the openings (Nos. 1, 2, and 3) are for inserting the long thermometer, which is pushed into the clothing to be disinfected; they correspond with the three trays. The thermometer can be withdrawn and examined without allowing much cold air to enter; plugs fit into these three openings when not used for the thermometer.

Section.—The chamber is shown about the centre of its depth; the foul-air shaft (B) passes along the roof down the side wall, and beneath the fire (C); the opening where the fixed thermometer is placed is marked with dotted lines. The damper for the foul-air shaft (E) is represented as shut, and the damper for the chimney (F) is also shut.

The ground plan shows the flue beneath the iron plates, which form the floor of the chamber, the dotted lines showing the foul-air flue (B), as it passes beneath the fire. In the flue (C) there are openings at D, D, D, for the purpose of cleaning it.

Another form of disinfecting chamber is that invented by Dr Esse, of Berlin, and employed in that city. The apparatus consists of two iron cylinders, one fitted within the other, with a space between, into which steam under pressure is introduced. The outer cylinder is surrounded with wood and the top with felt, to prevent the escape of heat. The articles to be disinfected are put in at the top of the inner cylinder, the inside of which soon becomes heated up by the surrounding steam. A pulley is used to lift the lid of the inner cylinder, around which the clothes are hung on pegs, not being allowed to touch the side of the cylinder. At the top of the inside cylinder is a brass box pierced with holes at the bottom, which dips a little way down, through which the air from the interior can rise. In this box the bulb of a thermometer being placed, the temperature of the inner chamber can be registered.

When the steam condenses in the space between the cylinders it is carried off by means of a valve, which is lifted when the water reaches a certain point in the condenser. In an hour’s time the temperature of the interior cylinder can be raised to 235° Fahr.

For heating mattresses another apparatus has been devised by Dr Esse. It consists of an iron case with a spiral steam pipe in the centre, the steam inside the pipe being compressed to two atmospheres.

Dr Ransome has invented, for the use of the Nottingham hospital, a gas stove in the form of an iron box, well packed with a non-conducting material, which surrounds the outside. A channel leads to the interior of the box, and inside this channel gas is kept burning in such a manner by a modification of Kemp’s regulator, that the temperature of the box shall range day and night between 235° and 255° Fahr.

An apparatus put to great use by the Holborn District Board during the epidemic of smallpox in 1871 was one made by Fraser’s patent. Mr Fraser’s disinfecting chamber consists of an oven or receptacle made of brick, with doors in front. Situated on the lower portion of this chamber is a covered furnace connected with flues, by means of which the interior space is heated to the desired temperature. By a particular arrangement the air laden with the noxious vapours given off by the tainted clothing is conveyed into the furnace, and so consumed. Belonging to the apparatus is a covered truck or cart, fitted with doors and dampers, and provided inside with racks and shelves for holding the materials to be purified, which are thus brought from the infected dwelling and placed, truck and all, inside the chamber. The infected materials, as well as the truck containing them, are then heated to the necessary point, disinfection being assisted by sulphurous acid gas, or some other material adapted for the purpose. When the process is finished the carriage with its contents is drawn back to the house from which they were originally taken, and the purified articles are restored to the owners. It will be seen that by this arrangement the vehicle is disinfected as well as the clothes it contains.

DISLOCA′TION. Syn. Luxation; Dislocatio, L. The forcible displacement of a bone from its socket, either by violence or disease. The latter happens when the textures forming the joint have been destroyed by some independent organic affection. “A considerable share of anatomical knowledge is required to detect the nature of these accidents; and it is much to be lamented that students neglect to inform themselves sufficiently on the subject.” (Sir A. Cooper.) In common cases the bones may be frequently replaced by forcibly extending the limb. This should be done as early as possible, and before inflammation sets in. The latter should be combated by aperients, local bleeding, refrigerant lotions, &c. Dislocations frequently exist without the fact being suspected, the swelling and inflammation being referred to other causes.

DISPLACE′MENT. See Percolation.

DISTEM′PER. A disease among dogs, usually characterised by a running from the nose and eyes, and a short dry cough; followed by wasting of the flesh, and loss of strength and spirits. At length the brain suffers, and fits, paralysis of the extremities, or convulsions come on. Laxatives and emetics are the best remedies. If there is much diarrhœa, astringents may be afterwards given. The violence of the fits may be mitigated by the administration of antispasmodics, and by the warm bath. The distemper is a contagious disease, and is generally fatal to weakly and very young dogs. Fits in the advanced stages of the disease are seldom followed by recovery. Impatience of light, red eyes, obstinate diarrhœa, spasmodic twitchings, a yellow colour of the skin, and a pustular eruption, are also bad symptoms.

Distemper Powders (Blane’s). The basis of these is said to be ‘aurum musivum,’ or bisulphide of tin. That of another advertised nostrum is a mixture of mercury and chalk, with a little rhubarb and ipecacuanha.

DISTILLA′TION. The evaporation and subsequent condensation of the vapour of fluids, by means of a still and refrigerator, or other similar apparatus. Dry distillation is a term applied to the distillation of substances per se, or without the addition of water or other volatile fluid. Destructive distillation is the distillation of substances at temperatures sufficiently high to decompose them, by which their elements are separated, or evolved in new combinations. Fractional distillation is the separation of substances having different boiling-points, by distilling the mixture with a gradually increasing heat, and collecting the products which come over at different temperatures in separate receivers. See Hydrocarbon, Still, &c.

Distillation. The art of the distiller; the manufacture of spirituous liquors as practised on the large scale.

The process of distillation, as carried on in the distilleries of Great Britain, may be divided into four general operations, viz.—1. The mashing, or formation of a saccharine infusion from certain vegetable matters, as malt, barley, oats, rye, &c. 2. The cooling of this wort or liquor. 3. The fermentation, or process by which the sugar of the cooled wort is converted into alcohol. 4. The separation of the spirit so formed by means of a still and refrigerator. By the first operation the materials for the formation of the alcohol are obtained; by the second, they are brought to a temperature most favorable to the transformation that takes place in the third, after which it only remains to free the product of the last operation from the foreign matter with which it is associated; this is done in the fourth, which, correctly speaking, constitutes the only part of the process which can be called distillation.

The general principles of the first three of the preceding operations are noticed in the articles Brewing, Fermentation, &c. It will there be seen that the amylaceous or starchy matter of the grain is first ‘saccharified,’ and afterwards converted into alcohol, and that certain precautions are necessary to render the process successful and economical. In many of the distilleries of Great Britain molasses and analogous saccharine substances are employed, in which case the vegetable principle (sugar) essential to the formation of alcohol is already present, and merely requires simple solution in water of a proper temperature, to be ready to be subjected to immediate fermentation. In general, however, the sources of spirit in England are the various kinds of grain; barley, rye, maize, and rice are those commonly employed. These are ground and mixed with bruised malt, in various proportions, and are mashed in a similar manner to malted grain. The fermentation is carried on until the density of the liquor ceases to lessen or ‘attenuate,’ which is determined by an instrument called a saccharometer. When this point is arrived at, the ‘wash’ is submitted to distillation, to prevent the access of the acetous fermentation, which would lessen its alcoholic value.

During the process of distilling off the spirit of the fermented ‘wash’ or ‘wort’ a hydrometer is employed to ascertain the ‘strength’ of the liquor that passes over. As soon as this has fallen to a certain point, the operation is stopped, and the ‘spent wash’ removed. The spirits obtained by the first distillation are generally called ‘low wines,’ and have a specific gravity of about ·975. By rectification or ‘doubling,’ a crude milky spirit, abounding in oil, at first comes over, followed by clear spirit, which is received in a separate vessel. The process is continued until the alcoholic content of the distilled liquor has considerably diminished, when the remaining weak spirit that distils over, called ‘faints,’ is caught separately, and mixed with the low wines preparatory to another distillation. The strongest spirit passes over first, and the condensed liquor gradually becomes weaker, until it ceases to contain alcohol. By receiving in separate vessels any given portion of the product, spirit of any required strength, within certain limits, may be obtained. The same object is more conveniently effected by surrounding the top of the capital of the still with a water bath, of a temperature corresponding to that of alcoholic vapour of the strength it is desired to obtain. Thus, if we keep the temperature of the water at about 198° Fahr., we shall obtain proof spirit; if at 192°, a spirit 20 o. p.; and so on for other strengths.

It is found from experience, and is readily accounted for by theory, that the lower the temperature at which the distillation is conducted, the stronger will be the product, and the less quantity of oil or other volatile matter will come over along with it. To promote this, it has been proposed to carry on the process in vacuo, but on the large scale this has never been adopted. The distillation of the wash is usually performed in a separate set of stills to those employed for the rectification of the low wines. For very strong and tasteless spirit, a third and even a fourth rectification is employed, conjointly with other methods, to abstract the water and to remove any foreign matter that vitiates its odour or flavour. A portion of soap is generally put into the still with the wash, to prevent excessive frothing.

We have said that the processes of mashing, &c., in the distillery are similar to those adopted in brewing beer. We may add that, as richness in alcohol, and not flavour, is the object aimed at in the distiller’s wash, not only is a large quantity of unmalted grain employed, but the process of boiling the wort with hops is omitted altogether. The wort is commonly ‘set’ at 70° Fahr., and the fermentation and attenuation of the liquor pushed as far as possible by large and repeated doses of the best ‘top-yeast’ of the porter brewers.

It often happens that raw spirit prepared from damaged grain is contaminated with a highly acrid and volatile fatty substance, which is powerfully intoxicating and irritating to the eyes and nostrils, and possesses an odour very similar to that of an alcoholic solution of cyanogen. This may be got rid of by dilution with water and skilful rectification, when most of it passes over with the first and last ‘runnings,’ the intermediate portion being less loaded with it. Another plan is to filter the spirit successively through 6 or 7 separate vessels containing pine or willow charcoal before rectifying it. In some distilleries the contaminated spirit is well agitated with a considerable quantity of olive oil, and after repose decanted, diluted with water, and rectified as before. The ordinary corn oil or fusel oil of raw spirit is generally, for the most part, intercepted by a self-regulating bath arranged between the still-head and the refrigeratory.

The quantity of spirit obtained from various substances, and even from pure sugar, depends upon the skill with which the several operations are conducted. By theory, pure sugar should yield 51% of alcohol; but in practice 11·925 galls. of proof spirit is the largest quantity which has yet been obtained from 112 lbs. of sugar. By the revenue authorities this weight of sugar is estimated to afford 11⁄2 galls. of proof spirit. The average product is, perhaps, about 1 gall. of spirit of this strength for every 10 lbs. of sugar. According to Harmstädt, 100 lbs. of starch yield 35 lbs. of alcohol, or 7·8 galls. of proof spirit; and 100 lbs. of the following grains produce the accompanying quantities by weight of spirit of sp. gr. ·9427, or containing 45% of pure alcohol:—wheat, 40 to 45%; rye, 36 to 42%; barley, 40%; oats, 36%; buckwheat, 40%; maize, 40%; the mean being 3·47 galls. of proof spirit. It is found that a bushel of good malt yields 2 galls. of proof spirit, and that the largest quantity of proof spirit obtained from raw grain, mashed with ⁄5 or ⁄6 of malt, does not exceed 22 galls. per quarter.

The distiller is allowed to produce worts from any substance, and at any specific gravity, provided such gravity can be correctly ascertained by the saccharometer approved of by the Board of Inland Revenue. He is not, however, allowed to mash and distil at the same time. See Alcohol, Brandy, Fermentation, Fusel Oil, Gin, Still, &c.

DISTOMATA. A genus of fluke-like parasites infesting men and the higher vertebrate animals. The egg is about the ⁄280th of an inch long and ⁄270th inch wide.

The embryo is frequently met with in sewage water, from which, if it be removed and placed in pure or distilled water, it soon dies. The embryo which does not become a distoma gives rise to a progeny (gradually formed from germ-cells within it) consisting sometimes of one, but much more often of a number of bodies of various forms and structures, each of which possesses powers of movement and locomotion. But the creatures of this second development are not distomata; neither are the offspring to which they in their turn give rise. Like their immediate progenitors, this offspring produce in their interior germ-cells which develop into minute worms having tails, and displaying great vivacity when placed in water. These latter alone exhibit the characters of true distomata. “These cercaria now either become enclosed, like a chrysalis in a pupa state, or they penetrate into the bodies of soft animals, become encysted and parasitic. It appears probable that the distomata enter the human intestinal canal as cercaria, and then pass into the biliary passages.”

A case is on record of two distomata having been extracted from the foot of a woman, into which it has been surmised they gained an entrance as cercaria whilst the woman was bathing.

It is thought that shell-fish, as well as uncooked fish when eaten, may be the means of introducing these parasites into the human system. The embryos of the Distomata hepaticum swim about and live in water, which may probably, when drunk, be the means of conveying them into the bodies of men and sheep. The ailments and symptoms to which these pests give rise depend upon the particular organ or portion of the body in which they establish themselves.

In man they are a frequent cause of hæmaturia and dysentery. In sheep they occasion fearful mortality, giving rise to the disease known as ‘the rot,’ and killing thousands of flocks annually.

“The number of species affecting men are usually enumerated as nine—viz. Fasciola hepatica, Distoma crassum, D. lanceolatum, D. ophthalmobium, D. heterophyes, Bilharzia hæmatopia, Tetrastoma renale, Hexathrydium renarum, and H. pinguicola.”

DISTORTIONS. In treating of this subject we shall confine ourselves to those distortions which are preventable—or rather, we may say, of two out of the three which will be discussed, which are voluntary.

One very common form of bodily distortion is crooked or curved spine. It is mostly met with in young girls of from ten to sixteen years of age; and first shows itself either in the elevation of one shoulder above the other, or in a growing out of one of the shoulder blades, or of one side of the bosom beyond the other. The elevated shoulder is generally the right one. At the same time the right side of the chest is unnaturally high, and rounded; whilst the opposite or left shoulder and chest are on the contrary depressed and concave. Very frequently these conditions are accompanied by a projection of the left hip, and a curving inwards of the loins on the right side. With persons so afflicted the spine presents an appearance that has not inaptly been compared to a long italic f.

Spinal curvature arises from a weakened state of the muscles, ligaments, and bones of the backbone. It is most frequently met with in those whose occupation compels them to stand the greater part of the day; as well as in persons who pass many hours at the desk or at needlework. Spinal curvature is also common in young fragile girls acting as nursemaids, and as such unduly subjected to carrying heavy infants on one side. Amongst the children of the poor, those of tender years are much too frequently put to this objectionable form of drudgery. Any one’s recollections of a walk through a poor neighbourhood will enable them to call to mind many instances they must have seen of smaller babes being nursed by larger ones. Those subjected to too long standing, no doubt because the posture affords them relief, unconsciously contract the habit of frequently standing on the right leg—of standing at ease on it, as it is called—and at the same time of bending the left knee a little; and since this position causes the right shoulder to be raised, and the left side of the pelvis to be thrown out of its place, it will be evident from what has been already said that, if persisted in, it will end in distorting the spine in the manner above indicated.

The same results will also follow in those other cases, such for instance as in too long an application at the desk or at the needle, as well as the carrying for an undue length of time a heavy child in the arms; these all being occupations in which one side of the body is subjected to an undue and unequal strain over the other.

“Why one-sided postures should cause distortion must be evident, when it is considered that the intervertebral substance is compressible to such an extent that an adult man of middle stature loses about an inch of his height after having been in the erect posture during the day, and does not regain it till after some hours of rest. Since the united thickness of the intervertebral substance in an adult man is about 3·875 inches, we see that they lose nearly one fourth by compression, which they do not recover till after some hours of rest. But if the weight of the body falls unequally on the spine day after day, it must be evident that they will become compressed on one side more than the other; and that if their elasticity be impaired, and the muscles and ligaments be weak, and the bones soft, as they are in young persons who have not a sufficiency of fresh air, wholesome food and active exercise, this lateral distortion will become permanent.

Another cause tending to distortion of the spine is the foolish habit of using corsets, a practice which contributes to weaken the dorsal muscles. When the shoulders are continually supported by a corset, the dorsal muscles upon which the support ought to fall have their functions usurped by the corset, and hence fail to receive their proper development, and consequently lose their power; the result being an inability on the part of the body to support itself without the corset, and a sinking and bending of the spine when it is removed. In boys, who never wear corsets, spinal curvature is rarely met with. In girls, who do, it is constantly to be found. To guard against spinal distortions, bad and awkward positions of the body should, wherever possible, be prohibited. Amongst the prejudicial postures indulged in by the young, we have already mentioned the habit of standing on one leg and of carrying heavy loads on one side of the body.

To these may be added the habit of lying crooked in bed, and that of young girls spending a long time in a constrained position in dressing their own hair. Every one-sided motion may lead to distortion if it be frequently repeated, and the tendency once existing, the evil grows day by day. The use of corsets should be strenuously discountenanced. The early detection of spinal distortion is a matter of considerable importance. Hence the advisability of mothers, nurses, governesses, and other guardians of children or young girls, frequently examining the bodies of their charges to note if they present any of the peculiarities we have indicated at the commencement of this article. Should any of these develop themselves, aid should immediately be sought of a skilful medical practitioner.

Dr Lewis Sayre, in his work ‘Spinal Disease and Spinal Curvature’ says:—“The great object in the treatment of Pott’s disease is to maintain rest of the affected part by such means as will not debar the patient from the benefits of fresh air, sunlight, and change of scene. The patient should not be permitted to assume the upright position before he has been fitted with some artificial support capable of removing all pressure from the bodies of the diseased vertebræ. This object may be obtained by straightening the spinal column in such a manner that the weight of the body is borne by the transverse processes and not by the bodies of the vertebræ.” Acting on these principles, Dr Sayre partially envelopes the patient in a jacket of plaster of Paris, surrounding the body from the pelvis to the axillæ.

Although Dr Sayre’s work is almost entirely devoted to a much more serious affection of spinal curvature than that treated of here—viz. posterior angular curvature, in which actual disease of the bones of the vertebræ is concerned—his treatment is no less applicable to the milder form of distortion to which our remarks have been directed. Dr Sayre himself states that 300 cases have been treated by his method with very signal success, and very many eminent surgeons bear testimony to the soundness of the principles concerned in it. For the details of its application consult the author’s work before alluded to.

Serious as are the effects very frequently arising from spinal curvature, amongst which may be included lameness, lung disease, and inability to perform the functions of maternity; still worse results in addition to the two last of these ensue in the case of a persistence in another form of distortion, which is none the less dangerous because it is voluntary. The distortion to which we refer is that caused by the practice of tightlacing.

Foremost among the conditions absolutely essential for the preservation of health and bodily well-being, is the due performance of the function of the lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, stomach and other important organs. The object of the ribs within which most of these organs are more or less wholly contained is to protect these latter from external pressure, and therefore injury; as well as to allow them unimpeded and unrestricted action. To ensure this freedom of movement for the parts and organs within the ribs, it will be evident that every possible obstacle tending in any degree to compress them, or circumscribe their limits should be especially avoided.

Instead of the avoidance of such dangers, however, what course do the silly votaries and dupes of that most senseless and remorseless of all tyrants—Fashion—pursue? One the very reverse; and which is opposed, not only to personal comfort and common sense, but, since it mars nature’s outlines, to symmetry and our proper canons of the grace of the female figure. By means of corsets, tight stays, and other implements of torture the ribs are pressed inwards to such an extent that all the conditions we have insisted on as essential to health are imperilled, and eventually become overthrown. Now, this mischievous and unnatural pressure exerted on the stomach pushes that organ out of its proper position, and in doing so forces the diaphragm also out of its place; a disturbance which so curtails the space in which the movements of the lungs and the heart are performed, that if the pernicious custom be persevered in these latter organs become seriously and incurably diseased. The liver also shares in the damage inflicted, and frequently becomes incapable of discharging its office. The very much larger number of young women than of young men who die of consumption is undoubtedly referable to the fact that a large proportion of the majority are the victims of tightlacing. Nor is it difficult to understand why this should be, since we know that if the lungs are prevented exercising their full powers of expansion, unnaturally diminished function will set up disease in them, which, if there be a predisposition, will probably be consumption. This cause also, by preventing the blood becoming properly oxygenated, gives rise to a large class of disorders due to impurity of the vital fluid. Organic disease of the heart is by no means an uncommon contingency if tightlacing be persevered in; for that organ is not allowed room to beat, nor the blood to circulate. One effect of this is seen in frequent fainting fits.

Again, tightlacing not infrequently stops the growth and arrests the development of a young girl’s mammæ, thus seriously incapacitating her from suckling her babe when she becomes a mother. It also indirectly has a very prejudicial effect upon health by preventing its votaries from taking sufficient walking exercise; free bodily movement with accompanying expansion of the lungs becomes impossible with those encased in a vice of unyielding armour, such as constitutes pestilent stays and corsets. Amongst the minor evils wrought by the baleful custom, we may mention indigestion (for the pressure of the stays weakens the stomach, and sets up this troublesome complaint), with its accompaniments of flatulence, heartburn, pain in the chest, &c. Constipation is also another of its attendant ills; so also are bad breath and a red nose.

“I recollect Dr A. Todd Thomson, in his excellent lectures, relating a case he had attended where a young lady appeared to be dying from the evil effects of tightlacing. He cut open her stays and she gradually came to herself. If the worthy doctor had not quickly done what he did, she would soon have been a corpse! Dr Thomson has kindly favoured me with the following interesting particulars of the case for publication:—‘Some years since I was requested to hasten to a house not far from my own to see a lady who had fallen from her chair in a fit whilst eating her dinner. On being ushered to the drawing room of the house where the circumstance had taken place, I saw a lady lying upon a sofa, apparently dead, and several ladies hanging over the couch in great distress. I found little appearance of life except that the temperature of the body was natural; the pulse had ceased to beat, and no respiratory action could be detected. On laying my hand over the region of the heart, I felt that the stays were extremely tightly laced; and conceiving that the suspension of animation arose from that cause, I requested a penknife to be given me, with which I instantly ripped down the stays and gown. In an instant the chest dilated, on the binding matter giving way, which was almost like splitting an overbraced drum; and in a few seconds respiration recommenced and animation returned. In this case the waist was drawn in to a degree that gave a complete hour-glass appearance to the figure, and prevented the descent of the diaphragm, whilst the blood could not circulate, or be renewed in the lungs from the general obstruction of many of the cells and smaller tubes. The quantity of residual air also in the lungs was too small; and this was still diminished by the warmth of some soup, which the lady was eating when she fell from the chair, dilating the gas in her stomach, and consequently pressing that enlarged organ upwards on the lungs. Had I not lived close by, the time necessary to get medical aid from a greater distance might have rendered it unavailable.’ The above narrative by Dr Thomson is valuable not only as illustrating the dangers arising from tightlacing, but also as emphasizing the rationale of its action as stated by ourselves. In the present article we have explained why it is the use of corsets is to be deprecated. We hope we have succeeded in showing how imperatively the abandonment of stays is called for.

Another variety of distortion is that brought about by wearing tight boots and shoes, or boots and shoes constructed upon false principles; for, a boot or shoe may be productive of considerable inconvenience to the wearer, as well as the cause of a certain amount of twisting out of place of the bones of the foot, without necessarily being too small. Amongst the consequences arising from the adoption of tightly fitting or badly constructed boots or shoes may be mentioned the following:—Considerable bodily discomfort, and pain in walking; corns and bunions; growing in of the nails; chronic enlargement of the base of the great toe; caries or ulceration of the bones of the feet; and flat feet. That these are not altogether minor evils may be inferred when it is stated that, in order to obtain relief from the effects of a bunion, partial amputation of the foot has been sometimes found necessary; that the first attacks of gout mostly seize the joint of the ball of the great toe when that joint has become weakened by displacement following the use of faulty boots and shoes; and that a flat foot interferes with the proper performance of walking.

The above figure (No. 1) represents the skeleton of the foot with the bones which form it in their natural position, and in which they are admirably adapted for executing the various movements required of them.

It will be seen to consist of twenty-six bones, fourteen of which constitute the toes; the remaining twelve bones enter into the formation of what are termed the tarsus and metatarsus.

The five long bones (a) are the metatarsal bones. The toes form joints with the fore part of these metatarsal bones. The remaining seven are the tarsal bones; b, which is one of these, is named the astragalus, and being gripped on each side by a continuation from the bones of the leg called the malleolus, thus forms the ankle-joint.

Fig. 2 gives a representation of the inner aspect and side view of the foot. It will be seen that it is an arch resting in front on the anterior heads of the five metatarsal bones, a, but chiefly on that of the great toe, and on the calcaneum or heel (b) behind.

The astragalus, c, forms the key-stone of the arch. This arch, which supports the superincumbent weight of the body, retains its curved form by means of strong ligaments or bands, which unite the bones which compose it into a compact but withal flexible mass. The arch, owing to the pressure thrown upon it from above, becomes flattened when the foot is resting on the ground; but when this pressure is removed and the foot hangs free, the curvature of the arch increases. In front of the metatarsal bones are placed the toes, which are connected with the metatarsal bones by joints. The great toe has one joint; each of the smaller ones has two.

Fig. 3 depicts the skeleton of a foot with the bones thrown out of their natural position, the contortion being the result of wearing tightly fitting or unscientifically constructed boots or shoes. The following extracts from Dr Hermann Meyer will best illustrate how nature’s simple mechanical arrangements must be thwarted when coverings for the feet are permitted to be constructed which can give rise to distortions such as those represented in Figure 3. Dr Meyer says “the great toe plays by far the most important part in walking; because when the foot is raised from the ground with the intention of throwing it forwards, we first raise the heel, then rest for a second on the great toe, and in lifting this from the ground the point of it receives a pressure which impels the body forwards. Thus, in raising the foot the whole of the sole is gradually, as it were, ‘unrolled’ up to the point of the great toe, which again receives an impetus by contact with the ground.

The great toe ought, therefore, to have such a position as will admit of its being unrolled in the manner described; that is to say, it must so lie that the line of its axis, when, carried backwards, will emerge at the centre of the heel; and this is its position in the healthy foot. The sole of an almost sound foot is given in Fig. 4, and the true position of the great toe is indicated by the dotted line. This relation is still better brought out in Fig. 5, which represents the well-preserved foot of a child about two years old. The line drawn through both figures is that in which the foot unrolls itself from the ground. The smaller toes, however, are by no means without their uses. In standing they rest on the ground and give lateral support to the foot; while in walking they are bent in a peculiar manner, so that they are firmly pressed against the ground; and here too they support the foot laterally. The first joint is strongly bent upwards, while the second is hollow above. This peculiar curvature enables the toe in a measure to lay hold of the ground as with bird’s claws.”

Dr Meyer then proceeds to show how the application of these principles is entirely disregarded in the manufacture of our boots and shoes, and to demonstrate that their neglect gives rise to the objectionable consequences we have before alluded to. As boots and shoes are at present constructed, the foot is made to adapt itself to the sole, not the sole to the foot. This pernicious system must be abandoned if we wish to preserve our feet, as well as our personal comfort.

“A sole,” says Dr Meyer, “is of the proper construction when a line (see Fig. 6, c d) drawn at half the breadth of the great toe distant from, and parallel to, the inner margin of that toe shall, when carried backwards, pass through the centre of the heel. In the usual form of a sole this line passes out of the inner margin of the heel (see Fig. 7). If, then, the preservation of the primary straight line is, as has been already shown, the principal point in the formation of a proper sole, it follows that, if it be thought desirable to have pointed shoes, the pointing must be effected from the outer side, as indicated in the annexed Fig. 8. In a pair of shoes made on these principles, placed side by side with the heels in contact, the inner margins of the front part of the foot are also brought close together” (Fig. 9).

Dr Meyer’s pamphlet contains the following strictures on ‘High heels’ to boots and shoes: “It is usual, in all shoes of even moderate strength, to make the heel a little higher by means of what is called the heel-piece. These heel-pieces are generally of some little use, especially in dirty weather, and we cannot wholly deny their right to existence. But at the same time they ought to be as low as possible, and heels an inch thick, as is at present very commonly the case, have very serious disadvantages indeed.

“The weight of the body is by this means thrown in a disproportionate ratio on the toes, the joints of which are consequently overstrained. Moreover, with a high heel the sole is so oblique in its direction that the foot must be constantly gliding forwards and forcibly pressing the toes into the point of the shoe. The toes, therefore, even when the shoe is sufficiently long, are subjected to the same injuries and disfigurations as if it were too short, and the effects are doubly hurtful when the form of the sole is also incorrect. High heels, especially if they are also very small; are peculiarly liable to wear obliquely, and so the shoe gets trodden on one side; they must, therefore, be peculiarly favorable to origin of flat-foot.

High and small heels are therefore quite unsuitable. The heel-piece ought to be as low and broad as possible.”

Further and more explicit knowledge on this subject may be obtained from Dr Meyer’s excellent little pamphlet entitled ‘Procrustes ante portas,’ very ably translated into English by Mr J. T. Craig, L.R.C.E., under the title of ‘Why the Shoe Pinches.’

DIURE′SIS. See Urine.

DIURET′ICS. Syn. Diuretica. Medicines which promote the secretion of urine. The principal diuretics are—aqueous fluids, which act by increasing the watery portion of the blood, and—substances which promote the action of the kidneys. Most of the first produce copious diuresis if the skin is kept cool. Among the last are acetate, bitartrate, and nitrate of potassa; oils of juniper, turpentine, cajeput, and copaiba; dilute spirit, and sweet spirits of nitre; decoction of common broom, &c.

DIVIDIVI. An astringent substance imported from Jamaica. It contains above 5% of tannin; whilst gall-nuts contain less than 3·5%, and the best oak-bark only 1·35%. Hence its value in tanning.

DOBEREINER’S LAMP. A portable apparatus for obtaining instantaneous light by the action of a jet of hydrogen on a small piece of spongy platinum.

DOCHMIUS DUODENALIS. An intestinal parasitic worm. Its length is from ⁄3 to ⁄2 an inch and its breadth about ⁄60th of an inch. It is furnished with hooklets. It is found in the duodenum, the ileum, and the jejunum of man, and Greisinger seems to have pretty conclusively established that it is the cause of the disease so prevalent in Egypt, and known as the Egyptian chlorosis. Anemia, dysentery, and hemorrhoids and liver diseases are also frequently caused by it amongst the natives of Arabia, Brazil, and Northern Italy. In India it is also stated to give rise to some very alarming maladies. Leuchart affirms that it obtains an entrance into the system through drinking impure water.

DOC′IMACY or DOCIMAS′TIC ART. See Assaying.

DOG. The effect of medicines on dogs is much the same as on man; but there are some striking exceptions to this rule. Thus, whilst the dog can take a dose of aloes six or eight times as large as that given to man, the administration of half as much calomel or oil of turpentine would be productive of serious injury to the animal. The idea usually entertained, therefore, that medicines may be given to dogs in doses equalling those taken by man requires considerable modification. Dogs have a short and straight alimentary canal, in consequence of which purgative medicines act more quickly upon them than they do on other veterinary subjects. The facility with which dogs can be made to vomit is also another peculiarity possessed by them. Vomiting may be produced by their swallowing nauseous or unpalatable matters, as well as from their eating various sorts of grass. A good plan to prevent dogs vomiting their medicines is to keep the head well raised for an hour after the administration; and this may be easily accomplished by attaching a chain or cord to the collar, and fixing it at the requisite height, to any object. The kidneys are acted upon with much more difficulty than with the horse, whilst the skin seems nearly, if not altogether incapable of being affected. We give below a list of medicines for dogs; premising that the doses required vary considerably according to the strength, size, and age of the dog, all of which should always be duly taken into account. The doses prescribed in the following formulæ are for moderately large dogs:—

Physic Balls and other Purgative Medicines:—

1. Barbadoes aloes, 8 oz., antimonial powder, 1 oz., ginger, 1 oz., palm oil, 5 oz.; beat together into a mass.—Dose. From ⁄2 dr. to 2 dr. every 4 or 6 hours, till the bowels are relieved. (Youatt.)

2. The same, with the addition of 1 oz. of calomel. He directs from 45 gr. to 2 dr. for a dose. (Clater.)

3. Aloes, ⁄2 dr. to 2 dr. made into a ball with syrup of ginger.

4. Aloes, ⁄2 dr. to 1⁄2 dr., calomel, 2 to 5 gr., syrup to form a ball; in inflammation of the bowels, and in worms. (Blaine.)

5. Cape aloes, ⁄2 dr. to 1 dr., calomel, 2 to 3 gr., oil of caraway, 6 drops, syrup to form a ball. (M′Ewen.)

6. Calomel, 12 gr., aloes, 3 dr., opium, 1 gr., syrup q. s. to form a mass, for 4, 6, or 8 balls; one every 4 or 5 hours till the bowels are relieved. (Blaine.)

7. Croton oil, 1 drop, Castile soap, 20 gr., conserve to form a ball.

8. Castor oil, 3 parts, syrup of buckthorn, 2 parts, syrup of poppies, 1 part.—Dose. From 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls.—Mr Youatt’s purge. [Mr Clark says syrup of buckthorn for dogs should be made with treacle, and the spices omitted.]

9. Epsom salts, from 1 to 4 dr., wrapped in tissue paper, dividing the doses into convenient-sized packets.

10. In costiveness with inflammation: ⁄2 oz. to 2 oz. castor oil. (Mr Spooner.)

Alterative Balls and Powders:—

1. Sulphur, 2⁄2 lb.; nitre, ⁄2 lb.; Æthiops mineral, 4 oz.; linseed meal, ⁄2 lb.; palm oil, 1 lb., or as much as may be required; beat together, and keep in a jar for use.—Dose, from 2 scruples to 1⁄2 or 2 dr. (Clater.)

2. Ethiops mineral, 20 to 40 gr.; cream of tartar, 20 to 40 gr.; nitre, 5 to 10 gr.; night and morning, made into a ball with butter. (Spooner.)

3. Tonic Alterative. Mercurial pill, 1 dr.; aloes 2 dr.; myrrh, benzoin, balsam of Peru, of each 1⁄2 dr.; to be divided into 10, 15, or 20 pills: one every evening, for the yellows, after aloes and calomel. (Blaine.)

4. Alterative Powder. Æthiops mineral, 2 to 5 gr.; cream of tartar, 4 to 10 gr., tartarised iron, 1 to 3 gr., once a day. (Clater.)

5. To give a fine skin. Give a table-spoonful of tar made up with oatmeal. (Mayer.)

Astringent Balls, &c.:—

1. Catechu, 1⁄2 dr.; sulphate of quinine, 20 gr.; opium, 5 gr.; ginger, 1 dr.; conserve of roses, q. s. to form a mass, to be divided into 8, 6, or 4 balls. (Blaine.)

2. Prepared chalk, 2 oz.; powdered gum Arabic, ⁄2 oz.; powdered catechu, ⁄2 oz.; powdered oak bark, ⁄2 oz.; powdered ginger, ⁄4 oz.; opium, 15 gr.; palm oil, 1 oz.; beat well together.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 2 dr., morning, noon, and night, in the advanced stage of distemper. (Clater.)

3. Opium, 5 gr.; catechu, 2 dr.; gum Arabic, 2 dr.; ginger, ⁄2 dr.; syrup of poppies, q. s.; divide into 12, 9, or 6 balls: in diarrhœa. (Blaine.)

4. Myrrh, 1 dr.; ipecacuanha, 1 scruple; opium, 3 gr.; chalk, 2 dr.; carbonate of iron, 1 dr.; as No. 3. (Blaine.)

5. In obstinate cases: Alum, 1 dr.; chalk, 2 dr.; opium, 6 gr.; resin, 3 dr.; into 4, 6, or 8 balls.

6. In diarrhœa, after 1 to 4 dr. of Epsom salts; prepared chalk, 1 to 3 scruples; catechu, 5 to 10 gr.; opium, ⁄4 to 2 gr.; twice a day. (Spooner.)

Cough Balls in Asthma, &c.:—

1. After a few emetics. Calomel, 3 gr.; foxglove, 3 gr.; cream of tartar, 1 dr.; antimonial powder, 12 gr.; honey to form 6 boluses. One twice a day. (Blaine.)

2. Digitalis, 20 gr.; antimonial powder, 40 gr.; nitre, 2 dr.; sulphur, 3 dr.; palm oil, 3 dr., or q. s. Divide into 10, 15, or 20 balls, according to the size of the dog, morning and night, interposing an emetic every third or fourth day. (Clater.)

3. In old cases. P. squill, ⁄2 gr. to 1 gr.; gum ammoniac, 5 gr.; balsam of Peru, 8 gr.; benzoic acid, 1 gr.; balsam of sulphur to form a ball.

4. Extract of hemlock, ⁄2 dr.; extract of henbane, 10 gr.; p. digitalis, 20 gr.; conserve of roses to form a mass. Divide into 8, 10, or 6 balls. One night and morning. (Blaine.)

Distemper Medicines:—

1. Turbeth mineral, 1 to 3 gr.; assafœtida, ⁄2 dr.; aloes, 20 gr.; soap, 10 gr.; syrup of poppies to form a ball. To be preceded by an emetic, and given every third day.

2. After an emetic, give a physic ball; and afterwards the following, two or three times a day:—Antimonial powder, 2, 3, or 4 gr.; nitre, 5, 10, or 15 gr.; ipecacuanha, 2, 3, or 4 gr.; form a ball. If the disease proceed to the debilitating stage, give the Tonic Ball No. 2; in the putrid or malignant stage give the Astringent Ball No. 1. (Blaine.)

3. After the Emetic Powder No. 1 (which should be repeated every 3rd or 4th day) give the Cough Ball No. 2, from ⁄2 dr. to 2 dr. in weight. And if the dog lose flesh, give equal parts of the cough ball and the Tonic Ball (No. 1). In the more advanced stages give the tonic alone; or the astringent ball if diarrhœa comes on. (Clater.)

4. Give a third of a paper of James’s powder mixed with butter, and afterwards warm broth or milk. In 2 hours, another third; and if this neither vomit nor purge, give the other third at the end of 4 hours. (Daniel.)

5. Blaine’s distemper powders, which are sold in packets, with directions for use.

6. Camphor, 3 to 5 gr.; charcoal, 10 gr.; opium, 1 gr.; aromatic confection, q. s. to form a ball.—In the malignant stage, with diarrhœa.

7. Antimomal powder, 2 to 4 gr.; nitre, 5 to 10 gr.; digitalis, ⁄4 to 2 gr. Afterwards the Tonic Pills No. 4. (Spooner.)

Poudre Kusique: a French nostrum. Mix 45 gr. of nitre, 45 of sulphur, and 1 charcoal. Divide into 3 doses. Give 1 for 2 successive mornings, and the third on the 4th morning, mixed with lard or butter, or in milk. For a large dog a second packet (of 3 powders) may be required. (Habert.)

Another French nostrum. Hemel’s Powder is of a similar kind.

8. A strong solution of salt, to the amount of ⁄2 pint daily.

9. Powdered tin, sulphur, gunpowder, of each 1 oz.; lard sufficient to form a mass. The size of a nutmeg to be given twice or thrice a week.

10. Physic Ball No. 11.

11. ⁄4 oz. to 1 fl. oz. of cod-liver oil twice a day, according to size.

12. Emetics, gentle laxatives, milk diet, and from 5 to 15 gr. of chlorate of potash twice a day. (Finlay Dun.)

Worm Medicines:—

1. Carbonate of iron, ⁄2 oz.; Æthiops mineral, 1 dr.; gentian, 1 oz.; ginger, ⁄2 oz.; levigated glass, 1 oz.; palm oil, 9 dr.; beat well together.—Dose, from ⁄4 to 2 dr. (Clater.)

2. As much very finely-powdered glass as will lie on a sixpence, mixed with butter (Blaine). Mr Youatt says from ⁄2 dr. to 1 dr.; powdered glass, with a little ginger, made into a ball with lard.

3. Aloes, sulphur, prepared hartshorn, and juice of wormwood, made into a mass; the size of a hazel nut to be given three times a week, fasting, wrapped in butter. (Daniel.)

4. Tin filings, or pewter filings, ⁄2 dr. to 1 dr., with butter or lard.

5. Jalap, 10 to 15 gr.; calomel, 2 to 3 gr. mixed with butter; no cold liquid should be allowed. (White.)

6. Cowhage, ⁄2 dr.; iron filings, 4 dr.; conserve q. s. to form a mass, to be divided into 4, 6, or 8 balls; one every night and morning; and afterwards the purgative No. 4. (Blaine.)

7. Epsom salts, 1 oz.; common salt, 1 dr.; give a small or large teaspoonful daily.

8. Give green walnut leaves boiled in milk. (Mayer.)

9. From ⁄2 dr. to 2 dr., according to size. Betel nut in coarse powder, made into a ball.

10. For Tapeworm.—Oil of turpentine, ⁄2 dr., mixed with yolk of egg; for very large dogs, 2 scruples. Some writers prescribe larger doses (1 to 2 dr.), but these sometimes prove fatal. (Blaine.) 2 to 6 dr. of cusso according to size.

11. For Tapeworm.—Oil of turpentine and olive oil, of each ⁄2 oz.; mix, and give carefully; 3 or 4 hours after give 1 oz. castor oil. But see No. 9. (White.)

12. For Stomach Worms.—Give the emetic powder (see further back) and afterwards a physic ball.

13. Threadworms.—These are destroyed by an aloetic clyster.

Ointments and Lotions for the Mange:—

N.B.—An alterative ball should be given daily and a physic ball occasionally. Bleeding is sometimes prescribed.

For Scabby Mange.—Sulphur, 4 oz.; sal ammoniac, ⁄2 oz.; aloes, 1 dr.; Venice turpentine, ⁄2 oz.; lard, 6 oz.; mix. After four applications, wash well with soap and water. (Blaine.)

2. Horse turpentine and palm oil, each ⁄2 lb.; train oil, ⁄2 pint. Melt together, and while cooling, stir in 3 lbs. of flowers of sulphur. (Clater.)

3. Aloes, 2 dr.; hellebore, ⁄2 oz.; sulphur, 4 oz.; lard or train oil, 6 oz. (McEwen.)

4. Sulphate of zinc, 1 dr.; snuff, ⁄2 oz.; white hellebore, ⁄2 oz.; sulphur, 4 oz.; aloes, ⁄4 oz.; soft soap, 6 oz. (Blaine.)

5. Charcoal powder, 2 oz.; sulphur, 4 oz.; salt of tartar, 1 dr.; Venice turpentine, ⁄2 oz.; lard, 6 oz.

6. For Red Mange.—Add 1 oz. of strong mercurial ointment to 6 oz. of either of the above.

7. Charcoal, 1 oz.; chalk, 1 oz.; sugar of lead, 1 dr.; white precipitate, 2 dr.; sulphur, 2 oz.; lard, 5 oz. (Blaine.)

8. Wash for Red Mange.—Corrosive sublimate, 20 gr.; spirit of wine, 2 dr.; dissolve and add milk of sulphur, ⁄2 oz.; lime-water, ⁄2 pint. Apply by means of a sponge. (Clater.)

9. For Ulcerated Mange.—Ointment of nitrated quicksilver, 2 dr.; sugar of lead, 20 gr.; flowers of sulphur, ⁄2 oz.; lard, 1 oz.; mix. (Blaine.)

Fleas:—

1. Rub the skin with the powdered resin and bran.

2. Let the dog sleep on deal shavings.

3. Scotch snuff steeped in gin. (Meyer.) (This requires caution.)

4. Oil of aniseed. (Finlay Dun.)

5. Persian insect powder.

DOG-BALLS (A. H. Bôldt, Genf). Hard pills, weighing 15 grammes, of irregular shape and unequal size, composed of aloes with ⁄3 of gentian, and covered with a brown powder containing liquorice root. (Hager.)

DOORS. Much annoyance is sometimes experienced from the creaking of doors. This may be prevented by rubbing a little soap or a mixture of tallow and black-lead on the hinges; or by applying to them with a feather a little sweet oil once or twice a year. The trifling trouble and expense (a penny or two a twelvemonth) will be amply repaid by their noiselessness and greater durability. To prevent the noise of doors slamming, a small piece of vulcanised india rubber, cork, or leather may be placed so as to receive the shock.

DOSE. In medicine the quantity taken or prescribed at one time. The doses of medicaments vary with the sex, age, temperament, constitutional strength, habituation, and idiosyncrasies of individuals. Different circumstances, especially of climate, exercise an important influence on the activity of medicines. Thus, the inhabitants of England and the northern countries of Europe bear much larger doses in their own climates than when they remove to warmer latitudes. Warmth, indeed, appears to promote the action of most medicaments, whilst cold acts in a contrary way. Nor does the same rule apply to all medicines. Calomel, for instance, is generally borne better by children than by adults; while opium affects them more powerfully, and requires the dose to be diminished considerably below that indicated by mere calculation or analogy with other medicines.

Prescribers ought not to forget that the action of medicines is not simply proportioned to the amount, but that each remedy has a dose below which it either produces no effect or one contrary to that which we desire it to produce. Dr Paris remarks, “that powerful doses are disposed to produce local rather than general effects;” and Dr Barlow gives it as his opinion that “practitioners often err, especially in the treatment of chronic maladies, from requiring an obvious effect from each dose administered.” Adult women are said to require only three fourths the full dose for men. The following rules and tables have been framed chiefly with reference to age; but, as Dr R. E. Griffith correctly observes, “no scheme can be devised, founded on age alone, to which there are not many exceptions.”

I. Formula of Dr Young.

For children under 12 years, the doses of most medicines must be diminished in the proportion of the age to the age increased by 12. Thus, at 2 years, the dose will be 1-7th of that for an adult.

2
for —————— = 1-7th.
2 + 12

II. Posological Table of Gaubius.

For an adult, suppose the dose to be 1, or 1 drachm (60 grains).

Under 1 year will require ⁄12 or 5 grains.

” 2 years ” ⁄8 or 8 grains.

” 3 ” ” ⁄6 or 10 grains.

” 4 ” ” ⁄4 or 15 grains.

” 7 ” ” ⁄3 or 1 scruple.

” 14 ” ” ⁄2 or ⁄2 drachm.

” 20 ” ” ⁄3 or 2 scruples.

” 21 to 60, the full dose, or 1 or 1 drachm.

Above this age an inverse gradation must be observed.

III. Posological Table of Phoebus.

Age— Years 80 65 50 25-40 20 16 12 8 5 2

Doses ⁄8 ⁄4 ⁄8 1 ⁄8 ⁄4 ⁄8 ⁄2 ⁄8 ⁄4

” Months 12 6 2 1

Doses ⁄5 ⁄8 ⁄15 ⁄24

DOUCHE. [Fr.] Syn. Douche bath. A species of bath much employed by hydropathists, both for the relief of local affections, and to give a healthy stimulus to the whole system. The douche consists of a single jet of cold water, varying in size from the thickness of a quill to that of a man’s arm; it is projected with great force, either from above, below, or on one side, upon a particular part of the body. See Bath (Shower).

DOUGLAS′ DISINFECTING POWDER. A mixture of sulphite of calcium, chalk, and carbolic acid, or of sulphite and carbonate of lime.

DOVER’S POWDERS. See Powder.

DRAB DYE. 1. (For cotton.) For 40 lbs. Boil 6 lbs. of fustic; scald 2⁄2 lbs. of Lima wood and 2 lbs. of sumach. Decant into a wooden vessel, capable of containing 100 gallons; reduce with cold water to handling heat; enter, 6 turns; wring out; sadden with 8 ounces of copperas; 4 turns; wring out again, and give 4 ounces of bluestone.

2. (For silk.) For 100 yards. Boil 4 lbs. of fustic and 6 ounces of logwood, 2⁄2 ounces of cudbear, 1⁄4 ounce of copperas. Cool to 200° Fahr.; enter, winch 20 minutes; air out; repeat; then take a little of the liquor out of the boiler, dissolve the copperas, reduce it to handling heat with water, and give one or two shots through it, as the pattern requires; one water out of the saddening; then give a warm but weak sour to clear the colour, wash in two waters, and dry.

3. (For Wool.) Dark drab. For 50 lbs. 7 lbs. of fustic, 8 ounces of madder, 4 ounces of cudbear, 2 lbs. of alum, 8 ounces of tartar. Enter between the cold and 160° Fahr.; after heating up boil from 10 to 30 minutes; wash in two waters. All dark shades of this may be slightly prepared with chrome; wash in two waters.

4. (For wool.) Light drab. For 56 lbs. 4 lbs. of fustic, 1⁄4 lb. of alum, 4 ounces of madder, 4 ounces of tartar, 3⁄2 ounces of cudbear. Work as for dark drab.

DRACONINE. Syn. Dra′cine, Red resin of dragon’s blood. A peculiar vegetable principle discovered by M. Melandre in dragon’s blood.

Prep. Dragon’s blood is dissolved in alcohol, the solution filtered, concentrated, and precipitated with cold water; the red, spongy precipitate is well washed, neutralised with dilute sulphuric acid, again liberated by means of an alkali, and well washed with water.

Prop., &c. Draconine has a fine red colour; is tasteless, inodorous, and flexible; it fuses at 131° Fahr. The smallest quantity of carbonate of lime in filtering paper may be detected by sulphate of draconine, the yellow colour instantly turning red.

“DRAGEES AU LACTATE DE FER.” (Gélis & Conté.) 100 grammes of lactate of iron made into 2,000 very small pills with powder and mucilage of marshmallow, and coated with eleosaccharate of anise. (Reveil.)

DRAGEES DE COPAHU DE FORTIN. 30 grammes balsam of copaiba made into 72 dragées, with 1·2 grammes calcined magnesia, and coated first with gum arabic and then with sugar. (Reveil.)

DRAGEES DE CUBEBE AU COPAHU. Cubebines (Labelonye). 2 parts balsam of copaiba, 2 parts extract of cubebs, 1 part yolk of egg, with sufficient liquorice powder to make a mass, which is divided into oblong pills, each weighing 7 decigrammes. These are dried and coated with white or raw sugar. (Hager.)

DRAGEES DE POUGUES. (Garnier.) Chloride of calcium, 50 parts; chloride of magnesium, 50 parts; chloride of iron, 10 parts; dissolved in water and precipitated with sodium carbonate. The precipitate is washed, pressed, and mixed with 100 parts bicarbonate of soda. Of this mixture 25 parts are made into a mass with 475 parts of a paste of sugar, peppermint, oil, and mucilage. The mass is then divided into dragées weighing 5 decigrammes, which are coated with gum and sugar. (Reveil.)

DRAGON’S BLOOD. Syn. Sanguis draconis, L. A rich red-coloured resin, obtained from various species of the genus Calamus. Its colour, in the lump, is a dark brownish-red; in powder, bright red. It is friable, breaks with a shining fracture, and has a sp. gr. not higher than 1·196 or 1·197. When pure, it readily dissolves in alcohol, ether, and oils, yielding rich red, transparent solutions. Adulterated and factitious dragon’s blood is only partly soluble, and lacks the rich colour of the genuine article. Dragon’s blood is chiefly used to tinge varnishes and lacquers.

Dragon’s Blood, Factitious. Prep. 1. Shell-lac, 4 lbs.; melt, remove from the fire, and add, Canada balsam, 6 oz., and gum benzoin, 2 oz.; mix well, stir in red sanders wood, 1⁄2 lb., and Venetian red, ⁄4 lb. (both in fine powder); and form the mass into sticks.

2. As the last, omitting the red Venetian.

DRAINS. The salubrity of a dwelling-house is largely dependent upon the sound condition, the unimpeded outlet from, and the proper construction and position of, its drains, supplemented by like conditions in the various house-pipes which run from the sinks and closets into them.

The sense in which we shall use the term “drain” is that defined by the Public Health Act of 1875:—“‘Drain’ means any drain of, and used for the drainage of one building only, or premises within the same curtilage, and made merely for the purpose of communicating therefrom with a cesspool or other like receptacle for drainage, or with a sewer into which the drainage of two or more buildings or premises occupied by different persons is conveyed.”

There can be no doubt that the almost universal system pursued with regard to house drainage is radically irrational and dangerous. As the drains lead into the main sewer or cesspool it is most important that the house-pipes which communicate with the drains should be so connected with them and arranged, as to remove all risk of the foul air of the sewers passing into them through the drains, and thus (should the pipes be imperfect) escaping into and defiling the atmosphere of the house—a very possible contingency for two reasons, first, because the traps connecting the pipes with the drains may be defective, and, second, because the aspiratory power of the warm house is constantly tending to draw air (the sewer air) through the water in the water trap. Instead of making the connection, as is now so universally done, between the sink and closet and other pipes and the drain, by means of a water trap, underneath the basement, this junction should be effected outside the house. The drains should, therefore, always terminate outside, and not under the house; and wherever practicable all house-pipes should be carried outside, and not inside, or between the walls of any dwelling, the objections to which have been already stated. In cases, however, in which this arrangement is impossible of execution, and a pipe can only be carried through the house from the front to the rear, it is far better to take it above the basement than underneath.

The interposition of the water in the trap at the point of union between the house-pipe and the drain is not alone sufficient to effect the necessary amount of disconnection between them. There must be thorough ventilation and communication with the outer air at the point of junction, otherwise there is danger that the emanations from the sewer may find their way into the house, as in the former case.

A great number of methods have been devised for disconnecting the house-pipes and the outside drains, the simplest of which consists in placing the trap just outside the house, in opening the drain on the side of the trap the furthest from the house, and in carrying up from it a four-inch pipe to as great a height as is convenient. By this means any noxious gas that might escape from the drain is diverted from the house, and ascends into and diffuses into the superincumbent atmosphere.

In the arrangement of the house-pipes it is desirable not to carry the pipes which convey away the sink water and the waste water into the closet-soil pipes, but, wherever it can be managed, to let them discharge over a grating into the drain trap. Where we have to deal with soil or water-closet pipes, or with a pipe formed by the junction of these with the waste-water pipe (if such an arrangement is unavoidable), it is most important that there should be complete disconnection between the pipe and the drain by means of one of the many ventilating contrivances so well known to sanitary engineers.

The best material for the manufacture of drain pipes is hard, well-burnt, smooth, and glazed earthenware; bricks and porous earthenware are particularly ill adapted for the purpose; so also are iron pipes, unless they are thoroughly cemented inside.

In the laying of drain pipes care should be taken to place them on concrete, in loose soils, and on well-worked puddled clay, in the case of clay soils. When they are laid in very loose soils it is sometimes necessary, besides employing concrete, to additionally use even piling for the depth of a foot. Leakage and consequent soakage of the soil are sure to take place sooner or later if the drain pipes are not laid on a good foundation, as they are when the drains are badly and carelessly joined.

Messrs Brooke, of Huddersfield, have invented a combined drain and subsoil pipe, the latter, on which the drain pipe rests, being perforated, carries off the subsoil water. This contrivance is adapted for wet soils.

When junction pipes are required for uniting the drain pipes those known as “oblique junctions” only should be used. The junctions known as “square junctions” should be avoided, as they are always sure to become blocked up.

With respect to the fall of drain pipes Dr Parkes says, “one in forty-eight is frequently given, or three quarters of an inch in every yard; a fall of one in sixty-five in drains of six inches diameter, and one in eighty-seven in drains of eight inches diameter, will give a velocity of 220 feet per minute.

In order that drain pipes may be properly cleaned it is desirable to have them so made that they can be opened at intervals by means of lids or caps. The following cuts represent a few of the many kinds of pipes adapted for this purpose.

In addition to this method of cleansing them, drain pipes should be regularly flushed out at least once a month. House pipes are usually cleaned out by means of a flexible bamboo, or by jointed rods fitted with screws and rollers, which serve to loosen sediment. A frequent examination of all house pipes and traps should be made, and every joint and bend of the former well looked to. Unfortunately, however, they are so frequently covered in, that this is impossible.

Where it can be done all skirting boards and covers under which the pipes and traps are concealed should be removed. When, however, this cannot be managed the following plan of examination into their condition may be followed:—Pour water down the pipe, and observe if there be any smell; if there be, the pipe is full of foul air, and requires ventilation; or else the trap is defective, and the bad smell is due to sewer gas. Or, instead of pouring down water, a lighted candle or a piece of smouldering brown paper may be held over the entrance of the pipe, or the grating over a trap, when the air will be driven back. If the condition of the pipe be tested by throwing water down it, it should be noticed whether the water runs away at once or whether it is checked in its progress. This is all that, under the circumstances, can be done inside the house; but though an examination of the pipe is precluded inside, it may be possible to remove the earth on the outside, and so to get down to and open the drain with which the pipe communicates. Under these circumstances water mixed with lime should be poured down the house pipe; if the milky-looking water is long in making its appearance, and runs only in driblets, the drain requires flushing; if the milky-looking water is much coloured and mixed with dirt, then the pipes and trap are foul, or there is a sinking or depression in some part of the drain where the water is lodging.

Afterwards a pailful of lime and water should be poured down the pipe, which should be afterwards flushed by pouring water down it until the water flows off nearly clear.

Referring to the construction and position of the pipes which carry off the waste water, soil, &c., from our houses into the drains, Dr Parkes writes—“Builders are always anxious to conceal tubes, and thus carry them inside the walls, or in the case of hollow walls, between the two. The consequence is that any escape of air must be into the house. I have known a case in which the leakage of a closet pipe carried down in a hollow wall constantly contaminated the air of a house. It would be infinitely better to run the pipes at once through the wall to the outside. Few persons have any idea of the carelessness of plumbers’ work—of the bad junctions, and of the rapidity with which pipes get out of order and decay. When a leaden pipe carrying water is led into a water-closet discharge pipe, it is frequently simply puttied in, and very soon the dried putty breaks away, and there is a complete leakage of gas into the house. Even if well joined the lead pipe will, it is said, contract and expand, and thus openings are at last formed. Dr Fergus, of Glasgow, has directed particular attention to this in the case of lead closet pipes, which become easily perforated, and which have only a limited duration of wear.” See Traps, Sewers.

DRAUGHT. Syn. Haustus, L. A single dose of liquid medicine, usually dispensed in one-and-a-half-ounce or two-ounce phials. Draughts are almost exclusively extemporaneous compounds, and differ from ‘mixtures’ only in containing one dose; whereas mixtures contain several. The latter have now very generally superseded draughts among all but the higher classes, when the dose is to be frequently repeated. Draughts possess the advantages of extreme convenience, and, from only one phial being opened at a time, of preserving the preparation better than when it is exposed to the air by the frequent removal of the cork. They are usually taken from a wine-glass, which they about ⁄3rds fill.

In the preparation of draughts the same precautions are observed as are pointed out under Mixture; regard being had to the increased volume of the dose. The ingredients of a six-ounce mixture, for example, containing (say) 12 doses, may be equally distributed among a dozen draught phials, after which each may be filled up with distilled water, or any other simple vehicle. In most cases a little syrup may be advantageously added. In many instances no addition will be required, the doses of each form of preparation being the same.

The following are useful formulæ, which will serve as examples for others of the class. The number might be easily multiplied, and, indeed, might be extended so as to include ⁄4ths of the whole materia medica; but such a plan would lead to useless repetitions, and occupy much space. See Mixture, Prescribing, &c.

Draught, Abernethy’s. See Abernethy Medicines and Mixture.

Draught, Ace′tate of Ammo′′nia. Syn. Haustus ammoniæ acetatis, L. Prep. 1. (St. B. Hosp.) Solution of acetate of ammonia, 4 fl. dr.; water to make 1⁄2 fl. oz.

2. (Dr Paris.) Camphor mixture, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; liquor of acetate of ammonia, 4 fl. dr.; antimonial wine, 20 drops; mix. As a refrigerant and diaphoretic in febrile affections; taken late in the evening.

Draught, Ac′etate of Potas′sa. Syn. Haustus potassæ acetatis, L. Prep. (Mid. Hosp.) Acetate of potassa, 30 gr.; bicarbonate of potassa, 20 gr.; peppermint water, 1 fl. oz. Diuretic, antacid, and laxative.

Draught, Ammoni′acal. Syn. Haustus ammoniacalis, H. ammoniæ, L. Prep. (Brande.) Liquor of ammonia, 20 to 30 drops; compound tincture of cardamoms and tincture of gentian, of each ⁄2 fl. dr.; campho-mixture, 1⁄2 fl. oz. An aromatic absorbent and stomachic; in heartburn, acidity, low spirits, &c.

Draught, An′odyne. Syn. Haustus anodynus, L. Prep. 1. Tincture of opium, 15 drops; pimento water and syrup of poppies, of each 2 dr.; water, 1 fl. oz.

2. (Copland.) Nitre, 6 gr.; laudanum, 12 drops; compound spirit of ether, 1 fl. dr.; syrup of poppies, 2 fl. dr.; camphor mixture, 9 fl. dr.

3. (Ellis.) Tincture of opium, 15 to 25 drops; syrup of poppies, 2 fl. dr.; spirit of cinnamon, 1 fl. dr.; distilled water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.

4. As the above, but substituting a like quantity of solution of either acetate or hydrochlorate of morphia in lieu of the laudanum. All the above are given as soothing draughts to allay pain and produce sleep, especially the last thing at night. No. 4 is to be preferred if there are febrile symptoms present.

Draught, Antac′id. Syn. Haustus antacidus, L. Prep. 1. Bicarbonate of soda, 20 gr.; tincture of calumba, 3 fl. dr.; tincture of hops, 1 fl. dr.; syrup of orange peel, 2 fl. dr.; water, 6 fl. dr. To improve the appetite in heartburn and dyspepsia; taken 1 hour before a meal.

2. Liquor of ammonia, 16 drops; syrup of saffron, 2 fl. dr.; infusion of gentian, 3 fl. dr.; water, 7 fl. dr. As the last, taken occasionally, especially in debility, low spirits, &c.

3. (Collier.) Compound tincture of cardamoms, 1 fl. dr.; solution of bicarbonate of magnesia (fluid magnesia), 9 fl. dr.; simple syrup, 2 fl. dr. Twice a day; in dyspepsia, heartburn, &c., especially in gouty patients.

4. (A. T. Thomson.) Magnesia, 1 dr.; peppermint water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; tincture of orange peel, 1 fl. dr. In dyspepsia, &c., with acidity or diarrhœa.

5. As No. 1, but using bicarbonate of potassa for bicarbonate of soda. In acidity, diarrhœa, &c., accompanied by great irritability of the coats of the stomach.

6. Prepared chalk, 30 gr.; spirit of nutmeg and tincture of opium, of each 12 to 20 drops; syrup of saffron, 3 dr.; cinnamon water, 1 fl. oz. In acidity, with extreme looseness of the bowels.

Draught, Anti-arthrit′ic. Syn. Haustus anti-arthriticus, L. Prep. 1. Tincture of colchicum seeds (L.), ⁄2 fl. dr.; syrup of orange peel, 2⁄2 fl. dr.; water, 1 fl. oz. In gout; taken over-night, followed by another in the morning.

2. (Brande.) Wine of colchicum, ⁄2 fl. dr.; carbonate of magnesia, 15 gr.; cinnamon water, ⁄2 fl. oz.; water, 1 fl. oz. As the last.

3. (Sir C. Scudamore.) Magnesia, 18 gr.; Epsom salts, 1⁄2 dr.; vinegar of colchicum, 1 fl. dr.; simple syrup, 1 fl. dr.; cinnamon water, 9 fl. dr. As the last.

4. (Sir H. Halford’s Gout Preventive.) Compound infusion of gentian, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; tincture of rhubarb, 1 fl. dr.; bicarbonate of potassa, 15 gr.

Draught, Anti-asthmat′ic. Syn. Haustus anti-asthmaticus, L. Prep. Vinegar of squills, ⁄2 fl. dr.; ipecacuanha wine, 15 drops; cinnamon water, 1⁄2 fl. oz. Expectorant. One to be taken three times daily during the attack.

Draught, Anti-emet′ic. Syn. Haustus anti-emeticus, L. Prep. 1. Juice of 1 lemon; liquor opii sedativus, 10 drops (or laudanum, 15 drops); ether, 20 drops; simple syrup, 2 dr.; water, q. s.

2. (Haustus anti-emeticus Riverii,—P. C.) Bicarbonate of potassa, 30 gr.; lemon juice, 4 dr.; syrup of lemon, 1 oz.; water, 3 oz.; mix quickly, and tie down the cork. To check nausea and vomiting. This is best given effervescing.

Draught, Anti-hyster′ic. Syn. Haustus anti-hystericus, L. Prep. Cyanide of potassium, 1 gr.; lettuce water (distilled), 2 fl. oz.; syrup of orange flowers, 1⁄2 oz.; water, 5⁄2 fl. oz.; for 6 draughts. One to be taken when the fit is expected, and a second in half an hour. Should the fit come on, the dose may be repeated at intervals of about 15 minutes until 3 or 4 have been altogether administered. The symptoms, however intense, are generally either at once arrested, or greatly alleviated by this treatment.

Draught, Antilith′ic. Syn. Haustus anti-lithicus, L. Prep. 1. (Venables.) Borax, 8 gr.; bicarbonate of soda, 10 gr.; aerated water, 8 fl. oz. For a draught; in red gravel.

2. (Dr Paris.) Carbonate of soda, 12 gr.; tincture of calumba, 1 fl. dr.; infusion of quassia, 1 fl. oz.; water, 3 fl. dr. In dyspepsia and gravel, attended with the lithic-acid diathesis.

Draught, Anti-neural′gic. Syn. Haustus anti-neuralgicus, H. narcotinæ, L. Prep. (Jeston.) Narcotine, 2 gr.; diluted sulphuric acid, 20 drops; infusion of roses, 1⁄2 fl. oz. One every 2 hours in the intermissions of neuralgia.

Draught, Antisep′tic. Syn. Haustus antisepticus, L. Prep. (Dr Collier.) Decoction of yellow bark, 1 fl. oz.; tincture of opium, 5 drops; spirit of pimento and water, of each 2 fl. dr. In putrid fevers, gangrene, &c.

Draught, Antispasmod′ic. Syn. Haustus antispasmodicus, L. Prep. 1. (Dr Collier.) Tincture of castor, 1 fl. dr.; sulphuric ether, 10 drops; peppermint water, 11 fl. dr.; mix. In hysteria, and that species of irregular muscular action dependent on debility.

2. (Dr Gregory.) Fetid spirit of ammonia, ⁄2 to 1 fl. dr.; camphor mixture, 10 fl. dr.; syrup of saffron, 1 fl. dr. In cases complicated with low spirits, debility, &c.

3. (A. T. Thomson.) Musk mixture, 14 fl. dr.; liquor of ammonia, 16 drops; tincture of castor, 1 fl. dr.; syrup of poppies, ⁄2 fl. dr.; mix. Three or four times daily, in hysteria and convulsive affections, after the bowels have been well cleared by some aperient.

4. (A. T. Thomson.) Oil of aniseed, 10 drops; magnesia, 20 gr.; tincture of senna, 2 fl. dr.; peppermint water, 10 fl. dr.; mix. In flatulence and spasms of the stomach.

Draught, Ape′′rient. Syn. Haustus aperiens, L. Prep. 1. (Paris.) Infusion of senna, 1 fl. oz.; tincture of senna, tincture of jalap, and syrup of senna, of each 1 fl. dr.; tartrate of potassa, 1 dr.; mix.

2. (Ryan.) Epsom salts, 4 dr.; tincture of senna, 1⁄2 fl. dr.; syrup of ginger, 1 fl. dr.; spirit of sal-volatile, 20 drops; infusion of senna, 1⁄2 fl. oz.

3. (Thomson.) Tartrate of potassa, 3 dr.; tincture of senna and syrup of saffron, of each 1 dr.; infusion of senna, 1⁄2 oz. The above are good aperients, and in their composition and action resemble the ordinary “black draught.”

4. (Effervescing A. D.)—a. (Dr Barker.) Bisulphate of potassa, 73 grs.; carbonate of soda, 72 gr.; water, q. s.; dissolve the two in separate glasses, mix the solutions, and drink whilst effervescing, in the same way as soda water.

b. (W. Cooley.) Bicarbonate of soda, 1 dr.; potassio-tartrate of soda, 2 drs.; dissolve in about 1-3rd of a glassful of cold water; and pour it on another like quantity of water, holding in solution tartaric acid, 40 grs., and syrup of orange peel, 1⁄2 fl. dr.; and drink it instantly.

c. (Paris.) Potassio-tartrate of soda, 2 dr.; bicarbonate of soda, 40 grs.; dissolve, and add lemon juice, 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls.

d. (Young.) Cream of tartar, 3 dr.; carbonate of soda, 2⁄2 dr.; throw them into a soda-water bottle three parts filled with cold water, cork immediately, and wire down the cork. The last three are examples of factitious effervescing Seidlitz water, and are good saline aperients. The method of taking them may be varied by mixing the dry ingredients (in fine powder) on a piece of paper, and throwing the mixture suddenly into a tumbler 2-3rds filled with water, and drinking the liquid whilst effervescing. See Cathartic D. (below.)

Draught, Ap′petite. See Draught, Dinner.

Draught, Aromat′ic. Syn. Aromatic antacid, draught; Haustus aromaticus, L. Prep. 1. Aromatic confection, 1 dr.; spirit of sal-volatile, ⁄2 dr.; syrup of saffron, 2 drs.; pimento water, 9 fl. dr. Excellent in dyspepsia, with acidity, and in diarrhœa, preceded by an aperient.

2. (H. arom. cum rheo.—St. B. Hosp.) Aromatic confection, 1 dr.; infusion of rhubarb and cinnamon water, of each, 6 fl. dr. In diarrhœa and dyspepsia, especially when there is acidity and deficiency of bile.

Draught, Astrin′′gent. Syn. Haustus astringens, L. Prep. 1. Tannin, 3 gr.; rectified spirit, 1 fl. dr.; simple syrup, 2 fl. dr.; water, 6 fl. dr.

2. (Dr Paris.) Chalk mixture, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; tincture of catechu, 1 fl. dr.; laudanum, 15 drops.

3. (Thomson.) Extract of logwood, 12 gr.; tincture of catechu, 1 fl. dr.; cinnamon water, 15 fl. dr. The above are excellent remedies in diarrhœa (preceded by a purgative), and in dysentery, &c. One may be taken after each motion.

Draught, Black. See Mixture.

Draught, Cam′phor. Syn. Haustus camphoræ, L. Prep. (Guy’s Hosp.) Camphor, 6 gr.; rectified spirit, q. s. to powder; white sugar, 1 dr.; mucilage, 3 dr.; water, 1⁄2 fl. oz. Anodyne and diaphoretic, &c.

Draught, Cas′tor Oil. Syn. Haustus olei ricini, L. Prep. (Guy’s Hosp.) Castor oil, 4 dr.; yelk of egg, q. s. (2 in no.); simple syrup, 1 fl. dr.; cassia or cinnamon water, 1 fl. oz. Aperient.

Draught, Cathar′tic. Syn. Haustus catharticus, L. The following are given as additions to those under Aperient d., and other heads:—Prep. 1. (Dr Thomson.) Tartrate of potassa, 5 dr.; tincture of senna, 1 fl. dr.; infusion of senna, 14⁄2 fl. dr.; syrup of saffron, ⁄2 fl. dr.; mix. In acute diseases, taken early in the morning.

2. (Thomson.) Epsom salts and manna, of each 2 dr.; infusion of roses, 14 fl. dr.; dilute sulphuric acid, 10 drops. In inflammatory affections, and to check vomiting in low fevers.

3. (Thomson.) Carbonate of magnesia, 1 dr.; powdered rhubarb, 20 gr.; peppermint water, 12 fl. dr. In dyspepsia, attended with costiveness and acidity, taken an hour before dinner.

4. (Thomson.) Castor oil, 5 fl. dr.; powdered gum, 20 gr.; rose water, 1 fl. oz.; compound tincture of lavender, 8 drops; syrup of poppies, 1 fl. dr. In colic and calculus. The above differ from aperient draughts simply in their greater strength.

Draught, Chalk. Syn. Haustus cretæ, L. Prep. 1. Powdered gum, chalk, and simple syrup, of each 1 dr.; aromatic water (as that of caraway, cinnamon, nutmeg, pimento, or peppermint), 1⁄2 fl. oz.

2. Chalybeated c. d.; Haustus cretæ et ferri, L.—Paris.) Chalk mixture, 7 fl. dr.; compound mixture of iron, 3 fl. dr.; sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 5 or 6 gr. In diarrhœa, particularly in that arising from debility and anæmia.

3. (C. d. with rhubarb; Haustus cretæ cum rheo, L.)—a. Chalk mixture (see above), 1⁄2 fl. oz.; powdered rhubarb, 12 gr.

b. (Lond. Hosp.) Powder of chalk with opium, 12 gr.; rhubarb, 15 gr.; syrup of saffron and compound tincture of cardamoms, of each 1 fl. dr.; caraway water, 10 fl. dr. In heartburn, dyspepsia, and certain forms of diarrhœa.

Draught, Chlo′′rine. Syn. Haustus chlorinii, L. Prep. (Copland.) Chlorine water, ⁄2 fl. dr.; water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; mix, and add of syrup of poppies, ⁄2 fl. dr. One every 6 hours; in the worst form of typhus fever, and other putrid diseases, &c.

Draught, Cit′rate of Ammo′′nia. Syn. Haustus ammoniæ citratis, H. a. sesquicarbonatis effervescens, L. Prep. (Guy’s Hosp.) Sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 20 gr.; water, 1 fl. oz.; dissolve, and add of lemon juice, ⁄2 fl. oz. An agreeable, cooling, saline draught in febrile cases.

Draught, Cit′rate of Potas′sa. Syn. Haustus potassæ citratis, L. Prep. From carbonate of potassa, 24 gr. (or bicarbonate, 29 gr.); water, 1 fl. oz.; dissolve, and add of lemon juice, 5 fl. dr. As the last. 20 gr. of citric acid may be used instead of the lemon juice.

Draught, Col′chicum. See Draught Anti-arthritic.

Draught, Copai′ba. Syn. Haustus copaibæ, L. Prep. (St. B. Hosp.) Balsam of copaiba, ⁄2 fl. dr.; mucilage (thick), 4 fl. dr.; pimento water, 3 fl. dr.; water, 5 fl. dr. In gonorrhœa, &c.

Draught, Cough. See Mixture.

Draught, Diaphoret′ic. Syn. Haustus diaphoreticus, L. Prep. 1. (Collier.) Infusion of serpentary, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; tincture of serpentary, 1 fl. dr. Tonic and diaphoretic.

2. (Thomson.) Sesquicarbonate of potassa, 20 gr.; fresh lemon juice, 4 fl. dr.; tartrate of antimony, ⁄6 gr.; water, 11 fl. dr.; syrup of poppies, 1 fl. dr. Antifebrile and diaphoretic.

3. (Thomson.) Liquor of acetate of ammonia, 6 fl. dr.; camphor mixture, 10 fl. dr.; nitrate of potassa, 10 gr.; syrup of tolu, ⁄2 fl. oz. Anodyne and diaphoretic. All the above are used in inflammatory affections.

Draught, Din′ner. Syn. Appetite draught; Haustus dictus ante cibum. Prep. 1. Tinctures of cascarilla, hops, and rhubarb, of each 1 fl. dr.; spirit of sal-volatile, ⁄2 fl. dr.; tincture of capsicum, 20 drops; syrup of orange peel, 2 dr.; water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.

2. Compound tincture of gentian, ⁄2 fl. oz.; sal-volatile, ⁄2 a teaspoonful; cinnamon water, 1 fl. oz.; compound tincture of cardamoms, 1 teaspoonful. Either of the above to be taken an hour before a meal.

Draught, Diuret′ic. Syn. Haustus diureticus, L. Prep. 1. (Collier.) Tincture of jalap, 2 fl. dr.; vinegar of squills, 1 fl. dr.; peppermint water, 10 fl. dr.; mix.

2. (Copland.) Acetate of potassa, ⁄2 dr.; infusion of quassia and cinnamon water, of each 6 fl. dr.; vinegar of squills and sweet spirits of nitre, of each ⁄2 fl. dr.

3. (Thomson.) Nitre, 8 gr.; tincture of digitalis, 16 drops; infusion of roses, 13 fl. dr.; syrup of roses, 1 fl. dr.

4. (Turner.) Nitre and powdered gum, of each 15 gr.; almond mixture, 1⁄2 fl. oz. The above are used as diuretics in dropsy; the last, also in scurvy, and in the incontinence of urine of children.

Draught, Donovan’s. Syn. Draught of hydriodate of arsenic and mercury; Haustus hydriodatis arsenici et hydrargyri, L. Prep. (Donovan.) Liquor of hydriodate of arsenic and mercury (Donovan’s), 2 fl. dr.; distilled water, 3⁄2 fl. oz.; syrup of ginger, ⁄2 fl. oz.; mix for 4 draughts. One, night and morning; in lepra, lupus, psoriasis, and some other obstinate cutaneous affections. It must not be allowed to touch anything metallic.

Draught, Efferves′cing. Prep. (Lond. Hosp.) Sesquicarbonate of soda, 30 gr.; water, or peppermint water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; syrup of orange peel, 2 fl. dr.; tincture of calumba, ⁄2 fl. dr.; tartaric or citric acid, 25 gr.; add the acid last, and drink whilst effervescing. Stomachic, tonic, and anti-emetic; in acidity, dyspepsia, &c. (See antè.)

Draught, Emet′ic. Syn. Haustus emeticus, L. Prep. 1. Sulphate of zinc, 15 gr. to 30 gr.; water, 9 fl. dr.; dissolve. In cases of poisoning, and at the commencement of an attack of ague.

2. (Copland.) Ipecacuanha, 30 gr.; sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 20 gr.; tincture of capsicum, 30 drops; oil of chamomile, 10 drops; mint water, 2 fl. oz. As a stimulant emetic in cases of poisoning by laudanum or other narcotics.

3. (Guy’s Hosp.) Antimonial wine, 2 fl. dr.; ipecacuanha wine, 6 fl. dr.; water, 4 fl. dr. For unloading the stomach in ordinary cases.

4. (Mid. Hosp.) Tartar emetic, 1 gr.; ipecacuanha, 20 gr.; syrup, 2 fl. dr.; water, 10 fl. dr. As the last.

5. (Dr Pickford.) Sulphate of zinc, 20 gr.; sulphate of magnesia, 4 dr.; water, 1⁄4 oz. When it is also desired to act rapidly on the bowels.

6. (Rodier.) Sulphate of copper, 10 gr.; water, 2 fl. oz. In poisoning by laudanum.

7. (Sprague.) Ipecacuanha, 30 gr.; sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 20 gr.; tincture of capsicum, 1 fl. dr.; peppermint water, 3 fl. oz. In poisoning by narcotics.

8. (A. T. Thomson.) Ipecacuanha, 20 gr,; ipecacuanha wine, 2 fl. dr.; water, 10 fl. dr. For unloading the stomach, in ordinary cases.

9. (Trousseau.) Ipecacuanha, 8 gr.; syrup of ipecacuanha, 1 fl. oz.; water, q. s. for 4 draughts. One every 10 minutes, until vomiting occurs.

Draught, E′ther. Syn. Haustus æthereus, L. Prep. (Neligan.) Sulphuric ether, 1 fl. dr.; spermaceti, 3 gr.; rub together (expertly), and add of peppermint water, 10 fl. dr. An excellent stimulant and antispasmodic, febrile symptoms being absent.

Draught, Expec′torant. Syn. Haustus expectorans, L. Prep. 1. (Collier.) Mixtures of ammoniacum and almonds, of each 6 fl. dr.; tincture of squills, 12 drops. In hoarseness, chronic coughs, &c.

Draught, Hen′bane. Syn. Haustus hyoscyami, L. Prep. 1. Tincture of henbane, 30 to 60 drops; syrup of saffron, 1 fl. dr.; water, 10 fl. dr. Anodyne and soporific. Used to allay nervous excitement, and induce sleep, when laudanum is inadmissible.

2. (Henbane and Squills d.; Haustus hyoscyami cum scillâ, L.—Dr Bree.) Extract of henbane, 3 gr.; tincture of squills, 10 drops; dilute nitric acid, 6 drops; water, 1⁄2 fl. oz. Anodyne and expectorant; in asthmas, chronic coughs, &c.

Draught, Hydrocyan′ic. Syn. Haustus hydrocyanicus, L. Prep. 1. (Donovan.) Cyanide of potassium, 1 gr.; syrup of lemons, ⁄2 fl. oz.; distilled water, 7⁄2 fl. oz. For 8 draughts. One for a dose.

2. (Dr S. Dickson.) Medicinal Hydrocyanic acid (L.), 15 drops; liquor of ammonia, 20 drops; syrup of orange flowers (or simple syrup), 3 fl. dr.; water, 8⁄2 fl. oz.; mix, and divide into 6 draughts. One—2 or 3 times a day; in gastrodynia, and all those nameless nervous and hysterical affections arising from excessive irritability, mental anxiety, &c. In a case that came under our notice, in which life was an absolute burden to the patient, relief was afforded by the first draught, and 4 or 5 effected a comparative cure, although almost every other remedy had been tried in vain.

Draught, Laennec’s. Syn. Laennec’s contra-stimulant draught; Haustus contrastimulans, L. Prep. From tartar emetic, 2 grs.; syrup of poppies, 2 fl. drs.; orange-flower water, 1⁄2 fl. oz. Every two hours in pneumonia, &c.

Draught, Lax′ative. Syn. Haustus laxans, L. Prep. 1. See Draughts, Aperient.

2. (Dr Copeland.) Infusion of senna and compound infusion of gentian, of each 6 fl. dr.; sulphate of potassa, 20 to 30 gr.; extract of taraxacum, 30 to 40 gr.; compound tincture of cardamoms, 1⁄2 fl. dr. Aperient, stomachic, and alterative.

Draught, Mor′phia. Syn. Haustus morphiæ, L. Prep. (Brera.) Morphia, ⁄4 gr.; syrup of poppies, 1 fl. dr.; water, 11 fl. dr. Two or three drops of acetic acid may be advantageously added. At bed-time, as a soporific.

Draught, Narcot′ic. Syn. Haustus narcoticus, H. opiatus, L. Prep. 1. (St. B. Hosp.) Laudanum, 12 to 20 drops; syrup of red poppies, 1 fl. dr.; pimento water, 3 fl. dr; water, 1 fl. oz. To induce sleep in slight cases, when fever is absent.

2. (A. T. Thomson.) Camphor mixture, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; laudanum, 35 drops; sulphuric ether and syrup of saffron, of each 1 fl. dr. In intermittent headache.

3. (Thomson.) Carbonate of ammonia, 15 gr.; fresh lemon juice, ⁄2 fl. oz.; water, 1 fl. oz.; spirit of nutmeg, 1 fl. dr.; syrup of orange peel, ⁄2 fl. dr.; tincture of hemlock, 10 drops. In diseases of increased irritability.

4. (Thomson.) Carbonate of potassa, 20 gr.; fresh lemon juice, ⁄2 fl. oz.; peppermint water, 1 fl. oz.; laudanum, 25 drops; syrup of tolu, ⁄2 fl. dr. To procure sleep in the majority of diseases. (See above.)

Draught, Nux Vom′ica. Syn. Haustus nucis vomicæ, L. Prep. (Dr Joy.) Nux vomica (in fine powder), 3 gr.; powdered gum, 2 dr; compound tincture of cardamoms, 1 fl. dr.; cinnamon water, 10 fl. dr. Diuretic, narcotic, stimulant, and tonic; in paralysis, impotence, debility, &c., unaccompanied by inflammation of the nervous centres. See Strychnine.

Draught, Refri′′gerant. Syn. Haustus refrigerans, L. Prep. 1. Carbonate of potassa, 20 grs.; syrup of orange peel, 1 fl. dr.; spirit of nutmeg, ⁄2 fl. dr.; water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.

2. (Thomson.) Nitre, 12 gr.; almond mixture, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; syrup of tolu, 1 fl. oz.

3. (Collier.) Carbonate of potassa, 20 gr.; antimonial wine, 20 drops; syrup of orange peel, 1 fl. dr.; tincture of orange peel, ⁄2 fl. dr.; water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; mix, and add a large table-spoonful of lemon juice. In inflammatory diseases, &c.

Draught, Saline′. See Draught, Effervescing, &c.

Draught, Stomach′ic. See Draught, Dinner, &c.

Draught, Ton′ic. Syn. Strengthening draught; Haustus tonicus, L. Prep. 1. (Collier.) Disulphate of quinine, 2 gr.; tincture of orange peel, 1 fl. dr.; diluted sulphuric acid, 5 drops; laudanum, 10 drops; infusion of cascarilla, 1⁄2 fl, oz. In pyrosis, &c., 1 hour before dinner.

2. (A. T. Thomson.) Infusion of yellow bark, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; compound tincture of cinchona, 1 fl. dr.; powdered cinchona, 40 gr.; syrup of orange peel, 1 fl. dr. In intermittents and acute rheumatisms.

3. (Thomson.) Infusion of cascarilla, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; tincture of cascarilla and ginger, of each 1 fl. dr. In dyspepsia, arising from intemperance.

4. (Walton.) Infusion of cascarilla, 9 fl. dr.; tinctures of rhubarb and ginger, of each 1 fl. dr.; syrup of saffron, ⁄2 fl. dr.; ammonio-citrate of iron, 6 gr.; tincture of capsicum, 5 drops. In anæmia, and debility accompanied by paleness and relaxation.

Draught, Ver′mifuge. Syn. Haustus vermifugus, H. anthelminthicus, L. Prep. (M. Levacher.) Castor oil, 4 dr.; oil of turpentine, 2 dr.; mint water, 2 fl. oz.; syrup, 1 fl. oz.; powdered gum, 2 dr.; for an emulsion. In tapeworm.

DRAW′INGS. Chalk and pencil drawings may be fixed so as not to suffer from slight abrasion, by washing them with skimmed milk, or with water holding in solution a little isinglass or gum. When the first is used, great care must be taken to deprive it of the whole of the cream, as the latter substance would cause the drawing to look streaky. An easy way of applying these fluids is to pour them into a shallow vessel, and to lay the drawing flat upon the surface of the liquid; after which it should be gently removed and placed on white blotting paper, in an inclined position, to drain and dry.

DRENCHES. Syn. Drinks. In veterinary practice, these terms are applied to liquid medicines or mixtures which are administered to horses and neat cattle, and chiefly to the latter. A drench for a HORSE should not be less than half a pint, nor more than a quart; about a pint is, perhaps, the best quantity; that for a COW or OX should measure about a quart, and not more than about 5 half pints. See Veterinary Medicine.

DRES′SING. In the industrial arts, a preparation of gum, starch, size, &c., employed in stiffening or “finishing off” textile fabrics and paper. In surgery, the term is appropriated to any application to a wound or sore, made by means of lint, linen, or leather. Simple dressing is simple cerate or spermaceti cerate. Among cooks, the stuffing of fowls, pork, veal, &c., is commonly called ‘dressing.’

DRIERS. Driers are substances employed to facilitate the drying of paints. The driers most commonly employed are sugar of lead, litharge, and white copperas. Either of these when well ground, and mixed in small proportion with paints, very materially hastens their drying. Indeed, some colours will not dry without them. Red lead is also well adapted for a drying agent, and in cases where its colour does not preclude it, is much used. The best drier is sugar of lead. Its cost, however, is somewhat higher than that of the other driers. It is important to bear in mind that in the finishing coats of delicate colours driers are not generally had recourse to, as they have a slight tendency to injure the colour. A drying property may be imparted to linseed oil by boiling it with drying substances; it then becomes a very useful vehicle for some purposes. See Oils, Drying.

DRIFFIELD OILS.—For the prevention of gangrene and for healing incised and other wounds, bruises, sprains, swellings, and external inflammations. A dusky brownish-green clear oil, consisting of olive oil, digested with wormwood, savin, and arnica, and afterwards perfumed with a mixture of oils of rosemary, thyme, and juniper, 1 pint (474 grammes). (Hager.)

DRINKS (Summer). See Beer, Ginger, Lemonade, Sherbet, &c.

DRINK, CORDIAL (Dr Cherwy). A herbal lemonade to heal all chronic and scrofulous diseases. It contains 115 grammes water, 15 grammes spirit, 2 grammes potassium iodide, 5 grammes bitter almond water, 10 grammes sugar, and 3 grammes burnt sugar. (Hager.)

DRIPPING TO CLARIFY. Put the dripping into a stewpan over the fire, and let it boil, and as it does so, skim it carefully. When it boils pour it into a basin, in which you have previously put a little cold water. It must stand till cold. It is then to be taken out of the water. The dripping will now be in the form of a cake, at the bottom of which will be found adhering little pieces of meat, skin, &c. These must be scraped off, and the dripping will have been purified. Another method is to mix boiling water with the dripping, to stir well, let it get cold, and then to take it out and scrape it as above.

DROP. See Measures.

DROPS, CHOLERA—CHOLERATROPFEN (A. Bastler, Vienna). Oils of anise, cajeput, and juniper berries, of each 20 parts; spirit of ether, 60 parts; tincture of cinnamon, 120 parts; Haller’s acid elixir, 5 parts.—Dose, 30 to 50 drops. (Wittstein.)

DROPS (Confectionery). These are confections of which the principal basis is sugar. They differ from lozenges chiefly in the ingredients being combined by the aid of heat. Occasionally they are medicated.

Prep. Double refined sugar is reduced to powder, and passed through a hair sieve (not too fine), and afterwards through a gauze sieve, to take out the fine dust, which would destroy the beauty of the drop. It is then put into a clean pan, and moistened with any favorite aromatic, as rose or orange-flower water, added slowly, stirring it with a paddle all the time, from which the sugar will fall as soon as it is moist enough, without sticking. The colouring (if any) is next added, in the liquid state, or in very fine powder. A small, polished copper, or tinned-copper pan, furnished with a lip, is now one half or three parts filled with the paste, and placed over the fire, or over the hole of a stove, or preferably on a sand bath, and the mixture stirred with a little bone or glass spatula until it becomes liquid. As soon as it almost boils, it is taken from the fire, and if it is too moist, a little more powdered sugar is added, and the whole stirred, until it is of such a consistence as to run without too much extension. A tin plate, very clean and smooth, and very slightly oiled, being now ready, the pan is taken in the left hand, and a bit of bright iron, copper, or silver wire, about 4 inches long, in the right. The melted sugar is next allowed to fall regularly on the tin plate, the wire being used to remove the drop from the lip of the pan. In two or three hours afterwards the drops are taken off with the blade of a knife, and are at once put into bottles or tins. On the large scale, ‘confectionery drops’ are moulded by a machine consisting essentially of two metal rollers covered with hollows. A sheet of the warm and soft composition, on being passed between the rollers, is at once converted into a batch of symmetrical drops, the upper and lower halves being moulded by the corresponding hollows of the upper and lower rollers. See Candying, Confection, Essence, Stains (Confectioner’s), Sugar Plums.

The following are a few of the principal confectionery drops kept in the shops:—

Drops, Acid′ulated. Syn. Acid Drops. Prep. Tartaric acid, ⁄2 oz., dissolved in a very little water, is added to each lb. of sugar, as above; with essence of lemon, orange, or jargonelle pear, to flavour, as desired.

Drops, Chocolate. Prep. Chocolate, 1 oz., is reduced to fine powder by scraping, and added to powdered white sugar, 1 lb.; when the mixture is made into drops, as above, care being taken to avoid heating it a second time.

Drops, Cof′fee. Prep. A clarified, concentrated infusion of coffee, 1 oz., is used for each lb. of sugar.

Drops, Fruit. These are prepared according to the general description. (See above.) The flavouring essences (volatile oils or essences of lemon, orange, citron, raspberry, jargonelle pear, &c.) not being added until the sugar is melted, to avoid, as much as possible, loss by evaporation. The colouring matter may be any of the transparent ‘stains’ usually employed for cakes, jellies, and confectionery. In this way are made the majority of the first-class fruit drops and bon-bons of the sugar-bakers. In some cases the plan is varied by adding the clarified concentrated juice, or jelly of the fruit to the sugar. One variety of raspberry and currant (red and black) drops are made in this way.

Drops, Ginger. Prep. From essence or tincture of ginger, as above. An inferior kind is made in the way described under Candy, Ginger.

Drops, Jargonelle′. Fruit drops flavoured with essence of jargonelle pear (SOLUTION OF ACETATE of AMYLE).

Drops, Lem′on. Acidulated drops flavoured with essence of lemon. They are usually stained with an infusion of turmeric. (See above.)

Drops, Pep′permint. From the whitest refined sugar, flavoured with English oil of peppermint or its spirituous solution (essence of peppermint), or with peppermint water.

Drops, Rasp′berry. See Drops, Fruit (above.)

Drops (Med′icated). Syn. Guttæ, L. This term is commonly applied to compound medicines that are only taken in small doses. At the present time they are almost exclusively confined to empirical and domestic medicine. The plan of directing liquids to be measured by dropping is objectionable, because the drops of different fluids vary in size, and are also further influenced by the size of the bottle and the shape of its neck, as well as the quantity of liquid it is poured from. See Essence, and below.

Drops, Acoust′ic. Syn. Acoustic balsam; Guttæ acousticæ, Balsamum acousticum, L. Prep. 1. Oil of almonds, 1 oz.; laudanum and oil of turpentine, of each 1 dr.; mix. For hardened wax, and to allay pain.

2. Tinctures of benzoin, castor, and opium, of each, 1 fl. oz.; essential oil of assafœtida, 5 drops. As the last, and in deafness arising from debility of the organism.

3. (Baumé’s.) Tinctures of ambergris, assafœtida, castor, and opium, of each, 1 oz.; terebinthinated balsam of sulphur and oil of rue, of each, 15 drops. In atonic deafness.

4. (Bouchardat.) Compound spirit of balm, 2⁄2 dr.; oil of almonds, 5 dr.; ox-gall, 10 dr.; cresote, 10 or 20 drops. In cases complicated with hardened wax, fetid discharges, &c.

5. (Dr Hugh Smith.) Ox-gall, 3 dr.; balsam of Peru, 1 dr. In fetid ulcerations of the ear. One or two drops of the above are poured into the ear; or a piece of cotton wool moistened therewith is introduced instead. The last is the safest plan.

6. Glycerin, either alone or diluted with water. In deficiency of the natural secretions of the ear; used in sufficient quantity to moisten the first passages. See Deafness, Glycerin.

Drops, A′gue. Prep. White arsenic, ⁄2 gr.; hot water, 1 oz.; dissolve.—Dose, ⁄2 to 1 teaspoonful, twice a day. See Solution (Arsenite of Potassa).

Drops, An′odyne. Syn. Guttæ anodynæ, L. The solutions of acetate and hydrochlorate of morphia are commonly vended in the shops under this name.

Drops, Ant′acid. Syn. Guttæ antacidæ, L. Prep. (U. C. Hosp.) Liquor of potassa, 3 fl. oz,; powdered myrrh, 1 oz.; triturate together until thoroughly incorporated, add of liquor of ammonia, 1 fl. oz., mix well, place the mixture in a stoppered bottle, and the next day decant the clear portion. Antacid, tonic, and stomachic.—Dose, 10 to 20 drops, or more, in water.

Drops, Antihyster′ic. Syn. Guttæ antihystericæ, L. Prep. Cyanide of potassium, 2 gr.; rectified spirit, 5 fl. dr.; syrup of orange flowers, 3 fl. dr.—Dose, 10 drops to ⁄2 teaspoonful, when the attack is expected, and repeated occasionally as required; in hysterical affections, gastrodynia, &c.

Drops, Antiscorbu′tic. Syn. Guttæ antiscorbuticæ, L. Prep. 1. Expressed juice of water-cress, 2 fl. oz.; salt of tartar, 1 oz.; agitate together occasionally for a few hours, and in 2 or 3 days decant.—Dose, 12 or 15 drops, to a teaspoonful, twice a day, in a cupful of new milk.

2. Citrate of potassa, 4 dr.; ammonio-citrate of iron, 2 dr.; water, 10 fl. dr.—Dose. As the last, in water.

3. (Green’s Antiscorbutic Drops.) Merely a disguised solution of corrosive sublimate. Most of the other ‘antiscorbutic’ and ‘anti-venereal drops’ advertised by quacks have a like composition.

Drops, Antiscrof′ulous. Syn. Guttæ antiscrofulosæ, L. Prep. 1. Iodine, 10 gr.; iodide of potassium, 1 dr.; water, 1 fl. oz.

2. (Augustin.) Chlorides of iron and barium, of each, ⁄2 dr.; distilled water, 1 fl. oz.—Dose, 10 to 30 drops, 2 or 3 times a day.

Drops, Antispasmod′ic. Syn. Guttæ antispasmodicæ, L. Prep. Tinctures of castor, valerian, and assafœtida, of each, 2 dr.; tincture of capsicum and balsam of Peru, of each, 1 dr.; camphor, 20 gr.; acetate of morphia, 3 gr.—Dose, 10 to 20 drops, as required.

Drops, Bateman’s. See Drops, Pectoral.

Drops, Battley’s. See Liquor Opii Sedativus.

Drops, Bitter. Syn. Guttæ amaræ, L.; Gouttes amères, Fr. Prep. From nux vomica (rasped), 1 lb.; liquor of potassa, ⁄2 fl. oz.; bistre, 1 dr.; compound spirit of wormwood, 32 fl. oz.; digest 10 days, express the tincture, and filter. A most unscientific preparation; said to be tonic and stomachic.—Dose, 1 to 8 drops in water or any bitter infusion. In large doses it is poisonous.

Drop, Black. Syn. Armstrong’s black drop, Lancaster’s b. d., Quaker’s b. d., Toustall’s b. d., Braithwaite’s genuine b. d.; Gutta nigra, L. This celebrated preparation was originally prepared nearly a century and a half ago by Edward Toustall, a medical practitioner in the county of Durham, and one of the Society of Friends. The formula passing into the possession of a relative of his (John Walton, of Shildon), was found among his brother’s papers, and, by the permission of Thomas Richardson, of Bishop’s Wearmouth, one of his executors, was handed to Dr Armstrong, who subsequently published it in his work on typhus fever.

Prep. 1. (Original formula.) Opium (sliced), ⁄2 lb.; good verjuice, 3 pints; nutmegs, 1⁄2 oz.; saffron, ⁄2 oz.; boil them to a proper thickness; then add, of sugar, ⁄4 lb., and yeast, 2 teaspoonfuls. Set the whole in a warm place, near the fire, for 6 or 8 weeks, then place it in the open air until it becomes of the consistence of a syrup; lastly, decant, filter, and bottle it up, adding a little sugar to each bottle. To yield two pints of strained liquor.

2. (Acetum Opii, L.—U. S.) Opium, 8 oz.; nutmeg, 1⁄2 oz. (both in coarse powder); saffron, ⁄2 oz.; distilled vinegar, 24 fl. oz.; digest on a sand bath with a gentle heat for 48 hours, and strain; digest the residuum with an equal quantity of distilled vinegar for 24 hours; then put the whole into a percolator, and return the filtered liquid as it passes until it runs clear; afterwards pour on the material, fresh distilled vinegar until 48 fl. oz. of filtered liquor shall be obtained; in this dissolve sugar, 12 oz., and gently evaporate the whole to 52 fl. oz.

3. (Wholesale.) Opium, 10 oz., and distilled vinegar, 1 quart, are digested together for about a fortnight, and after sufficient repose the clear portion is decanted. This is the form commonly adopted by the wholesale trade in England.—Dose, 5 to 10 drops. It is usually considered to be of fully 4 times the strength of laudanum.

Drops, Carmin′ative. Syn. Guttæ carminativæ, L. Prep. (Radius.) Oil of mace, 1 dr.; nitric ether, 3 dr.—Dose, 6 to 10 drops on sugar; in flatulent colic, &c.

Drops, Cham′omile. See Essence.

Drops, Dalby’s. See Patent Medicines (Dalby’s Carminative).

Drops, Durande’s. Syn. Guttæ ætheris terebinthinatæ, L. Prep. (M. Durande.) Rectified sulphuric acid, 3 parts; oil of turpentine, 1 part.—Dose, 20 to 30 drops, or more; in the passing of gall-stones.

Drops, Dutch. Syn. Haerlem drops, Turpentine drops; Balsamum terebinthinæ, L. The genuine or imported ‘Dutch Drops’ is the residuum of the rectification of oil of turpentine. It is also prepared by distilling resin, and collecting the product in different portions. At first a white, then a yellow, and lastly a red oil, comes over. The last is the balsam. The article commonly sold under the name in this country is prepared by one or other of the following formulæ:—

1. Oil of turpentine, tincture of guaiacum, and sweet spirit of nitre, of each 1 oz.; oils of amber and cloves, of each 15 drops.

2. Balsam of sulphur, 1 part; oil of turpentine, 5 parts. This last is the form most generally employed. They are all regarded by those who use them as detergent, diuretic, stimulant, and vulnerary.

Drops, Female. Syn. Emmenagogue drops; Guttæ emmenagogæ, L. Prep. (Brande.) Compound tincture of aloes and tincture of valerian, of each, 2 fl. oz.; tincture of sesquichloride of iron, 1 fl. oz.—Dose. A teaspoonful in water or chamomile tea; in obstructed menstruation, &c.

Drops, Fit. Syn. Soot drops; Tinctura fuliginis, Guttæ f., L. Prep. From wood-soot, 2 oz.; sal-ammoniac, 1 oz.; salt of tartar, ⁄2 lb.; soft water, 4 lbs.; digest a week and filter. Reputed antispasmodic, and also useful in scurvy and certain skin diseases.—Dose. A teaspoonful or more, occasionally, in water.

Drops, Golden. Syn. De la Motte’s g. d.; Bestucheff’s nervous tincture; Guttæ aureæ, L.; Elixir d’or, Gouttes d’or du Général Lamotte, Fr. Prep. 1. (Original.) Chloride of iron (obtained by distilling iron pyrites with twice its weight of corrosive sublimate), 3 oz.; alcohol, 7 oz,; expose the mixture in a closely stoppered bottle to the rays of the sun until it becomes decoloured.

2. Chloride of iron, 1 part; alcohol and ether, of each, 3 parts. These drops have the remarkable property of losing their yellow colour in the sun, and recovering it in the shade. They are taken in gout, hypochondriasis, and nervous complaints, in doses of from 10 to 60 drops.

Drops, Hooping-Cough. Syn. Guttæ anti-pertussicæ, L. Prep. 1. (Dr Graves.) Tincture of assafœtida and compound tincture of camphor, of each ⁄2 fl. oz.; compound tincture of bark, 5 fl. oz.—Dose. A teaspoonful, 2 or 3 times a day.

2. (Potestates Succini.) Oil of amber, 1 oz.; carbonate (not sesquicarb.) of ammonia, ⁄2 oz.; strongest rectified spirit (alcohol), ⁄2 pint; digest 3 or 4 days, and decant the clear portion.—Dose, 10 drops to 1 dr., applied as a friction.

Drops, Infantile. Several anodyne, carminative, and absorbent preparations, which pass by this name, will be found under Mixtures, &c.

Drops, Jes′uits’. Syn. Elixir antivenereum, L. Prep. 1. Gum guaiacum, 7 oz.; balsam of Peru, 4 dr.; root of sarsaparilla, 5 oz.; rectified spirit of wine, 1 quart; digest for 14 days.

2. (Quincy.) Copaiba, 1 oz.; gum guaiacum, 2 dr.; oil of sassafras, 1 dr.; salt of tartar, ⁄2 dr.; rectified spirit, 5 fl. oz.; digest a week.

3. (Walker’s.) Copaiba, 6 oz.; gum guaiacum, 1 oz.; chio turpentine and salt of tartar, of each, ⁄2 oz.; cochineal, 1 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; digest a week. See Comp. Tincture of Benzoin.

Drops, Kœchlin’s. Prep. (Augustin.) Solution of ammonio-chloride of copper and mercury, 1 fl. dr.; water, 10 fl. dr. In obstinate venereal affections, scrofula, &c.—Dose. A teaspoonful after each meal.

Drops, Lav′ender. Syn. Red drops; Guttæ lavendulæ, L. The same as compound tincture of lavender.

Drops, Life. Syn. Salmon’s drops of life; Guttæ vitæ, L. Prep. Tincture of castor, 8 fl. oz.; antimonial wine and water, of each 1 lb.; opium, 3 oz.; saffron, ⁄2 oz.; cochineal, camphor, and nutmegs, of each 2 dr.; digest for 10 days and filter. Anodyne and diaphoretic.—Dose, 20 to 60 drops.

Drops, Mercu′′rial. Syn. Guttæ hydrargyri bichloridi, L. Prep. 1. Bichloride of mercury, 2 gr.; hydrochloric acid, 3 drops; rectified spirit and distilled water, of each, ⁄2 fl. oz.—Dose, 12 to 20 drops.

2. Bichloride of mercury, 2 gr.; sal-ammoniac, 3 gr.; compound decoction of sarsaparilla, 2 fl. oz.—Dose. A teaspoonful.

3. (Sir A. Cooper.) Corrosive sublimate, 1 gr.; dilute hydrochloric acid, ⁄2 dr.; dissolve, and add tincture of bark, 2 fl. oz.—Dose. As the last. They are all taken 2 or 3 times daily, as alteratives in scrofula, syphilis, cancer, &c. It should not be measured in a metal spoon.

Drops, Norris’s. An aqueous solution of tartar emetic, mixed with spirit of wine, and coloured.

Drops, Odontal′gic. Syn. Tooth-ache drops; Guttæ odontalgicæ, L. Prep. 1. (Dr Blake.) Alum (in fine powder), 1 dr.; sweet spirit of nitre, 7 fl. dr.; agitate together occasionally for an hour.

2. (Dr Copland.) Powdered opium and camphor, of each 10 gr.; oils of cloves and cajeput, of each 1 dr.; highly rectified spirit and sulphuric ether, of each ⁄2 fl. oz.

3. (Cottereau.) A saturated ethereal solution of camphor, to which a few drops of liquor of ammonia is added.

4. (Dr R. E. Griffith.) Wine of opium, Hoffman’s anodyne, and oil of peppermint, equal parts. Used as a friction on the cheek or gum, as well as applied to the teeth.

5. (Perry’s.) A concentrated ethereal tincture of camphor and pellitory.

6. (Righini.) Creosote, 6 dr.; rectified spirit, 4 dr.; tincture of cochineal, 2 dr.; oil of peppermint, ⁄2 dr.

7. Camphor, 2 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 oz.

Obs. The above are applied to the tooth with a camel-hair pencil, or a little wad of lint or cotton wool is moistened with them, and placed in or against the tooth.

Drops, Pectoral. Syn. Bateman’s p. d.; Guttæ pectorales, L. Prep. 1. Paregoric, 10 fl. oz.; tincture of castor, 4 fl. oz.; laudanum, 1 fl. oz.; tincture of saffron or of cochineal, ⁄2 fl. oz.; oil of aniseed, 15 drops.

2. Castor, 1 oz.; oil of aniseed, 1 dr.; camphor, 5 dr.; cochineal, 1⁄2 dr.; opium, ⁄4 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; proof spirit, 1 gal.; digest for a week.

3. (Phil. Coll. of Pharm.) Camphor, catechu, powdered opium, and red sanders wood, of each 2 oz.; oil of aniseed, 4 fl. dr.; proof spirit, 4 old wine-gallons; digest 10 days, and filter.—Dose. A teaspoonful, or more, in coughs, colds, hoarseness, &c., assisted by an aperient.

Drops, Rheumat′ic. Syn. Guttæ rheumaticæ, L. Prep. 1. Iodide of potassium, 1 dr.; tincture of guaiacum, 2 fl. oz.; dissolve.—Dose, 20 to 30 drops. In both chronic and occasional rheumatism, assisted with the copious use of lemon juice.

2. (Lampadius.) Bisulphuret of carbon and ether, of each 2 fl. dr.—Dose, 6 to 12 drops, on sugar, or in milk.

3. (Wutzer.) Bisulphuret of carbon, 1 fl. dr.; alcohol, 2 fl. dr.—Dose. As No. 2. The last two are sudorific, alterative, resolvent, and emmenagogue, and, besides rheumatism, have been used with advantage in amenorrhœa, in some cutaneous affections, in glandular swellings, &c.

Drops, Rousseau’s. See Wine of opium (by Fermentation.)

Drops, Sed′ative. Syn. Guttæ sedativæ, L. The solutions of acetate and hydrochlorate of morphia, black drop, Rousseau’s drop, and Battley’s liquor opii sedativus, are frequently sold under this name by the druggists. The anti-hysteric drops (antè) is also an excellent sedative.

Drops, Spilbury’s. Prep. 1. (Dr Paris.) From bichloride of mercury, gentian root, and dried orange peel, of each 2 dr.; precipitated sulphuret of antimony and red sanders wood, of each, 1 dr.; proof spirit, 16 fl. oz.; digest ten days and strain.

2. Levigated crocus metallorum (‘crocus of antimony’), 6 dr.; corrosive sublimate, 45 gr.; red sanders, ⁄2 dr.; gentian root and dried orange peel, of each 2 dr.; brandy (or equal parts of rect. sp. and water), 16 fl. oz.; digest as before.—Dose, 5 to 30 drops; as an antiscorbutic, &c.

Drops, Steel. See Tincture of Sesquichloride of Iron.

Drops, Ton′ic. Prep. (Collier.) Elixir of vitriol, 2 fl. dr.; tincture of calumba, 6 fl. dr. A teaspoonful three times daily, in a wine-glassful of cold water.

Drops, Torrington’s. See Tincture of Benzoin (Comp.).

Drops, Van Swieten’s. An aromatised solution of corrosive sublimate.

Drop, Ward’s White. Prep. From quicksilver, 4 oz.; nitric acid, 16 fl. oz.; dissolve, add sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 7 oz.; evaporate and crystallise; then dissolve the resulting salt by the heat of a sand bath, in 4 times its weight of rose-water. Very poisonous.—Dose, 5 to 15 drops, as an antiscorbutic, antivenereal, &c.

Drops, Worm. Syn. Guttæ anthelminticæ, G. vermifugæ, L. Prep. 1. Creosote, 1 dr.; oil of turpentine, 7 fl. dr.—Dose. A teaspoonful, 3 or 4 times a day.

2. (Peschier.) Oil of male-fern, 3 fl. dr.; rectified oil of turpentine, 5 fl. dr. As the last; in tapeworm.

3. (Schwartz’.) Barbadoes tar, 1 fl. oz.; tincture of assafœtida, 1⁄2 fl. oz.—Dose, 30 to 40 drops, three times a day; in tapeworm.

DROPS (Scouring). Prep. 1. Oil of turpentine and oil of lemons, equal parts. Both of the ingredients should have been recently distilled or rectified.

2. Oil of lemon bottoms, 1⁄4 lb.; oil of turpentine, 1 quart; mix well, and distil by the heat of a sand bath, until 3 pints have come over, or as long as the distillate is clear, pale, and sweet. Used to remove paint, grease, &c., from cloth.

DROPSY. Syn. Hydrops, L. An unnatural collection of aqueous fluid in any part of the body. Dropsy has received different names, according to the part of the body affected by the disease. When it occurs in the cellular membrane it is called ANASARCA; when in the cavity of the abdomen, Ascites; in the cavity of the cranium, HYDROCEPHALUS; in the scrotum, HYDROCELE; in the uterus, HYDROMETRA; and in the chest, HYDROTHORAX. Dropsy is mostly a symptom of extreme debility and a broken-down constitution, and frequently follows lengthened attacks of exhausting chronic diseases.

The treatment of dropsy, perhaps, more than any other disease, depends upon the circumstances with which it is connected, and, more especially, upon those which have caused it. The acute inflammatory forms of dropsy generally require depletion. In most other cases, tonics may be advantageously administered. To promote the absorption of the accumulated fluids, diuretics are commonly resorted to. Confirmed dropsy (especially HYDROCEPHALUS and HYDROTHORAX), occurring in patients either much debilitated by previous disease or of a bad habit of body, is seldom curable.

DROWNING. The cause of death from submersion in water is the entire seclusion of air from the lungs, by which the aëration of the venous blood is prevented. In consequence of this deprivation of air, venous blood circulates through the arterial system, whilst the pulmonary vein ceases to convey oxygenated blood to the heart. Under ordinary circumstances, in the course of 4 or 5 minutes after the access of air has been cut off, life becomes extinct. Many cases have, nevertheless, occurred of persons being submerged for 15 or 20 minutes, and even longer, and where perfect insensibility has existed, in which recovery has taken place.

Prev. The specific gravity of the human body is less than that of water, so long as the lungs are partially filled with air; and this difference is sufficient to keep the body floating with the mouth and nostrils free for respiration, provided the face is turned upwards by throwing the head back on the shoulders, by which the weight of the head is sustained by the water. When a person throws himself into the water, the body rises rapidly to the surface and assumes nearly the erect position, the upper part of the head, down to a little below the eyes, remaining above the surface of the water. This arises from the greater density of the legs and thighs compared to that of the chest, which acts as a species of float or buoy to the rest of the body. In this situation the head may be thrown back, so that the face may form the exposed portion, as before mentioned, when respiration may be carried on without inconvenience in still water, and regularly, but sufficiently, so as to sustain life for some time, even in a rough sea. The adoption of this simple precaution would have saved thousands of valuable lives.

Another point which should be remembered by every person in danger of drowning is, that there is always a considerable amount of residual air in the lungs, in a nearly deoxidised state, and that if this air is expelled by two or three forced inspirations, and a deep inspiration is then taken, a larger quantity of vital air will be introduced into the lungs, and the blood will continue aërated for a proportionally longer time; and consequently, a longer period will elapse before another inspiration will be required. If we prepare ourselves by taking two or three forced inspirations, and then take a full inspiration, we may remain for 1⁄2 or 2 minutes before a second attempt at respiration need be made. This is the plan adopted by the pearl fishers, and other divers who are remarkable for remaining beneath the surface of the water for some time. A person in danger of shipwreck, or expecting immediate submersion, in any other situation, should have recourse to this expedient, which would prevent the dreadful effects of attempting respiration whilst under water.

Treat. The first object is the restoration of the animal heat. For this purpose, the wet clothes should be removed, and the body, after being well dried, surrounded with warm air. In the absence of a warm-air bath, the body may be laid between well-heated blankets, and bottles of hot water applied to the feet and armpits. Gentle friction with warm flannel or the hands should also be assiduously employed. Meanwhile attempts should be made to excite respiration artificially; and when the apparatus is at hand, slight shocks of electricity should be kept up at the same time. On the appearance of returning life, such as sighing or convulsive twitching, a vein may be opened. The throat may be tickled with the finger or a feather, to excite vomiting, and a teaspoonful of warm water administered. If the power of swallowing exists, a table-spoonful of warm wine or brandy and water may be given. Even if no symptom of returning animation appear, these means of recovery should be persisted in for three or four hours.

In the treatment of this species of asphyxia, nasal stimulants, as ammonia, aromatic vinegar, &c., should be avoided, as well as the injection of tobacco smoke, both of which have been found highly prejudicial. The practice of holding the body with the head downwards, which is sometimes adopted by the vulgar and ignorant, under the idea of allowing the water to run out by the mouth, is still more dangerous and absurd. The supposition that water is inhaled by drowning persons instead of air is perfectly fallacious. The peculiar mechanism of the glottis, or upper portion of the windpipe, is such as to prevent, by the spasmodic closure of the epiglottis, the entrance of more than a very trifling and accidental quantity of water, which is altogether too insignificant to produce any very injurious effects. See Asphyxia.

DRUGS. Substances used in medicine, sold by druggists, and compounded by apothecaries and physicians. Our continental neighbours, wiser than ourselves, not merely require that persons engaged in selling and dispensing drugs and pharmaceutical preparations shall be fully qualified by previous education and training for the task, but also that the various articles they sell and use shall be commercially pure and of the proper quality. In the United States of America this subject has also engaged the attention of the government and legislature. Under the Act of the 26th June, 1848, inspectors were appointed to examine the quality of imported articles of this class before allowing them to pass the Customs for home use. An abridged copy of the order addressed to the “collectors and other officers under this act” is appended, and will be useful to the reader, as assisting to establish a standard by which the value of the substances named therein may be estimated.

Treasury Department, June 4th, 1853.

The following articles are to be entitled to entry when ascertained by analysis to afford the per-centages as under, viz.:—

Aloes, 80% of pure aloetic extract.

Assafœtida, 50% of its peculiar bitter resin, and 3% of volatile oil.

Cinchona Bark, 1% of pure quinine, or 2% of the several alkaloids, as quina, cinchona, quinidine, aricine, &c.

Benzoin, 80% of benzoin resin.

Do. 12% of benzoic acid.

Colocynth, 12% of colocynthine.

Elaterium, 30% of elaterine.

Galbanum, 60% of resin.

Do. 10% of gum, and 6% volatile oil.

Gamboge, 70% of pure gamboge resin, and 2% of gum.

Guaiacum, 80% of pure guaiacum resin.

Gum Ammoniacum, 70% of resin, and 18% of gum.

Jalap, 11% of pure jalap resin.

Myrrh, 30% of pure resin, and 50% of gum.

Opium, 9% of pure morphia.

Rhubarb, 40% of soluble matter.

Sagapenum, 50% of resin, 30% of gum, and 30% of volatile oil.

Scammony, 70% of pure scammony resin.

Senna, 28% of soluble matter.

Medicinal leaves, flowers, barks, roots, extracts, &c., not specified above, must be, when imported, in perfect condition, and of as recent collection and preparation as practicable.

Pharmaceutical and chemical preparations, whether crystallised or otherwise, used in medicine, to be pure and of a proper consistence and strength, as well as of perfect manufacture, conformably with the standard authorities named in the Act; and must, in no instance, contain over 3% of excess of moisture or water of crystallisation.

Essential or volatile oils, and expressed oils used in medicine must be pure and of the standard sp. gr. noticed and declared in the dispensatories named in the above Act.

“Patent” or “Secret Medicines” are by law subject to the same examination as other medicinal preparations, and cannot be permitted to pass the Custom-house for home consumption, but must be rejected and condemned, unless the special examiner is satisfied, after due investigation, that they are fit and safe to be used for medical purposes.

An appeal from the examiner to the collector to be admitted within 10 days.

James Guthrie,
Secretary to the Treasury.

DRUM′MOND LIGHT. See Light (Artificial).

DRUNK′ENNESS. See Abstinence, Intemperance, &c.

DRY′ERS (Painter’s). Prep. 1. Litharge (best) ground to a paste with drying-oil. For dark colours.

2. From white copperas and drying oil; as the last.

3. From sugar of lead and drying oil. The last two are for pale colours.

4. From white copperas and sugar of lead, of each 1 lb.; pure white lead, 2 lbs. For ‘whites,’ and opaque light colours, greys, &c.

Dryers are employed, as the name implies, to increase the drying and hardening properties of oil paints. A little is beat up with them at the time of mixing them with the oil and turpentine for use.

DRY′ING. See Desiccation, &c.

DRY′ING-OIL. See Oils.

DRY-ROT. A peculiar disease that attacks wood, and renders it brittle and rotten. It is generally caused by dampness and the subsequent development of the spores of fungi, particularly those of Merulius lacrymans and vastator and Polyporus destructor. The dry-rot principally attacks ‘ill-seasoned’ timber, and more particularly that of ships and badly ventilated buildings.

Prev. Various means have been proposed to prevent the attacks of dry-rot and to arrest its progress when it has commenced, among which the process called ‘Kyanizing’ (Kyan’s patent) is that most generally known and most extensively adopted. It consists in immersing the timber in a bath of corrosive sublimate. The process termed ‘Paynizing’ (Payne’s patent) consists in first filling the pores with a solution of chloride of calcium, under pressure, and next forcing in a solution of sulphate of iron, by which an insoluble sulphate of lime is formed in the body of the wood, which is thus rendered nearly as hard as stone. Wood so prepared is now largely employed in our public works and railways. Sir W. Burnett’s process (patented in 1836) consists in impregnating the timber with a solution of chloride of zinc. Mr J. Bethell’s process (patented in 1838) consists in thoroughly impregnating the wood with oil of tar containing creasote and a crude solution of acetate of iron, commonly called ‘pyrolignite of iron.’ The impregnation is effected in a strong cylindrical vessel, connected with a powerful air-pump, so that in the first instance a vacuum being formed, and subsequently a pressure of several atmospheres applied, the liquid may as much as possible be forced into all the pores of the wood. The above processes for ‘seasoning’ preserve the timber not only from dry-rot, but from the influence of the weather and the attacks of insects and worms.

“The construction of air-drains or passages around wood-work to be preserved is, where the method is applicable, a great aid to the preservation of wood. Dry-rot is both prevented in new buildings and cured in old ones by filling up the spaces between the floor-joists with ‘tank-waste’ from alkali works. This can also be applied to the ends of beams resting in walls.”—Chemical News.

DUB′BING. Prep. 1. By boiling the waste cuttings of sheep-skins in crude cod oil. 2. Black resin, 2 lb.; tallow, 1 lb.; crude cod oil or train oil, 1 gall.; boil to a proper consistence. Used by the curriers to dress leather, and by shoemakers and others to soften leather, and to render boots and shoes waterproof.

DUBOISIA MYOPOROIDES. (Nat. order, Solanacæ.) A small tree growing in Australia, New Caledonia, and New Guinea. The leaves have been used in Brisbane and Sydney as a substitute for atropine, and extract of belladonna; to both of which Mr Tweedy believes them to be superior in prompt and energetic action. Mr Tweedy further states that, in every case in which he has used duboisia to produce dilatation of the pupil of the eye, its action has been beneficial, and he is induced to conclude, more advantageous than that of atropine. According to Dr Ringer, duboisia, besides causing dilatation of the pupil, quickens the pulse, parches the tongue, stops the secretions of the skin, and induces headache and drowsiness. He also reports that it is antagonistic in its action to muscarine, and produces tetanus after the lapse of some hours or days.

For an account of the botanical properties of the plant, the reader is referred to a paper by Mr E. M. Holmes in the ‘Pharmaceutical Journal’ for March 9th, 1878; and to the ‘Lancet’ of March 2nd, 1878, for some experiments on its physiological effects by Messrs Ringer and Tweedie. The Duboisia myoporoides was introduced into medical practice by Dr Bancroft, of Brisbane.

Since the above has been written, Mr Gerrard has obtained a powerful alkaloid from an extract of the leaves of the Duboisias, very similar in chemical properties to aconite, and possessed of the same physiological qualities as the extract.

DUCK. See Poultry.

DUCTIL′ITY is the property of being drawn out in length without breaking. See Metals.

DULCAMA′RA. See Nightshade (Woody).

DUMB′NESS. Syn. Aphonia, L. As speech is an acquired and imitative faculty, persons who are either born deaf or become so in early infancy are also, necessarily, dumb. The first step in treating dumbness must therefore be directed to the removal of the deafness on which the imperfection rests. The exertions of modern philanthropists have, however, been so far successful in such cases as to enable the deaf-mute to converse with those around him by signs. Those interested in the subject may consult an admirable treatise on ‘Deaf-dumbness,’ by M. E. Hubert-Valleroux, of which an excellent translation appeared in the ‘Medical Circular,’ vol. ii, for 1853. See Deafness.

DUMPLINGS, Norfolk. Mix half a pound of flour with half a teaspoonful of baking powder and a pinch of salt; make into a little dough with cold water; fall into small balls, put them into boiling water immediately, and boil for twenty minutes.

DUNGER—MANURE (Boutin, Paris). A bluish-green fluid, containing about 190 grammes of solid matter per litre. The residue consists of sulphates of copper, iron, magnesia, and soda, sal ammoniac, nitrates of potash and soda, common salt, and none or a mere trace of phosphoric acid. The blue deposit which separates on standing is ultramarine. (Keller, Karmrodt, and Nessler.)

DUNG′ING. Syn. Cleansing. One of the principal processes in the arts of calico printing and dyeing, its object being to free the cloth from loose matters, which would interfere with the dyeing. After the thickened mordants have been applied to the fabric and properly fixed, it is necessary to remove the now useless thickening matter, together with the excess of mordant, which has not come into actual contact with the cloth. Formerly a bath formed of cow-dung, diffused through hot water (130° to 212° Fahr.) was always used to wash away these loose matters; but now various manufactured substances are successfully employed for the purpose. The best dung substitutes are the arsenite and arseniate of soda, the silicate of soda, and phosphate of lime. Experience proves that, in the case of these substitutes, a final rinse in cow-dung before dyeing is advantageous. A process very similar to ‘dunging’ is employed after dyeing, to clear and give purity to the undyed parts. This subsequent process is distinguished by the term ‘clearing.’ Cow-dung has been used in ‘clearing’ operations, but its employment is not to be recommended. Bran scalded and mixed with water is employed for certain goods, but bleaching powder is the most generally used ‘clearing agent.’

DUST, ATMOSPHERIC. When a ray of sunlight is admitted into a dark room, or an electric beam is transmitted through a glass tube, myriads of little motes are revealed, which move and dance about in all directions.

In ordinary daylight these minute particles are invisible. Nevertheless, they are always more or less present in the atmosphere wherever (except under special conditions) this permeates, and they constitute that more or less attenuated, impalpable, generally dry, or dessicated form of matter which we denominate dust.

As with every inspiration we take into our bodies more or less of this suspended material, the study of the composition and characters of the different substances which compose it is one possessed of paramount interest, both for the pathologist and sanitarian.

Amongst solid, inorganic matters found in the open air are silica, peroxide of iron, silicate of alumina, carbonate and phosphate of lime, sand, carbon, chloride of sodium, and metallic iron. These, of course, are of telluric origin, and are carried into the atmosphere by strong currents and winds, which latter have the power of transporting dust to great distances, e.g. red sand from the interior of Africa has been found in the sails of ships 600 or 800 miles distant from the African coast, whilst particles of carbon, sand, and dried mud, ejected to great heights from volcanoes into the air, have been transported over still greater distances.

Some doubt appears to prevail as to whether all dust storms originate on the earth, it having been conjectured that some of the solid matters found in the atmosphere may be of meteoric origin, and may have entered it from the realms of space. The chloride of sodium (which the chemist knows is so omnipresent that he cannot heat an ordinary platinum wire in a Bunsen burner without indications of its presence) is derived from the spray of the sea, lifted and diffused into the air by the wind; the iron dust from the rails over which railway trains are constantly passing; the silica, amongst other sources, from the traffic over macadamised thoroughfares.

The organised and organic substances contained in the external air are very numerous. The animal kingdom is the source of the wings of moths, butterflies, and other insects, spiders’ legs and webs, hair, wool, epithelium, and eggs, many of these bodies being mere débris.

The vegetable kingdom contributes spores, pollen, cells, cotton fibre, and the germs of vibriones and monads. Besides these are many living creatures, brought by the agency of monsoons and cyclones from extensive deserts. Showers of sand derived from these wastes occur in different parts of Europe. Ehrenberg submitted the sand obtained during seventy of these showers to microscopic examination, and found, in addition to sand and oxide of iron, numerous organic forms, amongst which 194 Polygastrica, 145 Phylolithariæ, besides Polythalmia, &c. Silvestre found four species of diatoms and living infusoria in the sand obtained from a dust shower in Sicily in 1872. But, besides the presence of these organisms in the external air, which may be regarded exceptional, it contains, under ordinary conditions, numerous living creatures, some brought into it from the earth by the force of winds, others growing in it. More than 200 forms—rhizopods, tardigrades, and Anguilulæ—have been found in it by Ehrenberg. So tenacious of life are these latter that, even if dried, they will retain their vitality for months, and even years.

Of the organisms found in the air the following are the most important:—1. Extremely small, round, and oval cells, which, that they may be rightly examined by the microscope, require a power of 600 or 1000 diameters. They are found sometimes growing together and sometimes cleaving, when they present an appearance like the figure 8. Sulphuretted hydrogen in the air is said to stimulate their growth and carbolic acid to check it. Although existing in the open air, they are by far more abundant in the atmosphere of dirty prisons. They are also met with in the sweat of the prisoners inhabiting these localities. Observers believe they increase rapidly by cleavage. No ill effects have been traced to them.

“To the same class, perhaps, of these round and oval cells the bacteria and monads, which have been described as gathered from the air, must be assigned; the development of these cells into vibriones and rod-like bacteria, though asserted, has not yet been definitely proved, and, indeed, Burden-Sanderson’s observations rather throw doubt on the statement that true bacteria exist in the air.

“2. Spores of fungi are not infrequent in the open air; they occur most commonly in the summer (July and August); they are not in this country more frequent with one wind than another; the largest number found by Maddox in ten hours was 250 spores; on some days not a spore can be found. Maddox leaves undetermined the kind of fungus which the spores developed under cultivation; the spores were pale or olive coloured and oval, probably from some form of smut. Angus Smith found in water through which the air of Manchester was drawn innumerable spores. Mr Dancer has calculated that in a single drop of the water 250,000 fungoid spores as well as mycelium were present; but as the water was not examined for some time there may have been growth. Mycelium of fungus seems uncommon in the air, but is sometimes found.

The cells of the Protococcus pluvialis are not uncommon, neither, perhaps, are those of other algæ. On the whole the experiments of Maddox show that in his locality (near Southampton) it is incorrect to speak of the air being loaded with fungoid spores; they can be found, but are not very numerous.”

Amongst other suspended matters are minute fragments of dried horse droppings, derived from the original substance, reduced to powder by the traffic, and carried by aerial currents into the atmosphere. In the ‘Chemical News’ for October, 1871, Professor Tichborne gives the results of some analyses of the street dust of Dublin. Some dust taken from the top of a pillar 134 feet high contained 29·7 per cent. of organic matter, whilst that collected from the street consisted of as much as 45·2 per cent. This organic matter was principally composed of comminuted stable manure; it was capable of acting as a ferment, and was possessed of deoxidising powers sufficient to reduce nitrate to nitrite of potash.

This evidence of the presence of suspended known matters in the air has led some pathologists to conjecture that certain formless substances found in it, undeterminable by the microscope, may in reality be disease germs, which, being transported through long distances by the wind, may also be the means of spreading certain maladies from one locality to another. In this manner cholera has been supposed to have been propagated from India, the particles of the dried excreta of cholera patients being supposed to be the carriers of the formidable disease; this hypothesis of its origin, however, is not yet, at any rate, universally accepted. “In the case of smallpox and scarlet fever the distance to which the ‘contagions’ spread by means of the air is certainly inconsiderable.”

Hitherto we have spoken only of the nature of the dust occurring in the external air. The composition of that met with in confined spaces is, of course, largely influenced by surrounding conditions and circumstances; for instance, in indifferently ventilated apartments, in addition to the substances already enumerated, the dust of the confined air has been found to contain small particles of food, bits of the hair of human beings, domestic animals, and feathers of birds, as well as of coals, cinders, charred wood, linen, cotton, and wool fibres, varieties of epithelium, and certain round cells resembling nuclei.

In the apartments of the sick it is additionally charged with a very large quantity of organic matter.

The spores of the Tricophyton and Acorion have been discovered in and seem peculiar to skin hospitals. In that taken upon two occasions from the ward of St. Louis (the Skin Hospital of Paris), and submitted to examination, one specimen was found additionally to contain 36 per cent. and in the other 46 per cent. of organic matter.

“The scaly and round epithelia found in most rooms are in large quantity in hospital wards, and probably in cases where there is much expectoration and exposure of pus or puriform fluids to the air the quantity would be still larger.”

The investigation of the air of a cholera ward in 1849 by Britain and Swayne, at Clifton, revealed the presence of bodies resembling fungi; minute scales of variolous matter have been found by Bakewell in smallpox wards, and cells of pus and epithelium in the sheds and stables of animals affected with cattle disease and pleuro-pneumonia. Dr Watson detected in the air of a ward for consumptive patients at Netley, together with pus cells, bodies bearing a great resemblance to the cells met with in tuberculous matter, these latter not being discoverable in the open air or in the rooms of non-consumptive persons; whilst Rainy, examining the air of the cholera ward at St. Thomas’s Hospital, found bacteria in it, besides fungi. The presence of these bodies was, however, detected in the open air.

The atmosphere of mines, workshops, manufactories, and rooms in which handicraft of any kind is carried on, is more or less laden with small particles of substances employed in the arts, manufactures, and various industries. The nature of these floating substances, as well as a list of the diseases, together with the amount of mortality they produce, will be found under the article “Trades, certain, their effects on Health.”

Dr Wynter Blyth gives the following instructions for collecting atmospheric dust for examination:—

“The most simple way to obtain the emanations from a sick room for microscopical observation is to suspend a common water bottle from the ceiling filled with iced water. The moisture of the air condenses, and brings with it organic matters; or the moisture may be gathered which adheres to panes of glass in cold weather; or a bottle may be taken containing some distilled water, absolutely free from impurities of any kind, and filled several times with the air of the place. The water may then be submitted to microscopical and chemical examination.

“Metallic dust, such as iron, may be attracted by a magnet. The most usual and successful way is, however, by aspiration, either by an aspirator made for the purpose [see Aspirator], or by means of an ordinary cask, by which a considerable volume of air is drawn through a small quantity of distilled water, glycerin, or other liquid. The indirect way for the organic matter, &c., mentioned above, viz., analysis of the rain water, and the obvious way of collecting the dust, by carefully sweeping it off shelves, &c., may be also enumerated.

“Examination of dust. The dust obtained by any or all of these methods should now be examined microscopically and chemically. Low powers should be used at first, and then (if looking for germs) the highest that can be obtained. If the dust is in any quantity it can be submitted to chemical examination, but a knowledge of what class it belongs to—animal, mineral, or vegetable—is sufficient for most purposes.”

DUST-BIN. A dust-bin on any premises may become a nuisance and a peril to health if certain precautions are not observed with respect to it.

It should have a tolerably tight-fitting cover, and one that is waterproof also, if, especially as it ought to be, the dust-bin is situated in the open air. The bottom should never be the bare earth, but one that is properly bricked or tiled. It should be lime-washed occasionally, in summer time the most frequently. Only dry refuse, such as ashes and the sweepings of rooms, &c., should be thrown into it.

On no account should fragments of vegetable or animal nature be put in, such as fishbones, potato parings, cabbage stalks, dirty or discarded pieces of apparel, or bits of rags or dusters. These should be at once burnt on the kitchen fire; the best kind of stove for consuming these is that known as the kilnhouse. Meat bones should be got disposed of as soon as possible, as they frequently give rise to unpleasant and offensive odours. Finally, the dust-bin should not be too large. If too capacious, it acts as a guile for servants not to have it cleaned out as often as it should be, the frequent removal of its contents being a most essential condition toward the preservation of health.

DUSTING. This very important branch of household labour is sometimes very inefficiently performed. Very frequently the dust of an apartment is not removed, but merely disturbed or driven from one place to settle down on another.

It should always as much as possible be got rid of by means of a duster or a brush and dust-pan.

As the dust should adhere to the former, this should from time to time be taken out into the open air and shaken. During the time a room is being dusted the furniture should be collected in as small a space as possible, and enveloped in the dusting-sheet. The dusting-sheet on its removal should be carefully folded together, taken into the air and shaken. The furniture may then be dusted and returned to the proper places.

A duster should never be rubbed over furniture standing close to a wall, or a dirty mark on the wall-paper will be the result. The same caution applies to mantel-pieces, where the paper may soon be spoilt by the act of dusting, unless contact with the duster be avoided.

DUTCH DROPS. The dark-coloured residue left by the dry distillation of turpentine. (Hager.)

DUTCH GOLD. See Alloy.

DUTCH LIQ′UID. See Olefiant Gas.

DYE′ING. The act of tinging or colouring absorbent materials by impregnating them with solutions of colouring matters or dye-stuffs. The colouring matters which impart their tints without the intervention of other substances are called ‘substantive colours’; while those which require such aid are called ‘adjective colours.’ The bodies employed to fix and develop the latter class are called ‘mordants.’ The exact way in which dye-stuffs act upon fibrous materials has not yet been investigated as fully as it deserves; the generally received opinion is that the fibre has a chemical affinity for the colouring matter in the case of substantive dyes, and likewise for the mordant, which, in its turn, has an affinity for the colouring matter of adjective dyes. Another opinion is that the fibres have pores, which, when expanded by heat or chemical agents, admit particles of colouring matter. However this may be, it is certain that different materials ‘take’ dyes in different proportions; thus, silk and wool take the coal-tar dyes in the most perfect manner, but cotton requires the intervention of a most powerful mineral or animal mordant. Wool takes the colouring matters of most dye-stuff so well that the deepest tints can readily be produced. Silk and COTTON are dyed with greater difficulty, whilst LINEN shows still less disposition to take dyes. The operations which take place in dyeing are ‘mordanting,’ ‘ageing,’ ‘dunging,’ ‘dyeing,’ and ‘clearing.’ The first of these operations is noticed under Mordant. After the fabric has been mordanted, it is generally hung up in a room through which a current of steam and air is passing, by means of which the union between the fibre and the mordant is quickened very considerably. This exposure to moist air is the step in the process to which the term ‘ageing’ is applied. The operations of ‘dunging’ and ‘clearing’ are noticed above (see Dunging). The ‘dyeing’ proper, which follows the ‘dunging,’ is effected by running the fabric through the solution of the dye-stuff, the colour being modified more or less by the nature of the mordant used. Under the names of the different colours the means used to dye such colours are minutely described. See Black Dye, Blue Dye, &c.

The following particulars respecting the production of the more common colours may prove interesting to the reader, who merely requires some general information on the subject:—

Black is usually produced by logwood or galls with an iron mordant. Common black silks are dyed with logwood and fustic, iron being used as a mordant. The best silks are dyed black on a blue ground. Woollen goods are first dyed blue with indigo, and afterwards with sumac, logwood, and green or blue copperas. Cotton and linen goods are dyed black in a very similar manner.

Blue is commonly produced from indigo, either in the form of sulphate or in aqueous solution. Prussian blue, with a persalt of iron or tin as a mordant, gives a very splendid dark blue. Of late several blues of novel shades have been produced from coal-tar.

Red is obtained in various shades by using cochineal, safflower, lac-dye, madder, or logwood, with a tin mordant.

Purple. Until the last few years the dyer was dependent for his purples on orchil or cudbear, but he has now at his disposal the magnificent series of aniline, or coal-tar, colours, ranging from the most delicate violet, or ‘mauve,’ to the full crimson-purple, known as ‘magenta.’ See Purple Dye.

Yellow. The most important yellow dyes are made from quercitron, fustic, turmeric, arnotto, and French and Persian berries. For further information, see Bleaching, Calico-printing, &c.

DYER’S SPIRITS. See Tin Mordants.

DYES. See Dyeing, and the names of the principal colours.

DYE-STUFFS. The colouring materials used in dyeing are so called. The more important of them are noticed under the respective names.

DYNAMITE. Nobel’s dynamite consists of a mixture of 75 parts of nitroglycerin incorporated with 25 parts of an infusorial earth known as ‘kieselghur,’ found at Luneburgh, and consisting of the fossil shells of infusoria. Kieselghur is almost pure silica. Dynamite is in regular use on the Continent for mining operations, and its manufacture and transport appear to be subject only to reasonable precautions. If ignited in the open air, or even when loosely packed, it burns quietly away, with the evolution of a small quantity of nitrous acid. Although the first cost of dynamite is four times that of gunpowder, it is said to be really only half as expensive, since it possesses eight times the explosive power of the latter; added to which the labour of boring blast-holes is avoided. It also possesses the advantage of not being impaired in efficiency by damp.

When required for use the dynamite is rammed into a thick paper cartridge, into which a fusee is passed, by means of which it is ignited. Although dynamite when once made may be comparatively harmless until exploded at will; that great risk is incurred in its manufacture may be inferred from the fact that, upon two occasions the manufactory on the Continent in which it is prepared has been twice entirely destroyed. On the occasion of the last accident it was impossible to learn the cause of the disaster, since every one in the building was blown to atoms.

Diralin is said to be a mixture of nitroglycerin with sawdust or wood-pulp as used in paper-mills, the two latter substances having been previously treated with nitric and sulphuric acids.

DYNAMOM. (Dr Momma Düsseldorf.) A galvano-electric curative apparatus. A small capsule of horn, containing a disc secured to a pedicel. On the disc a number of sharp needles are fixed. By gently moving the apparatus, and afterwards withdrawing it, artificial pores are produced in the skin by punctures which are not very painful. These are then to be rubbed with a certain oil, probably containing cantharides. (Wittstein.)

DYS′ENTERY. Syn. Bloody flux; Dysenteria, L. A disease arising from inflammation of the mucous membrane of the large intestines, and characterised by stools consisting chiefly of blood and mucus, or other morbid matter, accompanied with griping of the bowels, and followed by tenesmus. There is generally more or less fever, and the natural fæces are either retained or discharged in small, hard balls (scybala). The common causes of this disease are marsh miasma, improper diet, excessive exhaustion, and fatigue, and, above all, exposure to the cold and damp air of night after a hot day.

Treat. The common dysentery of this country generally gives way to gentle aperients (castor oil or salts-and-manna), to cleanse the bowels, followed by mild opiates or morphia, to allay irritation. The chronic symptoms, which frequently hang about for some time, are best combated by mild tonics and vegetable bitters (bark, calumba, cascarilla). Occasionally, chalybeates (ammonia-citrate of iron, lactate of iron, wine of iron, saccharine carbonate of iron) will be found useful during convalescence. Throughout, the diet should be light and nutritious.

The contagious dysentery, of camps and hot climates, is a severe and often fatal disease, in which the preceding symptoms are complicated with remittent or typhoid fever. Its treatment is tedious and difficult, and depends chiefly on judiciously meeting the several symptoms as they develop themselves. Aperients, diaphoretics, and nauseants, followed by tonics, are the remedies generally relied on. The febrile symptoms must be treated according to their inflammatory or putrid tendency. This variety of the disease frequently gives rise to organic diseases of the abdominal viscera, dropsy, &c. It is regarded by some as contagious, but without sufficient reason.

DYSMENNORHŒ′A. See Menstruation.

DYSPEP′SIA. [L.] Syn. Dyspep′sy, Indigestion. This complaint pervades every rank of society, and is, perhaps, of all others, the most general. Few indeed are there who wholly escape it, in one or other of its forms. The common symptoms of dyspepsia are—want of appetite, sudden and transient distensions of the stomach, frequent eructations, heartburn, stomachic pains, occasional vomiting, and, frequently, costiveness or diarrhœa. Sometimes the head is affected, and dimness of sight, double vision, muscæ volitantes, and slight vertigo, are experienced, along with a multitude of other symptoms, depending on a derangement of the functions of the nervous system.

The causes of dyspepsia are numerous. In the higher ranks of society it is a common consequence of over-indulgence in the luxuries of the table, of late hours, or of the want of proper exercise, both of body and mind. In the studious, and those who lead a sedentary life, it is usually caused by excessive mental exertion or anxiety, or by the fatigues of business, and the want of sufficient bodily exertion and of pure air. In the lower orders of society it generally results from inebriety, or a deficiency of proper food and clothing, bad ventilation, &c.; and is not unfrequently occasioned by the physical powers being over-taxed, especially soon after meals.

The treatment of dyspepsia depends less on medicine than on the adoption of regular habits of life. Moderation in eating, drinking, and the indulgence of the passions; early rising, due exercise, and retiring to rest at an early hour, will do much to restore the tone both of the stomach and nerves. Excessive study and mental exertion should be avoided, and recourse should frequently be had to society and amusements of a lively and interesting character. If the bowels are confined, mild aperients should be taken, and if diarrhœa is present, antacids and absorbents may be had recourse to with advantage. The stomach may be strengthened by the use of mild bitters, tonics, and stimulants, and sea bathing, or the shower or tepid bath, may be taken, when convenient, to strengthen the nervous system. When dyspepsia is a secondary or symptomatic disease, the cause should be sought out, and the treatment varied accordingly. Among the aperient medicines most suitable to dyspepsia may be mentioned—Epsom salts, phosphate of soda, and Seidlitz powders, each of which should be taken largely diluted with water. An occasional dose of the ‘Abernethy Medicines’ (which see) has also been recommended. Among antacids, are the bicarbonates and carbonates of potassa and soda, either of which may be taken in doses of half a teaspoonful dissolved in water; or, if the spirits are depressed, one or two teaspoonfuls of spirit of sal volatile will be more appropriate; and in cases accompanied by diarrhœa, a little prepared chalk. As bitters, the compound infusion of orange peel, or of gentian, are excellent. As tonics, small doses of bark, or of sulphate of quinine, to which chalybeates may be added, if there is pallor of countenance, or a low pulse, with no disposition to fever or headache.

When dyspepsia is complicated with hysteria, hypochondriasis, or chlorosis, the treatment noticed under those heads may be conjoined to that above recommended. When it depends on constipation, or a deficiency of bile, the mildest and most effective of all remedies will be found supplied in inspissated ox-gall. “In all cases of incipient constipation, ox-gall is a remedy of undoubted efficacy; and even in protracted cases, when hope has almost fled—but where evidences of strangulation are not unequivocally manifested—it should never be omitted by the practitioner. In habitual or chronic constipation, accompanied by indigestion, clay-coloured stools, and a feeling of oppression after food has been taken, it acts with almost specific certainty. When, however, the liver begins to assume its healthy action, its employment should be discontinued, and it will then produce all the symptoms of regurgitation of bile into the stomach. This state will be readily recognised as a favorable omen of returning power.” (Dr Allnatt.)

DYSPNŒ′A. Difficulty of breathing. It is generally symptomatic of some other affections. When it occurs in persons of a nervous or irritable habit of body, perfect quiet, a semi-recumbent posture, fresh air, and some small doses of ether, ammonia, or opium, will generally effect a cure. Those of a full habit require aperients and depletion. To prevent attacks of the kind, excess in eating and drinking, and the use of stimulants, should be avoided.

DYSU′′RIA. [L.] Syn. Dys′ury. Difficult urination. It is generally symptomatic of disease of the kidneys, bladder, or urethra. The treatment depends on the exciting cause.

EAR (Inflamma′tion of). Syn. Otitis, L. This affection, when it attacks the internal part of the ear, is generally accompanied with confusion of sound, deafness, and more or less fever. It is most frequent among children, and is commonly produced by exposure to draughts of cold air, and, occasionally, by foreign matters, as cherry-stones, insects, &c., having got into the external ear. In such cases, the removal of the offensive matter, and due attention to warmth and cleanliness, with a dose of laxative medicine, will be all the treatment required. The pain may generally be relieved by throwing warm water into the ear by means of a syringe, and fomenting the surrounding parts with decoction of poppy-heads and chamomile flowers. Should this treatment not succeed, a drop or two of laudanum, with one drop of oil of cloves and a little oil of almonds, may be dropped in the ear, and a piece of cotton wool introduced afterwards. Cases of acute inflammation of the internal ear are occasionally met with in adults, which assume a very serious character, and demand the most careful treatment. See Deafness.

Earache. Pain in the ear may arise from various causes, amongst which, in the absence of organic disease, cold, and that peculiar derangement of health popularly called ‘nervousness,’ are the most common. In the one case, the proper remedy is warmth; in the other, the attention should be directed to the restoration of the body to the healthy standard.

Earache, Simple Cure for. Take a common, tobacco-pipe, place a wad of cotton in the bowl, drop upon it 8 or 10 drops of chloroform, and cover with another wad of cotton; place the stem to the affected ear, then blow into the bowl, and in many cases the pain will cease almost immediately.—Amer. Journ.

EARTHS. In chemistry, a group of metallic oxides. The principal earths are baryta strontia, lime, magnesia, alumina, berylla or glucina, yttria, zirconia, and thoria. The first four are termed ALKALINE EARTHS; the remainder, together with the oxides of the very rare metals erbium, terbium, norium, cerium, lanthanum, and didymium, constitute the EARTHS PROPER.

The term earth was very loosely applied by the older chemical and pharmaceutical writers, and the practice is still common among the vulgar at the present day. Thus, ABSORBENT EARTH (chalk); ALUMINOUS E., ARGILLACEOUS E. (alumina); BOLAR E. (bole); BONE-E. (phosphate of lime); FULLER’S E. (an absorbent clay); HEAVY E. (baryta); Japan e., or terra Japonica (catechu); SEALED E. (bole), &c., are names even now frequently encountered both in trade and in books.

EARTHEN-WARE AND GLASS, to prevent the Cracking of. When quite new, all vessels of glass and earthenware should be laid to soak in cold water, and after some hours, this water, covering the vessels, should be gradually heated to the boiling point. It is a good plan to place a little hay on the top of the water.

Glass and earthenware vessels thus treated are far less liable to crack when subjected to the heat of boiling water than it would otherwise be.

EARTH-NUT. See Arachis Hypogœa.

EAU. (Fr.) Water. This word, like its English synonym, is applied to numerous substances, differing in their composition, sensible properties, and uses, of which the following are a few useful examples:—Eau douce, fresh or river water; Eau de mer, sea or salt water; Eau de fontaine, Eau de source, spring water; Eau de puits, well or pump water; Eau de rivière, river water; Eau distillée, distilled water; Eau de rose, rose water; Eau de vie, brandy; Eau de Cologne, Cologne water; Eau d’Hongrie, Hungary water; Eau bénite, holy water; Eau forte, aquafortis; Eau de savon, soapsuds; Eau de senteur, scented water, &c.

Eau Athenienne. (Hte. Bourgeois, Paris.) Pour nettoyer la tête et enlever les pellicules—for cleaning the head and removing scurf. An alcoholic solution of potash-soap, with some solution of potash and aromatic oil. (Dr P. Goppelsröder.)

Eau Berger for Dyeing the Hair. Two fluids for consecutive application. No. 1 is a solution of 1·3 grammes sulphate of copper, ·25 grammes nitrate of nickel, 30 grammes distilled water, 4 grammes ammonia. No. 2 is a solution of calcium sulphide, made by passing sulphuretted hydrogen into milk of lime until it ceases to be absorbed, and then filtering from the excess of lime. (W. Engelhardt.)

Eau Capillaire Progressive, pour rétablir la coleur naturelle des cheveux et de la barbe. Formule rationelle, succès garanti. Progressive hair-wash for restoring the natural colour of the hair and beard. Formula rational, success guaranteed (Dr R. Brimmeyer, chimie-pharmacien, Echternach, Luxembourg). (Schädler.)

Eau d’Afrique, for dyeing the Hair Black. Three fluids to be consecutively applied. No. 1 is a solution of 3 parts nitrate of silver in 100 parts water. No. 2 is a solution of 8 parts sodium sulphide in 100 parts water. No. 3 is a solution of nitrate of silver like No. 1, but perfumed. (Reveil.)

Eau d’Atirona. An elegant fluid cosmetic soap, by the use of which all imperfections of the skin will be easily and painlessly removed. It consists of 25 grammes of a spirituous tincture of cinnamon and cloves, 4 grammes soda soap, and a drop of peppermint oil. (Wittstein.)

Eau de Bahama. A black dye for the hair. It is a solution of sugar of lead perfumed with oil of anise, and containing flowers of sulphur in suspension. (Reveil.)

Eau de Beauté, Eau de Paris sans pareille, or Eau de Princesses (August Renard, Paris); with a German title, “Rhümhehst bekanntes cosmetisches Wasser genannt Prinzessen-Wasser.” The well-known and renowned cosmetic called Princesses’ Water.’ To experience the brilliant effects of this marvellous fluid we need only, after washing, habitually pass a small sponge moistened with the fluid gently over the skin, and allow it to dry without rubbing. By so doing our complexion will remain white, smooth, clear, and soft, even to extreme old age. Those, however, who are troubled with freckles, heat-spots, or any other eruption should use the water several times a day as directed. They need suffer no longer from any defect of the skin. Princesses’ Water when shaken is a milk-white fluid contained in an oval bottle with a long neck, which holds 125 grammes. On standing it deposits a white precipitate. It is made from 2·5 grammes calomel, ·45 grammes corrosive sublimate (so altered by the added perfume that the usual tests do not reveal it), and 122 grammes orange-flower water.

Eau de Botot. A mouth wash. Tincture of cedar wood, 500 grammes; tincture of myrrh and tincture of rhatany, of each 125 grammes; peppermint oil, 5 drops. (Winkler.)

Eau de Capille (Kamprath & Schwartze). A hair dye. A mixture of 16 grammes glycerine, 8 grammes hyposulphite of soda, 1 gramme sugar of lead (or an equivalent quantity of Liq. Plumbi subacet.), about 2 grammes precipitated sulphur and 130 grammes water, perfumed with a small quantity of eau de Cologne. (Hager.)